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Bootstrapping

Written by Kerryn Offord

Winter 1631-32, Jena

Catherine Mutschler made her way carefully through the winter mud. She was tired and listless after being kept up most of the night by Maria, her three-year-old daughter. She'd finally managed to settle Maria only by feeding her the last of the bread mixed with thin soup, but that meant Catherine had only had thin soup to eat today. That should change at her next stop. Ursula Mittelhausen was the housekeeper for a successful alchemist and not only did she provide a lot of sewing work, she also gave Catherine any scraps from the kitchen. Catherine had learnt to accept charity with dignity. It had been all that stood between life and death for her family after her husband died in a road accident in Jena. She had been extremely lucky—and the city council continued to remind her of her good fortune—that she and her two children had been granted poor relief even though they weren't citizens or residents. Not that the alms went far. Before getting the sewing work from Ursula, Catherine had been struggling to provide her children with the necessities of life. Even by sharing a room with another widow, a spinner, and her children, their combined income had never quite been enough to pay the rent and buy firewood, clothes, and sufficient food. The six of them, Catherine and her two daughters, Marguerite and her son and daughter, had been slowly starving to death.

She looked up at the sign over the door of the house that Ursula kept. "HDG Enterprizes" it said. Catherine had reason to be thankful for Doctor Gribbleflotz. The extra work he provided had made a considerable difference in Catherine and Marguerite's life. With the additional income from making and repairing the "lab coats" and aprons Dr. Gribblefltoz insisted his apprentices wear, she and Marguerite had just taken over the lease of a pair of rooms. The extra space would make it easier for them to work without the children getting underfoot all the time. With more space they would be able to take in more work. Maybe they'd survive the winter.

She knocked, shivering from the damp cold that was seeping through the layers of clothes she was wearing. The door was opened by a youth. If he had looked well-fed Catherine would have though he was about twelve, but in these times of shortages, he could be as old as sixteen. As malnourished as he looked, he had to be a new apprentice. Ursula, and to be fair, her employer, insisted that the apprentices all be well fed. That meant business was good for Doctor Gribbleflotz, and what was good for the doctor was good for Catherine. She smiled for the first time in she didn't know how long. In a lighter mood, Catherine followed the youth toward Ursula's office.

The clack-clack-clack sound of a machine made Catherine stop. She peeked through the open door of a side room, and froze. For a moment she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Then she collapsed.

****

Catherine came to with a jerk. Someone was passing something under her nose. Spirit of Hartshorn. The fumes could raise the dead, and Catherine wasn't even half-way there yet. She was confused. Ursula Mittelhausen came slowly into focus, and the bottle of hartshorn was removed, to be replaced by a bowl of stew. Mechanically she ate from the bowl.

When she finished the stew, Catherine lowered the spoon and slumped a little in the chair. She wasn't ready to discuss what she had seen in that room yet, and she knew it would be a few minutes before she felt better. She looked around the room. It was the kitchen, and it looked as if it had been invaded by apprentices. She watched a pair of female apprentices slap pale green dough from a cooking pot into molds.

"What are they making?"

"They are making pill boxes for Dr. Gribbleflotz' little blue pills." Ursula reached over to a tray on the sideboard and passed Catherine one of the completed pill boxes.

Catherine had been watching Ursula. Her face had suddenly lit up when she talked about the pill boxes. Catherine wondered what she was thinking about.

"Catherine, do you have access to a cooking fire?"

Catherine nodded. That was one of the reasons she and Marguerite had taken the new rooms. Being able to cook at home would save them money. She thought she could see where Ursula was going. There was no way Ursula could be happy with the way her kitchen had been taken over by the apprentices. For the first time since she had looked into that room, Catherine had hope. She ran her fingers over the pill box "Are they easy to make?"

Ursula smiled in obvious relief. "Yes, it's just a mixture of milk and vinegar. If the girls and boys can make it, I'm sure you would have no trouble." She sighed and gave Catherine a guilty look. "I'm sorry about the sewing machine. Dr. Gribbleflotz bought it without consulting me. However, if you can make the pill boxes, I'll see that you don't lose by it."

"How many boxes are you going to want?" Catherine asked.

"Thousands, Catherine. At least a thousand a week. The demand for the doctor's little blue pills is enormous. We'll pay you," Ursula paused to think for a moment, "Three taler a thousand. That should give you more after expenses than you've been earning from sewing."

Excitement grabbed Catherine. Three talers a week!. That was more than a skilled craftsman normally earned. And she could work from home, with no trouble from any guilds, because she was sure there was no plastic-makers guild, yet. Then reality struck. "But, that much milk and vinegar, and the cooking pots and fuel. Neither Marguerite nor I can afford that."

"Never you mind, Catherine. To get my kitchen back, I'll even loan you the money myself." Ursula paused and shook her head. "No, the company can loan you the money." She smiled and shook her head. "You wouldn't believe the funds coming in for the Doctor's pills and cooking powders, especially the pills. The small amount needed to help you get started won't even be missed."

"If I borrow money, I pay it back, with interest." Catherine stared pointedly at Ursula. She was not going to accept more charity than she had to.

"Very well, you can pay it back with interest. Now, why don't you let the girls show you how it's done and then you can go home and talk to your friend Marguerite."

****

The ground conditions stopped Catherine running home with her news, but she still made good time. The plastic was easy to make. Making it well, that would take a little experimentation. And making good boxes, well, Catherine had been horrified at the number of failures the girls were throwing away. But by watching carefully, Catherine had come to believe that most of the failures were due to disinterest on the part of the girls. To them it was just a boring, repetitive job. If Catherine and Marguerite started making the boxes, rejects would be taking food from their children.

She skipped through the door, shut it and started to strip off her outer layers. "Marguerite, Marguerite, I have such news."

Marguerite slipped out of the back room. "Catherine, did you get lots more work?"

"No, no. Ursula Mittelhausen's employer has bought a sewing machine . . ." Catherine rushed on with her tale to when she saw Marguerite's confused look. "But Ursula has offered us a new career. Plastic making. Wait, I'll show you one of the boxes."

Catherine pulled one of the pill boxes out of her bag and started to describe the process she ...