Brewer's Tale, The by Karen Brooks Page A

all of which I shared. But, most of all, there was excitement and determination. Bless them, they wanted my venture to succeed as much as I did.
    Adam finished and I lifted my goblet. ‘So, let’s raise our drinks, shall we? For, as of tomorrow, we’re no longer Holcroft House, traders of fine goods. When day breaks and the cock crows, we begin our transformation.’
    â€˜Into what?’ asked Saskia.
    I rested my eyes upon each of them in turn. ‘Into Holcroft House, the home of Sheldrake brewers — makers of the finest ale in all of Norfolk.’
    There was a beat before everyone raised their vessels and in voices ringing with excitement, chorused: ‘To Sheldrake brewers, makers of the finest ale in all of Norfolk.’
    â€˜Nay!’ cried Will, spluttering as he swallowed his wine too quickly. ‘Not Norfolk. Why stop there? As God is my witness, Mistress Sheldrake will be the finest brewer in all of England.’
    As the servants cheered and Karel and Betje clapped, I met Adam’s eyes across the room. ‘In England,’ he mouthed and raised his mazer.
    â€˜In England,’ I echoed.
    With the love and support of these people, that night I believed anything was possible.

EIGHT

    HOLCROFT HOUSE
    October
    The year of Our Lord 1405 in the sixth year of the reign of Henry IV
    T he next few days passed in a blur. After returning what had been salvaged from Hiske back where it belonged, I was faced with the bleak reality of how empty, how hollow, the house seemed. The night I’d returned from Lord Rainford’s, drunk on excitement that my bid to secure us time had succeeded, it had been easy to be indifferent to what my cousin had done, but in the gaps and spaces in every room, I was forced to confront Hiske’s avarice and spite. Almost all of Tobias’s possessions — from a knife and sheath to a Lancastrian pennant his lord had given him to commemorate his first battle at Shrewsbury which he’d sent home for safekeeping, to clothes he’d worn as a child which were being kept for Karel, as well as a book that belonged to Mother — all had been seized. The old sea-chest and carved stool in his room were gone. The furs from his bed, the curtains that surrounded his mattress as well. In the solar, apart from a couple of stools, the rug and two tapestries, Hiske had claimed everything — the cabinets, the two chairs and the cushions that adorned them. The tables filled with curios Father had collected on his travels, the mementos Mother had brought with her when she came to England as Father’s bride were no longer there. Even the main hall and Father’s office hadn’t been spared. The shop and storeroom at the rear of the house, which had held what were now Lord Rainford’s goods, were completely empty. As far as I could tell, only the contents of my room, the nursery and the kitchen had been saved in their entirety and for that I was grateful. Trying not to be despondent, the starkness of the rooms simply gave me another reason to make my enterprise work.
    Though part of me wished to seek justice, it was easier to surrender a few possessions and believe I’d never see Hiske again than have her charged and deal with the very public consequences of that. A court would cause a scandal none of us could afford. And, I told myself, as much as I may not like it, she was family. I couldn’t bring the law down upon one of my own. Mother wouldn’t want that.
    A few days later, we heard through Master Jacobsen that Hiske and Master Makejoy had married and were staying in rooms above an inn near the law courts until they could lease their own premises.
    With the house returned to some sort of order, Saskia and Blanche tended to the gardens. Though it was late in the year to plant, there would be some vegetables that would yield in early spring and they set about ensuring we’d reap that small harvest. In the meantime, Adam,