Time passed. The herb garden had recovered. Dog rose and juniper proved to be robust and had grown back after their branches had been cut off. The irises were also easy to transplant late in the year. She even cut the mint, yarrow and camomile again and hung them up to dry under the roof. She would only sow the caraway next spring. With Katharina's help, she had also planted a small vegetable garden where she wanted to grow carrots, onions and turnips next spring.

The locator had granted Lorenz a loan, which he used to buy two cows in Waldkirchen to work in the fields. They would also provide Lorenz and Gisel with milk. Lorenz also bought a harrow, a plow and seeds. The winter rye had to be sown now. It needed a cold period before it could thrive next spring. Then the settlers would clear more land so that they could sow oats in the second field before the rye harvest.

The locator's money was also enough for a few chickens. So they always had fresh eggs and occasionally meat. They didn't want to start breeding chickens until next year, as they would have had too many mouths to feed in the first winter.

There was hardly a cloud in the sky on that gloriously beautiful fall day. The sun broke through the yellow and orange leaves, which gradually sailed to the ground. The wood of the six houses and the garden fences in the estate was already taking on a grayish hue from the weather. It rained more often and the wind was colder than in Passau. The surrounding meadows had become fuller; dandelions and daisies had spread across them. It had been dry for a few days - the best weather for plowing the field. The clods of earth had dried out and were overgrown with weeds, interspersed with lumps of granite and roots in the soil. Lorenz and Gisel would pick up the stones first. They would level the ground with the flat side of the harrow and loosen the soil with the tines on the other side. And then they would use the plow to

Turn the topsoil to prepare the seedbed. If necessary, some operations had to be carried out several times.

Gisel's job was to lead the two cows briefly by the rope. Lorenz would follow behind and operate the harrow and plow.

The harrow was easy to work with. Lorenz stood on it so that the tines could penetrate deeper into the soil. The wooden frame came loose from the drawbar several times, so Lorenz had to painstakingly reattach it again and again. In the end, a few tines were missing from the frame. He would be able to easily replace them in his workshop before the next job.

Around midday, Lorenz gave Gisel and the animals a break and sat down with her at the edge of the field. The animals ate the meagre grass that grew there. Gisel gasped in pain as she massaged her legs. Her hands were calloused and blistered from the rough rope and also tormented her. At least a gentle breeze blew pleasantly on her cheeks. It was still warm for the time of year. The sun was hidden behind a thin layer of white cloud.

"The work is really hard," Gisel interrupted the silence.

Lorenz sat there and stretched his face into the sun with his eyes closed. He sighed.

Gisel waited, but Lorenz remained silent. So she suddenly broached the subject that had been on her mind the whole time she had been plowing. "Do you mind? The thing with Hartmut?"

"What should I care?" He turned to Gisel questioningly.

"That he's making me out to be a poisoner."

"Oh well. People just like to talk!" Lorenz stood up awkwardly and knocked the soil out of his leg warmers. "Come on, let's get on with it."

Lorenz hitched the plow to the harness with Gisel's help. The cows stamped restlessly on the ground. The iron connectors on the harness rattled. Perhaps they hadn't had enough to eat and

were restless because of it. Or did they have too much strength and the exuberance had taken hold of them? Lorenz cracked the whip. They jumped and started to run. Gisel had wrapped the two ends of the rope she was using to lead the animals around her hand. She couldn't let go fast enough. She fell down. The cows dragged her quite a distance. Dust flew into her face. Earth entered her mouth, forcing her to press her lips tightly together. She skidded over earth, stone and roots. She tugged at the rope. It wouldn't come off her wrist. Finally she was able to free herself from it. At the same time, she rolled to the side to avoid being run over by the plow.

The cows continued to run forward. They went slightly downhill. They got faster and faster. But Lorenz rushed towards Gisel. "Are you injured? Is something wrong?" He helped her stand up.

Gisel shook her head and spat out the earth. "The cows!" she shouted.

Lorenz remained calm. "They won't get far with the plow behind them." He unhooked his drinking tube from his belt and gave her some water. She rinsed her mouth and then took a sip. Tiny little stones crunched between her teeth.

The cows and the plow came to a halt at the edge of the forest. Lorenz struggled to catch them again. He whipped them back onto the track. Gisel sprinted, rope in hand, to overtake them. Lane by lane, the two plowed the field with the animals. Gisel stoically trudged ahead, putting one step in front of the other. She sank deep into the ground and struggled to keep her balance. Behind her, the plow cut a deep furrow in the ground. Lorenz walked at the end and steered the implement with all his strength. Gisel was hoarse from shouting and pushing.

She felt like crying. The sun was already low and they had only completed half of the field. Time and again, the cows had run off the track or needed a breather. Lorenz often had to dig up roots or large stones that the plow had got stuck on. Lorenz looked up at the sky. A black cloud front was gathering from the west. "It will rain overnight. When

If we are unlucky, the rain lasts for several days. Then we can't plow."

"But then we can sow much less! And next year there will hardly be any harvest!" Gisel moaned and had to cough because her throat was scratchy.

Lorenz resolutely got to work again and brought the animals back on track.

"It doesn't help, we still have to finish today. We have to plow up the whole ground at least once."

Gisel was already having to work hard. Every single one of her limbs ached. Earth had got into her low shoes and had galled her feet. She had no strength left. Everything was an uphill struggle. If they starved to death in winter, it would all have been for nothing anyway.

"Aren't you finished yet? Wait, we'll help you!"

Gisel turned around. Jakob and Katharina waved to them from the edge of the field. They were sitting on a team of horses and looked cheerful.

Gisel hadn't even noticed that they had approached, she had been so engrossed in her work.

She plowed on with Lorenz in her lane. Jakob and Katharina started from the other side of the field. The two of them were a well-practiced team, as fast as they moved the plow forward and kept the animals on track. They finished their work just as the ball of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains.

Gisel and Lorenz couldn't thank their neighbors enough. The least they could do was to invite their helpers for food and drink in front of their house. Gisel had baked the bread with caraway seeds, which gave the dough a spicy aroma. The beer, however, was diluted with water so that the supply would last them through the winter. The locator organized a market trip to Waldkirchen every two weeks, but money was tight. Jakob and Katharina didn't seem to mind that the table was sparsely laid. In any case, they looked past it without a second thought.

"Everything you put out for us will taste delicious if it's only seasoned with your herbs," said Jakob with a grin.

Katharina smiled at this.

Now Jakob became serious. "We've done the plowing. Now we have to use the harrow to reduce the size of the clods and compact the soil. The seeds will germinate well in the fine crumbly soil and we just have to wait and see." He winked encouragingly at Gisel and leaned back with his arms folded.

Gisel liked Jakob. She was touched by how hard he and his wife tried to support Lorenz and her. "You help us so much and we can't give you anything in return!" she said desperately.

But Katharina waved her hand. "We help each other. We'll still need your help!"

Gisel sighed. "It's good to know we have you on our side."

Katharina raised her eyebrows and sipped her beer. Life in the Aigen was good for her. Despite today's exertion, her eyes sparkled briskly as never before. "There are no sides out here. After all, it's about survival."

Yes, there were! Hartmut's accusations had burned themselves too deeply into Gisel's memory. However, since she had a stone in the locator's court, Agnes and Ingrid no longer dared to let their spitefulness come to light. Perhaps it was also because Stephan and Christian had refrained from making lewd remarks that would have further incited their wives' anger.

And Hartmut with his Maria? After all, he had openly insulted Gisel as a poisoner. Maria, on the other hand, said little and stayed in the background. She pretended to be shy, but Gisel could swear that wasn't the case. There was too much vivacity in Maria's eyes and sometimes, when Hartmut wasn't around, she would get boisterous and giggle. When Hartmut treated his own wife the way Gisel did behind his four walls, she felt infinitely sorry for the poor girl.

"We've only known them since the venture. But Hartmut is always helpful and courteous towards us," said Jakob. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Katharina shrugged her shoulders. "I went to the river with Maria a few times to wash or up to Solla to get flax from the farmers there. She doesn't talk much."

That was the end of the matter for her.

Gisel didn't want to dampen the mood. Katharina and Jakob were so welcoming, she wanted to give them something good in return. She thought about it for a moment, then went into the parlor, where the bacon from the locator was dangling from the ceiling next to the bread. She cut off a finger-width piece and brought it to the visitors.

"Be careful!" Jacob warned at the sight of the delicacy. His smile disappeared from his face. "You must divide your food and waste nothing! Winter will be long up here. Spring doesn't come until late. The traders rarely bother to fight their way through the masses of snow to our far corner. If you run out of food, you'll be living from hand to mouth."

Lorenz scratched his chin. "We can set traps in winter, can't we?"

Jacob nodded. "I think so. From the bishop, we are at least allowed to go hunting down and kill deer, hares and ducks. Deer, bears, wolves and wild boar are excluded. The bishop and Count Johann reserve the right to do so."

Katharina raised her finger lecturingly, a gesture that did not suit her. "But watch out for the wild animals in winter! Bears and wolves come very close to the settlement in search of food. They break into the stables at night and tear up the cattle. If they are very hungry, they even attack people during the day."

Gisel looked at Lorenz, startled. Wild animals? Oh dear! In Passau there had only ever been stray dogs. They were quickly exterminated

so that they didn't attack anyone. Lorenz squeezed her hand reassuringly. She took a deep breath.

"Well, if they're very hungry ..." Katharina was about to strike out again when Jakob poked her in the side. She fell silent immediately.

It got dark quickly after sunset. Thick drops fell from the sky from dark clouds, slowly at first, then faster and faster. They pattered on the table in front of the house. Gisel flinched. The fire that Lorenz had lit was gradually burning down. The drops of rain hissed in the embers. No one said anything more. The silence became uncomfortable. Far away, a wolf howled. Gisel shivered. She stood up to distract herself. "Anyone else want beer?"

"No, no," Katharina replied quickly and pulled Jakob by the arm.

"We have to go home anyway. It's getting late and there's a storm brewing!" The familiar shadow returned to her face.

When Lorenz and Gisel had already gone to bed, the storm whistled around the house and the rain fell incessantly on the roof. Gisel groped to the front door in her nightgown to check whether the bolt had been pushed forward. The clay floor had already cooled and her bare feet were freezing. The tallow candle flickered and cast dancing shadows on the wooden wall as the wind blew through the cracks in the outer wall.

Gisel put the lamp on a small table next to the bed and crawled under the covers to Lorenz. She snuggled up to his warm body.

"I like Katharina and Jakob," she says.

"Yes, I like them too. They are a great help to us."

Gisel leaned on her arm and played with one of Lorenz's strands of hair. His hair had grown longer and the cut was no longer as meticulous. There was no barber here, so Gisel had to cut his hair and trim his beard regularly. Sometimes she simply forgot to do it because her head was so full of work.

She wondered how much she must have changed in the months in Aigen. She had always worn her hair long. She walked

However, she did not often go down to the Saußbach to wash herself thoroughly. But when she did, she even took off her dress and rubbed her skin with ash until it was reddened. Sometimes her scalp would itch, but luckily she hadn't caught any bugs yet. Her hands, on the other hand, were constantly chapped and sore: from milking the cows, scrubbing the ground, kneading the bread dough, weeding the weeds. Even putting violet ointment on them didn't help much.

Despite all this, she had become a happier person. She was able to take care of Lorenz and herself. She felt deeply connected to him because of what they had already achieved together. After all, Lorenz was good to her and didn't hit her.

Gisel sighed. "Do you realize how much we've achieved since we left Passau?"

Lorenz pulled her close. "We have our own house and already have a field. Next year, your herb garden will bloom the way you dreamed it would, we'll reap our first harvest and I can hire myself out as a carpenter. We'll be doing great!"

Gisel laid her head on his chest. She listened to Lorenz's heart beating regularly. "Are you glad you left Passau now? You wouldn't have had all this."

"The most important thing is that I have you." He gave Gisel a kiss on the forehead and stroked her head.

"And if the winter gets very harsh?"

"We'll get through it together." He hugged her to him.

A cozy warmth emanated from his body. She stuck her nose into his shirt and breathed in the air. She liked the smell of fresh wood.

Gisel almost felt sorry for Lorenz as he struggled on it afterwards, panting and sweating. He didn't move as awkwardly as he had at the beginning, but Gisel wasn't quite in the mood. Rather, she fumbled for the half coin around her neck that she had received for the wedding.

had received as a gift from the priest. Their fates had already become firmly intertwined. Even if she could not yet love Lorenz as he deserved.

The nights became cooler and the weather wetter. On some days, the tips of the grass were already covered in frost. The leaves on the trees turned golden and ochre and sailed to the ground. Thick clouds of mist lingered in the valleys well into the morning and did not disappear completely even when the sun shone brightly. When Gisel walked across the corridor into the barn at dawn to milk the cows, her breath froze. Then she pulled her coat tighter around her body. It was time she made warmer clothes for herself and Lorenz. Her dress wasn't much good for farm work anyway. It was already worn at the elbows and knees and she had already had to mend it many times. There wasn't much left of the original green fabric.

During the day, Gisel harvested the last herbs from her garden, cooked the wild fruit or dried mushrooms. They got a lot done in the summer. But she was nervous about winter. Preparations for the cold season were in full swing. She had gone over what they needed with Lorenz again and again so that the locomotive would give them the right rations. They would be neither plentiful nor varied. Rye and oats would have to suffice as animal feed as well as for bread and porridge. They would store turnips and cabbage in boxes in the attic. Gisel also needed wool and fabrics for clothing and furnishings. And, of course, beer, because the water from the Saußbach could quickly become undrinkable.

On Thanksgiving, the settlers went to Waldkirchen, as they did every Sunday, to celebrate the service. The men carried the huge harvest crown of yellow ears of corn in a procession across the market square and into the church for a solemn mass. Afterwards, at the local inn on the edge of the market square, they got to know the settlers from the surrounding villages and gave each other encouragement for the winter. Soon a thick blanket of snow would isolate the villages and make the roads impassable. They arranged to meet next spring and were optimistic that everything would be well over by then.

Maria caught up with her on the way back to Aigen.

"Gisel! Wait a moment!"

Gisel stopped and turned around. Maria came rushing towards her, her skirt flapping and her head bright red. "What's wrong?"

They dropped back a few steps behind Lorenz and the others so that they were undisturbed.

"You know so much about herbs," Maria breathlessly pressed out. She must have been chasing after Gisel for a while. "It's because..." Maria played with her fingers. "I'm not getting pregnant!"

Gisel looked at Maria. Her mouth quivered as she nervously played with her fingers. Tears were already rolling from her eyes.

"Please, Gisel, you have to help me!"

Gisel took Maria in her arms. This poor creature! Gisel could imagine how much pressure Hartmut put on his wife to bear him an heir. Maria's body shook with her sobs. The tears seeped through Gisel's dress so that she could feel them on her skin.

She stroked Maria's head. "Come by tomorrow when the men have gone to work in the forest. Then I'll give you what I have."

Maria looked up and gave Gisel a fleeting kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you! I don't even know what to say!" A hint of a smile flitted across her face.

Maria hurried away and Gisel looked after her. She chewed on her lower lip. Hopefully Hartmut wouldn't find out that she was helping his wife. At best, it would reconcile him. At worst, however, it would turn him against Gisel all the more. And Gisel didn't want to imagine what would happen then.

The first snow began to fall in mid-October. Bang, Gisel gazed at the white masses. The wind blew it incessantly up to the bottom edge of the window frame. Gisel folded her hands as if in prayer. Hopefully her supplies would last through the winter!