The Misadventures of Annika Brisby (15 page)

a tour guide from heaven

Annika slept in late again for the second morning in a row, which wasn’t a challenge. Compared to the cold hard ground she’d been sleeping on for the past few days, this bed felt like a cloud…an incredible, warm, lavender scented cloud that she wasn’t eager to climb out of. She lay for a long time under the covers until hunger drove her out. There was no one in the warm, bright kitchen when she arrived, but a heavenly smell was teasing her stomach. On top of the stove sat a pan of fresh cinnamon-raisin bread. She helped herself to a piece and looked out the window over the sink. Just then the back door opened and Finn walked in with a pile of wood in his arms, which he dropped into a bin near the hearth.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully. “I see you found something to eat. Isn’t that bread delicious? Anthea makes it every now and again.”

“Yeah, it’s really good,” Annika said with her mouth full. “Where is everyone? Did the samodivi go to town already?”

Finn nodded and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Yes. They left over an hour ago. Yuri was insistent that she stay on schedule with her errands.”

Annika felt awkward being left behind, but couldn’t help grinning at the way Finn pronounced the word schedule. With such a deep voice, she could’ve listened to him read the phone book for hours.

“Do you need any help with chores around here? I could help you bring in more wood.”

“That’s very kind of you, but I believe we’ve more than enough for now,” he said, taking off his boots and setting them by the door. “And I’m all finished cleaning out the stalls; perhaps you could help Talvi feed and groom the horses?”

“Oh, okay.” Annika didn’t know the first thing about grooming horses, but at least she’d have something to do.

“Well then, I’ll see you later. I’m off to take a bath,” he said before leaving the kitchen. Annika grabbed another hunk of bread and headed for the stable. The air was crisp but the sunlight warmed her shoulders on her way to the stable doors, which were cracked open.

“Hello? Helllloooo?” Annika called out. Her eyes adjusted to the indoor light and she peered into an empty stall to see at least half a dozen fluffy kittens playing in the straw. She walked over to them and picked up a little black ball of fluff that immediately began to purr.

“I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to sleep later than me,” Talvi remarked from the aisle. He set down a pail of water and brought the other the stall beside her.

“Finn said you could use some help with grooming,” she said, and set the kitten down. She followed him to the roomy stall where a huge palomino stallion stood, eating his hay in dainty little bites. “What do you want me to do?” He thought for a moment, filling a container with the fresh water.

“You can pick their hooves. I haven’t done that in a while.”

“Pick their hooves?”

“I’ll show you,” he said, and slipped a soft rope halter over the horse’s dark muzzle. He led the stallion away from his hay and out into the aisle, then grabbed a sinister looking object resembling an ice pick from a box of tools. After securing the horse in the crossties, he ran his hand down the palomino’s foreleg until the animal lifted it, and then held the hoof against his thigh, scooping in an outward motion with the strange tool.

“That’s all there is to it,” he said, releasing the stallion’s massive hoof to the floor. “Now you try.”

“I don’t know…” Annika hesitated. “What if he kicks me?”

“Galileo wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s certainly not going to kick you,” Talvi assured her. Then, to her surprise, he crawled underneath the horse and patted his stomach from below. The golden horse tossed his flaxen mane but his powerful legs didn’t budge. “See? He’s a perfect gentleman, just like his owner.”

“So what you’re saying is that he’s not your horse,” she quipped. An amused grin spread across Talvi’s face as he rose to his feet.

“No he isn’t, you cheeky lass. He belongs to Finn.”

He gave her another demonstration, showing her how to pick up the other foreleg before letting her have a try.

“This isn’t so bad,” she remarked. While she dislodged small stones and mud, he went into the next stall with the other bucket of water. When he returned, he helped her move on to the next hoof, instructing her how to stand with much more manners than he’d used during their archery session together. When Galileo’s hooves were clean, Talvi handed her a curry comb and demonstrated how to use it, then picked up another brush and started on the horse’s other side. Their eyes met and she looked away quickly.

“Do you know when the others are coming back?” she asked.

“I have no idea what time to expect them,” he replied, trying to catch her gaze again. “I was still asleep when they left.”

“That must be a nice life, sleeping in late and lying around all day long like you do,” she said, partially teasing and partially envious of such a lifestyle.

“I’m working now, aren’t I?” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but what else do you do, exactly?” she prodded.

“What else do I
do
?” He scrunched up his face and looked as though he had never been asked this question before. “Well, sometimes I work in the garden or do chores around the house. Sometimes I fetch things for others, or help them solve some type of conundrum. Then I like to take a nap in the afternoon or paint, or read, or work on some other project. Sometimes I help cook dinner, if I’m home. I like to go to the Tortoise and Hare a few nights a week, but my favorite thing to do is go riding through the mountains and watch the weather change.” He paused to smile wistfully. “I’m rarely home.”

“So you don’t have a regular job?” was her surprised response.

“No I do not. Do you?”

“I did until recently,” she said, reaching under the stallion’s mane to brush his neck.

“What was your duty?”

“Before I was a waitress I translated documents,” she said, thinking how unexciting it must have sounded.

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Well, no. It was boring as shit. That’s why I stopped doing it and went back to waiting tables. I made a lot of money while I did it though.”

“What’s the point of having all that money if you don’t enjoy how you make it?” he asked curiously. She laughed at him.

“Like I haven’t thought of that myself? Trust me, I wonder that all the time. Where I come from, money is everything. It’s the reason people get out of bed and work jobs that they hate all day long. We all just want to be rich like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah, like you,” she said, surprised that he could be so naïve. “I wish I was rich like you so I could spend my days worrying about things like if I should play in the garden, read, paint, or nap today. Hmm, let’s see, it’s so hard to decide,” she said, mocking him.

“Do you think I swim in a pool of gold as well?” he said sarcastically.

“Maybe. Is that on the tour?” she joked. He looked irritated that she would say such a thing.

“Have you ever spent an afternoon in the freezing wind, digging potatoes out of the cold, hard dirt? Have you ever had to chop down trees so you’d keep warm in the winter? Do you have a crazy father who, on impulse, decides to construct yet another addition to your home, only you have to go get the marble yourself? That alone makes the pianoforte story sound like a walk in the trees. Or if you tear your shirt, you probably just throw it away and get a new one, don’t you? I’ve been mending this single shirt for sixteen years. Look.” He pointed to a small spot on the sleeve that had been patched.

“Okay, okay, I believe you,” Annika said, trying to avoid a fight.

“No, really. I want you to look at this,” he insisted. He walked under the horse’s neck and pointed to the spot on his shirt. “Here’s where I fell out of a tree four years ago. And here,” he pointed to his other sleeve. “I got caught on a rosebush last spring. And this one is from breaking up a fight between some of the barn cats.”

“Fine, I see your point,” Annika surrendered.

“I’m not convinced that you do,” Talvi answered, still nettled. “It’s different here, Annika. When I don’t feel like cooking for two hours, I can’t put something in one of those white boxes and instantly have food or clean clothes.”

“You mean a microwave and washing machine?” she tried to correct his terminology.

“Whatever you call the blasted things, it’s not an option,” he said with a hint of indignation in his voice. “We may have a comfortable looking life, but it requires a lot of work. There are times when I would give it all up to have what you have. Why do you think I visit the modern world often enough to be familiar with some of the same music as you? I would love to have an auto and be somewhere in a matter of hours, not weeks. I would love to have hot running water instead of building a fire to heat my bath. I would love it if my mother could just put her clothes in one of those micro-boxes and walk away, instead of scrubbing them by hand and hanging them to dry. But we can’t do that here, and that’s just the way it is.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Talvi. I’m sorry if I did,” she found it humorous, imagining Althea loading clothes into a micro-box. He tossed his brush into the bin before turning to look her square in the eye.

“It’s an argument that can’t be won; progress and the high price you modern humans pay for it. Has technology really freed up your precious time? I may work hard on occasion, but at least the air is clean and our rivers run clear. It’s far more than any modern city can claim, what with all that pollution. Who honestly enjoys the scent of auto exhaust and factory farms? Or the smell of festering waste in the back alleys? It really makes one question what progress is, doesn’t it? Personally, I don’t know how you can live in such a place and be happy.”

“It’s not as bad as you make it out to be,” she said quietly. She felt embarrassed to have insulted him in his own home, but she didn’t appreciate him bashing the world where she came from either. “Obviously it’s interesting enough for you to keep visiting.”

Neither of them spoke as he released Galileo from his lead and sent him out to the expansive treed pastures. Clearly there were aspects of Talvi’s life that she didn’t understand. It was still so hard to believe he lived in a land without cars, without microwaves or telephones, without hot running water and electricity; not when he was surrounded by such extravagance.

“Did you still want that tour I promised you?” he asked her on the way out of the stable. They stopped by the water pump to rinse their hands and take a drink of the cool well water.

“Oh, well, only if you aren’t busy,” she said, offering him a chance to change his mind.

“I think I have some time.” He dipped his hand into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a pocket watch, furrowing his brow as he checked the hour. “Yes. I could schedule a tour in between reading and doing nothing. Oh, bollocks, there was that nap I was supposed to take, but I’ll fit it somewhere into my busy schedule,” he said with a smirk. She gave him a punch in the arm at his teasing, glad that the tension from a moment earlier had evaporated. And the way he said schedule…with such a velvety voice, she could’ve listened to him read the phone book for hours as well.

“Let’s go to the greenhouse first, shall we? That’s where Anthea and my mother spend a lot of their time.” They walked to a nice sized greenhouse, with four long rows of plants inside. The two eldest women of the house were wearing aprons and were repotting a selection of plants dotted with tiny red flowers. Stella was sitting on the floor, jamming dandelions and blades of grass into little pots of soil.

“Hello Talvi; hello Annika,” his mother greeted them.

“Good morning, Mother.”

“I don’t know why you insist on telling me that every day when it’s always well past noon by the time I see you,” she said, brushing a stray hair from her face. Her affectionate smile showed that she must have been the most patient mother in the world, raising such an incorrigible son as her youngest.

“If I have not yet had lunch, then it is still morning,” Talvi explained to Annika, and then turned to his mother. “You know my philosophies on the rest of the world starting the day too early.” Althea could only nod.

“What are you doing?” Annika asked, noticing the meticulous care that Anthea and Althea handled the flowering plants.

“Oh, I’ve been procrastinating,” Anthea answered. “The clang sheng will never flower if we don’t get it transplanted.”

“Is that Chinese?” asked Annika.

“Why yes,” said Anthea, impressed at Annika’s knowledge. “Chinese medicine has been one of our favorite areas of research for quite a while now. And these plants will be used to cure fatigue and weakness. It’s also helpful if you lose your appetite. This one over here is
suan zao ren
. It’s used for insomnia and anxiety.”

“It sounds like you know your stuff.”

“Well, I do,” Anthea smiled. “Talvi, would you be a dear and check on Sloan for me? I put him down a little while ago, but he was fussy.”

“We were just going in anyway,” he said, hiding his disinterest. “I suppose if I’m to give you a proper tour, we should start at the front door.” He led Annika out of the greenhouse, then around the side of the massive spread, and finally up one of the curving staircases. He opened the tall doors that stood parallel to the stained glass windows and let her in. She looked up and her eyes grew wide. There was the largest chandelier she’d ever seen, shining bright silver with thousands of tiny crystals glittering and reflecting prisms of color everywhere in the foyer. A staircase to the left led up to the next floor, and the handrail running alongside it was an intricate work of art in itself, made up entirely of wrought iron curling into grapevine tendrils. A simple mural ran up the wall along the staircase, depicting fields of wildflowers and birds flying through the sky.