A Servant's Security

Chapter 3

Instead of going inside when she reached home, Isabel ran around to the back of the house, unable to stop her mind from reliving the events that happened between Bailiff Richard and the new lord. Her hands were shaking as she stared at the ugly bruise that had formed on her wrists.

Margaret Smith came into view, sitting on their donkey. Mother's shoulders slumped as she dismounted the donkey and went into the house. After a couple of moments, Isabel opened the back door that led into their kitchen.

"What news?" her brother, Adam, said.

Isabel leaned against the doorway between the kitchen and the main room and watched, unseen, Mother and her brothers talking. Mother sank onto a stool with a defeated look.

"Tell us," Thomas demanded.

Mother sighed. "The jury said we must begin our share of fieldwork immediately." she complained.

Isabel huffed. Leave it to her mother to complain about their punishment which wasn't that hard. What was so bad about it? At least no one could accuse them of not doing their responsibilities anymore.

Thomas and Mother thought it was beneath their dignity to work in the fields. But what good had pride done to them? And if Thomas and Adam were upset by their simple punishment, what would their reaction be when they heard about the original punishment?

"Surely you can pay money so we don't have to work." said Adam, who looked ready to cry. He always claimed he was to sick to work. He wrung  his hands as he awaited his mother's answer.

"We're still in debt because of your father's lost ships. We don't have any money left over. But that isn't the worst of it." Their mother hung her head. "The jury said either one of you or Isabel has to work as a servant for the lord for three years. And if we don't comply, the lord will seize our house."

Silence fell over them. Then their mother spoke again. "In the morning, the lord's steward will come to collect one of you."

Adam gasped. "A servant for three years? Mother, not me. You know I'm sick. I get fevers an-and chills and I-I can't do it. I wouldn't last a week. The hard labor will kill me." He sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeves.

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about it." Thomas said casually.

Mother and Adam stared at him with open mouths.

"It will all be taken care of. Bailiff Richard will speak to our lord and pay the fine for us."

"Why would he do that?" Adam asked.

"Because Richard wants Isabel, and I gave him permission to marry her."

Isabel watched her mother's face, waiting for her to protest, but she didn't say a word. 

"Will Isabel marry the bailiff?" Adam looked hopeful. It seemed like he wanted to sell her to the bailiff as much as Thomas does. Mother, please say no. Say you won't let Bailiff Richard marry me. Besides, Thomas didn't realize the huge fine that we were supposed to pay and the bailiff could never pay that much of a fine. Richard must have known that the fine would be extreme and lied to Thomas so that the family would force Isabel to marry him. 

"What choice does she have? She has to marry the bailiff or one of us will be forced to be a servant to the lord." Thomas said.

Mother sighed. "If Isabel will marry him, it will solve our problems and raise our status with the villagers, but she may refuse."

A stabbing pain went through Isabel's stomach. Mother wants to sell me to the bailiff too? How dare she?

Thomas angrily slashed his arms through the air. "Can you see me as a servant? Ridiculous! Doesn't anyone know that our father's family was nobility? I won't do it."

"No, son, of course you won't," Mother muttered.

Isabel saw a situation out of marrying Bailiff Richard. She could go to Lord Goodwin and offer herself as his servant. Her brothers would still have to do the fieldwork required of them, but they could still go home at night and will also have some time in their day to do whatever they pleased. Isabel would be bound as a servant to Lord Goodwin's household, sleeping at the manor, eating at the manor, and working alongside other servants without any pay. 

As much as she dreads working under the fierce lord, it was more preferable than marrying Bailiff Richard. If she hadn't fought back and gotten away from him at the butcher's shop, he might have succeeded in...... She didn't want to finish that thought.

Thomas was the oldest at twenty-one, and so he should be the one to go. However, all he wanted to do all day was sit around and drink with his friends. 

She looked back at her family. Adam clutched the back of his neck, emitting a sound that came between a groan and a whimper. He always claimed he was ill and expected to be waited on. Since Father had been wealthy, her brothers expected to have wealth dropped in their laps and didn't realized that all of their money was lost on the ship their father died on. 

"I'm afraid Isabel won't marry the bailiff." Adam said, sinking down into a chair and covering his eyes. Then he suddenly lifted his head and smiled. "Maybe she would agree to work as the lord's servant for three years." 

Thomas snorted. "Even if she did, we'd still have to work in the harvest fields."

Adam's shoulders slumped. "You're all healthy and strong, not like me."

"Are you serious Adam?!" Thomas took a menacing step toward his brother. "Do you expect us to feel sorry for you when we're all in the same situation?"

Adam cringed, as if Thomas was going to hit him.

Thomas took a step back and looked out the window. "We'll just have to convince Isabel to marry Richard. It's the only way."

Isabel walked away from the door, already planning on what to do. She would wake up before everyone else and leave before anyone noticed she was missing. And that disgusting Richard would never touch her again.