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.

5th of Chent Day 8

All the siblings who comprised the kennel squad had interesting but impoverished backgrounds. Their impoverishment was of many kinds, but given the consistent, rough and ready, if somewhat lax, discipline of Jackdaw, and the much tougher love given by Beatrix to all thirteen of them, not just her ten, they blossomed. The major reason for their Damascene experience was simple. They were treated fairly and their desired lifestyle was regarded with respect. For most of them, their dad was a hunter and was happy to rear sons who wished to follow in his footsteps. Their mum loved them and all she wished in return was their love. George, Alwydd, and Niall just acquired another home which their parents regarded as entirely in accord with their membership of the squad. When the members of the squad realised what they did was valued by Folk as important as Will and Milligan many of their resentments and troubles vanished, they had a place in this new world and more to the point a placement. For the first time in their lives they mattered, and more importantly, they mattered to Folk who mattered.

Despite their masculine view of themselfs and their lifes the brothers came to enjoy having sisters and especially enjoyed the softer loving treatment they received from them, and when Wayland said they had to look after their sisters and protect them, especially from any undesired attentions from other boys, they took their responsibility seriously, for it elevated their self esteem considerably, especially when the girls admitted they felt safer as a result of their love and care. They were embarrassed by the girls’ emphasis on love as well as care rather than just care, but it elevated their self esteem even further and they felt proud of themselves as a result too.

George was a highly intelligent and violently self-reliant twelve year old. His background was brutal and in his turn he was somewhat uncompromising in his dealings with the squad. He knew exactly what he wished out of life and realised Castle could provide it. All he had to do was to make sure his performance looking after the kennels and mews was first class. Nothing and none were going to stop him, and if need be he would fight to ensure it. It wasn’t long before he realised Will approven of his attitude. His parents loved and approven of him, and he wished to be like Ford and marry someone like Mari when he grew up. His natural, if unconventional, style of leadership was soon approven by the squad since it generated respect for them all, and he was fair and reasonable, never asking any to do what he was not prepared to do himself. He led by example.

For thirteen year old Niall, family and a sense of belonging were much more important than what he did for a living. To both his mother and older brother he had been a nuisance whom they had to look after which interfered with what they wanted to do. They had both resented his existence and he had never known his dad nor any other relatives. He had been an invisible pupil at school with nothing particularly good or bad in terms of ability or behaviour to make him noticeable. Castle had provided him with Kathleen, a mum who loved him, and Raymond, a dad who was already spending time with him. His dad’s craft ideas regarding edible water plants were providing him and the squad with a lot of interesting activities which maekt a pleasant change from crafting at the kennels. He now had a sister of his age, Bluebell, whom he got on with really well, and a little sister, Sophie, they had all become close, and they were soon to have a brother. The only thing he had ever really enjoyed had been poaching with some of his friends. At least when after coneys he could forget home and school for a while. For Niall life was better than it had ever been, he had a family and was now spending his time with the squad and his dad doing things he understood, worthwhile things he could see the point of doing, and as a result he enjoyed being respected for the first time in his life. Like the others in the squad he crafted long and hard, but didn’t consider it to be work. It was just how he spent his time and he enjoyed it. Going to school, where he had been expected to learn things he neither understood nor believed he would ever use, was a rapidly fading bad memory.

Alwydd was eight, nearly nine, and he was a big raw boned boy who looked much older than he was. He was the youngest of three and had never known his dad. Though too young to appreciate it, his mother, who had become pregnant at fifteen and then twice more, was independently wealthy, or at least she came from a wealthy family that was prepared to support their wayward daughter, as long as she lived a long way from the family home and kept a low profile. He used to go catching coneys with his elder brother on land owned by friends of the family, and he didn’t have a good relationship with his sister. She was the eldest at fifteen and was in the process of being redeemed by their grandparents with a view to introducing her into society and finding her a husband. His mother loved her children only as long as they didn’t cost her any effort, and Alwydd had been happy to find himself on Castle. His new parents, Judith and Storm, cared to him in a way his mother never had which gave him a sense of security he had never known. His five new siblings maekt his life much more enjoyable, especially his elder sister, Iola, who, though she was far more authoritarian than his blood sister had ever been, loved him. He enjoyed no longer being the youngest, and having a younger brother who was barely more than a babe whom they all had to help look after gave him a sense of responsibility and belonging. He had never met his original grandparents but his new ones were in Iola’s words, ‘Just brilliant!’ Granny, who he considered must have been hundreds of years old, was lovely. When she kissed him he could smell flowers, and he just knew when things went awry she was the sort of person you could go to and she would make life better. Granddad, who if anything must have been much older than Granny, was a really interesting person. They had spaken of his placement in the kennel squad which Alwydd taekt seriously because for the first time in his life he had a sense of what he would do when he grew up which removed a lot of his anxiety concerning his future. Granddad had taken him seriously and telt him of some of the things he did when he was a boy. Alwydd was impressed by his method for catching pike, which Granddad said maekt good eating. You tied a piece of fishing line to a short bit of stick, poked the stick inside an empty bottle, jammed the cork back in and tied a baited triple hook to the other end of the line, connected a heavy line to it and threw it into the water and then it was just down to patience. The pike taekt the bait and couldn’t pull the empty bottle away, or its buoyancy down. You pulled the pike to the edge of the water by the line and knocked it on the head with a priest. A priest, Granddad had explained, was a short but heavy club. His had been a piece of hollowed out oak filled with lead which had been poured in when molten. Granddad had said they would have the wood workers and the smiths make them one and go to try it sometime soon with some of the squad. Alwydd and the squad couldn’t wait.

Marcy’s identity issues had not caused her problems after her parents’ separation, because she had lived with her mum, a long way from her dad and brothers, and she had only met her brothers once since and her dad not at all. Her mum loved her and had accepted her as she was, and so had the other children at the school she’d attended as well as the school itself. Pol’s friendship and her parent’s acceptance was wonderful, and she tried hard not to think of them or her mum as it maekt her cry. A late developer she was extremely small for a thirteen year old and had yet to embark on puberty. She knew she was growing up and was approaching uncharted territory, and some of the time she wasn’t any more bothered than most children. That is to say it maekt her nervous and excited at the same time, but most of the time the prospect of a puberty which would transform her into a man terrified her. After the incident with Freddy and Wayland on their first forenoon in the infirmary, the incomer children had all accepted her as she was, and they as well as the folkbirtht children were thinking of and treating her as a girl. The only thing that maekt her nervous was Beatrix’s reactions when she findt out. However, she had been glad to join the squad because it would provide her with opportunities for salmon fishing which she enjoyed and was good at. She had heard of falconry and, since only Fergal had any knowledge and experience of it, their shared fun, laughter over their mistakes, and learning, were consolidating the sibling bonds mongst the squad. She had started biting her nails when her parents were still together, and they were a permanent bleeding and painful reminder of her fears that her brothers and father would discover her secret self, but she couldn’t stop herself now. Her new brothers kept telling her to see if the healers could help her to stop because they didn’t like to even think of how badly it hurt her. That they cared so much maekt her feel valued for who and what she was, and she became more feminine as even her residual, habitual defensivth was no longer necessary and fell away. She missed her mum and Pol and her parents dreadfully, they had maekt her life worth living, but she was glad she now had Beatrix and Jackdaw, and her new brothers were much nicer to her than the two she had left behind, for they liekt having a sister, were protective of her, and surprisingly to her they were coming to behave as though they loved her as a sister too. She had always liekt being treated as and dressing as a girl because it was natural and easy being a girl, but trying to be a boy was distressingly difficult. Even if she couldn’t stop biting her nails she had decided to stop swearing. She’d never liekt it, but it was something she’d maekt herself start a long time over when with boys as a kind of camouflage because it was something they did.

Twelve year old Freddy had grown up with his ex-military father and three brothers the youngest of who was fifteen years older than he. His brothers had all joined the military though all in different services. His mother had died from leukaemia when he was three and he had no memory of her. He had no female relatives and was a complete stranger to any affection. His dad was a martinet, and Freddy’s room and everything else to do with him had to be absolutely spotless and to military academy standards. He knew his father’s way was not the only way to live from friends at school. He also knew it was not the way he wanted to live as an adult, but his father’s assumption he would join some elite military corps and excel as an exterminator of human kind was so overwhelming he just went along with it knowing one day he would walk away leaving all the jingoistic bullshit behind him. Freddy hated school, he wasn’t stupid and could read and write fluently as well as having a good grasp of arithmetic, but he just wasn’t interested in Spanish, computer studies, algebra or any of the rest of the subjects school insisted were essential to his future, and in any case he didn’t believe them. He joined the army cadets, much to his father’s delight and soon acquired his marksman’s badge and a creditable ability in orienteering. In his free time he associated with a group of highly disreputable boys who were expert poachers and taught him how to catch, kill, skin, gut and cook various animals, mostly illegally obtained like sheep and deer. His father vaguely approved, but Freddy considered it to be a good thing his father knew nothing of many of their other reprehensible if not to say downright criminal activities. He had thought he was reasonably free of his father’s and brothers’ tunnel vision of life before he arrived on Castle. His first morning, to his embarrassment, brought him to a realisation he had absorbed more of their bigotry than he had realised. Wayland’s challenge when he said that he didn’t care how badly he was hurt in the attempt to make him apologise to Marcy he had realised was sincere and rooted in a solid belief in what was right and what was not. Wayland had left him with a deep sense of shame, and he was grateful that Marcy had allowed him to try to put things right. Wayland had also maekt it possible for all of them to be siblings, but he thought what ever happened he would always feel particularly close to Marcy who he was sure had more courage than himself. When Marcy had kissed his cheek he’d been unable to stop himself from kissing hers. His brothers had thought nothing of it, and they all agreed it was really nice having a sister. One of the girls who had been there when Freddy had squared up to Marcy had telt him with disdain afterwards, “If I’d been Marcy I’d have kneed you in the bollocks so hard you’d still be looking for them.”
The girl, who was much smaller than he, had been turning away from him when bright red with embarrassment he had admitted, “It wasn’t a kind thing to say, and I’m going to try to make it up to Marcy.”
The girl had turned back to him, and looking not quite as disdainful said, “Good idea. I’m Bling, see you around, Freddy,” and walked away. Bling had seemed a tough personality, despite her lack of size, but then so was Wayland who was even smaller. Never a deep thinker Freddy was forced into the realisation perhaps it was not a good idea to judge people by their looks, and then again perhaps it was not a good idea to judge at all. Marcy looked and acted soft, more like a girl than most girls, but it had been obvious she had been prepared stand up for herself before Wayland had intervened. That thought confused Freddy, for he realised he’d been ready to fight with a girl a fraction of his size. Freddy also realised he wished a new name more than ever, one that didn’t have any connection with his previous life and the person he had been and was trying to distance himself from. He hadn’t liekt being looked down on by Bling, a pretty girl less than half his weighth and nearly a foot shorter than he, any more than he was comfortable with the idea he’d been ready to hit Marcy. Despite her justifiable contempt, Bling had seemed nice and he decided he would try to make her think better of him, and he’d start by building bridges with Marcy. That night, as in bed he thought the day over, he realised Bling was more than pretty and he couldn’t get the image of the tantalising shape the corners of her mouth formed when she smiled out of his head.

In spite of having eaten enough for two all his life and never having gone short of food, Wayland was small, skinny and undernourished looking. His short cut, pale red hair was at variance with his twinkling black eyes. He had a permanent smile and obviously considered life to be one big opportunity for a laugh. He looked to be seven, in fact he was ten. He was also highly intelligent and had a strong personal sense of right and wrong which had not always matched at all closely the law whence he came. He had always believed a pheasant belonged to whoever could catch it rather than the owner of the land it was feeding on, after all it had to be a nonsense that ownership of it changed just because it flew over a fence, didn’t it? It was his sense of right and wrong that had started the process of welding many of the incomer children into a family long before the squad had formed and the ten of them were adopted by by Jackdaw and Beatrix. The others, even George, instinctively looked to him for guidance. Wayland was used to leading the process of forging family out of nothing, he had spent all ten years of his life in an orphanage for boys where he had perceived it was not so much a matter of “us versus them,” them being the nuns who ran the orphanage who were kind and gentle with the boys, as a matter of “to survive we have to look after each other.” As he grew older he became familiar with the psychiatric effects alienation and isolation had on some of the boys. He was no stranger to those who self harmed and the few who taekt their own lifes, usually shortly after they had left the orphanage. His whole character had developed as a result of his determination to prevent those effects and his solution was simple and effective, they needed to consider themselfs as a family of brothers. As a result of hearing a song which contained a phrase he liekt he telt the boys, “We are brothers in arms.”(1) After their adoption by Jackdaw and Beatrix, Wayland could see no reason for changing any of his views. That he now had parents and a dozen ‘brothers’ in arms, of both sexes, and not the nuns and nearly two hundred ‘brothers’ in arms who were all boys was clearly an improvement, but from his point of view they were still brothers in arms. That the expression originally referred to soldiers he knew, and he considered it to be even more appropriate now they were all apprentices in the kennel squad. He had always accepted persons were as they were and not as others would like them to be, and in the early days of their incursion suspected he was just as aware of what Marcy was in her head as Marcy was. It didn’t bother him, and early on he had determined to assist Marcy to become what ever she wished to be, and to assist their brothers to not just accept it, that wasn’t enough for Wayland, but to be happy and caring regards it as they already all were regards each other. Though he knew most of them would never admit that. Even he had been surprised at the speed with which his brothers had come to love and be prepared to admit they loved Marcy as their sister. After some deep thought he came to realise his brothers needed to be able to love and admit it, and a sister and their mum were the only options they had that could maintain their fragile self respects.

Chris came from a background of privilege, none of which meant much as he was the sixth son of Alan Offaly, Earl McDrian, an impoverished aristocrat whose line had fallen on hard times due to two sets of death-duties within five years. One incurred as a result of an early demise on the hunting field, and another equally foolhardy one on the racing circuit, though the fatal family tendency to hard drinking whilst gambling for recklessly heavy stakes hadn’t helped. Chris had little to look forward to in the way of income or expectation, and the only thing he would have liekt to have done was be a jockey, but he knew his father would never allow him to do anything as remotely lower class as that. Without asking him he could almost hear his lofty reaction in the sonorous yet pedantic tones he used when depressing his children’s desires and ambitions, “Riding one’s own racehorses for enjoyment and a wager is one thing, Christopher, riding someone else’s for employment and wages is entirely different, and would never be considered by any one with pretensions to gentility. It is just not to be thought of, so I suggest you put it out of your mind. I propose to forget this conversation ever took place and I am certainly not going to mention it to your mother. You know how much it would hurt her feelings and how disappointed in you she would be.” His father always brought his mothers feelings to bear when he wanted his children to comply with his requirements. Chris had never understood why because he wasn’t certain his mother knew who they all were. His mother, Jane Offaly, Countess McDrian née Lady Jane McCalbha, a diamond of the first water, as a debutante of the first stare at eighteen had married into a house older than and almost as distinguished and illustrious as the one she came from, the settlements had helped. She had presented her husband with eight tokens of her affection within ten years of her marriage, whom she promptly left to the servants to rear. Six of them being sons and the succession assured she then resumed her social life. Chris was of average intelligence, much brighter than his seven siblings, but being the youngest meant he’d been largely ignored once he was free of Nanny’s tyrannical regime at the age of five. The following three years he spent largely avoiding the tutors engaged to educate them and slumming it, his father’s words not his, in the company of Tommy, the game keeper, Sid, the water bailiff and Nick, the stable master. He had learnt little of anything from the tutors, but was a crack shot, a master keeper and fisherman and being completely fearless could ride like the wind and stay aback anything with legs till it stopped running from sheer exhaustion. He’d had little acquaintance with either of his parents, didn’t particularly like his siblings and when he arrived on Castle the only persons he missed were Tommy, Sid, Nick and, much to his surprise, Nanny. Jackdaw and Beatrix replaced all of them in less than half an hour and he was delighted to have eleven brothers and a sister who were interested in what he could do and thought he was as good as they.
After Gudrun had given him the stallion he had thought long and hard of a name for him. It had to be a name as magnificent and noble as the horse himself which was the most powerful and highest quality horse he had ever ridden, and his father’s friends had owned some of the best in the world, most of which he had ridden, though oft it had slipped his mind to ask their owners for permission. He thought of recent racehorses, legendary racehorses of the past, none of their names seemed quite right, and it finally came to him when he was falling asleep one night, Sleipnir. Sleipnir, Odin’s magic eight leggèd steed from the bedtime stories Nanny had read to them. He thought of the story trying to remember the details smiling as he realised when Odin had been sojourning berount the world Sleipnir had cast a shoe and Odin had taught the first smith his trade. The name of that smith had been Wayland. He would have to tell Wayland, it would amuse him. He smiled again as he remembered how, when he was little, he had fallen asleep many a night planning his journey north and how he would coax one of the eight leggèd horses to be his friend and race through the air with him and how he had dreamt of the same for as far back as he could remember. He had cried on and off for weeks when he had discovered myths, legends and sagas weren’t real, and there was no such country as Asgard in the far north where dwelt a race of magic eight leggèd horses that could race through the air. He laught aloud as he realised he may not have a magic eight leggèd steed he could race through the air with, but when his Sleipnir had effortlessly taken the paddock fence he had come very close to it.

Manic’s parents had been in his own words a pair of nutters. His father was a fat drunken slob who spent most of his handout money on drink, drugs, tattoos and piercings. He was covered in tattoos and carried a considerable amount of metal in the form of body piercings. Manic thought his dad’s face looked like a scrap yard just before the crusher arrived for a clear out. Worst of all his dad wore skin tight black leathers which made him look ridiculous due to his huge beer gut. His mother wasn’t much different except her leathers were shocking pink and designed to shew off the maximum amount of her breasts possible, as well of course as the upper half if not three-quarters of her buttocks advertising the ‘whale tail’ and thong string disappearing between them. That her breasts frequently fell out of their inadequate residence displaying her two inch nipple rings and the chains that connected them together and to her navel piercings bothered her not at all and she would cackle with laughter saying, “Whoops, they’re off again.” That they were prepared to speak with any one of their piercings and tattoos he could accept, but when they went to parents’ evening at school it had been a bit of a trial, though most of his friends were understanding due to being embarrassed by their parents too. He knew everyone knew his mother had four sets of labial piercings, a pierced clitoral hood and a shaved and tattooed vulva and his father had a Prince Albert and also shaved his genitals to display his tattoos properly. One of his mates, whose parents were no better, had told him bitterly it was may hap as well their mothers had completely shaved fannies(2) because otherwise you’d be able to see their pubes(3) from behind over the top of their leathers.(4) He lothed his brother and two sisters who were carbon copies of their parents, and he hated his name which he had decided to change as soon as he could. At eleven he knew he had a while to wait before he could leave home and acquire a proper name but he was patient. The trouble with his name was it made people react to him in ways that had nothing to do with his behaviour. As a result school was a nightmare and he spent most of his school time poaching. Usually what drove him back to school was hunger because he received free meals there. Castle was a dream come true, but he had decided not to call himself John as he had originally intended but to wait for inspiration to give him a proper Folk name.

Guy was the twelve year old only child of a pair of vegan, organic market-gardeners who were proud they only had one child between them which they considered to be their contribution to sustainable population growth. Organic, sustainable, green, recyclable, the buzzwords were endless and Guy from an early age had hated them all. His most memorable, and delicious, experience was when he had been eating at Geordie’s, a school friend of his, where he had been given a plate for his non-organic crumpets, which were loaded with synthetic food additives and toasted on a wood fire fuelled by unsustainably-sourced wood. The crumpets had been dripping with full-fat, salted butter and piled high with sugar-loaded jam, which he had wiped off his chin and plate before licking it off his fingers much to the approval of Geordie’s parents. “That’s right, Son, don’t waste a drop,” Geordie’s dad had said. Geordie’s dad had run a local boy scout troop and rather to the disapproval of his parents Guy had joined. He had learnt all sorts of things, but may hap most significantly he had learnt how wonderful meat tasted. Sausages, bacon, chops, burgers, kebabs, chicken and best of all coney. The coney was usually caught with a snare, but road kill was just as good, and he had learnt how to deal with what ever he found which had included many a pheasant and even a deer on one camping expedition. Many of the boys were interested in shuriken: Japanese style throwing knives, which they threw at an archery target. Guy had become adept with one and had become knowledgable concerning the various styles and their manufacture. He had become an accomplished shot with an air rifle and rarely missed whether it was coney or pheasant. He had become an even more accomplished liar to his parents who thought the scouts lived a vegetarian if not a vegan life. An intelligent boy he had pondered his parents’ professed ethics and come to the conclusion they were untenable in the long run, which had made him laugh as he realised they were unsustainable. He’d had a row with his dad concerning footwear when he had wanted to buy a pair of leather, hiking boots. His parents wore plastic shoes maintaining they were more ethical than leather ones. He had pointed out they were made from fossil fuels in India by an exploited workforce and had probably been flown in from there using more fossil fuel. He had then pointed out to his dad the only ‘ethical’ shoes would be the sandals made from locally grown hemp which would have been very uncomfortable in wet weather. His father had blustered and spluttered and then grounded him for a week. His mother had merely watched throughout the entire proceedings. He remembered a rhyme he had read somewhere which went “A man convinced against his will is of his own opinion still,” and thought his parents were a pair of extremists who would only ever see what they wanted to see. He didn’t believe their views were without merit, merely they would never be able to see merit in any view which deviated from theirs by so much as a hair’s breadth. They were fanatics. His parents were much more interested in the vegan lifestyle and their green conferences than they were in their son, and he was not in the least bit upset to find himself on Castle where any could eat meat every meal every day if he so desired. His adoption by Beatrix and Jackdaw who cared for him was to his mind a vast improvement on being considered to be a contribution to sustainable population growth. His dad killed meat and his mum preserved it, bliss. Having a load of siblings, all interested in living the way he wished to, was in his opinion much better than being an only child. He was delighted to find he was not a bad shot with a light bow, which though it was considered to be of limited use by the Folk had a range if anything slightly better than an air rifle and he spent a lot of time at the butts and taekt his bow with him when they went out with the dogs. He was particularly adept using the flat ended arrows on targets in trees. Prey in trees were confident and did not usually move away at movement on the ground, so he could shoot from close range. The blunt ended arrows were designed to stun and knock prey out of the trees to be despatched on the ground, and being blunt they did not lodge in the wood of the tree but fell to the ground with the prey.

At twelve Liam was seven feet tall and still growing. The growth clinic had estimated he would eventually reach seven feet nine or ten. He was slight of build which gave them some concern as to the strength of his bones but they’d telt him if he didn’t do anything silly and consumed plenty of dairy products eventually his bones would be strong enough for his height. He had lived with a series of foster parents but had eventually been adopted by the woman he just referred to as Mum, Mrs. Gregory. Liam had trouble learning at school but had enjoyed lamping for coneys at night with his new brothers. When she realised Liam was struggling at school, especially in mathematics, his mum had managed to obtain some financial help for a private tutor. His first tutor, a primary school teacher, took him to eleven year old level and admitted he could go no further. His next tutor, Dr. McQueen, was a full time tutor and didn’t teach in a school. To Liam and his mum he was hard to comprehend at first, all he seemed to do was tell strange, vaguely mathematical stories and then make Liam work. That Liam could then do the work made his mum realise Dr. McQueen had a completely different teaching methodology from any she had ever come across or heard of and Liam didn’t even realise he was learning half the time.
When Liam arrived on Castle he had joined the kennel squad for something to do. When he met Jackdaw and Beatrix he couldn’t believe how similar Beatrix looked to Mum and how similar she was in her do it or else attitude. He had a home, a new Mum and a Dad, loads of siblings he liekt and who liekt him, a career and best of all no more exams to take.

Jed was nearly twelve and small and had been at secondary school for almost a year. He had been one of five children. His mum was thirty-one, her children had five different fathers and had all been out of control for years. Poaching was the least anti-social activity they involved themselves in, though Jed had a Saturday job on the mart carrying boxes. Jed had been expelled from three primary schools, the first two for assaulting teachers which he thought was fair, but he didn’t think it reasonable he should have been held responsible for razing to the ground his third school. As he explained “I only poured the petrol through the letter box, it was Chester who put the match to it.” Jed didn’t hate school, he just couldn’t see any point in it and if given any chance at all would run away, and he could run like a hare and turn like a coney for a boy of his size. Any chance at all meant he was sufficiently far away from any adult for them to be able to catch him. He’d had no respect for anything or any other than Doris, his employer, simply because she was the only one who had ever put things to him in non-negotiable language he understood, and of course, it being illegal to employ someone of Jed’s age, she paid in cash. Then he had met his form teacher at secondary school who was like no one he had ever met before. Mr. Edwards, a small heavily built, softly spoken man with a smile, had taken him to one side and said very quietly, “You are supposed to be within reach of me all day right?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, bloody well what? You little shite!” Mr. Edwards’ smile had just disappeared to be replaced by a menacing glare as he whispered the words through his teeth.
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s better. You know what, Jed, I think we’re going to get on just fine,” Mr. Edwards grinned, his smile back again. “Now let me explain how it’s going to work. You don’t give me any shit and I won’t give you any. If you run away from me when we get you back again bad and painful things will happen to you, all by accident. I know you know where I’m coming from, so don’t bother to pretend otherwise. If you treat me with respect and don’t give any one like the head a reason to shout at me then I shall treat you with respect, and your life at school will be good. I can’t promise you will have non-stop fun, but I can promise I shall do my best. Do you understand, Jed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent, I really enjoy teaching intelligent pupils.”
Jed really liekt being on Castle, and despite his difficulties, his new parents and siblings gave him a place in his new society he valued, for he’d never belonged any where before. They also gave him a feeling of safety he’d never enjoyed before. In spite of having been a loner all his life, he was happy to have folkbirtht friends. That Warbler was his heartfriend too maekt him even happier, and even though he knew he was not yet fully aware of all it’s implications he knew she would keep him out of trouble. He enjoyed being with Warbler, who was opening doors for him to all kinds of interesting experiences. He would never have gone to a banquet or a dance on Earth or for that matter learnt to use a sling, and he now had a wide circle of friends, girls as well as boys, all due to Warbler. He’d had few friends in his life, none of them girls, and now he had a relationship with one all folkbirtht children taekt seriously. That in the eyes of the Folk he and Warbler were each others’ property was a strange thing to him, but it felt good, safe even somehow. He had borrowed some fishing tackle from Luval, and he’d plans to take Warbler fishing, but he was bothered by the prospect of his brothers discovering his relationship with her and teasing him concerning it, for he doubted they would have a Folk appreciation of heartfriends yet and knew he would over react badly to teasing. Warbler had admitted to being impressed by him being in the squad and that some of her friends were envious of her which had maekt Jed feel good. She was pretty and smelt exhilaratingly pleasant in a way that maekt him acutely aware of her femininity, and a lot of the boys he had known on Earth would have thought him to be lucky. So did he. When he was with her he could be himself with nothing to prove to any, and if, as oft occurred, he wished to say something kind to her nothing held him back because it no longer caused him any embarrassment, and the look on her face when he did maekt him feel worthwhile and important to her. He had enjoyed the acceptance of Warbler’s family and spending the eve with her auntie and uncle. However, he had not yet felt able to introduce her to his new family, but he knew when he did his siblings would be impressed by her skill with a sling. He had not kissed her, but he had thought of it a few times, usually when he’d been stroking her hair. He loved Warbler’s hair, which was the longest he’d ever come across. He loved touching it and loved combing it which Warbler enjoyed. He was not aware that when he was combing her hair for Warbler it was so sensuous an experience that in her reverie she fantasized of the scenario under the stars painted by her granny far more than of just kissing him, but in the main when she was with him Warbler thought of little else than kissing him and she was just biding her time for the appropriate circumstances to arrive.
Jed did miss Doris and Mr. E. Doris had protected him from the thugs when he had been working and couldn’t run away. She had once used one of the steel tubes the stall was fashioned from to lay out cold a twenty year old druggie who had been trying to shake Jed down for his money. She’d announced to the crowd “Nobody messes with me or mine, nor does anything that causes me to lose trade. Now somebody get that junkie out of here before the police take him to hospital and find out what he’s probably got in his pockets.” After that Jed had been left alone because all knew he was under Doris’ protection and nobody messed with Doris, she was far too well connected with persons most didn’t even wish to think about never mind cross.
Mr. E, true to his word, had done his best to make school as good for him as he could and had been a good advocate for him when things had gone awry elsewhere at school. When he had run away from trouble he ran to the sanctuary of Mr. E’s classroom where Mr. E always said, “Hello, Jed. Find yourself something to do off the shelves and we’ll talk at the end of the lesson and sort things out for you.” He did, however, realise Castle was full of Folk who were as blunt, straight and easy to understand as Mr. E, including Will and George and all of his new family. He was looking forward to the future, especially improving with the sling Warbler had given him. He was desperate to kill his first coney with his brothers watching which he knew they would regard as awesome.

Fergal was fourteen, nearly fifteen, and despite a stable and affluent family background he had a very troubled past. He had grown up with two sisters and a brother. His brother had been older than he and a rough, tough, sport-mad boy of average intelligence, the son his father wanted. Fergal was bright and not at all like his brother, and he’d been constantly derided for being a “bloody sissy” by his father because he had preferred to play with his sisters. In an attempt to follow a more manly lifestyle and appease his father he had joined a local falconry group and had hunted every weekend. It had worked at first till his father found out the group had more female members than male after which he had with chauvinistic contempt referred to it as The Birds’ Club for the Birds. His mother had never said anything one way or the other, but she had never protected him from his father’s ire, nor comforted him when he was upset by it, and she had no idea how much her younger son was hurt by what he perceived to be the lack of her love. Life at school was difficult for Fergal where he still preferred the company of the girls and hated the rougher, traditional boys’ sporting activities. The boys taunted him with shouts of Gay boy, though the girls always made him welcome. As they grew older and puberty started to impact on their lives the boys became even more unpleasant. Most of them were now jealous of him because the girls would save Fergal a place to eat lunch with them and he was always welcome to sit in the midst of a group of girls just chatting when the boys would have given a lot just to be able to speak with one girl. Fergal knew he wasn’t gay, and the girls knew it too, but he was unassertive, non-threatening and easy to chat with. The boys would have been considerably more unpleasant if they had known what all the girls knew, it was enjoyable kissing Fergal and he didn’t brag of his conquests because he didn’t see them as conquests, he just liekt being with girls and kissing them too. As they grew older and progressed beyond kisses he was gentle and undemanding and many a girl would remember for the rest of her life the thrill the first time her breasts and then her sex had been touched by a boy, and for many it had been by Fergal. At a young age he became a knowledgeable and consummately skilled lover who took a quiet pride in his skill. That few knew of it, the girls said nothing, made no difference to him, and never for one second had he considered defending himself against the gay boy taunts by resorting to kiss and tell tactics. When he had telt the Master at arms staff of his interest in falconry they had telt him of the kennel and mews squad and had asked him if he were interested in joining. He was interested, for it was a start on the adult life he very much wished. Now he was a young man with a craft and an intended, looking forward to agreement and a family.

Sharky was fifteen and of decidedly limited intelligence as far as reading, writing and basic arithmetic were concerned. He was due to leave school and his form teacher had calculated since Sharky had turned four nearly a quarter of a million had been spent on all sorts of mechanisms to help him learn to read. Nothing had worked. Sharky had never had a mobile phone because he couldn’t text and as his form teacher had said, “The moneys should have been saved for some useful purpose. There has never been anything we could have done to help him that could have exerted the pressure that peer pressure exerted to teach him to text which failt.”
Sharky was a willing pupil, had a high level of manual dexterity, enjoyed manual tasks, was good at fixing damaged mechanisms and fishing and he made good snares for coneys. It was as his friends said, “He’s a good mate, it’s not his fault he’s thick as two short planks and shags his sister.”
The latter was public knowledge too. Sharky’s mother and Belinda his sister were both as intellectually limited as he and they had lived in a two bedroomed apartment flat their mother had rented since before his older sister had been born. The two siblings had shared a bed from babyhood and their mother couldn’t understand how her admittedly precocious daughter had become pregnant at the age of thirteen. She had questioned her as to her relationships with boys and had believed her daughter who crying had said, “But, Mum, I’ve never even had a boyfriend.” The idea her eleven year old son had impregnated her daughter never occurred to her and since her brother didn’t count as a boyfriend it had never occurred to Belinda either, who believed you had to have a boyfriend to fall pregnant. It didn’t take Social Services long to arrive at the truth of the matter, and it surprised all three of the family. Realising it was pointless and. unusually to their credit, heartless to take the children into care, a three bedroom apartment was provided. It was explained to the family the siblings must not sleep together any more and both children agreed and their mother said she would see to it. Social Services were sceptical, and they persuaded Belinda to have a contraceptive implant. The following winter their mother found the two in bed together, they weren’t doing anything, but she said, “You know you are not supposed to do that.”
Belinda nodded and very reasonably said, “But it’s cold, Mum, there’s no money for the electric meter, and we put the blankets from my bed on Baby’s.”
Their mother thinking that a very reasonable response merely went for the blankets off her bed, spread them over the couple and said, “You’re right. Slide over, Love,” and slid into bed with them. Belinda’s contraceptive implant certainly prevented Sharky impregnating Belinda again, but it didn’t stop him impregnating his mother. Their Social worker never thought to question that, and in any case the three had learnt how to provide the answers the Social wanted to hear.
Eventually Belinda found a man, and moved out with her babe. Sharky was still sleeping with his, yet again, heavily pregnant mum when he found himself on Castle.
Sharky had asked to join the kennel squad because it was something he knew he could do and he had been worried by the prospect of leaving school with no job to go to. The poaching he had done with his friends was enjoyable but couldn’t have provided him with a living on Earth, now it could.

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
76 Gimlet, Leech,Gwendoline, Georgina, Quail. Birchbark, Hemlock, Peter, Honesty, Bella, Hannah, Aaron, Torrent, Zoë, Bekka, Vikki, Jade, Carley, Chough, Anvil, Clematis, Stonechat, Peace, Xanders, Gosellyn, Yew, Thomas, Campion, Will, Iris, Gareth
77 Zoë, Torrent, Chough, Stonechat, Veronica, Mast, Sledge, Cloudberry, Aconite, Cygnet, Smokt
78 Jed, Warbler, Luval, Glaze, Seriousth, Blackdyke, Happith, Camilla
79 Torrent, Zoë, Stonechat, Clematis, Aaron, Maeve, Gina, Bracken, Gosellyn, Paene, Veronica, Mast, Fracha, Squid, Silverherb

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 Brothers in Arms, a song on the album of the same name by Dire Straits, released on 13 May 1985.
2 Fanny, slang for female genitalia in British English.
3 Pubes, pubic hairs.
4 Leathers, in this context, leather trousers. Implication here is trousers worn so low that the labia and pubis can be seen from behind.