Seven.
My family didn’t
have a proper surname like the nobles did, but we were known as the
Woodby’s, because we lived by the woods. Our neighbors were the
Archers. I had been moved over to their place, so that their mother
Agnes could watch over me during my illness. After my fever had
stayed down for a full day and night, I was brought back home. I was
week, but made it back with some help. My parents thanked Agnes
profusely.
Our families had
always gotten along well. Primus and, last season, Tertius had helped
them harvest their fields. Their father Zeno Archer shared venison
with us after the hunt. A well that sat between our fields.
I regained my
strength by walking to the well and back. I was weak after my bed
rest, which lasted two weeks. Tertius cut a pole of bamboo for me
that was as tall as I was. Even with the walking stick, I needed to
rest often.
After the third day,
I tried to drag the bucket up from the well, but could not budge it.
I would need to find another way to get stronger. I tried to help Ma
garden, but she didn’t like it when left the milkweeds and plantago
between her vegetables, so she told me to go play with Quartus and
Quintus.
Before I fell ill,
Quartus and Quintus used to run with a gang of boys around the
village after finishing their chores. It was one of their group who
had egged Quintus on to sticking me with his beastly nail. Quartus
had stayed away from them since, and Quintus followed. Today, they
headed into the woods with their fishing poles over their shoulders.
Quartus invited me with a wave of his arm, but I shook my head and
waved him off.
Instead, I headed to
the edge of my family’s fields, where it met the road. There was an
outcropping of stone. I found a pair of fist sized stones that would
serve as weights to exercise my arms.
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