The Forest and the Farm

by Vance Huxley

  “No, there’s at least twice that in fertile soil that side. The soil with a slight slope won’t be quite as deep, but then it won’t get as waterlogged so that works better for some crops. There’s a good farm each side of these lakes, Billi.” Patre did some mental juggling. “I reckon two big enough to split for three decent landshares. So two families.” He frowned. “They might have to take hay from the Forest, but it’s open out the front so that isn’t a problem.”

  “There’s plenty of bedding up the top, for as much stock as we can raise. There’s heathen, bracken and rough grass as far as the eye could see.” Bettram sounded awed by his next words. “This could be the end of the Forest. There’s not a tree in sight.”

  A long silence followed as they all looked at each other. “Are you sure? There’s not some in the distance somewhere?” Eddmune sounded almost tentative.

  “There are stunted ones here and there, but no. There’s something in the distance, big hills maybe, but too far for detail. I can see for leagues.” Bettram sighed. “Though precious little sign of water. Otherwise this would be a stretch of Farm bigger than all of Trail’s End.”

  “No water? I thought there might be pools.” Billi had assumed so, as no water came down the hills except that thin trickle.

  “No, I’ll get to it in a while, but I’d like to hear Patre out first since I’ve an idea or two.” Bettram waved to Patre.

  “In that case, one stock farm this side, because the grazing could be split up and stock could drink from the smaller pools. There’s more of a muddy edge yon side and anyway the soil is better.” Patre gestured off towards the cleft. “That water supply is unlikely to ever dry up. Nearby the soil is rich and I reckon deep enough to take some fruit trees. Add a few fruit bushes and maybe a couple of hazels and that gives an orchard to go with the stock.”

  Patre waved the other way. “If there’s cattle and maybe a pony or two, they’ll need a dog of course for warning. This place would support more stock if they browse out past the dam, in the edge of the Forest.”

  “Stock in the Forest? That’s asking for trouble.” Billi shook his head. “We’d lose them.”

  “No, not if there’s a Hound about. That’s very open out there because it’s been browsed very heavily. I’d guess the permanent water attracts grazers, especially in winter or drought.” As Patre continued Billi remembered the approach and how the Forest opened up. “The hay will definitely want cutting every year to encourage new grass to grow.”

  “But that can only be done when a Hunter is home.” Billi wanted to make that clear. No taking liberties.

  “Of course Billi, for now at least. If a few goats get at that stretch they’ll finish the few bushes and stop any more rooting. It’ll be Farm one day.” Bettram chuckled. “Though we’ll not see it.”

  “Aye, if no new trees grow, the old ones will die eventually.” Patre looked at Billi, Mikkel, Perry and Ellibeth. “Ye four might even see it, though more likely your littles will. One day the remaining trees will be too few, and the plough will move in. ‘Tis good land when that happens.”

  The four of them looked back, mouths open, until Ellibeth managed an answer. “Truly. Forest into Farm without even a fire?”

  “It’s not common, but some rough ground near the sunward end of the Farm came because the goats stripped the bushes and the few trees died in a drought.” Patre literally rubbed his hands. “But that’s not rough ground. There’s another two good farms out there one day, maybe three. This will be a Village one day.”

  “Forest’s End?” Mikkel still looked shocked and wide-eyed.

  Perry soon made them chuckle. “We can call it Billi’s Fishpond.”

  “Done Wandering, Billi?” Ellibeth smiled as she asked, because she knew Billi loved being out here.

  “We’d best get a settlement before starting on that, I reckon.” They’d definitely thrown Billi now. “I’d just thought the open ground would stop the Wild coming for my chickens.”

  “Aye, it’ll do that as well. Well the rest is straightforward enough. Ye’ve got a reed bed, which will get round the shortage of straw for thatching and make a better job anyway. There are some other water loving plants, lotus and watercress for a start. You’ll want some mint to add a bit of extra taste to the meat.” Patre saluted Ellibeth with his next mouthful of fish before eating it. “Or fish.”

  Billi wasn’t sure what would survive among the plants already there. “There’s a lot of weed in the shallows over there.”

  Patre nodded. “Which makes that side the ideal place for duck and goose runs, since they’ll love the weed. Just put a fence into the water, build a coop and clip the wing feathers so they don’t fly off. If the wildfowl stop coming the eggs and increase of the domestic flock each year will be a steady supply of feathers and food anyway.

  “How fertile is the water’s edge? I was thinking, would it grow rice?” Bettram looked intent. “That’s a good crop along a muddy bank, especially protected like this. There’s a shallow pool on the Farm and the farmer grows some there when the birds let him.”

  “If the pool overflow is blocked to allow it to fill to the brim just once, the flood line can be established. Then we can pick the parts that flood but are shallow.” Patre nodded to himself, thinking. “Rice will increase the grain crop and the straw. The rest of the valley will raise a good crop of corn and roots. There will never be a drought here unless rain stops for long enough to leave dead trees from here to the Village because if need be the crops can be irrigated from the lakes.” Patre sat back. “That’s my bit finished.”

  “I need to know if that water supply really is reliable, Billi. Has that flow ever slowed up?” Bettram looked intent again.

  “There’s always a good flow, though it gets stronger around now with the melt, and if there’s a lot of rain.” Billi smiled. “I know because I use it instead of the lakes. Too many dead fish, or living, in that water to be drinking it.

  “The houses on the other side can come and collect water until they dig a well. The soil will filter what seeps through and it’ll be fresh and sweet. But more importantly, if you’ll allow it, that water will mean a real Village here.” Bettram wore a huge smile now. “I’d need a second or third opinion, but the land up on the top really does look more Farm than Forest. The problem would be water, from the looks of it, but the water is right here. It might mean bringing the stock to water, but that is done back at Trail’s End.”

  “I looked Billi and there’s no large bushes, nothing higher than tall reeds or grasses.” Mikkel still looked a little dazed at that.

  “How often does that little stream dry up, Billi, the one over the end of the valley? If the valley doesn’t need it, a bit of a wall would create a shallow pool up there.” Bettram smiled. “That would save bringing stock down here.”

  “What about winter? There’s a good bit of snow.” Billi already felt crowded.

  “Sheep could use the valley sides. They’d scratch away the snow and get at what’s left there. Cut some of that rough grass up there for fodder to go with the Forest hay, and bracken and heather for bedding. Cutting the bracken and heather will improve the grazing with new shoots.”

  “There’ll be plenty of berries as well, from the Forest nearby since nobody else is after them.” Ellibeth smiled. “Not like near the Farm, where there’s two people after every berry.”

  “No, but there’ll be bears.” Eddmune’s face split in a grin. “Which means thick furs for the beds.”

  “So it’ll support as many sheep and goats as can winter down here in the valley. A good percentage will become joints for winter, so the summer flock can be grown to match the grazing.” Bettram looked over at Patre and they reached some unspoken agreement since both nodded.

  “This is a proper chance Billi, a balanced piece of Farm if ye give the word.” Bettram looked round. “Ye might want to spruce your hut up a bit before bringing a maid.” Then he looked at Ellibeth. “Though this one ain’t run off s
creaming.”

  “I’ve seen the state of Billi’s other hut before it met a duster a few times.” Ellibeth giggled, “Though I will admit this would take more work.”

  * * *

  The men all slept around a fire outside, rolled in their furs, which left Ellibeth in the hut. Billi had a little smile in the morning because everything looked definitely more organised in there. He was sure the hut had been dusted and swept even if he had no dusters or brooms. Maybe Ellibeth had charmed the piskies into doing the work, even without milk to leave out for them? If there truly were piskies, the magical little folk of childhood tales, this would be the place to find them.

  Ellibeth dragged out Billi’s sleeping fur and hung it over a dead branch, then set into giving it a good beating with a length of firewood. Billi took the men to the Forest, to where he considered it began with those few trees that crested the rise into his little paradise. He showed them the big pug marks and explained that he left the small pool for the beast to drink. All five stared at the pug marks.

  Eddmune looked back at the valley. “That’s awful close, Billi.”

  “But he’s never bothered me. I break the ice for him to drink and fish here, and he leaves the rest alone.”

  Patre thought about that. “The fields at the edge of the Farm are as close to the Forest, which is why we never leave stock there overnight. Though here you might want a fence to mark the beginning of the Farm? It’ll prevent stock and littluns from wandering too close to the trees.”

  “It won’t stop a Great Hunter or any of the larger cats but that would mark where the Law of the Farm began. Have you ever heard it come and go?” Mikkel stared at the pug marks. “I thought you were adding a bit when you drew that mark.” He glanced back up the valley. “That hut isn’t far for something this size. Are you sure it doesn’t mind you being here?”

  Billi pointed at his hut. “There’s big timber under those reeds, but even so it could get in. Look at the beaver lodge.” They did. “That was only done this last winter, and the marks said ‘twas this beast.”

  “It’s a good job you’ve got a Hound.” Eddmune also sounded a little subdued.

  “That beast isn’t frightened of Hunter or Hound, and I reckon I’d be lucky to get a shaft fitted and loosed in time. It just doesn’t seem to care about the rest if it gets its fish and a drink.” Billi indicated the pool.

  “Surely it’s wary of a bow?”

  “No. If anyone comes here, they don’t ever raise a bow to it. I stood there with Rabbit and the beast gave us a good look over and left, but in no hurry and he picked up his fish first.” Billi realised what he’d said as everyone’s eyes widened.

  “You saw it? What is it like?”

  Billi sighed. “Huge, Mikkel, and I mean really big, and black from nose to tail.”

  “Black?” Eddmune frowned. “There’s sometimes tales of a black cat, but always from three villages away and never a pelt. I’m asking you all to keep quiet about this as otherwise some stupid young Hunter will go for this pelt.”

  Mikkel looked annoyed about Eddmune’s glance. “Not me. I’m young but not that stupid.”

  “Fair enough. It’s just that both Hunter and Hound would probably die, and if the beast takes an arrow it might hunt the easier prey on the valley. The easiest are the people, and if that happens we’d have to hunt it down. Killing that big cat would take a dozen Hunters and Hounds or preferably more, and some would die. If that beast is annoyed it might be cheaper to abandon the valley, cheaper in Hunter’s and Hound’s lives.” That sobered everyone, but not for long. The rest seemed to believe the Great-Hunter would be an acceptable neighbour, maybe because Billi seemed to live in peace with it.

  The group discussed the best route for a path for stock up the hillside, one supported by the jutting rocks so it stayed firm in winter. By that time Ellibeth had re-joined them. Ellibeth pointed out a gentle slope would let a maid with a littlun get up there to help with gathering hay or bedding. It would also allow Billi to get up there to stand guard with Rabbit but nobody mentioned that bit. He appreciated how they were accommodating him for perfectly good other reasons, again.

  “What are the valley slopes like in the winter?”

  “How deep is the snow?”

  “Are there any other big hunters here, or does the Great Hunter keep them clear?”

  “Have you looked around the local area for berries and wild fruit?”

  “Does that water running over the gravel get deeper? Does it freeze in winter?”

  “The fish in there, are the small ones younguns or a different type?”

  The questions went on but eventually stopped, and became suggestions and propositions. “The homes can be cut into the valley sides to preserve fertile land and help provide stone for the rest.”

  “A spring flood must be allowed to let some of the small fish escape, to grow and come back for another fish run.”

  “You will need ponies to pack hides at least to meet the Traders and Tinkerers.”

  “Once you agree on others coming here, they will come out to cut all the hay and put it in stacks. Useless this year, but it will bring the most new growth in spring.”

  “You will need Syman the stonecutter to live here at least a year, maybe more.”

  “That back cliff will make a good Skull Rock.” The suggestions rolled in about plot sizes, gardens, fishing rights, heather for fuel, wintering stock, and renting his land so he could hunt.

  Billi started off resentful, reluctant, because although he’d sort of accepted that others would move here, he’d not expected this. Everyone wanted to go so fast, they’d took one look and suddenly had plans for six or seven huts. As they kept going the idea took hold, maybe helped by the bright excitement in Rabbit’s song. Eventually Billi sat there stunned, fascinated and also grateful. These people were perfectly happy to give him all the benefit of their experience or ideas on the off chance one of theirs might benefit, even if it was only by a larger landshare back in the Village when a sib moved here. Now all he had to do was remember some of it.

  “Of course, if the Wild decide this is still Forest, that will be the end of everything.” Billi still wasn’t sure how the Wild stood on that. A row of cottages might be too much, or a flock of sheep too tempting.

  “That’s always a delicate negotiation since neither party actually speaks to the other.” Eddmune wore a little smile as he spoke because many hours were spent over an ale trying to work out how the Laws were agreed. “Though the Wild does seem to be staying clear.” Evening had fallen again and they were all sat around outside Billi’s hut, eating a small deer that Mikkel had surprised while looking along the base of the escarpment towards the sunrise. Once more Ellibeth had found some herbs and a few roots to give it a bit of extra taste.

  “Did you do something different here, different to what we do on the Farm? That may be important.” Patre looked at the tongue of woodland on the valley edge. “Something has persuaded yon beast to let you be.”

  “Billi always give the Wild a tithe, even when he catches small animals in his traps on land that is Farm.” Ellibeth sounded curious now. “I’ve not heard of anyone else doing it, but I don’t see too many folk.”

  “That’s a very close interpretation of the Laws, and Farmers don’t usually do that. We give the guts to dogs and cats, or to the pigs.” Bettram also looked at the bit of woodland. “But most farms have a bit of water at least betwixt them and the Forest.”

  Eddmune nodded. “Maybe that’s a difference that needs to stay. You’ll be putting that in the Laws of the Farm for here, I would think, Billi?”

  “Er, right.” Billi was sure he could feel his white Eldest beard already sprouting.

  “If nothing else it’ll stop the smaller scavengers coming into the valley, and maybe leading the way for something bigger.” Billi nodded because Mikkel could be right.

  Bettram hesitated, then came out with it. “If ye decide on how the valley land might be split or
rented, and agree to it, I’d like ye to consider my Gerant. Him and his lass Lilith would love this and it would save me building a Billi-hut.” Bertram smiled. “They’d have plenty of privacy and space out here. I could save some lambs to grow on this year, and a few calves and kids to set him up, then throw in a decent ram and a couple of good ewes to keep the lines strong.”

  “Wool would help for clothing, and a bit of milk from the goats will come in for making cheese.” Ellibeth looked at Billi but nobody else noticed the mischief in her eyes as she said that.

  “I’d throw in some silver for a stove and such if he’ll take that and the stock as his landshare, and that would help his sibs by making theirs bigger. They could come out for six or seven days now and then to help set it up.” Bettram looked at Billi. “If you’ll allow it?”

  “I promise I’ll sit down and work it through as soon as I’m back and get my head straight. It’s all a bit much right now.” Billi chuckled. “I’ll never remember half of it. Then when its straight in my head Gerant and Lilith can come out and see, and make their minds up.” He raised his hands in mock surrender. “In time to start barns and cottages and such this year, honest.”

  “You’ll need a Hunter, Billi, and he don’t need to have a lass. Then he could live with one of the first families. A good night guard, extra meat for them, and when his home is finally built the maid part might not be a problem.” Mikkel’s smile meant he fancied the place.

  “I reckon he’d need his Hound to keep the maids off at the dance after his hut went up.” Perry grinned. “I’m wondering how soon you’d need a Tanner and lake repairer, since I reckon anyone out here might find a few maids chasing.” They all laughed at Perry’s hopeful expression.

  “When the sheep, goats, and maybe cattle start being slaughtered, that might work.” Mikkel nudged Perry. “Keep working on him. Billi might want a hut guard this end.”

  Though Bettram wanted something more immediate if Billi would go for it. Next year, because this year the cottage, barn and paths would need planning and a start made on building. Once again Ellibeth slept in a definitely cleaner and tidier hut, while the men slept round a big fire.