30 January 1124

　　Sweat beaded on Matilda`s forehead as she worked on the ruined mill. She wiped it off with the back of her filthy hands. The clouds had mercifully cleared to grant a rare three days of respite from the endless winter rain. The ground surrounding the mill was churned from William and Matilda`s early renovation efforts but it became less boggy with each sunny day.

　　She tore one last vine from the exterior wall before stepping back to appreciate all they had accomplished in the week following the Baron`s decision. After a wet march to collect tools from her cave, they had barely stopped working and even camped in the ruin to maximise their use of the pleasant weather. It was starting to look like a tidy crumbling ruin, rather than just filthy and overgrown. Her crumbling ruin.

　　Matilda was ecstatic that her gamble had actually worked. There had always been some human elements outside of her control but the case against Arnold seemed tight. She had rolled the dice and come out with a spectacular win. Plus her bag of clothes from Sir Phillip. Pa was furious at Matilda after Arnold had cut off the family`s flour, if only for an hour, but Matilda still felt an inner glow at challenging the Miller`s unjust stranglehold over the village.

　　It was only when Matilda first stood before the ruined mill and inspected it with an owner`s eye that she realised the true scale of her task. She was glad that King Henry was still in Normandy and her mission on hold. It would take months to repair the building, let alone getting the mill back to working condition. And that was provided she somehow convinced Holford`s tradesfolk to help her without upfront payment. She would need all the charm she could muster.

　　Matilda had been pleased to discover a surprisingly solid structure after clearing the dense undergrowth surrounding the mill, though the exterior plaster had started to crumble after years of neglect and sections of the tiled roof had caved in. The building consisted of a long single-storey stone warehouse that ran parallel to Holford`s small stream. The millhouse stood on the southern end, a semisubmerged three-storey building that housed the grinding mechanism and a small loft.

　　The mill`s waterwheel was a mess of rotten timber but Matilda was relieved to find that the grindstone and internal mechanisms were mostly intact, despite the majority of the millhouse roof having collapsed. A little less charity she would need to ask of the townsfolk.

　　William emerged from the warehouse with a large bale of brambles over his shoulder, Matilda`s hatchet tucked into his belt. He tossed them onto the ever-growing pile of refuse before the building. They planned to have a bonfire. While it wouldn`t rival the one at Rachel`s wedding, Matilda hoped it might entice a few prospective tradesmen to inspect the project.

　　"These blackberries are never ending," William complained. "And so spikey. Ma`s going to kill me if she finds another hole, she`s still mending my other tunic."

　　"It`d be nicer if there were berries," Matilda sympathised. "But it looks like Elizabeth`s got lunch!"

　　William`s youngest sister skipped towards the mill, humming to herself with a basket draped over her arm. She`d been the most supportive family member, making food deliveries rain, hail or shine.

　　"Wow," Elizabeth marvelled as she lay down her basket. "You two have actually managed to make this place look presentable."

　　"Thanks Beth," William said, already pilfering from the basket. "Its been a big week. It`d be easier with some extra help&"

　　"No way," Elizabeth replied, swatting William away. "I`m not risking Pa`s wrath. He`s already tetchy that I`m delivering your food. Says we have to get everything prepared for next season, that we don`t have a second to waste. It feels like winter`s barely started."

　　"That`s my fault," Matilda said. "He`s worried about the Miller, that you won`t have anywhere to take grain next season and will have another hungry winter. It`ll take time for me to earn back his trust."

　　"Nah," William countered. "Just get this mill fixed and the whole village will love you."

　　"I still can`t believe the Baron gave it to you in the first place," Elizabeth marvelled as she unpacked the food. "Everyone knows it`s haunted."

　　"Haunted?" Matilda asked with a raised eyebrow.

　　"People say its cursed," William explained. "The old miller was murdered here, years back. Pushed his apprentice too hard, they say."

　　"Mama`s husband was trained by that apprentice," Elizabeth added. "Even Mama was scared of him."

　　"Never mind all that, little sister," William beckoned excitedly. "Come see what we`ve done."

　　William`s excitement was hard to ignore so they led Elizbeth inside to show off their progress. She was impressed before they`d even entered.

　　"You can actually open the door!"

　　"We. Sure. Can," William replied, using his shoulder to fight the rusty hinges. "Not that we could do much when we finally got it open. It took a day of chopping down bushes and clearing debris before we could even get inside."

　　After days of work, the dim warehouse was now a dry cavernous space. Cobwebs still hung from the exposed rafters and beams of sunlight shone through gaps between the roof tiles. Half of the room was still filled with brambles but William had worked through them with remarkable efficiency.

　　"You could fit all of Holford in here!" Elizabeth marvelled, her voice echoing off the distant walls.

　　"And then some," William said proudly. "It`s much bigger than Arnold`s warehouse and even he can only fill half at any time. We`ll need to patch up the walls. Inside and out."

　　William gestured to a particularly bad stretch of wall, where fallen plaster lay in large chunks on the dirt floor.

　　"We need to do something about these windows," Matilda added, motioning to the four large shutters on either side of the long warehouse walls. Fighting another rusty hinge, she forced one open to let sunlight and fresh air stream in. "I`ll see if Timothy wants to start making glass. After some roof tiles that is."

　　A rat scurried along the wall as the trio continued the tour.

　　Elizabeth squealed.

　　"Any chance you could lend us one of your cats?" Matilda asked Elizabeth, only half joking.Stolen story; please report.

　　They reached the far end of the hall and William wrenched open the double doors to the millhouse. A small step took them up to a floor made of heavy wooden planks. The gaps between them were still caked with flour that had long since spoiled.

　　The room was particularly bright compared to the dim warehouse as light poured in through the partially collapsed roof. Shattered roof tiles lay scattered across the floor. Sifting through them to recycle any that remained intact was another task on Matilda`s comprehensive to do list.

　　The giant millstone sat in the centre of the room and a shaft pierced the floor, leading to the primitive gear system that drove it. It was the pinnacle of medieval engineering. William had already quizzed Matilda for hours to understand how it worked and how she planned to improve its efficiency.

　　Elizabeth was much more intrigued with what was above.

　　"A loft! How fun!"

　　Like a little child, she raced up the ladder and onto the small platform. Matilda chuckled at herself for missing the novelty of a second storey for someone who lived in a hovel.

　　"It`s so dusty," Elizabeth called from above. "And high. And spacious!"

　　"Missing half the roof will do that," William called up. "It was miserable there when we first arrived and rain was pelting down."

　　"That`s where my bed will go," Matilda told them casually.

　　"What?!" the siblings cried in unison. Elizabeth`s head comically popped over the edge of the loft.

　　"You can`t expect me to stay in the cottage forever?" Matilda asked.

　　They continued their blank stare.

　　"On a cot in that cramped little corner of the house? With your whole family?"

　　William`s mouth hung slightly open.

　　"When there is all of this space just waiting here?"

　　The siblings remained silent. Matilda decided to wait them out.

　　"Well that changes everything," Elizabeth said matter-of-factly as she jumped down the final rungs of the ladder. "This will need to be much homelier if you ever intend to live in it. I`ll help you plan."

　　The trio exited the main millhouse door and sat down for lunch.

　　 "What will you do with all the spare space?" Elizabeth asked as she unfurled a rug.

　　"I was thinking of starting a school," Matilda replied.

　　William and Elizabeth stared at her blankly once more.

　　"A shared space where people could come to learn how to write," Matilda explained. "Or make paper. Or study animals. Anything really."

　　The siblings loved the idea, provided they could be among the first pupils. They discussed other ideas for the empty space. A hospital. A laboratory. An inn. A workshop. In the end they decided the mill was probably big enough for a little bit of everything. The siblings didn`t mind, so long as they were involved every step of the way.

　　"A hospital will need a proper herb garden, for the medicine," Elizabeth realised excitedly. Apple still in hand, she ran to the mill and began to pace out the space needed to grow sufficient produce for whatever Matilda`s building eventually became.

　　"Naturally," Matilda agreed, jumping up to join the excited girl in her pacing.

　　They planned the layout for a generous garden, complete with herbs, berries and an orchard. William shouted half-hearted encouragement from the picnic blanket before tiring and lying back to watch the clouds.

　　"And you`ll need pretty flowers too, not just practical ones," Elizabeth insisted. "It`s got to look nice after all."

　　William groaned loudly but Matilda agreed enthusiastically.

　　As her finishing touch, Elizabeth marched to the orchard` and dropped to her knees. She scooped away several handfuls of mud and placed the core of her half-eaten apple inside the hole.

　　"There," she said proudly, wiping her muddy hand on her dress. "If the sun and rain continue like we`ve had this past week, it`ll be a nice shady tree for your pupils to study under in no time."

　　With their planning done, Matilda helped Elizabeth pack up the remnants of their lunch and thanked her for trekking to the mill yet again. As always, Elizabeth was just happy to assist.

　　Matilda decided to join Elizabeth back to Holford, leaving William to continue his clearing work. The two women happily chatted the whole way back. Elizabeth told of her favourite walks through the forest and Matilda recalled the amazing nature she`d seen on her travels.

　　Matilda bid farewell to Elizabeth when they reached the cottage and went to tell the Blacksmith her ideas for the mill. Matthew was beating away at pieces for a second plough when Matilda arrived.

　　"Our first order," he proudly informed. "Lots of people asked about it at the wedding. The plough-team couldn`t help bragging."

　　Matthew had already agreed to help with the mill but regretted his premature offer when Matilda outlined her plans.

　　"We`d have to sell many more ploughs to make all of that happen," he told her. "Though you could always part with your chainmail."

　　"Not a hope in hell," Matilda countered. "I`ll talk to Timothy about the roof. William suggested Holford`s carpenter might also help? What do you think?"

　　"I`ll ask. Walt`s a damned fine builder but a touch fickle. One day he`s helping a neighbour for free, the next he refuses paid work from his own mother. He might take issue with working for a woman but I`ll see if he might help for me. Surely he can`t turn down a project this grand."

　　Matilda thanked Matthew and continued on to Timothy`s house. The elderly potter was away so Matilda simply left a broken roof tile by his kiln, trusting he would know who it was from. Deciding to delay another awkward apology to Pa for another few days, Matilda turned back towards her mill.

　　An endless stream of calculations ran through Matilda`s head as she meandered back. She had grand plans for the mill. Mechanical bellows. An automated sawmill. Electricity. Technologies all at least a century away from discovery but she had a chance to introduce them prematurely. The tangible project was much more stimulating than theory at the Institute.

　　But the small waterwheel could only power one. Which to choose.

　　She sauntered through the bare trees but her mind snapped to attention when the mill came into view and she saw four strangers gathered around the building. She was too far away to see exactly what was happening but her gut told her it wasn`t good. She picked up her pace to a jog.

　　As she drew closer, she saw William boldly standing between the men and the mill. She was still too far to hear what he was saying but could hear the defiance in his voice. The men antagonised him, mocking his courageous stand. In an escalation their sport, Arnold`s bald assistant stepped in and punched William in the face before expertly bouncing back to dodge William`s sluggish counter swing. Matilda broke into a sprint.

　　"Hey!" Matilda called as she drew closer to the confrontation. "What the hell`s going on?"

　　The men turned to face her.

　　"Look here boys," the Miller sneered. "The bitch is back."

　　Matilda slowed and was relieved that the men`s attention had shifted away from William. She felt the familiar rush of adrenaline that preceded a fight. Having not been ambushed or clubbed over the head, she could handle them. Any lingering fear was overcome by rage.

　　"What`re you doing at our mill?" she asked through gritted teeth.

　　"The bitch has teeth," Arnold jeered. "Listen to her growl!"

　　"You`re more confident with friends around," Matilda noted. "Surely you don`t want a repeat of the journey to Stowey?"

　　 The Miller`s men threw him questioning glances.

　　"What are you going to do? Take us all?" Arnold challenged with bravado.

　　"I`m not going to take any of you, as much as I`d like to. The Smith and Carpenter are on their way to measure up our new waterwheel," Matilda lied. "I don`t think they`ll take kindly to your bullying. Or we could just start now, it`s probably fairer to you."

　　The mood remained tense. Matilda continued to stare down the Miller, her eyes blazing with fury and defiance.

　　Arnold buckled first.

　　"Watch yourself girl. Sir Phillip just visited my mill and took a huge fine because of your meddling. You`ve got powerful friends and achieved more than I`d ever thought possible. But you can`t keep going. You won`t. Know your place."

　　Arnold shoved past Matilda and signalled for his gang to follow. They each glared at Matilda with varying levels of menace before following their leader like a pack of browbeaten dogs.

　　Matilda ignored them and rushed over to William. He had a bloody nose and would get a nasty black eye but he was fine. Matilda grabbed a bucket of water and handed William a rag to clean his bloody face.

　　"Who were they?" Matilda asked as she handed a rag to William.

　　"You know the chubby blonde one, Margery`s friend Henry. The scrawny twitchy one is his apprentice Joshua and you`ve already met his labourer at the warehouse. The bald one. He does all of Arnold`s dirty work, both at the mill and around the town."

　　Matilda`s blood boiled as she watched the men disappear into the woods, pumping themselves up at having threatened a woman and beaten up a boy.

　　Her gut told her it was far from over.

　　(C) Jay Pelchen 2023. All rights reserved.