by D. C. Gomez
“This is our last house for the day,” Sageri told me as we approached a ramshackle house, weeds growing wild everywhere, like a jungle. The place had definitely seen better days.
“Who lives here?” I asked her, paying close attention to where I stepped.
“Sir Bertrant,” Sageri whispered, making it hard for me to hear her. “This used to be his retreat cottage when he wasn’t staying at the palace. Now he never leaves.”
“Should we be here?” I asked, slowing down to match Sageri’s cautious pace.
“We don’t have a choice,” she replied quickly.
We reached the front door of the house, which needed a fresh coat of paint, or at the very least, a good scrubbing. Thankfully, the sun still shone high in the sky. This place gave me chills in the daylight. I couldn’t imagine how bad it would be at night.
“Wait here,” Sageri told me as she opened the door.
The inside of the house was dark, and I had seen too many scary movies to argue with Sageri. I had no intentions of entering that spooky house.
When Sageri disappeared inside, I prayed she wasn’t going to get murdered. The property had a stable resting behind the house, two thin horses hiding behind a wooden fence. Curious, I made my way towards them, resting my hand against the fence. It wobbled and almost fell, making me realize they could leave if they wanted, but they chose to stay. My grandmother used to have horses in Kansas and I missed them. But these horses needed a good brushing. Their coats were horrible.
“You are a disgrace, Bertrant. Just end this misery,” a man shouted from behind the house.
“Leave my place,” another man replied, slurring his words.
I knew I should have stayed away, but I couldn’t resist. Carefully, I climbed over the fence and followed the voices. The discussion grew louder, and at the back of the house, I found two men standing over a rough-looking guy who was sprawled out on the floor. The man on the left kicked the guy on the ground in his ribs, making the poor guy fold into himself. The two bullies were huge, with matching clothes like those you saw at those Renaissance Festivals. The resemblance was uncanny. Swords had even been attached to a sheath around their belts.
The fallen guy had taken a beating and wasn’t trying to defend himself. Bully on the right kicked the poor guy on the ground again. Rage took over me and I charged. This was definitely the dumbest thing I’d ever done—well, at least today. Recently, dumb ideas followed me around like small children, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t stand seeing that poor, defenseless guy getting the crap beat out of him.
“Leave him alone,” I screamed right before I tackled the man. I had the element of surprise on my side, making it easy to shove him to the ground.
“By the gods,” the man I just knocked down shouted.
“You will pay for this!” his friend yelled at me.
This was about to get ugly and I had no plan. Running away would have been the smart solution. Instead, I stood over the beat-down man, facing two grown men who were pulling out their swords. I touched my waist. I had no weapons.
This was not how I’d pictured going down.
God save us, I prayed in my mind.
“You will die for this,” the first attacker growled.
“My Lords, I know you cannot be planning to hurt a simple apprentice?” Sageri said from behind the men.
Both men stopped and turned, facing her. I wasn’t sure if it was magic or just Sageri’s anger, but she seemed taller and a lot more menacing.
“Lady Sageri.” The two men dropped to their knees and bowed to her.
“I know you are not here tormenting my patient, right?” Sageri asked in a cold and commanding tone.
“Of course not, my lady,” one of the lying scoundrels had the nerve to reply. “We were just visiting an old friend.”
“Sure you were,” I mumbled from behind.
“Well, visiting hours are over, so it is time you make your exits,” Sageri told them, leaving no room for discussions on the matter. “I have consultations now and don’t need your company.”
“Yes, my lady,” both men replied as quickly as possible. Impressive to see grown men jogging away while carrying so many weapons.
“And gentlemen, you are not planning to return, correct?” Sageri made the last part sound more like an order than a question.
“Our business is over, my lady,” the left bully replied.
“That is great news.” Sageri made her way towards the wounded man and didn’t bother to acknowledge if the other two men were gone. Then she gave me a stern look. “Madison, what were you thinking? Those two could have killed you.”
“They were going to beat him to death. I couldn’t just stand there and watch.” I relaxed my hands. My nails had left indentations in my palms from holding my fists so tight.
Sageri kneeled next to the man. “Sir Bertrant, can you hear me?”
The man tried to get up, but his struggle was apparent. “I’m fine. Why are you here?” he asked as he shoved Sageri away.
If this was the knight Sageri was trying to hand me off to, we were in trouble. The man was a hot mess. He resembled a madman instead of a knight. While the other two scoundrels that just left were clean shaven, polished, and extremely arrogant, this one was frail, with overgrown hair, filthy clothes, and he reeked of alcohol and bad body odor.
“I brought you dinner, and a page,” the last part Sageri mumbled.
“A what?” Sir Bertrant asked as he wobbled, obviously trying to stay on his feet. He was over six feet tall, and the insane look on his face pierced his focused, green eyes.
“Oh don’t pretend you didn’t heard me. A page.” Sageri stood up, putting her hands on her hips.
This little situation was a stalemate. I wasn’t sure which one looked angrier.
“I’m not taking any pages at this time,” Bertrant growled. “Besides, what is it? Girl or Boy?”
“Hey. I’m not an it; I’m a girl.” It was my turn to jump into the glaring contest, and I aimed right for the old fool.
When I got home, if that ever happened, I would be letting my hair grow. I did not enjoy being confused for a boy all the time.
“Who has ever heard of a girl page?” Spit flew from his mouth, some landing on my clothing.
“This girl just saved your butt, so how about some respect?” I was not going to take abuse from this drunk.
“I had everything under control,” Bertrant told me.
“The only thing you had was a foot in your ribs,” I shouted right back.
“Enough children.” Sageri stepped in between us. “Bertrant, you need a page. You cannot continue to go on like this. People are starting to not take you seriously. And Madison needs an apprenticeship. So this is perfect for everyone.”
“No!” Bertrant said. “I’m fine and I’m not taking any page. Take your wild girl with you.”
Before I could give him a piece of my mind, he walked away.
“Please tell me you are kidding and this is not the knight?” I asked Sageri, giving her a pleading glance. I’d do any work here except for with him.
“He is actually a great man and one of the best knights in this kingdom,” Sageri told me. “He just needs to get out of this stage.”
“The angry drunk stage?” I asked.
Sageri didn’t answer. Instead, she headed back to the front of the house. “That is his story to tell. Let’s go. I have potions to prep tonight.”
I followed her back to the trail. “So, you are royalty.”
“That was a different life.” Sageri kicked a few rocks in front of her.
“What does that mean?” Do these people practice resurrection?
“Before I took my vows as an apprentice, I lived in the castle.” Sageri’s eyes were everywhere except on me. “My uncle is Lord Peru.”
“Wow. That is huge, right?” I said, trying to keep up with her pace, but since she was all but jogging, it wasn’t easy.
Sageri stopped abruptly and
turned. “This is new to you?”
“We don’t have royalty in my country,” I confessed. “We have some in other parts of the world. They don’t have any privacy, and everything they do is analyzed by everyone.”
“It is a nightmare at times. Your whole life is planned for you from the day you are born.” Sageri didn’t sound angry, just sad.
“Is there anything good about it?” I asked her, trying not to pry too much.
“I miss my family, but not the lifestyle. Not at all.” Sageri tilted her head towards the sky. “When the calling came, it was a relief. I had already been betrothed, the wedding schedule for last summer. I had never spoken to my future husband and the idea of marrying a stranger made me nauseous. I was so thankful when the goddess chose me.”
“Forget that. I will stay broke and free.”
Sageri laughed at my words. “You are a strange one Madison.” Sageri tossed an arm around my shoulder and marched us down the trail. “We need a plan to convince that stubborn old fool.”
“There is no other choice?” I asked her.
“No, but this will be great.” Sageri was back to her undiluted optimism.
I prayed she had a crystal ball and knew the future because we were in desperate need of help here. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other and nothing else. Coming up with a plan overwhelmed me.
It was still dark when I woke up. Either my body had adjusted to this new place or Sageri had forgotten to drug me last night. Regardless of how it happened, I was wide awake staring at the stars from my little bed when an idea came.
What if I prove to the crusty old knight that he needs me?
I had no clue how to make potions and specials spells, but I knew how to take care of horses. Even if it was possible for me to stay with Sageri, I would be holding her back. She would be wasting her time training me. Sageri had a huge list of chores she needed to get done before the sorceress came back. I couldn’t be the reason she failed.
I can do this! I moved from Kansas to New York City and survived. Except I didn’t move because I wanted to. I was kind of forced into it, but still. Grandmother believed I was unstoppable when I set my mind to something. This had become a matter of life or death. I could do this!
I jumped out of the bed and got ready as quickly as possible. The house was dark when I set off on my little adventure. I had been blessed with a great sense of direction, which came in handy for finding Sir Bertrant’s place again.
His house seemed uninhabited. If I spent too much time staring at the creepy little cottage, I would scare myself to death. I did a quick inspection before running towards the stable.
The two horses stirred as I approached them. They were a little thin, but it didn’t take away from their beauty. I wasn’t an expert on horse breeds, but these two could pass for Arabian horses. At least they would have been Arabian if we were back on earth. The taller of the two was a gorgeous black male. The other one was also male with a shiny gray coat. He might have been a little smaller, but I could tell he was just as fierce as the other.
“Hey there, are you guys hungry?” I asked the two horses.
Both horses gave me a loud neigh. If Sir Bertrant was killing himself, he was taking his horses down the same path. Did he bring them in at night or did the horses go in on their own?
The stable was a giant mess and it took me a while to find hay. At the back, Sir Bertrant had an empty stall packed with hay. Not bad except he had it barricaded with the most random combination of stuff. He had the entrance covered with saddles, blankets, weapons, and tools in all sorts of shapes. How did he feed his horses? I took a quick inventory of his disaster zone and decided it was safer to organize the debris than try to climb over all of it.
“Sorry guys, this might be a little more complicated than I’d planned.” I tapped my chin, contemplating the level of mess and where I wanted to start cleaning up.
The horses whinnied in reply. I wasn’t sure if they were agreeing with me or rushing me along. They both stuck their heads over their stalls and watched me. If I was a betting person, I would have put money on the fact that the horses were laughing at me.
Sweat poured down my back by the time the horses were fed. They devoured their hay in record time. My celebration was crushed when I realized the water in their stall was green with mildew.
“What was I thinking?” Big Black neighed at me and slapped me in the face with his tail. “Got it. It’s too late to turn back.”
My life had taken a turn for the worse. When a horse had started bossing me around, I knew things were bad. With a shake of my head, I found a large bucket by the entrance of the stable and set out to find water. The sun was coming out, which made it a lot easier to see. A small blessing I was more than grateful for since Sir Bertrant’s well was hidden inside some weird bushes.
Dashing across the field towards the well, I hoped it was in better condition than the rest of the place. When I found it, I wasted no time dropping the bucket, hoping it hit water.
Splash.
That was the most beautiful sound in the world, and it made me bounce with joy.
Eight trips later, my excitement had evaporated. My arms ached and sweat covered me from head to toes, but at least it was familiar work. Plus, my mind always relaxed in the middle of nature, so I kind of loved being out in the midst of it.
A while later, the horses were fed, and their coats shimmered from the grooming session I’d given them. The stable had also been cleaned and organized, and for the first time since leaving Kansas, I felt like I’d accomplished something all on my own.
It was a good day.
“What are you doing here?”
“Ahhhh.” More than startled by the sound of his voice, I jumped at least a foot off the ground. I’d like to add that it wasn’t my fault. Sir Bertrant needed to learn not to sneak up on people like that.
Leaning on the doorway holding on with white knuckles, Sir Bertrant looked a mess, his clothes dirty and wrinkled. A glance down showed me he hadn’t even tied up the laces on his boots. My gaze roamed back up to his matted hair, in even worse condition that the day before. This morning, he sported a bruise that covered his right eye and half of his face. Sir Bertrant had the appearance of a madman as he framed the doorway. I refused to be intimidated, so I kept my eyes leveled on his, even though inside I held my breath as I waited.
Several seconds later, Sir Bertrant stepped toward me. Well, tried to, but unfortunately, he stumbled and fell right on his face. That ended the intimidation I’d been feeling. He was drunk out of his mind, which made it rather hard to frighten anyone.
Shaking my head, I walked over to him, reaching down to grab his shoulder and help him to his feet.
“Don’t touch me,” he yelled, swatting my hand and pushing me away.
“Unless you want to keep flailing on the ground, you need my help,” I told the cranky old man.
“I can get myself up!” he shouted.
I stepped back and gave him space to struggle, my eyes gravitating to the sword he’d been wearing when he’d fallen, the same one that was now digging into the dirt ground with every move he made. If the scene wasn’t so pathetic, it would have been comical. I heard the horses neigh from behind, and I turned just in time to watch them go inside their stall.
Even the horses were embarrassed for him. How sad was that?
“Enough, Don Quixote, let me help you,” I told him, and tucking my hands under his armpit, I dragged him to a sitting position. He jerked away again.
“I have no idea who that is, but I will not take your help,” Sir Bertrant said, flapping around like a fish out of water.
“Stop being a stubborn mule. You are just digging yourself a deeper hole with that sword. Pretty soon you’re going to fall in there and not get back out.”
That made him stop. “Ohh,” Sir Bertrant told me, glancing at the ground and seeing the opening he’d made there. “Fine.”
I grabbed his free hand and pu
lled him up. “Was it that hard?” After he was standing, I brushed off the front of my clothes, which were filthy. I had no idea where Sageri had done my laundry the day before, but at some point today, I needed to wash the only outfit I had here.
“Why are you here?” Sir Bertrant stared towards the stable as he spoke.
“Your horses were hungry,” I replied, and the two Arabians stuck their heads back out.
“Traitors,” Sir Bertrant shouted at the horses.
If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn the black one had rolled his eyes at the crazy old knight.
“Can they understand you?” I asked Sir Bertrant as I paid closer attention to his horses.
“Of course they can,” he answered. “Don’t let Thunder fool you. He is just pretending not to listen to us.”
“Horses understand humans?” I blinked as my mind tried to grasp that idea.
“Where are you from?” Sir Bertrant asked, giving me his undivided attention.
“From…uh, you know…here and there,” I mumbled as I avoided any and all eye contact.
“Child, I’m drunk, not stupid,” Sir Bertrant told me. “I have heard rumors of world walkers, but I didn’t believe them.”
“Sorry sir, you got the wrong girl. I’m not a walker,” I said very quickly. “I’m more like a faller. I’m here by accident and need to get back home. Unfortunately, I need to wait for the sorceress to get back.”
“In that case, I will advise you to not let any others know that.” Sir Bertrant took careful steps down the side of the stable towards the horses and I followed closely behind in case he fell again. “Not everyone is open to strangers.”