Part II
"I'm originally from New Gumbrea. My mother died giving birth to me so I was raised by my father. Father is a noble and swore that I should marry another noble so that he knew that I would be taken care of when he no longer could. Unfortunately, he didn't really seem to care about what the noble was like. He interviewed all different types of bears - young, old, handsome, and usually ugly. I was only fourteen when he seriously started to search for a husband for me. He meant for a long engagement, but I didn't want to marry anyone that he chose. I wanted to marry for love - so I ran away."
"I managed to stow away on a trading ship. I wanted to make sure that I was on a ship that would take me far, far away. I love my father but I wanted to completely leave that kind of life behind. I did get caught by one of the crewmembers of the ship, but we worked out a deal. I did a lot of chores for everyone around the ship and they wouldn't toss me overboard. It worked out well until pirates hijacked us. Those of us that the pirates didn't kill were taken prisoner. We were treated well so that they could fetch a high price for us from a slave trader."
"Our captain was one of the survivors and after we had been handed over to the slave trader he led us on an escape. Everyone got away, but I couldn't keep up with my smaller size. I became lost and had no way of taking care of myself. Living as a courtesan I had no outdoor skills at all. When the gypsies found me I was starving and lying by a pond. It had been weeks and I had completely given up."
Shelli's story was interrupted as Vanier woke and began bellowing for his breakfast. She was already finished with it and was ready.
"Quick, Gusto. Lift up that bench you are on - there is a compartment underneath. You can hide there until we get ready to leave. Once we get going the wagon is so noisy that no one will hear us inside and Vanier will be outside driving." Gusto followed Shelli's instructions and was safely hidden when Vanier entered to get his breakfast.
"You let me sleep out in the open you ungrateful bear!" growled Vanier as he shoveled food into his mouth.
"Well, if you didn't pass out in a drunken stupor you would have been in your bed. You know very well that I can't lift you and that everyone else won't dare touch you when you are like that. Last time somebody tried to help you, you woke up and punched them before passing out again. You have yourself to blame," retorted Shelli.
"You are lucky that my wife taught you well or else I'd turn you back out for your insolence," grumbled Vanier. "Now what are you doing? Eating all the food supplies? You shouldn't be eating that much. People don't pay to see a fat bear dance."
Shelli had begun fixing her own breakfast and was trying to make enough for Gusto, too.
"You are the one who wanted me to dance. Dancing makes me hungry so it's your fault that I'm eating this much," retorted Shelli. She hoped that excuse would pacify him and stop him from asking too many questions.
"Just make sure you don't get fat now, you hear? You have to keep looking good if you want to pay for your own keep." said the gypsy.
Vanier didn't waste any more time talking and finished his breakfast. He believed that meal times shouldn't be wasted by talking and was peeved that he wasted time today. When finished, he grumpily got up and left to hitch the horse to the wagon. He seemed to now be giving Shelli the silent treatment and that was just fine with her.
Quickly, Shelli opened the lid of the bench and gave Gusto a biscuit and an apple. She warned him to stay where he was until they were moving. Gusto was grateful for the food since he hadn't eaten the night before. He was even more grateful when Shelli finally let him out and gave him the rest of his breakfast.
"Thank you for breakfast," Gusto managed between mouthfuls. "I didn't get dinner last night and I'm famished."
"My pleasure," Shelli responded, smiling. "It's just so nice to have a gummi to talk to again."
"Can you finish your story?" Gusto asked.
"Absolutely." Shelli sat down next to Gusto and thought to where she left off. "The gypsies found me but were going to leave me behind. They thought that I was too far-gone and couldn't be saved. All except for Sasha, Vanier's wife. She took me in and nursed me back to health. She never had children of her own so I became like a daughter to her. She taught me how to dance, to cook, to sew, and any other normal domestic activity that I used to have servants for. Vanier was much nicer back then, Sasha took care of him and he tolerated her taking me in."
"Last year Sasha came down with some kind of fever. We all thought it would pass but it just got worse. It ended up killing her and a part of Vanier died, too. That's when he took up drinking." The gummi paused in her story, wiping a few tears from her eyes at the memory of the one who cared for her. Gusto waited patiently for her to continue.
"Ever since then Vanier's temper got worse and he makes me dance for money. Whenever we really needed money in the past I had done it. Back then it felt more like I was helping the family out. Now, without Sasha, it's become work and the only thing that brings any money it at all."
"So why do you stay with him?" asked Gusto.
"Because until now I didn't have anywhere else to go. I also feel a bit guilty about leaving. After all, Vanier did shelter me for many years. I don't want to just abandon him."
"Won't the other gypsies help take care of him?"
"Well, yes..."
"And doesn't he beat you?"
"No! He's never done that." Shelli exclaimed. "He just bluffs a lot but he would never actually hurt me."
"I don't think you should trust him but you know him better than I do. You can always ask him if you can leave."
"But then he'd have no way of making money." Shelli sighed and changed the subject. "Didn't you say you were going to make a sketch for me?"
"Right! The outline if finished and I can make a portrait when I can get back to my paints. The grumbling of my stomach made me forget." Gusto pulled out the sketch and showed it to Shelli. It was a picture of her dancing the night before. She gasped in amazement. The picture was accurate but she thought that he glamoured her up a bit.
"It's lovely, but not quite right."
"I know. Without all the colors it seems incomplete."
"Not that. I meant that you make me look so...beautiful. I don't really look like that."
"I know, I know! I couldn't draw you well enough. It doesn't do you any justice at all. You are perfection and this is drivel."
"Now you are just mocking me," Shelli said angrily. Gusto looked at her shocked.
"I'm not mocking you. I'm telling you the truth! I just have to get you to my studio. Then I can completely concentrate on your portrait." Shelli began blushing again.
"You really think that I look like that?" she shyly asked.
"No," Gusto replied. "You are perfection."
"I'm originally from New Gumbrea. My mother died giving birth to me so I was raised by my father. Father is a noble and swore that I should marry another noble so that he knew that I would be taken care of when he no longer could. Unfortunately, he didn't really seem to care about what the noble was like. He interviewed all different types of bears - young, old, handsome, and usually ugly. I was only fourteen when he seriously started to search for a husband for me. He meant for a long engagement, but I didn't want to marry anyone that he chose. I wanted to marry for love - so I ran away."
"I managed to stow away on a trading ship. I wanted to make sure that I was on a ship that would take me far, far away. I love my father but I wanted to completely leave that kind of life behind. I did get caught by one of the crewmembers of the ship, but we worked out a deal. I did a lot of chores for everyone around the ship and they wouldn't toss me overboard. It worked out well until pirates hijacked us. Those of us that the pirates didn't kill were taken prisoner. We were treated well so that they could fetch a high price for us from a slave trader."
"Our captain was one of the survivors and after we had been handed over to the slave trader he led us on an escape. Everyone got away, but I couldn't keep up with my smaller size. I became lost and had no way of taking care of myself. Living as a courtesan I had no outdoor skills at all. When the gypsies found me I was starving and lying by a pond. It had been weeks and I had completely given up."
Shelli's story was interrupted as Vanier woke and began bellowing for his breakfast. She was already finished with it and was ready.
"Quick, Gusto. Lift up that bench you are on - there is a compartment underneath. You can hide there until we get ready to leave. Once we get going the wagon is so noisy that no one will hear us inside and Vanier will be outside driving." Gusto followed Shelli's instructions and was safely hidden when Vanier entered to get his breakfast.
"You let me sleep out in the open you ungrateful bear!" growled Vanier as he shoveled food into his mouth.
"Well, if you didn't pass out in a drunken stupor you would have been in your bed. You know very well that I can't lift you and that everyone else won't dare touch you when you are like that. Last time somebody tried to help you, you woke up and punched them before passing out again. You have yourself to blame," retorted Shelli.
"You are lucky that my wife taught you well or else I'd turn you back out for your insolence," grumbled Vanier. "Now what are you doing? Eating all the food supplies? You shouldn't be eating that much. People don't pay to see a fat bear dance."
Shelli had begun fixing her own breakfast and was trying to make enough for Gusto, too.
"You are the one who wanted me to dance. Dancing makes me hungry so it's your fault that I'm eating this much," retorted Shelli. She hoped that excuse would pacify him and stop him from asking too many questions.
"Just make sure you don't get fat now, you hear? You have to keep looking good if you want to pay for your own keep." said the gypsy.
Vanier didn't waste any more time talking and finished his breakfast. He believed that meal times shouldn't be wasted by talking and was peeved that he wasted time today. When finished, he grumpily got up and left to hitch the horse to the wagon. He seemed to now be giving Shelli the silent treatment and that was just fine with her.
Quickly, Shelli opened the lid of the bench and gave Gusto a biscuit and an apple. She warned him to stay where he was until they were moving. Gusto was grateful for the food since he hadn't eaten the night before. He was even more grateful when Shelli finally let him out and gave him the rest of his breakfast.
"Thank you for breakfast," Gusto managed between mouthfuls. "I didn't get dinner last night and I'm famished."
"My pleasure," Shelli responded, smiling. "It's just so nice to have a gummi to talk to again."
"Can you finish your story?" Gusto asked.
"Absolutely." Shelli sat down next to Gusto and thought to where she left off. "The gypsies found me but were going to leave me behind. They thought that I was too far-gone and couldn't be saved. All except for Sasha, Vanier's wife. She took me in and nursed me back to health. She never had children of her own so I became like a daughter to her. She taught me how to dance, to cook, to sew, and any other normal domestic activity that I used to have servants for. Vanier was much nicer back then, Sasha took care of him and he tolerated her taking me in."
"Last year Sasha came down with some kind of fever. We all thought it would pass but it just got worse. It ended up killing her and a part of Vanier died, too. That's when he took up drinking." The gummi paused in her story, wiping a few tears from her eyes at the memory of the one who cared for her. Gusto waited patiently for her to continue.
"Ever since then Vanier's temper got worse and he makes me dance for money. Whenever we really needed money in the past I had done it. Back then it felt more like I was helping the family out. Now, without Sasha, it's become work and the only thing that brings any money it at all."
"So why do you stay with him?" asked Gusto.
"Because until now I didn't have anywhere else to go. I also feel a bit guilty about leaving. After all, Vanier did shelter me for many years. I don't want to just abandon him."
"Won't the other gypsies help take care of him?"
"Well, yes..."
"And doesn't he beat you?"
"No! He's never done that." Shelli exclaimed. "He just bluffs a lot but he would never actually hurt me."
"I don't think you should trust him but you know him better than I do. You can always ask him if you can leave."
"But then he'd have no way of making money." Shelli sighed and changed the subject. "Didn't you say you were going to make a sketch for me?"
"Right! The outline if finished and I can make a portrait when I can get back to my paints. The grumbling of my stomach made me forget." Gusto pulled out the sketch and showed it to Shelli. It was a picture of her dancing the night before. She gasped in amazement. The picture was accurate but she thought that he glamoured her up a bit.
"It's lovely, but not quite right."
"I know. Without all the colors it seems incomplete."
"Not that. I meant that you make me look so...beautiful. I don't really look like that."
"I know, I know! I couldn't draw you well enough. It doesn't do you any justice at all. You are perfection and this is drivel."
"Now you are just mocking me," Shelli said angrily. Gusto looked at her shocked.
"I'm not mocking you. I'm telling you the truth! I just have to get you to my studio. Then I can completely concentrate on your portrait." Shelli began blushing again.
"You really think that I look like that?" she shyly asked.
"No," Gusto replied. "You are perfection."
