The Green Witch

Chapter Ten

     Dougal, Brian and Daisy returned to the house at around mid afternoon to rest their young bodies and have a cup of tea before returning to the fields for the rest of the day. Dougal gave a cry of delight when he saw Tala waiting for him in the kitchen, and Brian and Daisy sniggered while giving each other knowing looks.

     Tala had to explain all over again about the fire that had taken her cottage, but she consoled herself with the knowledge that it would be the last time. Everyone who needed to know now knew. Once again she had to give reassurances that she wasn't hurt and listen to their words of thankfulness and relief. "You are so lucky," said Dougal, but there was happiness on his face that he was unable to hide. And so am I, his face said. This is the best thing that could possibly have happened. Tala found herself hating him just a little.

     She had another cup of tea with them, to be sociable. "I'd like to spend the rest of the day in the fields with you," she said, "but these are the only clothes I have." She turned to Sarah. "Do you have any rough clothes I can borrow? Something that doesn't matter how dirty they get?"

     "I've got a whole chest full of clothes I was keeping for when Daisy was big enough for them," Sarah replied, "but it's looking like she's never going to be my size so you're welcome to them. Go have a rummage around and pick out something you like. Then leave your good clothes in the washroom for when you come back in."

     "They're hardly good clothes," said Tala, looking down at herself. "I had a whole outfit of good clothes, my Sunday best, but they all went up in the fire."

     "You'll have a new set of Sunday best before long," Sarah assured her. "Until then, those are just fine for the clean rooms. Daisy, why don't you take her up to my room and show her my chest?"

     Daisy grinned, showing a wide mouth full of white teeth. "Sure," she said, putting down her half finished drink. "Come on, Tal. Let's go."

     Tala took the clothes into her own room to change, and as she took her clean clothes back down to the washroom she wondered whether they took turns to wash and get changed. There were several sets of indoor clothes sitting in alcoves in the wall, male and female clothes side by side, and four tin baths were standing against the far wall. It looked as though they were untroubled by thoughts of modesty and Tala felt a moment of apprehension as she thought about getting undressed in front of her new family. I'll get used to it, she told herself. I've got no choice.

     Daisy took the time to finish her cup of tea, even though it must have been no more than luke warm by then, and then the three youngsters got ready to go back outside. "We're collecting acorns," said Dougal as he pulled his coat back on. "For the pigs. They'll eat anything, but why pay for food when there's a whole forest of oak trees out there just dropping acorns on the forest floor?"

     Tala nodded. Everyone knew that pigs loved acorns. "I always assumed the pigs found them for themselves," she said. "That you just let them roam around the trees."

     "The forest's full of bracken," Dougal replied with a smile. "They love to eat it any chance they get, but it's not good for them. They get sick, and then we have to pay the pig doctor to give them medicine. Better to keep them in their pens and take the acorns to them. Come on, I'll show you how we do it."

     Outside, they'd left three acorns sieves, three shovels and a wheelbarrow standing against the side of the house. Brian and Daisy picked up their tools, Dougal put his in the wheelbarrow and then Tala followed them along the muddy path to the tool shed where Dougal picked out a fourth seive and a shovel for her. The seive was a large bucket that was covered by a latticework of rusty wire that she guessed would let acorns through but keep leaves and twigs out. The acorns were then tipped into the wheelbarrow for transport back to the storage bins beside the pig pens.