Chapter 9One afternoon later that week, after my tasks around the farm were completed, I was cutting away the drying and tangled pea and bean shoots clogging their frames, at my mother’s request. In the quiet of the garden, I heard Sir Harry’s ringing tones echo through the open back door, announcing his presence. Wanting to finish my task before I joined him and my father, I quickly snipped a few more straw-like fronds to add to the growing pile before gathering them all to deposit on the waste heap.
As I came back up the garden path from this errand, Jem walked toward me, windswept and smiling in riding clothes, a tankard of our home-brewed ale clutched in each hand. “Here you are,” he said cheerfully, holding out a vessel toward me.
“Pa is closeted with your father in his study to dis
