Here is the next part where Bitt gets more knowledge on wine making than he
expects!
ChrisThe Lurking Fox
******************
The wine tub was a large pit chiseled intothe rock alongside the home. On
one side was a small channel that led toanother hole. This one held a small
cask. The large pit was filled with rawgrapes. The method was simple. People
or somethingsmashed down on the grapes. This forced the liquid out and to drain
into thesmall casks. The best way to squash the grapes was by stepping on them.
With(clean) bare paws. “Don’t you have a mechanical wine press ofsome sort?”
Bitt asked as he eyed the stone pit filled with grapes. “The village does,”
came the answer. “But itis broken at the moment and needs mending.” The fox
stared at the tub of grapes butdidn’t step in. “Something wrong?” Tossius
asked. “Afraid ofreal work?” Bitt scowled at him a moment. “No. It’s
justthat I’ve never deliberately stepped onto perfectly good food before.”
“You’re not ruining food,” the lionesscommented. “You are making it better!”
Bitt stared at the tub full of grapes for amoment. He slowly stepped down. His
paw sinking into grapes as they squishedand oozed between his toes. “This feels
strange,” he said slowly. “So how do I do this?” Bitt asked. “Just walk
around,” Tossius answered. Slowly the fox started to walk around. Witheach
step the grapes under his paws squished and the pulp and liquid pushing
upbetween his toes. “This feels strange.” “What is farming like where you
are from?”Tamas asked as he watched the fox. “At home we can’t grow crops
all year,” thefox explained as he slowly circled around the tub. “At best you
get from Marchtill October. All you can do is harvest as much as you can and
hope it willlast till spring.” “What happens if it isn’t enough?” the
cubasked. “You starve,” he answered bluntly. “Usuallysometime around January
or February.” Tossius shook his head. “That’s harsh.” “Life can be
harsh,” the fox answered. “Butusually we get by with some cooperation. Clans
running low on food can borrowfrom those with excess.” “I thought all the
clans up north hated eachother,” the one cub asked. She had stopped stomping
for a moment and waslooking at the grapes. “We don’t always get along but
predator orprey winter is an enemy we all have to fight,” the fox responded.
“When clansfeuded, the warriors would happily fight each other. On horseback,
on paw butthey never would harm a farmer or herder.” “That makes sense,”
Tossius said. “Kill afarmer in summer and you’ll starve come winter.” Bitt
nodded in agreement. “And they werecareful where they fought. Trampled crops
can’t be harvested.” “I bet the Romans weren’t that polite,” thelioness
commented. The fox stopped a moment and slowly shookhis head. “Oh no. They
went for the easy kills. Farmers, herders, crafters.Whatever would break our
will or ability to resist.” He stiffened and his earswent down and he bared his
teeth. “But we showed them why their ancestors hadfeared our raiders.” “But
they won anyway,” Tossius added. “Eventually,” the fox responded. “What
happened? What did they do?” Bitt shrugged. “What could they do. Theempire
was too strong to defeat so we had to adapt. Learn to live inside it.” “So
you stopped fighting the Romans,” thelion commented. “The Roman campaign to
conquer this landwasn’t bloodless either,” the fox countered. “I’m sure your
ancestors foughtthem too.” “And lost as well,” the Lion added. “And yet
now we both serve in the Legion,”Bitt commented. “Why is that?” The lion
asked. “Wouldn’t thatbe helping the enemy?” Bitt shook his head and gave a
wave of hisleft hand. “Please. Now you sound like my younger brother.” “But
it is a good question,” the lionessadded. Bitt shrugged. “One hundred years
is a longtime. Old wounds do heal and trying toignore the empire won’t make it
just go away. Also with the bad it also broughtgood. Increased trade, better
roads, aqueducts, sewers, the Cursus Publicus. Andit has brought a long period
of peace. To name just a few.” “You once asked me what would I do if
theempire went away,” Tossius said. “What would you do?” “I’m not really
sure,” Bitt answeredhonestly. “But I’d probably do like my ancestors did a
century ago; pick up thepieces and get back to work. Life goes on. As it always
has.” Tamas walked up to the group and tappedloudly on the side of the tub.
“Enough depressing chat. Get back to work.” “Do I get to sample some of your
fine winewhen we are done?” Bitt asked as he continued to stomp on the grapes.
Tamas shook his head. “Not this batch. Ithas to age for a few years before
it’s ready to drink.” “Years?” Bitt asked. “What do you mean age?” “It is
stored in large casks to ferment,”Tamas explained. “And that takes several
years. Don’t you know anything aboutwine?” “No, except how to drink it,” the
foxanswered with a shake of the head. “We don’t grow grapes at home.”
“Probably too cold,” Tossius added. Bittstopped stamping the grapes and
stepped out of the tub. He noted that both legswere purple up to above his
ankles. He used a handful of straw from the floorand tried to wipe off as much
of the juice as possible. The fox didn’t get rideof the stain in his fur and he
managed to get some of his fingertips colored aswell. “I hope this comes off.”
“It will,”Tamas said, trying not to laugh. “Eventually. Now get you sandals
on and I’llshow you the results of all that work. Tamas took his son and
Bitt to a set ofstairs in one corner of the courtyard. Walking down the short
flight of stepstook them to a solid door. The elder lion opened it and they
stepped through.Inside a dozen, large, wooden casks lined the far wall. Bitt
looked at the casks. “You think thereis enough wine there for us?” “You
can’t drink it all,” Tamas responded. “Is that a challenge?” Bitt joked.
Tamas laughed and shook his head. He took awooden cup down from a shelf. The
lionwent to one of the casks and filled it from the spigot. “I think you
will like this,” the lion saidand handed the cup to Bitt. The fox took the
cup and sipped the wine. Ithad a strong flavor with a mellow, earthy taste.
“Good. Very nice!” He took a large ceramic jug down from whereit hung on the
wall on a hook. Tamas filled it with wine. “Let’s enjoy this inthe shade
outside.” They retreated back outside to the courtyardwhere chairs and a
small table had been set up in the shade of the tree. Tamas took a seat
first and then Bitt and Tossiussat down. Bitt looked down at his paws. Both
paws weredyed a shade of dark purple all the way to the knees. “When will the
color wearoff?” Tossius tried to stifle a laugh as he satdown. “In a few
days or a week.” “You had this planned all along,” the foxcommented darkly
as he looked from paws to feline. “I spent years stomping grapes and seemed
tohave purple paws all the time,” Tossius answered. “Till I joined the legion.”
Bitt looked back at his purple dyed paws. “If it bothers you so much,”
Tossiuscommented. “Wear boots.” The fox shook his head. “Not in this heat.”
“Claim you are doing that out of devotion toSaint Purlpeus,” the lion joked.
“To honor how the saint was killed in a winepress.” Bitt scowled that his
friend and thenlaughed. “You owe me a drink. Several.” Tossius handed a
ceramic cup to the fox. The fox held up his cup full of wine andlooked into
the liquid. “I’ll never see wine the same way again.” **************
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