Chapter 24: Hard Decision

With Marjorie gone the place felt empty. Now I know how it feels to be lonely in the middle of a crowd. The three months won't be long in passing, but it will be midwinter when she returns. At least this time we have a warm home to return to.

Preparation for the winter had begun a month previous, and we have been collecting wood ready cut for the fires. All the thick branches taken from the trees, which were felled for lumber, have been cut up, and distributed to each individual's home. I made use of the chain-saw, since the logs I had to cut for our fire was quarter the size the others. Then they had to be axe split so they would be small enough to be fed into the fire. That was the only thing wrong with the range, but then our home had the added advantage of hot water and a sealed fire.

I decided to visit the other villages before winter set in. I was going to take the prime mover, as the windows were still in it and the weather was getting bitter. Hild and Cedric were going to come with me. I don't know what they will think of him being a Celt, but at least now he was clean, and his rough woven shirt like dress was clean. He had shown an aptitude for the bow, which he proudly carried everywhere with him. Hild was armed with her shotgun.

We roared out the south gate, and within 20 minutes we were in the village of Wistan. Wistan the headman came out to greet us, and was again amazed at the prime mover. This time there was no tray only the connection plate on the back with the four pairs of drive wheels, and the two at the front. The good thing about the prime mover was there was no great bonnet out the front, and you had a great view.

Cedric, they were doubtful of, he was dressed different to me, and them, and the bow he carried also was a curio.

"Greetings Chally, Hild, who is your companion," Wistan asked.

"He is Cedric, he and his people now live in Janesville."

"More Celts?" He cut in.

"They are like anyone else, they are not all bad. You must trust people Wistan."

"I know I should but it is hard to trust these people."

"How is everyone in your village? Everyone looks well," I said trying to change the subject.

"All in the village are well, have had six births, but only two has survived and we are well-pleased with that survival rate."

"That is a lot of babies to die Wistan."

"That's how it always has been. The spirits took them."

"We must go now we are on our way to the village of Hroth."

We then continued to Hroth's village. As we arrived, Jane's two brothers accompanied by six others all carrying spears met us at the edge of the village. They were really curious about the semi, but there were no smiles on their faces.

When we alighted, all eyes were on Cedric and the scowls on their faces told the whole story. They were showing hostility to Cedric. I doubt if they would be so brave, if four or five of his men had come with him.

"Where is Hroth?" I asked Regen.

"My father is dead. I am the headman now. What do you want with us?" He rudely said to me, never once recognizing Hild.

"I came to see if you needed anything for the coming winter."

"We are quite capable of looking after ourselves and need no help from outsiders. Especially ones who are friendly from the men of the west."

"Cedric is not from the west. He and his people now live in our village and mix freely with some of your own people. They share the work and help one another. Why do you want to isolate yourself from all others?"

"It is our way and want no interference," he snapped.

It was obvious that they didn't like our presence for some reason or other, I suspect because I had told them of the Celts, which now settled in our village.

I thought that I had done my duty by visited them, but I found that still, they were each living in closed communities, and not mixing. They may very well rue the advice I gave them, from the stories that Cedric had told me about the new raiding parties.

We returned to Janesville, and continue our preparation for the winter, for this time I was determined that out harvest of potatoes were not wasted, or damaged by frost. I was surprised at the yield we got from the seed potatoes we planted, as well as the other ground growing plants. Maybe it was the fact the soil was virgin and still full of natural nutrients.

We prepared pits for these crops, and layered grass and soil over them to prevent the frost entering. There was still the cabbage and the sprouts in the ground. The potatoes seemed not to appeal to the others, but I am sure when winter is over they will appreciate them.

Being army, I decided to try to train our villagers, in a way to repel an attacking force. I had been shown how the English archers at the Battle of Agincourt had defeated the French, by forming two rows and send a combined volley of arrows into the French heavy Cavalry, and desecrated them. I eventually managed to get this formation, which would give us a better chance of repelling any attacking force, if they wanted to try to attack our village. Once we had perfected it, Cedric once a week got everyone together to practice for about an hour.

Hild was beginning to waddle a bit when she walked. She was as proud as punch, and looking forward to her delivery. I had the cot which we had brought back with us, set up in preparation, hoping that this time we would use it. All the women had seen it, and Northhelm was swamped with orders for their expected children.

The days were now spent south of the village, clearing the land for our fields; I think we were a bit over adventurous in the size of the area we marked out. I doubt that we would be able to clear all the area this year. All the small branches we piled on the stumps, and we tried to burn them out. Previously we dug out, but the ground was becoming hard with frost, and this made the task of trying to dig the stumps out very hard. So that was when we tried using fire.

If we can't get enough cleared, we would have to use the common ground in the centre of the village again next year.

Once the weather became too cold, there was nothing for it, than to either stay at home or meet in the cabin, which was always warm, because we never let the fire go out. Play a type of draughts, or chat. Hild gave birth to a lovely boy, and this time both doing well. He was named after me, but this time I made sure that they were going to call him Charlie. There was enough attention plied on this child, that he daren't be sick.

Mothers in this time breast-feed there child for the first six months or more, and nothing else, so the feeding problem wasn't the problem it is in my time. All we had to do was make sure the mothers were well-fed, and the babies feed was secure. I went hunting twice a week, the game was still plentiful, storing the meat was easy, you left it outside and it froze.

I had tinkered around, and made a large meat safe, which I had mounted on the outside wall of our home. It was covered on three sides with fine wire mesh, which I had found on the crashed truck 18 months previous, and didn't know what to do with. It was too large a mesh to keep flies out but it allowed the air to circulate, anyway there were no flies in the winter. After I had made the meat safe I gave the surplus of metal mesh to Northhelm. Who had made one for himself, Ide and Wiferth, and still had some left over.