Chapter 2

Mail was delivered once a week to Archie's estate. Petra always made sure to finish writing her letters before the mail carrier came. The man would not wait for her to write them and barely glanced at her before taking her letters. He didn't think much of the 'animal's servant'.

In the dim, flickering light of the candle sitting on her desk, Petra finished writing her response to Alexander Ral's latest message. In it, her father mentioned how much he missed her and hoped she would be able to come home soon. He said he felt better. Petra truly hoped so.

Petra's father sent a letter, sometimes two, every week and he always sounded quite worried for her. Petra was nineteen and her father considered her too young to be working so hard and so far from home. Petra felt terrible that she worried him so much but she needed this job. She needed to work to help him.

The ginger-haired girl responded in her own letter that she would soon save up enough to get home and to not worry so much and take care of himself. She didn't mention that she didn't live in Archie's manor like he thought she did. She didn't mention that she was lonely or that no one really talked to her here. The guards didn't really like her and thought her lower than them. The girl never really saw the maids of the manor and only saw the cooks on occasion when she needed some food for her 'house'. Petra had a little storage space inside her quarters where she kept flour, water and other things that were not as perishable as meat or dairy products. Any of the perishables she ended up keeping in the cellars where the meat for the animals was stored.

Her father liked hearing of the animals she took care of so she would always mention them in her letters. Some of the more interesting animals currently in Petra's care were the lion cub, a crane, a zebra and two macaws. She also took care of the horses, dogs, cats and other more common animals of the manor. During her first day here, Petra had taken care of a rare white tiger before it had passed away from the neglectfulness of the previous caretaker. There had been many more animals but they had been bought, she fervently hoped, as pets.

Petra finished up the letter and sealed it with a sigh. She missed her father. As she dressed for bed she recalled how she came to be here.

Alexander Ral became ill. The illness started out as a small cold that lasted an unusually long time. Nothing Petra's father tried could cure it but it did not affect him and his work too much at that time.

Though he and his daughter lived on a farm, Mr. Ral worked in the nearby city of Karanese as a teacher while Petra took care of the animals and crops. It was not too hard of a job for the young woman as the farm was small. Petra ended up having a lot of free time to visit the city after taking care of everything at home. It took about half an hour on horseback to travel to Karanese, which wasn't too long. Her father was alright with her wandering as long as Petra stayed out of trouble and came home before nightfall.

Mr. Ral waved his daughter off when she began to notice how his cough never truly went away. Petra wanted him to see a doctor, and soon. However, the older man just believed all he had was just a series of minor colds and that he would be well again soon. At his daughter's insistence, he did end up seeing a doctor who said just the same. Petra was relieved and did not bother her father about it any longer.

But the cough never went away and sometimes Mr. Ral had trouble breathing. After two months of this, when the summer season began and Mr. Ral had a break from his teaching job, Mr. Ral's health deteriorated rapidly in the span of a few unusually cold and stormy days. He still did not want to worry his daughter so he said it was nothing too serious and he would see the doctor for it the next day. Truly though, he had lost his appetite and could not down anything even if he tried. He had a pounding headache and all his joints ached.

The next morning, to Petra's horror, Mr. Ral fainted as he tried to get out of bed. Petra could not rouse him for some time and when she did, her father was too weak to walk. Petra, terrified she would lose a second parent, rushed to a doctor. After another doctor examined her father, she was told that her father needed a strong and costly medicine to cure him of the sickness he had caught. The medication would have to be taken over the course of six months. The doctor also said that Mr. Ral would need as much rest as possible during recovery.

Petra and her father ended up using all of their savings to pay for two months worth of the medicine. It was all they could afford unless they wanted to sell the house and the animals which they just couldn't do. They needed a roof over their heads and could not sell the animals as they needed them for food.

The medicine helped her father but he was still very weak, getting dizzy often if walked too too much. Petra was saddened to see her father in such a state and knew she needed to get a job, and fast. Her father wanted to work but Petra would not hear of it. She told him she would work and pay for everything until he was better.

The young woman had scoured the city for a suitable job. Friends of the family offered to help, which would ease up the burden a bit but it would still not be enough. A month passed with Petra just finding a few odd jobs here and there. Most people refused to hire her outright due to her age or gender.

Eventually Petra found a man willing to hire her and pay her a very decent wage. A good friend, an older married man named Eld, offered her his help getting a job as a caretaker for exotic animals. She would be paid well and live on an estate outside the city where the animals were kept. Eld warned her about the type of man Mr. Quentin was, an arrogant man looking to become part of the higher class, but that it would be better than any job she could find in the city with her age and experience.

Eld gave Petra several books on animals and lied to Archie, just a little, about the experience she had. With Eld's help, Archie hired Petra. The ginger-haired girl was nervous but Eld assured her she would be okay and that all the animals would be kept in cages. Petra made sure to study all the books her friend gave her.

The young woman arrived at her new home two weeks later. She had a hard time convincing her father to agree to this but he knew he had no choice. She would be okay, she told him. Their neighbors offered to check up on Mr. Ral and help him around the house so he would not be left alone.

The job was hard work, and a little dangerous at times, but Petra did everything to the best of her ability. The bigger animals were kept in their cages throughout their stay so all the girl really needed to do was feed them and try and clean their cages. Normally she had to use a broom or other long instrument to do so without getting attacked. Petra tried to let the smaller animals roam around a little every once in while but had to be careful that they did not escape.

The woman could never get herself to like Archie. She found that he was too full of himself. He didn't treat her with respect and expected her to keep quiet as he talked about himself. The man did not care much for the animals he bought and sold. Archie just wanted money and recognition.

Archie's estate was near Karanese, the center of trade in the country. Because of this, most of the animals were usually bought at the latest within a few months. Most often by the upper class. Mr. Quentin spent many days attending events with nobles and promoting his business and animals.

The man was usually gone for a week or two, sometimes even longer, every so often to find and purchase more animals. Archie had once gone on a trip to purchase several old lions from a failing circus and then turned around to sell them to a noble for triple the price. He also liked going to parties and social gatherings whenever possible. As the exotic pet industry was booming thanks to dangerous pets being the new trend, he had been making quite the profit from buying and reselling those animals.

Petra blinked as she heard the a loud howl from outside. A small pack of wolves lived near the estate. Recently, their howls had become almost mournful, like they were calling for the pack member they had lost to Archie last week. The captured wolf had been bought within a few days. Petra hadn't asked what would be done do it.

The woman felt terrible for the animals but there was nothing she could do other than take care of them to the best of her ability. Better her than another person who would neglect or abuse them like the previous caretaker had.

The ginger-haired woman spent most of her time with the animals or wandering around the the estate in her free time. The animals were much better company than any human in the estate, Petra thought before blowing out the candle to get to bed.

I'm finally getting back to this story! I am working on another fic for a different fandom and some elements of that story are similar to this one. That was enough motivation to get me to work Rare Creatures again. ;p