Moondance of Stonewylde Read Online Free PDF

somehow.’
    Yul looked at Tom speculatively and nodded.
    ‘Thank you, sir. I’ll remember that.’
    ‘So why are you here now, lad? You should be down the Village enjoying the holiday with all them other young folk, not up here working. What’ve you done this time?’
    Yul shrugged, and Tom remembered the boy doing the same thing back in March, the last time he was sent here as a punishment.
    ‘Like that is it? Right, well you’ll have to put your back into it. We’re rushed off our feet with all them Hallfolk visitors wanting to ride every day. Half the daft buggers don’t know one end of a horse from t’other.’
    He tossed Yul a pitchfork and the work began. By sunset Yul was exhausted, although he decided he’d much rather be down here in the stables with the horses than up in the confines of the Hall itself. The place made him uneasy and he hated any contact with the visiting Hallfolk. He resented being treated as a servant. How Harold put up with it he couldn’t imagine.
    It was late that evening when Martin finally released Yul from his duties, with an admonishment to make sure he was back good and early the next morning. He trudged the distance back to his cottage wearily, ignoring the sounds of fun and merriment that drifted down the lane from the Village Green and Great Barn. The festivities would last all week, but Yul was far too tiredto get washed and changed and go down to join in. All the other Villagers who had to work during the holiday were given a rota, so they could at least take part in some of the fun. But Yul knew Magus wanted him kept hard at it all week long until it was time to return to his work in the woods with Old Greenbough.
    Yul opened the door to his cottage and looked around. The place was as clean and tidy as ever, and his family nowhere to be seen. They must all be in the Barn, Yul decided. He breathed deeply and realised the dread he usually felt when coming home had completely disappeared. Except for one detail.
    His mouth a hard line of bitterness, Yul went over to the door and tugged the hateful leather strap off its hook. Near it, hanging from a new nail in the wall, was the whip. Coiled like a malignant snake, it hung dark against the whitewashed wall. The leather handle was thick and solid, the plaited tail long and viciously thin. Shuddering as he forced himself to touch it, Yul pulled the snake-whip off the wall so violently that the nail was yanked from the plaster. He carried both instruments of punishment outside and laid them on the chopping block.
    Taking a deep breath, he raised the axe above his head and swung it down hard. It felt good as the sharp blade sliced through the leather. He raised the axe again and again, overcome by a sudden destructive frenzy as the hated objects of pain and subjugation were chopped into ever smaller pieces. The memories swarmed in his head like angry wasps, the years of pain and humiliation reaching back as far as he could remember to when he’d been only a little boy. The strange light in Alwyn’s eye as he went on and on with the punishment; he’d never forget that particular look as long as he lived.
    As the leather which had bitten so mercilessly into the soft skin of his back became a jumble of tiny pieces on the block, Yul found himself screaming with fury. He dropped the axe, his body heaving. Tears streamed down his flushed face as the rage overwhelmed him. He sank to the ground. Kneeling in the dust, he cried into his hands. Harsh sobs shook him, dragged out from the dark place where he’d locked them away for so long. All thoseyears of injustice and fear were released. Never again would he have to face Alwyn and his violence. Never again would his father brutalise him. A lifetime of abuse had finally come to an end.
    Later, and a little calmer, Yul wandered down the long back garden. He looked at the masses of fruit and vegetables growing in the fertile soil, and peeped in at the dripping combs inside the beehives.