The story begins with a girl, known simply as Brat , who is found in a dung heap by Jane Sharp (known for her sharp nose and sharp glare), a village midwife. Seeing that Brat is willing to work, Jane who is a midwife takes her on as her apprentice and renames her Beetle, but does not voluntarily teach Beetle about midwifery for fear of competition. As the girl stays with the ill-tempered midwife, she matures and gains confidence. Several events help her overcome her troubled, forgotten past. She is mistaken for a girl named Alyce and adopts that name. She tames a cat and learns to care for it. She befriends a young homeless boy, and finds him a name, Edward, a job, and a home at the hall of the rich man that owns the land the village is on. She also becomes friends with one of the village boys, Will, after she rescues him from drowning when he falls in the river. Jane is a proud and difficult woman. She is caring for a woman in labor with the help of Alyce when word comes that the lady of the nearby manor is also in labor. Jane abandons the new mother to Alyce's care to attend the richer woman. Alyce successfully delivers the baby, and the grateful parents pay her instead of Jane, which angers the midwife. Alyce tries working as a midwife. However, she is quickly confronted by a very difficult birth, and fails. Jane sweeps in and presides over the birth, and Alyce flees. She feels she is too stupid to be a midwife, so instead finds work in an inn. There she meets a scholar who is staying at the inn while he is writing an encyclopedia of sorts, and from listening to him, learns the alphabet and other pieces of knowledge included in his book. When a woman with a "stomach worm" and her husband arrive at the inn, Alyce realizes that the woman is actually in labor and successfully delivers her child. This event boosts her confidence in her to go back to the village and become Jane's apprentice.