H. R. Wakefield's "First Sheaf"
commentary by rbadac
'Did I ever tell you how I lost my arm?'
'No,' I replied, yawning. 'Go ahead. But I hope the tale has entertainment value, for I am feeling deliciously sleepy.'
Appreciators of the film The Wicker Man will like H. R. Wakefield's "First Sheaf." Old Porteous presumably keeps his listener awake with an account of his days spent as a small boy in Essex, where his father has accepted curateship of the strange, isolated village of Reedley End.
Reedley End suffers from chronic drought, and, being out of the way, the inhabitants have been 'left to stew in their own juice — or rather perish from the lack of it.' Despite his father's best efforts the villagers show no interest in his religion. They have chosen to look back, rather than forward, for their salvation.
When a local girl with whom young Porteous is enamoured goes missing, & an uncharacteristic but timely rainstorm follows the event, the enquiries of he & his father are met with sullen resistance & threats of violence. It is none of their affair, they are told in no uncertain terms. Young Porteous conducts his own investigations on the sly, which focus on a small circular field in the midst of the Reedley corn-lands, in the center of which stands a stone pillar about eight feet high, surrounded by neatly tiled stone 'thickly stained with what appeared to be red rust.'
There is a hollowed-out cup at the top of it. Porteous examines this by reaching in his hand, & receives a vicious scald for his trouble. He runs away, but his curiosity soon returns; the villagers have begun to reap, & have soon reached the Round Field. There is to be something done on the morrow, & young Porteous resolves to conceal himself & witness whatever ceremony is in store.
You may find "First Sheaf" in Mr. Derleth's The Night Side (Rinehart; NY, 1947), also in The Clock Strikes Twelve (Arkham House, 1946), & of course in Ash-Tree's recent (and improved) reprint of the same title.