Charles and Greg are attempting to get a nearby water mill working again. It is hard work, they are short- handed as many of the community are on a trip to Cheshire to collect salt. Charles is much more optimistic about the mill then Greg.One of the women on the
Whitecross settlement is called Meena. She lives alone with her baby in a hut out in the woods and is something of a loner. Most of the others think she is a little strange. She does the baking for the community, collecting flour from the main settlement once a week. She also collects herbs.
Hubert fancies Meena, but she isn't interested in him. He, however, does not give up, and continues to pester her. He is caught in Meena's hut by the children as they
deliver some flour. He spins them a tale to keep them away in future, saying that Meena uses her oven to cook children.
Meena wonders why the children behave strangely towards her. She decides to make them some marbles out of clay, and goes to collect some from the banks of the stream. Jack and Peggy (one of the older women) see her, and joke about her. Meena makes and cooks her marbles, and also makes a small clay figure of a man.
That night,
Hubert knocks on Meena's door after dark, she is scared of him, and throws a dirty nappy into his face - he falls as he staggers from the hut.
The next day, Meena asks the children to bring her some more clay. When they arrive, she shows them what she has baked - she jokes that the figure is Hubert. As she lifts the model, its leg falls off, and the children flee from the hut.
They bump into Hubert outside - he is walking with a stick after hurting his
leg in the previous night's incident. They run to tell Ruth, Pet and Peggy, believing Meena to be a witch. Hubert follows, and seizes the chance to tell them that Meena had threatened him the night before - he also reminds them that the cows have been dry recently, their potato crop had not sprouted, and that Meena had supplied some dodgy herbs to Pet.
Peggy manages to convince Pet that there is something wrong with Meena, despite Ruth's efforts to
dissuade her, and the story soon gets round that Meena is casting spells on people. Pet is jealous that Meena is starting to make pottery, a job she had marked out for herself. She is worried about Meena's child, so visits her and keeps her talking while Peggy steals the baby. Pet is upset to find that Meena is making a clay head - a model of Charles. Meena promptly destroys the model, which upsets Pet even more.
When she finds her child missing,
Meena goes to confront Peggy, who keeps her at bay by wielding a crucifix at her! By now Charles has heard of what is happening, and forces them to return Meena's child. He has a row with Pet over this. Ruth and Charles get the truth out of Hubert It also transpires that the cows were producing no milk because Hubert had left them unattended with their calves while concentrating his attentions on Meena, and they had been suckled dry.
Charles goes up
to the hut to apologise on behalf of the others. Meena wants to leave, as she's afraid she's be blamed for everything that goes wrong from now on, but he persuades her to stay. Greg threatens to expel Hubert from the community, or beat him up if he does not make things right with Meena.
Hubert goes up to the hut and in his tactless way manages to scare Meena even more.
Later when Pet amd Peggy go to apologise, they find Meena gone. Night falls as they
all search the woods for her. Eventually Hubert finds her hiding in the old mill. She is still scared, and knocks him out with a piece of piping.
Eventually, Meena is brought back, and makes her peace with Pet and Peggy.
Hubert is sentenced to hard labour - turning the wheel of a corn grinder which Greg has designed, in order to produce flour, until the mill is operational
