Who doesn't love a (literary) peep show?😉...
Please note: this excerpt is taken from a draft manuscript and may differ from the final published version.
Dulcina sighed, 'I miss Hazelstead . At home, I never had to put up with being this cold and wet or my clothes being anywhere near this dirty. I feel like one of my father's villeins,' Dulcina stuck out her bottom lip.
'Well, until we reach the sanctuary you will have to live like one. If you don't like your dirty clothes then find a stream to wash them in,' Maven stood back up and dusted herself down. The rain had stopped and they needed a more secure shelter.
As they continued to walk the grey clouds gave way to white ones. The sun turned the puddles bronze and auburn leaves littered the road. Maven thought of a walk she had once taken when she had been relieved of her duties for the morning. Her brother, Michael, had journeyed to a village just beyond Hazelstead with Dulcina's eldest brother, John, as they often did. She had walked the entire two-hour long journey to meet them and had been treated to lunch at the market and a ride on John's horse. Maven smiled at the memory.
They reached a settlement when the sun was high in the sky. It was a small hamlet; a cluster of six houses. Semi-feral chickens scattered and squawked with indignance when the two women walked by them. No noise or movement came from the houses other than the occasional knock as one of the doors opened and closed with the wind. A few pigs grunted and sniffed about the ground and the skeleton of a cow lay a few feet beyond the farthest home. Strips of torn, leathery skin still clung to its rib cage.
'I don't think anyone else is here, ' Maven called out as she walked towards the nearest house.
'What are you doing?' Dulcina followed her.
'We need to find more food. Perhaps, if no one else comes, we may even be able to stay here until tomorrow morning,' Maven pushed open the unlatched door. She called inside but only her echo answered.
Inside, the singular room was small. A section of the thatched roof had caved in on the far side. The two ceiling beams, underneath the fallen thatch, had formed a makeshift ramp up to a large hole in the wall upon which a russet-coloured chicken scratched for grubs. On the right hand side, of the collapse was a cold, blackened hearth then a corner sectioned off by a thin sheet. Through a tear in the material Maven could see a small, bare bed frame.
The left hand side of the room featured a bed big enough for two. The mattress was still intact though straw poked through large moth eaten holes. Any blanket that might have been there before had been taken long before they had arrived. At the foot of the bed was an open wooden chest. Maven checked it but it was empty except for a needle and thread, which she shoved in the haversack. Under the bed she found a pair of women's leather boots. She handed them to Dulcina who looked as though she had been given a dead rabbit.
'You need better shoes. These were made for walking long distances.'
'Somebody else might have already worn them,' Dulcina dropped the boots onto the floor.
'Quite probably.'
'Then I won't be wearing them. I am sure I will find other, unworn, footwear at the sanctuary,' Dulcina sat on the edge of the bed.
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I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek from my novel - keep your eyes peeled for more news on my writing here and on my Instagram!
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