Kelm Orra opens the casting ledger and the pitch checks from the west gallery at the bell foundry above the old ceremonial stair. Before anyone moves a cart or changes a mark, the crew checks a soft beat at the rim that appears only after the second cooling. The grain fall air brings its own pace to the passage.
The latest page holds 9 bells that held their assigned note after cooling. Kelm Orra reads the previous count (10) before the next mark is made. It is a small pause, long enough for the people at the rail to hear what the number leaves out.
The master caster says the alloy change is harmless; the signal crew says a narrow pitch shift can confuse a warning heard through stone. The current record does not settle that disagreement. The difference between those accounts is visible here: a rule on the board and a working condition just beyond it.
The docket has returned for review with the exceptions and unresolved objections attached. The entry belongs to the public reading file at the bell foundry above the old ceremonial stair. The next check will be made by another crew, asked to repeat the measure without borrowing the first crew’s conclusion.
When the shift closes, the file remains beside the marked place. The next casting will be tested from three listening posts before installation. Until then, the route, schedule or allotment stays as it was at the opening bell.
