Sieghild took her seat and the circle grew quiet once more. Jost took Heinrich from his mother and held him at arm’s length. “You’ve a good code to follow, boy, and also a worthy cause.”
Berta moved to protest, but Kurt silenced her with a stare.
“It is our duty to avenge the wrongs we have suffered at the hand of Gunnar’s kin.” Jost looked hard at the child. “This next generation shall not fail its duty. The day my mother was savaged by Gunnar of Arfurt we were bound to her revenge as sure as our ancestors bound us to these lands. That ancient oath of vengeance still stands, as does ours!
“The whole realm knows Gunnar kin to be thieves of sheep and cattle, witches and worshipers of the old gods. They cast spells and hexes and dance naked in the night… I’ve seen these things. For their crimes they’ve lost little more than a barn of grain, a hut or two, and but one small child. Our cause is this: we live to avenge, without quarter and without fear.”
Jost paused. Satisfied his point had been made, he relaxed and a smile lifted the corners of his lips. “Now, one more thing ‘fore I leave for m’hed! Hear me, ‘tis important.” He turned to Arnold. “You, boy, have y’not wondered why you are spared the plough?”
Arnold shrugged nonchalantly.
“And you, Baldric, why is it you are the woodward’s helper? When I was your age I was shearing wool and tending the demesne on boon-labors! You! Ach … you spend your summers in the shade of tall oak whilst others sweat.
“Not a single one of you half-wits has thought to ask why I am now a carpenter’s helper instead of a miserable shepherd like my father. Well, ‘tis a reason for these things. It is enough to say that a few years back I caught the abbey’s prior and Runkel’s steward cheating with the tax scales. I made short work of them! I found a good monk to be my witness, then I marched to the abbot. Well, you should’ve seen the two squirm. In an hour I had a pledge to buy m’silence, but I was not bought cheaply!
“The abbot thought it best to muzzle me with some sweets. Kurt and I were released from duties as shepherds to earn a better wage with the carpenters, and I was given land that I can pass to the next. ‘Tis how we’ve our half-hide.”
“Ja? You say ‘our’ half-hide but it will pass to Kurt,” griped Baldric.
“The new way is for the eldest to get all and I so pledged. But ‘tis Kurt, not you, who ploughs, scythes, and threshes, and hell pay the tax. There’ll be no more talk of it.”
Jost laid his hand on Baldric’s shoulder. “But hear me, lad. This is the way that I saved you from the sheep herds and set you into the forest that you love. And when the old woodward is dead you are to be the next.” He turned to Arnold. “And you shall be forester in time!”
Arnold smirked and nudged Baldric. The two, in alliance, could work the trees to give them more than shade.
Jost raised the parchment high. “The abbot vowed another thing and sealed it under God on this scroll. He pledged that my eldest son’s grandsons would be instructed in the abbey school. This means if Heinrich sires sons they shall sit under the monks’ lindens and learn of things that might yet set their families free!” He handed the parchment over to Kurt who stared at it in disbelief.
Ignoring the shadowed scowls of his brothers he embraced his father and exclaimed, “Such a miracle does bring hope to life!”
The hovel became quiet. Arnold and Baldric settled in a corner grumbling and whispering together. Soon enough, the family tired. The night had grown long and it was time to bid farewell. Jost and Sieghild left first with a few words of thanks. Baldric and Arnold hung their hooded, fur cloaks atop their shoulders, and when the door shut and Jost was beyond hearing, Baldric turned toward Kurt. Speaking from the dark recesses of his hood he said, “M’thanks for the meal, brother. Good fortune with little Heinz and his special gift.” He pulled Kurt close to his face and then growled, “You and your brood are favored, ‘tis surely unjust!”
Wisely, Kurt said nothing. Arnold flung open the door and a blast of frigid air rushed in, sweeping sparks and glowing ashes across the straw floor. With a few grunts and angry growls the unhappy guests stepped into a fresh falling snow and hurried away along the footpaths of Weyer.
Chapter 2
SAINTS AND SINNERS
The patient village bore the cold of yet another winter upon its snow-laden shoulders. Ever faithful to the sure and steady passage of time, it served with other things certain: the sun, the moon and stars, the labors of the wind, the habits of beasts, and the ways of men. The land lay silent beneath the snow, awaiting the appointed time to once again yield its fertile bosom to the plough and pick of weary, calloused hands.