Serenity Valley

by Rocky Bills

  We arrived outside the kitchen and were greeted by Fina, the kitchen manager. She called out, “Rogue boy, what are you doing there? Come to do more pillaging with the Demon beast, have you?”

  “No, good lady, we have come to apologize and beg forgiveness for our misdeeds of late.” With my comment, a good portion of the staff came out to greet us.

  Fina stood in front of us with her hands on her hips. “Well, Rogue Boy, what have you got to say for yourself?”

  “Good Lady Fina, my companion and I humbly stand in front of you, begging your kind forgiveness. Only because of the heavenly aromas emitted from your fine establishment did my friend suddenly become mindless with desire and enter without invitation.”

  The staff started commenting at this. “Old silver tongue strikes again.” “This is the best suck up yet.” “The lad is very smooth, he is.” “Aye, wishes he could teach me husband to speak.”

  With a flourish, I produced one of the three bouquets from behind my back. “Kind Lady Fina, even if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive our wretched souls, please accept these flowers as a token of our esteem for your beauty.”

  “Oh, yes, this is good, very good indeed,” the staff all agreed.

  Lady Fina smiled, then she remembered to frown. “Well, just don’t think I have forgotten anything, but I guess I can take the flowers. May feed them to my goat, I suppose.”

  Restrained laughter escaped the gathered group. “She didn’t hold out very long.” “Naw, she let him off easy, she did.”

  I looked around and located Ada, my favorite pastry cook. “Lady Ada, I would like to thank you again for the fine pie the other day. And may I say that the blush of your cheeks reminds me of the pink sunset in autumn. Please, accept these humble flowers as a token of affection.” I produced the second bunch and handed them to Ada while taking a low bow.

  Once again, there were various comments from the group. “Well, that was pretty good.” “Yes, very good indeed. He’s really on his game today.”

  Ada came up to me and bent forward, saying in a whisper, “Look to the window ledge when passing back this way.”

  “Well, I’m sure the boy got what he comes for,” I heard one of the staff say. All the hens started laughing.

  After a bit of a search, I found my sweet Basilea. “The very best for last, for the sweetest lady in all the land. For only her smile could cast light upon a dark winter’s night, my friend humbly begs forgiveness for his rudeness of yesterday. I also thank you from the bottom of my heart for this fine shirt; it is a shirt fit for the king’s table. I wear it with great pride!” Basilea flushed with embarrassment. Oh, how I never tire of her blush. Before I could bring the flowers around from my back, Demon grabbed them from me. I said, “Hey, Demon, don’t eat those. They are for Basilea.” Demon trotted up to Basilea and presented the flowers, nodding his head up and down playfully. The group gasped in amazement.

  Basilea looked at me with a puzzled expression. “Should I take them?” she asked.

  “Of course, he wants you to have them.”

  Basilea took the flowers from Demon and said, “Why, thank you, Sir Demon. They are lovely.”

  Demon backed up, made a tight circle, and faced Basilea again. Everyone was watching him to see what he was doing. The group shuffled this way and that so everyone had clear view. To everyone’s surprise, including mine, Demon picked up his left hoof and folded it back, leaned back on his hind legs, and managed to lay his chest on the ground to perform a low bow. The entire group began to applaud and laugh with joy. Demon sprang to his feet and took his most majestic pose; it was apparent he was quite impressed with himself. This enticed an even greater response from the staff: “That’s a smart horse, he is!” “That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” “The boy must have taught him that.” “I would tell someone, but who would believe it?” I looked at Demon with awe, then looked at Basilea and just smiled and shrugged my shoulders. She just stared at Demon while I pondered what I had just seen. Totally uninterested in all of these human affairs, Mildred soon lowered her head and started grazing on some broadleaf grass.

  “Ladies, honestly, I didn’t teach him that. He learns by watching what I do, then he copies me,” I admitted.

  “Well, heaven help us all, now we have a horse sucking up as well as the lad.” Another round of laughter erupted.

  “Ladies, if you would be so kind as to keep an eye on my charge for a moment, I must attend to the call of nature.”

  “Why, he even makes going to da crapper sound good.” More laughter erupted from the captive audience.

  I quickly made my way to the crapper about one hundred feet away and proceeded to take care of my business. After a minute, my business was well within conclusion when I heard the door latch being tried. Just as I said to myself “Oh, no! Oh, no!” the crapper door was pulled off the building and promptly dropped on the ground. There stood Demon, who immediately bent his head down and sniffed. He then snorted a sneeze out. Shaking his head from side to side, he ran to the other side of Mildred and hid. Well, that was enough to set the entire staff into fits. They were leaning on one another they howled so hard. I quickly pulled up my britches, trying to hide my privates best I could, and vacated the facility.

  “Well, my fairest ladies, with the entertainment out of the way, we must take our leave,” I said in an attempt to retain what was left of my dignity. I trotted up the path past the kitchen with Demon in tow. With Mildred attached to the colt's tail, we made a hasty departure. “Well, that was embarrassing. You really need to work on your manners, you know,” I scolded. “But at least we will be enjoying good food for some time to come.” Demon nickered quietly as we slowed our pace. With Demon responding well to the lead, the rope slack most of the time, we turned around on the road heading south, from the hold and started our journey back. We came by the kitchen window next to Ada’s pastry station. On the window ledge were three pies. I took one of the pies and bit into it. The sweet peach flavor filled my senses. Demon was lipping my hand, so I broke off a piece and gave it to him from the flat of my palm. He quickly gobbled it down, then promptly raised his head high in the air and peeled his lips back so he could experience the full flavor. I asked, “Well, what do you think, young man? Do you like peach pie?” Demon lowered his head and nodded up and down. I continued eating my pie and didn’t notice until it was too late that Demon had snatched a pie off the sill and was busy learning how to chew it. When I looked up, the other pie was missing. I looked around and saw Mildred had pie crumbs on her lips. I said, “Hey, Mildred, you know anything about a missing pie?” Mildred’s ears drooped, and she lowered her head. I moved over to her and rubbed her neck. “It’s okay, big girl, you deserve it for faithful service! Gooood girl!” The change of tone and pats on the neck immediately perked the big mare up. It was then that I noticed a small group of staff had collected by the window and were watching. I waved, and we started out again for the stable.

  The stable was bustling with activity. The range riders were bringing in mares ready to foal. Stalls were being prepared with water, fresh straw, and feed from the great storage buildings near the stables.

  Fulk was helping to settle the mares in their stalls and get them fed. The range riders were reporting in to Sayer in the office so records could be updated. Slates were marked in front of each stall, containing the mare and sire's name, and also which pasture they were from. Often, several pastures were serviced by the same stud. Demon continued to be a focus of curiosity, with the riders stopping by to see the new colt and ask questions. I have yet to find an employee of the stable operation who was not dedicated to the horses. Everyone involved loved the horses and their home in Serenity Valley.

  Several mares were brought in separately, with their foals already in tow. They were early arrivals, and a much slower pace was exercised bringing them in. Once stalled, the slate was prepared with additional notice of foal and the sex. Although things were very busy, everyone kn
ew what to do, and things ran smoothly. I fetched the feed and water for my charges and gave a hand to the other stable staff. As the sun approached its noon aperture, I saw Basilea approaching with midday tidings. We set up our worktable for the meal, and I signaled to Fulk, who joined us shortly. We enjoyed our meal of pulled pork with white bread, tubers, cider, and fruit.

  Fulk sat back on his cask and rubbed his belly. “One thing that has changed is, I eat better since I was volunteered for this assignment. I never ate this good at mess!” he said.

  “Just consider it one of the many benefits of the job, Fulk!”

  Basilea started to chuckle. “Sir Rogue here is endeared to the entire kitchen staff. When I prepare a basket, contributions are made from various stations. Items make it to the basket that are normally destined for the lord’s table. If Gamel isn’t sucking up to the staff, he is entertaining us.”

  Basilea went on to tell Fulk about the morning’s adventure with Demon and his presentation of flowers, and of course, also the crapper door fatality. We all had a good laugh, and I told Basilea and Fulk of my observations of how Demon was so smart and tried to mimic my actions, sometimes to a sorrowful outcome. I told them about my training with the lady, scheduled to start this afternoon, and numerous questions resulted. When they asked, I said that I was not privileged to tell them why I was being trained. I just wanted them to know what I was doing when absent for afternoons.

  “By the way, Fulk, could you repair the crapper door while I’m training this afternoon?” I said as an aside.

  “Sure, why not! I spend a good deal of my time repairing things the Demon destroys; another, less desirable, duty of my new position.”

  Basilea and I giggled, and she said, “Sir Fulk, you must take steps to guard yourself.”

  “Guard myself from what?”

  “Why, good sir, from developing a sense of humor, of course!” Basilea’s jibe gave pause for us all to laugh again. Once the laughter subsided, she said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Ada slipped something in the basket.” Basilea withdrew a linen-wrapped package and put it on the table. Within the folds were five peach pies for dessert.

  The aroma must have been overpowering, as Mildred and Demon’s heads appeared over the stall door. Both horses were staring at us. Demon made a sort of low, guttural bellow in the form of a demand and Mildred a high-pitched whinny. I said, “You, young man, should learn from your stepmother. She has enough manners to ask.” Demon pinned his ears back, bellowed again, and bobbed his head up and down. “Why don’t you two give the pie to the horses. I want Demon to get used to accepting food from both of you.” They took turns feeding Mildred and Demon, then we enjoyed our own pies.

  With the meal complete, we broke and went to our individual tasks. I tethered Demon and started for the turnout at the southeastern side of the main house.

  This turnout is used for the main house riding and carriage horses. When visitors and customers stay for any length of time, their horses are allowed access to the turnout versus being stalled for days at a time. It is of good size, almost sixty acres, and has its own pond. About half of the turnout is heavily forested woods, and the rest is gentle, rolling hills of prime grass. Turnout fencing consists of ancient stone pillars with wood planks and poles between the separations. It was said that the fencing is some of the very original construction, dating back hundreds of years to the original land grant. Along with the other turnout and pasture fences, the grounds crew kept the ancient fence in good repair.

  I pushed back and dropped the gate poles that had recently been replaced. Pitch still ran from the knots, and the pine aroma was most pleasing. Once inside, I released Demon. He immediately lay down in the tall grass and began to roll. After his grass bath, he proceeded to run this way and that on his gangly legs. Mildred was always watching and moved to keep him within short distance, but took advantage of the supple grass and grazed. The rich spring grass would be good for her and milk production. I surveyed the pasture for any sign of Lady Bella but did not locate her. I was determined I wouldn’t allow her to sneak up on me this afternoon, now that I knew some of her peculiarities.

  In the distance, I saw something out of place. A large fallen log at the treeline had some unusual object lying on it. I headed in that direction, allowing the horses to explore on their own. Upon reaching the log, I quickly stopped and observed my surroundings. The log rested in tall grass and was backstopped against a huge tree. Well, there was no way she could surprise me from that direction. I quickly turned on my heel to see if there was anything unusual behind me. Convinced that I was safe from one of her surprise attacks, I sat on the log next to the out-of-place package. It was a medium-sized leather bag and contained several scrolls. I opened one of the scrolls and recognized a star chart with several ledgers along the border. Examination of another revealed writing in a language I had never seen before. Its strange symbols sometimes looked like pictures of various animals and objects. Next to the objects were words written in the common tongue. I replaced the scroll and was reaching for another when something grabbed my ankle and pulled my leg straight. My heart almost burst with fear, and I yelled out, “SNAKE!” I pulled my leg back and jumped on top of the log. I held the parchment scroll in my hand as if it were a sword as I searched the tall grass at the base of the fallen log, but I couldn’t see anything. I heard someone laughing and could just make out some of the grass moving strangely. In a sudden movement, the grass turned over and sat up. There Lady Bella sat, whooping and holding her side with one hand.

  She could not compose herself for some time, still laughing uproariously while she rose and came to sit on the log. I realized I was still standing wielding the scroll and felt quite foolish. I sat down next to Lady Bella while she calmed herself. She said, “Tell me, Master Gamel, were you going to fight the snake with the scroll? Perhaps you were meaning to read to him?”

  “It’s not funny, my lady. I could have expired from fright,” I said grumpily.

  “Oh, I doubt that, Gamel, but it was the most fun I’ve had in a long while!”

  “What is that you are wearing, my lady?”

  She stood up and pulled a hood back, unbuttoned a couple toggles, and pulled the entire affair over her head. It was then that I could see what she was wearing. Her long-sleeved shirt and britches were a patchwork of green and light and dark tan colors, and they were fitted very loose to her frame. A number of good-sized pockets were sewn into the shirt and britches. A pair of boots painted in the same colors finished her outfit. Her hair was still braided in a ponytail. The more I looked at the clothing, the more confused my eyes became. She handed me the cloak so I could examine it. She explained how it was made using fine fishing net and how grasses and sticks could be woven into it from the immediate surroundings.

  “Gamel, I have another of these invisible suits for you, but you must locate it to win it.”

  “It is here, my lady?”

  “It is not twenty feet from where we sit now.” I panned the area but saw nothing. “I will help you locate it. Look to the grass, Gamel. Look for something that doesn’t belong or doesn’t fit in. It may be simply some grass bent in the wrong direction.”

  I panned the grass in front of us. I squinted a bit surveying the area for something different, something out of place. There seemed to be an area of grass that was higher than the rest. I stood up and walked to the area, kicking at the grass. Lady Bella smiled and watched as I investigated. I finally kicked a spot that moved differently. I reached down and picked up the invisible cloak.

  Lady Bella clapped her hands. “Very good, Gamel! With time, you will be able to locate such abnormalities quickly and from distance.”