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This time Delia would not wait for a phone call.
She finished dressing the Barbie in her version of a 1630s' peasant outfit. "David, come give me hand in
the garden. I just remembered some lifting I need you to do for me."
Delia kept a compost heap for her garden. This occasionally involved David, Donny or Ramona with a
wheelbarrow. In this instance, it made a good excuse to get David alone for a quiet talk.
David, deep in the process of determining which parts of a sewing machine might best be made by a
1630s' blacksmith, grumbled a bit; but did as he was told.
It took all of five minutes, and more importantly a promise not to interfere without good reason, to get
David talking. This didn't reflect a lack of honor on David's part, but trust in his grandmother. Once he
started talking it took a couple of hours for him to run down. During those two hours, Delia was again
reminded that kids understand more and listen more than people generally gave them credit for. Or than
they want credit for, mostly.
The economics of the Ring of Fire were made clear. Well, a little clearer. She learned about Brent and
Trent's talent for making things, how they worked off one another. She learned about Sarah's
understanding of money, and the financial situation of Grantville as a whole, and how Delia's family's
situation was a smaller version of the same thing. That they had lots of capital in the form of goods, but
nothing to invest it in. That what were needed were products that they could make the machines to make.
David had to explain that part twice to make it clear. He used the sewing machine as an example.
"It works like this, Grandma. We have a sewing machine. If we sell it, it's gone. Mr. Marcantonio's
machine shop could make sewing machines if we didn't need it to make other stuff, but eventually it's
going to have breakdowns, and it won't be able to make sewing machines any more. Especially if all it's
making is sewing machine parts and not machine shop parts to keep the machine shop running. But if Mr.
Marcantonio's shop makes some machines that make sewing machine parts, then when those machines
break down we have some place to go to get more of them. Every step away from just taking what we
have and selling it costs more, but means it takes longer for us to run out of stuff to sell. The machines
that make the sewing machine parts don't have to be as complicated as those in Mr. Marcantonio's shop,
because they don't need to be as flexible. 'Almost tools,' Brent says."
Sarah Wendell and the Partow twins made a new friend that evening; their parents, even more so. Delia
was impressed by the kids and the parents who had given them the knowledge they had.
She was also impressed with David. She promised not to interfere unless asked, but made him promise
to ask for her help if needed. She added her vote to the sewing machine because it was a machine itself,
so in a way it added yet another level to the levels he had talked about. She gave permission to
disassemble her Singer if it was needed. She also promised backing if the kids came up with a plan that
they convinced her could work.
"We'll find the money to do it, David. You and your friends come up with a plan that has a good shot of
working and I'll find the money."
David Bartley went to bed that night at peace with the world. For the first time since the town meeting
after the Ring of Fire, his stomach didn't bother him at all.
That is, until he remembered that grownups weren't to be involved. How was he going to tell the others?
He had to tell them. Grandma could help a lot.
June 19, 1631: Grantville High School
David had admitted his breach of confidence three days before. After being shunned for a day and a
half, he had been invited conditionally to rejoin the group. They wanted to know what his grandmother
had said, and they wanted assurances that she would not call in their parents or try to take over the
project. He had provided the assurances, and added that she thought the sewing machine was a good
idea.
After much enjoyable debate, they had narrowed the list of things down. The sewing machine was now
top of the list because they had permission to take apart the Singer. Before that it had been fairly low on
the list because of its complexity.
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