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Speaker 1: Hullo. I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. Ada held the last cross between

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two fingers. When Marta stepped into the doorway and said,

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please shirret, Shame tightened at a straw it before she

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even looked at the child at her feet. Her hands

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moved with practice. She folded the shawl, rubbed the bolt rim,

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and set the cross dumb beside the child's palm. The

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door was smelled of damp straw and chimney soup. The

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problem was simple and immediate. There was only enough for

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one small meal. I Marta stood there with a thin

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shawl and a small boy who trembled from the cold

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at as Shame pushed her first, she counted portions by

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thumb against the wooden bowl. She had learned to hide

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hunger behind practical gestures. MARTA's face stayed level. Jacob held

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close to Martha's skirts and did not speak. The village

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had not spoken openly of the mill for two days,

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but top moved from door to door Before dawn, A

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whispered report arrived with Marta, and the whispered report was

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a new kind of pressure reader. Marta the larder is

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nearly bare Martin. His voice did not plead, It delivered fact.

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It kept her eyes in the bowl. She could feel

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her pulse at the base of her neck. Shame shifted

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into suspicion as she remembered the mill shutters closed in

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a trov's slowgate two days ago. The immediate choice sat

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like a stone on the threshold. Feed her own children,

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or give the last bit to a neighbor. Edda placed

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the crust in Jacob's small hand and stepped back. Jacob.

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She said, eat what you can now of the child's

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shube of small noises. MARTA's muff tightened. Eda's suspicion moved

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into action. She had been a watchful mother since the

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winter began. She had kept a tie cloth patch of

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barley and a wooden feeding ball by the hearth. The

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house smelled of barley husks and boiled roots. The smell

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was a record of decisions already made. By the time,

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the lane filled with low light, memories had gathered into

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a pattern. Friends in distant kinchecked one another's doorsteps. Da

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moved toward the lawnhouse because the village moved to monslow

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current at the lane, she found Marta speaking again, this

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time to three others. A trol stood with his arms folded.

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His coat looked patched at the elbow, and his fingers

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at the knob be joints of a man who had

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thefted sacks for years. The miller has not come, Martina

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wheel this morning. No sacks at the Lardae went after

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a light, and the stores empty. Jacob clutched Matty's hand

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and wept one thin and sharp. When the crowd heard that,

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the current sharpened. Inside the long house, a low fire

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made a small ring of warmth. Villagers sat on bench's

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clothes to the smoke and spoken short sentences. Eda sat

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with her sholf folded across her knees and watched the

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males of others. Her shame moved again, but this time

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it braided with fear. The fear was not for herself alone.

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It was the fear of being forced to choose in

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front of neighbors, to justify portions by weight, and to

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watch children with sunken cheeks. Fear tightened conversation and sent

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he trov to speak up. A trov stood, letting the

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chest crap. You can forage the marsh for reeds and roots.

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He said he can take a small party, while we

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can go to the miller's house and ask him of

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crane is hidden. His voice carried the rough authority of habit.

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Several heads turned. Marta touched Jacob's shoulder and looked at Edda.

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Eda felt the discussion press against the edges of her

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shyness and into rafusal. Have no time for question. An

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older woman said, of grain is at the mill hiding.

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It will stove us all. If we raid and find it,

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we will divide. If we do nothing, children will empty.

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The words landed like stones. Arguments move fast. One villager

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described saxeine moved at night near the mill. Others shook

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their heads. A man called Cage leaned forward. Who saw sax?

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Who saw them moved? He asked, voice high, with something

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between impatience and fear. The accusing villager, a broad faced

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woman with a red nose, answered quickly, saw shadow by

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the mill last week, sachs were fewer when I passed

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by in the morning, eyes flaked to Rolph. Ralph answered,

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combut blunt, we will search. We will not without word.

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First we find facts. The decision pushed add into a

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new emotional turn Suspicion widened into anger toward the idea

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that one household might hide food. The council sent three

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to the martian, two to the mill, and the rest

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stayed to ration. What remained Eda's hands worked on portions

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while she listened. She cut major slices of root bread

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and pressed a small amount of barley into a pot.

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She watched the children, whose cheeks hollows deepen with each delay.

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Conversation kept returning to two options, public shame affording was uncovered,

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or private theft if no one acted and her children

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went hungry. At noon, the marsh party left with narrow

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shoulders under cloaks and crewe forks for pulling weeds. Eda

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did not join them at first. Her duty was at home.

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She watched as a trough and two others slipt into

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a thinning falk. He called back softly, Edda, come if

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you can spare a hand. Later we may need more

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hands to dick. She nodded and chose to wait until dusk.

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Her shame in her resolve bumped against each other. Shame asked,

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privacy was all vasterisk In the late afternoon, a single

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loud sound broke the low routine. A child shrieked in

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the lane voices rose Eda moved outside and found Jacob

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clutching his arm. Scap had been ripped. The boy had

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fallen near a frozen puddle. The fall added another urgency.

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Mardes draw hardened, and she said, Jacob cannot go to

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the marsh to night if his arms stays like this.

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We need the mill. The practical demand sharpened eds resolve.

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She wrapped Jacob's arm with a clean strip and prepared

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to move with Rolph. The party for the mill was

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smaller than it could have been Hereolf took Edda and

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two others, a lantern bare named sore And and the accusing villager,

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whom Da learned was called Anna. They left under a

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low sky and carried quiet and away people carry away.

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Conversation had become business instead of rumor. Eda's shame had

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been replaced by a new route, protective determination. She spoke

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little and kept her hands steady in the sack strap

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she had borrowed. They crossed the lane that led to

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the mill with a careful step. The mill's wheel sat

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still as a stone. Moonlight painted the water low and glassy.

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The miller's door showed no fresh tracks, sore and croach,

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and whispered, there are, Prince here, many prints, but recent ones.

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Head to the shed e. Trolph nodded and pushed the

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shed door. It gave her the splintering sound. The smell

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of dry grain came out like a hell breath inside

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the shed. Defense sack stacked along the wall. Ada's chest heightened.

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Anya hissed, here they are see here they kept food

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while we stoff. Hands moved with that ceremony. Rolph lifted

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a sack seam and pulled out a handful of grain.

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Jacob's small eyes flashed at his memory, and her hands

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moved again, this time driven by a new sharp emotion,

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a fierce protect a urge that ran against the public

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law of property. Ralph looked at Edda. He did not

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need to speak. She felt the choice in the set

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of his jaw, in the tilt of his head. The

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accusation that had risen in the lawn has now met

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the quiet fat grain. DA's shame sharpened into gilt, at

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first for thinking of stealing, then into a colder calculation.

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If the miller had kept sacks away, many would die

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if they exposed him. Villages must hunger on until winter thinned.

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If they took grain quietly, they would face accusation, but

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also put warm food into miles that would otherwise wreaze sore.

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In place his lantern on the floor, the light trembled

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on sacking. Anya's hand shook a trough. We must decide quickly.

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One bag will feed many if shared. One bag taken

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quietly may spare our children to night. His voice held

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the hard weight of community. Eda knew then that a

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choice made in the dark would day names, and that

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stains could stay longer than hunger. Edda reached for a

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sack and felt the cause weave under her palms. She

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thought of her own child's sleeping Bresse home. She thought

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of MARTA's puld mouth when the child had cried. She

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thought of Jacob's fall. Her body moved before her words.

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She set the seam up and slipped grain into a

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cloth and tied it at her belt. Her action turned

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a conversation into a new strain of sound. Anya swore softly, sare,

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and looked at a troll, as if needing instruction. A

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troll did not stop her. He bent and took a

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second handful himself. When they stepped back from the shed.

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The knight held a small private thunder footsteps muffled on

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the path. No shout rose, No one had struck them.

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They worked with sacks held low and faces narrow, with

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contained fear. It is hand axe to the weight. Her

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heart hammered, not from exertion, but from exposure to a

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choice that would mark her publicly if revealed. On returning,

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they split the grain into small portions. Ada gave a

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good share to her children, and wrapped a thin parcel

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for Marta and Jacob. Words spread quickly, Some thanks softly,

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some looked away. A whisper went through the lane. Grain

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had been distributed from the mill. Accusations came in the

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form of stony faces at the doorway. I I near

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refused to hide her anger and spook the name that

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cut the miller kept sacks. You knew you took. Who

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gave you that right? Haralf answered in a voice that

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did not bear him. If they saw the sacks, we

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decided as a group, some of us took to keep

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children alive. The group broke into a short exchange. Eda

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heard her name said in a dozen ways. She did

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not defend herself. At length, she handed bowls and watched

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how people ate the porridge with quick, hungry motions. The

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scene became a ledger of small mercies and small resentments.

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A neighbor name Sign, approached at and spoke, low, your

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hand trembles, Did you take more? Eda looked at Sign,

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and then at the empty hearth. She answered simply, no

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more than needed. Sign's eyes did not soften. The accusation

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became rumor. Rumor turned toward the miller. In the law house,

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voices rose and leveled again into decisions about fairness. The

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fracture widened into a quiet dividing line. That night, Ata

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sat by her window with a small handful of grain

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at the sill. The children slept with mass too small

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to fill. Came once bent and left a scrap of

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schieff or neighbor In return. Hrll visited with a slow,

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unreadable look, and sad, we cannot admit death, but neither

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can we watch them starve. We will speak when it

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is safe. He did not define safe. His words introduced

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a new tension, practical mercy versus public justice. During the night,

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some one knocked it at his door. She opened to

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find the miller pale and trunken. He held a scrap

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of paper in an old ledger. His voice quivered as

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he said, I kept seed for spurring. I meant no harm.

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My family is small. I thought that a step back.

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The miller stared at his boots, as if the dirt

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could explain anything. The miller's presence created a second twist.

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It changed the suspect into a fragile human before them.

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Martha spoke before DA could move. You should have said so, Miller.

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We would have divided seed and set aside for spring.

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We would have taken less and lived. But Miller looked up,

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eyes wet. He feared the sacks would be gone if

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I left them in the larder. I hid some to

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save seed from my wife's labor come spring. His admission

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refrained the allegation. The twist made two things shrewd once

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the miller acted from private fear, and private fear had

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consequence for the many arguments flared into a short, sharp exchange.

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We'reolf pressed. You should have spoken to the council, the

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miller answer. If I had, folk would have taken seed

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for planting, not for bread. Seed is not the same

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as grain for porridge. Sore and added, but children needed porridge.

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Now the room spun into quick back and forth lines

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added cat silent and watched, hands tight numbles. Conversation clipped

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like a blade. Any demanded a public reckoning. If he took,

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he must answer. She said. If the miller hid, he

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must be punished. Ralph Joe offset. He looked at head

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of in a way that asked for steadiness at a foul.

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The slow burn along her spy and shame returned. Braided

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with the new emotional turn, resolve that would not justify

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theft with words, but would protect the living. She stood

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and faced the room. Have soup and pots and hands

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to carry it. Do I have children who wake with emptiness?

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If we call for punishment now to night, families will

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go without in the miller may looose seat, he needs

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to plant. We must temper law with need. Her voice

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was plain. People blinked. Her words set off a rapid

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exchange of short lines. We cannot be lawless, one said,

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he cannot watch children stirve. Another replied the argument moved

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fast and shop with three to six quick returns. A

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trov made the decision. Then slow and final will return

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what weakenm in spring comes we will ask the miller

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to show seat and account for now we share and

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we watch each other closely. That compromise shifted the group's mood.

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Some nodded, some turned away. The fracture did not heal,

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but the immediate hunger east. Edda closed her hand around

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the wooden ball and felt the weight of small decisions.

235
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At dawn, Da placed a measured handful of grain and

236
00:11:39,919 --> 00:11:42,440
the window so for the children. She smoothed the cloth

237
00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,320
of her shawl and tested the pots for warmth. Outside

238
00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:49,080
voices carried, some thankful, some accusing. Marta stopped and touched

239
00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:53,200
AT's shoulder. Briefly, did what you believed, marta voice slow

240
00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:55,840
Jack appeared at the grain and then at adder and

241
00:11:55,879 --> 00:11:58,639
said nothing. Ed had answered by lifting the ball and

242
00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,240
moving back inside. The final moment arrived like a single breath.

243
00:12:02,799 --> 00:12:05,120
A neighbor's foot struck a stone outside, and the sound

244
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,879
was blunt. Ed opened the small door and saw a

245
00:12:07,919 --> 00:12:10,879
troll and the miller standing together at the lane. Emilla

246
00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,399
had returned small sack and ellest. He met Ed's eyes

247
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and nodded, once e trolf, we will account and we

248
00:12:17,519 --> 00:12:21,559
will watch for now keep your children fed. Da accepted

249
00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:23,639
the nod and let her hands move to the child's hair.

250
00:12:24,279 --> 00:12:27,639
Shame had shaped at his first move. Suspicion followed rumor,

251
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,279
Fear drove action. Protective resolve pushed her to risk a

252
00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:34,440
private death that would not stay private. The immertional turns

253
00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,120
left marks in the village, thanky notes, angry stairs, a

254
00:12:37,159 --> 00:12:39,159
patch ledger, and a handful of grain on a sill.

255
00:12:39,879 --> 00:12:42,039
Da pushed between the low posts and smelled the metal

256
00:12:42,039 --> 00:12:44,159
tine of old stew before she sawed the pot itself.

257
00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,720
She grabbed the laddle and found the bottom of a

258
00:12:46,759 --> 00:12:50,639
communal pottage grape clean. Suspicion tightened her fingers around the handle.

259
00:12:51,279 --> 00:12:53,120
She read the narration less nailed to the post, and

260
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,919
the shortfall was written in wluntliness. There's not enough, she said.

261
00:12:56,519 --> 00:12:59,519
The pot clinked. A child at her feet began to moan.

262
00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,120
She remembered the crush she had held with two fingers

263
00:13:02,159 --> 00:13:05,320
the week before. The memory was exact, marty small palm

264
00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:07,080
under the bread, the way it had folded her shawl,

265
00:13:07,159 --> 00:13:10,200
the shame settling behind her jaw. That earlier shearing had

266
00:13:10,279 --> 00:13:12,279
left a quiet rule in her hands. Always checked before

267
00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,960
you take the village depended on those rules now don

268
00:13:16,039 --> 00:13:18,919
lind Low over the long house roof Da stepped into

269
00:13:18,919 --> 00:13:21,639
the courtyard with the ladle. Marek moved at her side

270
00:13:21,639 --> 00:13:25,000
without asking. Marrek's boots left off. Prince in the dark mud.

271
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,279
He did not speak first. His mouth was set in

272
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,320
a way that meant he had already counted possibilities. Some

273
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,000
one had nailed a rationalist to the post with rough thumbtacks.

274
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,879
Eddar read the names aloud. Marek's face shifted the fraction

275
00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:39,960
of a degree that said he felt the same tension.

276
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,799
The problem was concrete. The pot was nearly empty, and

277
00:13:42,799 --> 00:13:46,039
the list shortened everyone's share. The stakes were immediate. Children

278
00:13:46,039 --> 00:13:49,200
would go without unless someone reshaped the measure. Thomas stood

279
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,480
by the haa sleeves rolled a wooden platter under his arm.

280
00:13:52,759 --> 00:13:54,559
His eyes stayed on the pot, but his jaw Workie

281
00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,399
cut this down from yesterday. He say, daughters from the steward,

282
00:13:58,039 --> 00:14:01,840
everyone gets less. He kept his voice flat. Eda felt

283
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,200
suspicion turned to restrained anger. Widow Ena pushed forward in

284
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,639
the line. Her fingers curled around the rim of the

285
00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,919
serving bowl, as if she might steady herself. Me children

286
00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:15,600
are small, Thomas, she said, they need warm porridge. Now.

287
00:14:15,639 --> 00:14:18,440
Her voice shook but did not break. Thomas set the

288
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,600
ball down by a Corran tablet. Lest is the list,

289
00:14:21,919 --> 00:14:24,600
he said, you know how it goes. He with a thumb.

290
00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,279
The exchange snap like a brittle twig. An argument rose

291
00:14:28,279 --> 00:14:31,679
without ceremony, Tooma's names from the list and refused extras.

292
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,240
Ania pleaded. Eda felt the urge to speak before she

293
00:14:35,279 --> 00:14:38,799
measured the consequences. She stepped into the line. Tumors, ADI

294
00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:42,399
give her a little more. Martyr is small, and he asked,

295
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,240
children are smaller. Still, her tone was low. She counted

296
00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,799
portions in her head to way she always had. Giving

297
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,120
one extra bull meant less for another family tomorrow, but

298
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,360
not giving it meant a child might faint before dusk.

299
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:54,840
Thomas looked at it, read up. We cannot change the

300
00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,759
steward's list. If we do, they'll cut us further next

301
00:14:57,799 --> 00:14:59,799
week away, he said. They held a distance between him

302
00:14:59,799 --> 00:15:02,639
and the decision. Make us someone takes from us, Merrick,

303
00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,039
someone with the cub passed by yesterday. Sachs moved. He

304
00:15:06,159 --> 00:15:10,240
leaned closier, lord's cart unmarked, no receipts. Tomas draw tight

305
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,080
nigermuswell like bad grain. We cannot act on hearsay, we

306
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,720
have to ration to the numbers. He set the bowl

307
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,600
back in the hearth with the hand that trembled just

308
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,279
enough to show restraint. Eneas moaw Son sucked his knuckles. Please,

309
00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:25,559
she said, please, Thomas, we have nothing at home but straw.

310
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:27,960
Her voice turned in the last word like a key.

311
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,399
The plate in Toma's hands seemed heaver. I dare remembered

312
00:15:31,399 --> 00:15:34,120
to cross again that concrete amid shape which she could

313
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,519
not ignore. She leaned low. Hannah, she said, to the

314
00:15:37,519 --> 00:15:39,600
woman nearest the cook, which you trade me a piece

315
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,080
of cloth for an extra bowl? My shawl will do.

316
00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,279
I will not ask more. Her voice was practical. She

317
00:15:46,399 --> 00:15:48,799
unfastened the corner of her wool shawl and held it out.

318
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,080
The woven edge was thin from years of wear. Hannah

319
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:53,960
took the cloth and set it in the hearth beside

320
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,759
the bowl. She glanced at the rationalist, and then at

321
00:15:56,759 --> 00:15:58,679
Thomas om Bole. She said, on for what. She slid

322
00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,240
the portion across with a flat hand. Mart Ate, with

323
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,039
her thumb bent over the bowl like an animal that

324
00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,480
had learned to make a ell. Small dam watched the

325
00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:08,720
child's shoulders rise and fall. The immediate danger quite it,

326
00:16:08,759 --> 00:16:10,720
but the sense of unfairness did not leave the air.

327
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:13,440
By mid morning, Marek pulled out her side near a

328
00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:15,679
lean to whither Lorno shadowed a patch of wet ground.

329
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,600
He lowered his voice. A cart moved through, I tell you,

330
00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,639
he said, not the steward's tally. No Marks's breath made

331
00:16:21,639 --> 00:16:24,399
a white lion in the cold. Edda kept her reply short.

332
00:16:24,399 --> 00:16:26,759
Where did it go? Marek tapped his chin toward the

333
00:16:26,759 --> 00:16:29,919
steward's shed as saw tracks near the green fresh wagon ruts.

334
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,039
Not the usual carts. Someone moves grain in the dark.

335
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:34,720
He nodded to a line of houses on the other

336
00:16:34,759 --> 00:16:38,879
side of the green. Da felt that then a sharp clarity, doubt.

337
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,200
Could she be mistaken? Clarity? The footprints matched the step

338
00:16:42,279 --> 00:16:45,159
by the steward storage. Her hands tightened on the bundle

339
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,480
of cloth she had traded. Who should follow them, she said,

340
00:16:48,159 --> 00:16:50,879
Mark agreed with a curt nod. They did not speak

341
00:16:50,919 --> 00:16:53,480
as they walked. The lane ran narrow. When the rain

342
00:16:53,519 --> 00:16:56,480
had slicked the cobbels footprints led away from the long

343
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:58,559
house green and toward the steward's low shed at the

344
00:16:58,639 --> 00:17:01,600
village edge. When I joined them halfway, her face pale

345
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:03,960
but determined. Eddie will not leave my children empty handed,

346
00:17:04,039 --> 00:17:07,160
she said. She kept her voice level. She had a

347
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,319
blade tucked into her belt, not new, but clean at

348
00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:11,640
the edge. The three of them reached the shed and

349
00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,480
stood with their breath clouding the lock door. The wood

350
00:17:14,519 --> 00:17:17,759
smelled of damp straw and old barley. Eda tested the

351
00:17:17,799 --> 00:17:20,839
lock with her finger tips. It resisted the first pull.

352
00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,559
Thomas arrived at the gate, then hand empty. He held

353
00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:27,319
his position with stance that signaled caution. To Thomas, marreck,

354
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:30,160
did you see a cart? Thomas? I slid to the tracks,

355
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,279
then to the shed. He looked to Why. I know

356
00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,799
nothing about carts. I keep the pots. I do not

357
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,680
see what the sieur does. His voice sounded rehearsed. Edda

358
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:41,440
struck the lock with the flat of her hand and

359
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,200
felt the timber give with a dry sound. The latch

360
00:17:44,279 --> 00:17:48,200
gave Inside, sacks lay stacked against the back wall, smell

361
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,039
of grain, rose warm and buried. The sacks were tied

362
00:17:51,079 --> 00:17:53,640
and labeled in the steward's hand. Edda reached in and

363
00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,519
touched a sack he yielded under her fingers. She pulled

364
00:17:57,519 --> 00:17:59,079
at the coarse twine and felt the weight of a

365
00:17:59,079 --> 00:18:03,000
hand's decision pressed against her throat. Behind her, someone drew breath.

366
00:18:03,519 --> 00:18:05,799
Thomas stepped forward then and said, ye should not. The

367
00:18:05,799 --> 00:18:08,480
sentence broke when Mayre clifted a sack and of coarse cloth.

368
00:18:08,519 --> 00:18:11,200
Whispered Merrek did not have the fact that he meant

369
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,880
to carry one aunt, and NIO's hand moved toward the

370
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,160
nearest high A sharp confrontation opened in the lane. Then

371
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:19,920
voices rose in quick exchange at Tomas a day, did

372
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,200
you nail that Russian list? No? Thomas posted what I

373
00:18:23,279 --> 00:18:26,640
was told. I'm the cook, not the steward. He pushed

374
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,359
a palm out, you will not take what is not yours.

375
00:18:30,039 --> 00:18:32,440
His voice was thin. He looked at the sacks as

376
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,119
if they might breathe. And who told you to shrink

377
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,960
the balls? Meck Tim's face shifted. He glanced at the tracks,

378
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,839
and the mute orders come from above. The steward counts

379
00:18:42,519 --> 00:18:45,839
I follow. His hands were empty. Neo snapped, counted where

380
00:18:46,519 --> 00:18:49,079
if the steward keeps stores hidden, then who keeps us alive?

381
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,119
She stepped closer, and for the first time the steadness

382
00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,039
in her voice showed real anger. Toma's reply came quicker,

383
00:18:55,039 --> 00:18:58,480
if you stole the shed will be punished. They'll take

384
00:18:58,519 --> 00:19:00,799
more from us if we break their law. Do you

385
00:19:00,839 --> 00:19:04,720
want that rapid lines path? Then sharp and short? Thomas?

386
00:19:04,759 --> 00:19:08,400
Did you move sacks? Nec de mand did no, Thomas?

387
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,200
He would not. You deny it, Thomas, any about the

388
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,759
tracks end at your path? The cot didn't pass the

389
00:19:13,799 --> 00:19:17,599
steward's gate alone. Her hands tightened on her skirt ed

390
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,359
as stepped between them. Her voice was low. But carriage,

391
00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,599
you cannot let the children star because we fear a

392
00:19:22,599 --> 00:19:25,400
punishment none of us can afford. She looked at Thomas.

393
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,519
If you took some, then say so. If he did

394
00:19:28,519 --> 00:19:30,319
not stand with us now by telling what ye know.

395
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,599
Her jaw set. Thomas's mouth moved without sound for a beat.

396
00:19:34,319 --> 00:19:36,400
Then he looked at the sacks, at the faces around him,

397
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,480
and his shoulders dropped, as if carrying an invisible wait here.

398
00:19:39,519 --> 00:19:42,400
I moved a few. I did not mean to hide them.

399
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:44,480
I thought to keep some in case the steward cut

400
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,119
deliverers more. I thought it would be a store to tight.

401
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,599
As a collective breath pass through the small group, Suspicion

402
00:19:50,599 --> 00:19:53,680
shifted into betrayal for someone, into reluctant understanding for others.

403
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,200
Eda felt anger and relief in the same pulse. She

404
00:19:57,279 --> 00:19:59,400
took one steading step backward and let the weight of

405
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,119
that confession. Land Mark's face went Flay to keet to

406
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,640
reserve for whom he asked. Thomas looked at the ground,

407
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,079
for my mother, for my sister. I could not watch

408
00:20:09,079 --> 00:20:11,599
them thin out. I did not mean to take more

409
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,200
than my share. He ran a hand over his hair,

410
00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,400
and the gesture made and looked suddenly. Young Gerry thought

411
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,680
I could manage portions to avoid ruin. I misjudged his voice,

412
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,720
gracton the last word, Eny's about the next line. Then

413
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:25,799
he made a choice for us. Her eyes shone with

414
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:27,599
a heat that had nothing to do with the afternoon.

415
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,240
You chose who lived and who did not. Her words

416
00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:33,480
landed like rocks into still water Edel listened to the small,

417
00:20:33,599 --> 00:20:37,480
quick exchanges. She felt an internal shift, again, doubting to resolve.

418
00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,319
Doubt because she had not known Tomas could do such

419
00:20:40,319 --> 00:20:43,640
a thing. Resolved because the course now required action. The

420
00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:45,720
village would either break and lose more or make a

421
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,359
blunt compromise. Ay s Merret put down the sack he

422
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,799
had been lifting. He kept his hands steady. Bring these

423
00:20:52,799 --> 00:20:55,200
out now, he said, we divide what is here in

424
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,119
plain sight. We post names, We watch each other take.

425
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,279
He made at Thomas eyes and did not flinch to

426
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,359
miswallow it. If we do that, the steward may punish

427
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,160
us for opening his shed. He keeps accounts his breath

428
00:21:09,279 --> 00:21:12,119
was short. Add it. Then we make a record at ourselves.

429
00:21:12,759 --> 00:21:15,559
We call Eric and two others to watch. We measure

430
00:21:15,559 --> 00:21:18,279
with a marked bow. We do not take without witnesses.

431
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:23,160
She looked at any Yato. You agree, she asked. Enya nodded.

432
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,000
Once he die for the children. Her fingers loosened from

433
00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:28,960
the skirt. They carried sacks out to the green, where

434
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,240
the long house faces gathered. Merek spoke plainly to the crowd.

435
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,000
Found these sacks hidden at the shed. Tuma says, he

436
00:21:35,039 --> 00:21:38,039
moved some we will can't and share here with witnesses.

437
00:21:38,079 --> 00:21:41,240
His left little room for argument. The villages gathered like

438
00:21:41,279 --> 00:21:45,759
a low tide. Some faces read anger, others retire of relief.

439
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,559
Mart appeared from Eda's skirt and sucked at her thumb.

440
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,319
Da held the child's shoulder without looking down. She watched

441
00:21:52,319 --> 00:21:55,240
the crowd instead. Marek set a sack into the dirt

442
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,519
and cut the twine green spilled slow and clean. The

443
00:21:58,559 --> 00:22:00,599
sound filled the quiet in the way a media thing does,

444
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,000
practical and not comforting. Thomas diod By hands at his sides.

445
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,519
He did not meet Neo's eyes. A small twist came

446
00:22:07,519 --> 00:22:09,640
as they measured a ledger page slip from the tight

447
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,599
bundle of receipts. It bore the stuard sinc and an

448
00:22:12,599 --> 00:22:14,759
added line showing transfers out on a date when the

449
00:22:14,839 --> 00:22:17,920
village meant to receive deliveries. The paper named a Field

450
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,960
a count closer to the lord's manner. The revelation changed

451
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,599
the shape of guilt. It proved the steward had shifted

452
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,119
groin from the village stores to other hands. Murmurs rosisso

453
00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:30,319
it was not only Toma's. Maximen moved sacks higher up.

454
00:22:30,319 --> 00:22:32,200
He folded the paper and held it like a fanding

455
00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:34,920
Tomas's face. POLIDI thought it was to keep some back

456
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,160
for us of more Cut's game. He said he was

457
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,200
ashamed to say nothing, because I feared a worse cut

458
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:40,920
if I made to foster. The reason did not excuse

459
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,920
the secrecy. The crowd sorted into practical teams. Merk and

460
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,319
two other men checked measures. Eda and Uni tracked names

461
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,200
on a scrap of wood. They wrote slowly and deliberately,

462
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,000
who took what and how much. The ledger page went

463
00:22:54,039 --> 00:22:57,119
into the Longhouse records, where Merkett would be safe. Thomas

464
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,160
stood beside the hearth as people filed past to take

465
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,240
measured sacks in the dust. The redistribution felt like an

466
00:23:02,279 --> 00:23:05,680
uneasy truce. Some received more than the morning had allowed.

467
00:23:06,319 --> 00:23:09,119
Others left with their alloted measure and await in their mouths.

468
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:11,759
Merek spoke to the assembled headse Hea will watch the

469
00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:15,279
stewards accounts. Now, we will trade work for greenway. We must.

470
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,240
We will not let stores leave without witnesses. His voice

471
00:23:18,279 --> 00:23:20,799
had the flat practicality of someone used counting things down

472
00:23:20,839 --> 00:23:24,440
to the last handful. Edar took mardaholme. The cottage was

473
00:23:24,519 --> 00:23:26,920
low and smelled of wet straw. She set a thin

474
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,279
bowl of porridge between them and sat with her back straight.

475
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:31,920
Marty took's moall bites and did not act for more.

476
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,319
Edit tore a piece of bread and set it in

477
00:23:34,319 --> 00:23:37,759
the child's palm without ceremony. The immediate danger had passed,

478
00:23:37,799 --> 00:23:41,880
but the village had changed lines that had been invisible. Trust, authority,

479
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,359
favor now showed in the way people moved their shoulders

480
00:23:45,039 --> 00:23:47,920
at night. Footsteps crossed the lane. Some one knock once

481
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,039
sharply Aired's door. She opened to find Mek cold in

482
00:23:51,039 --> 00:23:54,559
the steward's copy of delivery notes. His face read concerned

483
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,519
rather than triumph. We will watch the steward tomorrow, he said.

484
00:23:57,519 --> 00:23:59,519
Thomas will help us post the list each morning, so

485
00:23:59,599 --> 00:24:01,640
everyone sees that a poustier will need to keep our

486
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,920
eyes open for cuts that pass without notice. His words

487
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,480
set a new plan in motion. Edda nodded. She folded

488
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,279
her should the way she always did and set it

489
00:24:09,319 --> 00:24:11,599
over the back of her chair. She looked at Marty

490
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,000
eating quietly. The chapters are closed on a concrete action.

491
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,359
Marek left the ledger on Eddi's table and said, post

492
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,119
this in the law house wall at dawn. Everyone must know.

493
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,000
The knock on the door signal not a new beginning,

494
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,559
but a decision made at a watch begun. Eda lit

495
00:24:25,599 --> 00:24:27,960
the low lamp, and the room filled with warm, steady light.

496
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,279
As she pinned the paper to the table's edge, the

497
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,559
chest of events from the day settled into a new arrangement.

498
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,920
Some grain measured out in public. A ledger moved into

499
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,319
common view, a cook's confession, and a village set to

500
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,119
keep its own count. Eda felt the residue of shame

501
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,759
from past choices in the resolve to act differently when needed.

502
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,240
She held MARTA's small hand and said nothing. Her jaw

503
00:24:46,319 --> 00:24:49,279
relaxed a fraction. The final sound in the chapter was

504
00:24:49,319 --> 00:24:52,160
not a declaration, but a practical instruction. Posts a paper

505
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,880
at arn and stand watch together. That was the decision

506
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,680
that would shape their next day. A rough knock splits

507
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,440
the adorn hush, a Ru's boot fills the lane, and

508
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,160
a silverquisition is shoved under Edda's door. Suspicion tightens the

509
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,319
inside of her chest before she lifts even one foot.

510
00:25:07,039 --> 00:25:09,079
She knows what a sealed notice means in a season

511
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:12,480
when granaries creak and bellas make their own complaints. The

512
00:25:12,519 --> 00:25:15,079
reef's voice comes low and impatient through the timber open

513
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,119
Russians will be inspected at first light. The grain collector's

514
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,039
leather rasped as he set the seal on the table.

515
00:25:20,559 --> 00:25:23,640
The paper smells faintly of damp and iron. I depresses

516
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,279
her hand to the wood and counts the nails with

517
00:25:25,319 --> 00:25:27,680
her finger tips. The way she cants portions at supper,

518
00:25:27,839 --> 00:25:30,240
and already the room is molo with the knowledge of loss.

519
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,319
I had just stepped into the lame of her showl

520
00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,599
folded around her shoulders, her fingers bend, hold the feeding

521
00:25:35,599 --> 00:25:37,839
ball at her hip she had given away to last

522
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,559
cross last night, when Marta came to the doorway. She

523
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,759
remembers that small shame in the child's palm, and she

524
00:25:42,839 --> 00:25:46,039
remembers how the ball had felt light. Afterward, she remembers

525
00:25:46,079 --> 00:25:47,920
the hydemus if she found scraped to the bottom of

526
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,319
a communal pot two nights ago, the ration less nailed

527
00:25:50,319 --> 00:25:52,279
to the post, the short full written in blunt numbers.

528
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,279
Those memories sit like stones in her mouth. When the

529
00:25:55,279 --> 00:25:57,720
reeve's eyes sweep the row of doorway, Seeder thomases from

530
00:25:57,759 --> 00:26:01,200
the shadow of the lawn house them with cold deomichelist,

531
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:03,720
keep your door open. He looks at her with the

532
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,839
same tie look. He his head for week, sunken cheeks,

533
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,720
a scarf that smells of the same smoke as her shawl.

534
00:26:09,279 --> 00:26:12,000
His hands are stained with last night's ash. His eyes

535
00:26:12,039 --> 00:26:14,319
briefly find the shawl. She folds away. A person checks

536
00:26:14,319 --> 00:26:17,559
a wound. The reef clears his ferty Willn's back stores.

537
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,599
We answer to the steward who hide from the king's stacks,

538
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,519
who hides grain, risks, fine and lost and jai. He

539
00:26:23,599 --> 00:26:25,880
pronounces the words without heat, like a man reading a

540
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,079
practice script. The grain collector lifts the notice and reads

541
00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:30,960
out the names in a voice that tries for evenism.

542
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,279
As as people stare in their doorways, shifting weight from

543
00:26:33,319 --> 00:26:36,000
one foot to another. The green outside the lawn has

544
00:26:36,039 --> 00:26:39,480
already smacks of breath and damp. Marda comes forward, clutching

545
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,240
a child to her chest. She holds a small body

546
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,599
clothes so the boy's cheek brushes her collar. Bona, please,

547
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,200
Moss says, stirring at the review of little search us

548
00:26:48,839 --> 00:26:50,880
take what is right. Her jaw trembles with the word please,

549
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,519
in a way that makes out his hands tighten on

550
00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:55,759
her ball. Marty's plea is not for mercy in the abstract.

551
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,640
It is a direct demand to be seen and measured.

552
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,839
Against the lull. Tomas speaks up voice rough barter, He says,

553
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,319
body before seizure. We can trade tools, wool, any linine.

554
00:27:05,319 --> 00:27:07,160
He points at the notice with the knuckle, the paper

555
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,079
flapping where the reef holds it with two fingers. Let

556
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,759
us offer what we have we need our children to

557
00:27:11,759 --> 00:27:14,039
She still is wood scraped like a shovel against pat death.

558
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,240
Several villagers, not others, look away. The reef shakes his head.

559
00:27:18,279 --> 00:27:22,160
The steward's orders are clear. Finds for concealment, inspections. He

560
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,039
glances at Ed's doorway and then at the others. His

561
00:27:25,079 --> 00:27:27,440
gaze is measuring, not cruel, but a measuring glance can

562
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,319
break a person away away, snaps a branch at a

563
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,440
feels her mouth go dry. Suspicion moves through the crowd.

564
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,480
Who has hidden food, who has hoarded? Who will be

565
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,079
branded as thief and accusing? Nipercoll's voice shop from the

566
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:41,480
back of the green wad of the thomises they had

567
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,359
barrels last week? Who saw them fill sacks? The name

568
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,759
falls like a stone, heads turned. The DUT's breads taut

569
00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:51,400
and hungry. Eda's eyes search faces for recognition and find

570
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,240
instead the hard line of self protection. She listens to

571
00:27:54,279 --> 00:27:56,839
body language, a man folding his arms, a woman pulling

572
00:27:56,839 --> 00:27:59,160
her child tighter, someone tucking a hand into a coat

573
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,319
pocket as if to touch pouch. It might not exist.

574
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:03,880
The reef consoles a list and then reads a lot

575
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,400
of set of names to be inspected. When his voice

576
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,160
lands on Tomas's name, Thomas stepped forward and says, check

577
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,559
my house, break my door if you must. I sold

578
00:28:12,559 --> 00:28:15,440
the last handful of barley to a traveling merchant. I

579
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:17,039
had to my wife had a fever. He does not

580
00:28:17,079 --> 00:28:19,920
speak to defend himself from shame. He speaks to make

581
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:21,960
the transaction legible. I sold it for coin to pay

582
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,799
the healer. I did not hide it to profit. I

583
00:28:24,839 --> 00:28:26,759
sold it to feed the name. Me Eda watches Toomy's

584
00:28:26,759 --> 00:28:29,319
shoulders the way he won't meet the reeve's eyes. She

585
00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,920
feels an emotion tilt from suspicion into something sharper. Dad

586
00:28:33,559 --> 00:28:36,680
drait is a small moving thing in her hands. It

587
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,599
becomes precise when names are and doors are opened. She

588
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,559
had heard a rumor about Thomas Hale in the yard

589
00:28:41,599 --> 00:28:44,000
two nights ago, but seeing him say it allow changes

590
00:28:44,039 --> 00:28:46,640
the shape of the rumor into a hard fact. People

591
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,799
murmur a nervous hide. Sister Agent steps up by the

592
00:28:49,799 --> 00:28:52,599
half of the law house. Her sleeves are folded back,

593
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,079
her knuckles are whiter than the rest of her hands

594
00:28:55,079 --> 00:28:57,000
from gripping the edge of a bench. We cannot stand

595
00:28:57,039 --> 00:28:59,640
only to accuse, she says, and her voice is a

596
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,960
steady til can organize a rota forage together, watch roats.

597
00:29:03,039 --> 00:29:05,599
If we share labor and we move quietly, we can

598
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,240
keep children fed and make fewer of us targets for seizure.

599
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,119
She meets Eda's eyes, and in that look there is

600
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,519
both proposal and a pleaful leadership. Eda feels a change

601
00:29:14,519 --> 00:29:17,359
in herself. Then what had been dread and suspicion becomes

602
00:29:17,359 --> 00:29:20,000
a result, sharpened into a plan. She is how the

603
00:29:20,079 --> 00:29:22,920
villagers look at her. She remembers how she counted out

604
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:25,160
portions at the door last week, how she folded her

605
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,559
shawl and set two spoonfuls of stew and to MARDs

606
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,559
Child's bawl. Action tightens her shoulders. So go with the

607
00:29:30,559 --> 00:29:33,799
forging party, she says. Her voice is small, but it

608
00:29:33,839 --> 00:29:37,000
cuts through the crowd. Toma's face flickers with surprise and

609
00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:40,240
something like relief. A villager mutters, harsh and quickened, who

610
00:29:40,279 --> 00:29:43,200
will watch your house? The words are a challenge. Who

611
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,960
you from? Hiding pouches fingers point I find the long

612
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,720
house door. The reefs men step forward, and a hush

613
00:29:49,759 --> 00:29:51,720
drops as they approach the first house in the list.

614
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,799
Inspection begins. The reear's officer lifts floorboards, peers into chests.

615
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,400
They knock open cupoards, feel between thatch and beam. The

616
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,039
inspector at one house produces a tight cloth pouch and

617
00:30:03,079 --> 00:30:06,759
holds it up where everyone can see, fingers poured toward Tomas.

618
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,319
The crowd leans forward, breathing stops in the lane, as

619
00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:12,039
if every one has been told to hold their breath

620
00:30:12,039 --> 00:30:15,640
at once. Tole miss is pale. He opens his mouth,

621
00:30:15,759 --> 00:30:18,319
then closes it. There Rea's men look at him as

622
00:30:18,319 --> 00:30:19,839
if the name on the list had been a test

623
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,519
and he had failed. Whispisko through the crowd like wind

624
00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:26,160
over Droystraw. Eda's hands in voluntarily clamp on her bowl.

625
00:30:26,759 --> 00:30:29,039
The wood presses into the meat of her palm. A

626
00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:32,559
new emotion surface is shame plastically shaped into action. Sham

627
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,279
coaxes her across the lane. She moves so that she

628
00:30:35,319 --> 00:30:37,279
meets Tumas before he can answer. Take it from me,

629
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,400
she says, and the words come fast enough to be

630
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,319
a small blow. She lifts her chin, feeling the sting

631
00:30:42,319 --> 00:30:44,240
of the crowd like cold water thrown in her FACI

632
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,640
found that pouch at my door. It's mine, Take it

633
00:30:48,319 --> 00:30:52,559
I will bear the fine. Leave Thomas. Her fingers feel clumsy,

634
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:56,119
her voice is steady. On the outside. She is asking

635
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,200
for punishment. She is offering to protect a neighbor by

636
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:03,160
becoming the target. People gasp. Thomas looks as if someone

637
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,799
has put their hand in his chest. He says for

638
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,519
a small nomatous child starts to whimper. A villager says, sharp,

639
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,400
why would you do that? Another voice mutters she would

640
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,720
take a fine for him. Why the reeve wants proof.

641
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:19,759
The inspector pressed the cloth flat. The inspector's thumbe calls

642
00:31:19,759 --> 00:31:22,759
a coin soblidged in its fold. The smell of barley

643
00:31:22,799 --> 00:31:25,519
and ore rises. The reef has sits the first time

644
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:29,240
he meets out his eyes. He measures not mercy, but practicality.

645
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,880
Someone must take responsibility for a patch found in a household.

646
00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:36,200
EDI's claim places her directly in the path of legal loss.

647
00:31:36,839 --> 00:31:41,359
The inspector's exchange a look. One pockets the pouch. Someone

648
00:31:41,359 --> 00:31:43,279
from the crowd tumbles forward with a small offering in

649
00:31:43,279 --> 00:31:45,480
an extra onion, a stub of salted fish pressed into

650
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,960
the reef's hand to ease his mood. The reef's face

651
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,920
does not change, but he turns the offering in his

652
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,680
palm and then pockets it as if it were simply

653
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,519
part of the day. Inside Eda, the emotion shifts again

654
00:31:54,559 --> 00:31:57,400
into a quiet, strange relief and a heavy whorry. Relief

655
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,720
calls term as has spared the immediate shame and probable

656
00:31:59,759 --> 00:32:02,720
fine worry because she has just invited the ree's ledger

657
00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:05,359
to open against her. She can hear the village thinking

658
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,039
of the price of her courage. A few people nod,

659
00:32:08,119 --> 00:32:11,400
some avert their eyes. Sister Agnes touches head his shoulder

660
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,759
for refraction of the second and then withdraws, as if

661
00:32:13,759 --> 00:32:16,759
the touch hisself might be noticed and punished. After the

662
00:32:16,799 --> 00:32:20,759
inspectors move on, murmurs revolve around the long house. Tomas

663
00:32:20,759 --> 00:32:23,160
finds Ada beside the low wall and says, vois near

664
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,640
to breaking. You didn't have to do that. You could

665
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,680
have told them it was a mistake. He looks at her,

666
00:32:27,799 --> 00:32:29,759
and his eyes are wet with a tiredness. She knows

667
00:32:29,759 --> 00:32:31,359
well he sold the barley to hide the fact that

668
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,519
I couldn't feed them. I meant to buy when the

669
00:32:33,519 --> 00:32:37,039
market came back. I thought the merchant would return. He

670
00:32:37,119 --> 00:32:39,599
hurried his words as if speed could erase the choice,

671
00:32:40,119 --> 00:32:43,160
Ada replies, simply, you'd a healer needed coin. He did

672
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,160
not steal to profit her fingers, test a rim of

673
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,119
her bowel, or make bargains in winter. Some are crueler

674
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,839
than others. She does not judge him with the speech.

675
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,680
She shows the fact of her action. Instead, she has

676
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,839
taken the pouch. Timos folds his hands and looks away,

677
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,640
ashamed that to sail all to the crowd'suspishing into accusation,

678
00:33:01,279 --> 00:33:03,920
Cester and stands and speaks. To a small cluster near

679
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,200
the hearth, we form a rotter. At dawn and dusk,

680
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:08,960
we send pairs to the marsh and to the hedgerows.

681
00:33:09,559 --> 00:33:12,319
We shared a load of making and mending. Ada will

682
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,640
lead the first forging at dusk. Marda, can you teach

683
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,519
the others how to boil marsh roots? O children will

684
00:33:17,559 --> 00:33:21,519
eat Mardynod's chin lifted the child asleep against her shoulder.

685
00:33:22,119 --> 00:33:24,920
Her hands are scaled and quick, Her voice is thin

686
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,440
but capable. When she lists practical steps, a plan appears

687
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,160
not invented from nowhere, but assemble from necessity in the

688
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:34,960
practical skills of the people present. Tomas volunteers wrote, he

689
00:33:35,039 --> 00:33:37,680
knows where reeds grow thick. Another man, Jeury, offers to

690
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,480
carry a net. The rheased men pack their purses and

691
00:33:40,559 --> 00:33:42,720
move to the next house, their boots making soft thumps

692
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,720
against the lane. The crowd breaks up into smaller clusters

693
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,599
where people exchange short lines of dialog about routes, times

694
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,119
and what tolls to take. Work is discussed like a bargainstructor.

695
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,640
When an immediate enemy, DA watches the list of volunteers grow,

696
00:33:56,319 --> 00:33:58,799
she writes mental notes. Who knows the marsh, who can

697
00:33:58,839 --> 00:34:01,880
stand watch, who will take a child? She measures the

698
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,000
risk of moving at night versus the risk of leaving

699
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,839
stores exposed to inspection. The plan requires secrecy, which raises

700
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,320
a new tension concealment to avoid seizure risks, drawing new suspicion.

701
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,159
She feels the nod of decision Tidan, and then listen

702
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:17,519
as choices are made. Ned approaches with a concrete schedule.

703
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,280
The foraging group will leave after dusk at it Tomas,

704
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:22,719
despite his shame jewelry with his net. Martyr's older sister,

705
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,360
who can spot edible roots and to athose the village,

706
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,480
nominates they will use all paths behind the long house

707
00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:31,159
to reach the marsh. Where reeds and wild grains persist.

708
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:33,960
The rotor for watching houses is set on a slate.

709
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,440
At the long house hearth names are chopped and erased

710
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,599
him a chopped as people argue over safer times. Sister

711
00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:43,199
ains takes the youngest child's name in Additalus. At midday,

712
00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,599
another event disrupts the fragile rhythm. A messenger arrives from

713
00:34:46,599 --> 00:34:48,840
a neighboring village bringing a room of soldiers. Moves through

714
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,199
two days ago, collecting for the steward and the tick,

715
00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,360
even cattle if they found evidence of hoarding. The messenger's

716
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:56,440
breath is sharp and rapidly took a whole loock's wort.

717
00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,000
They found a hidden bend, he says, the woodshift the

718
00:34:59,039 --> 00:35:01,960
sense of danger from commite not to immediate. Villagers look

719
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,760
toward their barns and then at one another. Ada hears

720
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,639
this and feels the emotion inside change again. Resolve hardens

721
00:35:07,679 --> 00:35:10,679
into urgency. She knows that the cost of being discovered

722
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:12,920
now is not only finds, but the loss of animals,

723
00:35:13,039 --> 00:35:14,960
to the loss of a neighbor's last sauce of milk.

724
00:35:15,599 --> 00:35:18,320
She stands and her body follows a pan faster than

725
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,639
her mind. She speaks to Thomas and quick clit sentences

726
00:35:21,639 --> 00:35:23,840
about roots and notes to check who will move. At dusk.

727
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,440
You take the western path, Martya. You watch the lane

728
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,800
up first light. If soldiers come, hide the children inside

729
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,360
the law house and ring no bell. They trade small

730
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:37,840
instructions like tools past in hand. Dusk arrives. The foraging

731
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,039
party steps light flitted along in the mud track behind

732
00:35:40,039 --> 00:35:42,840
the longhouse. The sky is the color of coal iron.

733
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,679
Ata holds the wooden feeding ball close death smells of

734
00:35:46,679 --> 00:35:49,039
wet reed and the distant peat smoke from neighbor Chemz.

735
00:35:49,599 --> 00:35:51,639
They move an air line designed to avoid the ruts

736
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,280
where the patrol might look for recent traces of foot traffic.

737
00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,639
Thomas walks near the rear, shoulders curved, avoiding direct by

738
00:35:57,679 --> 00:35:59,719
contact with others, as if he could shrink his presence

739
00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:01,800
to as I'm all a weight on the path. They

740
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:03,960
reach the marsh and begin to work with quiet motions,

741
00:36:04,079 --> 00:36:07,199
snipping reed tips, digging for fat roots, plucking young greens.

742
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:11,119
Shaury sets a net to catch small water birds. Martineels

743
00:36:11,119 --> 00:36:13,719
and shows a child how to sniff forbitterness to avoid poison.

744
00:36:14,199 --> 00:36:16,800
She teaches through demonstration, pressing a cut leaf into the

745
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,280
child palm and pointing to the whitesap the group's hand shape,

746
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:24,480
the harvest full, basket's check for grit. Their movements are practical, inefficient.

747
00:36:25,039 --> 00:36:28,360
There is no flourish, only the economy of need. When

748
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:30,960
one of them probs a soft patch, his digg uncovers

749
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,760
a small packed box of moldy rustle, leftover, damp but

750
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,800
salvageable after scrape, and he calls softly, here old bread

751
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:42,039
not find. The group's mood left for breath at a

752
00:36:42,079 --> 00:36:45,480
fields hope, flicker, then steady, then fall back into responsibility.

753
00:36:46,079 --> 00:36:48,920
They have something to bring home. On their way back,

754
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:50,800
they spot a small and formal trap of twine and

755
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:54,400
bone set near the reed bank, recently placed. Someone might

756
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:56,639
be using similar roads to gather, or worse, to steal

757
00:36:56,639 --> 00:36:59,480
from a hidden stash. The discovery is a twist that

758
00:36:59,559 --> 00:37:03,039
changes the group's calculations. Thomas pauses and points some one

759
00:37:03,079 --> 00:37:06,000
else uses this route. They might be watching for us

760
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:07,960
to come and follow where we return with baskets. The

761
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,519
revelation supplies immediate danger and a new question. Who else

762
00:37:11,559 --> 00:37:14,320
in these lanes is active? And why? They quicken their

763
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,119
pace with the new alertness, moving on small treads dragging

764
00:37:17,159 --> 00:37:19,719
boots through the shallows to a reese prints at It

765
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,119
feels the old mix of fear and practical action, fear

766
00:37:22,159 --> 00:37:24,639
that stranger will follow them back to houses, and a

767
00:37:24,679 --> 00:37:27,599
sharpened focus on the steps to prevent trecking. The group

768
00:37:27,639 --> 00:37:30,159
returns with the days, gather, reads roots, the dried rosc

769
00:37:30,159 --> 00:37:33,159
a few birds, marda hum's under her breath, attune as

770
00:37:33,159 --> 00:37:35,440
she binds the baskets. Sound that's dead is the others

771
00:37:36,119 --> 00:37:38,719
That evening As dust blush black turns to near black,

772
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:42,079
the village arranges watches. Da leaves a single sprigu of

773
00:37:42,159 --> 00:37:44,719
grain on her window sill at the last light. The

774
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,239
gesture is small and specific, a promise in physical form

775
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,920
rather than words. It is not avowed to the world,

776
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,840
but to herself and to Thomas. She will return what's more,

777
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,880
she can, and she will watch for the coming days.

778
00:37:55,599 --> 00:37:58,360
She picks the sprig from the foraging basket, presses it

779
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,800
into the old window sill groove, and then retreats into

780
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:02,679
the long house to help cook what they have found.

781
00:38:03,199 --> 00:38:06,199
The chapter closes with a concrete beat. Footsteps in the

782
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,719
lane outside signal the arrival of two men with bundled

783
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:10,960
cloak's messengers come to check the rotor and to warn

784
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,119
that second larger inspection is scheduled at on two days Hence.

785
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:16,920
At A here, as their knock sets the cooking pot

786
00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,039
down and glances at the sprig of grain where it

787
00:38:19,079 --> 00:38:21,960
rests on the sill, she moves to the doorway announces

788
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:24,000
the knock with the calm she has learned under pressure,

789
00:38:24,559 --> 00:38:27,159
the plan must shift again. The sprig sits in the

790
00:38:27,199 --> 00:38:29,440
dim light, a small visible promise and a reminder of

791
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:31,800
the choices that will be tested in the morning. At

792
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:33,480
A stepped into the lawn house court yard of a

793
00:38:33,519 --> 00:38:35,760
small wrapped portion, cup against her chest, and found the

794
00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:39,000
communal pot nearly empty. The reef was already there, his

795
00:38:39,079 --> 00:38:41,239
boot printing wet mud, and he barked in order to

796
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,960
line up for inspection. Shame sat an Edda like a

797
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,320
hard stone beneath her ribs, and that shame bend. How

798
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:48,400
she moved on, how she counted the seams of her showl.

799
00:38:49,039 --> 00:38:52,519
Villagers shifted on the cold flagstones modested by the pot.

800
00:38:52,559 --> 00:38:55,599
Holding a thin child close, the reef held sealed list

801
00:38:55,639 --> 00:38:57,360
and read aloud the shortfull and a voice meant to

802
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,800
be precise. The central problem was clear, some households must

803
00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,280
surrender reserves, and every surrender would be seen. Eda had

804
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,679
held the last crust in her hand once before that winter.

805
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,760
Marda had asked, then, please share it, and Edda had

806
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,599
set the crust down beside the child's palm. The memory

807
00:39:12,639 --> 00:39:14,920
of that door, the small fingers closing a round bread

808
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:17,679
pressed into her Now, she kept her chin low and

809
00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:20,639
kept the rap portion pressed to her body. Tomas stepped

810
00:39:20,639 --> 00:39:22,960
forward near the notice post and tapped the nail rationalist

811
00:39:23,039 --> 00:39:26,039
with his knuckle. I unfolded her hands and watched at her.

812
00:39:26,559 --> 00:39:28,639
The reef's eyes moved over her faces like a ledger.

813
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,400
Shame pushed it toward a choice meant to protect her

814
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,440
children and also to avoid being singled out. The reef

815
00:39:34,519 --> 00:39:36,559
read the shore full again and snapped, bring out any

816
00:39:36,639 --> 00:39:40,360
hidden sacks, open every chest, no exceptions. His tone left

817
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,559
no room for argument. Thomas answered, we will show what

818
00:39:43,599 --> 00:39:46,280
we have breave, but the tall in the post does

819
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:48,400
not match the store. Hous count Thomas boys cut through

820
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:52,000
the hush. I moved closer to Edda. Marta pulled the

821
00:39:52,079 --> 00:39:54,880
child tighter and whispered. Edda pleased. The crowd tightened round

822
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,960
the pot DA's hands trembled when she slid her fingers

823
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,440
over the cloth wrapping. She tested the edge of the

824
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:02,360
last portion with her thumb and felt the dry grit,

825
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,480
a stale bread. Emotion shifted from shane to suspicion when

826
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:08,280
an older neighbor, soon and gray and blunt nosed, muttered

827
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:09,719
that he had seen sacks load it on to the

828
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,239
reeves cart at desk. His name was Orrin, Orin had

829
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:16,519
a way of naming facts without drama. Thomas came forward

830
00:40:16,559 --> 00:40:18,400
and said, or In me he saw more green in

831
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,559
the list allows. A Reeve's face hardened. The villagers exchanged

832
00:40:21,559 --> 00:40:25,599
glances at his chest tightened. Thus suspicion made some heads

833
00:40:25,639 --> 00:40:27,800
turn toward the reeve's cart, where a faint lump blooded

834
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:30,440
back into the mist. The reeve answered with a clip

835
00:40:30,519 --> 00:40:32,800
laugh and the sound of paper against wood. The storehouse

836
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,000
holds what is listed. Any accusation against me is theft

837
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,320
for time. He stepped to the cart and lifted the

838
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,079
top to sure sacks stack there. The sacks were there,

839
00:40:41,159 --> 00:40:43,639
but Towas walked to the storehouse doorway encountered by, touched

840
00:40:43,639 --> 00:40:45,440
the weave of the sacks and said, but Elijah says

841
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,239
twelve I counted in the storehouse, and a cart has

842
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,920
two aimed. Two more is not nothing. Marred as breath

843
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:53,880
hitched audibly, Etiquette the rap portion at her chest, and

844
00:40:54,039 --> 00:40:56,440
washed the interaction like a person watching a slow spill.

845
00:40:57,079 --> 00:40:59,519
Tension rose when the revordered households to line up and

846
00:40:59,559 --> 00:41:02,360
to hand of any extra stores. People moved in a

847
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,360
way that made their own poverty public. Thomas argued loud

848
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,159
enough for the reef to her reeve. He asked for

849
00:41:07,199 --> 00:41:10,119
a public tally. Here stands proof the ledger and the

850
00:41:10,119 --> 00:41:13,199
storehurst do not agree. The reeve shot back, then bring

851
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:16,119
me proof beyond your counting hands. There were three quick

852
00:41:16,119 --> 00:41:19,079
exchanges between Thomas and the reeve, Thomas naming the cant,

853
00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:23,079
the reef accusing Thomas's subtraction for favor, Thomas pressing the tolly,

854
00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:25,480
and the reef insisting on order, and each line bowled

855
00:41:25,559 --> 00:41:28,480
villages closer to either belief or doubt. Eda felt the

856
00:41:28,519 --> 00:41:30,880
suspicion settle into her bones and change the shape of

857
00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,400
what she would do. Marta returned to the edge of

858
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,119
the courtyard carrying a shivering toddler from the neighboring yard,

859
00:41:36,119 --> 00:41:37,960
and stepped forward as if to place the child at

860
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:41,599
the camino pot. She wreathed, there are children the smallest

861
00:41:41,639 --> 00:41:44,440
need feeding. First, a reeve looked past herald's or rules.

862
00:41:45,119 --> 00:41:48,199
Marta martyred hand shook. Eda watched the child press a

863
00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:50,480
tiny face against MARTA's shoulder and saw a lip chap

864
00:41:50,559 --> 00:41:53,440
with cold. The sight made a different movement inside Adda.

865
00:41:54,039 --> 00:41:56,960
The shame softened into a practical fear. She could not

866
00:41:57,079 --> 00:41:59,320
let the child in her household. Way Hungry at dawn

867
00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,280
at the post beneath the nailed rationalist, Thomas drew out

868
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:04,360
a smudged ledger page from his pocket and flattened it

869
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,800
in the wood. He looked. The entries here show shipments

870
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:09,519
on mark, a day that the post does not account

871
00:42:09,519 --> 00:42:13,639
for villages. Leaned in and I remember sacks moved at dusk.

872
00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:17,639
I saw it from my doorway, orin nodded. The reef's

873
00:42:17,679 --> 00:42:20,920
jaw tightened. He reached for the ledger, and Thomas pulled back.

874
00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,599
A short argument flared Tomas, insisting the ledger be read aloud,

875
00:42:24,639 --> 00:42:27,320
the reef refusing at first, the crowd calling for transparency.

876
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,440
The argument contained quick back and forth lines. Read it,

877
00:42:31,079 --> 00:42:34,719
Thomas Basherty will read what I choose the reef snuppet. Thomas,

878
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,480
you accuse me of stealing for the lord, the reef demanded.

879
00:42:39,199 --> 00:42:43,079
Thomas answered, I accuse only a mismatch in numbers. The

880
00:42:43,159 --> 00:42:45,519
crowd's memory rose and fell like a tide against rock.

881
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:47,880
Eda stepped to the edge of the group and felt

882
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,519
the weight of all eyes. She had an innertally of

883
00:42:50,559 --> 00:42:53,360
her own, two small balls, a single spoon, three measures

884
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,119
of barley soak last night. She pressed the rap portion

885
00:42:56,159 --> 00:42:59,440
into her palm until her fingers whitened. I'n whisper Edda,

886
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,320
don't step forward if you can't spare it. Eda shook

887
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,800
her head. She had thought earlier that week to hide

888
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:07,199
a sprig of grain in her shawl. She had felt

889
00:43:07,199 --> 00:43:09,159
the seeds small, sharp weight, and had slid it between

890
00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:12,280
layers with practice motion. Now she counted what would happen

891
00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:15,000
if she gave even a portion away. She returned, but

892
00:43:15,039 --> 00:43:18,320
no suspicion and fear altered her choice. An external event

893
00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:20,480
cut across the bargaining when a child started to cry

894
00:43:20,519 --> 00:43:24,280
near the pot. The noise amplified the pressure. Math answered

895
00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:26,280
to the cry by stepping nearer and asking any one

896
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,199
with a spare spoon to feed the toddler. Several neighbors

897
00:43:29,199 --> 00:43:33,079
produce small bowls, tamers. We are not without care. We

898
00:43:33,159 --> 00:43:35,639
share when we can. The Reef's fingers tightened on the

899
00:43:35,639 --> 00:43:39,280
sealed list. He demanded, who keeps private reserves? Who hides

900
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:42,840
fruit and doorways? The question landed like a request for confession.

901
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,360
A private bargaining took place at Ada's narrow doorway. The

902
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,599
reeve lean closed and said, open your door, woman, I

903
00:43:49,679 --> 00:43:53,239
must see what you hold in interpose. Reeve, children must

904
00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:56,599
be kept. Let households keep one portion for the smallest males.

905
00:43:56,599 --> 00:43:59,639
Three said, the law gives me authority to verify. Eddi's

906
00:43:59,639 --> 00:44:03,280
hands mean in small, concrete acts. She folded her shawl once,

907
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,119
then twice. She rubbed the rim of her wooden bowl,

908
00:44:06,159 --> 00:44:08,880
as if finding strength in the worn wood. She pulled

909
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:12,079
a cloth tight her over her bundle. Shame again colored

910
00:44:12,119 --> 00:44:14,960
her breathing, and then it shifted into a quieter focus. Calculation.

911
00:44:15,639 --> 00:44:17,480
Ed attested the edge of her wrap portion with a

912
00:44:17,519 --> 00:44:20,039
finger tip and reminded herself what each small measure could do.

913
00:44:20,559 --> 00:44:23,480
Her hands moved with practice. She did the reef, there

914
00:44:23,519 --> 00:44:25,119
is only what you see on the silver. Her voice

915
00:44:25,159 --> 00:44:28,039
was low. The reefs stepped up and peered into the cottage.

916
00:44:28,639 --> 00:44:30,960
His lantern spat a low glow across to wet threshold.

917
00:44:31,519 --> 00:44:34,360
Modest stood near by, in touch at his sleeve iron.

918
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:37,119
If you search, you will find nothing but the families need.

919
00:44:37,119 --> 00:44:39,079
The reef's posture suggested that he did not want to

920
00:44:39,079 --> 00:44:41,599
be denied. He raised a hand to order a search.

921
00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:45,239
Thomas and a few neighbors tightened their faces and moved nearer.

922
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,320
Da felt a final change, and feeling from suspicion toward

923
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,639
a hard, quiet defiance. She stepped across the threshold with

924
00:44:51,639 --> 00:44:53,480
the rat portion in hand, and placed the last crust

925
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:56,400
into the reefs outstretched pomp. The action was persisted at

926
00:44:56,440 --> 00:45:00,119
marta softly. The wreef's hand closed around the crest. He

927
00:45:00,159 --> 00:45:03,039
did not expect her next motion. While the reef washed

928
00:45:03,079 --> 00:45:05,159
the cross dead out with one practice movement, slipped a

929
00:45:05,159 --> 00:45:07,280
tiny sprig of grain from between her shawl AARs and

930
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:09,679
tucked it into the fold caulis as to her children's side.

931
00:45:10,159 --> 00:45:12,480
Her fingers were steady. The sprig was small pail, a

932
00:45:12,519 --> 00:45:15,360
single seat head with a thin stem. She had carried

933
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,000
it like a promise. The crowd watched the exchange in

934
00:45:18,039 --> 00:45:21,239
a hush. The reef felt the cross and frowned. He

935
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:24,199
inspected the portion as of seeking signs of hoarding. Thomas

936
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:26,480
stepped forward and said, we will not have children's starve

937
00:45:26,519 --> 00:45:29,239
while numbers are moved at night. The reef placed his

938
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,159
lamp on the threshold and demanded a further search. The

939
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:35,480
moment became a standoff. Several neighbors step between the reeve

940
00:45:35,519 --> 00:45:38,960
and ada, ain no search while we debate the legitimate's

941
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:40,840
latest palm on the cart's tarp, and said we will

942
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:42,559
count again in the open. The reefs face showed the

943
00:45:42,599 --> 00:45:45,960
first real uncertainty of the night. The unexpected twist came

944
00:45:46,039 --> 00:45:47,679
in or In walked to the cart and lifted a

945
00:45:47,679 --> 00:45:49,800
corner of the tarp a half inch enough to show

946
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:51,840
the labels on several sacks bearing the mark of the

947
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:55,360
manner A. These were marked with the reeves signed the

948
00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:57,719
whek before last I moved after dust. The reef drew

949
00:45:57,719 --> 00:45:59,519
back and muttered that the sacks were accounted for in

950
00:45:59,519 --> 00:46:03,480
a different line. Thomas countered with the detail the marketmen

951
00:46:03,519 --> 00:46:05,599
who delivered these wrote down a different day. The crab's

952
00:46:05,679 --> 00:46:07,960
murmurs turned to calls for Thomas to fetch the marketmen's

953
00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:11,519
Tollly that demand changed the lines of the conflict. What

954
00:46:11,599 --> 00:46:13,880
had looked like a collection of private scarceties now bore

955
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:18,440
the possibility of official miscandal. Worse, rapid dialog exchanged among Thomas,

956
00:46:18,519 --> 00:46:21,559
the Reeve and or In. Thomas, go fetch the ledger.

957
00:46:22,199 --> 00:46:24,440
The reef said, he will fetch the magistrate. If you refuse,

958
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:28,440
fetch your magistrate. Then Thomas shot back, we will show

959
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:31,800
the counts in the open. Orans says otherwise, mar to Pristom,

960
00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:35,800
bring Orran forward to swear on the stalks. The reeve answered.

961
00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:40,199
The circular escalation kept the village awake. Edel listened, counting

962
00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:43,320
the syllables. Her hands smoothed the showl over the hidden's brick.

963
00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:46,159
The reeve, constrained by the presence of neighbors and by

964
00:46:46,159 --> 00:46:49,119
Thomas's assistance, ordered a recount in the courtyard by dawn.

965
00:46:49,679 --> 00:46:51,519
He argued that he would not be accused of theft

966
00:46:51,519 --> 00:46:54,440
without proof. Thomas agreed and asked the reeve to wait

967
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,199
while he fetched the marketmen's tolly from the inn. Martin

968
00:46:57,280 --> 00:46:59,679
volunteered to fetch the infant's mother from the neighboring yard.

969
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:02,840
Einstate by Eda's side and said he did well to

970
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,320
give it up. Eda did not answer with words. She

971
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:08,440
watched the don pale the sky and felt a small

972
00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:10,840
slackening of the fear that had been threaded through her nights.

973
00:47:11,599 --> 00:47:14,239
At the court yard, several neighbors formed an impromptu guard.

974
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:17,320
When the reefs stepped back to his cart, Thomas orn

975
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:19,559
and un spoke low and faster over the ledger pages.

976
00:47:20,159 --> 00:47:23,440
They lined up sacks and compared marks. The reefs posture

977
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:26,920
shifted from authority to defense. Villagers began to organize a

978
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,199
shared pot rotation to make the scoun supply go further.

979
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:32,760
Marta found the infant's mother and returned with two small spoons.

980
00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:35,800
The communal pot was laddled into balls and slow careful

981
00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:38,960
measures while people counted and named each portion allowed. The

982
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:42,360
act of naming made the distribution concrete and accountable. That

983
00:47:42,519 --> 00:47:44,840
night passed toward p dawn, with the quick event required

984
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:48,000
every few paragraphs. The arrival of the markutmen's tolely Thomas,

985
00:47:48,039 --> 00:47:50,840
reading the entries aloud, the reefs face tightening or in swearing.

986
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:53,360
He saw the sack moved and finally acquired agreement to

987
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:56,920
camp publicly at dawn. Each event altered the sticks. The

988
00:47:57,000 --> 00:47:59,920
villagers discovered the marketmen's tooly contradicted the reeves. No so

989
00:48:00,039 --> 00:48:03,159
on two shipment days the reef plea did a clerical error.

990
00:48:03,719 --> 00:48:06,280
Timos replied, sharply, this is not a clerical error. When

991
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:08,559
children wick emptied, the exchange hardened the crowd into a

992
00:48:08,599 --> 00:48:11,639
shar dame. The climax returned to Edith's threshold in a

993
00:48:11,679 --> 00:48:14,519
pre dawn hush. The reef reached for the rapp crust

994
00:48:14,559 --> 00:48:16,800
and said, this will be inspected, and if you had more,

995
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:18,840
you will suffer a heavy fine. Etter set her jaw

996
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,800
and said nothing. She had already placed the sprig into

997
00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:25,360
her shawl. Marty reached and touched Eda's hand. Ad o, Marto,

998
00:48:25,519 --> 00:48:26,960
you did righte for the child and for your own

999
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,119
ettes lips tightened. She answered, I did what kept them

1000
00:48:30,159 --> 00:48:31,920
breeding until dawn. The reeve looked at the sprig in

1001
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,119
her shawl when Iron adjusted to clough to hide it further.

1002
00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:36,639
He could not prove the small theft of a seed,

1003
00:48:36,639 --> 00:48:38,360
and he had no uptite to force an entry with

1004
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:42,239
neighbors watching. When the dawn broke, the villagers assembled the sacks,

1005
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:45,079
the ledgers and the marketmen's tally and the long house benches.

1006
00:48:45,679 --> 00:48:48,800
Thomas and are encountered. The marks allowed. The reef's list

1007
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:52,320
diverged in two places. He tried to explain a note misfred.

1008
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:56,559
A shipman delayed. Thomas counted with dates. Voices rose to

1009
00:48:56,599 --> 00:48:58,239
a level that left no room for a visions. The

1010
00:48:58,239 --> 00:49:01,480
reeves authorady weakened in public. A small rebelly informed not

1011
00:49:01,599 --> 00:49:03,519
in shouts, but in the way. People refuse to be

1012
00:49:03,519 --> 00:49:06,960
shamed to loan any more. Tomrs, we will not let

1013
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:10,519
one list aside which children wag hungry count with us reave.

1014
00:49:10,559 --> 00:49:13,000
The reef, unable to show a solid defense, folded his

1015
00:49:13,119 --> 00:49:16,400
ledger and conceded to a joint recount. After the public count,

1016
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:20,159
people organized a share pop rotation. Neighbors volunteered shifts to

1017
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:23,000
tend the commons do Marty took the early portion for

1018
00:49:23,079 --> 00:49:25,159
the toddler, and another mother took a laid a spoon

1019
00:49:25,199 --> 00:49:27,719
for her boy. Eda sat at a low window with

1020
00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:30,480
the narrow sprig of grain and the sill. She watched

1021
00:49:30,519 --> 00:49:32,599
light lun and a tiny stalk encountered the day she

1022
00:49:32,599 --> 00:49:35,639
could stretch that sed into a small planting. She folded

1023
00:49:35,639 --> 00:49:37,679
her shawl the same way she always did before dawn.

1024
00:49:38,159 --> 00:49:40,199
The small sprig in the sill was a practical promise

1025
00:49:40,199 --> 00:49:42,360
she had made to herself and to her children. In

1026
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:44,679
the final concrete beat, some one at the courtyard called

1027
00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:46,559
for a meeting to decide how to keep better records

1028
00:49:46,559 --> 00:49:49,400
and to watch the cart during the night. Thomas, we

1029
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:51,559
will write our own tally and post it by morning.

1030
00:49:51,599 --> 00:49:54,000
The reefs swallowed and nodded. I Am placed a hand

1031
00:49:54,039 --> 00:49:56,360
on DA's shoulder and said, we will watch each other's

1032
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,159
doors now and show when we can ned attach the

1033
00:49:58,159 --> 00:49:59,840
sprig with a finger tip, and then slid it into

1034
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:04,079
the pocket of her shawl for safe keeping. And that

1035
00:50:04,199 --> 00:50:06,599
is the end. Thank you for listening, and I will

1036
00:50:06,599 --> 00:50:07,519
see you in the next one.