Mildid got up from her big chair, and waddled over to one of her work tables. A long rectangular cast iron bowl with clawed feet rested on the edge of the table.

She grabbed it by a curved handle that extended over the top to either side of the bowl, and set it on the ground by the fire.

She removed a thick grate set neatly on top of the bowl. Then, taking a small shovel she kept by the fire, she plunged it into the coals and lifted out a shovel full of the burning ...