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Drustan awoke to the sounds of barking dogs. He always woke up to barking dogs so he sometimes wondered if they ever stayed silent. One morning, when he had hardly laid his head upon the ground before they woke him, he considered sending the dogs away. But then herding the cattle and sheep would become too difficult. He climbed carefully out from beneath the woollen, and very itchy, blanket that covered him and his wife. Already feeling the spring heat Drustan left his heavy cloak upon the floor and walked past his two sleeping children and out of the little wooden hut.

Other huts were dotted around the field that he had stepped into. Circular and so low that Drustan’s head was sometime jabbed with a branch from the roof they housed a family that worked upon the farmstead. Already several boys were out ploughing the soil. Each carried with them an ard, a collection of sticks bound together to turn the ground as the various crops were planted. It was slow work but vital for them to survive.

“Morning, Drustan,” Judoc said, striding over to meet his friend. He lived in the hut next to Drustan. “The dogs woke you as well.” Drustan nodded as he threw several scraps of old meat over the pen where the dogs were kept. They were usually kept hungry to make them better hunters but the farmstead had enough deer to last a month. Of course some of that would be given to the village that was an hours walk south in exchange for flint and pottery.

“Listen, I got some news from my brother,” Judoc said, clapping a hand on Drustan’s shoulder. “He says the clearing work is going great. Those woods should be gone by next year and the ground is perfect for farming. You’re going to make the move with the rest of the community, right? Only I heard something about you moving to the village in the south.”

It’s always important to take a moment to think before answering a question Drustan believed and today was no exception. He stood in silence for nearly a minute. Land could only be farmed for so long before it became barren and useless and then the farmstead would move on to a new spot. It was true though that he did not intend to move with the community. The village to the south was growing and his children would do well selling pottery there. Drustan was interested in the large barrows that were being made by the people there; a place for the dead to rest in peace. Also he could sell those barking dogs. He liked the sound of that.

“I expect I will,” Drustan said, deciding on a little lie. It wouldn’t help to worry Judoc before the hard work of finishing the planting of this year’s crop. “Your brother best make sure that we get a wider piece of land for farming though this time.” “Aye,” said Judoc chuckling.

Together the pair picked up an ard each and wandered out into the field. Driving the end of the sharpened stick into the ground, Drustan turned it quickly and pulled the tool out. The ground tumbled in on itself and the damp mud was revealed to the glow of the sun, ready to accept whatever seeds were thrown into its soil. Drustan looked down at the ground beneath him before turning his eyes to the rest of the field. “One down, four thousand odd more to go.”

Here is Richard reading the story to you.

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