The Remembered Read Free Page A

movement caused him to slip and knock the glass onto the floor.

The shattering of the glass onto the floor riveted Richard’s attention back to the business at hand. He had done the unthinkable. He had broken a piece of light blue glass. Any other colour would have disappointing, but blue, why did it have to be blue! Blue was presently in short supply. True, some of the broken pieces could be used elsewhere and there may be little waste, but just the fact that he had been careless enough to cause the breakage would not speak well of his abilities as an apprentice.

The Master Glazier Craftsman had also heard the noise of the glass breaking and came at a quick pace. He was not a big man, he barely came to Richard's shoulder. He was not a patient man either. He demanded that his apprentices learn quickly and work with exactness. It was common for him to hit those who did not meet his expectations. He believed that a lesson taught across the jaw would be remembered longer than a simple verbal lesson. Richard braced himself for the lesson that would surely be delivered.

“Whot 'ave you dune? Fool, 'ow culd you be so clomsy?” asked the Master Glazier.

“I am soory sir,” offered Richard. “I promise that it will nay.....”

Then Richard felt the pain of the back of the Master Glazier’s hand on his jaw. The impact sent Richard to the floor and caused him to hit his head on the work table.

“Your excuses will nay fix the broken glass. Imbecile! 'ow can you ever learn if you don’t pay attention to the work? Why do I bother keeping you 'ere anyway? I shuld turn you oot into the street. That is where you will be soon enuf anyway. Who 'as ever 'eard of a glazier that breaks glass?”

“I will try 'arder, sir,” offered Richard. “It will nay 'appen again.”

“It 'ad bet'er nay, or you can go back to that farm,” yelled the Master Glazier.

Richard got up now and dusted himself off. He was embarrassed and a little angry with the Master Glazier. He knew however that the Master Glazier had held back some on his beating. Richard had seen him hit other apprentices two or three times for mistakes of less significance. It wasn’t at all uncommon for the Master Glazier and the journeymen glaziers to hit an apprentice. It was just a part of the lot that an apprentice must accept. It had been hard for Richard at first, because his father had not been a violent man and Richard was not accustomed to being hit.

The Master Glazier had walked away now muttering about the difficulty of getting good apprentices nowadays. Richard looked across the street. Had he really seen her? A glimpse of her was worth two beatings. Richard hoped that she had not seen him receive a beating. That would have been more embarrassing still.

Richard tried to get his mind back on cutting glass. The day was just about over anyway. It would soon be too dark to work without the aid of a candle. Many candles would be required to provide sufficient light for the glaziers to work, but the job they were working on was not under such a time schedule as to require working at night. So Richard expected that he would soon be dismissed for the day.

Soon it was dark and the Master Glazier called for everyone to quit work. Several of the journeymen and the two other apprentices lived right there at the shoppe. If Easton-on-the-hill were not so close, Richard would live there also. Richard quickly cleaned his work area and put away his tools and dashed out the door.

To get home, Richard would turn east from the Glaziers' shoppe on Scotgate and pass by the All Saints' church and St. John's, then down Saint Mary's street toward the gate with the bridge. He could have left through Scotgate near the Glazier's shoppe, but there was no bridge over the River Welland there and Richard didn't plan to wade across in this cold weather.

The streets were mostly quiet, all the shoppes were closed and the people of the towne were home with their families