The Knowledge Stone (13 page)

He did not think he would be welcome at home – after all, his father had given him away to Old Malik many years ago. As the day progressed, Joachim became more and more convinced that Old Malik was going to cast him out of the farm. Then, an even worse thought came to him. What if he was to be sold as a slave? Sold to someone who would treat him badly and starve him and whip him? So, by the time evening came, Joachim was ashen-faced and trembling in fear.

‘Come in and eat in the farmhouse,’ Old Malik said, ‘come and sit with us at the table.’ Joachim was terrified. He had never been in the farmhouse in all the years he had been at the farm and now, even worse, he had to eat his food with the Master and Mistress at the table! With great reluctance, the boy entered and did as he was bid.

The food was excellent but, this evening, it tasted of ashes in his mouth; he could hardly stop his jaw trembling as he waited for the axe to fall. A flagon of good beer helped him to relax a little but he still felt like these bad criminal men must do as they waited to have their heads cut off by one sweep of a very heavy sword. Joachim had heard that this was the method of execution in this land.

Finally, the meal was over and the bowls and platters cleared away. Joachim now closed his eyes and waited for the dreaded blow to fall.

‘Joachim, as you know, things at the farm have changed. But now they need to change a lot more.’ Old Malik’s voice was solemn. Maretta sat impassively across the table, looking at Joachim. ‘The changes I am now going to make affect you considerably,’ the man continued, ominously.

Joachim nearly burst into tears. He considered throwing himself upon the floor at his master’s feet and begging for mercy.

‘I knew it. I’m done for. He’s selling me as a slave.’ These thoughts played at deafening volume in his mind, blotting out everything else. His sightless eyes eventually refocused.

Old Malik was looking at him quizzically: ‘Do you?’

Joachim looked at his master with wild, uncomprehending eyes.

‘Sorry, I …’ he whispered.

Old Malik recognised confusion but could not guess at the cause. He repeated the question: ‘Joachim, do you remember meeting Farmer Sistas?’

‘Of course, Master.’ The boy’s voice was barely a whisper.

‘You are to go to his farm for at least one day in every week. He has agreed to train you to be a farmer as good as he is. You will learn all the modern methods of farming from him. He will teach you how to choose the best workers and how to treat them so that they are happy and work very hard. And he will teach you about the money of farming, too. And when you have learned everything, we will do all of it here and make this farm great again. What do you think of that?’

Joachim was completely overwhelmed for a number of reasons. He was not being sold as a slave. He was not being sent away. He was to be trained to be a good farmer. Could this be true? He was to be trained to be a good master of people – and became a money handler. But he knew nothing of people and words and numbers and money!

His eyes staring, he blurted: ‘But, Master, I am not worthy. I have no knowledge of people or words or numbers or money.’ He could not stop his thoughts pouring out like a torrent through a broken dam.

The man placed his large hard hand on the boy’s clenched fists, feeling the tremor within them. ‘Yes, Joachim, you are worthy. You know how to work hard and you will do so. I know you have no knowledge of these things but Farmer Sistas will teach you all about farming and people and I, Malik, will teach you how to read and write, how to count numbers and handle money. I will teach you many other things, too.’

The boy looked at the man wide-eyed. He knew that Old Malik knew about these things for he had seen him reading and writing. He had seen him counting numbers in a big book and he knew that this man knew many things about the world. An image of the peculiar bullock carts of olden times flickered briefly in his conscious mind. A sudden rush of joy coursed through him: ‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘maybe I could do this if I tried my hardest. If I worked hard at my studies maybe I could do it. Maybe I really could learn about farming and people and words and numbers and writing.’

The boy’s words of reply tumbled out: ‘Yes, Master, of course I will do this – and I will make you proud of me, I will work so hard at all these things.’

The man smiled: ‘I know you will, Joachim.’

At the other side of the table, Maretta smiled too, warmly and gently.

‘There is one other matter,’ the man continued, ‘you are to leave the barn. You are to make your home in the shack next door that we use as a store; it is the house that the Mistress and I lived in when we were first married, when my parents were still alive and lived here in the farmhouse.’

Joachim was astounded. A house of his own? How could he be so lucky?

‘Master,’ he stammered, ‘you are too good to me …’

‘No,’ Maretta replied, speaking for the first time, ‘it is the right place for you and we want you to live there. You should realise that you are almost a man, now.’ It was true. Many years had passed since the little boy Joachim came to the farm and now he was a tall, increasingly sturdy young man only several years from adulthood.

‘The decision is made.’ Old Malik spoke. ‘Tomorrow, we will clear the stores from the house and you will live there. I will make sure you have what you need. You will be able to study there and I will come to you to teach the things I have spoken about.’

Once again, Joachim’s mind was is a spin! Moments ago he had thought he was being sold as a slave and here he was now, being given all these wonderful gifts. In his mind, he listed them: special teaching from Farmer Sistas to become a very good farmer; teaching to read and write – anything he wanted to! teaching to be able to count numbers and know money; information about the world, the skies … all the things the Master knows about. And a house of his own, to live and study in.

The boy sat quite stunned but deeply elated. His mind raced back to the day of the “accident” several weeks before. Then, he lived a closed, precarious life of worry and deprivation, a life which stretched into the infinity of time, unchanging, going nowhere; just the constant prospect of fear and pain every day. Now, his life path was gleaming in front of him like the rays of the sun, filled with hope, joy and purpose, dazzling him with its very brilliance.

He turned to the adults with shining eyes: ‘Master and Mistress, I will not let you down. You may ask anything of me and I will do it. I am such a lucky boy to have such a good master.’

As he spoke the word “lucky” his brain instantaneously connected him with his earlier spoken words “lucky charm” and he remembered the beautiful stone nestling deep in his pouch. ‘No,’ he concluded immediately, ‘nothing as good as this could be created by a lucky charm!’

His master was speaking again. ‘Listen, Joachim, from now on you will eat here with us in the farmhouse, here at the table. This is what the Mistress and I want.’

‘Yes, Master.’ Surely the ultimate honour. The boy was awed – but also just a little worried. He had always eaten his food alone and was concerned that his manner of eating might not be satisfactory in front of his Master and Mistress.

Maretta, watching him closely, said with a smile, ‘Don’t worry, Joachim, we will not be watching you eat!’

He looked at her gratefully. ‘Thank you, Mistress.’ He felt much better. However he resolved to be very cautious and watch how they ate their food; then he would copy them exactly.

The following day, Old Malik was as good as his word.

‘Before we start the day’s work, we will clear your house.’ Working quickly, the small house was soon cleared and Joachim seized a brush to give the small room a very vigorous sweep out. When he had finished, he looked around in pleasure and wonderment.

‘What a beautiful house,’ he said out loud, ‘I will be so happy here.’

Old Malik heard him speak and smiled. The man felt very happy about this, too. He was confident that the decisions he had made about the boy were absolutely correct. Now he found himself thinking: ‘Why didn’t I think of all this before? It is so obvious that I must plan for the future.’

In fact, Old Malik had never planned for the future. Down the years, he had never even thought about the future once.

Later that day, after the farm work was done, Old Malik said to Joachim: ‘Now we must prepare the house for you to live in.’ They went to the barn and set to work building some of the basic items of furniture that the boy would need. Using some smooth wooden planks and stout netting, Old Malik constructed a generous bed and then made a large soft mattress, stuffing it with large quantities of fine wool. Meanwhile, Joachim constructed several simple seats. These items were taken to the house along with several large boxes to be used for storage.

Finally, Old Malik, who was quite a skilled craftsman in wood, made a large table, sturdy yet elegant, carefully planed to be absolutely smooth on top and then polished with oil. ‘This will be a good study table for you,’ he told the boy, who was very impressed by the quality of Old Malik’s work.

‘I never knew he could make such very good furniture,’ the boy thought before answering his master. ‘Master, this table is very beautiful and I am sure I will work upon it with great happiness.’ He was surprised when the man’s face flushed with pleasure.

Maretta and Giana appeared with various other items for the house; blankets for the bed, lamps to light the room, water jugs, basins, etc. and all these items were placed on the table. The woman looked around with pleasure at what had been her home for a number of years.

‘It’s good to see my old home being used again for its real purpose. Did you know that this house was built by the Master? He did it all himself and in only a few weeks, too.’ Joachim had not known this although, after seeing Old Malik’s skill in constructing the bed and the table, he was not at all surprised.

While everything was being made ready, the boy noted that Giana was solemn and withdrawn, avoiding his eyes and looking rather upset. Joachim wondered why. When he had smiled at her and thanked her for bringing essential items for his house, her response was minimal and she left at the earliest opportunity without saying goodbye. This disappointed Joachim, because he wished to share his happiness and good fortune with Giana. She was, after all, the only person at the farm who was near to his own age and whose status as a servant was similar to his.

However the boy now remembered that he and Giana did not know each other very well. Since they had received permission to speak to each other, the two young people had spoken on only a few brief occasions and those conversations had tended to be rather stilted and hesitant. A relaxed and genuine friendship would take more time to develop.

‘Maybe that’s the problem,’ he thought, ‘maybe she still feels awkward talking to me.’ Yet he felt there was something more, almost as if the girl was unhappy and resentful at the turn of events on the farm. ‘I don’t know why she should feel unhappy,’ the boy mused, ‘after all, her life has changed very much for the better, just like mine. The Mistress is not unkind to her and doesn’t punish her any more when something goes wrong. So why isn’t she happy, like I am?’

Joachim was very puzzled and resolved to raise the matter with Giana at an appropriate moment.

‘The trouble is, she’s always working with the Mistress and I rarely see her alone. We need to have a private conversation about this and it cannot be in the farmhouse with the Master and Mistress listening in. The first time I see a suitable opportunity, I will talk to her.’

So the new routine of Joachim’s life soon settled down into a comfortable rhythm. He and Old Malik continued to work together on the farm but the farmer was now quite friendly towards him, praising good work and calmly correcting him when this was occasionally necessary. The boy worked hard and applied himself intelligently to the tasks he was given, rarely making mistakes.

During breaks from work, they now sat together. Old Malik was not a man who said a great deal but sometimes he would recount a story from his youth or tell the boy some facts about the world. Joachim would listen to the old man with rapt attention and marvel at his knowledge and experience.

After that “serious conversation” in the farmhouse, the weekly visits to Farmer Sistas had commenced. On these days, Joachim would get up especially early to give himself time to walk to the neighbouring farm just as the morning light was beginning to fill the sky.

‘I wonder why the sky is so beautiful and filled with colour?’ the boy thought. ‘I must ask the Master about this. He is sure to know.’

On arrival at their neighbour’s farm, he was always received in a most friendly and informal way by Farmer Sistas. ‘Holat, young Joachim,’ the man would say, shaking Joachim’s hand vigorously and smiling broadly, ‘come in, let’s get started with the good work.’

The teaching had started with a comprehensive tour of the farm. Joachim was very impressed. Everything was neat, clean and in good repair. The crops in the fields were strong and healthy and Joachim noted that the condition of the soil was excellent. Likewise, the farm animals were all in peak condition, whether these were work animals or those that were kept for their milk, eggs, wool, skin or meat.

Over the weeks and months of Joachim’s visits, the farmer taught the boy everything about the proper care of all the animals, in terms of feeding, shelter and the maintenance of their health. After detailed instruction, the boy was given the task of caring for each type of animal and his work was supervised carefully by the farmer.

At the end of this process, the farmer was pleased with Joachim’s progress. ‘Right now, he would make an excellent livestock farmer,’ the man thought.

As the seasons progressed, the farmer taught Joachim the essential principles of modern arable farming, showing the boy how to choose the best fields for growing particular crops and how to look after the crops as they grew. He also taught him how it was necessary to rotate various categories of crops around the different fields while leaving one field unplanted for a season. The unplanted field was referred to as “fallow”. ‘It allows the soil to rest,’ the farmer explained.