2 002 - Barn and Food
Uriel held the reigns with a light grip as the farm came into sight.
He didn't need to steer Zeresha she was an extremely intelligent mare, she walked the road in stride and pulled up to the barn but stopped before the entrance.
Uriel climbed off the wagon and started to remove the barrels stacking them in the shade where the farmhands would be able to find them at the end of their day.
It was something which he did to make life easier for the people of Old Meadow, they had done more for him than he could ever repay, so all that he could do was little kindnesses to ease their lives.
When only four remained, he climbed back up and Zeresha pulled him into the barn where he dislodged the wagon and set it in its place before pulling down one of the barrels.
He took the barrel and emptied the water into one of the troughs, as Zeresha dipped her head into it a stallion with black and brown patches emerged and started to nuzzle at the water.
"Hello Lopper," Uriel greeted the stallion by ruffling his long mane.
"Hghhhh," Lopper looked up from the trough and gave his face a light nudge in greeting before dipping his head back down into the water.
Uriel wandered through the barn and found the storage for the feed, when he opened it he couldn't help but frown, it was lower than it should have been especially at this time of year, and worst of all was that the merchants were yet to come through to their village.
"Bloody soldiers," he lightly cursed as he pulled out a small portion of a treat and returned to Zeresha.
Zeresha blinked as freshwater dripped down her muzzle, and she looked between the sugar cubes in Uriel's hand and his face with a questioning look in her eyes.
"Sorry girl but we're almost out, we've got to make it last," Uriel apologized with a sunken expression as he fed her the sugar cubes they were her favorite.
"Hgnhhh," Zeresha made a sound of complaint, though she happily nuzzled the treat from his hand.
As she ate he unhitched the harness and reigns from her body and hung them on a set of hooks before pulling off a set of bells, he walked to the mare and stallion and placed the bells around their necks once they finished drinking and eating from the stacks of hay.
As soon as he finished Zeresha pulled away with a huff and stomped to the entrance.
'Well she's in a mood,' Uriel thought with a rueful smile.
"Hey Lopper you better take care of your mate okay, she seems upset," he whispered into the stallion's ear.
"Hghhh," Uriel could have sworn that if horses knew how to give an eye roll then that is exactly what Lopper was giving him.
As the stallion walked past him its tail flicked giving him a soft whack on the back of his head, it was mostly cushioned by the fur on the end of his tail.
Uriel lightly messaged his head as he watched the stallion give him attitude as well, it almost seemed to be saying 'You caused this mess now you are dumping it on me,'
"You two better return before dark, we need to go to the village later," he called behind them, the two horses gave him a light neigh before running off with each other.
Uriel sighed as he turned around to look at the empty barn, "Now where are those two goats," he muttered as he looked at the other empty trough.
He ventured outside the barn and gave it a full circle as he looked around hoping to spot the two troublemakers on the farm, but after doing two circles around the barn he came up empty.
When he returned to the barn he found that there was someone else already there, he saw a large man holding one of the barrels, the man was so large that he could easily wrap an arm around the barrel and carry it with ease.
Uriel immediately recognized him, he didn't think that there would ever come a day when he would be able to forget the man calmly emptying the contents of the barrel into the second trough.
Whenever he saw this man, he wondered if perhaps there was some truth to that old folk teller's tale about the people of Old Meadow descending from storm giants.
The only man larger than him would be the village blacksmith, Jack, they were both colossal in size and anyone looking in their direction would find it hard to maintain their composure.
But he knew that beneath all that muscle the men of Old Meadow were the best there were of all men, they were certainly better than his father.
"Hi, Dad," he called out with a grin and ran up behind the colossal man.
Zek turned around still holding the barrel like it was a melon, his dark black eyes fell upon Uriel with strict light in them.
"Now young lad didn't ye' mother and I tell ya to take the day off?" he questioned giving him a stern look in the eye.
Uriel shrunk back and gave a nervous grin, "Uh… sorry, but what was I supposed to do, just sit still and lay down in bed all day?" Uriel questioned with a sigh, he didn't very much enjoy talking back to his parents, but really what was he supposed to do all day?
"Besides you have no idea what good luck I had today at the stream," Uriel ran back to the wagon and pulled one of the barrels down.
"Look, Dad," he pointed into the barrel.
Zek peeked into the barrel and to his surprise, he found over a dozen fish swimming soundly inside the barrel.
"How did ya catch so many?" Zek asked with his curiosity peeking, he knew his lad well, he was a dutiful boy and pretty good at whatever he was asked to do but he was by no means a fisherman.
Uriel grinned and gave a relaxed shrug, "They just swam right in," he laughed, it had happened before but rarely did he ever manage to get more than one unlucky fish.
He worried that he might have perhaps used a lifetime's worth of luck today, but there was no going back.
"The gods have favored ya, and I'm sure ye' mother will be happy when she sees this," Zek laughed and patted his head with one of his bear-sized hands.
"Now go ye' mother has something to show ya," Zek said giving him a shove toward the house, "Don't worry about the two troublemakers they'll make their way back before nightfall," he said.
Uriel nodded, as troublesome as those milk goats were they always returned in the night without fail.
Thinking that he turned toward the small wooden house a few yards away from the barn, the house was made of humble wood that had seen its fair share of age, all except for one part of the house that was clearly newer than the rest.
From the roof, a stone chimney extended and a plume of smoke escaped the roof, Uriel tilted his head curiously, it was a little early for the fires to be lit.
But as he walked along the humble path the refreshing smells and aromas of food greeted his nose, causing him to come to a standstill.
Uriel's eyes widened as he recognized the smell, his steps hastened unconsciously, and he rushed through the door with drool creeping out the corner of his lips.
Uriel was greeted by the sight of his mother, a small 5'4" woman of Old Meadow, it really was unbelievable how the men could all be the size of bears while the women were as small and as fragile as ants in comparison.
"Uriel," Casey greeted him with a warm smile and sparkling green eyes as he entered the kitchen.
Uriel peeked over at the pot as he absently licked the corner of his lips, "That… is that…" he muttered with a teary look in his eyes.
Casey Brown saw the tears in her son's eyes and immediately gave him a warm hug, "It's ye' favorite dear," she said patting his head.
It was bean curry that they would eat only on special occasions, beans were a staple but the ingredients for a good curry were a little expensive, so it was only made for special occasions.
"Don't cry dear, it's ye' birthday after all," Casey said in a mother tone.
"But…" Uriel began to speak, he knew that things were not the same as it was every other year, there was a shortage of a lot of things.
"Don't bring up any of that nonsense, ye' father and I already decided that we were doing this for ye' birthday, so I don't want to hear anything else," Casey said looking him in the eye, seemingly reading his mind.
Uriel wondered how she was always able to do that, he thought that it was a power that women had only over their real children, but Casey would prove him wrong time and again.
"Thanks, Mom," he replied wiping away the tears in his eyes.
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