Lance was right in his impression of the captain. He wouldn't trust anybody with his horses. Lance couldn't blame him. He liked horses, too, and he'd never seen such fine horses.
"I'll take excellent care of all of them for you, Captain."he told him.
"I certainly hope so, boy. Don't make me regret having given you this job."
"Do you race?"
"Not often. I don't have the time to be gambling, and doing such things. My job is very demanding. However, I do, every now and then. And for that reason, I want all of my horses in top shape all the time. Make sure every one of them gets their exercise, and that they don't grow restless and bored."
So every day, Lance would feed the horses. The captain was very particular about what they were allowed to eat, and in what quantities. He would groom them, ride them, take them for walks, and made sure that their stalls were clean and the horses were comfortable. After the first couple of weeks, the captain pronounced himself very pleased with him.
"You've been doing a wonderful job."
"Thanks."
"They all look wonderful. I'd come by more, but I don't really have that much time. Mostly, I only ride Bonito, to get to and from the quartel, and I don't have time to come and look at all my other horses as much as I'd like to."
"I'm sure they miss you."
Captain Ortiz smiled at him.
"I would hope so. For this,"the captain reached into his pocket, and drew out a bag of coins, and gave them to Lance. "For such a good job. I knew I wasn't wrong about you, boy. I congratulate you. Saddle Lucio for me. I'm going to pay a visit to a friend of mine. I'd like him ready in ten minutes. No more."
"Yes, Captain."answered Lance, and he went to saddle the horse for him.
He put the saddle and bridle on the horse, and led him to the front of the house, where he waited for the captain.
"Here he is. Anxious to get out and about."
"I won him in a game of cards."
I didn't know you gambled, Captain."said Lance. "Uh, I mean…"
He would surely be in trouble, insinuating such a thing. Fortunately, the captain didn't seem to be disturbed by it.
"Well, who doesn't?"he said as he mounted the horse.
"Wow! What did you do?"asked Pietro, looking at the number of coins that came out of the bag.
"He said I'm doing a good job."
"At least better than Toad over there."said Blob.
The owner of the hotel had hired Toad to help with the maintenance, but he didn't seem too pleased with him, considered that Toad himself wasn't very clean, and it seemed a lot of the people staying there had complained. Pietro helped with the cooking at some guy's house, and Blob cleaned the streets, for the mayor of the town.
"At least one of us is getting good money."sighed Toad.
"Well, there's nothing to it. He owns a lot of horses, but it's fun. And so long as his horses are happy, he's happy with me. The happier his horses are, the more pleased he is with me. That's all there is to it."
"At least it isn't as smelly as walking around in a stable all day."said Pietro, as the guy he worked for was a bachelor, and the one who gave the orders and ran the household was his butler, who was an old man, and wanted things in perfect order.
Fernanda drank her chocolate, as her handmaid walked in, and annouonced that el Captain Ortiz was here. Fernanda immediately put down the cup of chocolate.
"Take out the dress, and I'd like you to do my hair."she said.
Mago took out a dress from the wardrobe, and did her lady's hair.
"How do I look?"she asked.
"Wonderful, su excellencia."
Fernanda picked up her fan, and went out of the room. Her uncle was sitting in his chair, and the captain opposite of him, drinking wine. Her mother was also there. So was her cousing, Javier.
"The captian has given us the honor of this visit."said her uncle.
"Yup. No doubt that he should hold us in very high regard if he does us the honor of making time in his busy schedule to come and visit us here, in the palace, right…tiita."said Javier, winking.
"Yes, much gusto, Capitan Ortiz."said Fernanda.
"El gusto es mio."said the captain.
Fernanda, of course, had no interest in the things her uncle and the captain talked about. Apparently, neither did her cousin, although he always tried to look mildly interested. She only liked visits from the captain because he was the most handsome man in the entire town. He was so distinguished and cultured. Javier always said that this should be the man she should marry. She knew he only said it as a joke, after all, she didn't think it was likely that she could ever marry anyone.
"Did you find someone to take care of your horses, Captain?"asked Ricardo. "Lucio looks very well, considering the fact that you had to get rid of the idiot whom you had before."
"Yes. That was most unfortunate, but he couldn't even tell the difference between a horse and a mule! He just didn't know what he was doing. Imagine, giving them the leftovers that were meant for the pigs. They were so depressed, also. However, I did find a replacement for him. And this one, he seems to know exactly what he's doing. He's very efficient."
"Who is he? Where is he from?"
"I'm not sure. He came here from somewhere else. I've never asked him. However, he said he needed money badly, and this seems to be just his thing."
"Does he have any family? Do you know?"
"No, he doesn't. He just lives, it seems with some friends of his that he's known for quite a while. His name is Lance Alvers."