housekeeper at the west yard, of Outlying farms
“I keep the master's yard running so we do not starve. It is a thankless task with bad food, endless work, and maids who only argue.”
Things Matilda had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the Friday before Whitsun, at Compline
I desperately need wormwood to brew a bitter draught for my stomach. I am too weak to walk the hills by the old ruins myself. If any soul brings me three stalks, I will pay fifteen groschen and ask no questions.
Nota scribaeShe asked me if I had any wormwood. I am a clerk, not an apothecary.
the feast of St John before the Latin Gate, at Sext
The bile in my gut is rising. I cannot sleep for the cramps. If the master comes and sees the yard in this state, he will turn me out. The girls will not help, they only argue.
the Thursday after Easter, at Prime
We are eating mouldy rye bread and my bowels are in an uproar. Every day is an agony. And those two maids are at each other's throats again over Jan. He died of the camp fever last summer, God rest his soul, but I am bloody sick of hearing his name.
He needed prayers, not company. If we stayed we would have caught it too.
You dragged me away from his deathbed, I will never forget it.
Nota scribaeShe held her stomach the whole time she spoke.
the second Tuesday of Lent, at None
Still no sign of the ring. Sakra, it makes my blood boil. And to make it worse, the flour bins are running low. The girls just roll their eyes when I tell them how my mother Bozhena ran this place.
We roll our eyes because our arms are tired from hauling the heavy buckets.
the eve of Candlemas, at Vespers
I lost my mother's brass ring by the yard troughs today. It is the only thing of hers I had left. I have been on my knees in the cold mud searching. Bloody hell, I half think one of the girls pocketed it.
I never touched your ring, Matilda. I have enough to do watering the beasts.
Nota scribaeDictated with mud on her skirts. She wept.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Christ almighty, I just want some peace.