Chapter Thirteen -Comedy and Adventure
"...and he tripped and fell headfirst into the muckheap!"
Estriel finished triumphantly, the laughter soothing her frayed nerves better than wine. A man nearby offered to buy her a drink, and she let him, but only sipped at it- Jenna was eyeballing her in a suspicious manner, and she could not afford to let her mind be anything less than crystal clear.
"There once was a man in the village next to mine, and would you believe it...."
She began again. Darayne and Jenna, she noticed, were sitting quite close together. She had noticed their 'chemistry' before they had, and chose to interrupt it (in the name of friendship, of course) at certain points; sure that Raphael would be divinely furious if they slacked the job too much. The acquisition of the horses had seemed surprisingly easy, and the money? Well, let's say she suspected Gabriel and Michael were persuading Raph to be more...helpful...than he normally was. It was just too much luck to be all theirs. Also, the story telling was going down really well- a few hiccups, but she was surviving. And in comedy, that's the main aim.
After she'd finished, Barleyman the Barkeep had patted her back and told her that she could consider herself hired whenever she was in the neighbourhood. Profits had increased dramatically that evening, and the atmosphere had been excellent. He had pressed a couple of coins into her hand, which she had slipped into her belt, and told her breakfast was free.
She had told him of their early start, and he had been surprisingly obliging, agreeing to have a maid serve them before they left, and allowing her to buy provisions (which would also be ready in the morning.) She repeated the urgency that they leave early, then followed Jenna and Darayne up the stairs, where the two girls separated and
Darayne agreed to wake them an hour before Dawn. It seemed far too close to the exhausted girls; though, as usual, it was never too late for witticisms.
"Hey Jen?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you call a hobbit with vertigo?"
"What?"
"Optimistic...Geddit? Optimistic? Vertigo? Never mind."
"Oh, ok. Night."
"Night."
The next morning, Darayne tapped on their door until he heard them calling names at him- not nice ones either. He smiled to himself, shook his head, and went to finish packing.
Jenna was woken by Es a moment after she had managed to get back to sleep.
"What?" She grumbled, pulling her pillow to her grumpily.
"If I said 'last chance at a wash for at least a week' would you get up?"
"Wash? Where!?"
The absence of water for washing was one of the girls' biggest irritations. Jenna sat up, yawned, and watched Es hand her the shampoo.
"Where?"
She repeated, looking hungrily at the bottle of Herbal Essences.
"Female shower-room. Down the corridor and to the right. Rather advanced for Bree, I thought, but I suppose even Hobbits have to wash somehow. It's more like 'Baths' than showers, though. Hang on, and I'll be right with you..."
Es grabbed the small towels they had (very thin and quite frankly, more like hand towels than bath towels, but they weren't going to complain) and the conditioner, yawned, and led the way.
The baths seemed heavenly. They lingered for far too long, and had to rush back to their room to pack. Luckily, they were mostly done by the time Darayne sent the maid up to tell them that he was preparing the horses.
"Ok, so are you going to be ok, riding with Darayne? I mean, you won't swoon at his nearness and fall off the horse?"
Estriel teased, pleased by the radish-like blush that coloured every inch of visible skin on Jenna's head- even her ears seemed redder!
"Es!" Jenna exclaimed, unable to find words to reply. It was, after all, a definite possibility.
Estriel laughed, and swung her saddle bags over her shoulders (the rucksacks were coming too- one rolled inside the other, which also contained some of Jenna's stuff- because they were trying to distribute weight equally on the two poor horses; Darayne would have his stuff on Thorn, Es would have hers on Meg, but since Jenna would be riding with Darayne most of the time, some of her stuff was going on Meg to save poor Thorn's breaking back. It was lucky Thorn was 17 hands and strongly built!
"Come on then, messy Essy, finish packing and let's go," said Jenna, grabbing her stuff and prancing out of the room, leaving an astounded Es to grab the rest of their belongings and follow her, smiling ruefully at her friends' revenge. They left some money for Barleyman, and picked up the food from the kitchen.
Darayne was checking Thorn and Meg over when they got into the courtyard. The tack had obviously been cleaned, and shone well, the leather supple against the well groomed horses' coats. Es tipped the hovering Ostler well, and started loading her stuff on Meg.
The water bottles had been exchanged by Darayne for skins (he had bought the girls one each at a good price from a retired traveller he knew) and the girls were pleased that their stuff didn't appear much weightier than Darayne's. He seemed to have bought a lot in preparation for their journey, between the three of them; he was, Es reflected, probably the most useful at that sort of stuff.
"Ok, Raph, Darayne seems too good to be true- are you interfering? Well, thanks, I guess." She muttered under her breath, not forgetful of their resident guardian angel's promise to help where he could.
She finished strapping her saddle bags on, and grabbed a bit of rope Jenna had fetched (she was very observant, and had noticed that Es would need it way before Es had) and proceeded to tie the rucksack on as best she could. Darayne was helping Jenna mount, with the assistance of a mounting block, and she could hear them laughing together, as Thorn moved restlessly when Jenna plucked up the courage to try and sit.
"Hey Essie! Look at me! I'm riding!"
Jenna squealed, and Es bit back a grin.
"Yes you are, Jen, yes you are."
Darayne led Thorn over to Meg's left, and helped Es tie the rucksack on, explaining that it needed to stay still when they moved at speed, or it might frighten Meg or come loose, and that there was a way to tie it on properly. Es learned how to tie good knots quickly, and reflected once more on how useful Darayne was.
She swung up into the saddle, and waited for Darayne to hop up (he made it look so damn easy, darnit...) before walking Meg out of the courtyard and towards the gate.
As they walked, Es looked about her, surveying her surroundings with interest. It could be a painting- 'Village at rest' or something. It was lovely, full of light and shadow, but, she noticed, some shadows were thicker than others... She shrugged her thick cloak about her, and didn't notice the man lurking deep in the shadows, dressed in full black, who said nothing, but watched the three ride into the wild, with a small foreboding smile...
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