The Watchman

by Marilyn Foxworthy

  Viola said, “No! Kindness is one thing and we are all very generous and love each other as brothers and sisters, but everyone must make a living. Joshua pays for the meals as a gift to his relatives, his aunts Orchid and Blossom, and their husband who is now his uncle. Jonah, you must put the cost of the meals on his account, as we discussed.”

  Jonah smiled and asked, “And if I refuse?”

  Viola smiled and said, “Then Joshua will buy his own cafe and he will hire another like Lucy, and I will deal with them and you will have no more ugly pies or cookies, and you will go broke and wander the streets as a beggar. Lucy will tire of it and become a widow.”

  Jonah laughed and said, “Ah, and I wouldn’t want that. OK, I will charge the full amount to Sir Joshua’s account.”

  Viola smiled and said, “But, if you choose to send something as a gift to new friends to our village…well, that’s none of my business.”

  Jonah frowned and thought for a moment and said, “But, how is that different? Oh. I think I see. If you want to give a gift, it must cost you something, not me, because then it wouldn’t be a gift from you. Your gift must be your choice and at your expense. But I am free to give my own gift, if that’s what I want to do. Joshua would not use his influence with me to make a gift to someone else. My dear, you are a wise counselor.”

  Antonio said, “Except that in very special circumstances, our friend does use his influence to make gifts to others at no expense to himself, but that is because it is ourselves that benefit from it. Didn’t he tell me that he wanted me to go to Meadows and find happiness for these wonderful women and for myself?”

  Viola said, “And didn’t he gift you the money that you would need, just to make certain of it?”

  I said, “Viola, not quite like that.”

  Antonio laughed and said, “Yes, quite like that. Even when he begs us for favors, it’s only what we should have known to do anyway and we are the ones most blessed by it, not he.”

  Jonah said, “That is certainly the way of it. I give something to help the fatherless, but I make more now than ever, and I have a wonderful mate and a son, and new friends who are influential in our village. And Joshua begs me to do it as if it were he who benefits and not me.”

  I smiled and said, “I benefit more that I think you know. And I am infinitely blessed and have no lack of anything but friends.”

  Jonah said, “Oh pshaw. Every man is your friend. I believe that we passed a law saying as much. Didn’t the magistrate say that any who was not your friend was to be banished from our village.”

  Lucy smiled and said, “And didn’t the stone carver offer you his own lovely daughter?”

  I smiled as well and said, “He did indeed, and I have taken her to my house and she is a joy to me. As I say, I am infinitely blessed. But let’s move on. Viola, you have business with Tobias and Antonio, and you have property to settle.”

  Jonah said, “And I have luncheon and dinner for twelve to prepare. You are wonderful friends and I am fortunate to know you,” and with that, he went back to his kitchen.

  I said, “Oh, but we had plans for this evening! Antonio and Grayson and their women are supposed to come to dinner at Paul’s farm.”

  Viola said, “Then, we should hurry. Is it possible that we can get access to the house right away, even before the papers are completed?’

  Orchid said, “Antonio, if you think it’s OK, we could go start immediately. You don’t even need to come. You could leave it to us and even meet us at the farm for dinner. The house will be filled with women cleaning and I’m afraid that there won’t be anything for you to do, and no one to spend time with.”

  I said, “Then spend the time with me. I will go on your errands with you and we will find a way to make a profit from the day.”

  Antonio said, “Well, OK then. Here are the keys. Spend what you need and I will see you at the farm if not before.”

  Viola said that she would go to the market with Orchid and Blossom to buy some supplies for cleaning first and then go to Tobias afterward. She would call Lark and Aspen and give them the house number and meet them there in a short time. And then Antonio and I left for Grayson’s to speak with Linea about the property he wanted.

  When we got to the jeweler, where Grayson’s mate Linea served as the village registrar for marriages and property transfer, Antonio did most of the talking. After a few greetings, they got down to business.

  Linea said, “Sir, the seller has been here already. You and I will verify the details of the property and when everything is settled, you will leave the money with me and the property will be yours. The seller will return to collect the money from me. This way, he is assured that he has your money and you are assured that you have the property registered in your name. We must make sure that everything is what you expect and that you know the stated condition of the property and its boundaries and any exclusions or restrictions.”

  He said, “I understand.”

  She smiled and said, “But I think that it will be easy. First, you understand that the property is purchased as-is and that it is in dire disrepair and is currently considered uninhabitable? Then initial here. We are dealing with the first property only for the moment. The small house will be handled separately, but you will have the chance to approve both at the same time and you are not obligated to take one without the other. Here is a drawing of the property, showing the rough dimensions and border markings and neighboring owners.”

  I left them to continue the details of the transaction. I had enough of an idea about what was involved now, and it all seemed fair and thorough. Antonio had said that he expected it to take at least an hour and maybe two, but I thought that it might go faster, at least for the first property. Viola would be going through a lot of this same thing this evening regarding the river property that I had inherited from Irene’s estate. And then there was the matter of Viola asking if she could buy other property as well if something attractive popped up.

  Grayson and I chatted about various things and he showed me the two special tokens and collars that they had made for the twins. I was very happy with them and how they had turned out. I started to ask Grayson if he knew of sources of steel or aluminum or other metals, but I decided it wasn’t necessary. If we were going to find those materials, it would be in a warehouse or stock yard in the city, not locally mined and smelted. It did take Antonio about an hour to conclude his business, but my time with Grayson was pleasant.

  It was still well before noon when we walked away from the jeweler. I spoke to Lark on the ear-piece and she told me that they were busy getting the little house ready and that everything was going well, and I relayed the message to Antonio. Of course, that necessitated explaining my means of communication and how I had been able to speak to Lark remotely.

  The two of us made our way back to the cafe, having nothing else to do this morning. Lucy brought us tea and a pastry and we sat and watched the villagers go by on the street.

  I said, “So, Antonio, how many women do you have requests for right now?”

  He said, “Ah well, it seems that Bart wants perhaps two widows with children, our friend Jonah has said that he is amenable to one, and I think that is all. So, at least three good women are hoped for…and there is a preference for women with children. I have never heard of such a thing in all of my years.”

  I said, “And do you know these women?”

  He said, “I know of a few, but they do not seek homes. When a woman has a child, she does everything that she can to stay in whatever situation she has.”

  I said, “Then it seems that you must promise them a place with you.”

  He asked, “With me?”

  I said, “We want these women to be happy. We expect that they will find it with men like Bart, but there is no promise that if they leave the arrangement that they have, that they will find a better arrangement here. Of course, we know that they will, but they must have a choice. They can choose to stay where they are
, in the situation that they have, or they may come and see if there is a better one with a man like Bart or Jonah. And when they come, they can’t be compelled to go with Bart or Jonah if they don’t feel a good match with them. Once they leave where they are, they must not be sent back, because the man may resent them or be happy to have been rid of the burden if he had no love for her. So, she must have an assurance of more happiness in Bonvale no matter if she finds a good man here or not.”

  Antonio wrinkled his brow and said, “So, you’re not saying that they must be my mates, but that they must be allowed to live happily if they come here. You are right. Let me think. We have the school, and we have temporary housing for women anyway. The village has plans for helping the fatherless in a way that no other village does. If she comes to Bonvale, at the very least, we can promise her a place to live, good work to do, perhaps even as a teacher or with fatherless children. She will get to be known by the men and women here, and if she is pleasant, she may find an arrangement, even if it’s not immediately. It would be the fees that I charge for other arrangements that would be used for their support.”

  I said, “And you will have the help of the village, because of the children.”

  He said, “It’s what we must do. It’s within our means and in line with our hearts and purposes. If, when I find her, she wants to stay where she is, then she will. If she wants to try something new, then she will come here and be in the House of Women and she will be free to be introduced at the events. And in the case where she is unhappy after coming to our village, I will go back to her former employer and plead her case and say how much she loved his home and what a good man she says that he was and that she has asked me to beg for her to be allowed to return and I will say that it was my fault that she was lured away in the first place. If he truly wants her back, then she shall go back.”

  I asked, “And if he does not want her back?”

  Antonio said, “Then I will tell her that the arrangement was not as rosy as she had thought and I will double my efforts to find a truly happy arrangement for her.”

  I had a sudden thought and said, “Antonio, what happens when a child’s parents both die? Our friend Bart says that he has a daughter and her mother is dead. What will become of the girl if something were to happen to a man like that?”

  Antonio frowned and said, “It is rare. And the truth is that I don’t know. Until this moment it was no business of mine. But now, we make it my business, because I live in a village and the village welfare is my business as much as any other man. I suppose more so than other men.”

  I asked, “How is it more yours than others?”

  He smiled and said, “Because you take these things upon yourself and you have made me your friend in them. That man across the street, the one sweeping, I don’t know his name yet. Wait here,” and he got up from the table and crossed the street and went to the stranger and spoke for a minute and held out his hand in greeting.

  They talked for longer than I had expected, but after several minutes, Antonio came back to our table.

  As he sat down again, he said, “And now I know him. But when I told him who I was, he was very pleased and told me that he was young and had no woman yet, but was ready for one and hoped that I would have someone for him at the next event. He was shy and unsure of how to go about the bidding and choosing and I assured him that I would help him with it. It occurs to me that I have not taught the men how to act at the events. I should meet beforehand and get a sense of who is inexperienced and help them with their first arrangement. When I spoke to him, he had the same look that you did when I first saw you.”

  I laughed and said, “Then he needs your help for sure. If you had not called out to me and offered me Viola’s help for even the day, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

  Antonio said solemnly, “I don’t either. I mean, I don’t know what my life would be. No, of course I know. It would be what it always was. I mean that if I had not met you, I would have missed out on the best things that have ever happened to me.”

  I said, “Then it’s good for both of us that you took a chance on me.”

  Chapter 24 - Collecting For Antonio

  Antonio said, “That first day, you had a strange look about you. It intrigued me. You looked lost in this world, but like you knew a great deal about some other. It was very strange and it’s what caused me to reach out to you on behalf of the Nogud. I don’t understand it now, and I didn’t understand it then, but I believed that you ‘walked differently’ than the other men and that you might see a possibility that others did not. When I thought about it, I assured myself that it could not be any different for you than others, and I expected that the girl would be returned to me very quickly. After you left with her, I thought about the fact that you were new in the villages, maybe even a vagabond, and that you could have no use for her, and for a moment I feared that I had made a very grave mistake and perhaps had even put the girl in danger. But I remembered how you looked at her, and how she seemed to look at you, and how she went with you very willingly, as if she had seen something in you as well. My friend, I’m not a philosopher, nor am I given to deep thoughts, and it confuses me to try to think about mysteries.”

  I laughed and said, “Then I’m glad that you gave into your impulse and pressed me as you did. It worked out for the best. All of our lives would be different today if I hadn’t taken Viola with me that morning. Antonio, you have nothing to do today as the women clean your house and make it ready for you. What will you do? Are you ready for more adventure?”

  He smiled and said, “It has been several days since you last showed me worlds beyond ours. If you have an adventure in mind, I’m game for it.”

  I said, “I’m not sure what we will do. I want you to know though, you are a friend of mine. I do like you and I appreciate the time we spend together. So, what shall we do? We could go about your business if you have any.”

  Antonio said, “Well, my friend, I have been in Bonvale for nearly a week now. The other villages will wonder what delays me. I should make the circuit and begin to set the expectation that things will change. And we had spoken of a trip to Rockshale on behalf of our friend Bart. The woman that I have in mind there has ended her expected time now and I expect that both she and the man are ready for her to depart.”

  I was surprised and asked what he meant.

  He explained, “At times, a woman is sent to an arrangement for a period of time only. And at times, a man will warn me that his circumstances have changed or a woman will tell me that she grows unhappy with her placement. This woman in Rockshale, she was taken in at a home to do chores while the man’s woman recovered from giving birth. When I was there last, the man said that he expected that he would not need her the next time that I came. He and his mate are young and they appreciated the woman, who is a little older, but he will not make her a mate because he thinks her to be more like a mother than a wife. The two are not wealthy, and the cost of feeding her will become a burden that they don’t need.”

  I said, “Shall we go and collect her then?”

  Antonio said, “Why not?”

  I said, “It will be less convenient, but we will go by boat. No, I change my mind. People will need to get used to it sooner or later, and the other side of the river already knows about my car, so let’s used that today as well.”

  I asked Clarice about using the car and told her what I had in mind. She said that it wasn’t a problem and that she could easily drive it remotely, now that the network sensors were in place. She offered to send one with a full set of nine seats, instead of the one that she and I had used for our trip to Stevespont, which was currently outfitted with a bed and sofa. She and I agreed to have her bring it right to the cafe and pick Antonio and I up where we sat.

  As we waited, I called Lucy to the table and asked for a lunch to be packed for five people, in case we picked up several women on our trip and wanted to feed them along the way.

 
Antonio and I sat and waited, and when he asked about our method of travel, I told him that he had already seen it: the blue car that I had arrived in the week before near the inn between Skamanus and Stevespont.

  Clarice didn’t drive fast near the village and it took about twenty five minutes before the car pulled up in front of the cafe. A small crowd gathered and I told the villagers about the car and that it was from ancient times, and we were able to satisfy their curiosity and be on our way after another fifteen minutes.

  We made our way carefully along the main road and to the east end of the village. Once we were out of sight, the vehicle sped up and raced along at maybe forty miles per hour. I’m sure that it could have gone faster, and the intelligent suspension made the ride very comfortable, but forty was fast enough.

  The trip from Bonvale to Greenspont, a distance of six miles, took just ten minutes. We pulled into the village and parked at the spot where Antonio would have held an event. I encouraged him to climb onto the car and stand on the top of it for his platform.

  When a crowd had gathered, he called out, “Good day all. I am Antonio, the Merchant of Women, as you know. I am here a day or two late, I know, but I am announcing changes in the way that things are done. First of all, I have finally decided to stop my nomad ways and I have a house in Bonvale. From now on, we will have the events in Bonvale twice each month, and if a man wants to see if women are available for an arrangement, come there on those days. We have a very fine cafe and a nice inn, and a friendly market. One time each month, I will come to your village, as I have today, and any women who have completed their time and need to go with me can come here and I will take them to Bonvale with me, just as we did before on the first day that I would come for events. I know that you expected me, so I ask that if there are women who are ready for a new arrangement, that you bring them here now. Please speak to me and let me know if you know of any, and if not, I will be on my way. If you do know of some, I will wait for them to come.”