The small group walked in silence for a while. The fitz Raven manor was at one time a fort with wood walls that have since decayed and been removed. It had been built when the kingdom had invaded this territory many generations ago, and the land was given to a knight by the name of Raven who had served loyally. The road from the village of Beckthorpe to the neighboring kingdom wrapped around a nearby hill, so when the trees were removed from the hillside and along the road that hill became a strategic spot to place a fort for controlling access to the village. Now the formerly forested areas around the manor were used for mostly grazing sheep or growing grains. Some fields between the manor and village were common areas, and some larger fields were assigned to more competent commoners or peasants to work in exchange for turning part of the harvest over to the fitz Raven family.

The peasants were the native population before the kingdom conquered the area. Commoners, or freemen, were like a middle class between the nobility and peasants, but commoners often worked as tradesmen or merchants without being tied to the land like peasants. This is where the genes mixed between younger children of the nobility who didn't have their own titles, and the native population. According to popular stories among the nobility, the nobility once had a greater tendency towards lighter hair and spoke a different language from the natives. The native peasants had a greater tendency towards brown or sometimes black hair. Since they initially were, after all, different ethnic groups, this might have had some basis in reality at some point. However, those distinctions in hair color and language disappeared over the generations as the two groups merged. The aristocratic status was becoming the last vestige of an ethnic group that had once subjugated another group.

Owen thought about this as they approached the village of Beckthorpe. The cottages and plots were getting narrower and closer together, with less livestock. There were more vegetable gardens around the homes, with grains or another cash crop in the fields behind the little homes. The homes were small buildings, some stone, some wood, and others a mix of wood and some kind of painted over plaster or mud. They mostly had thatch roofs, unlike the limestone tile roof of the manor.

Surprisingly, Sir Thomas would exchange greetings with any peasants he saw. He was just talking about them being inferior, but he is friendly and on good terms with them? Owen decided to ask about it later.

"Ahead is the intersection between the main through road and where the village spreads out along the river. Off to the left is downstream, so at the edge of the village and downstream are the noisy or more dangerous buildings with some extra space between them. The bakery is a fire risk, the blacksmith is noisy and a fire risk, the water mill for grains occasionally has had explosions in the past..."

So Sir Thomas is also a tour guide now. He's truly a jack of all trades, Owen thought. Meanwhile, Gerald got curious and asked about the explosions.

"Some of the more superstitious among the villagers say it was a divine punishment for some hidden sin that the miller engaged in, others said it was witchcraft, others claim all the flour in the air is dangerous even though wheat flour obviously doesn't burn. Whatever the case, a previous lord who inspected the building complained about the difficulty he had in breathing with all that flour in the air, and made them keep windows open on both sides of the building to air out the building while milling. That way the lord would not be inconvenienced by all the flour in the air during his next visit, but the workers have had less problems breathing since then. It has not exploded since then, so maybe it was a supernatural punishment after all. Who knows?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What kind of nonsense are you telling these kids?" A priest came up from behind, obviously displeased. "Witchcraft? Whether witches have pagan beliefs or made a deal with the devil, neither those pagan deities nor the devil have any power over parishioners in good standing with the Church. I wish you would stop spreading rumors and gossip!"

Sir Thomas laughed. "Is the village drunk telling more stories about that Royse woman who keeps spurning him, bro?"

"Yes, and he is almost as annoying as you. Like I keep telling you, you need to address me as Father John, because I am a priest. That is how priests should be addressed, as Father, regardless of how you are related."

Great, another cousin, Owen thought.

"There is no way I am calling my little brother Father. No way in hell!" Sir Thomas shot back with irritation.

"How about we test that divine punishment theory of yours by locking you up in the mill with the windows closed?" the priest said as he continued to approach.

Yep, these guys are definitely brothers, Owen thought as he watched them get into their brotherly intimidation postures. Aren't they my dad's age? These guys are supposed to be a knight and a priest?

"Who's going to put me in there?" Sir Thomas challenged back.

Gerald was getting worried and whispered to Owen "Are they going to fight?"

I guess the brothers are both muscleheads, Owen thought as he decided to distract them. "There's a witch here? I thought they are hunted everywhere."

Father John took the bait. "Sometimes there are witch hunts in different areas, but it isn't universal in Church lands. Royse is registered with the parish and makes cheap medicine for the villagers, so this area usually leaves people like that alone as long as they don't try to spread heretical beliefs."

"Hey, remember that weirdo academic who got kicked out of that diocese years ago after getting higher approval to start an Inquisition?" Sir Thomas asked his brother.

Father John sighed and said, "Yes, he was a sick pervert, so the Bishop of that diocese expelled him."

"He wrote a book on witchcraft, then once another prior who had kept opposing him died, added his name as a co-author. And now the heretics are using it also!" Sir Thomas yelled with amusement.

"Was any restitution made to these women caught up in that guy's Inquisition?" Owen asked.

The brothers stopped their mirth and stared at Owen with confusion.

"Why would we give witches restitution?" Father John asked.

Nope, not that enlightened after all. I shouldn't have been surprised, Owen thought with disappointment. "Oh, just wondering."

"So, now I'm wondering how you appeared behind us without me noticing. Are you learning witchcraft now?" Sir Thomas went back to messing with his little brother.

"No, I was visiting a sick parishioner for last rites. That reminds me, I haven't seen you in confession. Ever. I could remind you of a lot of other things to confess in addition to this slander about a priest learning witchcraft. Now if you'll come with me..." Father John replied.

Despite feeling some odd sense of nostalgia, Owen was getting tired of the banter between these two adults. Gerald seemed to be enjoying it, though. At least something good for Gerald came out of this fiasco, even though I am going to have to deal with this Sir Thomas character a lot now. We should go back, I'm probably not going to sleep well for a while...