Chapter 3 #2
She remembered well the Red Wolf’s words.
They had been few, as if he carefully doled them out, telling the women they need not fear ravishment, that he protected what was his.
She wondered if his words were truth. If the messengers had been correct, the Normans had raped, burned and pillaged half of England.
It vexed her that this Norman knight considered the men and women of Talisand his, no matter it was now true.
Once free, now they were reduced to mere possessions. She hoped it would not always be so.
She turned from the entry and, with the other women, headed to the kitchen.
Worry dogged her as she thought about the fate of her people.
She decided to stay, at least for a while, to see how the Norman lord would treat them.
But how long could she maintain her disguise as a servant when all those at Talisand knew her to be their lady?
They would risk all to conceal her, but could she ask such a thing of them?
* * *
“Faith!” Serena shouted as the heavy kettle slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor with a loud clang, splashing hot liquid onto her tunic.
Exasperated, she wiped her hands on her apron, and bent to clean up the remains of the broth.
“Oh, Maggie, it seems I have little talent for kitchen duties.”
Serena’s insides churned in frustration.
She had been working in the kitchen and serving at the tables in the guise of Sarah for a week, diligently trying to blend in as one of the servants.
But untrained for the work, she had little patience for mixing, lifting and serving.
Her talents lay in the managing of the household and in other pursuits not so typical of a thegn’s daughter.
“Ye’re trying, m’lady,” said Maggie. “’Tis all that matters, truly. Most of the lasses assigned to the kitchen have been raised to the work like me own daughter. Mayhap yer father shouldna have indulged ye by allowing ye to hunt. Yet ye do sing like an angel and that always pleases a man.”
Serena looked up at Maggie from where she had stooped to clean up the mess. She would have rolled her eyes had she not seen the smile on the older woman’s face. But she must correct the manner in which the cook had addressed her. “Just call me Sarah, Maggie.”
The housekeeper reached down and helped her to rise. “Dinna worry about the broth, Sarah. Leave it be. I can make more.”
Cassie left the bread she had been preparing for the noon meal and came to kneel beside the spilled broth. “I will do this.”
“Cassie, you are ever kind, but you know as a servant, I must do my share of the work.”
The sound of skipping feet drew Serena’s attention to the small boy with blond hair who had entered the back door left open on warm days for access to the herb garden.
“’Tis young Jamie!” exclaimed Cassie.
“Ser…Sarah!” The boy ran to Serena and wrapped his arms around her tunic, joy lighting up his young face. “Sarah, see what I have brought ye?” He pulled a bow from his shoulder where it rested with a quiver of arrows and proudly thrust it upon her. “Yer bow.”
“Jamie, you prince!” she said, taking it. “Where did you find it?”
“When the knights brought ye back, they put it in the armory. I recognized it from the Welsh symbols Rhodri carved in it when he made it for ye. I knew ye’d want it.”
Serena smiled and kissed the top of his curly, sun bleached head. “Now I have only to recover my seax.”
“I will look for that, too,” said the boy eagerly.
Maggie gazed in Serena’s direction, her eyes fixing on the bow.
“Now there is something ye’re good at. And since the knights have been concerned with their swordplay and building onto the stable, they have yet to hunt to add to our stores of meat.
Can ye do that for me on the morrow? I need rabbits for stew. ”
“I would be happy to hunt, Maggie. I am better at that than making broth.”
“Yea, ’tis true, ye are.” Looking down at Jamie and then at Serena, she said, “Go on then, take the lad for a walk to the stable. He loves to see the knights’ horses and some air will do ye both good. I’ll make the broth. If ye want, ye can return in a wee bit to serve the midday meal.”
“You are a generous woman, Maggie, to be so kind to one of the servants.” She gave the housekeeper a wink. “I welcome some time with Jamie.”
“Give me the bow,” Maggie said, reaching for it. “I will see yer weapon well hidden here in the kitchen.” She took the bow and quiver of arrows, covered them with a drying cloth and set them behind the wooden cabinet in the far corner of the room.
Serena took off her apron and wrapped her arm around Jamie’s shoulders. “So, Jamie, shall we take a walk to see the horses?”
“Yea. I would like that! The knights’ warhorses are fierce, Sarah.
Even the squires can hardly control them, but there are others they ride that are not so wild.
I’ve made friends with some of those.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the door.
A smile broke out on his face, which added to the ruddy glow on his cheeks, making him look like a cherub who had spent the morn in a field of wheat.
Serena did not like to think about Jamie near the Normans’ fearsome destriers, warhorses trained to kick and bite, as much weapons as the knights’ lances and swords.
Passing through the herb garden, Serena noticed Aethel digging among the new plants. “Good morning Aethel. You seem to be working hard.”
The woman sat back on her heels and brushed a lock of dark hair from her eyes as she gave Serena’s clothing a long perusal. “The new herbs will be needed for healing as well as for savory dishes. It is just my usual work…Sarah.”
Ignoring the look Aethel gave her, Serena said, “I admire your knowledge, Aethel.” The compliment was sincere. Though Serena had often acted the healer, she had counted upon Aethel’s knowledge to tell her which herbs to use.
Aethel smiled briefly and bent her head to her task.
“How are you getting along since the Normans have come?” Serena asked her.
“Well enough,” Aethel said without looking up.
“It is not easy for any of us,” Sarah remarked absently. Jamie impatiently tugged on her hand. Giving into his urging, she wished Aethel a good morn and continued on the path leading to the yard and to the stable set just inside the palisade.
New grass grew at the edge of the palisade and wild flowers had sprung up in clusters around the manor, causing Serena to marvel at the beauty of the place she called home.
Despite the Normans’ coming, there was a sameness to Talisand she found comforting.
Workers mended the palisade, carts creaked as they rolled by and brown chickens pecked at the dirt.
The only differences were the sounds of clanking metal as the knights engaged in swordplay outside the palisade, and the dull thud of hammers pounding in the work they’d begun on a new stable.
“I have missed you, lad,” she said to Jamie as they walked along side by side. “Where have you been keeping yourself?”
“I have been watching the knights! Each morning, they practice with their swords and talk of the Red Wolf’s plans for Talisand.
They say we will have a grand castle set upon a great mound of dirt.
” Jamie babbled on excitedly as they covered the ground to the stable, the sun warming Serena as they walked.
“The men have even let me hold their swords!” A look of guilt suddenly came over his face and he dropped his gaze.
“I know they are Normans, Sarah, and I should not like them.”
“’Tis all right, Jamie. I can see they have bewitched you. Besides, ’tis best you do not anger them by telling them what we think of Normans.” She feared for the boy if he did.
They walked to the stable’s entrance, his small hand in hers.
His face glowed as he told her of the knights.
She could see the boy considered the presence of the warriors an adventure.
She hoped they presented no threat to the child.
His life had certainly become more exciting with their arrival.
While she hated the invaders of her country who had taken her beloved family and her lands, Jamie, orphaned as a small boy, had no mother or father to see to his training.
Now that he was growing into manhood, the Norman knights with their swords and horses would be tempting.
While she acted the part of his older sister, assuring his needs were met, she knew he longed to be a part of the world of men.
* * *
Standing on the roof walk of the manor house, Geoff at his side, Renaud raised his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sun as he gazed into the distance, surveying the land around the manor. He had yet to select the site for the castle though he had identified a location that would serve.
“That reminds me, Ren,” Geoff said, the knight’s gaze fixed on the yard below.
Roused from his thoughts, Renaud faced his friend. “Yea?”
“See the girl walking with the lad, just there?”
Renaud’s gaze followed Geoff’s finger pointing to a girl with a long brown plait walking toward the stable with a boy of about ten or eleven years. “I see.”
“She was one of the servant girls brought back that first eve. I think she may become a problem with the men.”
Renaud frowned. He did not need another problem just now, particularly not with his men who were just settling in. “Why would she be a problem?”
“Watch her at the midday meal instead of eating in your chamber as you have been doing these last few days and see for yourself. The men are taken with the wench. They compete to try and win her affection while she serves. I am worried it will lead to fights among them.”
“Does she tease them?” The face of the dark-haired temptress who served in the evening flashed in his mind.
“Nay. She does not even look at them. But she is very comely and Sir Maurin, who carried her back when they retrieved the servant girls, seems to have a fondness for the wench. The younger men have no intention of deferring to the knight where she is concerned. Instead, they compete to win the girl’s favors.
She encourages none. Mayhap she is even hostile to their smiles.
From the looks she gives us, I think she has no kind feelings for Normans. ”
Renaud was not about to let his men fight over a wench.
There was much for them to do to remain ready to serve William should they be called to battle.
And they must soon hunt to provide meat.
“See that she is taken off serving duty. Send her above stairs to work as a maid. I would see her there this afternoon so I may judge for myself.”
“That I will gladly do,” said Geoff giving Renaud a look that said he was pleased his lord had relieved him of an unwanted problem.