Free Moondance of Stonewylde by Kit Berry Page B

and tractors, combine harvesters and any other essential machinery were always used.
    Because nothing that could be grown in the fields of Stonewyldewas imported, it was vital that farming was productive and efficient. But even with mechanisation and the need for high yields, there was no exploitation of the Earth Mother. There was no bleeding the land dry of all goodness and then pumping it back artificially with infusions of chemicals. Stonewylde used traditional organic methods, and the ultimate testimony to its success was the good health and fitness of all the people who lived there.
    Clip had left Stonewylde to stay with an alternative community in Ireland, where he was always in demand as a storyteller. The visitors who’d come for the Midsummer Holiday had now gone, and from being crammed full and bursting at the seams, the Hall was suddenly very quiet. With both Magus and Clip absent and many of the resident Hallfolk away on holiday in the Outside World, the atmosphere at Stonewylde was relaxed, despite the extra work in the fields.
    Yul felt free with Magus away. He worked harder than ever before, spending hours every evening pulling flax after a long day in the woods, and ate Maizie out of house and home. Rosie was working all hours at the dairy as milk production was at its peak. Much of the excess milk was made into great wheels of cheese which were part of the feasts at both Lammas and the Autumn Equinox festivals. Stonewylde cheese was particularly tasty, and the dairy produced several different types. Geoffrey and Gregory, although still at school, were busy rabbiting and helping with the flax harvest. Maizie was up to her elbows in preserves and wine-making, and trying to keep the two younger boys, Gefrin and Sweyn, under control. Without their father’s subduing presence they were running wild and constantly into mischief. Their favourite occupation was tormenting their little sister Leveret, and Maizie had to be extra vigilant and make sure her youngest child was safe from their spiteful pranks.
    Alwyn still languished in the hospital wing with no power of speech or movement. Unable to eat solid food, he’d lost much of his bulk and taken on a wasted look. Maizie went to see him weekly but it was a duty visit and she spent less and less timethere. She always returned very quiet, feeling guilty for enjoying her life so much more with her husband out of the way.
    Yul visited the hospital wing just once, and spent only a little time with the man who’d abused him for as long as he could remember. He went one evening before starting work in the fields, and approached the Hall with trepidation despite knowing that Magus was away. He went round to the kitchen wing where he’d worked so hard during the Midsummer festival. He knew Marigold would welcome him, although she’d barely had time to speak to him when the visitors had been around.
    ‘Come and have a little bite to eat first, Yul my love,’ she said warmly, sitting him down at the over-sized scrubbed table where the servants ate.
    ‘I’ve already eaten,’ he protested, smiling at her insistent kindness. She cut him a generous slice of gooseberry pie and smothered it with cream.
    ‘Aye, well you’re not greedy like that father o’ yours, but a working lad like you needs to keep his strength up.’
    ‘It’s him I’ve come to see,’ he explained. ‘I won’t be a regular visitor but I wanted to see him just once.’
    She shook her head and folded her arms.
    ‘That bully being taken ill was the best thing for your poor family,’ she said. ‘I should think your mother’s glad to see the back of him, nasty brute.’
    Yul was surprised at this. Maizie had told him how Alwyn had been a constant visitor to these kitchens during his son’s time at the quarry, piling on the fat as he was overfed daily by Marigold’s generosity. She laughed at the look on his face.
    ‘Aye, I know what you’re thinking. We all knew what he’d done to you, Yul,