Chapter 6
Chapter Six
The Butcher, The Baker, The Ward Maker
Word of Lizzy’s abilities quickly spread around the small village, and the following morning, two of the locals approached Lizzy to question her about her skills.
As a result, she acquired two more homes to ward and an extra estate.
In addition, she warded eight individual brownies.
It seemed these brownies enjoyed nature more than the inside of a building, so they were overjoyed to learn they could wander further afield without fear of being eradicated.
Overall, Lizzy spent an extra eight days in the area, and when she finally departed, she spent time rearranging her schedule.
During her time in the area, she did send a number of letters out informing other home and estate owners that her schedule had changed.
She also sent a letter home informing the family of her extended absence.
Lizzy never failed to notify her family when some delay occurred.
The following leg of her journey took her further south in Scotland.
Her next stop was a single estate where she only spent three hours reinforcing the ward around the designated area, and then she continued her journey until reaching the nearest town where she spent the night.
The next scheduled stop took her two more days to reach.
Ben had ridden ahead and procured her the best room at the inn.
The innkeeper was pleased to accommodate her for he too wished to have his inn warded.
He had heard about her ability from Ben, as the innkeeper had mentioned hearing about a ward weaver being in the area and his desire to have his establishment warded.
As he informed her when she arrived, “Some of those who stop for the night bring brownies with them. It will enhance the attraction when I can tell them the inn has been warded against any evil that might befall their brownies.”
Lizzy had never before thought about warding inns, but she wondered if the idea should be promoted to other innkeepers during her travels.
Over the past few years, she had encountered travelers who were accompanied by a brownie or two.
Butterbell never allowed her to travel without him, so why would there not be other brownies who felt the same way about the person they served?
The idea had merit but proved problematic since Lizzy would never promote her ability because it would draw too much attention to who she was; however, if innkeepers began to share the idea among themselves and had brownies in the area make requests of her, she could begin to arrange extra trips to accommodate those who wished to procure her services.
The idea remained with her during her stay, but Butterbell became her go-between to actively promote her services by sharing the concept with other brownies stopping over at the inn.
They in turn mentioned it to their human counterparts, who would then share it with innkeepers as they traveled, for having a warded inn to stop at would be beneficial to all travelers and their brownies.
Of the travelers lodging at this particular inn, three of them were accompanied by brownies, and those brownies happily embraced the idea.
So, before Lizzy left the following morning, she had placed a ward around her first inn, The Glorious Swan.
She wondered how long it would be before she was requested to ward other inns throughout England.
That particular question was quickly answered at her next stop.
It seemed one of the guests from the Swan was traveling in the same direction, and he began spreading the word about wards being placed around inns.
Lizzy wondered how long it would be before the gentleman took a direction different from her chosen path as she headed for the Lake District before traveling to an earl’s estate.
Three days after crossing the Scottish border, Lizzy’s entourage finally reached the Lake District. Joseph took over the task of arranging lodgings during this portion of the trip, and he knew his mistress wanted to tour Lake Windermere, so he found the best inn at Ambleside.
As the coach approached the inn, Lizzy began to laugh as she read the sign, The Drowned Dog. She hoped there an amusing story which went along with the name of the inn and was determined to inquire about it when she met the innkeeper.
When finally discovered, the inns’ name came about because a dog who, over two hundred years ago, jumped in the lake to save a child’s life, but no innkeeper wanted to name their inn Rescue Dog or Heroic Dog, so Drowned Dog it became.
Lizzy sojourn in the Lake District took on the atmosphere of a holiday, a short holiday but still a holiday.
Since there were a number of boats and their owners willing to row visitors around the lake, Lizzy took advantage of the opportunity several times.
Once Mrs. Hanson accompanied her, then Joseph agreed to be her companion, and finally, she found a young girl, accompanied by her maid, who wished to be rowed out on the lake; however, her maid was afraid of the water.
Since Lizzy was also alone, none of her companions wished to accompany her, she invited the young lady to be her companion.
“We will act as each other’s chaperones,” Lizzy said with a dazzling smile.
“Oh, could we. I so want to enjoy a row around the lake, but I can find no one in my party who is willing to accompany me,” the young lady replied.
Knowing they would never be introduced to each other unless Lizzy took the lead, she said, “I am Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire.”
“I am Miss Rose Martindale from Heather House in Derby. I am traveling with my uncle and aunt. My aunt and,” – she glanced over toward her maid – “maid are both afraid of the water, and my uncle says the lake is only good if one is fishing in it.”
“Is your uncle an avid fisherman?” Seeing the young lady nod, Lizzy added, “My uncle, who lives in London, also enjoys the sport, but he seldom has time or opportunity to indulge in the pastime. London does not offer many places for good fishing, and my uncle’s business occupies most of his time.”
With formalities and introductions taken care of, Lizzy quickly solicited a boat owner to row her and her companion around the lake.
In fact, Lizzy chose the same boatsman who first rowed her because she had found him the most congenial company, and he told the best tales about the lake.
He had informed her he was born and raised around the lake, and his grandmother was also a lifetime resident.
Most of the stories, he declared, came from his grandmother and her mother.
The time Lizzy spent on the lake was the only time Butterbell did not remain by her side. Although brownies enjoyed water, Butterbell prepared dry ground to floating around on a large body of water.
The afternoon proved a pleasurable time for both young ladies.
They shared some family history, their likes and dislikes, and discovered they had both read some of the same books.
Lizzy so enjoyed their time together that she invited Miss Martindale and her uncle and aunt to join her for supper that evening.
It proved a success for all because Mrs. Hanson and Mrs. Martindale struck up a quick friendship, and Lizzy found Mr. Martindale a kindred spirit for he too enjoyed reading, and even his stories about fishing proved pleasurable because Lizzy could share some of her uncle’s more memorable and funny fish tales.
Lizzy spent her last two days in the area warding a house on one of the islands of Lake Windermere.
It seemed a simple enough task but took longer than expected because of the number of outbuildings that required warding.
A few of the buildings were new, so they never were warded before.
In addition, the owner asked a seldom made request about his youngest son’s brownie companion.
As is common knowledge, brownies bond to either a location and a home or in some rare instances, to a person.
In this particular case, a brownie named Tiddle became bonded to the son of the manor.
Unfortunately, and as sometimes can happen, the son went off to university and left the brownie behind.
After graduating, the young man relocated in London preferring to not return home.
This left the brownie with a broken bonding.
“You see Miss, poor Tiddle has no one,” the master of the estate explained. “He has been melancholic, and the other brownies know not what to do for him. If he had not completely bonded with my son, it might prove possible to redirect his energies and interests.”
“Have you contacted your son about Tiddle’s plight?” Lizzy found it unusual for a human to completely disconnect after growing up with a brownie companion, but her grandmother had shared a few stories about other like occurrences.
“Yes. He emphatically refuses to return home and states he has no interest in Tiddle joining him in London.”
“This is an unusual occurrence but not unheard of. The only solution I know is to find him someone else to bond with, but this means he will have to travel with me while I look for someone who engages his attention.”
Lizzy paused a moment in thought recalling how her brother always lamented he did not have a brownie of his own. ‘It is possible,’ she thought. ‘It would not hurt to try.’
“I might have a solution, but as I mentioned, Tiddle will have to travel with me while we seek someone for him.”
“The major problem I foresee is crossing the lake. You see, Tiddle fears the lake,” the owner admitted.
“I find that rather odd. Brownies, being so connected to nature, do not fear water,” Lizzy observed.
“Something happened when my son was younger, and since then, Tiddle has refused to go anywhere near the lake,” the estate owner offered.
“Has Tiddle ever mentioned what scared him, or did you son ever speak of the event?”