Chapter 20

Act 3

Scene 6

The women sat quietly around the tapestry, each lost in their own thoughts as they stitched. Kim's mind wandered as she tried to grasp Claiborne's existence along with the future of her own daughter Becky.

"Margaret, I really appreciate you allowing us to join you, but I'm afraid that sitting still at the moment is becoming very difficult. Would it be possible for you to show us around your village?" Kim asked as she found eyes once again wandering across the room to girls sitting with Becky.

"Yes, maybe t'wouldst be best, as I be seeing your stitches are a tad bit untidy. I shouldst be checking on the girls washing by the river anyway. Along the way, I can introduce you to some of the other areas of Lofthold." Margaret smiled and replied.

"Oh my, I am terribly sorry!" Kim exclaimed.

"No matter dearie, it's nothing that can't be fixed. You and your young ones get some fresh air." Leoma said as she reached over and patted Kim's hand.

"Will we see you again Claiborne?" Bell asked as they got up from the tapestry table.

"If Ambrose allows it, yes, we will talk again little one. Now, go on with your mother" Claiborne nodded and replied in her throaty voice.

"Would you mind if we check on Becky and the other girls before we go?" Kim turned and asked Margaret.

"Looks like we won't have to, here they come now, "Margaret replied.

"Mom, I learned how to spin! It's so cool! And Mary has invited us to check out the stables, can we go?" Beth exclaimed as she and the girls swarmed around Kim.

Smiling at the exuberance, Kim replied, "I'm so glad you are having a good time Beth! Sounds like you have the rest of the morning planned. Mary, do you mind if the girls tag along with you?"

"No ma'am. I don't mind at all!" Mary exclaimed.

"Mom, can we go too?" Bell quickly interjected. Realizing that Mary would be responsible for all the girls, Kim quickly suggested an alternative, "Becky, why don't you, Pam and Tammy come with me. We are heading down by the river. Bell, Jenny, mind Beth and Mary and don't wander off!"

Jumping up and down with happiness, Bell hugged Kim and replied, "Thank you mommy! We'll listen, we promise!"

Mary curtsied, hooked arms with Beth and Sarah and skipped out of the common room, with Bell and Jenny on their heels.

Becky turned to Kim and said, "Thanks Mom for saving us, we really didn't want to go. Mary is great, but going to the stables? Really?"

Laughing at her daughter's distain of smelly farm animals, Kim replied as they followed Margaret out of the common room, "I thought you might need a break."

As Mary and the girls neared the stables, she turned and said, "I be showing you the young Enormoceros first. When the females be ready to calf, we bring them in here to keep them safe. Otherwise, the calves get trampled when the others get riled up."

As they walked into the stables, they all paused to let their eyes adjust to the dim light. "What could rile them up?" Beth asked quietly.

"Mostly when they smell danger, like dragons, wolves, cats or bears. But sometimes they just lose their minds for no apparent reason and start charging. The only thing that calms them down is stroking their ears." Mary explained as she winked at Beth and Sarah.

Turning to Mary and looking at her with a wide-eyed expression Jenny asked, "Wow, dragons? Really? They won't charge us will they?"

"They might, but these be only calves. They can't really hurt you." Mary replied and motioned for the girls to follow her to one of the stalls. The stall was constructed of the same green bamboo, but the posts and rails were twelve inches in diameter.

Cautiously, the girls approached the stall. Glossy black eyes set in a wide gray-head of a beast standing 8' tall stared through the rails. "This is a baby?" exclaimed Beth.

The young Enormoceros lowered her head to allow Mary to pat her on the snout. "This is Tilly and she's about 3 months old now. She's still got her fur, but that will fall off in another couple of months. On the other side are the two males, Bullseye and Firefoot, and they are little more temperamental. Best to stay away from them".

Seeing the girls shy away, Mary said encouragingly, "Go ahead, you can pet her."

Beth and Sarah backed away from the stall, "Uh, Bell and Jenny, you go ahead."

Seeing the dare in her oldest sister's expression, Bell took a deep breath and put her hand inside the rail and touched Tilly. "Oh, she's so soft! Hi Tilly, you are such a sweetie! Jenny it's OK, she's really nice!" Bell crooned to the two-ton baby.

"Just don't put your hands in her mouth and she will let you pet her for hours." A sound like a deep purr came from Tilly as Mary continued, "I think she really likes you girls. Why don't you two stay here while Beth, Sarah and I go look at the working Enormoceros?"

Smiling and barely responding, Jenny and Bell continued to pet Tilly as Mary, Beth and Sarah walked to the far end of the stable. "I'm not so sure I want to get too close to the big ones Mary," Sarah replied with caution in her voice.

"It's not the Enormoceros we be going to watch, tis the handlers," Mary responded with an impish grin.

Beth and Sarah looked at each other and smiled. "Well, let's go then! Bell, you and Jenny stay in here until we get back!" Beth yelled over her shoulder as the girls stepped out into the bright daylight.

Walking over to the large round paddock, the girls watched in amazement at the two eighteen-foot tall Enormoceros in the center of the ring. As they rounded the paddock and stopped near one of the gates, they saw four young men, stripped to the waist, with long whips facing the large beasts.

"That's Breton and the rest of the handlers. They be training the beasties to pull logs." Mary said as she nodded to the young men with a dreamy look in her eye.

Catching her expression, Beth and Sarah smiled to each other and settled in to watch the flex of the young men's lithe bodies while they worked.

Bell and Jenny continued to pet Tilly, until suddenly she backed away quickly. "What's the matter Tilly?" Bell asked as she pulled her arm from between the rails. Tilly suddenly sneezed, covering the girls with warm, wet sticky snot, then calmly walked back up to the rails to resume getting her pets.

"UGH! That's disgusting Tilly!" Jenny cried out, "I'm not petting you any more!" Turning to Bell, Jenny said, "This is just gross! We need to find someplace to wash this off!"

Laughing, Bell agreed, "Ok, let's go find Mary."

Bell and Jenny walked out into the bright sunshine, and looked for Mary. They saw the three girls on the other side of the paddock talking to some boys. "Well, it doesn't look like they will be helping us", snorted Bell, "Let's go find some water ourselves. Beth, Sarah and Mary won't even know we're gone."

Turning around to walk back into the stable, the girls heard crashing and stomping. "Um, let's go around the building instead" Jenny suggested. Without a second glance, Jenny ran around the outside of the stable with Bell close on her heels. The girls ran directly through a flock of chickens, sending them squawking into dozens of directions.

"Hey, watch where ye be going! I just got those birds back from the woods!" screamed a girl just outside the door, in Jenny and Bell's path.

Stopping, Bell and Jenny looked at each other. "We are so sorry! We didn't mean to scare your chickens. It's just we got sneezed on by Tilly and then the other Enormoceros started stomping around and we didn't want to go back inside!" Bell rushed to explain.

Laughing at the sight of the two girls covered in snot, the girl introduced herself, "Oh, you must be the newcomers. My goodness, you two be quite a sight! My name is Tegan. I can show you where to clean up, if ye promise to help me gather up those stupid chickens again."

"No problem Tegan! Anything to get this slimy goo off of us. I'm Bell and this is Jenny."

"There's a rain barrel over yon, that should get most of it off. Looks like those birds headed for the woods again, and I guess so be we," Tegan replied.

The girls washed the Enormoceros' snot off as best they could, then followed Tegan as she headed into the woods calling for the chickens.

"We needs must spread out a bit. The chickens like to get into the underbrush, but if ye beat it they will fly out. Then, if ye shoo them towards the wall, they willst wander back towards the stables," Tegan explained.

Looking back over her shoulder, Bell realized they were outside of the walls of Lofthold. Whispering to Jenny, she said, "We better not get lost or Mom will kill us. Make sure you can always see the walls, OK?"

"Yeah, no problem. Here chicky, chicky, chicky!" Jenny yelled. "I see one!" she exclaimed and sprinted towards a patch of underbrush. Getting caught up in the hunt, she sprinted after Jenny calling the escaped birds.

"Crap! Dumb bird! Why did you have to run into the woods instead of back towards the wall!" cried Bell as she watched the chicken dart past her.

"Don't let it get away Bell! C'mon, we have to follow it!" Jenny cried as she jumped over a fallen log as she headed further into the woods.

"I know, I'm coming" Bell cried and ran after Jenny.

Margaret led Kim, Becky, Pam and Tammy down the wide stairs to the grounds of Lofthold. "Most of the women's work be done in the common room wherest we came, but we have our gardens to be tending to down here," she explained. "Remember to hold thy tongues, these are buildings are for the leather and woodworking done by the menfolk," Margaret continued as she pointed to the buildings along the wall.

As they passed the buildings, the women reached a plot of ground, filled with towering vegetables. "I remember seeing these as we came in yesterday. Margaret, these vegetables are so huge! Where we come from, the vegetables are so small in comparison!" Kim exclaimed with awe.

"Your land sounds very strange. Tis cursed?" Margaret asked.

"Not that I know of, unless you count a Democratic administration and supermajority in both houses of Congress," Kim paused, and laughed at her own joke and the look of puzzlement in Margaret's face. Then, she continued, "Where we come from, we have to plant acres and acres of our land for food. And sometimes, we end up destroying it, so maybe in a way you are right, it is cursed. But, only because we have cursed it ourselves".

Shaking her head, Margaret ushered Kim and the girls to the far end of the plot near a group of girls struggling with an acorn squash the size of a basketball. "We be picking the squash for the feast tonight. Rose makes the most wonderful squash soup," bending to help the girls, Margaret twisted the stem and the fruit popped from the vine. As she stood up, she saw Becky suddenly swayed into Pam and Tammy.