Read Online Rise of the Wolf by Steven A McKay - Free Book Online

long after midday the pair had finished the laundry, eaten a small meal of salted ham, bread and ale, and it was indeed fine and sunny.
    “All right, you've been a good help this morning,” Martha grinned. “Off you go and catch us some fish then. Be back in time that we can have it ready for dinner. I'll feed the chickens then sit outside and do some spinning.”
    When her mother went out the door Marjorie collected her fishing pole.
    “I'll catch us a big one,” she shouted, waving as she hurried off towards the fletcher's workshop.
    Matilda was busy, surrounded by baskets of swan's feathers and wooden arrow shafts, but she gladly agreed to take a break for a time.
    Recently, Marjorie had been working on her own with the wooden sword, just going through different moves that Matilda had shown her, both defensive and offensive. She'd also been trying to eat more and even managed to do a few exercises to strengthen her muscles every day. She wasn't able to run for long, but she had been sprinting over short distances and, although she had no way to be sure, she believed that her speed had improved.
    As a result of all her hard work she really thought she had grown stronger not just physically, but mentally too. She felt good when she was exercising, which had come as a real surprise. Yes, it was hard, and her lungs would burn for a long time afterwards while her muscles ached from all the new stresses and strains, but somehow she felt happy when she was training.
    She was still slimmer than almost any of the other village girls, but as they walked to the little shaded clearing where they practised together Matilda noticed a distinct change in the younger girl's carriage. She held herself erect, her chin up and her shoulders back, where before she'd had a hunched, downtrodden look about her. Matilda smiled, pleased at her charge’s new-found swagger and made a mental note not to damage Marjorie's confidence by beating her too easily today.
    They reached the clearing, glad no-one was around since they didn't really want people to know what they were doing. Their fellow villagers would probably laugh at them – women weren't supposed to be soldiers.
    “All right, ready?”
    Marjorie nodded and they did a few limbering up exercises to get their muscles warm before Matilda produced their practice swords from the bundle she'd brought from home. For now the swords were all they had to work with; Marjorie couldn't draw a hunting bow and, although she desperately wanted a crossbow she had no way of getting one. Her big brother would, no doubt, have brought her one if she'd asked him but, for now, she didn't want even Robin to know what she was doing. He loved her dearly, she knew that, but he'd not look kindly on the idea of her learning how to fight in case she got hurt. Besides, where would she hide such a weapon from her parents?
    “Ha!” Matilda noticed her student apparently lost in thought and lunged forward, ready to rap the girl on the knuckles to teach her to stay alert, but, surprisingly, the blow whistled through empty air. Marjorie had seen her opponent's muscles tense, a tell-tale sign of imminent attack, and had danced back before the wooden sword could catch her.
    Matilda found herself on the back-foot instantly, as Marjorie tried to turn defence into an attack of her own. Their swords met with a sharp crack and they held them there, teeth gritted, until the older girl's strength won out and Marjorie had to draw back, panting, and angry at her puny muscles.
    “What's wrong?” Matilda asked, seeing the fury burning from her sister-in-law's eyes and thinking she'd done something to hurt the girl. “Are you alright?”
    “No, I'm not, and I never will be, will I?”
    The practice sword was thrown to the ground in disgust and Marjorie sank onto the grass beside it a moment later, her knees drawn up to her small chest. She looked like a child, despite her fifteen years and pity filled Matilda who began to move