Hello. Is there anyone there?
[[Hello. Who are you? ]]My name is Mary. I live in Newark, Nottinghamshire in the year of our Lord 1646.
[[Nice to meet you to. We are in the 21st century!]]Nice to meet you too!
[[How are we speaking like this?]]
[[Have you ever spoken to someone in the future before?]]I am not sure. There is a book on my father’s shelf. The words appear in it!
My father taught me to read and write which is unusual for girls.
[[Why don’t girls go to school? ]]Yes once or twice before! Its strange but very interesting. I haven’t told my mother or father. They would think it witchcraft!
[[We don’t believe in witches any more. Does everyone believe in witchcraft in your time?]]Girls grow up to get married and have children. Some women can read, though not as many as men. My mother can read but not write.
Do all children in the 21st Century go to school?
[[Yes we all have to go to school!]]
You are lucky!
[[How are you?]]The civil war has made life very difficult for us. My mother is sad all the time because my brother was killed fighting for the King. She cries a lot. Sometimes she seems confused. I think she is very worried about the future now that my father is wounded and cannot work.
[[That is very sad. I am so sorry to hear that. How is your father?]]My father is much changed by the war. He was wounded defending the town at a fort called The Sconce. We don’t know how he will earn money to buy food.
[[Can anyone help you?]]
[[What is a sconce?]]We don’t have any family members who can help now.
[[Can the government help you? In the 21st Century we have a welfare system. People who need money can apply to the government for help. ]]Sconce is a dutch word for a star-shaped fort made of mud.
[[Wouldn't a fort be stronger if it was made of stone like a castle?]]I have heard that some people write a letter called a petition. I don’t know how to do this and we don’t have any money to pay the vicar or the schoolteacher to help us to write it.
[[Wait a minute. We could help you!]]Really?
[[Yes! Just hang on and let us get a notebook. ]]What do you need to know?
[[What is your full name?]]My name is Mary Clay
[[And who are your father and mother?]]My father is Edward Clay. My mother is Elizabeth.
[[What happened to your father?]]His arm was shot off.
[[That sounds terrible. Was he shot by the enemy?]]He was defending the town against the enemy but his own musket exploded when he was firing it.
[[Did he see a doctor?]]He did. His captain arranged for a surgeon to dress the wound but we have to pay the bill! The surgeon knocks on the door nearly every day to ask for the money. I don’t know how we will pay it.
[[We are so sorry to hear that]]Thank you. My father used to keep some coins in a jar under the floor but all of those are gone.
[[How much money do you owe the surgeon?]]
[[What did your father do to earn money before the war?]]We owe him 10 shillings.
[[We will write that down in your petition.]]My father was a blacksmith but now he can’t hold his tools.
[[That sounds very difficult]]This is very helpful thank you.
[[What did your father do to earn money before the war?]]It is. He is still in a lot of pain too. I don't think he sleeps very well.
[[Has he tried to earn money any other way?]]
[[Could your mother help to earn money?]]
She is so sad and confused. She just stares at the wall and is often crying. I don’t think she can help. She misses my brother.
[[We are so sorry about your brother.]]He sometimes carries messages for people or delivers things on his cart. But even that is hard for him. Its not just his arm, you see. During the fighting he received other injuries, a cut to his leg and a broken foot. These still hurt him.
[[That does sound painful.]]Thank you. Many people who fought are living with injuries Is there anything else that you need to know?
[[We have everything that we need. We will write your petition and send it to you.]]Thank you so much! Could you help Thomas, the soldier who has been staying in our house during the war? He has been injured too.
[[Of course! Can we talk to him like this? ]]Thank you . Most people have lost someone they loved in the wars. There is so much sadness. Is there anything else that you need to know?
[[We have everything that we need. We will write your petition and send it to you.]]I think so.. I will go and get him. I think I saw him outside.
[[OK!]]Mary? What is this? A game? I don’t have time for this!
[[Hello Thomas. Nice to meet you. ]]What wizardry is this? Who am I talking to?
[[We are in the 21st century. We can help you ask for money with a petition. Would you like us to help you?]]I suppose it can’t hurt to try. Very well. What do you need to know?
[[What is your name?]]My name is Thomas Moss.
[[What did you do in the war?]]I fought as a cavalry trooper defending Newark. I fought in Captain Winter’s regiment.
[[Mary says you were injured.]]Yes. I was injured several times.
[[Can you tell us what happened?]]I was shot in the leg.
[[Did you see a doctor?]]If you mean a surgeon, yes I did. A surgeon was called to the house where I was staying. He pulled out the bullet and by God’s grace the wound healed. A month later I was not so lucky.
[[What happened?]]
[[What job did you do before the war?]] While I was defending the town, my leg was shot off by a cannon ball. I don’t remember very much to tell the truth. Just an explosion and a terrible pain.
I was also stabbed with a sword in my side.
[[That sounds terrible. How have your injuries affected you?]]
I was a farmer. But my lands have been taken by Parliament, my wife and son are dead and I have no money for land or strength to farm it even if I did.
[[Do you have any neighbours or friends who could tell the court that you are telling the truth?]]I cannot work. And it is hard to walk.
[[How do you walk?]]I use crutches sometimes. Sometimes I am carried by my friends. If only I could work I could earn money to buy another horse. I could still ride I think.
[[What job did you do before the war?]]My neighbours are far away in my home town. But Mary's father, Edward Clay may vouch for me. He has been a good friend to me for the last few months while I have been billeted in his house.
[[Then we will write his name at the bottom of the petition. You will need a certificate from the surgeon who treated you.]]God bless you. Do you need any more from me. My duties call me.
[[We have all the information we need. We will write your petition and send it to you]]Mary! Mary where are you girl. What are you doing with that book?
[[Hello! Who are you?]]What? Dear Lord. Is this magic? Mary, how can you accuse me of witchcraft when you are all the time talking to invisible friends. Who is this?
[[Hello. This is magic we don’t think. We are at school in the 21st century. We are helping Thomas and Mary to ask for money by writing their petitions. Do you need help?]]I certainly do need help, though I never imagined help would come in the pages of this old dusty book. We must hide this, Mary, for there are those who will call it witchcraft even if it is not magic.
[[We can help you too]]Go on then. God knows I need all the help I can get! What do you need to know?
[[We need to know your name first]]I am Alice Cooke.
[[Were you injured during the war?]]I was not injured no, though God knows I feared I would be when our town was besieged. I lost my dear husband. In truth the pain of his loss feels like a far greater injury than any bullet could have brought me.
[[Oh no! What happened?]]He was defending Newark in the second siege. He fought bravely they said. He was run through with a pike.
[[That is terrible. How have you earned money since ?]]At first I managed well enough. I have a cottage that I rented out to a family and a garden here for food. But my cottage was pulled down to make way for the siege defences and now I have no money. My landlord here will turn me out and I have nowhere else to go.
[[Can you earn money any other way?]]
[[Do you have any family who can help?]]I take in washing sometimes but I cannot make enough money. I fear that I may starve if I don’t think of something soon.
[[Do you have any friends or neighbours who can back up your story?]]My brother was also killed and I have no children.
[[Can you earn money any other way?]]In truth I am well known to be an honest woman. The church warden knows me well, for I go to church each Sunday and, when times were better, I loaned money to Christopher Baker who owes me a favour.
[[We will add their names to your petition and send it to you]]God bless you. I must be going now but I am truly grateful for your help. Perhaps I shall not starve after all!
[[We hope not. Good luck!]]Thank you for all your help. My friends and I will be so grateful if you can write a petition for us and help us ask for the money we need to survive. I shall daily pray for you!
[[Goodbye and good luck!]]My father says castle walls are no longer strong enough - not now that soldiers fight with cannon. If a castle wall is hit by a cannon ball it can fall down. Earth walls cushion the blow and stay standing. That's what my father says.
[[Can anyone help you?]] Lots of people do! I thought my neighbour, Alice, was a witch, but now I am not so sure!
[[We don't believe in witches now, but we do like reading stories about them!]]I like reading stories too, though we only have one book in our house.
[[How are we speaking like this?]]