Catherine, Called Birdy

August begins with the feast of Saint Ethelwood on Lammas Day, which celebrates the breaking of bread. Birdy is captivated by the smell of fresh baked bread coming from the church.

Soon after, her mother breaks out in a fever for several days; she recovers, and the unborn child seems well, too. Birdy notices how gentle her father is with her mother in her illness: “When he does not roar, I do not know who he is. Or just why I hate him” (147). Alas, her mother’s reprieve is not to last; just as quickly, she takes ill again.

Most of the manor attend the annual Bartlemas Fair, while Lady Aislinn stays home. Birdy is given some money and buys gifts for her mother, Perkin, and the new baby.

Birdy also sees a dancing bear at the fair, chained and trapped; it reminds her of an eagle with clipped wings she once saw. Because the bear’s dancing doesn’t please the audience, the owner of the bear proposes a bearbaiting, in which dog are set upon the captive animal. Birdy thinks, “How can we think ourselves made in the likeness of God when we act worse than the beasts?” (148).