Another said quietly, “Mistress, you are like a princess in our village. You and the Lady Clarice and the rest of your house. I’m embarrassed by my boldness in saying so, but it is the truth.”
Viola smiled at them, not out of pride, but giving them what they wanted: a kind smile from their self-chosen royalty.
The first said, “That’s the truth. And we should refuse your extra portion.”
Viola said, “You cannot.” She laughed and said, “Your princess commands it. And you would not wish to see her sadness if she is not allowed to enrich you in such a small way.”
The men understood the joking and one said, “No Princess! Of course not. We are your servants. But, Viola, you do see why we are eager don’t you? With what you ask us to do, wait, how many people are in each house?”
Viola said, “At Paul’s there are six. At Joshua’s plan for seven. And Antonio, the Merchant of Women is moving to Bonvale, and he will have his own house plus the women who are waiting for homes and he will come and make his own arrangement with you.”
The man said, “Then we feed thirteen from your house. Already, the population of Bonvale has added yourself, your five sisters at home, one for Paul and one for the Stone Carver. Plus the Merchant of Women and his house and now the ones needing arrangements. Of course Paul has a farm and grows some of what you need, but the five of us will supply the rest. A portion of our food will be sold before the day begins and we don’t work as hard to sell it. But men, think of our reputation.”
Another said, “Oh, you’re right. We sell with less work to this Princess and she gives us a sixth more and she will have my best because it will be first. But if it is known that I do that, and how could it not be, it will be like the sandwiches for us! Mistress, you do us more honor than I understood. Thank you for choosing us!”
Viola smiled, but I asked, “What do you mean like sandwiches?”
A different man said, “The Enchantress told stories and ate a sandwich and now everyone eats a sandwich to be like her. If my beef is always on the table of the Wizard and his Princesses, my beef will be the envy of the village. Perhaps not just this village.”
I asked, “Does that create a shortage or make life hard for other sellers?”
The men talked among themselves for as minute and one said, “If there’s more demand, we produce and plant more. Your mistress has chosen us because we all sell something different. Other sellers also sell something different. It will be up to our friends to raise their quality and provide better service and to try to meet the new standards we set in our own shops. They have every opportunity to do as we do. We didn’t give you money to endorse our shops and you haven’t told anyone to buy from us. Our reputation will increase if we do a good service to you. If we do not, it will be to our shame and discredit. It’s up to us.”
Another said, “That’s right. We have an opportunity to harm ourselves in this. If our food is delivered in one cart, none can be inferior or we all suffer the same reputation. Men, what do you say? I would rather you withdraw if you can’t do it well. The fair lady makes a deal with each of us individually, but our reputations are linked together. And I think that we will hold each other to our best. When our cart goes for delivery, I want people to say what fine groceries they see. We will all be better off for this.”
Another said, “I agree, and I see that we all do. Let’s go to Paul’s farm this afternoon and look at his gardens and decide what we will send to them. And if he has an abundance of one thing or another, we can agree with him to sell it or take it in trade. Lady Viola, you have blessed us today. We will all do what you want.”
She smiled and said, “Thank you. It will make my management of my master’s house easier. Joshua sits at the cafe in the mornings. If there’s anything that needs to be discussed, come there or send a messenger and I will come to you.”
The man who had spoken last added, “And give us a list of your preferences. If you fancy something, send us a note. If we take too much or too little of something, or if you don’t enjoy it, send us a note and we will adjust what we do for you. Today is Saturday and the selling is mostly done. Do you have what you need until Tuesday, or do you want something now?”
Viola said, “If it’s not a burden, pick out what you would send me today and we won’t be picky about the quality this late in the week. We will gladly eat what is set before us. You joke and call me a princess, but be at ease, I’m not fussy.”
A man said, “A real princess wouldn’t be. We’ll do what we can and we’ll take it to Paul at his house and we will discuss his needs as well. Men, shall we send someone to Antonio and offer to do business with him before he makes a different arrangement?”
One asked, “Where is he? Does he have a house here?”
I said, “For now, he’s at the inn. He is looking for a large house, or a house with property where he can expand. The School for Women, have you heard of it? It is moving to Bonvale and will be housed on his property. He will need provisions for himself, his two women, any women who need an arrangement, and any girls who are at the school. I don’t think that he’ll not grow his own food, so he will probably buy all of it.”
A man said, “I like this. It will take a bit of thought to decide how it will be done, but I like the idea very much.”
At that point, the conversation was more or less finished and after another minute or so, Viola and I walked away as the men continued to discuss what they would do.
Chapter 12 - Raven Tells a Bedtime Story
Both Viola and Brenda held my arms happily, one on each side.
Brenda said, “Viola, you are wonderful. They believed that it was their own idea. To give you the best foods from the first picks of the day! And to coordinate and deliver it to you! You are a genius.”
Viola smiled and said, “Why thank you, Princess Brenda. I like this role a lot. I’ve seen the way that Joshua does it often enough and I learned from the best.”
I said, “What do you mean? I didn’t tell you how to do that. I didn’t even know quite what you were doing.”
Viola squeezed my arm and said, “I did what I’ve seen you do. You offer something small thing with big implications. And you let the others figure out the implications for themselves. I said that I needed them to let me have accounts with them. It’s a very small thing. But when they see that they do more business and that they benefit, and then they commit to raising the quality of goods for every vendor who sells food, and they do it all with less effort and more predictable incomes, it seems obvious to them. It’s only what you do every day.”
Brenda said, “What else do we need to do today? There is something that I would like to do if we have time.”
Viola and I agreed that we were done for the day and asked Brenda what she had in mind.
She said, “Well, Viola has that pretty bra on under her dress and I don’t have anything on under mine. It would be nice if we could make love a few more times before the day is over.”
Viola said, “That sounds nice.”
I said, “Why don’t we go for a ride? Brenda, do you want to bring the boat and we can take it up the river and make love on the water?”
Brenda said, “That would be fun. We could go exploring. There’s a place that I want to go see. It looks strange on my sensors and I would like to see what it is.”
Half an hour later, we were on the boat headed up river. Five minutes after that, we were all naked. Ten minutes later, Brenda and Viola were both leaning over the front of the boat while I took turns filling them from behind as Brenda piloted the boat remotely.
The rest of the day was spent in various positions, making love or resting or lying in the sun. The river was wide and we were sure that we were probably not even noticed as we passed the various villages.
The thing that Brenda wanted to explore turned out to be a small hidden grotto that ran back away from the main river about a fifty yards. It was invisible from the shore and completely private, surrou
nded by trees and vines. It turned out to be no more than six feet deep and because a stream ran through it, the water was very clear. There wasn’t a beach, but we anchored the boat in the middle and, even though Viola was not a very experienced swimmer, it was safe enough and we played and made love in the water.
Eventually, we just lay on our backs on the rounded sides of the inflatable boat and rested in this idyllic hideaway.
Late in the afternoon, sitting in the bottom of the boat, resting against the sides, facing each other lazily, a few things did get discussed. Clarice contacted us and let us know that Marvella and Amanda had been taken back to Paul’s and that everyone felt that the time with them had been very healing and productive. Brenda told me that the two travelers had made it all the way to Riverhood and were on their way to the western bridge. She was guessing that they might wait under the bridge and cross it late tonight in the dark. By midnight, they might be just three miles from the house and eleven miles from Bonvale. It was possible that they might be in Goldenwood before morning, if that was their destination.
I gave a thought to running down to where the two were currently, and just picking them up in the boat, but I decided to let it play out and see what happened in the morning.
It was getting to be evening and Brenda started the boat back toward home. The three of us sat with our backs to the bow of the boat and snuggled until we came to the dock and boathouse at Newsprings Breast.
We all stayed together that night for the first time. Everyone had their bedrooms picked out and everything was pretty much comfortable. Dinner was eaten in the dining room and afterward, we sat and talked. The talk was mostly getting to know each other more. We told stories and joked, but the stories were kept to a minimum, except for Clarice and the nymphs. For one thing, I couldn’t remember any of our past, and the girls didn’t have much that they wanted to remember. We did spend an hour discussing what we knew about the ‘sleeper in the woods’ legend and updating everyone on what Antonio was planning.
There was a short talk about the possibilities concerning the two travelers and what would happen if they were little sisters. Viola and Lark and Raven were certain that they must be, but no one could explain there being two of them any more than Antonio could when I asked him about it. I kept trying to leave open the possibility that they were not of the Nogud, but that was actually the very least likely scenario.
I said, “Girls, they are little sisters. There’s no other possibility. Brenda says that they have the characteristic physical traits and are very beautiful from what she can tell from the sensors along the river. I keep trying to allow for the idea that they might be something else, but they aren’t and we should just plan for them to be here with us. We know that there’s another little sister somewhere and that she will come to us eventually. Marvella and the others say that the missing one will find her way to us. These travelers are women, heading this way, staying out of sight and off the roads. They aren’t thieves, so they have to be little sisters coming to find us. There is no other explanation. Is it getting cold in here?”
Clarice smiled and said, “Yes it is. We better get blankets and snuggle up to each other to stay warm. Nymphs, get us warm blankets.”
I smiled and thought that Clarice had deliberately turned down the temperature to make a reason for blankets and snuggling and that seemed fine to me.
I continued, “I know that you all believe it and that I’m just overly cautious about jumping to conclusions. I think that’s my commitment to the idea that everyone makes their own choices. But these women are clearly choosing to hide themselves and make their way to Goldenwood. Or to Bonvale. I think that it’s to Goldenwood, and I think that when they cross the bridge, they will turn off the road and come by the path through the woods from the west. If they were going to Bonvale, it would have been almost fifteen miles shorter if they had come on the south side of the river, rather than the north. The only reason that I can think of for them to have come on the north side is so that they can come down the path from the west bridge and stay hidden as much as possible.”
Brenda said, “So, they will be here tomorrow, or even tonight. I’ll watch and keep you updated. How are you going to meet them?”
I paused for thought and then said, “I still don’t know. I wonder if it will be best if we all meet them together. Until now, I’ve gone and met each of you alone. But perhaps this time we should let them meet all of us at once. I think that they are expecting to come and find all of the sisters gathered in Goldenwood together. And me with you.”
Lark said, “My mother didn’t tell me the story about the sleeper, but from what you say, I think that you’re right.”
I said, “I’m picturing all of us, except the nymphs…and nymphs, I want to keep you as a special secret surprise for the new princesses, OK? So you stay at the house and we will surprise them later. All of us will go to the cove for an early picnic. Maybe we swim or bathe together. Yeah, I like the idea of them finding us all bathing together. So we all go to the big cove and let them come and find us there. Brenda and Clarice can tell us where they are and what they’re doing and we can adjust the plan if we need to.”
Lark asked, “And when they discover us?”
I said, “Well, then we see what happens. I think that after they meet us, that I may need to speak to them alone for a little. But maybe not. I guess we’ll see.”
Raven laughed and said, “A wizard always has a plan: even if he doesn’t. She’s really big, you know?”
I said, “Raven, everyone says that, but no one says what that means. Antonio says that they aren’t fat. I mean, she isn’t fat. All of you also say that there is only one of them. Anyway, she isn’t fat. Brenda says that she’s well-proportioned and there isn’t anything big about her body. What do you mean that she is ‘big’?”
Raven giggled and said, “Oh, she’s big alright. I’ve seen her without her tunic. She’s big.”
I said, “You mean her breasts?”
Raven said, “Like Brenda. But that’s not why she’s big. I’m not going to tell you. It is a super-secret nymph surprise for you! OK girls? We don’t tell Joshua about how big she is and he gets a big surprise.”
Lark smiled and said, “She is big.”
Viola said, “Very big. Especially if Lark says so.”
I asked in frustration, “What do you mean? Raven, is it something about her body? Something about when she’s naked? Does she have a fat ass or something?”
Raven smiled slyly and said, “Nope. She has a very nice ass. Not as round as Brenda. But totally nice, if you like pretty butts, I mean.”
I tried again, “Her vagina? Who can that be ‘big’?”
Raven said, “No. And I wouldn’t know. And what are you talking about? No.”
I said, “But something about her, without her tunic, is big?”
Lark laughed and said, “She’s big even if she is wearing a tunic. And yes, even I think so. I have never seen her without her tunic, but I bet that she’s pretty, being as big as she is. But I have talked to her. She’s weird.”
Raven said, “And if Lark says she’s weird, you know she must be super-weird. Super-weird and super-big.”
Viola was sitting next to me under a blanket, holding my hand and smiling and I asked her if she knew what they were talking about.
She said, “Yeah, I know. The big one is weird, but we love her as she lets us. You are going to like her a lot. I know that you will love her, but we are all your favorites in different ways, and I just know that she will be too. You are going to like her especially. I wonder what she looks like.”
Raven said, “Well, let me tell you,” and she lowered her voice. Clarice caught a hint and suddenly the lights dimmed dramatically and the sound of a wind blew and the fireplace lit itself near where we sat.
Raven giggled and then started again in very low tones, as if telling a ghost story, saying, “The big one is hard to see. Some say that she walks through the woods and i
s covered with hair like a bear. Nine feet tall, but runs on all fours. She catches salmon with her teeth and mighty claws.
But in the moonlight, she transforms into a woman. Her skin is white and her hair is silver. When she moves, her feet don’t touch the ground, but she glides above it without moving her legs. When she appears in her moonlight form, she is completely naked and her breasts have no nipples. Young boys who sneak into the woods during a full moon to see her are found blinded in the morning and can’t remember their names or what they have seen. They are blind for three days and never can say what happened to them.”
Brenda smiled and asked, “Raven, if anyone who sees her goes blind and doesn’t remember it, how do we know what she looks like?”
Raven winked and explained, “Occasionally, as she glides through the woods alone, a little sister comes late at night to bathe in the river and the big one whispers, ‘Do not look upon me, but you may see my reflection in the water and not be blinded, for you are pure of heart and a princess like myself’ and then she is gone.”
Brenda said, “Oh, I should have thought if that. Of course.”
Raven said, “And at other times, in the dead of winter, when snow lies deep on the ground, she is seen occasionally, swimming in a hidden pool, and it appears that the water of the pool is warm and steaming. Her skin is tanned and brown and she wears a wreath of spring flowers on her head as she glides through the water like an otter or sea lion. If any come upon the place where she bathes, they find a pile of fresh fruit, even though it’s frozen winter.”
Viola whispered to me, “See, I told you that you would like her. She’s your kind of gal.”
Raven went on with her story saying, “And now, she glides toward Goldenwood to find her king. She knows that when she knows him that he will help her find her true form, neither bear nor owl nor otter, but pure woman. Several nights ago, she called to herself that the time had come. At night she glides through the woods. At morning, she runs on all fours. And in the afternoon, she swims like a sea lion. Brenda says that she is two people, but she’s only one. She’s hard to see and if she is one or two or even three, it’s impossible to tell because she changes form continuously as she hunts for her lover-king.”
The Watchman Page 11