Serenity Valley (9 page)

“Damn it, Demon, you scared me to
death!” I yelled. Demon grabbed my blanket and pulled it off of me.
“All right, all right. I’m coming.”

By now, people were waking up and
lighting lamps. There were a few ugly remarks from the sleepy
inhabitants. There was also more than a little laughing and many
smart-ass remarks being made.

Fulk appeared by my bed with a smile
on his face. “Do you want me go back with him?” he
asked.

“No, it’s me he wants. He’ll just come
back if I don't go. Go back to sleep.” I looked around for Mildred
and saw her enormous head sticking through the window. I said, “At
least you didn’t come in with him.” Mildred just stared at me with
her big innocent eyes. I got up and dressed quickly. I put on my
new shirt so I wouldn’t disappoint Basilea the next day. I sat on
the bed to slip on my boots, and Demon started to position his rear
over the opposite side of the bed. I yelled, “No, no, don’t do it;
don’t even think about it!” Ignoring me, Demon raised his right leg
and tried to sit on my bed. The wood frame shattered, and that end
of the bed hit the floor. Everyone in the dorm started laughing,
including Fulk. Demon just sat there in his regal pose. I slipped
on my other boot and jumped up. “Come on, then, let’s go!” I told
him.

When we got back to the stall, I
noticed the gate standing wide open. I examined the latch and found
it intact. “Great, now you’re an escape artist!” Demon whinnied and
went into his stall with Mildred tagging along. I didn’t even
bother to latch the gate. I went to storage for a bedroll and
returned. Demon was already snoring, and Mildred had one rear hoof
up, fast asleep. I rolled out my bed as far from the horses as
possible and followed their example. After a short nap, I felt hot
breath in my ear, and I reached up and rubbed Demon’s nose, then
tucked my arm back under my covers. I heard him flop down next to
me and begin to snore immediately.

Demon finally let me sleep through the
night. I was very grateful when I woke up rested and renewed. I
rolled up the bedroll and put it back in storage, turned to leave,
and found Lady Bella standing right in front of me. I gasped for
breath. I couldn’t get used to her sudden appearances. I said,
“Good morning, my lady, you look very stunning in your
outfit.”

The lady had her long black hair in a
ponytail, and she was wearing a loose-fitted brown tunic belted by
a purple sash over white linen britches. Completing the outfit were
lightweight boots. She really did look great, different than
normal, but great. Bella said, “I was just on a morning run and
thought I would pop in and see how you were. I learned that you had
a bit of trouble in the dorm last night.”

“Oh, no trouble, my lady. I just need
to stay close to Demon. He wants me near at night, so he came and
found me.”

The lady smiled. “Gamel, is there
anything I can do to make things more comfortable for you and
Demon?”

“Nothing, my lady. We have everything
we need, thanks.”

“Okay then, but if you ever need
anything, just let me know.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

“Well, I must be off on my run. I will
see you after lunch, at the main house turnout. Your charges can
busy themselves with the grass while we work on your
lessons.”

“Thank you, my lady. I will be
there.”

I walked to the front of the stable
with her as she took off in a slow run. I watched her form while
running. She ran gracefully, keeping her head level at all times.
There was no pounding of feet. Her hands were relaxed in front of
her, and her arms moved slowly in a continuous stroke that matched
her stride. I had never seen anyone run so effortlessly.

Just then, Fulk showed up and saw to
the mare’s feed and water while I mucked out the stall. By the time
morning chores were finished, Basilea appeared with food to break
our fast. I thanked Basilea for my fine, new shirt, and was
rewarded by a kiss on the cheek, and a, “You’re welcome.” We sat at
our old worktable enjoying hot porridge, fresh biscuits with honey,
bacon strips, and mugs of hot tea. After the morning meal, I
decided to take Demon on another training walk to work on ground
handling. Fulk was helping with the mares being brought in by the
range riders to foal.

It was mid-spring, and the stable
would soon fill up with bulging horses. Lord Goodwin preferred to
have the horses stabled when they birthed in case there were any
problems with mare or foal. It was possible to let the mares foal
in pasture naturally, but he found having them in close provided a
better percentage of success. A good example would be Demon, who
would have perished along with his mother if left to pasture. New
foals and their dam were kept in large stalls for a week or two for
observation. After initial observation, foals and dams were turned
out on the lake pasture, where they could socialize into herd life.
After records were reviewed and proper pairing of traits was
completed, mares and their foals were relocated to individual
pastures for selected studs. Unless it was a rest year for a
broodmare, she was bred again while still nursing a foal. When
foals were almost a year old, they were separated from their dam,
who was usually grateful to be rid of them, and placed in one of
the intermediate pastures. There, they got used to human handling
and aged for training. At two years they were brought in to the
training center during summer and taught basic training. Then they
were released back to an intermediate pasture to continue maturing
and to allow their growth plates to harden so they could bear the
weight of a rider. It took between three and four years to finish a
horse and have them ready for sale, and a continuous supply of
foals was essential. Demon differs from the normal process in that
I am charged with getting him to his third year sound, sane, and
ready to breed with comely mares. The hopeful result would be
large, graceful chargers with an ambling gait, the first of their
kind. The new chargers would have the ability to cover twice as
much distance in a day than a normal destrier. I looked at Demon as
we battled our way along the path leading to the main house. He was
smart, extremely smart. Already, he was improved two-fold from the
previous lesson. The sign of an intelligent horse was the ability
to retain training. This allowed for new training to be added on to
the previous foundation. “Demon, I tell you, you’re the smartest
horse I have ever had the pleasure to know,” Demon looked at me and
made a low nicker. “You’re welcome.” We made our way along the path
leading to the main house. After a minute, I said, “Demon, I think
we should pay the kitchen another visit. A man should always take
care of his stomach, aye?” Demon gave another nicker in agreement.
I stopped to pick three bouquets of flowers along the path. Demon
watched with great interest. I said, “Watch and learn, young man.
Always praise those who feed you.” Demon gave another
nicker.

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.