The Trining : KLASCO'S BIG SURPRISE by Jay Squires |
NEW TO “THE TRINING” ADVENTURE? There are summaries beginning with Cha. 2 and continuing to Cha. 17 What follows is a summary of Cha. 18: Doctrex and Klasco arrive back at the Inn. The brothers and Zurn are waiting. Giln comes forward and asks in a quiet voice about Zurn. Klasco tells him he has Zurn’s papers. An emotional scene follows. By arrangement Klasco arranges their room while Doctrex takes the three into the tavern for a drink. The brothers are touched that Klasco has paid for everything in advance; Klasco is resting before dinner, Doctrex explains. They discuss the travel plans to Camp Kabeez. Klynch, the stable boy has been trying to hail down a ride for them from a passing wagon, but if not successful, the brother’s father will take them in his wagon. Klynch comes in, explaining he couldn’t secure a ride for them. Klasco, he tells them wants to see them outside. They follow him to the door. Chapter Nineteen
The glare from outside was dazzling, in contrast with the dimly lit tavern we had been in. I shielded my eyes from the sun. Standing at the bottom of the steps, one foot on the ground and the other on the first step, Klasco smiled up at us. Klynch had gone behind him and was on a slow trot to the stables to our right. "Sorry for the confusion, my friends. I have a surprise for you, though. I hope you enjoy it." "I like surprises," said Zurn. He had his hands clasped together in such a way that anyone seeing them thus would swear if he released them he would fly away out of sheer, joyful excitement. "Then, I think you'll like this," Klasco said, and he motioned toward the stable. Klynch emerged from the stable leading four crossans by their reins. "What! What!" the brothers exclaimed in unison while Zurn leaped the three feet off the porch and met Klynch and the crossans on a dead run. He stopped just short of throwing his arms around the outside crossan's neck and turned to face us. "Is it—" he began, then stopped and put his hand over his mouth as though he dared not finish the sentence out of a fear he would be wrong. "Yes it is," said Klasco. "Each of you has a crossan. The saddles are in the stable. Gentlemen," he continued, "Do you mind if Zurn chooses his crossan first." This was too much for Sheleck, who wept openly. Giln put his arm around his brother's shoulders. He was grinning and his eyes were glassy. Zurn waivered, conflicted, a baffled smile on his face while he awaited their answer. It was soon to come. "Do it, yes! Yes!" That was all he needed. Zurn went from one crossan to the next, looking up into their eyes, stroking the sides of their faces. The last crossan, a glistening, black gelding, brought his head down to Zurn, who put his hands on either side right up next to the ears. The crossan nudged Zurn's chest with his nose. The choice was made. Giln and Sheleck clapped and Zurn responded by blushing. "You promised I would have a crossan and now I have one." He was beaming. "Now you can show any who doubted you," Sheleck said. "That crossan is very lucky to have you taking care of it." "Shall we draw straws to see who is the next to choose," asked Klasco. "Let the brothers decide," I told him. "They are all such beautiful animals. I'll be happy with whatever one remains." "In that case, I defer to my brother," said Sheleck. "He is older and needs to choose one that is of a gentler disposition. So—you first, Giln." Giln gave his brother a playful jab in the arm. "I'll show you gentler! I choose the freckled one. He seems spunky." "In that case I—" He looked to me. "Are you sure you don't mind?" "Not at all. Choose." I didn't want any of them to know that I had never been on a crossan before. "I choose the other black one," he said. "That leaves the sorrel to you, Doctrex," Klynch told me. "She is the youngest and most spirited." Wonderful, I thought. Just what I need, spirit! She reminded me of a younger version of Klasco's Chestnut mare, only this spunky one had a white patch running down from a spot between her ears to just above her flared nostrils. "Giln and Sheleck, before you join Zurn and get to know your crossans, I—and, I'm sure I'm speaking for my brother—want to thank you for risking your lives to come to our aid. And, afterwards I found that the three of you were planning to risk your lives again to aid our beloved Kabeez against the enemy from the north. You are heroes in my mind, just as is my brother for volunteering to enlist in the Kabeezan militia even though his homeland is in the far south. You are all heroes." Klynch shouted, "Cheers for the heroes!" Klasco joined him. "Yes, cheers for the heroes!" Giln's and Sheleck's faces were red to the roots of their hair and I'm sure I was blushing as well. Only Zurn seemed oblivious to the cheering, so enrapt was he by his crossan. "So, gentlemen," Klasco continued, "This is my small way of thanking you for your sacrifices. You are giving me and all the citizens of Kabeez far more than we could possibly give you. Thank you … and now you have some crossans that are anxious to get to know you." The brothers thanked him with hand-shakes and embraces as they made their way toward the crossans. I lagged a little behind. I shook his hand and as I embraced him, I whispered in his ear, "Your mares were the closest I had ever been to a crossan." He patted me on the back and whispered, "Then, you, especially, need to get to know your Sorrel." I took a deep breath and moved gingerly toward my charge, who was the only one Klynch now held by the reins, the others being led away by the brothers and Zurn. He handed the reins to me with a smile that said: you should be proud of this beauty, and he wandered off toward Zurn. Reaching up my free hand to touch the face, the crossan suddenly threw back her head and snorted and began immediately to back up, until there was tension in the reins. I moved toward her, slowly, making sounds I had heard Klasco make to soothe his crossans. "There, there, there, there," I said, "shhhhhhh, shhhhhhh, that's a girl …. " Klasco came over. "You're doing fine," he said, softly enough that only I heard him. "She's testing you. I think she sensed your reluctance. Just be gentle but firm and unwavering. Consistent. That's the trick. Listen to her. She may even teach you the faith you need for pappering." She stopped moving backwards, but she looked down at me from her height, her eyes the color of warm fudge, were large rimmed in white. Rather than reach again for her face, I laid my hand softly on her shoulder, feeling the muscles ripple under my palm, then relax as I gently massaged them. I continued to say, "Shhhhhhhh, there, girl, there." Then, she put her head down and let me stroke her neck. "She's the most independent of the lot," said Klynch from his spot by Zurn's black gelding, "but now you've made her yours." For a moment I felt a deep sense of pride, but then I wondered how long I could continue to deceive this spirited sorrel. Soon you, too, will discover that I am a fraud. # After dinner, which included generous toasting all around, and a sumptuous roast of some sort of animal, resting in a bed of baby potatoes, carrots and pearl onions, Klasco and I spent a few moments talking before we bedded down. There was so much that needed to be heard and said. So much more give and take needed for me to know him and for him to know me. Yet it wasn't fair to dredge deep emotional subjects before he got the sleep he needed for his long journey home. I chose a lighter subject. "Brother," I said, "At the risk of being rude, how much did you pay Klynch to feed and board your mares?" He looked over his shoulder from where he was bent over the bed, pulling back the covers. "A credit," he said. I could feel the confidence slipping out of me with the slumping of my shoulders. That would have been about thirty-five dollars, which was about a third of the cost of our dinner. And that sounded like a reasonable amount, but not what I remembered hearing at the time. He laughed. "But that wasn't what we bargained for. We bargained for two and six, which is?" he challenged me. "Two Fleckets and six Faern." I waited but nothing came. Then, I did the math and came up with about twenty-three dollars. "The bargaining was a game. He knew it and I knew it. It's what two businessmen do. Also, I knew if I gave him a credit he would take good care of me when I returned. Which he did." "Indeed he did," I said. "He got you the crossans, didn't he?" "Three of them were uncollected debts. Lodgers who left without paying for their room and the boarding of the crossans. Your sorrel was foaled from a pregnant mare, left here by a tradesman who promised to return after his wares were sold. He didn't return. The mare died in foaling. Klynch raised the sorrel, which is why—you probably noticed—he seemed so fond of her." "About my crossan," I began. "Sorry, I won't tell you how much I paid for her." "No, not that. I mean, Brother, I don't know anything about a crossan." "Mount it on the left," he said, climbing into bed and pulling the covers up to his chest. He followed with a ten minute tutorial on swinging into the saddle and dismounting. "Watch the brothers," he suggested. "They seem to know what they're doing. Get a feel for how tight the saddle straps are cinched on the underside. I'll try to have Klynch explain it to you in private. I know it's important to you that you don't appear too inexperienced to the brothers." "It's crossed my mind," I admitted. "Do they know you're going to be commanding them?" "Not yet." "I hope you don't wait until you get to the camp to tell them." * * * CAST OF CHARACTERS
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Jay Squires
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