Page 13 of The Noble Servant

A cart rolled through the gate, drawn by a mule with a man leading it. Several people milled around the courtyard. Some maidservants were gathered to one side, standing around a fire and a huge black cauldron. Were these the laundresses?

Magdalen moved closer, skirting as close to the edge of the ravine as possible, hoping no one would notice her. On the other side of the women near the cauldron was a clothesline with several gray underdresses, white kerchiefs, and blue kirtles hanging along it. Just what she was looking for.

Magdalen hid behind a bush. She eyed the garments, trying to decide which kirtle would best fit her. The women were pulling items out of the cauldron and laying them on the ground to cool. Then two women would stretch out a cooled piece of clothing and twist and squeeze it between them. They did not seem to be paying any attention to the apparel on the line.

Magdalen sprang forward. She flipped a kerchief off the line, then a blue kirtle, tucked them under her arm, and raced for cover. She crouched behind the nearest bush.

No one yelled. No one ran after her. She waited until her breathing slowed. Sweat was dampening her underarms. Never had she stolen anything. Surely God would forgive her for trying to save the duke from marrying Agnes—as well as trying to save herself and her people.

Magdalen moved away from the ravine and found a stand of trees. She stared down at the clothes. Her hands were shaking. But she couldn’t approach the same guard again, not so soon after he had turned her away. The other back door was locked, and the door through the kitchen was swarming with the maidservants who had snickered at her less than an hour ago. The only other door was the front door, and she would probably get a harsh scolding if she endeavored to go through it.

She would simply hide the clothes under her bed in the servants’ barracks until she could get past the back-door guard or enter the kitchen without being seen.

When she neared the long wooden building, she saw several other servants congregated out front. So she steered herself back toward the hill where she’d left the birds.

The geese were still grazing on the grass, but they had spread out. She glanced around. Where could she hide the clothes? A pile of brush at the edge of the woods caught her eye. She approached, lifted the branches, and stuffed the stolen clothing underneath. The blue and white still showed through the cracks. She found a few rocks and piled them on top. There. That was the best she could do.

Magdalen headed back toward the geese. Her hands still shook and sweat tickled her forehead. She wiped her face with her sleeve.

“Oh no.” Some of the geese were wandering away. One was almost in the trees, and another was scores of feet away, nearly out of sight.

She couldn’t lose the geese, even if she would not have charge of them much longer. They would be easy prey for a fox or wolf or whatever predatory animals lived in this region.

She focused on the long stick, which lay just on the other side of a large goose who lifted its head and took a step toward her.

She moved toward the goose, intent on retrieving her stick. It honked and Magdalen jumped back. Then it lifted its enormous wings and flapped once, twice, then flew at her face. She raised her arm to protect herself. Its beak sliced into her skin as if it were a knife.

Magdalen screamed, flailing at the enormous bird.

“Maggie!” a voice called.

The vicious bird flapped away, still honking at her, as Katrin hurried down the path toward her.

“Are you all right?” Katrin stared at Magdalen’s arm where a line of blood was forming. “That mean old Gus. Shoo!” Katrin turned and threw out her arms, flapping them at the goose. “You have done it now!” She chased him away toward the rest of the geese, picked up the long stick off the ground where Magdalen had left it, and went after the goose that had wandered so far across the hillside.

Had Katrin seen her steal the clothes and hide them?

Blood oozed out of the spot on her forearm where the goose had bitten her. She didn’t even know geese could bite.

She looked around for something with which to wipe it. Nothing—except for the stolen clothes, and she’d never use them for that.

Katrin was still a long way off, shooing the straying geese back toward the others. Magdalen stared at her bleeding arm and tears filled her eyes. “What did I ever do to you, you stupid goose?” Her bottom lip trembled, and she clamped it between her teeth. What had she done to deserve being thrown out to tend geese? She was supposed to marry a duke.

A tear escaped and ran down her cheek. She hastily wiped it on her sleeve. Her mother would die of shame to see her wiping her face with her sleeve or herding geese. But her mother was not here and Magdalen was glad. Mother hated tears—though she often used them for her own purposes.

Katrin finished herding the geese into a smaller group, then hurried toward her. “Gus is prone to bite. You have to be careful around him.” Katrin lifted her apron and dabbed at the blood on Magdalen’s forearm. “I’m so sorry. I should have helped get the geese accustomed to you. I wasn’t thinking. Come. We’ll take the geese to the spring so you can wash this off.”

Katrin used the stick to get their attention and then walked in front of them. They followed her as if she were their mother, and she took them down a little path on the side of the hill until they came to a small glade of trees.

A trickle of water bubbled up out of the ground, flowed a few feet, then formed a pool before trickling on down as a little stream.

“This is where I take the geese every day for a drink. I’m sorry I did not show you. I suppose Frau Clara didn’t consider that you would need help. It’s not as if she has ever concerned herself with me. The indoor servants think they are so much higher than the outdoor servants.” Katrin rolled her eyes.

She squatted by the spring and dipped her apron in the clearwater, then stood and wiped the rest of the blood from Magdalen’s arm. “I wish I had a cloth so I could fashion a bandage for it.”

“It is nothing. It will cease bleeding soon.”

“You will have to stand up to Gus. He thinks he is the king. You must show him that you are bigger and stronger.” Katrin pressed a corner of her apron on Magdalen’s wound while she talked. “The rest is easy. Just lead them to the water once or twice a day, make sure none of them wander off, then lead them back to their pen just before sunset.”