5 January 1124

　　William felt a strange fatigue when the funeral finished. Emotional rather than physical. He would`ve gladly endured another entire harvest to avoid Ma`s sobs and Rachel`s excessive wailing. To skip the endless handshakes and insincere condolences. To top it all off, he still had grease on his pants.

　　Only the promise of testing Matilda`s plough and collecting the family`s hard-won flour had gotten him through the ordeal. William and Matthew played their part at the funeral, convincing the ploughteam to try Matilda`s creation when they returned to the fields. The team were sceptical but some significant outstanding debts to Matthew meant they couldn`t say no.

　　Ralph had whooped with excitement when William told him about the development, drawing glares from nearby mourners. Ralph`s family were already completely finished in the fields so he didn`t even need to sneak away.

　　It felt like an age since William had seen Ralph and he realised that they hadn`t spent time together since the day William first discovered Matilda. His childhood felt a lifetime ago but in reality was only a matter of months earlier. Time was strange like that.

　　Everyone organised to meet at Matthew`s forge immediately after a post-funeral meal, giving the Smith enough time to prepare Matilda`s device for transport. William impatiently waited for his parents to finish their solemn discussion with Father Daniel at Holford`s small cemetery behind the chapel. They paid the priest and collected their children. It felt odd to return home with one of their number gone for good.

　　The family were surprised when they arrived and found Matilda sitting in the front yard, once again. She leaned against a large stack of flour sacks, her shoulders slouched. It wasn`t the whole harvest but a remarkable effort for a lone woman to achieve in such a short time.

　　"Is that it? I thought you were supposed to be working while we were gone," William joked but he turned serious when Matilda didn`t rise to his dig. "What`s wrong?"

　　"Nothing," she replied flatly. "It`s fine."

　　The rest of the family entered the yard and marvelled at Matilda`s work but Rachel pushed past and headed inside without a word. Matilda gave her condolences to Ma and William found it refreshing to finally hear genuine sorrow for his family`s loss.

　　William wanted to know what had Matilda so bothered but wasn`t able to catch her eye as they all headed inside. Matilda told Ma to sit down and relax, pulling out a bag of freshly collected herbs to brew a tisane. Next, she withdrew a pair of rabbits and started preparing a particularly intricate meal.

　　"Something special to honour Mama`s memory," she said with a weak smile.

　　Margery and Elizabeth helped Matilda around the hearth, chopping ingredients just so or watching the pot to ensure it didn`t boil over. Rachel was in a foul mood and took every opportunity to snipe at Matilda, despite their visitor`s obvious effort to commemorate Mama.

　　"How have you already ruined more of Ma`s clothes? It would`ve been appalling to see you dressed in that filth at the funeral, all covered in flour. If you`d bothered to show up at all."

　　"Leave her alone Rachel," William defended. "She`s spent the whole morning helping our family. Again. She didn`t have to do that."

　　"Like you can talk, all covered in grease." Rachel shifted her gaze back to Matilda. "On second thoughts, I guess being covered in flour is still better than the filth she wore when she first arrived."

　　Everyone ignored Rachel but that only encouraged her attacks.

　　"Where are your fancy foreign clothes now? Did something happen at the castle?"

　　William saw the strain on Matilda`s face as she fought to remain calm and refused to bite.

　　"Come on Rachel," Pa chimed. "Ease up."

　　Rachel looked directly at Pa before continuing.

　　"You call this food?" Rachel asked, poking at the foaming broth with her finger. "It smells terrible." She feigned a sudden epiphany. "I hope it`s not another of your concoctions. We saw how good that was for poor Mama."

　　"Shut up!" Matilda cried.

　　The whole family snapped to look at their guest, shocked at her sudden outburst.

　　Matilda crumbled. "I can`t take it! You wicked little she-devil. You sanctimonious bitch!"

　　"Woah, Matilda," William urged. "Ease up."

　　"No, I just can`t take it! I`ve done everything I can to help this family and I taught Elizabeth how to help Pa and Mama recover. And yet Rachel still attacks my efforts? No!"

　　Matilda rounded on Rachel, her knife still in hand. William`s eldest sister cowered slightly.

　　"That man," Matilda said, pointing the knife at Pa, "is alive because of what I did. Without me, your family would still be working the fields with little hope of saving even half of the crop. On top of that you probably would`ve buried two family members today."

　　Matilda paused for breath.

　　"You killed her Rachel. Mama is dead and it`s all your fault."

　　William was shocked. Margery gasped and Ma`s jaw dropped. She looked at Matilda with deathly serious eyes.

　　"What did you say?"

　　Ma`s tone was as cold as stone. With four simple words she sucked all the wind from Matilda`s sails.

　　"Those are some mighty large accusations, Foreigner," Ma spat. "You`d best be careful. What did you say?"

　　Lost for words, Matilda reached into her pocket and withdrew a strip of fabric. Only when Rachel tried to snatch it did William realise that it was Mama`s handkerchief. Matilda swung it out of her reach.

　　"Emma, I&I found this out the back while you were all at the funeral. It was discarded in the compost heap, along with the remains of week`s worth of ingredients. Rachel never gave Mama the medicine. She threw it all out."

　　Ma`s deathly gaze swung to Rachel. Her eldest daughter truly cowered now.

　　"Is this true?"

　　Rachel kept silent and her eyes darted around the room as she tried to formulate a response.

　　"Rachel, you silly girl. Is this true?"

　　"It was poison!" Rachel protested. "We both saw it! Mama choked the instant it first touched her lips. She wanted no bar of it and I wasn`t about to force it upon her."If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

　　"That`s not poison, you dolt!" Matilda muttered. "Mama was lying down and had a chest infection. Any liquid would`ve made her splutter!"

　　Rachel looked around the room for allies but seeing only stunned reactions and judgemental faces, she doubled down and went on the attack.

　　"I won`t hear another of your ridiculous allegations, witch! You`ve been nothing but trouble since the minute you arrived here, with your loose morals and strange potions."

　　She launched herself up, fists clenched tightly against her side.

　　"You`ve turned my family against me! I know when I`m not welcome and won`t spend another second under this roof with filth like you. Not when there`s another family ready to accept me with open arms. A better family. I hope I never see any of you again!"

　　Rachel vaulted over her bed and ran from the room, slamming the door behind her.

　　The family was left in stunned silence, both at Rachel`s sudden departure and the magnitude of Matilda`s revelations. It was all too much for Ma who completely broke down with heavy, uncontrollable sobs. Pa and Elizabeth rushed over to hug her, one on each side.

　　William was surprised to see Matilda casually resume cooking. She chopped the remaining ingredients and passed the knife to Margery before wrangling the door open and walking outside.

　　William raced out after her.

　　Matilda paced back and forward in the front yard, both arms folded over her head and tears streaming down her face. Seeing William, she wiped her eyes and forced a smile.

　　"I`m fine," she said before William had a chance to speak. "It`s been a big day for me too."

　　William nodded but just stood in awkward silence.

　　"It was the Miller too, you know," Matilda croaked eventually.

　　"What?"

　　"The reason I was so out of sorts when you all returned from the funeral," Matilda clarified. "When I discovered Rachel`s&stupidity, I started collecting the flour to channel my anger into something productive. I was making progress when I caught him stealing extra sacks. He`s cheating the family."

　　William knew Arnold was a questionable character but was shocked that the Miller would so blatantly steal from his family.

　　"What scumbag robs a grieving family? Surely that isn`t normal of this time?"

　　"It`s not," William reassured her.

　　"It gets worse," Matilda continued. "He wasn`t happy when I exposed his scheme and said he`d take even more as a fine if we haven`t collected it all by sundown. I honestly don`t know how we can avoid it."

　　"Shit." William felt kicked in the stomach. So many days of back-breaking work, only to have it stolen away from them.

　　The pair milled around uncomfortably out the front of the house. Matilda looked distraught but William`s mind raced.

　　"Ok, I`ve got it," he said.

　　Matilda looked up at him quizzically.

　　"Matthew and Ralph are waiting for us to test your plough. If we help the plough-team get started, the four of us can run to collect the remaining sacks. How many did you say there were?"

　　"Forty-one, so ten trips."

　　"Less if we can find more volunteers! We can manage both that and the ploughing before sundown. Let`s go!"

　　William shot Matilda his most encouraging smile and ran off towards Matthew`s forge, beckoning her to follow. A small crowd was already gathered when they arrived.

　　"About time! Where`ve you lot been?" Matthew called as they approached. "Everyone`s convinced it won`t work. That I`ve wasted good iron."

　　William apologised. "Sorry Matthew, it`s been a bit of ordeal. Ma`s a wreck, Rachel stormed out during lunch and Matilda`s had a run in with Arnold. We might need some more of your help."

　　"What`s the sod done now? And who`s this?" asked Luke, the leader of the plough-team. He looked at Matilda with uncertainty.

　　"Oh, yeah," William said. "Ploughmen, this is Matilda. She`s been helping my family in the fields. This new plough was all her idea."

　　Matilda waved awkwardly.

　　"What`s a woman know bout ploughin`?" another ploughman grumbled.

　　"You know Arnold," William continued, ignoring the rudeness. "He`s up to his old tricks. He claimed a quarter of our wheat as payment for grinding it before the funeral and now says he`ll take more if we don`t collect it all by tonight."

　　"That`s absurd!" Matthew protested.

　　"Like hell he will!" the Plough-Master chimed in. "I`ve had enough of that bastard thinking he can lounge around his fancy mill doing less work than us but take a bigger cut of the profit. Girl, help us get this thing working and my lads`ll help you when we finish up."

　　Matilda smiled and they all leapt into action with newfound energy. They soon had the plough in the fields, assembled and hitched to Luke`s cattle. Flanked by the plough-team, Matilda rode the plough into the field and showed them how to use it. The cattle strained to get the heavier load moving but the sharp metal blade cut deeper into the ground than any plough William had ever seen while a curved attachment turned the rich, dark soil.

　　Ralph and Matthew joined William to watch from the field boundary.

　　"So who`s the Redhead?" Ralph asked, struggling to take his eyes off the woman working in the field. "Is she one of Rachel`s friends?"

　　William forgot that Ralph hadn`t actually met Matilda, just another example of how little time the friends had spent together recently.

　　"No, definitely not. A stranger, would you believe? Not even from the region."

　　Ralph was amazed. "Of course you managed to find the one interesting person passing near Holford. How`d you manage that!?"

　　"It was the day we tested the sling. She came past Holford some months back and needed to go to Stowey Castle so Pa offered to take her. She returned here afterwards and has been helping us with the harvest since. She`s a wonder."

　　"Too right," Matthew chimed in dreamily. "It`s rare to find a woman who knows her metal. She`d be one to walk the mountains with."

　　"I don`t know how you do it William," Ralph said shaking his head. "But look at them go! A design so simple but I`ve never seen a plough glide through the fields so quick. The dirt is like butter! At this rate they`ll be done here by tomorrow morning."

　　"That`s the plan." William replied cheerfully. "And if they can do the Cooper`s fields tomorrow then my family might get done by the end of the week."

　　The team ploughed on into the afternoon, stopping only to sing their praises of Matilda`s invention. It washed over Matilda like a wave across a rock and William knew that she was already thinking about their next task. She managed to undo most of the plough-team`s goodwill when she made them destroy the old plough. They all protested and Matthew even suggested hiding it at his forge but Matilda insisted that it wasn`t worth risking the Baron`s wrath. Not when they already had a superior design.

　　The plough-team finished their work well ahead of schedule and true to their word, joined William and Matilda to collect the remainder of the family`s flour. The Miller was far from happy to see Matilda`s reinforcements and even less so when one of the ploughmen stayed behind to keep watch while the rest of Luke`s crew transported the sacks to William`s home.

　　The sun had just set when the team colelcted the final three sacks of flour and said a jolly farewell to the surly Miller. William and Matilda thanked the ploughteam and said goodbye to Ralph and Matthew at the forge before returning home. The pair walked in silence and William stared up at the stars as they walked, exhausted but amazed at how much had happened in the space of a single day.

　　Seeing him staring, Matilda broke the silence. "They`re giant balls of fire, you know? Just like our Sun but burning thousands and thousands of miles away."

　　William looked up in amazement.

　　"They`re the whole reason I`m here," she continued, looking upwards too. Darkness filled her eyes. "The Sun spat out its fire and licked the world. It was chaos."

　　"Truly?" William asked with disbelief. It sounded inconceivable but it was coming from Matilda. "But they just stay up there. Why don`t they just burn out or fall from the sky?"

　　"Always asking the right questions," Matilda laughed. "You`re a marvel. An absolute marvel."

　　Another silence fell as William looked up at the burning balls of flame through new eyes.

　　"Matilda? Will you leave us again, if you get sad or things get too hard? Rachel shouldn`t be around any more to cause trouble. Thank God."

　　She thought for some time before responding.

　　"I won`t. Not until we`ve finished the ploughing and Holford has kicked the last of this miserable illness. I promise." She paused again. "William. I`m sorry for taking so long to come to your aid. You were right to ask for assistance, I was just too far gone to see it."

　　"It`s alright. You came in the end. And it`s really Rachel`s fault that Mama`s gone isn`t it?"

　　"Don`t be too hard on Rachel," Matilda said gently. "Fear can be a powerful motivator. For both her and Mama. I just wish she`d had more faith that someone could know better than her."

　　William was shocked to hear Matilda defend his vile sister. Someone who had been so wicked, who`d assaulted Matilda and caused the death of a family member.

　　"I feel sorry for Rachel," Matilda said. "It will be very lonely for her tonight."

　　William hadn`t thought of that.

　　They arrived at the cottage and dropped the final bags of flour.

　　"What a long day," William said. "I`m exhausted!"

　　"Me too. But tomorrow`s a new day. One filled with faster ploughs, prestacked flour and, hopefully, a later start. I`m sorry that Mama didn`t make it."

　　Matilda gave him a quick hug and the pair headed inside. The family had packed up for the night and both Margery and Elizabeth were already asleep. Without a word, William and Matilda crawled into their beds.

　　William felt a weight of loss as he fell asleep listening to the heart wrenching sounds of Ma`s weeping, as though he`d lost both his grandmother and a sister in a single day.

　　But Matilda lay on the other side of the room. She was like a new sister. One that understood him even better than the old one.

　　(C) Jay Pelchen 2023. All rights reserved.