Another Governess / The Least Blacksmith: A Diptych

Chapter 3

92 JOANNA RUOCCO In the morning my brother wakes me. I follow him from the house to the forge. I face my brother across the anvil. I did not expect to be my brother’s striker. When my brother taps with his hammer, I have to remind myself that I am his striker before I strike with the sledge. My brother is unhappy. I am too slow. I do not always strike where he has indicated. I am grateful that my brother does not have a new job to finish. My slowness would be much worse for my brother if a customer were waiting on my brother’s work. My brother wants me to practice with the nail rods. My arms are tired. It takes me five strikes to head each nail. Time after time my brother throws my nails in the scrap pile. My brother calls me to the anvil. He holds the iron on the anvil. He taps. I look at the iron. The anvil is mounted too high. The grips on the tools are too wide. I strike blows where my brother taps. My brother says I can stop. A man has appeared at the double doors. It is the 3 93 THE LEAST BLACKSMITH doctor. He carries a packet of papers. They must contain the findings from his new equipment. Our father has yielded such a thick packet of papers. I should not have expected anything less from our father. I try to see if my brother is proud of the papers our father yielded. My brother does not look at me. He is approaching the doctor at the double doors. The doctor gives the packet to my brother. My brother’s fingers mark the white pages. He looks at the doctor. The doctor explains that our father had been suffering from a long illness. It is a blessing that our father’s suffering is over. A sudden death is a wonderful thing when a man is suffering from a long illness. It is more tragic when a sick man dies slowly from a long illness , or when a healthy man dies suddenly. The doctor wants us to know this was not the case with our father. The doctor thinks my brother does not look well. He offers to run tests on my brother at his office. My brother does not like to leave the forge. He says no to the doctor. I would not have said no to the doctor. The doctor has taken an interest in my brother. My brother is big and strong but unwell. He is exactly what the doctor wants in a patient. My brother does not have time to be a patient. He is rude to the doctor. He throws the packet of papers on the hearth. The doctor’s eyes shine as he watches the papers burn on the hearth. His mouth trembles. I am surprised that my brother is so rude. He has assumed responsibility for the forge too young. The responsibility is changing him. My brother turns his back on the doctor. I do not want to defy my brother. I turn my back on the doctor. When I look again the doctor is gone. I wish I could have interested the doctor. I know that I would be a good patient. The doctor does not think I have what it takes. After my brother’s rejection, the doctor will not come to the forge again. I will not have another opportunity to interest 94 JOANNA RUOCCO the doctor. My brother has spoiled the doctor’s visit. The doctor ’s previous visit was much better. The doctor spoke movingly and my brother behaved appropriately, in a way that the doctor said would make our father proud. Our father must not have known he was suffering from a long illness. Every day he worked in the forge. He turned the iron and my brother struck the iron with the sledge. My brother lifted the sledge high. He struck the iron in just the right place. Our father’s leather apron fit my brother perfectly. Our father turned the iron. He hammered. He plunged the iron in the tub. He never tired. Until my brother, no blacksmith had ever surpassed our father. I pumped the bellows. I swept the floor. I went into town for the meat and the bread. Our father had a huge appetite. Only...