Free The Tale of Mally Biddle by M.L. LeGette

Susie asked suddenly.
    “Yes,” said Mally, surprised by the turn in conversation.
    “The blond one was standing right there, where you are.” Susie pointed to the countertop that Mally leaned against. “I didn’t pay him much attention. I was too busy trying to keep Gibbs happy, but I thought I heard something clank.”
    Mally blinked and turned to inspect the countertop.
    “The tea canister?” asked Mally astonished.
    Susie nodded.
    “He was right next to it. He could have lifted the lid without anyone noticing.”
    “But that would mean that he gave us gold.” Mally was so astounded that she could only stare at her mother.
    “Yes,” Susie agreed softly.
    A knight had given them gold. This news rang like a gong in Mally’s brain. A knight had given them gold. A knight had moved against Gibbs—against Molick . Mally suddenly wondered if he had deposited small handfuls of gold in strange places at all the houses they had visited.
    “I don’t approve of this,” Susie spoke and Mally quickly turned her focus back to her mother. “But, I also can’t make you stay.”
    Mally’s heart began to pound.
    “I’ll be careful.”
    Susie nodded, a sudden wetness in her eyes.
    “I’ll write every day.”
    When Susie didn’t make a response to that, Mally pulled her close.
    “I’ll be careful,” she repeated.
    ***
    Mally managed to convince a jubilant Ivan to stay for the night and leave in the morning. She was surprised at how well-tempered her mother was to Ivan in the morning since it was thanks to him that her only daughter was leaving her safe abode. Mally thought that her mother was putting on a strong front so that Mally wouldn’t see the fear and sadness she was feeling.
    Susie fussed over the clothes that Mally had or hadn’t packed and loaded she and Ivan down with food for the journey.
    “I know it’s only a few hours, but I don’t trust that inn food!”
    Ivan repeated again and again his gratitude for her hospitality. Even though Susie didn’t show it very vividly, Mally was sure she was touched by his tireless desire to show his thanks.
    Mally needed a horse for the journey to Bosc and they only had one, Sam, a large dappled-gray draft horse. She could remember being a little girl and watching her father harness Sam up to plow the fields behind their house and being amazed at how tall he was. Ivan’s eyes widened when Sam was led from the stable.
    “You’re sure I should take him?” Mally asked her mother for the third time that morning.
    Susie shook her head dismissively.
    “He’d mope around like a great fool with you gone. You two are better together. Allen will lend me a horse for plowing. Don’t worry about me.”
    When Sam and Arrow were saddled and ready, Mally hugged her mother one last time, scratched Bonnie behind the ears—she whined pitifully—and mounted Sam. Ivan shook hands with a stony-faced Susie and expressed again his deep thanks. It was only after Ivan had mounted Arrow and they had left the fenced-in yard that Susie yelled fiercely after them, “You’d better take care of my daughter, Ivan Finley, or I’ll hunt you down!”
    Ivan turned in his saddle, grinning widely, as Mally laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.
    “You have my word, madam, that no harm shall come to her!” he called back.
    Mally hoped that it wouldn’t be long before she returned.
     
    The four hour journey to Bosc seemed to pass by in minutes. There was so much to discuss. Mally didn’t know anything about being a servant or how to act around nobility. The only people she ever dealt with were other farmers and traders. But Ivan didn’t seem worried in the slightest.
    “You’ll surprise yourself. It’s not that hard. Be quiet and keep your eyes down. You’ll have duties that you’ll do every day, and then there may be certain spur of the moment things that crop up, but mostly, it’s the same thing every day,” said Ivan, thinking about the servants at his home. “And you won’t