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David wasn't favorably impressed by the new night watchman Grandma had hired, and he wasn't sure he
trusted the man around his mother. So he watched him for half the morning. Why not? The bank had
refused the loan. What else was there to do?
David had seen toughs before. When they had lived in Richmond, it had not been in a good part of
town. He knew that they were just people. Some had even been friendly in a strange way. Sort of the
way a lion will lie down with a lamb, as long as he's not hungry. This guy was a bit on the scary side, but
there was something about him. A deference David had never seen before. At least not directed at him.
David realized that the night watchman, Johan, was afraid of him. Not physically afraid, but concerned
about the problems David might cause him.
It made David wonder how to act. He didn't consider, not seriously anyway, picking on the guy, but it
made talking to him seem a less dangerous undertaking. They talked most of the afternoon.
They talked about battles and captains, about work and honor. When it slipped out David almost missed
it's importance. "Ye don't act right, ye up-timers," Johan said. Then seemed embarrassed by the laps.
"How should we act?" asked David.
"Ye don't act yer proper place!" Johan said then apparently tried to take it back. "Sorry Master David, I
spoke out of turn."
But David had an inkling, just an inkling, of what was wrong. With authority he replied, "No. You've said
too much, or not enough, and this may be something we need to know."
He watched as Johan fumbled with the words. "Like I said, sir. Ye don't act yer place. One minute ye're
one thing and the next another. Ye talk like a banker, or a merchant, or a lord or craftsman, or, oh, I
don't know. Ye talk to me the same way ye'd talk to yer president."
 David almost popped out with: "Sure, you both work for us." But he didn't, because it wouldn't help.
Instead he asked: "How should we act? If you were hired by a lord or a merchant, how would they act?"
David listened as Johan talked about how the nobility, and nobility wannabes, acted toward servants and
hired hands in general. There were a lot of things, and when you put them all together they amounted to
the most calculated, demeaning, rudeness David had ever heard of in his life. He knew damn well he
could never act that way, nor could anyone in Grantville. Well almost no one.
All of which left David in a real quandary, because he had picked up something else in that lecture on
proper behavior for the upper classes. Johan didn't just expect him to act that way. Johan wanted him to
act that way. Any other behavior on his part felt like a trap. David wondered why anyone would treat
someone else that way. And when the answer came to him it was such a surprise that it popped right out
of his mouth. "God. They must be terrified of you."
Johan looked at him like he was a dangerous lunatic. Like he might pull a shotgun out of his pants pocket
and start shooting. David cracked up. He laughed till he had tears running down his face. Then he
laughed some more. All the while Johan was looking more and more upset. Finally David got himself
more or less under control. And he apologized. "I'm sorry, Johan, but your face. Looking at me like I
was crazy."
David was laughing because, for the first time since he had met Johan he was not afraid of him. He had
the key, the approach that would let Johan live among them, and not be a bomb waiting to go off. He
didn't know why, but he was sure. Six words spoken clearly and honestly. "I am not afraid of you."
David said it clearly, honestly and without the least trace of fear. "I don't have to trap you into doing
something that would be an excuse to punish you. I don't need to make you weak, to feel strong, or safe.
That's why we act the way we do, Johan! The way that seems so wrong to you. Because we are not
afraid. Not the way these German lords are, and because we are not afraid of you, you don't have to be
afraid of us.
"Here is how you should act around us. Do your job as well as you can. State your views freely. If you
think I am doing something wrong, say so. I may, or may not, follow your advice, but I won't punish you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]