“Where do you think all the money comes from to pay for the food you eat, the castle, and all those servants, the clothes you wear?” she asked, ticking each item off on her fingers.
“Well, I never, I mean, I didn’t ever...” his words trailed off.
“Let me finish that sentence for you,” she said, raising her eyebrows at him. “You never thought about it.”
Colin shook his head but didn’t say anything, so she went on. “We pay taxes so you can live like you do. If that’s not upkeep, I don’t know what it is.”
“But working on a farm, I mean, that’s a bit beneath me. I am a prince after all,” Colin said, looking from one to the other. “Isn’t there something else I could do?”
Darby shrugged. “It’s up to you: stay here and pitch in or find your way back to town.”
Colin looked around him, then over at Darby again. “I guess I could find something to do to help,” he said.
“You can start with the dishes; we cooked you can clean up,” she said, getting up from the table. “I have to get ready for work.”
Chapter Ten
***Colin***
Colin watched Darby disappear down the hallway, wondering how things had gone so wrong so quickly. Then he noticed Eli staring at him with a look of triumph on his face. He wanted to strike out at the man, take all his frustration out on him, but sensed that it would be a mistake.
“There’s dish soap under the sink,” Eli said, getting to his feet. “I’ll see if I can find some clothes for you to borrow. They might be a little big, but I’m sure you can make it work.”
He knew an insult when he heard one, but he ignored the younger man, promising himself that he’d go naked before he’d wear the clothes. When Eli was gone, he looked around the kitchen, then walked over to the sink and stared down at the stack of dirty dishes and pans. It couldn’t be that hard to clean a few dishes, he decided, experimenting with the faucet.
Soon, he had a sink full of soapy water and was feeling pleased with himself. But when he twisted the faucet to turn it off, water just kept spilling out, and his brain froze as he watched the water rise. Just as the water flowed over the top, bubbles cascading with the water, and flooding the kitchen floor, Darby came into the kitchen.
“Oh, my God what are you doing?” she asked, twisting the faucet and pulling the plug at the same time.
“I couldn’t get the water to shut off,” he said, staring at the mess.
Darby sighed. “I have to finish getting ready for work; leave the dishes for now,” she said. “There’s a mop in the closet. Do you need me to show you how it works?”
Colin glared at her. “I’ll figure it out,” he said.
He’d seen the servants at the castle mopping, so he felt fairly confident that he could figure it out. As he sloshed barefoot through the cold soapy water to the closet, he wondered if it might not be easier to go back to town and try to beg a room from someone. But then the memory of the last time he’d been there came rushing back, and suddenly mopping didn’t seem so bad.
When Darby came back, he was just squeezing out the mop for the last time and wondering where to dump it. “I see you managed to figure out how to use a mop,” she said, setting the bundle of clothes she’d been carrying down on the table.
“I’m not a total idiot,” he said, but feeling a little silly standing there barefoot, in his pajamas, holding a mop.
“Fair enough,” Darby said, shrugging her shoulders as if she weren’t convinced. “I found these clothes in the back of a closet. I think they might fit you.”
Colin wanted to outright refuse but realized that he couldn’t afford to be picky, so he walked over to the table and picked up the jeans and shirt, trying not to let his aversion show. “I don’t usually dress so...” he searched for the right word. “Ummm, casual.”
He got the feeling that Darby was beginning to enjoy herself. “Well, I think you’ll find that it’s easier to work out in the field in these, but if you’d rather go like that, I’m ready whenever you are.”
“The fields?” he asked, feeling like he’d missed something again.
Darby nodded. “I was thinking you could work in the lavender beds this morning,” she said. “They’re ready for harvest, but I haven’t had time.”
Colin stared at her. “You want me to go out there and work? In the dirt and stuff?”
“That was the idea,” Darby said. “And this afternoon, you can help me in the barn.”
“With the animals?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Well, that is generally what you find in a barn,” she said, slightly amused.
And that was exactly where he found himself later that day, wondering if the smell was going to make him bring the lunch he’d just eaten back up. Darby seemed not to notice the stench in the barn and had already disappeared into the darkness beyond the big double doors. He wondered how someone who smelled as good as she did could even walk into the barn and wished he was out in the lavender field again.
When Darby had left him, a spool of twine in one hand and a giant pair of scissors in the other, he’d been dreading the morning. The rows of lavender spread out before him, a purple ocean that he was supposed to conquer, and he’d been sure that’s he’d never be able to do it. But it wasn’t long before he discovered that the sweet smell of lavender and the musky scent of the earth beneath him had their own kind of magic.
As he tied off the plants and snipped the fragrant stems, he found himself falling into a soothing rhythm and enjoying himself. His clothes had still felt funny, and the boots he’d shoved his feet into had pinched, but as each bundle hit the ground, he felt a sense of satisfaction he’d never felt before. When the sun had risen high into the sky, sweaty and tired, he’d gotten to his feet and turned to see then neat bundles lying on the ground, and for the first time in his life, felt a sense of accomplishment.
Now the lavender seemed like nothing compared to what he’d have to do inside the barn, and he nearly turned around and walked away, but Darby poked her head out of the door and stared at him. Reluctantly, he took a few steps forward, then inhaled a huge breath and ran past her inside. He could hear her roaring with laughter behind him, but he didn’t care.
***Darby***
Darby again found herself laughing at Colin, who’d turned white as a sheet and was trying to breathe through his shirt. “Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” she said, walking past him to the back of the barn. “I left the door open; that’ll help a little.”
“How can you stand the smell?” he asked.
“You get used to it,” she said. “And it will get better after we clean the stalls and pens.”
Colin looked like he didn’t believe her but dropped his shirt away from his face and took little breaths. “How are we going to do that?” he finally asked after looking up one side of the barn and down the other. “They’re full of animals.”
Darby couldn’t help but grin at him. “They don’t mind if we work around them,” she said. “Except the pig. Don’t go near her; she’s about to have babies and is a little grumpy.”