October 1, 1349, Northern Scotland

        It was a weird day in Northern Scotland. It was a sunny day! All the workers in the fields were in good spirits. As everyone pulled the potatoes out of the ground, a dark cloud slowly appeared over a hill. “Oh, dang it!” I said, “Rain again!” As everyone murmured their thoughts, the dark cloud silently crept closer. A few minutes later, I smelled thickness in the air. Just then, the dark cloud blocked out the sun and the cloud was above us. Everyone kept working but the mood was soured. Out of the blue, a large CRACK rang out! Seconds later the rain came in a torrent.

        The rain poured and poured and poured. It was the heaviest rain I had ever experienced! My simple tunic and socks were being soaked. My sandals were being blasted, it was amazing they didn’t fall apart.  It lasted for the entire day and all night as the workers slowly squelched their way through the potato crop. Eventually, the knights let us go home to bed.         

        The next day, the rain was only drizzling, thank goodness! I went to pick up my hoe, but the hoe wouldn’t budge. I tugged and tugged with all my might, but it wouldn’t come out. For around 10 minutes, I tried to get my tool out of the very muddy ground. I kicked the hoe in frustration, but that only made it worse. 

        Suddenly, a voice behind me growled, “WORKER! Why aren’t you working?” I jerked my neck around and saw a tall knight standing there. “Uh, sir! My tool is stuck in the mud!” I managed to say. “No Work, NO PAY! No money for a week!” the knight said. “Yes sir!” I said sadly. “Now get back to work!” the knight barked. He walked away and I went back to tugging my hoe out, it was useless, so I went to the shed and got a new hoe. I worked till sunset, and then I drudged home.

WORKER!

        I told my family about losing money for a week, so we would have to ration our food for a week. Everyone had only one piece of bread and a few vegetables from the garden. The next day, my plan was to finish pulling all the potatoes out of the ground, and sneak some home for dinner. My day started out great, I finished pulling my section of potato crops from the ground, I went home with a few potatoes for lunch, and did my share of work for the next day. 

        That evening, right before I was allowed to head home, I filled a bag with tons of potatoes to take home. But on my way home, I was stopped by a knight! “Peasant!” What do you have there?” the knight asked. I recognized the voice to be Dame Chloe, the head knight. “Uh-uh, nothing sir!” I stammered out. The knight glared at me, “Doesn’t look like nothing!” The knight ripped the bag out of my hands and a few potatoes rolled out. “Looks like you’re a thief!” she said. I was dragged by my collar all the way to the manor dungeon and thrown in a cell.

A new sickness! The Black Plague!

I have the plague!

        I was left alone in the dungeon, with no one but rats for company. I spent the next month in my cell, unaware of the outside world. When I was released, I felt really sick. I went home to bed, and hoped that the next morning I would wake up fine. The next morning, after a restless night, I felt even worse! I went to the town center and asked the other men what was up. One said, “Haven’t you heard? There is a new sickness going around called the Black Plague! Its as bad as death!” Another said, “There have already been 52 deaths in our village, it’s horrible!”

        I was shocked, I had heard about the Black Plague in rumors before, but it was turning out to be deadly before our eyes. “Who has had it?” I asked a man. “I think Robert had it, and many others.” “Uh oh”, I thought to myself. Robert worked next to me one week! I probably had the plague! “Get out of here! I was in contact with Robert! I probably have the plague!” I shouted at the men! 

        I raced home to tell my family. I shouted when I got home, “Go somewhere else, I have the Black Plague!” They left without arguing to their friends house. After they left, I was left alone, wondering what I should do. I thought, “I should still work, so I get money!” So, I went to the fields and worked as best as I could in my weakened state. I struggled hard, and decided to go home and rest. Later that day, I had a sudden thought, “I should go to the church!” I hobbled out of bed and walked slowly to the church.

         I walked straight up to Pastor Chris and said, “Oh heavenly pastor, please heal me from this horrible plague.” The priest regarded me with sorrowed eyes. “Oh, I am sorry for your horrible sickness.” the pastor said. I then said, “Please, try to heal me!” “You are a faithful follower of God, so God will reward you.” Pastor Chris said. He dipped his hand into the holy water and placed it on my forehead. He quietly said a long prayer, and then took his hand back. “You shall be healed by tomorrow.”

You shall be healed

         I was so excited, “Thank you Holy savior!” I was so excited I raced home faster than I should have run. When I got home, I collapsed in my bed and hoped I would be healed in the morning. The next morning, I felt completely fine! I was healed! I went out to the fields and realized that there was barely anyone there. There were only about half of the people normally there. I went up to a worker and asked, “Where is everyone?” 

        He looked at me in confusion and said, “What do you mean, a lot of people have the Black Plague! How do you not know this?” I walked away and went to the knight on guard. “Sir, do we have to work double now?” I asked. “Yes, you have to work double, now on Sunday too.” he said. I grumbled away and went back to digging potatoes. 

        My busy schedule went on for weeks, until only a third of the normal number of workers were working. The crop was slowly dying, not being taken care of well because of the shortage of workers. I was really fed up, we had to work double, and we were still getting the same pay. I woke up early the next day because a man was shouting in the town center. “Everyone! The lady is holding a manor-wide meeting at noon sharp today! I repeat, a meeting at noon sharp today!”

         I assumed the meeting would be on the Black Plague so I went early to get a good spot in the front so I could hear. At noon sharp, the Lady Star came out of the castle onto a podium. She addressed us, “Thank you citizens for coming at a short notice, but this is very important. As I’m sure you know, the Black Plague is causing a big problem. Over 3/7 of our manor have died, which is around 1,000 people. Our crops are dying because we don’t have enough people to take care of them, so I am asking everyone to work every day of the week and twice as hard.” 

        This was met by a chorus of BOO’s. The Lady said, “Now, now, this is for the benefit of our kingdom. I am also raising taxes from 5 coins to 10 coins to help us buy crops from unaffected places. There is also now an even worse punishment for hunting animals that you will find out. Thank you for your time.” Everyone went “BOO” again and started throwing things at her. She quickly hurried off the stage and into the castle. A few men started to push towards the castle, but the knights blocked them. “Go back to work! Go Now!” Dame Chloe said. They then started pushing everyone back to the fields.

Raising taxes!

         I was steaming as I walked back to work, double taxes, more work? What kind of a manor was this? When everyone went to take a break by the shed, I shouted to everyone, “There is a meeting at midnight tonight at the village center!”

        At midnight sharp, I stood up on a chair and started my speech, “Hi, thanks for coming, the Lady Star is unfair, and we need to overthrow her! Double taxes, more work? This is outrageous!” One man named Albert said, “I’m with you, but how are we going to do that?” “Yeah, how?” another man added. I had a good idea that would force the lady to give up the manor. “How about we burn the castle?” Someone said “Yeah, I like it!” Another said, “Great idea!” and a third said “Sure, get the torches ready!” Everyone raced home and grabbed a stick and put it in the communal fire. Then, everyone grabbed their weapons which included pitchforks, hoes, shovels, and axes.  One man had made a bow and arrow, against the rules of the manor.

Let's burn the castle!

         “To the castle!” I yelled! We all stormed through the village, across the fields, and over the commons to the castle. When we reached the drawbridge to the moat, someone yelled, “Fire away!” Flaming torches arced through the air and into the castle. The inside of the castle was made of wood, so it burned easily. The smell of smoke and burning wood filled the air. 

        A second round of torches flew towards the castle, but aimed towards the walls. The walls didn’t burn as easily, so a third round of torches scorched the walls. After a minute or two, the nobles fled screaming from the castle straight towards the commoners. “Save the lady!” they were all shouting. The lady was still inside! 

        The commoners did nothing but continue to throw flaming torches at the castle. We didn’t care a bit about the lady so no one did anything. The nobles were too worried about themselves so they did nothing to help. Suddenly, a knight raced towards the castle out of the pack! The knight swam across the moat, and climbed over the fallen door. “Come back!” we all shouted! “It’s to dangerous!” The knight disappeared from sight as they worked their way inside. A long 5 minutes passed until the knight came out, carrying an unrecognizable person.

        It was Dame Chloe, carrying a burned Lady Star from the burning manor! And it was just in time, as the manor fell right behind them. The nobles cheered, but the commoners stood there in dismay. It felt like our plan had failed, the Lady was still alive and they still had power. “Lady Star, you have been unfair to everyone during the Black Plague, and you are a horrible leader. You should not be in charge anymore!” Dame Chloe unexpectedly said. “Yeah!” All the knights shouted. “No ruler!” they all shouted!” I went up to Lady Star and said, “Do you agree to give up your power, you are surrounded and outnumbered!” “Y-yes! Of course! Do whatever you want!” A loud roar went up among the crowd!

        The next week was a great one, all the peasants were working hard, and there was plenty of food all around. Parties happened every night, with lots of games and food. We ate bread, veggies, and fruit. We did lots of competitions, on food and other things. I thought the noble was doing a great job, supplying us food. But, later the next week, we stopped getting crops from the neighboring manors. “What is going on?” I asked the noble in charge. “We stopped receiving supplies yesterday, and I suspect the King is keeping everything to himself in these dire times.” I was astonished!