89 – Raising a Foal
“Mrs. Abby, I and Little Lily are going to the town to watch the skits, do you want to join us?” Irene carried a large piece of the giant clam"s flesh inside a basket to outside the castle to dry.
Tremblingwoods had eaten a large piece the giant clam"s flesh yesterday and was not only alright, but had become even more lively and vigorous.
Proving that the giant clam"s flesh was edible.
“Oh heavens! Master is too generous, he even gave you a day off.” Mrs. Abby was busily sorting out the various seasonings on the stove. “If you like working as kitchen maids that much, then you should obediently stay in the kitchen. There are a lot of things to do everyday.”
“According to Mr. Carter, Master only needs a fried steak for lunch, while we servants can just eat peas and bread. Therefore, there is not much work to do.” Little Lily also carried a piece of the giant clam"s flesh.
The giant clam weighed more then five hundred catties (catty=0,5 Kg). Excluding the three hundred catties of sh.e.l.l, there was still more than two hundred catties of flesh left.
“Mr. Carter is just like Master, always condoning the unmotivated working att.i.tude of you young servants. Being kind is not appropriate of a butler. When I was young, I was busy everyday in the kitchen and had no time to be idle. That was the work att.i.tude that kitchen maids should have.”
“Cough cough.”
Carter"s coughs came from the doorway. He had arrived at some point: “Mrs. Abby, although I can understand your serious att.i.tude towards work, but you shouldn"t always be so uptight. Have a stroll around the town with the youngsters. It is rare that we can see a caravan.”
“Sorry, Mr. Carter, I didn"t mean to offend you.” Mrs. Abby felt a little embarra.s.sed, she had been caught criticizing the other behind his back.
“It doesn"t matter. In fact, you said that I am kind; I regard that as a compliment. Go with Irene and Little Lily to take look at the skits. Just thinking about those clowns makes me smile.”
“That won"t do, I have to prepare lunch for Master.”
“Then come back before eleven o"clock. It is currently nine o"clock, so you still have two hours to take a stroll.”
“But…”
Not waiting for Mrs. Abby"s refusal, Carter interrupted her: “Just treat it as a task I gave you and have fun for two hours.”
“Haha, Mr. Carter, nice one.” Irene happily pulled Abby by the arm. “Let"s go, Mrs. Abby, I can"t wait to see the clowns.”
Little Lily pulled Abby by the other arm: “That"s right, let"s go!”
Mrs. Abby could only yield and go along: “I don"t want to take a stroll, but I better watch the both of you, to prevent you from going crazy and forget to go back to work… Also, wait a moment first, I have to change clothes. I can"t go out dressed like this, that would bring disgrace to the castle.”
Carter curled his lips as he looked at the, one old and two young, noisy women.
Although he was a bit more busy when working in the fief"s castle compared to when he worked in one of the count"s villas, but the life here was livelier. The youthful vigor of the youngsters infected him with an ineffable force, making him feel younger than last year.
He heard footsteps.
He turned around and saw Mrs. Mawson: “Maisie and the other girls already went to take a stroll in the town?”
“They did, along with Tom, Thomas, and the other boys. Mr. Carter, aren"t you also going?”
“Mrs. Abby, Irene, and Little Lily went to change clothes before going to the town to see the skits. I think you should go with them. As for me, I will stay in the castle to wait upon Master. As you know, even Thomas has left; Master has to have a servingman serve him at all times.”
“Then I will also stay behind. If there is anything, call me.”
“Are you sure you don"t want to join in the hustle and bustle?”
“I am old, too old for the hustle and bustle.”
“Don"t say that, Mrs. Mawson, I feel like I am getting younger and younger.” Carter straightened his back, looking a bit more spirited.
“Alright, youngster Carter.”
……
“Anya, have you already sold most of the tomatoes?” John Shoulderpole walked up to his household"s booth.
The stalls were located in the southwestern part of the town, where a very large, flat place had been cleared for the caravan to open shop and do trade.
Close by, there were also a few wooden toilets.
The patrol and clerks shouted repeatedly: “Sir Lord ordered that no one is allowed to urinate or defecate wherever they like! Offenders will be fined and whipped! To get to the toilet, follow the arrows. Toilets marked with the sign depicting a circle below and an arrow above (♂) are for men, toilets marked with the sign depicting a circle above and a cross below (♀) are for women, don"t get them wrong!”
John had long since got used to this order.
It had been a long time since the last time he dumped feces and urine on the street. At home, he had a manure bucket, which served to store feces and urine. Later, the manure would be used as fertilizer at the tomato fields. This was a miraculous farming method, capable of increasing the harvest by two to three times, imparted by the sir lord for the serfs to use to fertilize the farmland!
Previously, there had been officials charged with organizing the acquisition of manure.
But now, there was no longer a need to collected it, as each and every household would keep the manure and then use it in the cultivation of their fields. After the harvest, the benevolent, generous, and n.o.ble sir lord only collected a portion of it as taxes. Unlike the previous knight responsible for collecting taxes, who would milk the serfs as much as he could.
Ever since the arrival of the sir lord, John felt that not only his life, but also the lives of his neighbors had undergone tumultuous transformations.
Of course, he was the luckiest one.
Because the sir lord had rewarded him with a Nalda (gold coin) for giving rise to the tomato sprite worm!
“John, you"re not going to work today along with the house building team?” Anya asked her husband inquisitively. Now that there was not much work to do at the fields, her husband had temporarily joined the house building team to get paid a copper coin a day.
“The house building team is on leave, no one wants to work today. They all came here… to the commercial area.” John pointed at a person not far away. “Look, Wenger is also strolling around with his son.”
“Alright, then go see the skits. When I finish selling the tomatoes, I will also go take a look. It had already been a long time since I last saw them.”
John didn"t go, saying instead: “That"s right, Anya, when I was on my way to come here, I saw someone selling kittens, I want to buy one. Now that we have foodstuff stored at home, mice and rats will soon start to proliferate! These filthy rodents always eat our foodstuff!”
“Really, someone is selling kittens? Wait for me here until I finish selling the tomatoes and then let"s go together to buy a kitten. We have to choose the one that is the best at catching rodents.”
After hesitating for a moment, John added: “In fact, I still want to buy a foal. I want Little Jack to learn riding a horse from an early age. Like this, he can become Sir Lord"s retainer knight earlier.”
“Oh Heavens, John, do you know how much a foal costs!”
“It costs fifty silver coins. But Anya, we are talking about a foal!” John explained longingly, “I don"t know when we can get another opportunity to get a horse if we miss this one. I want to farm tomatoes for Sir Lord for the rest of my life. Little Jack, however, doesn"t like this work. He wants to become a retainer knight.”
“But John, you have to understand that the fifty silver coins is just what we would pay for the foal, but it still has to eat, and a lot at that. Each day, a horse has to eat several times as much as a person, can we afford raising it?”
“We can!”
With a firm expression in his eyes, John continued: “Our household"s tomato field is the best there is, it provides us with a steady income. I can still do temporary work. I asked the manager of the house building team, he is an a.s.sistant of Sir Isaiah. And according to him, there is more and more work to come; Sir Lord has lofty aspirations, he is going to change the fief beyond recognition. As long as I can continue to do temporary work, then we can afford to raise a foal!”
“Are you serious, John?”
“Of course I am. Believe in me, Anya.”
Anya looked into her husband"s resolute eyes and finally couldn"t bear to refuse: “Okay then, but you have to promise me that the foal won"t drag us down, alright?”
“I promise!”