A TASTE OF CHAPTER 1

The sound of a large wooden spoon banging against a large copper pot wakes them all up, although some more abruptly than others.  Every day it was the same ghastly noise and every time they heard it, they wished never to hear it again.  It felt as if not only the pot was being pounded, but also that the insides of their heads were. 
Jane however, was already up before the deep and echoing noise sounded throughout the house.  She was washing her face in crystal clear spring water she had gone to fetch at 6:30 am that morning.  She had, as always, left a jug of the same fresh water in each room for her siblings; the other orphans living in the house.  Jane was fifteen now, almost sixteen.  A slender and tall girl with a beautiful and kind face, she had a careful, but positive and welcoming personality.  While she did not have to help their step mother, Juliet, Jane knew her help was well received, and this help would hopefully set an example for the other three orphans, whom she felt were her real brothers and sister by now.
The water was cold, but at the same time refreshing on the soft smooth skin of her face.  This water was certainly much cleaner coming direct from the well in the yard rather than the internal pipes of the house, which were well into their rusting phase now; both on the outside and even worse on the inside.  There was often an orange tinge to what came out of these pipes, to which Juliet would often jokingly say "gives it more flavor, it´s iron, it’s good for you", but in truth she would never let the children drink this water and she too would always keep the house topped up with fresh well water for drinking.   It really was time to change these old pipes, but they would never be changed; change was not so welcome in this house.
Jane dried her face and looked in her closet to see which dress she would put on this fine day.  The sun was hidden, but the heat from it could still be felt, even at this early hour.  So that made her choice a bit easier, as she did not have many dresses for the summer months, although nor indeed did she have many for the winter months. 
She had grown and grown these last few months and she did not know where the material for her next clothes would come from.  Juliet was doing the best she could, but certainly the children´s clothes were a far cry from when they used to live with Juliet and her husband in the center of the town, Homeham, as they knew it. 
In the end Jane decided her yellow dress would help replace the sun that was shy today in showing itself, and she slid it over her head and on over her under garments.  With that yellow dress would go her brown boots, as indeed they had to go with every dress, and for all occasions.  Now she was ready and her stomach was making noises as if it too were also ready; ready and awaiting reinforcements from the breakfast table.
Jason, who had been woken by Juliet and her “pot panging” as they all called it, had no trouble turning his head to the other side, burying it deeper into his pillow, and going back to sleep.  He knew there was no schooling today, so he had no good reason to move yet, not until someone moved him or more likely, his hunger got the better of him. 
Hence, as the bedroom door slowly opened, and with just the slightest knock or two upon it, the only one who stirred within the room was James, who lay in the other bed on the other side of the boy’s room.  He had edged down the bed covers due to the morning heat, but quickly raised them back up, as he heard the knocks and saw the door creak open bit by bit. 
For this reason were the knocks, the forewarning of a female entering an all male room, albeit just Jason and James´s room.  James, who was fourteen and so a full year younger than Jane, always felt a little embarrassed around her in the mornings, at least before he got washed and dressed.  He did not want Jane to see him with sleep in his eyes, or the hair flat on his head, or any other number of morning regularities that you would not want a girl to see, especially if she was as pretty as Jane and you had as much a crush on her as James did.
All of this mattered very little to Jane, as in the mornings she only had eyes for Jason, who at eleven, “but nearly twelve”, as he kept telling everyone, was still the baby of the house.  She walked over towards his bed; he must have heard her footsteps as he pulled the covers over his head.  Jane got on top of the bed covers and smothered Jason below her with a hug.  There was actually nothing more Jason liked in this world than when Jane did this, but even still, he did not like to show it, so he squirmed away from her hugs as best he could.  He knew Jane would come closer and closer across the bed, until he almost fell out the other side, so eventually he would give in and turn around to see her pretty face. 
Jane’s warm yet slightly pale face, with deep blue eyes, would be one Jason would always remember.  There was no doubt that these were the happiest moments in his life, as he currently knew it. 
Glancing his eyes away from Jane’s intense, yet cheerful gaze, he saw James in the only other bed in the room.  A room with tall ceilings and slim windows; the more light a house let in, the more tax one had to pay.  It was almost the kind of room you would imagine inside a windmill or a water tower.  Stained wooden floorboards made up the floor, with a sheepskin rug in between the two metal-framed beds, with hand turned bedposts.  There was also a sink in the corner for washing; beside it was the jug that had been placed there by Jane an hour earlier.
As Jason continued to look across, he could see James watch Jane´s actions carefully, and although Jason did not understand it too much, he could see a slight jealousy in James’s eyes; perhaps it was just from the attention he was receiving he thought.  Indeed he was right, it was for that reason, but it was in another way James would have liked similar attention from Jane.
Well in any case, that was not to be, James was a year younger than Jane and even just that one year made a big difference when looking down from the elder age.  Although in James's mind he had seen those men in the town with at least forty and fifty years being accompanied by girls half their ages, so the year between Jane and he meant little to him.
Jane started coughing a little and so she got up from Jason’s bed, she walked to the window and slightly opened it to breath the fresh air; she thought it would clear her lungs a little.  She had been coughing quite often since Juliet had caught the flu a few weeks ago, just after the visit of Jones’s supplies cart from the town. 
The town of Homeham was a dirty and smelly place, with foul and rubbish lying on the already muddy streets.  Juliet felt sure that the Jones boy had brought with him the flu virus.
“It’s a wonder I did not catch more than a flu.” Juliet told the children, as a lesson they should not spend time in such places and should appreciate where they live now, out in the countryside at Sir’s homestead. 
In the distance, through the window, Jane could see the smoke from the town, breakfasts being cooked over the wood burning ranges no doubt, although it seemed a bit more smoky than usual.  In any case, she took more pleasure and interest looking further south of the town, past its’ solid, thick, although not so high walls, to the vast expanse beyond, leading to other towns, other Letterhams. 
There were places she could not see and places she had never been to, but still, she hoped one day to explore them.  As she continued to breath the fresh air and stare into the distance, she could just make out a few towns people leaving through the south gates on the other side of town, with their carts piled high.  Again, it was unusual for this time of day, when most people would be heading into, and not out of the town.