He followed. They entered the room of his earlier convalescence, then made their way along the main hallway to the west stairway, which they then took all the way to the second floor. Matthew followed Sabina first to the armory, then to the east wing of the house, where they ran and hid, laughed and explored, and chased one another about until two-thirty and time for dinner.

Both declared upon entering the dining room, disheveled, hot, perspiring, laughing, and still talking freely, that they had not had so much fun in years.

Matthew had completely forgotten the wounds on his face.

51 In the Harvest Field

51

In the Harvest Field

Immediately when they were through eating, the baron excused himself.

“I must go see if those oats are ready for me,” he said. “This is one of the most difficult of all our fields to harvest—next to the wood, quite bumpy, and with many stones. The Mähdrescher is such a temperamental beast, if something goes wrong or we pick up a large rock by accident, I would rather it be me that does the damage than one of my men.”

The moment the door was closed behind him, Marion added, “My modest husband is, in truth, the most skillful harvester east of Berlin. He knows the field is a difficult one and knows that he is more likely than any of the men to get through it without a breakdown.”

“He does a great deal of the work around here himself, doesn’t he?” said Thaddeus.

“A very great deal,” replied Marion. “Far more than most people realize. He makes no show of it, but he is the reason our farm is so profitable year after year. He is up at dawn every day. He is a very skilled agriculturalist, as well as other things.”

Before Thaddeus had the chance to ask Marion what she meant, Sabina rose to follow her father.

“Come on, Matthew,” said Sabina. “Let’s change clothes and go to the fields. I want to show you what they’re doing. I think Heiko and some of the other men are pressing straw in the wheat field Papa finished harvesting yesterday morning before the party.”

“Pressing straw?”

“Yes. Making it into bales for the cows. Papa has a brand-new baling machine. It’s so clever what it does with the straw on the fields.”

They left the house, while Thaddeus and Marion engaged in a fascinating discussion—mostly about the baron and his very interesting past.

The field of ripe oats lay some distance from the house. The baron had ridden by horseback, while Matthew and Sabina went on foot. By the time they arrived, therefore, he already stood high on his perch, dust and chaff flying in his face, aboard the clattering, gigantic, metallic spider called the Mähdrescher as it went raking and clawing and cutting and clanking through the tall stalks of grain behind the tractor pulling it.