Casper slept lightly last night, always with an ear open for more disturbances, always prepared to retreat back to the glasshouse, should the need arise. He was sadly disappointed. It was quiet all through the dark hours and even early the next morning, making the tiring vigil entirely unnecessary. During that entire time, Myr did not return to the house. His conspicuous absence through the night made Casper uneasy. His continued absence this morning fills him with growing dread. The fact of the matter is, so long as Myr’s whereabouts remain unknown, Casper has no means of avoiding him. Myr could be anywhere and Casper’s just as liable to get jumped by him as not no matter where he goes.
Today isn’t going to be a good day. Casper can feel it. He’ll have to grit his teeth and bear it, come what may. He’s a sitting duck in his nest beneath the tables. The best course of action right now is to keep moving. As for the best way to start off what is doomed to be a most dreadful day, why not start with breakfast? Naturally, that means he’s off to the glasshouse as soon as he’s dressed and ready for the day. No leaving behind his shoes this time; he’ll be needing them if he’s going to be running amok.
He’s well into decimating more of the crop when Balor comes in to do his morning gardening. The man pauses a beat, taking in the sight of him bent over the bed of greens before he resumes his work.
“I suggest you forgo the espinac for the next week or so, Casper. They are looking bare and could use the reprieve to recover and grow new leaves.”
“M’okay,” Casper chews around a mouthful. “What else can I eat?”
“Ah, well… Do you see those bright green leaves with red stalks? No, not those, the other ones with narrower stalks, in the soil bed to your left… Your other left, Casper. Yes, those. They are called beta. Their leaves and stems are edible.”
“You know, this’d be way easier if you jus’, oh, I dunno… Got up and showed me yourself?”
“I could, though you now find yourself conveniently next to that which you seek. This is therefore a more effective solution, is it not?”
Casper shakes his head. He knows the big guy well enough by now to realize when he’s playing with him. “Whatever you say old man.”
“Old man?” That caught his attention. “Wherever did you get that idea? I look scarce little of the part of a wizened elder.”
“Well, yeah, but you’d hardly look your age anyhow.”
Balor leans back against a seed cabinet propped against the wall and gauges him with no little amusement. “Tell me, whatever would give you such an idea, Casper?”
“Magics. There’d be a spell or somethin’ that’d make you look half your age, easy peasy.”
“Is that so?”
“Or… Or maybe there’s a- an unaging spell? Or the fountain of youth!”
Balor’s expression becomes increasingly pinched until his straight face breaks altogether. “Ah yes, the fountain of youth… I confess, it has been a good number of years since I have heard another speak of that nonsense so soberly. By the gods, Casper, how do you do it?”
“Stop laughin’! I’m serious! You see this? This is my serious face!” Casper’s ‘serious face’ fails to stop Balor. He has to wait a good couple of minutes before he can get a word out of him. “Really though, how old are you? Has to be ancient, right?”
“I am old enough to be called an old man.”
“Oh, come on, you know what I mean.”
“Indeed I do, however I have no inclination to tell you.”
Casper huffs and goes back to having beta for breakfast. Balor dithers about, checking seeds and sprouts and weeding as he makes his way among the planters. He’s in better humor than he was last night. Casper stays out of his way and watches him.
“Myr didn’t come back last night.”
Balor pauses briefly before resuming his work. “Indeed he did not.”
“Didn’t get back in the mornin’ either,” Casper continues.
Balor gives him his full attention. “What of it, Casper?”
He shrugs, feigning indifference. “Don’t bite my head off. Just makin’ conversation. And it is pretty weird, Myr not bein’ ‘round to sleep through half the day.” He watches for a reaction. “Never done that before.”
Balor arches a brow at him and takes up his work again. “It is not so unusual at this time of year. You will find that Myr frequents town with increasing regularity as the weather improves and the seasons transition into fair spring and summer.”
“So he’s in town, then?”
“Likely so, yes.”
Blast. Looks like going to the pub for supper is out of the question.
“What’s he doin’ down there anywho?”
“I expect he has been drinking the local ale house dry, as is his wont. That aside, what it is he does is what he describes as ‘bidness’.”
“‘Bidness’?”
“Yes, ‘bidness’, as in ‘wha’ it is I do is none o’ yer bidness’.”
Casper snickers at the impression. “That’s pretty good. You practice?”
Balor gives a noncommittal hum. “Not in particular. I have merely known him too long.”
“Sooo… How long he’s been here?”
Balor gives him a searching look, making him sweat. Casper suspects he might have hit a nerve. At length, the man answers. “Myr has been here for an unfortunate number of years as a most uninvited house guest. And before you ask again why I tolerate his presence, please know that I will not answer that question.”
“M’okay… How ‘bout you tell me how long you been here instead?”
“Hmph. You have put me into quite a spot, Casper. I think that is enough questions for the day.” Balor refuses to budge no matter how Casper wheedles and whines. Each time he attempts to broach a subject, however subtly, the old man brushes him off. Can’t get a word more out of him.
Enough is enough. If Balor’s fed up with his questions, then Casper’s fed up with him being all vague and mysterious. He’s got better things to do than trailing after his heels like a stray mutt. Things like bringing in his laundry. That decided, he heads out to the river, brushing off Balor’s reminder to be back by sundown. It’s not like he’s forgotten his end of their deal and he’s more or less kept it so far.
Now here’s an interesting thought: once he moves out of the manor, he won’t have a curfew anymore. That’ll be a first since before the workhouse scooped him up off the streets. Casper’s not a fan of being out and about in the dark as a rule of thumb, but the extra flexibility that comes from not having to stick to schedule appeals to him.
On the topic of flexibility, his trousers are stiff as a board after being air dried. They’ll chafe like hell until wear and use make them pliable again. Might as well get started. A quick change later and Casper’s happily putting his spoon back where it belongs in his trouser pockets. His dried shirt, on the other hand, is giving him difficulties. It was a bit too small for him from the start, but it fit before he washed it. Now, no matter how he tries to squeeze himself, he just can’t get it over his shoulders. He tugs just a little bit too hard and RIIIIIP, there pops the seam the whole way from shoulder to neck. He hold up the cloth to survey the damage. It’s no use. He doesn’t know how to sew and his poor shirt is, therefore, unsalvageable. He balls it up and throws it back onto the branch where it had been hanging previously. As far as he’s concerned, it can stay there for the forest gnomes or whatever to take. Looks like he’ll be sticking with the shirt he found in the manor for the foreseeable future. He won’t be outgrowing it anytime soon. He cinches the belt over his middle to secure the excess fabric, much as he did before, and checks himself out in the river’s reflection. With the big belt and floaty shirt, he kinda looks like a pirate. All he needs to complete the outfit is a hat, sword, and parrot.
He breaks a branch off a tree. Here’s his sword. As for a hat and parrot… Hats are overrated and which birdbrain came up with the idea of having a smelly bird sit and shit on your shoulder all day? He’s plenty pirate without it. And what else do pirates do? They go off on adventures, looking for treasures in the great jungle wilderness. The forest on the hill is close enough to jungle for his purposes and he should at least get an idea about what’s what this close to home. That decided, it’s adventure time for Captain Casper, pirate of great renown, scourge of the seven seas, currently stranded by his crew on a deserted island, left to wander this jungle all alone.
As for the blanket he’s left hanging, he’ll come back for it when he returns at the end of the day. For now, adventure awaits!
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