elcome to Blood and Bone Alley.
My name is Matilda, Matilda Bone. I used to be just Matilda of Lord Randall's
Manor but now I
am a simple peasant, apprentice
to Red Peg,
the bonesetter.
Saliva Mucusque! How my life has changed. My early days were spent reading, writing, praying, and learning to be humble. At the manor Father Leufredus guided my days with prayer and study; today I find myself sweeping, lighting fires and doing the work of a common maid. No amount of prayer or obedience brings Father Leufredus back or changes my new station in life. Spit and Slime!
My new home in Blood and Bone Alley is simple yet challenging. I moved from a nobleman's manor house with roaring fires and great halls to a bonesetter's shop. While Red Peg keeps it tidy as possible, I find the peasant home to be most uncomfortable. I must constantly sweep the dirt floor of Peg's herbs and potions and keep the main room clean for patients, dinner and Peg's evenings of draughts with friends. I find myself sleeping on a straw pallet in a cold buttery, not a soft, warm bed in my manor room. The poor seem to be content with these primitive conditions that I find unacceptable on the best of days.
When I left the manor with Father Leufredus, I left with only the clothes on my back and my father's leather boots. I may not feel like the other servant girls I have met in my new home, but I certainly look like them. My linen kirtle and shift must keep me for both my work with Red Peg and for holy days at Mass. My winter cloak was traded for parchment so that I may write to Father Leufredus. As I tend Peg's fires and keep her house I pray that the smell of my clothes is not a reflection of my faith and upbringing.
All that keeps me going each day is my time in prayer and my conversations with the holy saints who guide me through my troubles. I pray each day that Father Leufredus will release me from this peasant life and bring me with him to London where I may be of service in all things holy and good.
