“But of course, ask the professional.” Jack prompted, pushing me towards the red-head.
“Deadly?” I repeated, eyeing the horses now as though they might lunge at any minute.
“I wouldn’t approach a wild one if I were you. Though if you were me it wouldn’t be such an issue. But seeing as you’re not me, and we’re in a stable full of trained Pegasi it doesn’t really matter.”
I blinked. What?
“What Cam means is; don’t approach a wild one, but you are quite safe with this herd.” Jack grinned at my confusion, “Cam has the Power of communication with these animals.”
I thought Jack might have the Power to understand absolute nonsense when it came to Camryn.
“Oh, that’s how you managed to train them.” I realised in understanding. “That’s an amazing gift.” I added to Camryn, “They’re beautiful.”
Camryn stroked the jet black Pegasus she was nearest now, and it pressed its nose against her hand lovingly.
“Well,” She began, “It’s all right, I suppose.”
Camryn looked into the eyes of the black Pegasus sadly. I felt as though I were intruding upon a rather personal moment.
I looked to Jack who indicated to the Palomino Pegasus nearest to me, “Go on.” He prompted, “Pet one.”
I gulped and edged closer to the Palomino my hand outstretched warily. It stretched its head closer to me, its chest pressing against the door to its stall. My fingers gently stroked his snout and I breathed a sigh of relief that I still owned all five digits on my hand.
Jack, Camryn and I spent the next half an hour chatting in the stables. Or rather, Jack and I listened while Camryn talked about herself a lot. I wasn’t usually much of a talker anyway, so I felt quite content listening, nodding here and there, and providing “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” in the right places. Soon we all left the stables and headed back to the kitchens to grab something to eat. It was getting late now and Jack informed me that I should head on upstairs and heat Mistress Forsythe’s, and her daughter Rain’s baths. He followed me the whole way, reminding me which way everything was. He waited outside the rooms this time while I worked.
When I arrived to Mistress Winifred’s bathroom she was just entering it from another door herself, dressed in a bath robe. I immediately remembered what Jack had told me about bowing, and instantly sunk into a polite curtsey before hurrying over to the full bath. She pretended I did not exist and simply busied herself with her hair in front of a mirror until I was done, which took no longer than a minute.
I was absolutely exhausted once I had heated the baths. It had been a long day of travel and learning. Jack could see that I was sleepy, for he sent me off to bed and told me he would extinguish the fires for me tonight. I thanked him and made my way back to my room, surprised that I only got lost once. Jack had also informed me of a uniform I would need to wear while in the household, that I would find in one of my chest of draws.
As I entered my room for the third time that day I felt some of the panic leaving my chest. It hadn’t been so bad. My jobs were simple enough, and I would get used to the size of the house after a while. Maybe this is exactly what I needed to learn to control my Power. Jack didn’t seem so bad, but Camryn might take some getting used to.
I crossed my room and headed towards the bed, mouldy as it looked, I couldn’t wait to pass out in it. On my second step I tripped over something rather solid on the ground in front of me. I landed with a crash on the hard floor; my arms sprawled out in front of me. Dust rose up from the floor from where I had unsettled it and drifted lazily back to the ground. I looked around for the reason I had fell and gave a yelp of surprise.
There he was, bold as brass. How had I not spotted him? But then … how unusual. My tiny little winged fox stood in the place where I had tripped. But he was different. Very different. I suddenly understood why I had not been able to see him during my previous raid of the room. I had instructed him to keep out of sight, and he had done just that. The little fox was no longer white, but it appeared he had camouflaged himself with the floorboards. His fur had changed the exact brown of the wood. It wasn’t a perfect concealment, yet to untrained eyes he would be easy to miss, something that you just let your eyes slide over. The more I looked at him the clearer he became. I gaped. How was this possible? My beautiful little white fox was now a dusty brown.