Lessoc Fountain - a fairy-creature tale

Ch. 22 Visitors

At the chalet pump, Cocot washed her greasy hair and dirty hands and face quickly with the frigid water. As she rinsed the soap suds away, the raspberry bushes caught her attention. The bushes were flourishing—they had the southwest side of the chalet and were exposed to the most sunlight, and moonlight, possible. Most of the berries were dark pink and plump; ready to eaten with crème double and crispy sweet meringues. Although, her mother had always eaten them straight off the bush, plain and simple.

"Why do the brambles need the moonlight, Mother?" Cocot asked the pump, wringing her hair with a ratty towel.

But they didn't need the moonlight. Cocot did—for the fountain, of course.

A low plodding from the dirt lane interrupted her thoughts. She turned in time to see Hector striding though the gate and straight for her carrots.

"Hector! No, no, no!" She rushed over to head him off.

Daniel came jogging up the lane, stopping short in front of the open gate when he saw her.

"Hey, Daniel," she said, leading Hector to the grassy patch near the raspberries. "Thank you for bringing him home. I went by earlier, but you weren't back yet."

"Actually, I didn't bring him home. He got out of his stall somehow—I was going to come tomorrow, but he got free and was almost in the forest by the time I saw him. I couldn't catch up. He's sprightlier with his new shoes on. Good thing your gate was unlatched or he would have knocked it over. Like the other two fences he walked through."

"There wasn't any trouble, I hope," she said, alarmed until Daniel gave a half smile and shook his head. She twisted the wet strands of her hair together; her back was soaked and water was dripping on her pants were the ends of her hair touched them. She knew that with her hair plastered down, her ears looked ridiculous, but there wasn't anything for it. "He behaved himself at the stables, at least?"

Daniel leaned on the fence from his spot in the road, scratching nervously at a fence post. "Can I ask you something that might sound strange?"

"Yes," she said, taking a couple of steps towards him to reach the inside of the fence.

He glanced up, a frown line on his brow and his bright blue eyes moving back and forth between her and Hector. "Have you noticed anything odd about your horse?"

"What do you mean by odd? I've never had any other horses to compare him to." A flutter raced through her stomach—what had Hector done?

"Well...well, it was just strange because I expected the men at the stables to ask where he'd come from or joke about how old and beat-up he looks, but it was though they didn't even see him. They ignored him, even when they put feed in the mangers for the other horses. Have you noticed anything like that?"

"I can't say I have, no," she answered. I thought it was just me they didn't see. "Probably, they were busy and had other things on their minds. So the shoes fit?"

"Yeah, actually they seem fine. They might not last as long as iron ones, but since he mostly walks on dirt," he said, not finishing his sentence.

"One less thing to buy."

"They'll have to be changed or refitted again in a couple of months, but I can do it at the farm next time. I have all the tools now, and it's easy."

"You don't have to do anything for me," she said.

"You weeded the garden, didn't you?"

"It's nothing. I was bored waiting."

"Well, thanks for that. And thanks for milking Tata, and gathering the eggs, and mending the chicken coop. I'm not sure how you managed that; it looks brand new." He swiped at the hair falling in his eyes.