"You must have insides of iron, lass. A lot of men don't even have the stomach for butchery; whoever taught you knew what he was doing—it would have taken me and my assistant twice as long to break that animal down."

She dumps the bowl out, filling it with fresh water for the butcher before taking her apron off, "Thank you," she says hesitantly, "I've had some practice with cattle, more so with deer and goats though. But once the skin is off cloven hoofed animals are pretty much all the same."

"Indeed," he agrees. "If you ever decide to change your profession I'd be happy to work with you."...