A Word Usage Key is at the end. Some commonly used words are there whether used in this chapter or not. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood of the n is replaced by a d or ed. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically with a footnote number. If you have suggestions I would be pleased to consider implementing them.
The brackets after a character e.g. CLAIRE (4 nc) indicates Claire is a character who is 4 years old and a character not encountered before. Ages of incomers are in Earth years at this point and of Folk in Castle years. (4 Folk yrs ≈ 5 Earth yrs. l is lunes, t is tenners.) There is a list of chapters and their significant characters at the bottom too.
3rd of Chent Day 6
Leech and Gimlet spent another night under the tent, and after a braekfast of cold steak and liver found the horses four hours away from the Keep. The horses were happy to see them and even happier to see the bag of oats. Leech improvised halters from the rope they had brought, and the two of them, with the three horses, arrived back at the Keep in the middle of the afternoon. They off loaded Charcoal at the general store with instructions to take the clothes to the seamstresses’ stores, the bottles to Joseph, and to keep the food bag. They left all three horses at the stables, and asked Gwendoline to have the dray horses examined by Gudrun and to have Eorl, Geoffrey’s stable Master, apprised of their return. Gwendoline said, “After Gudrun has looked at them I’ll take them to Eorl myself.”
“I’ll report to Will and tell Linden what to record,” Leech said to Gimlet. “You drop the meat off at the kitchens and find those children of yours. Give my best to Aspen. A good trip, Gimlet.”
“My gratitude, Leech. Yes, a good trip. My regards to Gale. I’ll find you, and we’ll have spaech of the aurochs sometime nextday.”
3rd of Chent Day 6
When Georgina, Quail, Birchbark and Hemlock met again Georgina agreed in principle to a marriage of four, but said they needed to set the terms out very clearly at the outset, and since they had just missed a Quarterday, she would only agree if those agreed terms were subject to an appearance next Quarterday, and prior to that it was a trial period with no obligations on any. All four of them thought that to be a good idea, not least because it gave them some time, and the terms of the marriage they eventually agreed were similar to those of the coppicers’ quartet. Despite no experience, Georgina decided to join the woodworkers as a lærer(1) polisher and finisher, and help Birchbark in his work. The only outstanding question of significance was, how long would it take Birchbark to make their bed?
3rd of Chent Day 6
It was late afternoon when Peter and the boys returned from feeding the hens, collecting the eggs, weeding and doing all the other things the boys had telt him had to be done on the plot.
Lasteve the boys had said they had been invited to eat the eve meal with Firefox at his grandmother’s, “She’s making sweetings,” they had chorused. Honesty had given permission. She had a soft spot for Firefox. Firefox, an intelligent ten year old hellion with long deep red hair and dark green eyes, was always in trouble and was a friend of her boys. He wasn’t a bad boy, he was kind and helpful, but he had more energy than ten adults could keep up with. An orphan, he lived with his grandparents Lovage and Badger who were proud of him, but they wryly admitted he was definitely a child who needed parents with more energy than they had at their age. From the plot the boys delivered the eggs to the White Swan kitchens before going to find Firefox.
Peter went in to the main living space, and saw Hannah closely watching Honesty nursing Bella. Honesty had a dreamy expression on her face and didn’t seem to be aware Peter had come home. He looked questioningly at Hannah who nodded his attention back to Honesty again. Peter noticed Bella was totally focussed on nursing and wasn’t fussing at all as she had usually done when Honesty had nursed her before. He remained standing and motionless watching Honesty and Bella. He was experiencing feelings he had never had before, and they were overwhelming him. Honesty eventually realised he was there and said with an expression of great joy on her face, “The herbs are working, she’s nursing, Peter.”
Hannah said, “The herbs don’t usually work that quickly, but dry nursing does speed the process, oft without it the herbs won’t work at all, especially for women who have never had a babe. You’ve nurst three before, and they do work faster with previous mothers. I’ll just wait to see if she’s had enough, and nurse her if she’ll take it. I’ll have to go to my sister’s to feed Cuttle soon because I’ve fedd Fleece and I’m so full my breasts are starting to ache.” Peter was still a little uneasy regards the way women of the Folk spake openly of what he had always considered to be a taboo matter as far as men were concerned, but he was a little easier than two days ago.
After a few more minutes Bella started to fuss, and Hannah said, “You’d better pass her over now.” Hannah taekt Bella in her arms and with a frequently practised sequence of movements had Bella settled to her breast and the fussing stopped immediately. She nursed Bella for a few minutes and put her to her other breast, saying to Honesty, “She’s slowing down, but I need the relief.” After a few more minutes, Bella was trying hard to stay awake and alternately suckling and dosing off. Finally she let go of Hannah’s nipple altogether and slid off to sleep. Hannah wiped herself, pulled the ties of her blouse together and said, “That’s that. I’ll be off, but I’ll be back later. You’ll probably be able to manage Bella yourself, Honesty, nextdaynigh.”
Hannah left for Marranth’s. Marranth’s milk was drying up despite her nursing Cuttle her year old son. Honesty put Bella back in her crib saying, “She’ll probably awaken soon and need winding, so I’ll wait with her awhile.” She turned to Peter and wordlessly hugged him tightly.
3rd of Chent Day 6
[For the convenience of the reader there are some approximate time references in brackets]
The waggon headed south-east from the camp, and the route was such that it wasn’t seen by many at the Keep. It was early afternoon [1400] when they set out, and Aaron explained to the women it would be on the edge of full-dark by the time they arrived. Torrent, the waggoner, was a man of medium highth and build in his late twenties with long dark blond hair and brown eyes. They halted after a couple of hours [1600] to rest the horses, and then again [1830] at what Torrent said was almost halfway near a small stand of mixt deciduous woodland. This time the horses were unhitched and allowed to graze and drink at the small rill at the edge of the copse. Torrent lit a fire to boil a kettle for leaf in a small circle of blackened stones that had been so uest many times before. He indicated to the women to sit down on the logs berount the fireplace. He offered his hand to Zoë to assist her to sit on one of the low logs. Zoë who was seven or eight lunes pregnant and ungainly smiled and said, “Thank you,” as she gingerly lowered herself to the log, his hand holding hers taking some of her weighth.
He handed berount a bag containing long, thin loafs of bread which had been split and filled with a savoury mixture of meat and pickles at one end and a sweetened berry mixture at the other end. “Wayfarers’ bread,” he explained to the women.
Torrent maekt leaf and Aaron filled the mugs and passed them berount saying, “Wayfarers’ bread is nourishing and keeps a long time, but it is dry, the leaf will help.” The women who had never eaten aught like the wayfarers’ bread before, which though it was tasty did require a lot of chewing, ate their bread and drank their leaf in silence.
Torrent sat on the same log as Zoë and smiled at her as she struggled to chew her bread, “Drink a bit of leaf with it,” he suggested, “it saves your teeth a bit of wear.” Zoë did so and smiled gratefully at him. They finished their meal and had another half mug of leaf each which emptied the kettle. Torrent went to the waggon and extracted a box from which he taekt some small parcels. He gave each of the women a parcel and said, “It contains soft paper. The woodland is the last place before our destination where you can relieve yourself with any privacy.” All five of the women blushed at his words, but his words also maekt all of them realise they did indeed have a pressing need to relieve themselfs.
They all taekt a parcel and said, “Thank you.”
Torrent held his hand out for Zoë to pull herself up on, and as she did she stumbled slightly falling forward into his arms. He caught her under her arms, and both were aware of the other as Zoë’s pregnancy pressed on his waist and her breasts on his chest. “I’m so sorry,” she said, as she recovered her balance, stood and moved away from him.
“That’s all right,” he said smiling. “I’m glad there was someone to catch the two of you.” Then quietly so only Zoë could hear him, “And I’m glad it was me.”
Zoë flusht again and just as quietly said, “And so am I.”
The five women headed towards the woodland, and Aaron turned to Torrent and said, “She will need to spend at least two lunes with my family before she will be able live with the Folk and accept the Way, but you are well come to stay with us and Zoë as long as you like.”
“Am I as obvious as that, Aaron?” Torrent asked laughing.
“I suspect the five of them are planning your downfall right now,” Aaron replied smiling.
Torrent laught again and said, “There’s no need. I have commitments to Geoffrey, but I shall be at the holding from time to time. There’s no hurry. I admit I should like to have agreement with Zoë, and I believe she may come to be of like mind too, but I shall abide by your views concerning her entry into the Folk.”
The women as soon as they were out of sight of the men found appropriate places to relieve themselfs, and were grateful for the parcels provided by Torrent. They found a small pool to wash in, and Bekka asked Zoë, “How old do you think he is?”
Zoë maekt no effort to pretend she didn’t understand what Bekka was spaeking of and replied, “Maybe thirty, I’m not sure, and I don’t care, he’s kind, good-looking and I think he likes me.”
The other four agreed Torrent was indeed interested in Zoë. The women returned to the waggon to find the horses rehitched and the fire doused. They were helped up into the back of the waggon, and their journey resumed [1900] in a slightly more southerly direction. Aaron was naturally a quiet and introspective man, and most of his time he spent thinking as opposed to spaeking, but the women wished to know where they were going, and whom they were going to meet when they arrived there.
Aaron telt of his family and their way of life to them. “My father, Anvil, is sixty-five, and my mother, Stonechat, is a year younger than he. They’re both grower crafters, though as I telt you my mother craftet as a midwife for most of her life. My sister Clematis is fourty-four and her man Chough is nine years younger than she. He’s her second man. She loes her first and all three of their children to the fevers fourteen years over. They have two daughters, Sylvan who is eight and Peace who is five, and two sons, Quoin who is ten and Purslane who is seven. There are usually a few young women and men, and oft older girls and boys too, living with them as part of their apprenticeship as growers. They keep a small number of sheep and poultry for their own use, and usually raise a pair of meat calfs also for their own use. Clematis has a nanny goat for milk and Chough has startet to keep bees. They grow all their own vegetables, and Chough also raises carp for the table in ponds fedd by the nearby stream. They produce cereal grains for the Keep and for Joseph the brew Master as their main source of income. They have a small herd of heavy horses which my father breeds to work the holding, and he occasionally trades one or two and buys a new mare or two, more to prevent inbreeding than for the profit he makes.
My father and Chough built the new house with a little help from myself and a lot of help from friends. The old house is now a stable for the horses with accommodation for harvest help above. My mother and sister look after the poultry, and they all work the vegetable plot. The children are starting to help. The constant weeding requiert by the young cereals to ensure a good crop is mostly doen by my father, Chough and the apprentices. At harvest time they all work with the cereals, and a lot of folk arrive to help, mostly from the Keep, to ensure they gather the crop as quickly as possible. The extra crafters at harvest time, and there may be as many as thirty of them, stay and eat at the holding. It is an enjoyable time to be there with a major celebration when the last of the harvest is gathert in safely.”
“How big is the house to take all those folk?” Bekka asked.
“It’s big enough to feed them all, for the kitchen, which is large, can be opent to include the covert veranda, but some of the out buildings were built so they can be also uest as sleeping accommodation for the harvest crafters.”
“Who does all the cooking?” Carley asked.
“As well as harvest crafters there are always a few cooks, oft family of the harvest crafters. They come for the enjoyment of it as much as for the remuneration of the work itself. As I sayt, there’s a lot of fun to be had at harvest time on a holding. It’s hard work but enjoyable because of the company.”
Jade, who of the five was the most limited intellectually, asked, “What shall we have to do when we get there? As work, I mean.”
Zoë saw Torrent wince when Jade spake, but she noticed Aaron’s demeanour didn’t change at all, and nor did his tone of voice. That’s not quite how it is, Jade,” he replied patiently. “You are guests, and not there to craft for your keep. You are there to try to understand how we live and to come to terms with the Castle Way. If you help at what you can, and learn what we do and why we do it, that’s enough.” Jade still didn’t understand, which Aaron was aware of, but it was the best he could do till the women were settled in and started to absorb the behaviour of his family as he knew they would eventually, though he suspected his mother may have to be somewhat ruthless in order to achieved that end. Jade in particular he suspected could probably only learn that way.
The sun was sinking in the early eve sky when Vikki asked, “How long till we arrive?”
“The horses will need a rest in half an hour [2100] for half an hour [2130] or so,” Torrent replied. “I’ll give them some feed then, and that will be our last halt. Then, an hour at this pace will see us there, [2230] and it will be nearly sunset. [Sunset is at 2248].
Zoë asked Torrent if she could sit on the driver’s bench with him. He replied, “Of course, but bring something soft to sit on.”
Zoë brought a fur coat, and folded it on the bench. She sat beside Torrent and asked him, “Is this what you do all the time, drive a waggon?”
“Yes, I apprenticet to Geoffrey the waggoner when I was thirteen, and I’ve been doing it ever since. It’s a good craft. I’ve been to everywhere on Castle worth going to, and to a lot of places few folk have ever seen. I like working with horses, and have also traint as a farrier so I can shoe them myself. This is my own waggon and team and I’ve had them for over twelve years. I spend a lot of my life under the sky, and oft sleep in a waggon under a cover. I am always well come wherever I go. Folk wish the supplies I bring, to have their produce away and the news, which is always appreciatet. It’s a good life.”
They carried on chatting of his life and the life she had led before incursion. She had been as reticent regards her previous life as she could, and she thought she had given little away, but the very paucity of her explanations spake volumes, and though he didn’t shew it Torrent was appalled at the casual brutality and inhumanity she conveyed. He surmised she had been uest as opposed to loved, and that she said naught of her babe’s father and her family implied much he would rather not have thought of. None of that bothered him regards Zoë. In his eyes she was an attractive woman, and her pregnancy maekt her even more desirable. He’d led a nomadic adult life, and though he’d had a number of relationships with women he had fathered no children. The relationships hadn’t lasted because he wasn’t willing to give up his way of life, but he had been thinking of agreement for some time.
Zoë thought his way of life was romantic and his descriptions were of an attractive life. She was perceptive enough to realise that was because he was describing something he loved. They carried on chatting till he drew the horses up to rest them. [2100] The women were helped off the waggon and all seven of them stretched their legs whilst the horses rested and grazed after eating some oats. The landscape berount them was totally flat and windswept with no trees and not even a bush, the slight breeze was raising the dust from the parched earth. In the farth, they could see a line of tree covered hills with higher hills behind them. Aaron telt them the holding was at the foot of the nearer hills and, though a bit more than an hour away at their current speed, it could be reached in half the time on horseback.
Jade who was six to seven lunes pregnant, and not quite as ungainly as Zoë, whispered to Zoë, “I’m full to bursting after drinking the leaf and the jolting of the waggon, but there’s nowhere to go. I don’t want to do it in front of the men.”
Zoë said, “I’ll ask them to look away. We probably all need to go, if we stay on one side of the waggon, and they on the other that will have to do.” Jade nodded and Zoë walked over to Aaron and telt him, “We need to relieve ourselves, but it’s embarrassing with you and Torrent here. May we use the far side of the waggon if you stay on this side?”
Aaron nodded in understanding and said, “I’ll tell Torrent.”
The arrangement worked and the women emptied their bladders in the best privacy available. When the horses had rested Torrent rehitched them and the waggon rolled on its way. [2130] The sun was low down in the sky now and the air was becoming chilly. They could see the horses’ breath, and a few minutes later their own was visible too. They put heavy fur coats on, and watched as the sun dropped farther down in the sky, her louring edge reaching eagerly for the horizon. She was the originator of all life, oft referred to as the Mother, and finally beginning to go over the curve of Castle. Neither sparkling nor scintillating nor aught so else definite, yet seen through the trees she was an indistinct variable yellow form surrounded by an irregular sunset glow the boundaries of which shifted too rapidly for the eye to follow. As she sank she became even more obscured by the trees and as the light level loured what could be seen was fascinating, beautiful and thought provoking. It was still daylight as she vanished over the edge of Castle, but all Folk knew that was an illusion that would gradually fade with the trees over the next half hour as full dark, unchallenged by Lune or even Dimidd, claimed ascendancy and the trees joined their peers in the darkth far over the horizon.
[2215] “Not much more than a quarter of an hour now. The house is in a sheltert hollow, and we won’t be able to see it till we are almost there,” Aaron remarked. “That’s why it’s yclept Hidden Hollow holding.”
Zoë asked Torrent if he had been here before, and he replied, “Many times. I’ve bringen supplies here, and taken grain to the brewers and millers and straw to the thatchers. I’ve even collectet horses from Aaron’s father and taken them back to the Keep for him. When they were building the new house, I regularly bringen in building materials for them, mostly whole trees on axles from the foresters for the structure itself, but other things too. That was ten or eleven years over.”
He looked at Aaron who said, “Eleven.”
“Every time I come here it’s different,” Torrent continued, “more chambers to the house, another out building, or there’s another paddock fencet. It’s a busy place with more apprentices every year.” He pointed in front of them and off to their right, and said, “You’ll see the house in a minute. That smoke there is from the chimney which will be what you see first.” They all looked where he was pointing, and they noticed the faint blue spiral in the air, and sure enough a minute later the chimney came into view. [2230]
“Less than five minutes now and we’re there,” remarked Aaron. A couple of minutes later they had been espied, and as they pulled up a large black bearded man grabbed the collar of the off-side leader and helped to bring them to a standstill outside an out building.
A tall, slender, motherly looking woman emerged from the house and said, “Come in, come in, and I’ll have the meal on the table as soon as you’ve warmt up and are ready for it.” Zoë thought they had been expected and wondered how that could be, but she kept her thoughts to herself.
“The rest of you go in. I prefer to deal with the horse tack myself, no offence intendet, but if I see to it I can only blame myself if aught goes wrong.”
Chough, who was uest to Torrent’s ways, said, “You know where to put it, and the cleaning materials are where they always are, Torrent.”
Torrent grinned and waited till the women were helped down and escorted into the house, and the various boxes and bags removed from the waggon before starting to back the waggon into the out building. Two boys hurried to open the double doors for him and latched them because the wind was increasing. Anvil said to Torrent, “I love to watch a craft waggoner backing a team not least because of the all the work it saves.”
“Everything is easy when you know how to do it,” Torrent responded, “I love watching any true crafter.” He finished backing the waggon in and unhitched the horses, He said to the boys who were waiting to lead the horses out into the paddock, “Watch the off-side leader, boys, Tricksy is playful, and it amuses her to bite and crush you gainst a rail or a wall. She’s not really nasty, but don’t turn your back on her.”
One of the boys asked, “Why do you keep her with that temperament?”
“She’s the lead horse,” Torrent explained, “and steadies the others when the work becomes hard through no fault of mine. She responds if I ask her to keep going, and where she goes the others will follow. She’s intelligent, and has preventet us going into ground I should have had trouble extricating us from many a time on unfamiliar routes. I’ll live with a lot more vice than she exhibits for her ability to make sure we arrive where we are going. I never ask her to do more than she can, and when she pulls us out of trouble I make sure she has enough rest and sweetent oats as a reward for doing so. We understand each other perfectly and she never bothers me. I’m part of the team and she knows that. When she becomes too old to work I’ll never part with her. She’ll come with us as a loose horse to keep us safe.”
The boy he had spaken to, and the others who were listening realised, they were listening to a Master of Master crafters and felt privileged to have been telt. One of them said, “Gratitude, Master waggoner, for explaining.”
“My pleasure, boys,” Torrent said, “A member of the flaught(2) makes an easy task look hard to the inexperiencet. A Master makes a hard task look easy. It was a long time before I realiest that, and I hope when you become Masters, as you will, you pass on the lesson I have just passt on to you.”
The boys taekt the horses to the paddock, and Anvil remarked with a grin, “I don’t know how many times I’ve hearet you warn apprentices of that mare, Torrent, but these at least are learning.” He nodded in the direction of the boys and when Torrent turned to look he noticed two of them had taken Tricksy, one on each side and they were holding tightly to her collar. Indeed they were learning. He spent five minutes removing the horse tack from the waggon, and then he taekt it to the tack chamber where the candles had been lit ready for him. [2250] He would clean, polish and oil it nextday. By the time he had finished it was full dark outside.
His working day over, he went to the house and its welcoming light which shone from the casements. The heavy curtains which would have been drawn long before now to conserve heatth had been opened to enable him to see his way. He was looking forward to a warm meal, an eve’s entertainment and finally a warm bed. He wished he were sharing a bed with Zoë, but there was time to consolidate his position there. He knew he would be given more work by Anvil nextday, and would be returning to the holding. However, he was determined he would have at least a kiss and with luck a commitment from Zoë before he left. The warmth that hit him as he opened the door was pleasant, and Stonechat, closing the curtains, said to him, “Well come, Torrent, take your boots off and warm your feet by the fire. A mug of leaf, or something a little stronger?”
“No, no,” said Torrent, “the leaf’s enough for the now though I wouldn’t say no to a glass after we’ve eaten.”
He removed his boots, and a small girl taekt them, insisting, “I’ll put them away and look after them for you first thing nextday.”
Not wanting to offend her, he said, “Of course, gratitude, Peace.”
Peace announced proudly, “I’m five now, and I look to the boots. It’s my task.” She taekt his boots away and returned with a pair of slippers, and said gravely, “These are Grandfa’s,(3) but you may borrow them.”
He expressed gratitude to Peace and winked at Anvil who shrugged and said, “They learn it at the breast I’m sure.”
The table had been set and Stonechat and Clematis were putting dishes on the table. Stonechat said, “Come and sit to your food.” Despite over two dozen sitting down to eat, the table was large enough to seat them all with places aplenty to spare. The plates were hot, the venison casserole was bubbling, and the fresh bread still hot from the oven smelt wonderful. There were jugs of gravy, and dishes of steaming, buttered fresh redroots(4) with the greens still on, rehydrated dried beans from last year’s crop, mashed starchroots(5) and something the women had never seen before. “Anvil, serve the casserole at your end, and Clematis the vegetables, please,” instructed Stonechat.
Clematis pointing to the vegetable they didn’t recognise advised the women, “Try a little of the sour gourd,(6) but it may not be to your taste. It is a similar taste to cumber, but bitter, and it is cookt with pumpkin seeds and a little butter.”
The women all tried some, and Carley and Jade thought it tasty and had a full portion, the other three thought it tasty enough in small portions, but as Vikki put it, “That will take some getting uest to.”
The conversation during the meal was mostly of the journey. Aaron as usual said little. He was listening to the five women and evaluating their reactions to the situation they found themselfs in. The men spake of the state of the trail and the possibility of providing more wayside shelters. They discussed the possibly of erecting a stopping over hut and stabling at the halfway halt as a contingency for the onset of sudden bad weather, especially heavy snowfall. The women and children spake of what the sights had been, the children and younger apprentices mostly interested in what animals had been seen. The older women solicitously enquired of the jolting and its effects on the young women and their babes. Clematis and her two elder children cleared the table whilst her two younger ones brought turned wooden bowls with carvings on their rims for the pie and sauce. The pie filling was, Stonechat explained, “Maekt with woodland berries and some apple, both dryt from last year’s crop. The sauce is baest on thickent tree sap we collect in the spring, and Nanny provides the cream.”
“It’s the best reason for coming here,” declared Torrent. All agreed the pie and its sauce were delicious. Torrent remarked, “You’ve been embarking on a major building project since I was last here.”
“Yes,” said Anvil. “We wisht some extra chambers for the harvest workers, so we’d been making wall and roof sections during the bad weather in the big barn. Chough maekt the extra beds. We plantet a lot more grain than usual this spring, and are going to need more than the usual amount of help at harvest. Joseph askt us to plant the extra barley for him and will be sending some of his crafters to help at harvest. We’re trying a small crop of hops for him too, and we put in a bit more oats for the horses. The idea was if we built the chambers as part of the house we could house the cooks, especially the bakers, nearer the ovens. The new wing was sitet so as to provide some wind shelter for vegetables.
“We were going erect the sections next lune, but three days since Aaron sent a message to do it as soon as possible. He sent six men with the message to help, and we had them built in two days. They’re habitable as you will see, but they still need finishing. We’ll thatch over the roofs and insulate the floors after the grain harvest before winter. You’re in one of them. Building them where we doet enabelt us to heat the hot water for the bath chambers and facilities with the bread ovens rather than having to provide separate heating arrangements. It has all workt rather successfully really, but Chough was the one who designt it not me. Xanders here telt us you were coming when she arrivt four hours since, and she and the children maekt the beds ready.”
Apart from Jade, the young women, who were listening to Anvil and Torrent’s conversation, realised Aaron must have sent the initial message on their second, or at the latest their third, day on Castle when they were still being difficult for the Folk. He could have had no other reason for doing so other than to house them, and they were embarrassed by it. The arrival of Xanders, who must have been sent by Aaron when he had returned to the Keep to arrange the waggon and their clothes, explained why they were expected and why a main meal had been available so late. Stonechat had shewn them to their chambers in the new wing earlier which had been built with a pair of facilities and two bath chambers at the original house end of the corridor. There were twelve bedchambers, six on each side after the bath chamber and facility. They looked at Aaron, but his face as usual was impassive and telt them nothing. They wondered what else regards them had been conveyed with the message. Quoin, the ten year old, interrupted every one’s attention just then by restacking the fire which had burnt a little low. Stonechat explained to the women, “All the children have their own tasks, and they do tend to take themselfs a little seriously.”
[0000] The table was cleared, and all had found a comfortable place to sit nearer the fire. Anvil telt the women, “We go to bed early as a rule and rise early too, but usually we’ve an hour in the eve of song, or of games with the children. Thiseve we are later than usual, but a song or two before bed wouldn’t be unseemly with guests in the house. Torrent, will you give us a song?” he asked.
Torrent said, “Willingly.” He stood, and sang a song of the joys of a waggoner and his love of seeing new places. He had a good tenor voice, and the song was a good one. That most had heard it before maekt no difference to the audience’s enjoyment. He explained to the women, “It’s a song craftet by Geoffrey waggon Master in his youth, before he settelt down, and is a favourite with many folk who live some whilth from the Keep.”
Xanders recited a poem of the joys of running and riding Castle free of the restraints of trail or the known and explained afterwards it was one she had learnt as a girl from Web, the then Mistress animal husbander, herself a messenger.
An hour was spent listening to song, [0100] Clematis and her mother sang a duet, a love song of young wifes wishing for the return of their men, the apprentices sang and even the children sang too. Eventually Torrent said, “I must check my team and then to my bed.”
Stonechat said, “We’ve put you in one of the new chambers, Torrent, the first on the right after the bath chamber and the facility.”
Chough said, “I’ll come with you and check our stock.”
3rd of Chent Day 6
“Stacey, one of the initially difficult, pregnant young women who have now joint the Folk has agreement with Juniper one of the younger hunter guardians, and Meliot his mother has agreen to place her as an apprentice weaver, which is good news. The three others who are within days of birthing have also joint the Folk. Even better, the five we were convincet were going to die and take their unbirtht with them appear to have finally joint the Folk. I have no idea what Aaron sayt, or doet, to those flaught young women, and I’m certain we shall never find out,” Gosellyn said looking thoughtful, “but he has taken them to Hidden Hollow, and says they will be learning the growing craft and the Way. His note assures me by next Quarterday they will either have a man or be on the platform. I hadn’t given up, but I’d given up hope, and would have bet a bottle of Joseph’s best they and their unbirtht were dead all but for interment.”
“Aaron is someone I have trustet from long before he became adult,” said Yew, “but I won’t pretend I have ever understandt him. I should put my life, the lifes of all I love and the lifes of the Folk in his hands without hesitation or qualm, but I can’t for my own life tell you why.”
“We are lucky to have him,” agreed Thomas. “I just wish he could find an apprentice.” All nodded at the last. Aaron’s so far fruitless search for a protégé and successor was known to all.
“He wrieten we, no less than those five young women, are not only the creators but the creations of our times,” said Gosellyn gloomily. “What ever that means.”
“He never was easy to understand,” said Yew, and then he added, “May hap none of us are.”
Many of the Council looked at Yew quizzically at that and Thomas asked, “You thinking of becoming a hermit, Yew?” At that the entire Council laught. Other than Will, a less appropriate candidate than Yew to take Aaron’s place was difficult to envisage.
“Lucinda has been adoptet by Camomile and Cormorant,” Gosellyn continued, “and she seems to have regresst to ten years of age as a protection from the horrors of her rape. Cormorant believes, and Campion and I agree with him, she will just take a little longer to grow up. She wishes to go to dancing practice in the Greathall with her syskonen, and we agree meeting boys that way, as a girl, will enable her to recover as well as she can. We have placet her on the list of protectet childhood.” All agreed that was indeed good news and approven that her childhood was protected, which meant she would not be legally considered adult till the healers taekt her off the list. There were not many on the list, but a few of the more limited Folk remained on the list all their lifes.
Campion then informed them, “A woman naemt Veronica has disappeart. She was a woman of influence and power in her previous life who has not findt it possible to adjust to Castle yet. We know she had too much to drink lasteve and have subsequently discovert she goent back to her chamber with a bottle of brandy. I discovert she was not there and her bed had not been sleept in when I goent to have spaech with her again in the middle forenoon thisday. I also findt the empty bottle. Will?”
“Campion askt me to have her locatet just before lunch,” Will said, “and both my and Basil’s staffs have been unable to find her. I do not believe she is in the Keep or at Outgangside.” It was agreed it was worrying and very puzzling but also other than spreading the news of Veronica’s disappearance and asking all to be vigilant in seeking her there was little else that could be done.
“The last of the children have now been adoptet,” Iris was clearly pleased to be able to say. “The boys we were worryt would be difficult to place have all been adoptet by Jackdaw and his newfolk wife Beatrix, who appear to be exactly the right parents for them. Neither seems to have any difficulty handling the boys, and they have also adoptet two young men, also in Will’s kennel squad.”
Gareth added “Twenty-five or so more incomers have personal placements now, but we are not exactly sure how many, for the incomers, especially the women, tend to make arrangements themselfs and then not to inform the Master at arms office as the folkbirtht would. Other than those removt from the Keep it is believt there are no more than fiveteen or so incomers without personal placements, but it could be many fewer and other than Veronica none is worryt for the newfolk concernt.”
Yew suggested, “Since there appears to be naught urgent or serious left to do connectet with the incursion, at least till the reluctants return, I suggest unless any can bethink her of a reason to do differently we next meet in five days so as to enable us all to do what we have had to leave undoen. Does any have aught else?”
“Only that I’ll arrange for all remaining at the incursion site to be returnt and the dogmeat to be threwn in the Arder.”
“Gratitude, Will. I also suggest as before if something unforeseen arises Gareth is apprisen. Gareth, is that acceptable?”
“Yes, I’m quite happy to continue with the arrangement, Yew.”
“Are we all agreen then? In five days?” All considered that to be sensible, and as they braekt up and left after Yew had closed the meeting there were a number who expressed relief at things reverting to a more normal pace.
Index of significant characters so far listed by Chapter
1 Introduction
2 Jacques de Saint d’Espéranche
3 The Folk and the Keep
4 Hwijje, Travisher, Will
5 Yew, Allan, Rowan,Siskin, Will, Thomas, Merle, Molly, Aaron, Gareth, Oak, Abigail, Milligan, Basil, Vinnek, Iris, Margæt, Gilla, Alsike, Alfalfa, Gibb, Happith, Kroïn, Mako, Pilot, Briar, Gosellyn, Gren, Hazel
6 Chaunter, Waxwing, Flame, João, Clansaver, Irune, Ceël, Barroo, Campion, Limpet, Vlæna, Xera, Rook, Falcon, Cwm, Sanderling, Aldeia, Catarina, Coast, Elixabete,
7Mercedes, Spoonbill
8 Lyllabette, Yoomarrianna
9 Helen, Duncan, Gosellyn, Eudes, Abigail
10 George/Gage, Iris, Waverley, Belinda
11 Marc/Marcy, Pol
12 George/Gage, Marcy, Freddy/Bittern, Weyland, Iris, Bling
13 Thomas, Will, Mercedes, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna
14 Kyle, Thomas, Will, Angélique
15 Mercedes, Morgelle, Gorse, Thrift, George/Gage, Chris, Iris, Thrift, Campion
16 Bling
17 Waverley, Mr. E
18 George/Gage, Larch, Mari, Ford, Gorse, Morgelle, Luke, Erin
19 Will, Pilot, Yew, Geoge/Gage, Mari, Ford, Gosellyn, Cwm, Cerise, Filbert, Gareth, Duncan, Helen, Thomas, Iris, Plume, Campion, Pim, Rook, Falcon, João, Hare
20 Yew, Rowan, Will, Thomas, Siskin, Weir, Grayling, Willow
21 Brook, Harrier, Cherry, Abby, Selena, Borage, Sætwæn, Fiona, Fergal
22 Yew, Thomas, Hazel, Rowan, Gosellyn, Siskin, Will, Lianna, Duncan
23 Tench, Knawel, Claire, Oliver, Loosestrife, Bramling, George, Lyre, Janice, Kæn, Joan, Eric
24 Luke, Sanderling, Ursula, Gervaise, Mike, Spruce, Moss
25 Janet, Vincent, Douglas, Alec, Alice
26 Pearl, Merlin, Willow, Ella, Suki, Tull, Irena
27 Gina, Hardy, Lilac, Jessica, Teal, Anna
28 Bryony, Judith, Bronwen, Farsight
29 Muriel, Raquel, Grace
30 Catherine, Crane, Snipe, Winifred, Dominique, Ferdinand
31 Alma, Allan, Morris, Miranda
32 Dabchick, Nigel
33 Raquel, Thistle, Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Phœbe
34 Eleanor, Woad, Catherine, Crane
35 Muriel, Hail, Joan, Breve, Eric, Nell, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
36 Selena,Sætwæn, Borage, Grace, Gatekeeper, Raquel, Thistle
37 Siân, Mackerel, Winifred, Obsidian
38 Carla, Petrel, Alkanet, Ferdinand
39 Dominique, Oxlip, Alma, Allan, Tress, Bryony
40 Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Ella, Kestrel, Judith, Storm
41 Ella, Kestrel, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane
42 Weights & Measures and Sunrise & Sunset Times included in Ch 41
43 Ella, Kestrel, Serenity, Smile, Gwendoline, Rook, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane, Sapphire, Mere
44 Pearl, Merlin, Rainbow, Perch, Joan, Breve, truth, Rachael, Hedger, Ruby, Deepwater
45 Janet, Blackdyke, Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster
46 Janet, Gina, Alastaire, Joan, Breve, Truth, Bræth, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
47 The Squad, Mercedes, Fen, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
48 Bronwen, Forest, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Kathleen, Niall, Bluebell, Sophie
49 Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster, Imogen, Wryneck, Phœbe, Knapps
50 Erin, Nightjar, Eleanor, Woad
51 Gina, Jonas, Janet, Gerald, Patrick, Tansy, Craig, Barret, Ryan
52 Constance, Rye, Bling, Bullace, Berry, Jimmy, Leveret, Rory, Shelagh, Silas
53 Rachael, Hedger, Eve, Gilla, Mallard, Fiona, Fergal, Tinder, Nightingale, Fran, Dyker
54 Pamela, Mullein, Patricia, Chestnut, Lavinia, Ophæn, Catherine, Crane
55 Susan, Kingfisher, Janet, Gina, Jonas, Ruth, Kilroy, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
56 Gina, Jonas, Patricia, Chestnut, The Squad, Hazel, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch, Mangel, Clary, Brendan
57 Erin, Nightjar, Xera, Josephine, Wels, Michelle, Musk, Swansdown, Tenor
58 Timothy, Axel, Nectar, Waverley,Yvette, Whitebear, Firefly, Farsight, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch
59 Lilac, Firefly, Farsight, Lucinda, Gimlet, Leech, Janet, Blackdyke
60 Douglas, Lunelight, Yvette, Whitebear, Thrift, Haw, Harebell, Goosander, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew, Matilda, Evan, Heron
61 Brendan, Clary, Chloë, Apricot, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Otis, Harry, Gimlet, Leech, Jodie
62 Gimlet, Leech, Lark, Seth, Charles, Bruana, Noah, Kirsty, Shirley, Mint, Kevin, Faith, Oak, Lilly, Jason, Gem, Ellen
63 Honesty, Peter, Bella, Abel, Kell, Deal, Siobhan, Scout, Jodie
64 Heather, Jon, Anise, Holly, Gift, Dirk, Lilac, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Ivy, David
65 Sérent, Dace, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Clarissa, Gorse, Eagle, Frond, Diana, Gander, Gyre, Tania, Alice, Alec
66 Suki, Tull, Buzzard, Mint, Kevin, Harmony, Fran, Dyker, Joining the Clans, Pamela, Mullein, Mist, Francis, Kristiana, Cliff, Patricia, Chestnut, Timothy, Axel, Nectar, Waverly, Tarragon, Edrydd, Louise, Turnstone, Jane, Mase, Cynthia, Merle, Warbler, Spearmint, Stonecrop
67 Warbler, Jed, Fiona, Fergal, Marcy, Wayland, Otday, Xoë, Luval, Spearmint, Stonecrop, Merle, Cynthia, Eorle, Betony, Smile
68 Pansy, Pim,Phlox, Stuart, Marilyn, Goth, Lunelight, Douglas, Crystal, Godwit, Estelle, Slimlyspoon, Lyre, George, Damson, Lilac
69 Honesty, Peter, Abel, Bella, Judith, storm, Matilda, Evean, Iola, Heron, Mint, Kevin, Lilac, Happith, Gloria, Peregrine
70 Lillian, Tussock, Modesty, Thyme, Vivienne, Minyet, Ivy, David, Jasmine, Lilac, Ash, Beech
71 Quartet & Rebecca, Gimlet & Leech, The Squad, Lyre & George, Deadth, Gift
72 Gareth, Willow, Ivy, David, Kæna,Chive, Hyssop, Birch, Lucinda, Camomile, Meredith, Cormorant, Whisker, Florence, Murre, Iola, Milligan, Yarrow, Flagstaff, Swansdown, Tenor, Morgan, Yinjærik, Silvia, Harmaish, Billie, Jo, Stacey, Juniper
73 The Growers, The Reluctants, Miriam, Roger, Lauren, Dermot, Lindsay, Scott, Will, Chris, Plume, Stacey, Juniper
74 Warbler, Jed, Veronica, Campion, Mast, Lucinda, Cormorant, Camomile, Yellowstone
75 Katheen, Raymnd, Niall, Bluebe, Sophie, Hazel, Ivy, Shadow, Allison, Amber, Judith, Storm Alwydd, Matthew, Beatrix, Jackdaw, The Squad, Elders, Jennt, Bronze, Maeve, Wain, Monique, Piddock, Melissa, Roebuck, Aaron, Carley Jade, Zoë, Vikki, Bekka, Mint, Torrent
Word Usage Key
Some commonly used words are below. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically.
Agreän(s), those person(s) one has marital agreement with, spouse(s).
Bethinkt, thought.
Braekt, broke.
Doet, did. Pronounced dote.
Doetn’t, didn’t. Pronounced dough + ent.
Findt, found,
Goen, gone
Goent, went.
Heartfriend, a relationship of much more significance than being a girl- or boy-friend is on Earth. Oft such relationships are formed from as young as four and they are taken seriously by both children and adults. A child’s heartfriend is automatically one of their heartfriend’s parents’ children too, and a sibling to their heartfriend’s siblings. Such relationships rarely fail and are seen as precursors to becoming intendet and having agreement.
Lastdaysince, the day before yesterday.
Loes, lost.
Maekt, made.
Nextdaynigh, the day after tomorrow.
Sayt, said.
Taekt, took.
Telt, told.
Uest, used.
1 Lærer, adult apprentice a trainee.
2 Flaught, foolish.
3 Grandfa, specifically maternal grandfather.
4 Redroots, carrots.
5 Starchroot, floury potato. Waxy potatoes are referred to as waxroots, though the distinction is neither absolute nor always adhered to.
6 Sour gourd, a cucurbit containing quinine. Karel(l)a, bitter gourd. Momordica charantia.
