As the night wore on, formidable quantities of both beer and bread were consumed. To Mitzi, it seemed that all the wrangling was really more about making sure everyone knew that everybody else had heard them, and that they had heard everybody else. The real selling point had been that everyone had heard about villages in Germany which organized and were having great success.
The last holdout was Herr Grabowski. He stood up and shouted, "You all sound as if we will have to pave the courtyard with gold bricks just to use up all the money we will make. You all act like enthusiasm will solve all your problems. You need to know, that if you're not willing to work this idea won't work for you."
Herr Piotroski banged his cane on the table when the whole village tried to shout down Herr Grabowski. When it was a little calmer, Herr Piotroski said, "So you're saying you don't think we should try this?"
All eyes went to Herr Grabowski. He frowned under his heavy black brows. "No, I'm not. I'm saying that if everyone is willing to make this work, I'll try it too."
****
The Duroski manor had fallen to hard times. It lay on the side of a valley closer to holdings of the Polish nobles. The family was almost nonexistent now. The only living heir when the old man died was his son, Jarusz. He was a bully and a wastrel, but the old man had no other choice. There were not even nephews he could leave it to. So the manor fell into disuse as Jarusz Duroski spent his inheritance on anything and everything except proper maintenance.
Now Jarusz was home and out of money. He and his band of lowlifes were camped at his old manor. The house itself was still standing but most of the outbuildings were collapsed and decaying. There were no servants, just he and his men.
Jarusz and his men were drinking in the old dining room. The table had been hastily repaired with a mismatched leg, and it was not strong enough to lean on, but it was able to hold the leather jack full of beer, and the map spread out in the middle. He leaned over and examined it for a moment, then placed his finger on an area next to his land. "And who owns this land here?"
Boris, his second in command, replied, "That land belongs to the Olbermann family. It is part of an inheritance that went to a German cousin about ninety years ago. They moved to town when their manor house burned. It has been almost twenty years since they have been in residence on that property, but I don't think that the land belongs to anybody else."
Jarusz stroked his beard. "So the family has not been there? That just may be the answer to our supply problems. There's nothing else here we can forage. Perhaps if we occupy the ruins of the manor, we can claim that we were just protecting the property from the bandits and thieves."
That brought a laugh from the men in the room. Jarusz laughed as well. They would really be "protecting" the land from themselves. He pulled his knife from the scabbard and started picking his teeth. "With a little effort perhaps we could convince the Olbermann factor that it should really be ours, and not belong to someone who abandoned it more than a decade ago."
Boris stood up, his eyes alight. "And even if we can't get the land for our own, we can claim payment for protecting it."
Jarusz nodded. "Very well, gather up the men. We'll go camp in the ruins of the Olbermann manor. It looks like a very nice little valley, and it would fit nicely into my holdings."
Boris nodded. "Yes, Your Excellency. Everything will be ready at first light."
Jarusz yawned. "No need to leave that early. We'll go when I'm ready in the morning."
****
With a crunch, the last rock landed on the pile at the edge of the field. Mitzi stood and stretched his back. At least this field is now done. Mitzi got his switch, and started the ox moving. He needed to get these rocks down to where they were building a new shed.
It had been a week since Aleksy returned to his posting. And the organization of the grange was complete. Mitzi himself had been appointed as clerk because he could write well in German. Even though he was still picking rocks out of the fields, he felt more important.
He came out onto the road, then noticed sounds of an argument drifting up the hill from the village. Mitzi shaded his eyes, to see who was waving their hands now.
Down at the edge of the village, there was a group of armed men that Mitzi didn't recognize. He'd never seen anyone like that in this area. Opposite them, a group of villagers stood shaking their fists in the air. He wanted to hear this, but he couldn't leave the ox up here untended.
He tried to hurry, but oxen are slow, and by the time Mitzi had the ox put away, and the sledge behind the barn, the group of strangers was gone. He ran over to his father. "What was all that?"
Hans was still angry. "Those Cossacks claim that they are protecting us from bandits. They have moved into the ruins at the manor, and they want us to provide them with food. I think they're the wastrels that have all but destroyed the Duroski holdings. But they definitely don't work for the Olbermann family, and we owe them nothing."
****
That evening was the regular meeting for the grange, so the tables in the courtyard had been set up again. Mitzi took his seat to the side of the head table, and had paper and his ink pot ready to take notes. He was interested to see what the leadership would decide to do about the Cossacks.
Herr Piotroski stood up and banged his cane for order. When it was relatively quiet, he began. "This opens the monthly grange meeting for New Olbermann. And while we settled on an agenda last meeting, let's talk instead about what everybody has on their minds anyway. What do we do about Duroski and his Cossacks?"
Mitzi's father, Hans, stood. "Yes, agree."
Herr Piotroski nodded. "Fine, we will open the discussion of Duroski and his men, and save the discussion of the cost of seed for next meeting. I'll go first."
There was some murmuring, but no disagreement. Mitzi got busy writing the record of the meeting.
Herr Piotroski laid out all of the particulars of what they said, and what we said, and then opened the floor for general discussion. There were a couple of moments of silence, as everybody waited to see who would go first. Then the shouting and hand-waving started. Tonight, the participants were grim and everybody showed expressions of concern.
Hans stood to speak. "But what can we do? These men are armed like soldiers. They claim they have feudal right over us."
Herr Piotroski stood. "Our leases, our grants, and our loyalties have always gone to the Olbermann family. These men follow that blockhead Duroski. They have been camped at his old family manor for several months now, and have probably either destroyed or completely stripped anything there. I think they are hungry, and clamoring for new ground. I know for a fact that the son, Jarusz, has coveted this valley for as long as he can remember. Our village will never owe that parasite anything."
There were rumbles of agreement all through the meeting, but nobody stood to speak. Finally, Mitzi stood up. "I know I'm young, but I don't think we need to stand for this. It's just like in my book that Aleksy gave me. The people in town are being threatened by a rowdy gang, and they came up with a plan. That's what we need, a plan."
When he sat down, the meeting moved into the typical calm and reasoned discussion of the village. That is, everybody waved their hands in the air, and shouted their opinion at the top of their lungs. Groups began to form. People with the same general opinion tended to stand in the same area.
Finally, it began to look like there were only two groups. One was for the appeal to the law, and the younger group was for a more violent solution.