On the island of Ireland, the rain pours down, but for some reason almost all the islanders do not feel a sense of refreshment, but instead feel heavy and oppressive.

From the strange germs that appeared a few years ago, the priests who suddenly "went crazy", the prophecies that became more and more mysterious, and the unusual weather cast a shadow on the hearts of the farmers.

Patrick's father, an experienced farmer, had a very strong feeling that there would not be a good harvest this year.

Although it was ridiculous, he quietly exchanged potatoes for wheat and barley without telling his wife and children that he had them.

A week later, Patrick brought back from town a newspaper that said that potatoes were growing well all over the continent, including the island of Ireland.

In fact, the British government is trying to hide what happened in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the potatoes in the entire Wallonia region died almost completely within a week.

And this terrible situation is spreading to the European continent, with late potato blight already occurring in parts of France and Germany, and Spain and Portugal not spared.

But at this time, the British government blocked the news from the country, and for no other reason than because of the cursed germ that also appeared on the island of Great Britain.

Scotland on the island of Great Britain is the hardest hit, with more than half of the potato crop already dead, and large tracts of farmland in Wales and England already dead.

At this time, there was no large-scale disaster on the island of Ireland, but unlike the British mainland, the main source of food here was potatoes, and if there was a problem with potatoes, it would be a devastating disaster.

Under the British government's announcements, the Irish gradually indulged in the illusion of a good harvest.

As everyone knows, the pace of disaster has never stopped

In the countryside of southern Ireland, the Jennings family still live busy and quiet days.

Skaha always complained that her parents gave her too much work, but as the eldest girl in the family, she had to work outside the farm, and when she returned home, she also had to do household chores and take care of the baby.

So she began to fantasize that she could become the youngest one, or become a boy.

After all, Patrick either hangs around every day or attends so-called "drinking parties", and as long as he doesn't miss dinner time, his parents will be extremely tolerant of him.

Patrick could also take his friends home, and that Wynne had been living and eating at Jennings' house for a long time, and was always staring at Skaha.

This made her feel very unhappy, because she couldn't adopt a stray cat herself, while her eldest brother could raise someone at home.

To be honest, Skaha thinks those barley cakes and barley hemispheres taste pretty good, after all, potatoes that have been eaten for more than ten years can be changed from taste to taste.

But there is a big problem in this, that is, the barley production is still too low, I am afraid that even the winter ration will be a problem, let alone enough money to pay the rent to the old man.

"Maybe we can borrow some money from the church to tide over this crisis, because the priests seem to be rich and friendly."

Skaha thought so, and then he heard Patrick and Wynne openly "plotting" the future of Ireland on the haystack.

They intended to overthrow the British and then bring back the exiled and enslaved people and give them their freedom again.

The two thought that on the island of Ireland, where there were no English, they could go into the fields to harvest wheat and send it to the mills, and that someone would grind the wheat for them for free and bake them sweet and soft white bread.

By that time they can sprinkle salt, sugar, and pepper on the bread with all their might! .

It's just that in Skaha's eyes, it's nonsense at all, after all, if there is no one to grow food, how can crops grow in the field?

And everyone is Irish, even if they drive the British away, the fields should be planted with potatoes.

And as a "veteran gourmet", Skaha stole salt and pepper from the church, as well as sugar, which didn't taste very good when mixed together.

On the other hand, Skaha felt that his parents had not been exiled to the other side of the world by the British, and that there was no need for Pateret to hate the British, let alone get himself into trouble.

She felt that although she was now ruled by the British, her life was not too bad.

Skaha still envied Patrick, who was older than himself, but he didn't have to do much farm work, just lying on the haystack and daydreaming every day, but he had to collect straw everywhere for emergencies.

But one day, when Pateret and Wynne were conceiving their grand plans, Skaha's father overheard.

"I don't welcome any lad talking about this illegal speech in my home!"

This is a very stern warning, and most of the peasants in Ireland are honest and conscientious people, and once they start to accuse, it proves that they can no longer bear it.

"Mr. Jennings has been grateful for your hospitality these days, but your tyranny will not kill my freedom!

Long live Ireland, even if you support the rule of the British, you are the object of our liberation. Cheers to our future! ”

It was the first thing Wynne and Mr. Jennings had said in so many days, and he was so unruly that he walked away with his head held high.

But Mr. Jennings' gaze was also determined, and he did not think that he had done anything wrong, he had seen too many of them.

But Ireland has always been British land, and as a father, a husband himself must protect his family from harm.

"Daddy, what did you do! Wynne is a true Irishman."

Before Patrick could finish speaking, he was slapped hard by his father.

"Don't associate with such dangerous people, and don't attend drinking parties from now on. You've gotten the hang of it! You know? ”

"You're the one who gets the hell out of it! Lackeys of the British! ”

Patrick was about to leave, but his father grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't come back if you're gone!"

"If you don't come back, you won't come back!"

Patrick shook off his father's hand and strode away, and it was the first time that Skaha had seen his father and his eldest brother so stiff and wanted to step forward to stop him, but suddenly lost his courage, and just stood there stunned.

For a long time, my father sat on the ground as if his soul had been drained, and Skaha wanted to come forward to comfort him, but he didn't know what to say.

Eventually, his father, Biskaha, took the courage to return to the fields and continue to plow, clearing the weeds as usual, but with exceptional effort.

In exchange for telling Mickey and Tommy stories for ten nights, Skaha received two of the little ones' treasured voles, which she mixed with potatoes and crumbled cakes and wild vegetables.

By the time Skaha came to the field with the hot porridge, his father was already sweating. When the latter saw the former, he still barely managed to squeeze out a smile, while Skaha cried, and finally the father and daughter hugged each other and cried.

(End of chapter)