Tales from the Kingdom of Tyndall #3
Lord Remington’s quest for respect continues and leads him to a strange encounter with a young woman
When I, Oswald Remington, had become an owner of land on Pride Island, I had thought my lot in life was going to change. I was going to be somebody. I was going to be a lord, one of only 30 lords on the island. I was going to be respected.
Well, not yet. I still believe that day is coming, it just might be a little more distant than I had first imagined. The first few weeks on the island have not been easy. As some of the other lords have begun building their impressive manors, or family homes, or farm houses, I have been just trying to get a roof over my head. Which is easier said than done.
I have little or no resources, as those have been spent to get me to this spot. A spot that I could call my own. So I have spent my days on the island, so far, doing one of two things: building a log cabin, or working for other lords.
The building of the cabin has actually gone fairly well. I don’t have all the tools necessary for such an endeavor, so I have been purchasing a lot of the materials needed as opposed to cutting down large trees on my land. This is where the working for other lords comes in. I have been taking jobs from them as part of the crews working on their own properties. I then use the coin from working to buy my materials. I now have the first two layers of logs in place. I received the long logs and then cut notches into them to fit them into each other. I am temporarily using a large stretch of canvas as my roof.
The more challenging task has actually been working for other lords. Not the finding of the work, or the actual labor, but trying to keep my identity a secret while doing it. When I decided to begin looking for work on the island, I immediately created an alias for doing so. Lord Remington couldn’t be seen working for others on the island. That would undermine his status as a lord. It appears that I am already at the bottom when it comes to respect from the other lords, so I had to avoid being noticed at all cost.
I did have the benefit of the fact that most of the other lords had no idea who I was and couldn’t have picked me out of a crowd. But, there were rumors that Lord Wedgewood would be hosting a party for all the lords of the island as soon as his new manor was ready for such a thing. I couldn’t risk someone seeing me while I was working and then recognizing me at the first gathering of the lords. I needed a disguise.
The first thing to cover up was my easily remembered sandy-colored hair. To do that, I wore a bandanna around my head and tied in the back. This gave me the look of a swashbuckler, which I decided to embrace. I added a gold-hooped earring in one ear. I wore clothes that were well used and tucked my pants into my black boots. To help hide some of my facial features, I would use dirt and clay to add what looked like a permanent bruise on one side of my face and I would never be clean shaven.
Today was no different. I was working on Lord Paxton’s estate as part of a group of laborers. I had gotten to know some of the others working around the island, and was working with one of them today. His name was Marcus. We had worked together a few times now.
Marcus and I were working on the back side of the property, clearing a couple of trees that Lord Paxton wanted cut down, so he had a clear view of the water. As we were doing so, taking turns sending our ax into the bottom of the tree, a figure started walking toward us. Thinking she must be a member of Lord Paxton’s family enjoying the beach, we continued chopping away.
As Marcus called out “timber” and I backed away quickly, I realized that the girl had gotten closer. Too close. I quickly ran towards her as the tree started to fall. She looked up from her silent walk as I yelled “look out!”
I dove, knocking her out of the way as the tree fell, striking the ground not far from where the girl and I collapsed to the ground.
I let out a shaky breath before standing up. I reached down for her to grab my hand so I could help her up. She looked at me almost like she was in a haze. Like she was lost, not present. Finally, she grabbed my hand and I helped her stand up.
“Are you ok,” I asked?
“I think so, thank you.”
“Man, that was close!” yelled Marcus. “Are you guys okay?”
I had forgotten about Marcus for a second. “Yes, we are okay, Marcus.”
I turned my attention back to the girl in front of me. No, not a girl. A woman. Younger than me by a few years, but no longer a girl. Just now did I realize her beauty. She had long blond hair and fair skin. Her eyes sparkled like the sun reflecting off of a deep blue ocean. My eyes continued to take in the rest of her, starting to wonder what she would look like in a different outfit. Then, returning to the matter at hand, I introduced myself, using my fake name of course.
“I am Emerson. Are you part of the Paxton family? What is your name?”
The woman waited a minute to respond, seeming to weigh my words against something else going on in her head. “I am Jospehine. No, I am not part of that family.”
“Oh, I am sorry, I just assumed. Is there anything else I can do for you?” Again, she hesitated. Something wasn’t right here. She didn’t seem like she was here, in the moment. How could she not be? She was almost hit by a tree!
“No. I am fine,” she said before starting to walk away.
“Are you sure?” I called after her. But she did not reply.
With nothing better to do, I nodded at Marcus and we continued our work. But as we did so, my gaze often drifted to watch Josephine as she walked away. I kept watching her until she was no longer visible. Where had she come from? What would she be doing out here? I wasn’t sure if my questions were driven by curiosity, desire, worry, or something else entirely.
After the long day’s work, I collected my payment for the day and started the walk towards home. My thoughts continued to be focused on the strange encounter with Josephine but I finally pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. I had completed another day’s work, which added to the coin I had already collected this week. I could picture the completed cabin in my mind. Could see the smoke coming out of the chimney. Could taste the food grown by my own hand on my land. I wasn’t there yet, but every day I got a little bit closer. I would not stop until everyone respected the name Lord Remington.