Part Five
Esiwmas stared down at the three pleading faces before him. 'No, four,' he thought aiming a hard look at the newest addition to this herd of mischief. Estev biting his lip as he often did whenever the request he was making was of the utmost importance to him, and Rolfe, stern faced, seemed to scarcely breathe as they awaited the trader's answer. These two combined were capable of creating enough trouble without the addition of the other half of the quartet.
"You can't just go around picking up strays." Esiwmas frowned. "He must have a home."
Rolfe said suddenly, "That's how you got me. You just picked me up. He needs us."
"Not the same thing at all, and you know it, Rolfe." Esiwmas replied, reaching out with a massive hand to tousle the boy's dark hair gently.
"Yes, it is," Rolfe insisted stubbornly. "He's got nobody, just like me. You took me in. Now we," a thumb jerked from himself to Estev," want to take him in."
Grateful for the unexpected support, Estev said earnestly, "You'll never know he's here. Me and Rolfe will do everything."
Esiwmas snorted his disbelief. "Where have I heard that before? Weren't the two of you supposed to help with stable chores after lessons? Where were you then?"
Estev chewed his lip again and glanced at Rolfe. It was his own fault they hadn't gotten back before lunch. Rolfe had warned him they would be in for it if they were late, but he had insisted on going with the other boys. That nmad blabber baby, Ferlan, with his honest to gosh Haradrim captain's medallion. He had started all this trouble.
The sight of that shining golden serpent in Ferlan's grubby paw had made Estev almost sick with envy. His father, while not forbidding him to search the Pelennor fields, had made it quite clear that he did not approve of the collecting of battle relics. Especially those of men.
Rolfe shrugged at Estev's look, but refused to comment. It was up to Estev to tell or not. Rolfe had agreed to go along.
"Uhh... well...."
The trader's blue eyes hardened as the boy squirmed. "If your actions are such that you must lie about them, perhaps you need to consider whether they are honorable."
"Yea, Fæder," said Estev slipping into his native Rohirric. When in the White City, his father encouraged the boys to speak the Common Tongue, but in his misery Estev could not find the words. Not for anything in all of Middle-Earth did he want to disappoint his father, but truly, no one else saw anything wrong with scavenging for relics.
"I will ask you once more, where were you when you had promised to return and assist in the stables?" Esiwmas said sternly.
Head hanging and refusing to meet his father's eyes, Estev replied in a low voice, "We went outside the wall to look for..." The boy's voice trailed off.
Drawing a deep breath, Esiwmas ran his hand through his already disheveled blonde hair. It had been one of those mornings when anything that could go wrong did. Now, he was faced with the hardest task he knew: punishing his son.
"To look for battle relics," finished Esiwmas when the silence lengthened. Glancing out the window to the courtyard, he saw almost the same chaos that had been there when he had first entered with the boys and their disreputable companions. He had no time for long lectures and any road, the boys must come to the understanding for themselves of the appropriateness of dishonoring the dead of any people.
"I will not repeat what I have told you concerning that. However," he said and waited for Estev to raise his head. "You and Rolfe must both receive punishment for failing to report back when you had committed to being here. A man who can not keep his word is one that can never be trusted. You must learn this. Do you both understand me?"
Estev's mumbled, "Yea, Fæder," and Rolfe's slightly louder, "Yes, sir," earned them a grudging nod.
"Fair enough, you will report to the stable master each noon and evening for the next three days. He will assign you tasks in addition to your regular chores." Clapping each boy on the shoulder and looking deeply into their eyes, Esiwmas exclaimed, "Now, I must try to unscramble the mess that idiotic wine merchant from the fifth circle has made in my courtyard. Nmad man, thinks he can show up with five extra crates and load them on the same number of animals."
Estev started to speak then thought better and bit his lip again. Rolfe, after a slight hesitation, said, "Esiwmas? About the dog? Can we keep it?"
Esiwmas paused in the act of pulling open the door and directed another frown at the two animals crouched at the boys' feet. Dog, as always, appeared to be following the conversation closely. Large and of an indiscriminate breed, Dog, according to Rolfe, possessed an intelligence equal to any man. Giving another glance out the window, Esiwmas was willing to concede the fact that Dog was certainly more intelligent than at least one wine merchant in the White City.
The second, smaller but equally furry, lifted his head as Esiwmas focused his attention on him. Sitting up, the black and white animal returned the man's regard steadily. In a move designed to appeal, it waved a white paw and wagged its tail.
Esiwmas snorted and said derisively, "You don't fool me for an instant. You've joined up with those three, I know what kind of creature you are. " Turning back to shake a stern finger at the boys, he continued, "I expect that you will check for anyone missing a dog of his description. Furthermore, I expect that you will all be on your best behavior until we leave for the Mark at the end of the month. There you will have the entire countryside to roam."
Estev and Rolfe were hard put to conceal their glee until Esiwmas was heard roaring in the courtyard. Extra chores from Martham, the stable master, was not as much punishment as Esiwmas supposed. Besides they had gotten what they wanted most.
"What do we call him?" Estev said, kneeling down to scratch the dog behind the ears.
"Can't call him Dog. Already got one of those." Rolfe laughed as Dog turned his head and gave him a slurping lick.
"We'll call him Jesse," stated Estev firmly after a moment's thought.
"Why? What's that mean?" asked Rolfe. Though becoming steadily more fluent in the rolling tongue of his adoptive family, Rolfe was constantly on watch for new words to add to his vocabulary.
"Nothin'," said Estev with a shrug. "I just like the sound of it."
"All right, Jesse, it is."
Author's note: As previously mentioned, many of these characters emerged from Role Playing and as such the names are not to canon. However, arguing with them about what to call them resulted in sulking muses.
Tolkien's Rohirrim speak a language traceable to Old English. My language skills are limited, but I have tried to translate to Old English in some cases. However, nmad is a made up mild curse that has become part of my oral vocabulary as well as my written.