#debukefarmhold

"This scrawny thing? She's supposed to help ? How? Likely blow herself backwards when she shoots one between the eyes. And not sure those little noodle arms can hold a sledge"

"I might be small but I'm a like a terrier. You know them weiner dogs, they was bred to go down holes and rip up badgers. Little just means I can get inside your guard and gut you while you're still swingin."

"Talk is wind" the mean old son of a bitch says "Come on... maybe you can slit their throats"

He doesn't appear to be joking

"Yeah! Just gimme a blade. I didn't bring one with me to the farm because I didn't want to scare all the sheeps and chickens..."

"I've bled out plenty of elk and deer."

"Huh. Deer. " He moves on "Deer eyes annd pig eyes look a lot different. Deer stares at you, you can tell it's got nothing to do with men. Pig looks at you? One's no so sure"

Bubba begins to educate her in such tthings as putting food on the other side of a hole in a wall that a pig can pick through with food. The hole has a clamp and he locks on "I like to kill the stupid ones first" he explains.

And she gets to see one pig poke his greedy head through, start to get the food, only to realize he can't pull his head back. It squeels in panic, fear fills the air. There's a scent

"Now with it held like this, you can take a mallet, normally that's for cows" he explains, "Or shoot it in the head. I do that to stun em. Then...slit the throat, but with it held like this, if you're quick, you can skip right to slipping..." Bubba says

She actually listens!

"Get it over with, Bubba" Clem says disliking the animal's fear. It should be noted everyone is wearing aprons and gloves and goggles for this. Because Bubba doesn't want the meat getting contaminatedd by them

And points on her own throat. "Here's the big juicy vein, the one with the life runnin' through it. You cut down there and it bleeds out quick.

She may not know the terms, but she's right, at least...

Bubba DOES know the terms, and shares them "Now slit that quick... annd mindn hsi teeth"

"Maybe I should.." CLem seems unsure

She takes the blade, testing it first on her own finger to make sure it's sharp. The spot of blood that appears, she licks off, then reaches in. She DOES mind the teeth - that's redcap 101! Grabbing an ear, she twists so that the head swivels, and then plunges the knife in, going for a quick kill. Even if she's used to animals that are already dead...

The reaction is amazing... the pig thrashes...then..rapidly? gets weaker. And there's blood, so much of it

"Damn Clem, you didn't tell me the runt knew her knives!"

the old kinnain almost sound impressed

Clem looks surprised as well, as the pig is stilling quickly

The head thrashing DID buck her a bit, and the knife skewed to one side - she needs to get more muscle in those noodle arms. A frown as she pokes at the jagged slash. "Next time I'll do better."

She isn't wearing a cap - she doesn't seem to own one. But she splashes a hand through the stream and smears the blood in a gory streak back through her short hair.

To Clem she says, "I wouldn't'uh stretched it out. Fear tastes better when they know why they should be afraid. It's not like a person when they see a knife. Now THAT'S good stuff. Piggy was just afraid of being stuck. It waren't smart enough to be afraid of ME."

Clem nods at Briar "You got the right of it I think. Quick kills are better"

"Briar'll be studying at our place, math and such. She wants to know how it applies to m-.. killing pigs"

"Yeah. Can maths tell me how much meat will be on a hog this size? Or how many gallons of blood?"

"Shit, I can tell you how it applies. " he says " I slaughtered 2 pigs last month that were about 80kg. just did Sausage, Bacon and Gammon. We got 1300 sausages! Now.. if one pig gets me , on average, 650 sausages, how many sausages would 5 get me? Same applies to blood"

Briar's face goes a bit slack as she tries to make sense of that, on her fingers. "That's onna them ones where you gotta use X."

"Shit, no teachers ever told me how it might work in real life. They just kept bleatin' "X equals X X X."

"That's... like... over 3,000 sausages."

"Minus the slaughterer's cut." A vicious grin.

"Yeah, they did that to me too.." The kinain says "Oh learn this... about trains going this fast. Do I look like I work on a train? Am I going to be on the Oriental express?" A grin "Minus the slaughter's cut eh? We haven't even cleaned it yet. "

And Bubba explains more about weights, measurements, and yeah, often nin the form of sausages, or buckets of blood!

Clem works on a nother pig methodicall. Clear shot to the temple, finishing it off, and gettingn to work. She doesn't love the blood, but is rather stoic about it.

Briar is like a sponge, absorbing the info. Neither is she afraid of messy work - she doesn't revel in the gore and aura of death like a sluagh might, but neither is she squeamish about the guts, which she handles as easily as if it was a length of rope. "You give me some shoulder, and I'll bring you back a pork-pie. Our Marigold makes the best leaf-lard crust anyone's ever had."

"That's a boast in an area with Hearth Agnes around, and I'm gonnna call you on it" Bubba says , "You'll get some shoulder and then some"

Somethings are very much like field dressing a deer, and the young lady needs little education in that part. But pigs are smart, and as the dumb ones die, the smart ones scoot away fast.. possibly giving satisfaction to the little redcap as they seem to be growing afraid of HER . Proper respect at last

Bubba explains about pig behavior, and the differences in them from deer or the like, the cuts, and more. If he happens to mention a lot of math in the measurements difference or the like, well, surely that's just talk

Just shop talk! Briar isn't perfect - it turns out that unlike a deer, the skin of a pig is thin and matches the color of the fat and flesh, so she makes a few false swipes. But she works hard to and seldom makes the same error twice.

Bubba is not above pointing out how she screwed up but he nods when she does it right

Clem is more polite about it

"That's the good thing about hogs. Whatever you mess up, you can turn into hot dogs."

"Hogs, 'n other things." A sage nod.

Clem says "Just so you know, no killing anything.. or one, on nthe farm withou prior approval"

"that's trolls for you, always trying to make the fun things all chore like" Bubba grumps

"Aw, fine."

Hours pass, and and by the time Briar is ready to go home. She has learned how many kilograms or pounds in a sring of sausages. How many liters of blood in an 80 KG pig.

And she has 13 sausages and some shoulder!

Nadeen is waiting to pick her up

Meanwhile, increased knowledge of the proper names for arteries, veins, ligaments, tendons, and so on.. at least from a pig, is in Briar's head too