Chapter 9 The Swan Farm
The animals woke with the sun. Sir Edward and Eleazer couldn't sleep through the combined bleats, whinnies, moos and grunts. Almost as early they could hear the family moving around in the house. Soon they could smell bacon and biscuits. Renee sent out Liam to invite them to breakfast as soon as they were ready. By that time, they were ready. They sat down to breakfast with great anticipation. When the table was set with the fragrant biscuits, gravy, bacon, eggs, and milk, Charlie asked Seth to bless the food, which he did. They ate with great delight and talked about the coming day's work. Sir Edward wanted to go to the spring that was the source of the stream and pond on his property, and Charlie said he would take him. Eleazar wanted to see the pastures for the cows and horses, so he would go with Jasper. Bella would take out the goats, and Rose the sheep as usual. They each took packs with them of lunch and water because they would be all day. Seth fed the pigs and the two children the chickens, ducks, geese and swans. Renee would then go out with them and harvest and weed the orchard and garden. They said goodbye to each other and went to gather the animals.
The animals were all glad to see their keepers, having missed the normal routine while Paul was there. It also meant that they would get fresh grazing and the room to run around. They knew which way they were to go and were happy to get on with it. Rose and Bella were not defenseless out in the foothills alone. They had their knives in their calf sheaths and their staffs with them. Bella had been glad she had that knife the night Moonlight was born, and it came in handy all the time out in the field. Charlie and Jasper trained them to use the staff not only to guide and herd the animals, but in defense against predators and stray men. They were not so far away from each other that the flutes that hung around their necks couldn't be heard by the others. They even had different codes for wolves, pumas, bears and human intruders. They also played music on them to soothe the animals. They had big shawls around their shoulders and the backpacks were filled with lunch, a book to read and an injury kit, in case of mishaps. One of the goats and sheep wore bells around their necks, too. They seemed to know that they were the leaders of their group, and would proudly walk first in line next to Bella or Rose as they came and went to pasture. Sometimes it seemed like they would command or scold the others, too. Bella thought it was because she would read to them, so Rose did it, too, when they let her start to take the sheep out by herself. Some other farmers had large flocks, and used dogs to help keep the sheep and goats in order. However, Charlie taught the girls to get to know the individuals and treat them with love and kindness and to lead them instead. It worked for them.
Eleazer rode his steed alongside Jasper who was on Flame. He showed him the crops of wheat and hay that they grew. The fences around the crops kept the always hungry wild animals out of the plants. Jasper told him that his first year he will probably be busy building the house, the fences and the buildings for the horses and equipment. He had only a month to clear and build a log cabin that they would live in until the bigger house was livable. They wanted to be independent, and would rather do that than to live with either family. When they move into the house they would use the cabin for storage or for hired help if they were needed later. They would get the lumber from the forests in the mountains, but there was a lot of work to transform a tree into lumber. There would be a community barn raising after the harvest was over, which would help a lot. Charlie would help with some of the rest of the things they would need like windows and stuff. Emmett and his dad said they would make them the fireplace fireboxes. Alice's father had said he would buy the first half a dozen horses for their wedding present, and they would keep them in a corral next to the barn and fairly near the house. He would expand from there. The first year when they actually lived in the big house they would live in the main floor, and expand from there as well. That didn't even count having an expanding family, as Alice wanted lots of babies. Alice would have a weaving and sewing room so she could continue making and selling her beautiful things in the city on market days. Renee and Sarah said that they would teach her about gardening, and each said that they would give her a couple of fruit trees for starters. Jasper was so excited for his new life as a horse rancher in this place he loved with the girl he loved. Eleazer listened attentively, and commented occasionally. He had never heard of such a way of beginning, never having lived out of a city where people were hired to do all of the building. It fascinated him, and he filed it all away in his mind for his report to Sir Edward.
Charlie rode Breeze next to Sir Edward on his mount and explained the short history of his arrival with his bride to their homestead after their honeymoon. "My father was a farmer and rancher down by Maple Valley. One year he came up to Twin Forks to go hunting up in the mountains and happened upon this spring, which led down to a pond. He thought it would be a perfect place to farm, but knew my mom would never move from Maple Valley. A couple of years later I met the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world, and she agreed to marry me. When I told my dad I was getting married and wanted to farm like he did, he told me about this place. He said to come and look at it and check with the land bureau to see if it was possible to homestead it. That's how we got it. We built a little house, and then built everything else around it. We learned from failures and from successes. But we always had water, even in drought years. Both of our parents live in the same community near Maple Valley, so we take the kids down to visit them once a year. They come up here half a year later to see us, so we stay in contact with them and the kids know them. It has worked very well for us. Jasper wants to do something similar, but without moving away, and with horses. We will be happy to have him across the street. We can help each other and it won't seem like we'll be losing him. Plus, we will even gain a daughter, and later grandkids in the deal. I'm almost as excited about it as he is."
"It sounds like it will be perfect for all of you," he agreed. "It gives me insight into a whole different world from mine. We have people who work for us to do any of the work that needs to be done. We have enough money to buy pretty much anything we want, yet we only get paid what the Constitution allows. We have invested our money carefully, and work to keep that growing. Our wages are there for transportation and expenses, which is audited for anything which is out of order, or extravagant. We don't own our place to live, although the palace is a great place to live, and we have lived there for generations. It still belongs to the state. Both my parents and I have a couple of carriages and horses, but the state owns quite a few elaborate carriages for pomp and circumstance occasions. Each of us is employed in a responsible job, and we are civil servants. We, by law, must live within our means and make our budgets available for anyone to see. We do our best in our jobs, and we love it. It is all we have known for five generations. I really can't imagine doing anything else, so seeing your life has been a unique experience for me. If you are ever downstream to Portsmouth, I would love to do the same for you."
"Well, I have never been there yet, but perhaps we should do just that when we can get away. Now, if you look to your right you can see some boulders and rocks," coached Charlie, "Do you see them?"
"Um-m-m, there are rocks and boulders everywhere," Sir Edward squinted at the foothills.
"Oh, right, there are. Let's see. Come closer to the stream and follow it with your eyes. Maybe it will be easier that way," he hoped. He had seen it a lot in all these years. He knew where to look.
Sir Edward guided his horse right into the knee-high cold water. Midnight shivered, but complied. He then reached down and drank some of the water. "Oh, yes, I see where it disappears under the rocks just above the waterfall. Can we go closer?"
"Sure we can. Do you need to tie your horse, or can we just leave him unattended? Breeze knows this area, but won't leave if any of us are here," Charlie asked.
"Midnight will stay here. He has been well trained, too," he chuckled.
"Of course he has. Sorry." They dismounted and left their animals at the edge of the water in case they get thirsty. They climbed the last twenty feet, much of it at a steep angle as the water fell, clambering and falling down. When they got to the top there was a small cave about the size of a room. It looked like the small spring had geysered up at one time, eroding the walls out. There was some hair on the ground here and there. "It looks like some smart animals take shelter in here on occasion." He was curious and reached down and fingered the hair. It was soft and silky, unlike anything he had ever seen or touched, but Sir Edward wasn't worried about the hair, nor the animals that might take shelter on occasion, as long as they weren't there at that moment. He was interested in the water and saw it come straight up and out of the opening, shooting up a foot before it went on its way downstream toward the pond. It was a beautiful sight, almost magical. The atmosphere made his skin tingle and get goose-bumps. He tasted it, and it tasted the same as it did in town from the barrel. It was the same that he drank at the Swan's house, just as he expected that it would. He hadn't thought that Charlie would lie about his water, but it was obvious that he used the water directly from the ground without doing anything at all to it. "It is a gift from God," Charlie said, reverently. Sir Edward had to agree.
"Be careful, very careful with this water," began Sir Edward, "because there are unscrupulous people out there that would take it by unscrupulous means and charge a great deal for it." They refilled their canteens, and headed back to the horses. It was easier to climb up the rocks than down them, and Sir Edward slipped a bit and fell down. He didn't hurt much more than his dignity, but he did scrape the heel of his hands, which bled a bit. He blushed and continued on down, hoping Charlie didn't think any less of him.
"How often do the wolves come around here? There are tracks here following the water for a bit, and then they disappear and come out on the other side. Do they come down into your pasture area or crops and home?
"No, we rarely see them. Actually, that's how we got that skittish white goat. Wolves got a she-goat and did a lot of damage to the head and chest. Bella came across her and helped deliver the kid as the nanny died. Bella brought the little wild thing home and has raised it with the other animals. It will only come to my three daughters, though, no one else. Anyway, that's the closest we've come to the wolves."
When they got down to the horses they were back in the water just walking around in it. They seemed to like it. However, it was time to go back down to the farm. Sir Edward reached down into the water to pick up the reigns. His hands tingled a bit when they were in the water and he looked at them. There was not only no blood there, the cuts and scrapes were totally healed. His skin was perfect. His astonishment was off of the charts. "Charlie, what just happened to me? I scraped my hands when I stumbled upstream. My hands had small cuts and were bleeding. I touched the water to pick up the reigns, my hands tingled, and they now are totally healed. How did that happen?"
"It healed your hands?"
"It healed my hands."
"Hmmm. I never saw it do anything like that before," mused Charlie, "but I don't come up here very often, maybe once a year. That is very interesting. You know, come to think of it, we have had a couple of very good years. None of us has even gotten a cold. The crops have been exceptional for two years. It seems that every seed that I plant takes sprout and grows to perfection. It has been quite a blessing to us. Do you think it can be that something has changed in the water that made these changes?"
"I have no idea, but I sure wouldn't take out an ad in the paper. People would come in droves to drink of your water, or you could sell it by the barrel, unless you want that kind of notoriety. You could make a lot of money in the healing business," replied Sir Edward.
"No, I definitely do not want to have anything like that in our lives. If it is a recent development, it might change again and then where would I be? I'd be a laughing stock of the town," he worried. "Let's get back to the house. I want to talk with the family about this. Maybe they have noticed something." They rode back to the house at a good pace, but not enough to tire the horses.
Edward's thoughts went back and forth between the water and Bella. Finally he got up the nerve to ask her father, "Where do the girls take the goats and sheep to graze?" He thought he was slick, not specifying Bella.
Charlie smiled to himself and replied, "Bella takes the goats to the foothills, where the goat's favorite plants are. Would you like me to show you that area?" He could see that Sir Edward was more interested in his daughter than the grazing goats. That had been plain from the moment they met at the dance. He had seen that he had not been the only smitten one, either.
"Yes, I would, if it would not be too far out of the way, that is," he tried not to be overeager. But he knew he had to leave the next morning, so he didn't have time to waste. Charlie turned the horses a little to the left and picked up the pace a bit. It didn't take long to get near. He could hear a flute on the breeze, and could hear the bleats of some of the goats.
Charlie took him to where they were within sight and stopped. He whistled and Bella looked over to him, and so did many of the goats. He turned to Sir Edward, "The goats are not fond of the horses. If you would like to go talk with Bella, about the goats, of course, you must leave your horse with me. I'll take it to the barn for you and you can walk home with the goats. I'll whistle for Rose and you can all visit together for the rest of the afternoon," he added, slyly providing a chaperone for them.
