“Will he be all right?”
“I should think so. Bring some more water and I’ll turn him over. A year or so ago a trunk fell on Althar and almost cut him in two. He was cursing and raving like a madman, but within two weeks the lucky sod was already scuttling around like a lizard.”
“It’s true,” said Althar, who had just walked in. “How’s he looking, my queen?”
“A cracked rib and a bad knock to the head.”
“Well, then, nothing that one of your breakfasts won’t cure,” he declared.
“That’s your solution to everything: food.” She laughed and gave him a shove.
They finished washing him and then sat down at the table.
Breakfast proved to be quite an event. Leonora prepared slices of salt meat, which she covered with pork fat, mushrooms, and onion. Then she added some slabs of goat’s cheese, which she browned by placing some embers on top of the stewpot. Finally, she added a splash of wine, which, she said, settled the belly.
“And you haven’t tried her pastries yet,” said Althar.
Theresa licked her lips as she sampled the honey and almond creation that Leonora served afterward. Theresa liked them so much she asked for the recipe. Then she looked at Hoos despondently.
“Don’t worry about him,” said Althar. “Leonora will take care of him. Now come with me—we’ve work to do outside.”
He explained that in winter there was less game to hunt, and that fishing became impossible. They had a small sown field on more fertile land some distance from the bear cave, which did not need any attention until the onset of spring. Although he did some hunting in the winter, he explained that the bulk of his time was spent doing carpentry, making repairs and crafting tools until spring arrived.
“And above all, stuffing animals,” he added with pride.
They walked up the slope to a crevice in the mountain that looked as if a great axe had cleaved it open. The second cave had a narrower mouth and Theresa had to bend down to follow Althar, who, equipped with a torch, went on ahead as though he knew the way by memory.
Soon the tunnel widened into a spacious chamber, like a church nave.
“Nice, eh?” he bragged. “We used to live here, but when Leonora fell ill we moved to the bear cave. A shame, but its sheer size made it impossible to heat. However, the cold is good for the pelts, so I set up my storeroom here.”
He used the torch to show her his trophies. In the half-light emerged a pack of foxes, a brace of ferrets, and deer, owls, and beavers—all strangely immobile, frozen in grotesque positions that made it hard to believe they had once been alive. Theresa observed their twisted jaws, gleaming eyes, and claws spread in a macabre dance. Althar explained that in his youth he had learned the art of taxidermy—and that many nobles liked to display the beasts whose lives they claimed on their hunts.
“All I need now is a bear,” he added. “And that’s where you come in.”
Theresa nodded, assuming he was referring to the stuffing process, but when Althar told her that they would have to hunt it first, she prayed to God he was jesting. They spent the morning getting the cave in order.
Althar cleaned the skins while Theresa concentrated on cleaning the various instruments. The old man brushed the stuffed animals until they shone, explaining that in Fulda he would earn two denarii for a ferret and a fox, enough to buy five pecks of wheat. For an owl they would pay him less—because birds were easier animals to stuff—yet even so, selling one would enable him to buy a couple of knives and a pot or two. A bear, however, was different. If he could hunt and stuff a bear, he would take it to Aquis-Granum and sell it to Charlemagne himself.
“And how will you capture one?”
“I don’t know. When I locate one we’ll find out.”
At midday they returned to the smaller bear cave. They were hungry when they arrived, and Leonora greeted them with a cup of wine and a hunk of cheese.
“Don’t eat too much. Leave some room for the rest,” she warned and proceeded to bring out meatballs with preserved figs, bird pie, and hot compote. Halfway through the banquet, Leonora informed them that Hoos had woken up, taken some broth, and gone back to sleep.
“Did he say anything?” asked Theresa.
“He just moaned. Perhaps he’ll be more talkative tonight.”
When they had finished, Althar went out to relieve himself and check on the animals. Theresa helped clear the table, taking off the top and tidying away the trestle. She did not have time to sweep up before Satan cleaned the floor with his tongue. When she was about to throw the scraps out, Leonora stopped her with a gesture of disapproval.
“I don’t know how you spent most of your time while growing up, but it certainly couldn’t have been doing any cooking,” she said.
Theresa told her about her passion for reading and Leonora looked at her as though she were the oddest of creatures. The young woman explained that she had frequented schools and scriptoria since she was a child, and once she had grown up, she had gone to work as a parchment-maker’s assistant.
“A great help to your mother, then,” she reproached.
“But since trying your dishes, I’m eager to learn how to make them,” she said, seeking her approval.
Leonora laughed heartily. She consented that, in the eyes of men, if a girl could not cook, it was worse than if she were flat chested.
“Although, you have nothing to worry about in that department,” she noted.
Theresa looked at herself and then at Hoos and felt a fluttering in her stomach. She pulled her loose dress tight to her body, seeing the fabric mold to her breasts.
Leonora seemed to read her thoughts. “He’s certainly handsome,” the woman said, “and shapely.” She winked at Theresa and flashed a wily smile.
Theresa reddened and smiled back, but she quickly steered the conversation back to recipes.
In the afternoon, Leonora listed the dishes that each season favored. In winter, the weaker of the animals they kept would be slaughtered before they died from the cold. She would have to learn not just how to cook the various cuts of meat, but also how to smoke, salt, and cure them. However, most of the meat was hunted, so it was only plentiful with the arrival of spring. As for vegetables, she described the mushrooms that grew in the forest, and the importance of knowing what they were before cooking them, and she extolled the virtues of cabbage—red and white—cauliflower, and thistle. Finally, she described the benefits of pulses.
“They might give you wind, but they make for good eating,” she laughed, letting out a timely fart that reverberated around the cave.