Chapter 456: A Test of Mud
The townspeople waited until they were certain the princess and those accompanying her had gained a considerable distance before their attention returned to Jim.
For several moments, no one spoke. Then an elderly woman, who had been labouring in the lower fields, approached him. Her hair, silver with age, had been gathered loosely at the back of her head, and the hem of her dress was stained dark with mud.
"Are ye quite sure this be wise, Jim?" she asked. "We can do this ourselves. We don't need their 'elp."
Jim regarded her, then looked out across the fields.
"We do need their 'elp."
"We've managed thus far," the woman said, a frown upon her face.
"We've been at this fer days," Jim replied. "An' what 'ave we accomplished?"
He gestured towards the lower fields, where men still stood in waterlogged earth, attempting to clear stones and branches from land that seemed determined to swallow every effort made upon it.
