Chapter 2. Part 6.

The tail of Timmy Begins

The stable boy had been the only person not affected by the sleep spell. So when they arrived, Mark took a few minutes to talk with him. The lad had no idea what was going on or why he did not collapse as everyone around him had. However Mark had a good guess about it when he detected the kid's mana level. So he had asked the boy, “Do you like working for lord Asat?”

The boy shrugged and gave the typical “Its ok.” answer.

“Working for me will be much better for you.” he said.

The boy gave a nod “As you say, my lord.”

Now that the meeting was over, Mark and Gwen stopped by the stables to pick up the lad.
“Time to come with us.” He said to Timmy. Who gave an obedient nod.

“Is your family in the village? Gwen asked. Timmy gave another nod.

“Well then we must stop and get your parents permission.” she said with formality.

The boy looked confused. Nobles getting permission from peasants? That was truly odd.

After a short talk, the parents of young Timmy agreed to let him go. They seemed to really like it when Gwen told them that Timmy would be free to visit them during festival times. The boy himself didnt seem very upset about the change in employment or in leaving home. The father did ask Mark about compensation, seeing how the boy would no longer be around to do chores. Lord Crane didnt have any idea about what amount was customary. So he tossed the man a gold coin and said “Another one for you, if I find his service impressive.” The father smiled at that.

“So you just bought yourself a child. What do you plan to do with him?” Gwen asked as they walked out of the village and back to the hill top camp.

“Dont say it like that.” Mark frowned, “He is not a slave. He is going to be an important member of our village, and we are going to teach him magic.” The part he did not say out loud was that he intended to do some experiments on Timmy to understand how his magic resistance worked.

On the way back to their village, Gwen asked the boy about his education. He seemed puzzled by the question. “Like most folks, I learned to do stuff round the house, and help with farm work, I guess I am good with horses.”

It was the same sort of answer most people gave. Only the wealthy got any sort of formal education. Most learned what they needed for their occupation and not much more. Reading and writing were skills that common folk simply did not need.

“We are going to set up a school.” she decided. “That will be our next project.”

 

But first they would have to do something with Timmy. Keeping in mind the time difference between worlds. For every hour they spent on Earth, a day would pass in the Other world. So it could easily be a month between visits.

So when they stopped at Miss Brown's to hand over a bag of coins they also introduced the boy to her.

“This is to pay the people who were pressed into service cutting wood.” Mark explained, then handed over a second bag. “This is to cover any official expenses until I return.” He then waved a hand towards Timmy. “This is my new squire. Id like you to take care of him for now. I will ask the guild master to oversee his basic training in arms.”

The boy's eyes were wide with surprise. No one had said anything about becoming a squire.

Miss Brown just accepted each thing as a fact of life. “As you say, my lord.” Although she did smile just a bit at the weight of the two bags of coins.

Next was a visit to the Inn, to talk with old Grogson. There Mark handed over the third bag of coins he had recently acquired. “I want to hire someone to train my new squire.” he said, as he presented the boy to the guild master. “It is easy work, but I want it done well. The coin here should cover a few months worth of training.”

The old man nodded, “Im sure I can find someone.”