Serenity Valley (20 page)

“Thank you, Gamel, see you this
evening, then.”

With only one more stop to make, my
trading was almost complete.

I spotted the caravan wagon I was
looking for. I always visited this wagon when it made festival; it
carried treasures from distant places. It was owned by a strange
sort of people, some called them Gypsies. I approached the table
that was being set up. “Oye, Master Trader, how are you today?” I
said.

A tall man with black hair, dressed in
orange and brown clothes, answered, “Aye, 'tis as good a day as
ever was and as good as some have been.” As I tried to understand
what he said, he smiled, obviously pleased with my confusion. “What
can I sell you today, young man?”

I looked at all of the unusual items
on the table and said, “I am shopping for a couple of
ladies.”

“Well, if it's ladies items, let me
get my wife to better help you.” He called out in some language I
didn’t understand, and an attractive woman soon appeared at the
seller’s table.

“Hello, young gent,” she said. “So you
looking for some special things, I think?”

“Yes, my lady; first, a woman’s
necklace.”

The young woman got very excited. “We
have many necklace, be back, stay!” Soon the woman returned with
two wooden boxes. She said, “We look here to see necklace, yes.”
She opened the flat boxes to display hundreds of beautiful
necklaces. I started browsing through them, and soon enough, I came
across what I was looking for. It was a golden heart mounted with a
sturdy but attractive gold chain. I picked it up to look at it. She
said, “You good pick, nice I show.” The woman took the heart, and
pressed a tiny clasp that opened it. “Inside for writing, engrave,
Ivan good engrave.”

I was pleasantly surprised and
instantly knew what to have engraved. I asked, “Do you have paper
and ink for writing?”

She hopped around a bit and said,
“Yes, yes, go no go, stay.” Soon the woman was back with parchment,
quill, and ink. I wrote out what I wanted engraved and handed the
parchment back to her. She just looked at it strangely, then called
her husband in her native language.

Ivan was soon next to her and asked,
“You want engraving in locket; I master engrave for
you.”

His wife handed him the parchment and
asked a question. He rattled off something in his native tongue.
She bounced some more. “Oh, oh, be lucky girl this one gets!” The
woman ran around the table and gave me a bear hug. She said, “You
boy be good, girl lucky be having!” When I was released, I could
feel the red face I was wearing. This made the woman clutch her
heart and babble to her husband in their language. Ivan was
chuckling and looking at me.

He said, “I tell Giselia what you
write. Now she like you much. She very hot blood, this one, my
wife. I can engrave perfect; you will like very much. Will be ready
this evening.”

“Master Ivan, I need one more thing
for another woman, something from a far-off land. May I write some
symbols down?”

“Of course, of course, you write and
we see then.”

I took the parchment and wrote down
some of the symbols I had seen on the ladies’ katana swords. I
said, “I look for something for my sister from the land that uses
these symbols.”

Ivan asked, “Present for
sister?”

“Yes, for sister.”

“Present to come from place this
tongue?”

“Yes, do you have
anything?”

“We will see; wait, no go.” Ivan
turned to Giselia and started talking back and forth in their
language. Ivan was rubbing his chin, and Giselia was scratching her
head. When I was ready to give up, Giselia exploded with a torrent
of jabber and started hopping up and down. She then climbed into
the wagon and started digging through it. As things flew out of the
wagon, Ivan caught them. Ivan and I were both laughing.

Finally, she let out a squeal of
satisfaction and said, “I find, I know to find, here I have now!”
Giselia ran over to the table with a long plain wooden box and put
it on the table. “Sister be likening much, perfect you make present
good.”

I examined the box, initially thinking
it plain, but then realized it was absent of even the slightest
imperfection. Delicate and totally perfect, the light-colored wood
had a grain so fine it was almost invisible. A bouncing Giselia
said, “We ship can buy, Orient from come present, now open, I
open.” Giselia was excited and hopping up and down again. I looked
at Ivan, and he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. I found
myself grinning back at him. Giselia opened the box with wide eyes.
The moment I saw the contents, I knew it was indeed perfect. The
inside of the box was carved to allow recesses for three objects.
In one end of the box was a curved black hair comb with two rows of
symbols on the solid portion, inlaid with some kind of bright green
stone. The other components were two matching pins about eight
inches in length. I picked up one of the pins. The main shaft was
made from steel similar to a katana blade. The last three inches of
the blunt end was ringed with black and bright green stone to match
the comb. From the ends dropped delicately braided tassels of a
soft white thread.

“It is absolutely perfect!” I said.
“Lady Giselia, you have excellent taste!”

Giselia looked at Ivan, who rambled
off something in their strange language. She started hopping up and
down again and squealing like a little girl. “You want for sister?”
she eventually asked.

“Yes, I want.”

More squealing and hopping around.
“You want wrapping up?”

“Yes, can you gift wrap, please? And
do you have a small box for the locket?”

“Yes, necklace box I have; wait, no
go.” Giselia dug around in the wagon for a minute, then produced a
pretty little box with a horse head carved on the lid.

“Perfect. I like it very much.” I
reached down on the table and picked up a thick spool of thin,
bright red ribbon. “I would like this also. How much for
everything?”

Ivan and Giselia had a lengthy
discussion with troubled looks and glances at all of the items.
Ivan was smart enough to let Giselia handle the negotiations. I
would not barter hard with this sweet lady. Giselia said, “For all
things, engrave done expert, wrap and ribbon, four and half gold.”
I didn’t say anything, just looked into Giselia’s beautiful brown
eyes. She said, “But okay, you first customer, best deal make good,
only three gold coin.” I looked at Ivan. He was smiling and just
nodded yes.

“Deal!” I declared.

Giselia started dancing and squealing
again. I looked at Ivan, and we both laughed. Giselia finally
settled down. “Okay, okay, Deal!” I shook her hand, then shook
hands with Ivan. I handed Giselia three gold coins, which put a
perplexed look on her face. She said, “You no pay now, pay pickup
when coming.”

“I pay now,” I argued.

Ivan spoke up. “Don’t you want wait to
pay for all when picking up later?”

“When do you think the engraving will
be complete?”

“It will take me maybe three hours. It
is good job; you will like.”

“Master Ivan, Lady Giselia, it has
been a pleasure trading with you. I hope this first sale brings you
much good fortune during the festival. I will return in three or
four hours. Thank you very much!”

I stood by as Ivan translated for
Giselia, who was bobbing up and down with a huge smile. When Ivan
finished, Giselia held her hand out for me to take the coins. I
took her hand in mine, and with my other hand, I folded her fingers
over the coins. I said, “It’s done. I trust you. You have an honest
heart.” Ivan translated, and Giselia stared at me with tears
running from her eyes. I suspect the two of them are not treated
well because of their culture. I smiled, picked up the spool of
ribbon, and walked away. I decided to go by Basilea’s bread tent to
see if everything was going well.

When I was close enough, I called out,
“Oye, most beautiful lady, how goes your battle here?”

“Hello, good sir,” Basilea said with a
welcoming smile. “Everything is almost ready. It’s going to be a
lot of fun.”

“Anything I can do to
help?”

“No, we have everything under control.
Go have fun. I’ll see you this evening, good sir.”

“So much of my life is wasted. It is
all a waste until I can once more see your beautiful emerald
eyes!”

Trina was helping set up the portable
bakery and overheard me. “Why don’t me old man say things such as
that? All I ever hear is 'what’s to eat woman?'.” Basilea and I
started laughing, which caught on. All the other women started
laughing along.

“Fair princess, fine and beautiful
maidens, I bid you farewell,” I said gallantly.

I turned and started to walk towards
Sirates House and heard Trina speak, “Fair maiden? I ain’t been no
fair maiden since me was thirteen.” I heard the roar of laughter
behind me but kept walking, trying to subdue my urge to join
in.

When I arrived at Sirates House, Demon
and Mildred were at the rear turnout fence waiting for me. I said,
“Oye, you two fine horses. Waiting for me?” They were both excited
to see me. “I have plans that include the two of you. Just be
patient with me. We will go out for a jaunt in just a little
while.” Both horses trotted along with me back to the covered
turnout, where I collected a couple brushes and a coarse comb. The
horses followed me outside, where I rough brushed them both. They
really enjoyed grooming and usually fell asleep during the process.
Switching to the polishing brush, I brought up the natural oils in
their hair until they both shimmered in the sun. Demon’s coat
showed the distinct diamond dapple pattern. His mane and tail had
grown out long, and he was truly breathtaking. Mildred had turned
into a fine-looking mare. Since she had stopped nursing, her dark
chestnut coat had become very healthy, and with flaxen mane and
tail, she was a stunning animal. She polished up beautifully and
shimmered as bright as Demon.

I then took the coarse comb and combed
out their mane and tails. By now, both horses were fast asleep,
with one foot resting on the tip of a hoof. I always thought it
amazing how they could lock their knees and sleep on three legs.
Some horses never lie down to sleep. Even in their sleep, their
ears were always following sounds, always on alert for danger.
After combing them out, I started braiding Demon’s hair. I wanted
four thin braids in his mane. Tying them off with pieces of the red
ribbon I had cut from my roll just set his mane off perfectly. I
did the same thing to Mildred, then stored my equipment and went
into the house. From my quarters, I got a pack out of my cabinet
and emptied the contents. I needed something to bring packages back
in. Back in the turnout, I grabbed a lead rope, just in case. The
horses were still asleep where I had left them. I said, “Hey,
sleepyheads, you going to sleep all day, or do you want to have
some fun?” Both horses were instantly awake. Demon immediately
trotted over to Mildred and started lipping her ribbons. “Hey,
fellow, you got them too; look here.” I grabbed a couple of Demon's
braids and held them out so he could see them. He bent his neck
around, almost touching his nose to his shoulder. Satisfied, he
whinnied and started hopping in place. I said, “I tell you, buddy,
you are one good-looking young man!” Demon whinnied again and
bobbed his head up and down in agreement. So Mildred wouldn't feel
left out, I turned to her, “And you, my beautiful Mildred, just
look at you with your fine ribbons.” I pulled around a couple of
her braids so she could see them. She nickered in approval. It was
probably the first time she had been groomed like this in her life.
“Well, would you two like to go show off a little bit?” I asked.
Both horses snorted and whinnied, then bolted for the rear turnout
gate. I put the empty pack on, coiled the lead rope over my
shoulder, and ran to catch up with the excited beasties.

Both horses were pawing and pacing at
the gate. “Okay, you two, we have many guests here, so be on your
best behavior or I won’t be able to take you out for the next
several days.” Mildred ignored me, and Demon pinned his ears back
and glared at me. “Not really the answer I was hoping for, young
man.” I pushed the rail back, and both horses trotted through the
gate and straight to a clump of wildflowers. Mildred had the drill
down by now, and in short order, both horses headed for the kitchen
with their flowers. When I got to the kitchen window, the horses
were just finishing their pies. I could hear the women in the
kitchen, clamoring over the horses' ribbons. Soon I had most of the
kitchen staff outside admiring the horses.

“Oh, look at Sir Demon with his pretty
ribbons.” “What a beautiful fellow he makes!” “Look at Mildred,
what a pretty girl!” “She just looks grand!” The horses had inhaled
their treat. Demon raised his head proudly, arched his neck,
flagged his tail, and proceeded to absorb all the praise heaped
upon his majestic self. I looked over at Mildred. She was flagging
her tail proudly with her head up too. She had been totally
corrupted by her stepson. Demon took a little trot around the
group, stopped in front of us, and knelt down as I had taught him.
The ladies just thought that was the grandest thing and actually
clapped their hands.