Dark Age Maiden

A fest. Girls will be girls, and guys do what they do.

Chapter Eighteen

        The days of the harvest, including the cutting of the grapes was over. Now it was time to celebrate the magical feast of Michaelmas. Father Carlo had come the night before and was just now beginning the morning service. A colorful procession filed into the great hall, which had been festooned with garlands for the occasion.

        Carina held wheat sprigs nestled in whitest wool to her breast. Twenty-two maidens followed her, each holding fruits of the harvest. They included sprigs of barley, oats, periwinkle, thyme, and verbena as well as the leaves of berries, currants, and fruit trees. Alongside her, a row of unmarried youths carried the gifts of the farm and field including deerskins, wool, pigskins, rabbit feet, fish scales, fox skins, chicken eggs, pheasant feathers, etc. They were solemnly carried in procession, with the  people of the manor following them into the great hall, now made into a church. There Father Carlo waited.

         The bearers came before him and stood waiting while the people filed into the hall. Then Carina and the youth opposite her went to Father Carlo’s chair. An altar server raised a censer over their gifts, and Father Carlo lifted his hands to bless them. He was following an old pagan tradition that had been Christianized. The whole assembly gave thanks for the harvest and prayed that the next year would be bountiful.

        After the solemn high mass of Michaelmas the fun would begin. Young and old had garnered food, wine and special dishes for this popular holiday. In good weather the meeting place was always the same, on a rise by the woods at the river pond.

With the defeat of the Saracens, the people were free to go there once again, though knights took the precaution of carrying swords. Carina rode toward it with her family, including her father, his sister, her two brothers and her brother’s wife and family, all riding horseback. Two other horses carried supplies.

        Already, when they arrived, music was being played, and several young girls danced together, their kirtles billowing in the breeze as they stepped to the music. Most people however lay back, and uncovering their baskets, ate and drank their fill before falling asleep in the afternoon sunshine.

Carina knew it was often at this time the boys would play their games and also their tricks. It was not wise for a girl to go off alone into the woods or the pond.

            Carina was restless, not at all inclined to nap. When she heard a number of peasant girls talking about swimming and then going to find flowers to make into garlands, she wanted to join them. “I’m going with them,” she told her family. “Why don’t you come too, Antonia.”

        “Not me,” she answered. “I just want to nap with my baby. Later we can all dance together after the bonfire is lit.”

        Carina jumped up to join the girls, most of whom were younger than she. In high spirits they walked to the far side of the pond where the water was deeper. Carina was glad the young men were still playing wicker ball. Nevertheless, she and the other girls were careful to hide their kirtles after removing them. Wearing only their shorter tunics they gleefully cavorted in the chilly water until they were chest deep.

Carina and two other girls, while staying close to the group, began swimming to try to keep warm. Several girls huddled together and began singing. It was a bittersweet song known by everyone, and they sang it with enthusiasm. Soon, more of the girls, including Carina, joined them, and they swayed together pouring out their hearts in song.

        One of the girls pointed to the edge of the pond. There, two boys jumped into the water and began coming toward them. The girls squealed in mock terror and some of those on the outside of the group tried to squeeze their way to the relative security in the middle. More youths appeared and gradually the girls began moving together toward the edge of the lake and safety. A boy of perhaps fourteen surfaced from underwater before them. He was immediately swatted at by all those in reach of him until he turned and swam away.