Chapter 18Degelham was a typically Arvens village — a random but not unpleasant muddle of one and two-storey houses and cottages, each one identical to its neighbour only in its warped roof, heavily lintelled windows and crooked and twisted walls. A few, mainly towards the outskirts of the village, showed signs of neglect but most were in reasonable, if not good order, for Degelham was quite prosperous. It had a better than average blacksmith, an excellent saddle-maker and a peculiarly surly cobbler who, through a mouthful of nails, invariably advised his customers that their shoes would be ‘ready tomorrow’ independent of how long they had been in his safe-keeping. For the most part however, its inhabitants worked on local farms, their own smallholdings, or in the nearby town of Degelvak —
