“I appreciate the warning. I’ll take care and be sure to stay safe. You can go back inside and get dinner going. I bet you’ll have other hungry travelers tonight and it’s a chance to make money for the inn.”
“Thank you, young lady, and now you’ve shamed me. I will give you and your brother a fine dinner tonight and a solid breakfast in the morning.”
“Oh,” Glenda said, “since you are being generous there is some good news for you. I believe I can spare you a second feeding trip. The buckets are full and that should be plenty even for hungry pigs.”
The keeper made an involuntary flinch. “You actually filled the buckets? That’s not really possible, could you put them on the ground for a moment.”
Glenda did a weightlifter’s squat and placed the load on the ground and held the carry pole up in the air. Hermann bent down, put the carry pole across his shoulders, gave a small grunt, and went to stand. He remained fixed to the ground. He gave a larger grunt which turned into a groan. He then placed the carry pole back and stepped away.
“Please show me how you lifted that.” Glenda stepped in, squatted again, and stood with the pole across her shoulders.
She gave him her sweetest smile. “My father calls me a freak of nature as he does my brother. We grew up doing heavy lifting on the farm. We would challenge each other to see who could lift the most bales of hay. My brother would usually win but not by much. Of course I’m a faster runner, so it all evens out.
“Now I’m going to be really hungry so I’ll leave you to take care of the kitchen.” The keeper was staring at her and could only nod his head.
Glenda watched the keeper going back toward the inn and then she headed toward the pen. When she got to the pen, she put the buckets down and took inventory of the situation. The trough was about eight feet away and was too far to hit with an accurate throw. Even worse, it was surrounded by a pack of hyperexcited, snorting pigs. She ignored their narrow black eyes watching her.
She looked for, and then spotted, the boar. It was lurking in a corner watching her with its beady red eyes. For a moment she thought of the fire creature and chuckled to herself, Yes, there are definite similarities. Too bad we can’t make bacon out of the jinn.
She focused on the animal in greater detail. This boar was at the upper end of hams-on-the-hoof. A full-grown boar could easily weight well over 200 pounds and this was trophy-sized. Boars are easy angered, fearless, and highly intelligent. Glenda knew how fast they could move despite their size.
Long tusks jutted from its lower jowls with thick saliva dripping down from a long tongue. It had evil intentions written in its stare and stance. It did not fear a human and was now crouching in attack mode.
While pondering whether to just throw the slop in, she heard a whimper beside her. The alpha Molossus was there with his pack. She reached for his head and gave a big rub followed by a gentle ear pull. The pack approached and she rewarded them with rubs and pulls.
A crazy idea came to her, I’m not going to let a big male pig intimidate me. Let’s see how tough Mr Boar is with uninvited company joining him. She placed the pole with the two buckets across her shoulder, unlatched the door and went inside.
The instant she was inside the boar made its move. It saw an easy prey and an open gate to freedom. It barreled through a group of large squealing sows and charged her. As fast as the large boar moved, the alpha Molossus was larger and faster. The Molossus hit the boar from the side knocking it down. The pack immediately followed and began circling the fallen boar. The sows and small pigs ran to a far corner making submissive grunting noises.
The alpha had its mouth open by the boar’s throat. Huge canines were exposed. A low vibration came from the Mosossus’s throat. Accepting defeat, the boar wet itself.
Glenda slowly walked to the trough and emptied both buckets. She ignored the boar and the huddled pigs. She walked to the open gate, stepped out, and gave a low whistle. The alpha snapped its jaws shut and slowly walked out maintaining the deep throat rumble. Once all of the pack was outside, Glenda securely locked the gate.
As she turned, she found the keeper was standing a short distance away. His eyes were wide and he seemed frozen in place. He started to talk and the words caught in his throat. He cleared his throat and finally said, “I’ve never seen anything like that. How did you do that? Trajan answers to nobody but me.”
Glenda smiled, “Dogs just love me.” Patting the alpha’s head she added, “I met Trajan earlier and removed a splinter buried in his paw. He is a grateful friend now.”
The keeper was fascinated by the girl. He was not sure he believed her story about a splinter in the dog’s foot. It reminded him of the ancient story about a runaway slave named Androcles and a lion. According to the tale, the slave removed a thorn and won the lion’s gratitude.
The keeper’s face was wrinkled in concentration, Is she copying that old tale? Maybe she borrowed the story to cover up something else. I wonder what the “something else” could possibly be? She deserves close watching, there’s something strange about her. With a final head-clearing shake he pondered, Is she a goddess masquerading as a farm girl to study us?
“Well, have I earned my supper?’ Glenda asked as they returned.
“More than that, you will be treated as my privileged guest and enjoy the best this poor innkeeper can offer.”
Grinning to herself Glenda answered back, “Thank you Hermann, that is so generous. I would ask you to extend the same courtesy to my brother. He is strong of back but not always strong in self-control. Let’s check up on him.”
When they entered the inn, the keeper immediately headed to the rear exit. “Let’s see if your brother is still standing or has gotten lost in the pile of trees. Just pulling them apart for cutting is a challenge for our farm boys.”
Glenda followed him with a hidden smile. Let’s see how big boy did.
Chapter 32
Stunned Again
The keeper removed the locking bar, opened the rear door, then hesitated. He stood to the side and made a slight bow for Glenda to go out first. “You are a true gentleman, sir.” The keeper’s face developed a warm glow as he watched the tall girl step out. Goddess or girl, she is a marvel, he thought.
Glenda and the keeper both saw a sweaty, bare-chested Traveler sitting on a massive stump. There was still a huge pile of branches and the keeper thought, Hardworking sister and lazy brother. I understand he needs her as his keeper. He would starve without her.
Traveler gave them a welcoming wave, a big grin, and flexed his arm muscles. Show off, went through Glenda’s mind.
Hermann looked at Traveler and was annoyed that he was relaxed sitting on the picnic stump. Let’s see how he likes watching his sister eat while he begs for her scraps. As he was opening his mouth to deliver a harsh reprimand, Traveler pointed a finger to the side of the building. The keeper turned, looked, and his mouth opened and closed. Once again words got stuck coming out.
An astonished Hermann was looking at a full cord of neatly piled logs by the side of the inn. The logs were all cut to the requested lengths and were totally bare of branches; they were ready for the fireplace. Looking back again at the large brush pile the keeper realized that the trunks were gone and only branches remained. “Not possible,” finally came out of the keeper’s mouth.
“Well it was demanding work. I’m tired and very hungry. I assume you’re pleased and there will be a hearty dinner and comfortable rooms for my sister and I.”
“You will eat like nobility tonight and tomorrow. I don’t know how you did that, but the name Hercules comes to my mind.” The keeper paused and with a serious look asked, “You’re not a god, are you?”
Before Traveler could answer Glenda laughed, “He’s sure no god,” and she laughed again. Traveler found he was annoyed over the laughing dismissal of his Herculean wood cutting.
“Well neither is sis here a goddess. Did she do anything to earn her supper or just sit around wiping tables?�
�
Hermann had a serious look when he said, “She did something remarkable. She carried two full buckets of slop at one time across her shoulders up to the pens. That load would have been beyond our biggest farm boys.
“Then she went inside the pen and emptied the slop directly into the trough. The bully boar charged her and Trajan, the alpha of the pack, knocked the boar onto his back while the pack circled the fallen beast. Afterwards Trajan licked her hand. Believe me nobody wants Trajan around their hand. It was all amazing.”
Glenda beamed as the keeper continued to praise her. Enough already, went through Traveler’s mind. So, she fed pigs and petted a dog, big deal.
Hermann was now in his most accommodating innkeeper role as he said, “Let me show you the sleeping room, it’s the best one in the inn. The duke stayed in it one night when he visited to review one of Trajan’s litters.”
“Wait a minute, Hermann,” Glenda said, “we need two rooms.”
Hermann was surprised at the young woman’s reaction. She must be a noble with her own room. Scrambling he said, “I’m sorry Glenda, but that is not possible. I’m expecting a group of the duke’s guards to show up shortly. They will arrive hungry, tired, and likely in foul moods. They will need to be doubled and tripled up in the rooms. They would cause all of us a great deal of trouble if you had separate rooms.”
As an afterthought he hastily added, “And that was not what I offered. I offered food and a room, definitely not two rooms.”
As a final conciliatory point he added, “The duke is a huge man, larger than the two of you together and he spent a comfortable night spread out on the bed. Now if you would, please follow me and I’ll show you the room. I believe you will find the quarters are very acceptable.”
Traveler and Glenda followed Hermann up a wide set of heavy wooden steps to the second floor. He led them to the last room at the end of the hallway. Opening the door, he pointed with pride to the large bed and dormer window.
“We just changed the bedding for the fall season and it’s not yet been slept in. The window is open but you may want to close it, it gets quite cold at night.
“Also note that the door has a security bar for untroubled sleep. The duke’s men occasionally have a wandering hand and items end up missing.” Pausing he added, “Of course, nobody would ever accuse these guards of stealing, not unless they wanted a beating.”
“I understand what you mean,” said Traveler. “I believe I have seen these guards in action with the local farmers. Not a nice group, sitting on their horses and showing off their gloved iron hands and swords.” Hermann nodded without saying a word.
After the keeper left the two looked at each other and started to laugh at the clean bed comment. “Now I understand the tradition of spring and fall housecleaning,” said Traveler. “Death to bedbugs twice a year.”
Glenda moved to a chair in the far corner by the window. She took deep breaths by the open window, then declared, “We really stink. I smell like pig pen, slop, and sweat. And you’re no rose either. I can’t separate our respective sweat smells but the pig smells are definitely all me.”
Traveler grinned back, “When you’re right, you’re right. Let’s find out our bathing options.” As an afterthought he added, “Let’s leave the window open for now.”
Chapter 33
Polar Bear Bathing
Glenda found Hermann in the kitchen moving heavy pots and deep pans around in a massive fireplace. When she questioned him about the bathing options, he gave her an embarrassed look. “Even though we are in a remote area we are still civilized. We adhere to the Roman custom of bathing and do it twice a year. We empty the slop tank and fill it with hot water and it serves as our inn’s bathing tub. Of course we cannot do that now since it’s full of piggy food. We’ll empty it in a week or two. Sorry about today.”
Yeah, I’d sure want to bathe in the slop tank, thought Glenda with a shiver. I’d kill for my sanctuary shower right now. Realizing Hermann was embarrassed Glenda casually asked, “Is there any place for bathing? We are both past our own semi-annual bath and don’t want to soil your fresh bed linens.”
The keeper’s face took on a look of concentration, he wanted to accommodate the request if possible and also keep the bedding clean. Inspiration hit and his face lit up, “You could go to the stream beyond the wood pile. There are several wading pools that the kids play in during the summer. Of course the water is a bit cold since it flows down from the mountains.”
Glenda rapidly nodded her head, “That will work, we love cold. Do you have any soap and clean blankets?”
The keeper immediately smiled back, “Indeed we have both. We make our own soap right here and sell it to the farmers. It takes the grease off the most crusted pots and pans and is great on cleaning clothing.” With that he opened a cabinet and handed her a pail of white looking putty. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Glenda sniffed the putty as she took the pail, It’s unscented lye soap. This stuff has been around since the time of the Babylonians, and that’s nearly 5000 years ago. It will sure clean us. As an afterthought she mused, Must keep out of the eyes.
The keeper returned with two large blankets and two small hand towels. “I warmed the big ones by the fire. Wrap quickly when you get out and it will feel like your own dear mother is holding you.”
Traveler had joined them and caught the bathing options. “I’ll carry the soap pail and you carry the toasty blankets. They’ll keep you warm on the way there. It’s already getting dark so we need to hustle, fortunately I know where the path to the stream is.”
As they got to the rear exit the keeper appeared with a burning torch secured to a sharpened pole and handed the torch to Traveler. “Not much light from this torch but enough to see your way. Have fun and don’t fight with any wolves.”
Outside Glenda said, “Country innkeeper humor, I love it.”
Traveler led the way going slowly enough so that they both had the benefit of the torchlight. Upon arriving Traveler anchored their torch in the ground then pointed to the right, “I looked at this stream earlier. I know there’s a nice spot for washing to your right. There’s a flat rock about two feet under water and the stream moves slowly right there. Be careful moving away from the rock since the bottom deepens pretty fast.”
“There’s a spot to my left with a sandy bottom. It brings the water up to my chest in a couple of steps. If you prefer a faster immersion you can take that side.”
Glenda looked and spotted the sitting rock resting under the slow-moving steam. “I’ll take dibs on the right side and thanks for the heads up on the bottom. Here’s your warm blanket and a nice pail of lye soap.”
Traveler scooped out a large handful of the soapy putty and put it on a small flat rock beside his entry place. He handed Glenda back the soap pail saying, “I’ll leave the torch in the middle. It’s dim enough for privacy but still gives some light for what’s around us.”
As Traveler was turning around Glenda quickly stripped off her clothes. She dumped them on the rocks beside the soap saying, “Make sure you wash your clothes, and wash your hair, everything stinks. Don’t let the soap stay on your skin too long and absolutely keep it out of your eyes.” With that she entered the water and shrieked.
Traveler knew how cold the water was. He turned partially around to grin at a now seated Glenda, “Did I mention it was a bit chilly? Is the Nordic princess loving it?”
“Get in and you’ll see how much I’m loving it. I’ve been in Norwegian polar bear club swims, and this is colder. It’s the Antarctic on a cold day.”
Traveler was preparing a quip about how soft the modern Norwegian ice princess was when he entered. Of course he was quickly much further into the water than Glenda. Oh, man! This water temperature must be fifty degrees colder than it was this afternoon. His immediate instinct was to get out.
He heard Glenda laughing and splashing like crazy. “Throw water on yourself and move around. Moving helps you adjust
faster.” Traveler gritted his teeth, partially to stop them chattering and partially to get his nerve up. “I am in, and no, I won’t warm up I’ll just stay numb.”
Then he did the ultimate big boy move and waded out nearly chest high then ducked completely under. He came up blowing out water and laughing. He returned to the edge of the shore like a crocodile testing the land, took a handful of the soap and smeared it across his body. He put it into his hair, under his arms, and everywhere. He repeated the scrubbing several times before heading back up to his chest.
He could vaguely see Glenda rubbing the putty on herself then on her hair. She had moved off the rock and had joined the faster moving water at a deeper spot.
Even though they were some distance apart, Traveler did the natural boy thing and hit the water with the palm of his hand. A perfect spike of water hit Glenda’s face just as she was bringing her head out of the stream.
A grinning Traveler said, “Just following the lady’s orders to be active and move around. I’m keeping my arms active right now.” Before he could add more witticisms a bolt of water struck him in the face.
Mutual retaliations followed immediately. Traveler ducked down to avoid the returning strikes but found Glenda had his submersions and returns well-timed. After a few minutes Traveler called out, “Truce, please.”
“OK, but only because I need to wash my clothes.”
Both of them retrieved their clothes and began serious scrubbing. “Three times a charm,” Glenda called over.
Traveler thought twice was plenty but then realized she was right. Women definitely had a better sense of smell.
When Traveler looked up, he saw Glenda was already standing and wrapped in the blanket. He noticed she was staring hard across the stream at some noise. Wolves? Probably polar bears, he thought.
He was out of the water quicker than a leaping salmon. He was wrapped in his blanket faster than anything could move except a freezing boy. Both squeezed their clothes hard to take out the water.
The Blighted Fortress Page 10