Chapter Two:
Kurt was woken up by a switch striking him on the arm the next morning. With a yelp he woke up, and he saw an arrogant looking young man standing over him. His eyes were like ice chips and his hair was snow white, two slivers hanging over his eyes.
His eyes glittered as he struck Kurt again.
"On your feet you lazy beast." He said. "God frowns on lazy slaves." Slowly, Kurt got to his feet, flinching slightly when the young man snorted at him in disgust.
"Filthy! Absolutely filthy!" he said. "The Father will want you cleaned up before you do anything with his animals. Come on!" Grabbing Kurt roughly by the arm, he dragged him out of the pigsty, ignoring the shackles on his ankles that tripped him up as he tried to make him go faster.
He brought Kurt to a well and he ordered him to draw water and then strip.
"I will be back in a few minutes." He explained. "If you're not clean when I return, you'll be sorry." With that, he turned and headed for the mansion.
Slowly, Kurt drew water from the well. He then peeled off the rags that had once been clothes, his pants catching on his shackles and giving him some difficulty.
The water was cold, but Kurt couldn't help but close his eyes in pleasure as the dried mud, blood, and filth was washed out of his cobalt blue fur. When this was finished, he used his fingers to smooth down his fur and fix his hair.
"You certainly clean up well." Kurt's cheeks burned violet and when he turned around; the young man slapped him, making his nose start to bleed.
"Vanity is a great sin in the eyes of the Lord!" he said. "I should make you work naked for the entire day as punishment, but the good Father has told me to give you these clothes to wear. You owe him for that!" He gave Kurt a pair of tweed britches and a white shirt.
"Hurry up and put them on." He snapped. Kurt paused for a moment, wondering if he was allowed to say something or not. "What's the matter?"
"These chains... I can't..."
"Oh hold still!" Kneeling down, he unlocked the shackles on Kurt's ankles. Kurt dressed, and the shackles were put back on.
"Now get to work. You've wasted enough time!" Nodding, Kurt went to tend to the pigs first, hoping that that young man wouldn't come back to see his progress any time soon.
He raked the mud to smooth it out first, the pigs staying in one corner as if to let him do his work without any trouble. He then gave the pigs fresh water and a good washing, making quite a few trips to the well to get the water.
He spoke to them while he washed them, acting as if he could hear what they were saying in return. It was a kind of defense mechanism for him; making things seem less terrible than the really were by acting like he enjoyed his life so far.
"How long have you been here? Five years, my! That's a long time for a pig like you.
"And you? How long have you been here? Only two? But you look so much older than just two years here? He bought you at an auction did he? Well I suppose that makes sense when you think about it.
"Whoops! Hold on a moment you! You have a huge wad of mud in your ear! There! Can you hear me now, pig? That must have been annoying eh? No, a simple thanks is all I need, you can keep your gold for someone else!
"Oh I agree! Your two piglets [i]are[/i] both quite handsome, miss! I'll make sure to wash them extra well for you!"
When he was finished, he washed his hands in the mast bit of clean water, and he left to go and tend to the cows, but not without a few parting words.
"Auf Wiedersehen, my friends! I shall be joining you for lunch later on today. Now don't go getting too mucky. It's not too hot out to try and cool down you know!"
His master had four cows in all, with one bull and a single brown calf. Smiling faintly, he went to the well and drew some water, which is used to brush and clean them with, talking to them as usual.
"Well what do you think, Bull? Shall I let you and the ladies go out for a walk in the fields. You certainly could use the exercise, a bull like you with such strong limbs needs to let them stretch out a bit right? Well hold on a tick and you and the others will be out and grazing in no time.
"Ach!" The calf had been watching Kurt's tail swaying for quite some time, before it decided to see if it tasted any good. Gritting his teeth, Kurt gently opened up the calf's mouth, and he took out his tail, which now had a slight bend to it from where he had been bitten.
"No worries!" he said, smiling weakly as he started to clean the calf. "You didn't do any real damage to my tail, but next time I would appreciate a warning first before you decide to taste something of mine all right?" Looking at him with watery brown eyes, the calf let out a noise of agreement. Smiling, Kurt stroked its head.
"That's better!"
When he was finished cleaning up the animals, Kurt turned to two of the cows, which were full of milk. Tilting his head to one side, he wondered why there was only one calf if these two were producing milk. He shrugged it off, Gadje had strange habits when it came to tending to their animals.
Crouching down, Kurt milked one of the cows, figuring that the calf would milk the other once they were out in the fields, since it was still too young to start eating grass yet.
"You're putting up with this quite well, m'lady." He said, looking over at the sleepy looking cow. "You certainly have a large amount of patience for someone who has people come in here and start to milk you. Then again, I suspect it would be different if my hands were cold now wouldn't it?" The cow mooed softly in agreement. Laughing softly, Kurt nodded and he finished up, taking the milk and placing it outside of the barn.
"Now, who wants to go outside?" he asked, walking back into the barn. One by one he led them to the green fields, and he hung back as he watched them walk around lazily for a moment before they got into their routine of grazing and whatnot. The calf started to suckle on the unmilked cow almost at once, its tail swinging side to side excitedly.
Leaning on the fence that surrounded their grazing field, Kurt crossed his arms over his chest, and he tilted his head to one side as he thought back.
They hadn't been able to have many animals, since they were always on the run from the hunters, but one of their tribe members, a man named Zelig, had been to a farm once, and he told them all how to tend to the animals there properly. He said that it was important to know, in case they ever have the ability to settle down for at least a year or some on fertile soil to at least make some sort of living before the hunters found them out and drove them to running once more.
Margali had dismissed these lessons, saying that farming was what the Queen of Spain wanted them to do, when that was not their life's work. She said that their ancestors had been rovers, doing this and that for their living, and if that was good for them then, it was still good for them now.
Zelig had countered this by pointing out the fact that they were being rounded up by the thousands and sold as slaves. Obviously, their old ways were of no use anymore if they were being branded and put in chains for it.
The two butted heads for the longest time, until Zelig finally packed up his things and left the tribe, saying that anyone who wished to join him could do so and have no fear of being put in slave chains any time soon.
Only four people went with him, and Margali cursed each one of them for turning their backs on their own people like that.
Kurt sighed softly, shaking his head faintly at the memory. Maybe if Margali had listened to Zelig... No, that wasn't right. Margali had only done what she thought was right for her tribe, and Zelig had no right to try and break the tribe up like he had.
Kurt's thoughts would have continued in this fashion if he had not caught movement in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw the young man walking over to him, and he instantly stood up straight and his tail tucked in-between his legs.
He took a step back slightly when the young man was close to him, and he flinched when he pointed over to the suckling calf.
"Why hasn't that cow been milked?" he demanded. Kurt looked over at the cow and calf and he sighed softly.
"The calf is not old enough to eat grass yet." He explained. "I thought that if I only milked one cow, the calf would simply milk the other on its own."
"That's another thing! Where is this bucket of milk?"
"I put it in front of the barn." Kurt said. "I thought someone would pick it up and..."
"Show me." Sighing, Kurt turned and he led the overseer to the barn, where he found the bucket, overturned and with the milk all around it. As the overseer turned on him, Kurt shook his head slowly in disbelief.
"I put it there carefully! It wasn't in a position to just fall over like that!" he cried.
"You've wasted some of the master's milk, and you've done your work half well in dealing with the cows in general. I also caught you daydreaming just now out in the fields. Do you know how many lashes that all comes up to?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. Kurt slowly shook his head, hugging himself slightly.
"You will tonight." He said, smiling wickedly as he turned and walked away.
Shaking his head slowly, Kurt knelt down and he picked up the bucket, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. There was a large dent in the bucket, one that he had not seen before.
It looked as if someone had kicked the bucket over on purpose.
Chapter Three:
When noon arrived, Kurt watched as a fat old woman came waddling up to him and the pigsty, looking like she was sucking on a lemon. She shoved the slope bucket into his hands, and she clucked softly in disgust as she turned and headed back to the house in a hurry, placing a handkerchief to her nose, as if the smell of the pigs offended her too much.
Looking down into the bucket, Kurt saw that it was filled with cold oat porridge, apple peels, potato peels, one banana peel, and a few things that didn't look like anything he had ever seen before.
Shrugging faintly, Kurt went into the pigsty and he immediately found the pigs crowding around him, pawing eagerly at his pant leg as he headed for their feeding trough.
"Easy now!" Kurt said. "You mustn't crowd me like this! I may fall and spill this all over the place! And then how will I get my share of the food? Eat it all muddy?" Looking into the bucket, he cocked an eyebrow slightly.
"Actually, I think a little mud would make this taste better! What do you think?" Smiling faintly, he leaned forward and he poured the slope into the trough, nearly falling to the ground as the pigs went at it with a passion.
"Mein Gott!" he laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "Has he not been feeding you at all?" he asked. "Well, you'll need to move over a little and share some of that with me if you don't mind!" Slowly, Kurt reached down into the trough, and he was able to get two potato peels before he was forced to remove his hand, lest one of the pigs accidentally bite him.
"Is this what you're giving me?" he asked, sitting down on the fence. "My good sirs, you are far too kind in your generous nature! Surely you can see this!" Smiling weakly, he ate the peels, and scraped the last bit of porridge out of the bucket and into his mouth.
"I don't know about you, but I think I'll be full for a whole month!" he said with a laugh. "Now if you don't mind, the horses are calling for me!" Leaping off of the fence, he went into the stables, and he found his foster sister standing in front of the mare Zelda, stroking her neck lightly.
"Jimaine?" he whispered softly. She turned to look at him, and his eyes grew wide when he saw that the scar on her face was huge and pouring dark blood. He took a step back and he couldn't help but look away. When he opened his eyes and looked back, she was gone.
"What...was that?" he whispered, looking around the stables. The horses looked at him in a questioning manner, having sensed nothing around them. All except for Zelda, who was in a cold sweat and shivering badly.
"Oh you poor thing." Kurt whispered, stroking her nose slightly. "I'll go get you some blankets." Looking around, he took out a blanket and he placed it over Zelda's back, stroking her neck gently and whispering gently to her. When he felt that she had calmed down, he turned around and started to tend to the rest of the horses.
The dogs were more ferocious this time around. More of them lashed out at him, and he received a lot more bites on his arms and legs and tail this time. He ignored this and he fed and cleaned those who would allow him to get close to them, but the rest he was forced to leave alone.
When night fell, he stood in front of the pigsty, waiting to see what would happen to him when his master arrived. When he saw his master coming, with a whip in his hand, he couldn't help but shiver and hug himself.
His master checked the animals, and he found no fault with the rest of their care.
"Why does Zelda have a blanket?" he asked.
"When I came in, she was shivering and in a cold sweat." Kurt explained softly. "I thought that putting the blanket on might help her."
"And the milk?"
"I didn't know where to put it, and I didn't know that it would topple over." Kurt said. "I put it on flat ground."
"And why didn't you milk the other cow?"
"The calf is not old enough to eat grass, master. The calf needs milk still." His master narrowed his eyes slightly, twisting the whipcord slightly as he thought about this.
"If Zelda's condition gets better, I will have you to thank." He said slowly. "Zelda is one of my most prized horses. However, Pietro told me that you were lazy with the cows, and you wasted the milk by letting it spill over. That calls for some kind of punishment. I think five lashes will do.
"Now, take off your shirt and turn around. I suggest holding onto that fence to act as something to lean on." He directed, his voice still as calm as ever. Even though his master spoke softly and gently, Kurt could tell that protesting this would be quite useless. He slowly took off his shirt and he turned around, holding onto his fence tightly and bracing himself.
The lashings came swiftly, the last three cutting into his flesh. Kurt winced and he bit his tongue, making it bleed slightly.
"You will milk BOTH cows." His master directed. "You will then take the buckets and place them near the kitchen door near the mansion. You will not set foot into the kitchen however, as you know from your first night being here and my rules. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master." He said softly. As his master headed back for the mansion, Kurt slowly went into the pigsty and he laid down, wincing as the mud went into his wound. Some of the pigs walked up slowly, and they laid down beside him in an attempt to comfort him.
Kurt was woken up by a switch striking him on the arm the next morning. With a yelp he woke up, and he saw an arrogant looking young man standing over him. His eyes were like ice chips and his hair was snow white, two slivers hanging over his eyes.
His eyes glittered as he struck Kurt again.
"On your feet you lazy beast." He said. "God frowns on lazy slaves." Slowly, Kurt got to his feet, flinching slightly when the young man snorted at him in disgust.
"Filthy! Absolutely filthy!" he said. "The Father will want you cleaned up before you do anything with his animals. Come on!" Grabbing Kurt roughly by the arm, he dragged him out of the pigsty, ignoring the shackles on his ankles that tripped him up as he tried to make him go faster.
He brought Kurt to a well and he ordered him to draw water and then strip.
"I will be back in a few minutes." He explained. "If you're not clean when I return, you'll be sorry." With that, he turned and headed for the mansion.
Slowly, Kurt drew water from the well. He then peeled off the rags that had once been clothes, his pants catching on his shackles and giving him some difficulty.
The water was cold, but Kurt couldn't help but close his eyes in pleasure as the dried mud, blood, and filth was washed out of his cobalt blue fur. When this was finished, he used his fingers to smooth down his fur and fix his hair.
"You certainly clean up well." Kurt's cheeks burned violet and when he turned around; the young man slapped him, making his nose start to bleed.
"Vanity is a great sin in the eyes of the Lord!" he said. "I should make you work naked for the entire day as punishment, but the good Father has told me to give you these clothes to wear. You owe him for that!" He gave Kurt a pair of tweed britches and a white shirt.
"Hurry up and put them on." He snapped. Kurt paused for a moment, wondering if he was allowed to say something or not. "What's the matter?"
"These chains... I can't..."
"Oh hold still!" Kneeling down, he unlocked the shackles on Kurt's ankles. Kurt dressed, and the shackles were put back on.
"Now get to work. You've wasted enough time!" Nodding, Kurt went to tend to the pigs first, hoping that that young man wouldn't come back to see his progress any time soon.
He raked the mud to smooth it out first, the pigs staying in one corner as if to let him do his work without any trouble. He then gave the pigs fresh water and a good washing, making quite a few trips to the well to get the water.
He spoke to them while he washed them, acting as if he could hear what they were saying in return. It was a kind of defense mechanism for him; making things seem less terrible than the really were by acting like he enjoyed his life so far.
"How long have you been here? Five years, my! That's a long time for a pig like you.
"And you? How long have you been here? Only two? But you look so much older than just two years here? He bought you at an auction did he? Well I suppose that makes sense when you think about it.
"Whoops! Hold on a moment you! You have a huge wad of mud in your ear! There! Can you hear me now, pig? That must have been annoying eh? No, a simple thanks is all I need, you can keep your gold for someone else!
"Oh I agree! Your two piglets [i]are[/i] both quite handsome, miss! I'll make sure to wash them extra well for you!"
When he was finished, he washed his hands in the mast bit of clean water, and he left to go and tend to the cows, but not without a few parting words.
"Auf Wiedersehen, my friends! I shall be joining you for lunch later on today. Now don't go getting too mucky. It's not too hot out to try and cool down you know!"
His master had four cows in all, with one bull and a single brown calf. Smiling faintly, he went to the well and drew some water, which is used to brush and clean them with, talking to them as usual.
"Well what do you think, Bull? Shall I let you and the ladies go out for a walk in the fields. You certainly could use the exercise, a bull like you with such strong limbs needs to let them stretch out a bit right? Well hold on a tick and you and the others will be out and grazing in no time.
"Ach!" The calf had been watching Kurt's tail swaying for quite some time, before it decided to see if it tasted any good. Gritting his teeth, Kurt gently opened up the calf's mouth, and he took out his tail, which now had a slight bend to it from where he had been bitten.
"No worries!" he said, smiling weakly as he started to clean the calf. "You didn't do any real damage to my tail, but next time I would appreciate a warning first before you decide to taste something of mine all right?" Looking at him with watery brown eyes, the calf let out a noise of agreement. Smiling, Kurt stroked its head.
"That's better!"
When he was finished cleaning up the animals, Kurt turned to two of the cows, which were full of milk. Tilting his head to one side, he wondered why there was only one calf if these two were producing milk. He shrugged it off, Gadje had strange habits when it came to tending to their animals.
Crouching down, Kurt milked one of the cows, figuring that the calf would milk the other once they were out in the fields, since it was still too young to start eating grass yet.
"You're putting up with this quite well, m'lady." He said, looking over at the sleepy looking cow. "You certainly have a large amount of patience for someone who has people come in here and start to milk you. Then again, I suspect it would be different if my hands were cold now wouldn't it?" The cow mooed softly in agreement. Laughing softly, Kurt nodded and he finished up, taking the milk and placing it outside of the barn.
"Now, who wants to go outside?" he asked, walking back into the barn. One by one he led them to the green fields, and he hung back as he watched them walk around lazily for a moment before they got into their routine of grazing and whatnot. The calf started to suckle on the unmilked cow almost at once, its tail swinging side to side excitedly.
Leaning on the fence that surrounded their grazing field, Kurt crossed his arms over his chest, and he tilted his head to one side as he thought back.
They hadn't been able to have many animals, since they were always on the run from the hunters, but one of their tribe members, a man named Zelig, had been to a farm once, and he told them all how to tend to the animals there properly. He said that it was important to know, in case they ever have the ability to settle down for at least a year or some on fertile soil to at least make some sort of living before the hunters found them out and drove them to running once more.
Margali had dismissed these lessons, saying that farming was what the Queen of Spain wanted them to do, when that was not their life's work. She said that their ancestors had been rovers, doing this and that for their living, and if that was good for them then, it was still good for them now.
Zelig had countered this by pointing out the fact that they were being rounded up by the thousands and sold as slaves. Obviously, their old ways were of no use anymore if they were being branded and put in chains for it.
The two butted heads for the longest time, until Zelig finally packed up his things and left the tribe, saying that anyone who wished to join him could do so and have no fear of being put in slave chains any time soon.
Only four people went with him, and Margali cursed each one of them for turning their backs on their own people like that.
Kurt sighed softly, shaking his head faintly at the memory. Maybe if Margali had listened to Zelig... No, that wasn't right. Margali had only done what she thought was right for her tribe, and Zelig had no right to try and break the tribe up like he had.
Kurt's thoughts would have continued in this fashion if he had not caught movement in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw the young man walking over to him, and he instantly stood up straight and his tail tucked in-between his legs.
He took a step back slightly when the young man was close to him, and he flinched when he pointed over to the suckling calf.
"Why hasn't that cow been milked?" he demanded. Kurt looked over at the cow and calf and he sighed softly.
"The calf is not old enough to eat grass yet." He explained. "I thought that if I only milked one cow, the calf would simply milk the other on its own."
"That's another thing! Where is this bucket of milk?"
"I put it in front of the barn." Kurt said. "I thought someone would pick it up and..."
"Show me." Sighing, Kurt turned and he led the overseer to the barn, where he found the bucket, overturned and with the milk all around it. As the overseer turned on him, Kurt shook his head slowly in disbelief.
"I put it there carefully! It wasn't in a position to just fall over like that!" he cried.
"You've wasted some of the master's milk, and you've done your work half well in dealing with the cows in general. I also caught you daydreaming just now out in the fields. Do you know how many lashes that all comes up to?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. Kurt slowly shook his head, hugging himself slightly.
"You will tonight." He said, smiling wickedly as he turned and walked away.
Shaking his head slowly, Kurt knelt down and he picked up the bucket, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. There was a large dent in the bucket, one that he had not seen before.
It looked as if someone had kicked the bucket over on purpose.
Chapter Three:
When noon arrived, Kurt watched as a fat old woman came waddling up to him and the pigsty, looking like she was sucking on a lemon. She shoved the slope bucket into his hands, and she clucked softly in disgust as she turned and headed back to the house in a hurry, placing a handkerchief to her nose, as if the smell of the pigs offended her too much.
Looking down into the bucket, Kurt saw that it was filled with cold oat porridge, apple peels, potato peels, one banana peel, and a few things that didn't look like anything he had ever seen before.
Shrugging faintly, Kurt went into the pigsty and he immediately found the pigs crowding around him, pawing eagerly at his pant leg as he headed for their feeding trough.
"Easy now!" Kurt said. "You mustn't crowd me like this! I may fall and spill this all over the place! And then how will I get my share of the food? Eat it all muddy?" Looking into the bucket, he cocked an eyebrow slightly.
"Actually, I think a little mud would make this taste better! What do you think?" Smiling faintly, he leaned forward and he poured the slope into the trough, nearly falling to the ground as the pigs went at it with a passion.
"Mein Gott!" he laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "Has he not been feeding you at all?" he asked. "Well, you'll need to move over a little and share some of that with me if you don't mind!" Slowly, Kurt reached down into the trough, and he was able to get two potato peels before he was forced to remove his hand, lest one of the pigs accidentally bite him.
"Is this what you're giving me?" he asked, sitting down on the fence. "My good sirs, you are far too kind in your generous nature! Surely you can see this!" Smiling weakly, he ate the peels, and scraped the last bit of porridge out of the bucket and into his mouth.
"I don't know about you, but I think I'll be full for a whole month!" he said with a laugh. "Now if you don't mind, the horses are calling for me!" Leaping off of the fence, he went into the stables, and he found his foster sister standing in front of the mare Zelda, stroking her neck lightly.
"Jimaine?" he whispered softly. She turned to look at him, and his eyes grew wide when he saw that the scar on her face was huge and pouring dark blood. He took a step back and he couldn't help but look away. When he opened his eyes and looked back, she was gone.
"What...was that?" he whispered, looking around the stables. The horses looked at him in a questioning manner, having sensed nothing around them. All except for Zelda, who was in a cold sweat and shivering badly.
"Oh you poor thing." Kurt whispered, stroking her nose slightly. "I'll go get you some blankets." Looking around, he took out a blanket and he placed it over Zelda's back, stroking her neck gently and whispering gently to her. When he felt that she had calmed down, he turned around and started to tend to the rest of the horses.
The dogs were more ferocious this time around. More of them lashed out at him, and he received a lot more bites on his arms and legs and tail this time. He ignored this and he fed and cleaned those who would allow him to get close to them, but the rest he was forced to leave alone.
When night fell, he stood in front of the pigsty, waiting to see what would happen to him when his master arrived. When he saw his master coming, with a whip in his hand, he couldn't help but shiver and hug himself.
His master checked the animals, and he found no fault with the rest of their care.
"Why does Zelda have a blanket?" he asked.
"When I came in, she was shivering and in a cold sweat." Kurt explained softly. "I thought that putting the blanket on might help her."
"And the milk?"
"I didn't know where to put it, and I didn't know that it would topple over." Kurt said. "I put it on flat ground."
"And why didn't you milk the other cow?"
"The calf is not old enough to eat grass, master. The calf needs milk still." His master narrowed his eyes slightly, twisting the whipcord slightly as he thought about this.
"If Zelda's condition gets better, I will have you to thank." He said slowly. "Zelda is one of my most prized horses. However, Pietro told me that you were lazy with the cows, and you wasted the milk by letting it spill over. That calls for some kind of punishment. I think five lashes will do.
"Now, take off your shirt and turn around. I suggest holding onto that fence to act as something to lean on." He directed, his voice still as calm as ever. Even though his master spoke softly and gently, Kurt could tell that protesting this would be quite useless. He slowly took off his shirt and he turned around, holding onto his fence tightly and bracing himself.
The lashings came swiftly, the last three cutting into his flesh. Kurt winced and he bit his tongue, making it bleed slightly.
"You will milk BOTH cows." His master directed. "You will then take the buckets and place them near the kitchen door near the mansion. You will not set foot into the kitchen however, as you know from your first night being here and my rules. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master." He said softly. As his master headed back for the mansion, Kurt slowly went into the pigsty and he laid down, wincing as the mud went into his wound. Some of the pigs walked up slowly, and they laid down beside him in an attempt to comfort him.