After the most disgusting and hardest to eat meal, she had ever had, it was time to get back to digging her hole, or so she thought. She went back to the hole that only had a few shovels full of dirt left, and the task would be done.
“What are you doing?”
“Finishing my task, Sir?”
“Is that a question or a statement?”
“A statement, Sir.”
“And here I was hoping it was a question,” heavy sigh, “do you remember what your task was this morning?”
“To dig the hole,6 feet deep, 6 feet long, and three feet wide”
“How long did you have to complete your task?”
“Until lunch?”
“What did we just finish?”
With shoulders slumped, “Lunch,” she started, I could have taken just a few more minutes and I would have been done.”
“Yes, you could have but do you remember what I told you if you finished your task?”
“If I wanted to finish, I would end up skipping lunch and moving on to my next task.”
“What did I tell you if you failed to finish a task?”
“I would have to do it again?”
“Good, you do have a memory, out of the hole. Fill it in.”
“What?!”
“DO I NEED TO SPEAK LOUDER? DO YOU HAVE DIRT IN YOUR EARS?”
“No”
“NO WHAT?”
“No, Sir”
“I Can’t hear you.”
“NO, SIR!”
“Good out of the hole, now fill it, both of them”
Katie started to mutter to herself about abusive men that were worse than nobles, and-
“What were you saying I couldn’t quite her that.”
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Gulping, “Nothing sir”
“I don’t think you are grateful for my personal tutelage”
“I am sir.”
“So, I am not worse then a noble, and abusive?”
Face going pale, “I uh-”
“Just start filling in the holes”
A minute later, something was tossed at my feet.
“Put it on”
“What is it?
“Have you already forgotten the second rule?”
“Second rule?”
“DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS, until the task is completed, NOW PUT IT ON”
Scrambling to do so I grabbed the thick belt of metal and leather and strapped it on. It had to weigh 30 lbs. at least.
“Good, that is the belt of gratitude, you will notice the hoops in the belt there are a dozen of them. Each time you fail to complete a task you will show your gratitude by adding on more weight, you have failed the digging, and you expressed your gratitude by comparing me to a noble, so you get to see how the hoops work, a minute later I was handed a 10 lb. weight, you will want to hook that somewhere so you are balanced out, choose carefully once you hook the weight it will not be moved, not until you fill all of the hoops.”
Feeling like I was getting used to the rules of the game, because every time he gave me a task or a present like the rock vest or the belt of gratitude, I could see the brief hint of a smile, flick on his face.
I learned quickly that I did not want to say anything, let along remind him that he had forgotten to tell me how long I had to finish filling the holes in the ground. AS much as I wanted to curse my life, him, the vest, the hole, everything. I thought about quitting with every shovel full. What would I do then? Would I become the village witch? Would I go back to Mr. Soper-No I could not do that he took me in when I was just a wayward traveler looking for a new life, he had found me in the flower field taking a break just looking at the flowers, wanting to reach out to them to touch them, but always holding myself back.
“Go ahead and grab one of them its fine.”
I jumped hearing that voice from behind me, “I cannot they are not my flowers they are just so pretty”
“But they are mine” the older man had said, “Its ok to take one”
We had spent the rest of the day talking he invited me over to his home for the night and dinner, I always considered myself a good judge of character having grown up in an orphanage and later the street, so I had agreed that was the best decision that could have made three years ago. Lost in my thoughts while shoveling I was broken out of my revery when my shovel had hit a stone, I had completed the filling of the holes, and started on a new one.
“Lost yourself in the work, did you?”
Looking meekly down, “I did, Sir”
“And here I thought you wanted to get a start on your next task. You have completed filling the two holes fill this bit a of hole that you have started here and then you will be done for the night.”
Ten minutes later I was dragging myself back to the house vest and belt still on, I know I was told I was done for the night, but I was also told not to remove the vest, and I was told to put the belt on but was not given the permission to take it off yet. So, I dragged myself back to the house.
Again, that damned smirk “Good you are learning, you have missed dinner, dinner is at sunset,” Considering it was almost dark enough to where I could barely see the hand in front of my face, I could not argue that fact.
He waited silently for me to say something, anything, this was not the first meal that I had missed and was starting to think it would not be my last, I was honestly too tired to eat anyways so I just waited for my next task.
Seeing that I was not saying anything he just nodded, you can have more of the rations from lunch, this is now your time, you can take off the belt and vest. There is a blanket I the corner by the fireplace you can sleep there tonight, I will wake you in the morning try to get some sleep.