Vol.5, Ch.5, P.14
“Hhah…! Haaah…!”
I gasp an’ cough. Ev’rything hurts awful. But I’m finally breathing air ’gain. I’m finally free. Free from all that water!
An’ there next to me, breathing just as bad, is none other than Timo.
“Hah… hakh… Lit… little Master… Are you… are you all right?”
“Y… you saved me… You jolly saved me! Thank you!”
Right when I says that, I see his face go bright with wonder. Maybe he’s surprised or summat? A slave like ’im doesn’t hear “thank you” all too oft, I have to reckon. Or ever, really. An’ after I catch me breath, I ask him, “But… but how? Why?”
“Ah, k-kindling. I was there yonder. C-collecting. That’s when… when I saw you wade into the water…”
An’ by gosh, am I glad he did. Crabses be charming li’l critters an’ what not, but I don’t much fancy swimming with ’em for all o’ eternity, in a manner o’ speaking.
An’ after a while, I says, “Timo—I owes you one. I owes you all me life, really!”
“What? N-no, I… I was just…”
But Timo, he’s not very cheery ’bout the whole thing, methinks. Even though it is true. He really did save me life, an’ I really do owe him. But then, when he looks ’way, I notice an eye o’ his being still a mite blue an’ puffy-like. An’ that’s when I remember what’s happened a few days ago.
“Well… can’t go ’round gassing ’bout this, now can we?”
“No… we can’t.” Things b’come a bit quiet, and then Timo says, “…Thank you, little Master.”
Me dad, I don’t s’pose he’ll be chuffed at all if ever he finds out ’bout this. An’ Timo, I don’t s’pose either that he’ll be getting ’ny thankses for it. No… a Nafíl saving his son; me dad’ll really blast his chimney off for that. Poor Timo. He’s done me a mighty favour, but all he’d get for it is ’nother biff to the face. Or maybe worse. Luck’ly, he’s guessed all that out ’ready, from the sound o’ him. What a smart bean he’s got on ’im.
Well, after that, we sun our clothes to dry, an’ sit an’ chat ’bout a bunch o’ things meanwhile. An’ that’s when I ask Timo why he’s working at the mansion. Maybe a bad question, thinking ’bout it, but he doesn’t grudge. Instead, he b’comes very quiet-like ’gain an’ starts telling his story bit by bit.
“My papa, he’s worked here once, too. But, then…”
Sure ’nough, there were ’nother slave at the mansion ’fore… leastways, I think there were. A grown-up one, if mem’ry serves. But as Timo tells me, he passed ’way untimely. Maybe that’s why I can’t recall very well. It’s happened all too soon. Well, that ’bout answers the myst’ry, I s’pose. Timo was brought here ’longside his dad, but now he’s left all ’lone to do two people’s jobs.
Summat ’bout that sat seems wrong to me. So I says to him, “That’s not fair. Pushing bigfolk’s work onto a wee bairn.”
But Timo, he just smiles all sad-like and says, “For true… but, that’s life.”
Nothing’s ever gentle for Nafílses. Not even for their bairnses. But, it’s all too much a puzzle for me head to wrap ’round, if I’m honest. I’m trying me best to understand how sad an’ grey Timo’s life is. I really am. But I guess I haven’t got the bean big ’nough for it yet.
Timo, on the other hand, he knows all sorts o’ splendid li’l things. Like the name o’ that crab what’s caught me fancy, or that the trees yonder can grow some proper nummy fruits. An’ he can make whistles from blades o’ grass, even. It’s like magick. It really is. He plucks a bit o’ green’ry from the ground, rolls it up, puts it ’tween his lipses, an’ then goes pooh pooh like the duckses in our pond. I try to do the same, but I’m too pants with it, an’ that puts me in bit o’ a damp mood. But then Timo teaches me kindly, an’ after a few more tries, I’m off sounding like the cheeriest duck ever. Aye, that’s got me chuffed, it has.
Timo tells me then that he learnt this sort o’ stuff from his dad, back when they still lived in their village. An’ then he says that he doesn’t have a mum; that his dad were all the fam’ly he had left. Just like me, really. But as he goes on, I can see him getting gloomy-like. I reckon he must really miss his dad…
Well, we stay sat there for a while longer till our clothes’re finally dry ’nough. But ’fore we head back home, I decide to ask a favour o’ Timo.
“How ’bout it? No need to call me ‘Master’ ’nymore, Timo. Just me name’ll do.”
“…Eh? B-but, I can’t…”
“Aww, pretty please? We’re friends now, aren’t we? Come on, I’ve always wanted me a friend.”
“Friend…”
Timo’s a mite bothered ’bout it, methinks. Maybe it’s too much to ask? But in a moment, he says to me:
“…All right. No more ‘Master’, then.”
An’ just like that, I make meself a new friend.
Me very, very first ever.
♰
Life’s changed now, months after that. All me world were grey an’ cloudy-like ’fore, but not ’nymore. It’s got brightness now, an’ colour. Lots an’ lots o’ colour. An’ sounds, an’ smells, an’ all sorts.
This is the kind o’ life I’ve always wished for. Spending me days with a good ol’ friend; what could be better? That’s what I wondered for a long, long time. An’ by gosh, it’s even better than I could’ve imagined.
We had to keep it a secret, ’course. No one could ever know that we’re chumses. Not me dad, not the servantses, not ’nyone in the house. That’s why it’s only ever after dark that we meets, when ev’ryone’s done for the day an’ has gone to bed. An’ when we meets, we plays ’gether. Just the two o’ us, till the night gets quiet an’ sleepy. It’s the highlight o’ me day by far. Slinking out o’ me room ev’ry time is ’ready an adventure, but when it’s me an’ Timo, nothing really could be better. An’ Timo thinks it, too, maybe. It took a while, but he laughs an’ smiles a lot more now. I’m glad ’bout that. Aye, just with ’im in me life, me whole world feels a great deal bigger, or wider, if that’s the word. ’Fore, all I ever knew were what me tutour’s taught me. But in a blink, ev’rything’s changed.
An’ me an’ Timo, we’d do lots an’ lots o’ diff’rent things ’gether. We’d steal into the ol’ storehouse an’ snoop ’round; we’d hunt for bugs an’ critters in the back gardens. An’ one time, we sneaked up into the attics, an’ found there a giant, wriggly spider, the likes o’ which we’ve never seen ’fore. A big thrill that was. Nearly woke up the whole house, what with our yelping. An’ the woods; we’d visit that place a fair bunch, too. Climbed a tree there an’ found a bird’s nest once. Chicks an’ all were sleeping sound-like. A splendid li’l sight. Don’t s’pose I’ll forget that one ’nytime soon.
We’d creep into the kitchens sometimes, too. An’ there, I once helped meself to some fruit from the larders. But Timo, he weren’t too keen to join in. Gets scolded ’nough during the day as it is, he said. But then I told him, “Nothing to worry ’bout. If you work here, then you get to eat here. That’s me motto.” An’ when I did, he nodded a li’l an’ thanked me in a shy way.
Well, running ’round wild weren’t all we’d do. Sometimes we’d sit in the gardens, under the moon an’ all the stars, an’ just tattle ’way or tell stories. Like how our days went, or ’bout anyone what’s visited the mansion lately. Lots o’ diff’rent things. An’ the stuff that Timo likes to bring up, it always grabs me fancy. Stuff ’bout the seasons, how the green’ry grows, how all the critters live, big an’ small—stuff he learnt from his dad. An’ me, well… I haven’t got as many topics to bring, so I can only prattle on ’bout some o’ what me tutour’s taught me. Like hist’ry an’ ol’ tales. Knowing me tutour, though, some o’ it might be fishy-like, I reckon, ’cos in the end, it’s always ever ’bout this kingdom an’ its heroes an’ how they’re all strong an’ mighty. But Timo never complains. He always listens with a great deal o’ int’rest.
Though, there were some things I’d keep quiet ’bout. Mostly ’nything ’bout next month or next week. Or tomorrow, really. Things we can do or places we can someday visit; it’s too hard to bring ’em up with Timo. ’Cos I’m never sure what kind o’ tomorrow or next week or next month he’s going to have. An’ so I’d put it aside an’ try not to think ’bout it.
That’s why we plays ’gether a great bunch, an’ spends our time to the fullest. Ev’ryday’s an adventure. Ev’ryday’s precious. Fore I knew it, each morrow that I wake up, all I can think ’bout is what sorts o’ fun we’ll have when the sun finally goes down.
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