Roses in Winter (Focusedheart & Silence)

Silence

Silence

Anonymous Me
@Focusedheart


Ting! The nail for the horse shoe was starting to form up nicely. Aaron raised the hammer and hit the nail again. Seemed like a long time since he had left the village. Sometimes he remembered it in his dreams though most of the time it was just when he saw little things that reminded him of the day. Travelers were more frequent these days. The king was losing ground and more villages had fallen. Many of the folk were refugees.

Aaron moved over to cradle the horse’s foot between his legs and fit the shoe to it. Gently tapping the shoe on he collected the last nail and tested to be sure it wasn’t too warm before tapping it in. “There you are.”

Walking back over to the front of his shop he saw the line of folks. Everyone had something that needed to be repaired. “Next.” This one was an old woman and her mule. She used the poor creature for everything. While she wasn’t cruel the animal frequently threw shoes. “Try not to take it to the hills with the cart so much. Animal isn’t far from going lame.” Even if it was the best advice the woman couldn’t afford not to go to the hills. It was where she gathered herbs to sell.

For her Aaron always charged half the price. He lost money but, it wasn’t in his heart to charge her what she couldn’t afford. No one knew what she would do when the mule did finally give out. Going back to the front of his shop he again called out, “Next.”

This time it was someone that seemed to be strangely familiar. He couldn’t place where from. Maybe it was the way they carried themselves. Tilting his head to the side he tried to peer under the hood. “What is it you have for me?” Walking with her to the other side of his shop he started to heat some of the tools again.
 
As the blacksmith did his work for those in line before her, she found herself watching his movements and listening to his voice. Who was he? It was strange but it seemed like she may know him. It was an uncertain thing though as she had been to so many villages of late that she could have seen him in passing. She pushed those thoughts aside as she came to the front of the line after he tended to the needs of an elderly lady and her mule. The poor animal was in rough shape but the looks the animal gave to the woman and the nudges of affection told her that the animal was just hard working.

When the blacksmith spoke to her, she nods to her liver chestnut stallion who had been standing quietly beside her, standing about 16 hands to her 5'6 size. "I need his shoes checked. The front left is loose and was wondering if you could repair his bridle?" The horse was in it's halter at the moment and the bridle in her hands. She shows the blacksmith where the bit ring that attached to the leather was starting to break. The long cloak she wore about her small frame kept hidden the dark green split dress she wore, it stopped at her ankles and had slits that went up the middle but stopped to the middle of her thigh and beneath those she wore a pair of pants to protect her legs with a pair of knee high boots. An amulet rested around her neck, hidden under the clock, it's true color blue but in the light reflected casts of greens. Her long red hair was pulled back into a braid and she reveals it as she pushes her hood back. Her name was Tabitha.
 
(AAaah, I had so many notifications that this one got lost. Sorry.)

Aaron looked to the work that she had given him. "Oooh it will only be a little bit." Rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand he reached for the horse's hoof and looked at the shoe. A few nails would do it. That was all the more he would need to see the job done. Taking a few more nails out of the mold he started to pound it into shape. It was a big horse so he didn't have to worry half so much about the length.

The hammer pounded on the anvil and then a shudder sounded as it vibrated. Aaron stared at the woman for a moment. "I know you." He couldn't think of her name but, she was so familiar looking. Just as quickly as he had recognized her he decided it maybe wasn't best to say so. Lowering his head he resumed pounding at the nail till it appeared to be about right. Grabbing the horse's hoof he then snatched the smaller hammer to begin tapping the shoe in place. Then he took the bridle and studied the piece for a moment. It was something fine and he didn't get as many of these. Still he knew how to do it. Turning the circular piece of metal he shoved the leather away from it and poured a new thread of molten metal over it.

Soon as it cooled Aaron held it to the fire with a long prong like tool. He would need all the metal around the new to be hot. It would bond better. As it gradually turned a good red color he pulled it from the fire and gently tapped on it to take a more even form. Before the metal completely cooled he chipped the odd pieces of it away and smoothed the edges.

Sliding the leather back into place he checked to be sure it was sturdy. Dipping a finger into some grease he rubbed it along the leather. "There that should keep the leather from drying out." It had been close to the fire and he didn't want to compromise the rest of the bridle.
 
The steady horse stood quietly for him, even assisting in holding his large hoof up. He would nudge gently at the man's back but never bit. Just nudged. He did it every time he picked up his hoof. Tabitha shakes her head a little as she watches the antics of her stallion. She had gotten him to stop trying to knock the blacksmiths in the past over but the nudging thing she just couldn't break him of it. Once he was done with the stallion's hoof and started on the bridle, she watches curiously. She was fascinated by his skill and his movements.

How did she know him? She had to know him. He looked so familiar. When he handed the bridle back to her, she was grateful for the care he had put into it. "Thank you." She smiles softly then pauses a moment before saying. "I'm sorry if this sounds weird but...where do I know you from? You remind me of someone..." She says to him. She was a blunt woman and being in that era it sometimes got her into trouble once in a while.
 
Aaron looked at her again and shrugged. He wasn't sure how he would know her. "I don't know. Have you been here before?" There were many that came to his shop and he didn't remember them all unless they were regular customers like the older woman. "I was not originally from here. A town on the southern border several years ago." That was about all the more he would say about it. Everyone here knew he was a quiet man. He had reasons like anyone else that was quiet.
 
At the mention of the town, her eyes widen. It was if something had clicked as memories of a young boy and her playing by the river came to mind. Just as she was about to mention the memory to him, her stallion snorts a little and began to move a little beside her, prancing gently. It drew her attention and she looks around, taking her eyes off the blacksmith for a moment. Any time her horse got restless like that, there was usually trouble to follow.

She pulls her money bag from her belt. "How much do I owe you?" She asks in regards to his services. The idea of reminiscing with him gone for the moment until whatever was troubling her horse could be dealt with. It was strange but the horse was rarely wrong.
 
The horse seemed to want to leave. That was normal for the blacksmith. While the animals willingly allowed him to mend their shoes they were equally anxious to leave. "1 pence." It wasn't much, but neither was the work that he put into it. Not to mention the woman was likely a traveler. Her clothing seemed to say as much. Anyone he figured might have been a refugee he wouldn't charge as much as usual. Taking the money he set it aside in the little bowl. That was the good thing about being a black smith. Nobody bothered to pick a fight with you or steal anything. Blacksmiths were notoriously strong for good reason.
 
Gently she gathered her horse's lead after paying the man and putting her money bag away. "Thank you again for your work." She says to him and starts to walk away. She lead her horse over to the local dine area where she could get something to eat. She wouldn't stay there to rest but instead would find a place outside the town limits to make camp. She had long ago learned that staying in town was more dangerous than staying out of town. As she got the look of the local pub, she decides it probably better to just grab something from the markets and stock up.

All the while, the man was on her mind. Could he really be the young boy that had been her friend when she was younger? She had thought him and his family killed in the raids that destroyed their home. Her own family had died except her mother who had been enslaved and then died. She had escaped with her mother's help, taking to the very river they had played in as kids.

She guides her horse through the market, going from one to the other as she gathers what supplies she needed to replenish. Allowing her horse to scare off any who would try to pick pocket her. Having her companion did may traveling better and safer. Once she had circled about the market and gotten all she needed, she had to go by the blacksmith shop to get out of the town again. She wondered if she should stop and speak to him but was not sure if bringing up his past would be a good idea, could he be hiding here in this town as she was hiding by traveling?
 
The hours passed by slowly since the lady had left. Aaron thought about her. He knew her from some place. Never forgot a face but, then again he couldn't figure out why he would know her. Finally shaking the thought from his head he continued with his work. It was getting dark before he finished putting his things up on the shelf. Wandering out to the back he started to close up the section that overlooked part of the town.

A little candlelight showed from just inside the very small house. It was smaller than the shop he had. However, he didn't need much with this kind of work and he'd lived along for a long time. Aaron saw the woman wandering with her horse. Wasn't too many places that she could stay so he beckoned her. "You can keep your horse back here for the night. There's a lot of thieves around here." He doubted she had the money to pay for her horse to be boarded. "I don't have much but, your welcome to what I have."

Rubbing his hands nervously on the front of his blacksmith apron he waited for her to say anything at all. Wasn't often that he offered for someone to board their animal here but, she was a lone woman and he didn't want her to be left out for just anyone to pick at her.
 
She paused when the blacksmith had stopped her and given her his offer of a place to board her horse. She hesitated for a moment then nods to him as she accepts the offer. "Thank you. I have food I just bought from the market, allow me to share it with you in payment for your kindness." She says to him as she leads her horse around the building where he would be safe. The stallion nudged at her gently as she removed the saddlebags and then the saddle. He shook his massive body, ready to be free of the gear. She kisses his nose gently. "Good boy. Mind yourself." The horse seemed to snort at the suggestion but did just that.

She grabs the saddlebags that had the food in them and looks to the blacksmith. "My name is Tabitha by the way...." She gazes at him a moment but didn't bring up the fact that she remembered him yet. It didn't seem like the right thing to say yet and at the moment, she was hungry.
 
Aaron nodded. "Ok." Food was nice and if she was offering to cook it was her way of saying thank you. He wasn't about to turn that offer down. The blacksmith wasn't much of a cook and he didn't mind letting someone else take care of that detail from time to time. Latching the gate to the back of his shop he noticed that the woman was very affectionate with her horse. It was good to see that she cared about her animal.

Opening the back door he made room for the woman to step in. She still looked familiar and the name was bringing back some memories. Things that were before. "Oh." Frowning a little he just nodded. "I should introduce myself then. My name is Aaron." While she was busy with preparing food he took his apron off and washed his face, hands, and arms off with the little bowl of water near the fire. He hated to wash with cold water so he always had a bowl by the fire in the house all day so it was warm when he got done working at night. "I used to have a friend named Tabitha."
 
She paused in the making of the food as she heard his words. Aaron. Could it really be her childhood friend. She looks to him regarding him quietly for a moment before returning to chopping up the veggies that she was preparing with the meat. It would be a simple meal and she was already half way through with it. It was how she had learned to make meals when traveling, quick and simple. To do anything more was a waste of time and supplies a lot of the time. "Did you and your friend play often down by a river that resided just outside of the town?" She asks.

The fates had brought them together again possibly, why at such a time would they know find one another? If it was really him though, it would be nice to know that he had lived. She had long since thought he had died in the fires that were set by the raiders when she didn't find him. It was why she had been caught, she had gone looking for him after seeing her mother captured and her father slaughtered. She had gone looking for her friend.
 
Aaron was drying his arms off when the woman asked about his friend. Seemed she knew something about them. It was possible she was the same girl but, he didn't remember her hair being that color. They had both likely changed over the years though. "Yes?" Answering cautiously he wiped with the towel up his other arm. He was looking a little more like himself. Though Aaron considered being smeared in black soot almost normal. With his line of work it was quite common to look dirty.

"Why would you ask something like that?"
 
She turns to look at him, being silent a moment as she watches him. "Because I had a friend named Aaron who I played with by the river outside my town before it was destroyed by raiders." She says, watching his reaction, how they both had changed so much. He was much bigger than he had been back then but it was his eyes, they were the same. No, not the same, they had seen things as she had, as so many had. She shakes her head a little and sets the plates of food down on the table. "I thought you had died in the fires....I looked for you.." She says quietly, shaking her head a bit.
 
Aaron looked at her and studied her face for a long moment. He was very careful about these kinds of things. Part of him wanted to trust her while the other half demanded he reject the claim. Still there wasn't anyone else that would know something like that unless it was one of their family members. She knew about the fires too. Shaking his head he looked away from her. "I wasn't at home." It seemed an odd thing to say since it was early evening when both of them would have usually returned home after their games out by the river. "Was sent out to get my father from the fields when the raiders came. Laid in the ditch for a long time. Nobody stopped to help so I crawled into a passing wagon and rode till I reached a new town. Blacksmith and his wife took care of me. They never could have children so I became their son."
 
He had survived. She nods at his words and smiles a bit. "I am glad that you survived. Almost everyone from the town is either dead or enslaved still." She shakes her head. "I'm a healer and travel all over." She smiles faintly and nods to the food that was prepared. "Please eat."

It was a small favor to find him alive hen so many others had died. She was grateful that he had. She was feeling so alone in this world despite all the people that she has met. Even if they parted ways in the morning, it was good to see a friendly and familiar face.
 
Carefully sitting down he served a small platter for himself. Breathing deeply he nodded. "Smells good." Aaron chewed the food slowly and savored the flavor. After a short time he looked up at her. "What about my mother?" He'd never found anything out. There was a time when he had wandered back to the village to find nothing there. It was abandoned. "Do you know where they took the people that they enslaved?" As for his father he already knew what happened to him. Maybe his mother had survived though it was doubtful.
 
She paused in eating. She had known the question would come, yet she still wasn't ready for it. She didn't want to tell him but it may give him closure. "I'm sorry...."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out. " She passed away." She looks at him. "She was strong, tried to fight...they killed her." She shakes her head.
 
Nodding he just listened to her. It wasn't particularly easy to hear since he had always held out a small hope that she would be alive. That was the end of it. "Thank you for telling me." Taking another bite he thought for a long moment before he decided to say anything else. "What about your family?" While it wasn't a nice conversation he figured it was only polite to ask about her as well. Shifting on the bench he sat on he straightened his back some. There were still days it ached.
 
When he asked about her own family, it was hard to give that answer as well. She stares at her plate of food for a while then says. "Father was killed trying to protect everyone...they weren't fast about it..." she pushes the food around on her plate slightly before stopping. "Mother and I were enslaved. After about two years mother helped me escape...she was supposed to go with me....she was killed in the process..."
 
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