"Just stay here and try to remain out of sight. It's going to be hard enough to get a look around without your jewels flashing in the daylight."
Sheik knew he may have gone too far. He had been nothing but respectful to Captain Ruba so far, but everything depended on him pulling this mission off. If some less respectful and blunt words got his point across, then so be it.
Ruba looked ready to slice him in half, but restrained herself. She growled, "I was told to watch you in action. I can't very well do that from out here."
"I'll come back and report to you on what I did and then lay out my plan. Sheikah are valued for our stealth. We serve mainly as spies. I don't plan on doing anything but gathering information for now."
Glancing at the tall stone wall and the small entrance, Sheik made his final point, "Neither of us know what the inside looks like exactly, and I doubt there'd be any place for you to wait. I also don't want to alert them of a Gerudo's presence if they haven't already seen us." Sheik would have preferred to have arrived alone and at night, but Ganondorf was waiting, and he doubted the ranch had watchmen.
After a short glaring session, Ruba gave in and leaned herself and her weapon against the stony wall. "You have until nightfall to be back or I'll come after you."
To kill me for treason rather than to find me. I get it. Sheik nodded, satisfied, and begin to climb the wall.
After checking to make sure there was no one who could spot him, Sheik perched on the top of the wall for a moment, looking over the ranch. He was above a large building that was attached to an even larger stable on the right side of the main entrance. A two story home was on the other side of the entrance. The rest of the walled area was a large field with a circular corral bordered by a dirt track. Horses of various ages and colors were grazing in the corral. No one seemed to be outside. Sheik jumped nimbly down onto the roof of the building he assumed was a barn.
The roof was tiled, and Sheik carefully made his way across the roof until he found a loose shingle. He removed it carefully and then wiggled the one above it until it too came loose. Then he peered through the hole he made. It was, in fact, a barn; the smell and lowing of cows filtering through the hole. In the dim light Sheik could make out one of the large creatures in its stall. A man wielding a pitchfork of hay was opening the empty stall next to it and grumbling. Sheik leaned down and focused on his voice.
"I feel like I just cleaned this place, and here I am, the great Ingo, doing it all over again. It never ends Bessie, it really doesn't. I work myself to the bone for that lazy Talon. Place should be called Ingo's Ranch for all the work I do!"
The cow, Bessie, leaned into the stall Ingo was cleaning and placed her snout against his head. It might have been a sweet sign of affection, but it left cow mucus in Ingo's dark hair.
"Stop that, you stupid thing! Even you animals are an ungrateful lot!"
Sheik's eavesdropping was interrupted by a loud, angry whinny. Sheik crawled to the edge of the roof. The whinny was followed by loud stomps and horsey snorts. Then a beautiful voice started singing. As Sheik reached the edge of the roof where it switched to the wooden top of the stables, he looked over and saw a beautiful chestnut horse with a white mane being stroked by a girl with hair just a bit brighter than the horse's coat. She was the one singing, the song apparently calming the horse. Although it stopped kicking the ground, it raised its head, nostrils flaring. Sheik backed up from the edge. The horse smelled him!
The singing stopped, "Hush Epona, what's gotten into you? Do you want to run, is that it?"
At that the horse whinnied happily, and the tinkling sound of the girl's laughter followed. Then there was the sound of the barn door opening.
"Malon, what's wrong? That horse has upset the cows!"
"I think she's just antsy. I'm going let her run herself out of whatever is bothering her."
Sheik got on his knees and watched Malon ride to the track around the corral. Then she leaned forward and they took off. Sheik knew almost nothing about horses, but after the first circuit, the horses in the corral joined the race and Epona's speed became clear. The horse seemed to fly. Malon was grinning, her hair whipping in the wind as she steered Epona around the corral for the fourth run. Ingo watched and whistled.
"That horse is the fastest I've ever seen. I could make a fortune with a horse like that. Of course Malon would never want to see her go, and Talon would never do anything to upset his daughter. Not that he'd do anything for any reason." Ingo chuckled at his lame joke and headed back into the barn.
Now that Epona and Malon were occupied and Ingo indoors, Sheik decided it was time to see the owner of the ranch. He quickly made his way to the part of the roof that was by the entrance. Then he dropped to the floor, ran to the other side and scaled the building in seconds. Back in hiding, he looked around the building to make sure no one had seen. Malon was taking Epona around another time but slower.
Looking in the second floor window, Sheik saw the room was unoccupied. With one of his needles, he undid the window latch and let himself in.
He guessed the house contained three bedrooms on this floor and probably none below. That meant it was only Ingo, Malon, and her parents on the ranch-which explained Ingo's tendency to talk to himself. It also meant he was most likely in Ingo's room. The single bed was made, the plain wardrobe contained men's clothing (mostly overalls), and there was a wooden desk covered in papers.
The papers were mostly financial, records of the ranch's expenses and income from its famous milk. Although Impa had her own cow, she and Sheik had sometimes purchased bottles of Lon Lon Milk when Kakariko's deliveries arrived. It was one resource of the ranch, though Sheik doubted delicious milk would save it from becoming Ganondorf's fortress.
Under the bookkeeping papers was a well-worn black book. Opening it, Sheik saw it was Ingo's journal. It mostly contained ranting similar to what he'd overheard. However it did reveal that Ingo wasn't all talk. He had put significant amount of thought into how exactly he'd run his own ranch. According to him, Lon Lon's true wealth lied in its horses which he claimed were the fastest in the world. Apparently, Lon Lon's horses were Malon's mother's pride and joy and she had often hosted races at the ranch, which she also almost always won. Sheik inferred from the way Ingo wrote about her that she had passed away and that Ingo had admired her. In fact, he had a picture of her tucked in the journal's pages. She looked a lot like Malon, although her face and nose were longer.
Sheik replaced everything the way he had found it, and listened at the door. There was no sound. Wishing he had his oil to ensure the door opened quietly, Sheik turned the handle and pushed. He thanked Hylia when it opened almost noiselessly. Sheik was now in a hall with three other doors. One was ajar and Sheik saw it was a bathroom. A set of stairs led to the main floor. From below, Sheik could hear soft clucking noises from downstairs. Cuccos? Curiosity got the better of Sheik, and he went to the top of the stairs. As he approached, he could see over the railing to a large open space. Cuccos were walking all over, pecking at the floorboards. As he reached the railing, he caught sight of a human figure. He almost retreated before he saw that it was asleep. This had to be Talon; a large bearded man who was slumped next to a wooden table with Cuccos pecking at his overalls. It was no wonder Ingo had so little respect for his boss.
Satisfied that if Talon could sleep through Cuccos, then he would sleep through Sheik opening a few doors, Sheik went back down the hall and opened the bedroom door across from the bathroom.
This must be Malon's room, he thought. It was well decorated and the bed was carefully made, the quilted comforter depicting horses and flowers. She also had a desk. On it were notes on the horses' development (complete with sketches) and some books on history, science, math, and language. There was also a framed portrait of a younger Talon and his wife holding a baby Malon. The drawer revealed a locked book and a sketchbook. Sheik decided not to open what he presumed was Malon's diary. He wanted to know how capable she was at running the ranch, a tentative plan having begun to form in his mind, and the notes on her desk were enough for Sheik.
He did, however, flip through the sketchbook. It was mostly filled with horses, but there were also a lot of drawings of handsome princely figures carrying a heart eyed Malon away. Sheik nearly dropped the book when he got to a section, an older one it would seem from the style, which was filled with pictures of a boy in green with a blue winged fairy by him. Link? The pictures sometimes included Malon, usually indulging romantic fantasy, but also sometimes a small chestnut mare. How did Link manage to pop up everywhere? Did Malon know who he was? Probably not. As much as Sheik wanted to interrogate Malon about everything she knew about the Hero, it was probably better she think about and mention Link as little as possible. Was it possible that Malon was a Sage?
No, Sheik guessed that Malon was what she appeared to be. An innocent girl, with a talent for horses, and apparently a penchant for romance. Being the owner's daughter, it didn't seem like she did much of the harder work. However, her talent with horses was something Ingo didn't have...
Sheik replaced everything in Malon's room. He surprised himself by feeling a little bitter towards Malon. She was about Sheik's age, but her life was so much simpler and pleasant. Sheik doubted he would truly be happy as a normal teenager, but he did wish things had turned out differently. He wanted to be serving the Princess at Impa's side, not desperately trying to save Hyrule while serving the Princess's murderer undercover. A sigh escaped Sheik, and he scolded himself. He had no right to be jealous of Malon's peaceful life. It was, after all, nearly over.