The Convict’s Wife by Libby Ashworth

Author:Libby Ashworth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
Published: 2022-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

The next morning, John came to show her how to beam up the loom, by winding each warp thread onto its beam and passing it through the healds before fastening it to the cloth beam. Molly thought that although it was painstaking work and a bit fiddly at first, it didn’t seem too difficult and after John had completed a few of the threads he let her have a go at doing some herself. When he was satisfied that she was making a decent job of it, he left her to it and said that he would call back after she’d dressed the warp to show her what needed to be done next.

It took her all of the rest of the day and the following morning to complete her task. She became quicker as she progressed but she had to break off to attend to Annie at times, although the child was mostly content to play with a couple of empty bobbins, rolling them across the floor and crawling after them.

Once she’d tied on the last thread she stood back and admired her work. The bending had made her back ache, but it was nothing compared to the pain of pulling carts in the pit. As she picked up Annie and climbed the steps to prepare the size to dress the threads, Molly felt optimistic. She was proud of what she’d achieved so far and determined to make a success of this work rather than allow herself to sink into a gloom as Hannah Fisher had. It was true that no one was going to help the wives the convicts had been forced to leave behind – they would have to help themselves.

Molly measured flour and water into a pot. She didn’t need anyone to show her how to do this part. She’d always made the size for Thomas and it gave her a flutter of excitement to think that this time she was doing it for herself. She held the pot over the fire and mixed it vigorously until the flour had melted into the water and made a thick paste. Later, she would apply it to the warp to make the threads strong enough to withstand the weaving process. The fewer times they broke and had to be mended, the better her finished quilt would be. When that was done she would have to leave it to dry before she could begin. It would give her time to go and see Nancy, she thought, to check that she and the baby were still doing well.

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