Chapter 11 #2
“Let’s hope for your sake you do. I wouldn’t want to be caught outside in a storm such as the one’s brewin’ right now. Best be on with you, then.”
As the door shut behind Danik, Veru couldn’t help but panic, wondering if she’d lost him to a magic spell, and if they’d made a terrible mistake.
If she’d been physically able, she would have gone with him, but for the life of her, Veru seemed to be unable to lift her limbs.
In fact, it took all her strength to remain conscious.
Yuga bundled a thick blanket over Veru and headed back to stir her pot of soup.
It smelled delicious, and despite her efforts, Veru’s eyes drifted closed.
Something heavy dropped in her lap, but she was far too exhausted to move; besides, the something felt right somehow.
It curled up in a ball and began to purr.
One hour passed and then another. The fire dwindled, and the little house grew cold.
They could hear the wind tearing at the roof outside.
Then there was a voice, a song. Through her stupor, Veru could just make out Danik’s words.
She was deeply relieved to know he was just outside and willed him with all the energy she could muster to return to her.
The old woman appeared to echo her thoughts, and Veru’s trust in their strange hostess grew a small fraction.
Yuga sat up straight in her chair. “Come on, boy,” she mumbled. “Remember: If the house won’t accept you, then no matter how strong your back, you’re of no use to me.”
Finally, the house shuddered and creaked, and the door flew open. Danik entered carrying a huge armful of wood and a bucket of icy water.
The door opened and shut twice, bringing with it the bite of winter air and bits of sleet and ice as he piled in more wood.
Veru managed to crack open her eyes. Though his nose and fingers were red, and his clothing was soaked with sleet, his expression wasn’t one of fear or concern.
He was the same happy hunter she’d come to know, despite the fact he’d been caught outside in the cold for far too long due to his faulty memory.
At least they’d all be warm enough, thanks to the wood he’d managed to bring in for the night.
Veru closed her eyes and relaxed again, safe in the knowledge that her hunter had returned to her side.
“You were right about the storm,” she heard Danik offer. “I’d say we’re in for a blizzard all right. It’s a good thing the house finally decided to let me in.”
“I warned you. She needs a bit of charming.”
“You’d think she’d like being warm too,” he said as he added logs to the nearly dead fire.
“She doesn’t think the way we do.”
“Magical cottages wouldn’t, I guess. The house kept walking away from me. I didn’t see that it had legs before.”
Shrugging, Yuga said, “Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. Depends on her mood.”
“It almost seemed like she wanted me to chase her. She’d head off on those strange legs and hide in the forest, but never wandered so far that I couldn’t see at least a bit of chimney smoke.
Then she’d let me catch up, just in time to dart off again.
It was like she was toying with me. After a while, the smoke gave out. Luckily, I’m a good tracker.
“Still, it got hard to see and even harder to carry the water and the wood. At one point, she knocked over my bucket, but then she must have felt sorry for me because she led me to a river. The better part of two days, I chased her. When I was about to give up, she stopped.”
Veru shook her head, struggling to rouse herself. Had she heard right? It couldn’t be. He’d be gone that long? That meant she’d been sleeping for . . .
“Only two days?” Yuga asked, rubbing her chin. “She must be soft on you. Still, she presented the wrong side, didn’t she? Wouldn’t make entering easy?”
“Showed me the underneath, I think. I sang the verse the way you said, but she only flipped to a different side. It was still wrong. It took several hours of singing and making up my own verses to finally win her over and get her to show the door.”
“Is that right?” Yuga said. “Tell me, what words did you say that finally allowed you entry?”
“Instead of, ‘Little house, little house,’ I sang, ‘Pretty house, pretty house, let me out of the forest, let me warm my bones. Pretty house, pretty house, attend to my calls, and I’ll attend to your walls.’”
“Ah, I see. You bribed her. Flattered her.”
“I’d say soothed her, more like. I calmed her is all. Much like I would a frightened animal in a trap.”
“That’s right. Before you slaughter them!”
Veru slit open her eyes again.
Danik blinked, unperturbed by the old woman’s outburst. “That much is true,” he replied evenly.
“Calming them is about all I can do to ease their journey to the hereafter. I wouldn’t take a life if I didn’t need to though.
And I keep my promises. You can rely on that much.
I mean to work on the house, just like I said I would. ”
“I suppose that means you’ll need to extend your stay,” Yuga said, her filmy eyes aimed in his direction and her face screwed up in a calculating way. Veru wanted to warn him to be careful with his words, but she couldn’t even lift a finger, let alone open her mouth.
“I’m afraid we can’t pay you,” Danik said. “We’re poor folk. But we’re happy to help you in any way we can.”
The old woman clapped him on his arm. “I know you will, son. Don’t you worry just now. Take your rest tonight. Soup’s hot. I’m certain you’re famished. Your girl will be resting tonight. She’ll be as ravenous tomorrow as you, but tonight she’ll sleep sound. Maxsim will make sure of that.”
“Thank you for your kindness.”
“I’ll accept your thanks or not when you take your leave. Eat now and rest, boy. There’s a bowl and spoon on the table.”
As Danik began wolfing down his dinner, Veru heard the old woman mumble, “Congratulations on surviving your first challenge, boy. The rest of them won’t be so easy.”
The rest of them? Veru thought. The cat’s purr intensified, and Veru sank into the depths of a sleep so deep she heard nothing else.
* * *
When Veru cracked open her eyes, the cottage was dark except for the banked fire.
She could hear the shrieking wind whistling through the cracks in the logs, and the rhythmic snoring coming from the blankets on the floor nearby that indicated Danik was soundly asleep.
The cat on her lap was still purring, but lighter this time, as if it were in comfortable kitty oblivion.
In another chair, across from hers, she could just glimpse the small burning of a pipe and hear the inhalation and exhale of smoke.
“Yuga?” Veru said thickly, from deep within her blankets.
“Do you need something, child?” a disembodied voice replied in the darkness.
“Maybe some water?”
“There’s a full cup on the table next to you.”
Reaching her hand out from beneath her warm blanket, she gripped the handle of the mug and lifted the rim to her lips.
Her hand shook as if the cup was the heaviest of swords.
Still, she managed to drain the contents and then slipped her hand beneath her covers again.
The air was so very cold that Veru couldn’t imagine how it could have become so cold again so quickly.
“Are . . . are you warm enough, Yuga?”
“I’ll be fine until the morning,” she replied. “Go back to sleep now, young one. You’ve much to do tomorrow.”
“Yes,” Veru replied sleepily. “Much to do in the morning.”
* * *
The old woman nudged Veru awake the next day when dawn lit the small, dirty window. “I’ve put some soup on the table. It’s cold now, but that shouldn’t bother you much, I should think.”
Yawning, Veru stretched and replied, “No. That’s—that’s fine. I appreciate your hospitality.”
Yuga harrumphed and bustled about the cottage collecting various items and placing them in her large stone bowl.
Sitting up, Veru asked, “Are you going somewhere?”
“Need some supplies. That man of yours is likely to sleep most of today and through the night. How are your feet feeling? Better now?”
Pushing aside the heavy blankets and the heavier cat, Veru stood up, feeling wobbly at first, but then, after taking a few steps and wriggling her toes, she pronounced that her feet felt incredible, better than they’d felt in ages.
“Good,” Yuga said with a wide grin. “Good. That’ll make your work go much more smoothly.”
“My work?” Veru asked. “Of course I’m happy to help. What do you need me to do while you’re gone?”
“Oh, not much, dear, not much. I’ll just need you to clean the cottage while I’m gone. Wash the pots and pans, scrub the floor, clean the windows, that sort of thing.”
Veru took a look around the dark little room and couldn’t help but notice how chimney smoke covered most of the walls, and now that daylight had pushed its way into the house, it was quite easy to see the stains and crumbs that littered every surface.
Veru guessed the woman’s inability to see would make it very difficult to keep things tidy.
“Your man brought a bucket of water in last night, and there’s some old lye soap and brushes in the cabinet below the sink by the window. And if you get to it, there’s a bag of washing and mending by the door.”
Closing her eyes for a moment, Veru steeled herself for the long day of domestic labor that lay ahead of her.
It wasn’t that she hated work. She’d certainly spent many a long hour training and sweating through tunic after tunic.
And their mother was very keen on making sure they showed not only knowledge of but great appreciation for the work done by their servants.
Veru knew the difference between various linens and fabrics, what types of soaps removed stains the best, how to hire the best cooks, what foods should and shouldn’t taste like, the proper ways beds should be made up for guests, and much, much more.
She’d even personally overseen the staff and training from time to time to make certain she was well-versed in how to run the palace.
But that didn’t mean she enjoyed that type of work. Truthfully, if she had to choose, she’d much rather work in the stables or build homes. She wasn’t afraid of manual labor, but there was something about the types of work considered traditionally “women’s” that made Veru feel very uncomfortable.
Perhaps it had something to do with the way men viewed the maidservants.
They were ogled often, and that was even despite their mother’s frequent attempts to pass laws protecting them and the changes made to their uniforms. It was as if men just couldn’t help themselves.
It was often unattached women who worked in those positions, and men somehow saw them as fair game.
Veru always wanted to distance herself as much as possible from such tasks so as not to give men even more opportunities than they already took with her person. Not that many did. They wouldn’t dare. But still, she could always feel their eyes on her, and that was almost as bad.
Smiling distractedly, Veru nodded and said, “I’ll do my best. Have a nice day.”
“Oh, it will be more than a day,” the old woman said gleefully. “Which is good for you. You’ll need a while to get all I expect of you done.”
“All you expect?” Veru frowned.
“That’s right. If the house is properly cleaned, I’ll bring back a present. It’ll be something the two of you could really use. I’ll have you know I’m highly picky when it comes to cleaning though. I don’t give gifts lightly. You’ll have to make it worth my time.”
“I see. And if I don’t meet your expectations?”
The old woman grinned, and it frightened Veru, which wasn’t something that happened often.
“Well now, if you don’t finish . . . then I suppose you’ll owe me something. That sounds fair, doesn’t it? I am letting the two of you stay here free, after all.”
She began whistling and added a few more items to the pot. When she was done, she opened the door and said, “Oh, and I left a few bones for Maxsim by the fire.”
“Bones?”
“That’s right. Keeps him hungry for mice. Dos vedanya.”
With that, Yuga stepped outside, and the door shut behind her.
Veru ran quickly to the door and twisted the knob, but try as she might, she couldn’t get it to open.
Giving up, she turned around with hands on her hips and stared at Maxsim, who sat on the floor, his tail twitching as he looked at her expectantly.
“Well, Max,” she said, picking up the platter of clattering mouse skeletons. “I’m not sure if you’re a spy or a friend, but either way, there’s no way I’m letting a fellow feline subsist on a pile of mere bones.”