With little choice, I turn and head in that direction. I won’t be able to see where Caledon is being held. At least not without some wheedling. This is going to be more complicated than I hoped.
As I approach the stables, I hear raucous conversation inside. It sounds like the stable hands are taking turns telling jokes. One speaks and the others laugh. Their language is rougher than I’m accustomed to. Not that I’m so delicate—just not used to it. I stop at the entrance and take a deep breath. If the stable boys don’t accept me as one of their own, my entire story could fall apart.
I push the door open. There’s a group of boys, around my age and younger, sitting together. They all turn to stare. They stop laughing and talking. “Who the hell are you?” one says. From his demeanor and central place in the group, I guess that he could be their leader. He’s sitting on a crate, perched above the others, who gather around him on the ground in a circle.
“Um . . .” I search my mind. I hadn’t thought of a fake name. How careless. My first mistake.
“So very nice to meet you, ummm,” another says.
One of the others chimes in. “It happened. I finally met someone too stupid to know his own name.”
“Of course I know my name. Doesn’t mean I need to tell you,” I snap.
The first boy asks, “And what do you want?”
“I was sent to work,” I say. The boys look at one another in confusion. Would they have been informed of a new hand on the way? I hope not.
“None of us is leaving,” he says. “So you can bugger off.”
“Yeah. None of us is leaving,” the other chimes in.
“You don’t have to,” I say. The boy on the ground mocks me again, repeating you don’t have to in a high-pitched voice. My cheeks flush.
“Well, thank you for allowing us to stay, honorable sir,” the leader says to me before bowing dramatically. Others laugh. I think I’d rather be locked up alone in a cell at this point.
“That’s not what I meant,” I say, trying to keep my voice low and level. I can’t let them know they are getting to me. Most of all, I just want to go to sleep. My body hurts from being jostled around in the wagon all day long. My throat hurts; I’m thirsty. My water skein ran out hours ago. They all stare at me, waiting. I lift the skein, showing the boy on the crate.
“The well’s out back,” he says. Then he adds, “We sleep in the loft.”
I look up where he’s pointing. Seems like there’s plenty of room. I’ll find a spot as far away from the others as I can.
“But you can sleep there.” He points to a filthy corner. Some of the other boys snicker.
I don’t respond. I won’t give him the satisfaction. Besides, a secluded corner is preferable. I walk away and go out to fill the pouch. I hear them begin talking as soon as they think I’m out of earshot.
I linger outside, listening. Once they determine it won’t be so bad to have someone lowly around to burden with their grunt work, I return inside, heading for the corner where the leader said I could sleep. There’s hay nearby, so I gather some to make a bed and lie down, grateful to collapse into a heap on the ground. I do wish I could remove the linens I’ve wrapped around my body; I’m itchy and it’s difficult to find a comfortable position. But I have absolutely no privacy. And the wrapping does offer more warmth.
Though I haven’t said another word, I guess my mere presence did ruin the fun, because within moments the stable hands disperse for bed, almost all climbing up into the loft. Only one stays behind, in the opposite corner of the barn. If he’s separated from the others, then he’s my best bet for an ally. I wonder why he’s relegated to the floor like I am—maybe he was the last new addition? I’ll try to learn more about him later. In the meantime I need to figure out how to get to Caledon. After I get some rest, that is. My eyelids are heavy. All the sleepless nights combined with today’s adventures have caught up with me.
The first day was a success; still, I’m determined to make this visit to Deersia as short as possible. I won’t be able to hide for long.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Shadow
I SPRING AWAKE, READY TO fight. I’m being attacked.
The leader of the pack is standing over me, holding a small pail, doubled over with laughter. My face and hair are soaking wet. As are my clothes. I’m lucky there was just water in the bucket.
“Wakey-wakey!” he says. His minions are watching from a distance. “Time to shovel dung, plebe,” he continues. “Follow Jander. He’ll show you what to do.”
Jander turns out to be the boy who slept in the other corner. He looks at me sheepishly and shrugs. Standing next to him, I realize how small he is, and young. He must be eleven or twelve at most. I wonder how he ended up here, and why the others treat him so poorly.
“Are you going to take off your shirt?” the bully asks me.
“What?” I blurt out. I realize I’m standing there with my arms wrapped around my wet torso. The linens under my shirt are loosening.
“He’s afraid we’ll see how soft he is,” one of the other boys offers. They all laugh and begin adding their own insults.
“His soft widdle baby belly,” another calls out.
I clench my jaw and control a jolt of fury. I’m tempted to go after them. Pummel them until they beg forgiveness.
Jander turns toward the horse stalls, so I take a deep breath and follow him. I’m more than happy to put some distance between myself and the others.
It’s not a terribly cold morning, but my wet clothes make me shiver. Jander disappears around a corner and returns seconds later with a folded wool blanket, which he holds out for me. It belongs to the horses, but it’s clean, so I don’t mind. I wrap it around my shoulders. “Thank you, that was very kind of you,” I tell him. I think I see a bit of a smile around his lips before it evaporates.
Cleaning the stalls is easy work. I never did so many at once, but I’m accustomed to taking care of animals. I reach down to grab hold of a wheelbarrow when a wave of guilt rushes over me. I left my aunts with all the work. No doubt they’re furious that I’ve gone—but I’m not worried about furious. What upsets me is imagining them distraught or terrified, not knowing if I’m all right. Selfishly, I hadn’t considered that side of it. And I must stop thinking of it now. I bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself.
I bite down again, hard, and think of Caledon and the Guild. “Not too bad, huh?” I say to Jander, referring to the clean stalls we’ve already done. He nods but doesn’t look up.
We shovel out the manure and replace the hay for each horse while they’re being exercised in the field. With two of us, it doesn’t take too long.