The previous passage described the way the villagers followed the hoof prints through the properties in the village. In Catherine, Called Birdy the setting is very similar to the one in the first book. It is described in this excerpt. This chamber is pleasant, large and sunny, with my mother and father's big bed on one side and, on the other, a window that looks out on the world I could be enjoying were I not in here sewing. I can see across the yard, past the stables and privy and cowshed, to the river and gatehouse, over the fields to the village beyond.
Cottages line the dusty road leading to the church at the far end.
This passage describes part of the house and part of the village. Both of the stories are set in Medieval England, in the country, not the city. This passage was from Catherine's point of view, a higher class than that of Alyce. Many book reviews write that the two girls could have known each other, but the books do not mention each other. The year is 1290 in Catherine, Called Birdy, and it is not mentioned in The Midwife's Apprentice.