Serenity Valley (37 page)

Terric answered, “I don’t thinks any a
the greedy lords would be tryin' anything. I likes the part 'bout
our men-at-arms sweeping thems away like dust.” Now out of sight of
the crowd, Sayer and Terric once again lifted Goodwin and began the
descent down the spiral staircase of the tower. At the bottom of
the staircase, Goodwin composed his exhausted and pain-filled body
for the walk to his quarters.

Escorted by personal guards, the small
party walked through the great hall and into the lord and lady’s
personal chambers. The guard was set for the night. Two men were
posted inside the quarters while the group exited out the back
through a secret passage, through the kitchen, and on to the rear
turnout of Sirates House. Goodwin required some assistance from
Terric and Sayer to make it to the back door of Sirates House,
where they met a groomed and bandaged Demon. Demon’s neck had been
attended to with poultice and stitching. A bandage had been
applied. In Demon’s mouth hung the shirt sleeve containing his
treasured arm. Goodwin panted out, “My word, that’s an arm!” Sayer
looked on in bewilderment.

Bells said, “It’s a long story. We’d
best just compliment him on his bravery so we can pass.”

The party praised Demon on being the
best battle horse ever, braver than any other horse to walk the
earth. Satisfied with the praise bestowed upon his royal
magnificence, he allowed them to pass into the house. Fulk was
sitting at the table with Nesta when the group came in. Immediately
upon seeing Goodwin’s weakened condition, he rose and pulled out a
chair for him to sit at the table. After Goodwin took to the chair,
everyone else sat down.

Within a few moments, enormous mugs of
hot tea were sitting in front of everyone, compliments of Nesta.
Nesta returned to the kitchen with Bells to make dinner. Before
long, Bells had a big batch of the sweet black bread emitting its
heavenly fragrance throughout the house. A huge kettle was swung
into the hearth to heat a vegetable and beef stew.

“What is the status here, Fulk?”
Goodwin asked.

Fulk replied, “The woods have been
swept and guard posted. A response force has been posted at the
brook in case of trouble. Ivan and Giselia have gone to the armory
barracks to help with the wounded and pick up some things from
their wagon, which Ox had put into the main stables. Basilea
sleeps, and Gamel is by her side.”

“How bad are Gamel’s and your
wounds?”

“Gamel had numerous wounds requiring
stitches, and his whole body is one big bruise. I fared better with
just some minor cuts and bruises.”

Sayer spoke up to ask, “Does Gamel
have his mind back, then?”

Fulk said, “Yes, he seems to have a
clear head. He has Basilea to concentrate on. I think that will
keep him anchored.”

“Best thing for 'im rights now is ta
be concentrating on his girl, keep his mind from where it’s been.
Is Ivan and Giselia comin' back here tonight?” Terric wanted to
know.

“Yes, they will be back when all the
injured have been tended to,” Fulk answered.

Goodwin turned to Terric. “Captain, I
trust you will see to the arrangements for the burial?”

“Aye, my lord. If you feel all’s well
here, I would like ta see ta the wounded an' dead right
away.”

“Of course, of course, and thank you,
Captain, for all you have done this day.”

Terric rose. “My lord, send fer me
if'n you need me,” he said and left by the front door.

Sayer also stood. “My lord, if all is
well here, I would like to see that the battle horses have their
injuries tended and check on how young Simon is settling in with my
family.”

“Yes, yes, go. Do what you need to do.
I’m in good hands here,” Goodwin assured him.

“Good evening, my lord, Fulk.” Sayer
quickly left by the rear door, bidding goodnight to Bells and Nesta
on his way.

Moments later, Bells and Nesta
approached the table with big bowls of stew and several loaves of
black bread. Bells said, “Now eat, my husband, and then it’s to bed
for you. You have done too much this day.”

“Not to worry, wife. You’ll get no
argument from me.”

Bells and Nesta returned to the
kitchen to prepare food for Gamel and Basilea. Bells took a tray of
stew and bread into Gamel’s sleeping quarters, while Nesta stacked
ten loaves of bread on a tray with as many mugs of hot tea and took
them out to the guards. Within a couple of minutes, Nesta and Bells
sat at the table with Fulk and Goodwin, enjoying their evening meal
of stew, bread, and hot tea. Goodwin looked at Fulk and said, “What
are we going to do about Demon and his war souvenir?”

“Gamel explained it isn’t the arm that
Demon wants but the giant opal ring on the hand. He says he made a
mistake when he told him he could keep it. Unfortunately, he won’t
let anyone close to it now.”

“That being said, can you imagine the
smell in a few days’ time as that thing rots? Surely he has to put
it down when he eats.”

Fulk said, “Yes, he ate this evening,
but Ivan couldn’t tell where he put the arm. I will have to do a
bit of spying in the morning to find his hiding spot. Perhaps we
can get it away from him when he goes for his morning pie at the
kitchen.”

“I will leave it to you, Fulk. Is that
Master Ox’s bow I see in the jig over there?” He was pointing to
the bow secured in the jig on the great room wall.

“Yes, Ox gave me his bow since mine
was lost today. I guess I have been adopted, as he wouldn’t admit
to sleepin' with me mum.”

Everyone at the table guffawed. Leave
it to Fulk to find a way to lighten the mood.

After dinner, Bells saw that Goodwin
was tucked into bed and returned to the table with Nesta and Fulk.
“You need to get to bed also, Fulk,” she said as she rejoined them.
“The excitement of battle will be wearing off soon, and exhaustion
will overwhelm you shortly.”

Nesta agreed. “My lady is right, good
sir, go on to bed. My lady, if it pleases you, I will stay up and
see to Ivan and Giselia when they return.”

“Thank you, Nesta. Please have them
use the extra bed in our room. Oh, hold one minute, please!” Bells
stood quickly and glided into her sleeping quarters, soon returning
with the beautiful mirror set Fulk had given to Nesta. “You may
want to enjoy this while you have a chance.”

Nesta’s face lit up, and she said,
“Oh, yes, thank you, my lady. Thank you very much!” Nesta ran her
fingers over the finely crafted box as if she were seeing it for
the first time. Then, turning to Fulk, she said, “You, good sir,
off to bed with you now.”

Nesta followed Fulk into Gamel’s
quarters to find Gamel asleep in a chair he had pulled next to
Basilea’s bed. While Fulk undressed to his undergarments, Nesta
retrieved a blanket from the chest at the foot of the bed and
placed it over Gamel. Quickly checking on Basilea, she returned to
Fulk’s bed, where he was getting comfortable under the blanket. She
bent down and said, “Good night, dear sir. Dream of me.”

“None other,” he replied.

Nesta gave him a gentle kiss on his
lips as he immediately fell into sleep. Returning to find Bells had
gone to bed, Nesta went into the kitchen and started making another
batch of black bread. Ivan and Giselia would be hungry upon their
return, and she was sure the numerous guards posted around the
house would appreciate the extra bread.

When morning came, Fulk was greatly
surprised to find Nesta curled up against his side, her fiery red
hair in a tangle over his shoulder. His right arm had been draped
over her shoulder, hugging her to him. He gently moved her hair,
uncovering her ear. He whispered, “Good morning, beautiful
lady.”

Nesta stirred. “Good morning, sir. I
need to get up.” As she rose slowly, her long red hair uncoiled and
fell to her waist. She stretched and said, “What would you like to
break your fast this morning?”

“Break fast biscuits, of course,” he
replied.

“What is break fast
biscuits?”

“I’ll show you. By the way, you are as
lovely to see in the morning as a flower opening to greet the early
sunrise.”

“Thank you, good sir,” Nesta said as
she blushed prettily and reached to her mirror box sitting on the
bed table. She withdrew the comb and began straightening the
tangles in her beautiful red locks.

Fulk got out of bed and went to check
on Basilea and Gamel at the other end of the room. When he returned
to Nesta, he could not but notice how beautiful she looked. Her
delicate face was veiled by her long, glorious hair rolling over
her chest and ending at her thigh as she sat on the side of the
bed. Long, shapely legs draped over the bed, and tiny feet anchored
her to the floor by the balls of her feet. She made a picture in
the early morning light that Fulk wished to engrave indelibly into
his memory. To him, it was the most beautiful sight in the world.
Nesta saw Fulk just standing there staring at her, and she raised
her eyebrows in question.

Fulk said, “I just want to remember
this picture, the look of total beauty.” Nesta smiled and blushed
at the same time.

When they were dressed, they went to
the kitchen, where Fulk explained to Nesta how break fast biscuits
were made. Then he went to feed the horses. He found Mildred
grazing in the turnout near the feed trough, but Demon was not in
sight. He topped off the water trough and placed a mix of feed
grain and grass in the feed trough. He called Demon. A few moments
later, Demon came trotting from somewhere at the rear of the
covered turnout. Fulk noticed that Demon didn’t have his arm with
him, so he jumped the fence to do a bit of snooping. Demon ate
alongside Mildred but kept an eye on Fulk while he chewed his feed.
When Fulk couldn’t find any sign of the arm, he went around the
north wall of the covered turnout to search. In just short moments,
Demon joined him with a mouthful of dried grass he continued to
chew. Fulk said, “Going to keep an eye on me, are you?” Demon
nickered and shook his head up and down. Fulk’s search was futile.
He soon gave up and went in the back door of the house to help with
the cooking.

Nesta had a huge batch of biscuits
cooking in the big clay oven. Fulk began cooking pork strips in a
large pan at the hearth, and soon, the distinct smell filled the
house. After some time, Fulk had a huge platter of pork strips
cooked and began cooking the eggs. Ivan and Giselia came out of the
sleeping quarters they had shared with Goodwin and Bells. Fulk
said, “Please, sit down. The food will be ready soon.”

Ivan sat down at the table as Giselia
went to check on Gamel and Basilea. Ivan said, “Food is smelling
good, very good.”

Nesta immediately placed a mug of hot
tea in front of him and asked, “Did you sleep well, Sir
Ivan?”

“Sleep well, thank you, very well we
sleep.”

At the hearth, Fulk continued to cook
the eggs as he said, “Ivan, thank you for fighting in our battle
yesterday. You are a fantastic warrior.”

“We Gypsy people not many friends be
having. We fight when true friends in danger.”

Bells and Goodwin had entered the
great room and found their way to the table. Bells said, “Good
morning, everyone.” Everyone exchanged greetings.

To everyone’s surprise, Giselia
entered the room followed by Gamel, carrying a tightly bundled
Basilea. Gamel had Basilea so wrapped up, all you could see was her
face. Gamel sat her gently in a chair across from Bells. Bells was
delighted to see her. As soon as Basilea’s hands found their way
from the cocoon, Bells grabbed one and said, “I’m so glad to see
you up and around today.”

Basilea said in a weak voice, “I’m
glad to be here, although I have been cocooned.”

Giselia sat next to her husband,
across from Bells and Goodwin. As always, she wore a wide, open
smile on her face. Nesta saw that everyone had mugs of hot tea in
front of them. Plates were set out with utensils. A plate of huge
biscuits was brought to the table, and Fulk added a platter of pork
and eggs. Starting with butter and honey, Bells demonstrated to
Ivan and Giselia how to construct a break fast biscuit. Nesta swung
a huge pot of tea into the hearth to heat while she and Fulk
started to construct break fast biscuits in the kitchen for the
guards. A smiling Giselia said, “Food being very good, thank you
break fast biscuit.”

“My kind lady, you do not thank us; we
are the ones to thank you!” Goodwin insisted.

Giselia looked puzzled, so Ivan
interpreted for her. Once she understood what Goodwin had meant,
Giselia blushed. “You no thank, friends for be helping.”

Goodwin replied, “And fine good
friends you and Ivan are to all of us.”

“Friends few for Gypsy people, good
friends be you to Ivan and Giselia,” Giselia said.

Basilea spoke now. “Thank you for
saving my life, Giselia. If not for you, I would be with God
now.”

Giselia and Ivan were visibly
uncomfortable with such compliments. Giselia said, “Basilea, most
welcome you are being.”

Goodwin spoke next. “Ivan, Giselia, I
would like to offer you a proposal.” He waited for Ivan to
translate, then continued, “We wish that the two of you make De
Ferrier Hold your permanent home. Would you consider bringing your
family here to settle and live with us?”