Chapter 8
****
For the next few days, Dana hid in the outbuilding that housed the maids' quarters. She wouldn't even look toward the main building, ducking for cover at the mere sight of a man's shadow.
Thank goodness this week's assignment was only a small chance of running into the Masters.
Please don't let anything happen.........
Dana desperately hoped that the events at the pond would fade from her memory completely.
And on the third day, God answered her prayers.
When she went to the scullery in the main building to organize the dishcloths, she received the news she had been waiting for.
"Ah, liberation at last."
"Yeah, I can't imagine any other group of guests as loud, messy, and unruly as this one............"
"Too bad for Leah, though. She said she'll never get another chance to see so many rich, handsome noblemen all at once."
The maids giggled. Dana hurried over to them.
"Excuse me... may I ask you something?"
She asked cautiously, and one of the maids nodded as if to continue.
"Are the guests leaving by any chance?"
"Uh...yes."
"Are they...really...leaving?"
"Yes."
The maid's cheerful answer didn't completely reassure Dana.
"Do you know exactly when ......they'll be back...those friends...the ones who play polo with the master?"
The maid stared at Dana and narrowed her eyes. Then she suddenly grabbed the girl next to her.
"Do you know?"
"No."
"Do you?"
The maids shook their heads in unison. Dana wanted to find out the exact date. One of the maids, who had been watching, stepped forward.
"Ask the male servants. They know best."
"Oh, right."
The maid nodded and looked back at Dana.
"You know, who's.........? The stable hand you're friends with...ask him."
"Oh..."
Why hadn't she thought of that?
Few people know the schedule of their guests as well as the stable hand.
Dana headed down the path to the barn, anxiety and hope mingling in her stride.
The barn was east of the main house.
Dana climbed over the fence and entered the small barn.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
The dogs barked frantically and she was too afraid to step inside.
Dana wiped her startled chest and braced herself against the wall opposite the cage.
Just then, the door opposite opened and a young man emerged, rubbing his eyes.
His hair was cropped and his eyes were puffy.
"Oh, who the hell are you...?"
The dogs, barking ferociously, fell silent in an instant. Dana grunted, swallowed hard, and walked over to him.
"I'm sorry, you were sleeping, weren't you?"
The man recognized her through squinted eyes.
His face, still wrinkled from the night, slowly straightened like an iron.
"Hmm, was that you?"
Dana stepped toward him.
Noah Miller.
The stable hand who had come to Belvida around the same time as Dana.
"What can I do for you, Miss Dinah?"
"Dinah" meant "hillbilly" in Dana's native dialect. Noah used to tease her by calling her "Dinah," a similar pronunciation.
Dana poked him in the head with the hat that had fallen to the side.
"Ugh."
Noah grabbed his head in pain and pretended to fall down.
Dana couldn't help but laugh.
Noah's cheeky personality had a lot to do with why he and Dana were so easy to get along with, but it was also the fact that they were from the same place, Dorset.
Nothing brought people together like homesickness.
"Ah, I'm thirsty."
Noah poured water from the kettle and gulped it down, then poured a new glass and handed it to Dana.
"You want some?"
"Oh, I'm fine..."
Before Dana could finish her sentence, the dogs were barking again.
Dana wanted to be friends with all the animals in the world, but not with those fearsome hounds.
"Why do they bark at me, especially that Whitman?" she wondered.
Dana wrinkled her nose as she pointed to the spotted dog that barked the fiercest of all.
Noah, who had been staring, turned serious.
"You don't know ...... yet?"
"Huh?"
"I hate that guy, ugly guy."
Dana's eyes narrowed and she burst out laughing. At that moment, Whitman barked again, and the laughter doubled.
"Let's get out of here. Before that ferocious creature wakes up all the gentlemen in the stable."
Outside, they sat side by side on the lawn overlooking the hills.
"Now, now, confide in me. What brings you, Miss Bodan, to this ramshackle place, where I haven't seen you for a while?"
"Well... I just wanted to ask you something......."
Dana said cautiously.
"About the guests... do you know when they... leave?"
Noah looked a little puzzled, as if he didn't know why she would ask such a question. "Tomorrow," he answered immediately.
"Tomorrow?"
Dana repeated in disbelief.
"So soon?"
"Yeah, there's a fair or something going on in Peron, and they’re all supposed to leave together."
"They’re really going...all of them...every single person?
"Yeah."
Noah replied with a little more vigor.
"Several of the carriages left early this morning, which is why I had to stay up all night.”
“But... why?"
"Just......... curious...."
Dana stammered.
In the back of her mind, the question, "Do you know a guy named Teddy?" was forming. But she couldn't say it out loud, so she swallowed it under her tongue.
What did it matter if they knew who he was?
All his friends were leaving by tomorrow. Every last one of them...
That was enough.
Dana felt the last of the stone disappear completely.
"Ah, nice weather."
Dana stretched and looked out over the open field.
A few sheep grazed lazily. The low grass tickled her ankles gently.
"Then......... Noah, you'll have some time to yourself now, once the guests are gone."
Noah shook his head, his shoulders suddenly slumping again. It was an exaggerated gesture, like a theater actor.
"Unfortunately, no."
"......... Why?"
"Because this Noah Miller, ..... has taken on a really big job this time, and it's called........"
Noah stopped talking and stared at Dana's face.
"Wait."
He turned and walked into the stables. When he reappeared a moment later, there was a horse beside him.
"Look, Dana, isn't he gorgeous?"
Dana stared at the sleek brown horse.
It had a long, swanlike neck, lean muscles that curved gracefully, and a beautiful, shiny mane.
It was obvious that this was a champion horse.
"His name is Nicaea. He's from Mount Ernesia, a purebred stallion. He's been eyed by the imperial family."
Noah's voice was full of excitement.
"And Lady Liana bought him for an enormous sum of money."
"......Liana... Lady Liana?"
"Yes, and do you know what happened?"
Noah continued, his voice even more excited.
"The head trainer left him in my care, and told me to take care of him until she came."
Dana's eyes widened.
"......You mean...does that mean…your apprenticeship is over and you’re going to be a full tamer?"
"Well...... that's......... not yet, but......."
Noah shrugged his shoulders, even as he said it.
"I'm nowhere near it."
"Oh my God!"
Dana practically screamed.
"That's great. Noah, that's great."
Unlike a maid, who could be labeled an apprentice after three years, a trainer had to spend an indeterminate amount of time as an assistant. They often ended up as stable hands for the rest of their lives.
So it was hard not to cheer when Noah Miller was recognized as a trainer after six years.
Smiling, Dana noticed that the horse was scratching the ground with his front feet, a little excited.
"Do you think we should take him in?"
Dana asked worriedly.
"I don't think we should take him out, you have a very important job to do... and this is Master Edwin's horse to ride......."
"It's okay, it's time to take him for a walk anyway."
Noah smirked as he patted the horse's back.
"And he's not the master's horse."
Blue-gray eyes flicked between the horse and Noah, questioning.
"It's Lady Liana's...no, more accurately, it's a horse that will be presented to her fiancé."
"Oh."
That's right.
A fact she had forgotten for a while flashed through Dana's mind.
Her lady had just gotten engaged. The man, she was told, came from a family that had the entire social scene buzzing.
"She's quite the character, isn't she? To give such a fine horse to the captain of an opposing team that competes with the Hastings family, even if he is her fiancé."
Noah glanced down at Dana, then snickered.
"A woman in love is a scary thing. Ahhh......."
Dana felt a strange sensation.
A year ago, Lady Liana had been just like Dana, the kind of person who would go crazy over a swarm of ants carrying white eggs.
But an engagement?
And...... love...?
She felt like she was a different person altogether.
She was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to have fun anymore with a maid like her who played in the mud with her on rainy days.
"I should go."
Noah's words brought Dana to her senses.
"I'll see you around, then, Ms. Hick."
Noah tipped his hat. Dana smiled sheepishly and stood up. Dirt and grass clung to her skirt. She brushed it off, and a cloud of dust rose.
***
The next day, indeed, the cottage's guests trickled out.
Dana breathed a sigh of relief as she watched dozens of carriages leave Belvida aboard the tree Seyfried.
The red sun was setting over the hills, bathing the world in an orange glow.
Dana leaned back against the wooden post.
It was a languid, peaceful afternoon.
***
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