At least he doesn’t call me mistress. I take it as another victory. Jack’s not lost to us. He’ll find his way back and it will be a beautiful sight to see the whole of him.
~*~
Chapter Nine
Jack~
My hands are itching for the feel of ground. It’s still early in the morning when I watch a truck pull up to house. Two men get out and I watch them off load plants, flowers, bags, pots and a hose.
My craving to be outside becomes overwhelming and before I can over think it, I’m out the room and finding my way to the nearest door. As I make my way through the kitchen, Miss Ella comes in with a basket filled with eggs.
“Morning, Jack!” she greets me with excitement. “It’s good to see you’re up and about. I noticed Colby and Ian drove up with a truckload of plants for you. I hope that means you’ll be adding some color around here now?”
I can only nod, and then I move as quickly as I can by her and out the door.
The men are still off loading, so I decide to keep my distance. One of the men spots me as he’s placing a bag with pebbles on the ground. He smiles but doesn’t come any closer. “It’s all yours, have fun!” he calls out, and then both men walk away.
I wait until they’re gone before I walk to the truck. There’s so much! A Wheelbarrow, shovel, rake and three hoses. Rose bushes! Ferns and shrubs, so many bags of pebbles. For the first time in a long while, excitement wells in my chest and I feel my eyes mist over with emotion. I quickly look around me, not sure where to start.
I look back at the feast in front of me and kneel down so I can touch the flowers. I to the kitchen and decide these flowers would look best there. I grab the shovel and start to work the ground against the wall, on both sides of the door. When I’m done I realize that there’s no fertilizer. I can’t stop now! I need to do this.
I wipe my hands on the back of my jeans and pop my head into the kitchen. Miss Ella is busy mixing something so I clear my throat. When she looks at me I quickly drop my eyes to the floor. “I … I was wondering where I could get some fertilizer,” I mumble, hoping I won’t get in trouble.
I hear her move closer and then her soft hand presses against my chin. “Look up, Jack. I want to see those eyes of yours. Don’t go hiding them from me.” I look up and she smiles softly. “Ahh … there they are. The angels knew what they were doing when they gave you green eyes, it’s like you’re carrying a tiny bit of nature around in you.”
My mouth drops open. No one has ever said something like that to me. Usually, I’ll only be told that I’m a good fuck, or have a huge cock, or great body – but never something like this! My throat closes up and I quickly pull away. I take a few steps away from the old woman, not sure what she’s playing at with her nice words.
“Will cow manure do? There’s plenty of that. Those cows just eat and crap the whole day long. Let me go show you where.” She walks by me and then calls back, “Bring your shovel and wheelbarrow!”
I quickly grab the shovel, place it in the wheelbarrow and then follow her. We walk quite a distance and I can feel it’s going to be a hot day. My body is itching from all the scabs.
When I see all the cows, sheep and pigs, my eyes grow huge. I’ve never seen animals up close. My feet slow down until all I can do is stare.
“Over here, Jack,” Miss Ella calls out, and I rush over to where she’s standing. There is large heaps of manure. Wow, I’ve never seen so much manure!
I start to shovel some into the wheelbarrow. I notice that Miss Ella is waiting for me so I pick up the pace even though my body is protesting.
“Morning, Miss E,” a man calls out. I quickly hold the shovel in front of me, ready to fight. I was told no more sex but I’m not sure I can believe a word any of these people say.
“I told you before and I’m telling you for the last time, my mama named me Ella not E!” Her voice sounds harsh but there’s a smile on her face as she looks at the man. “Theo, this is Jack. He’s new here so be kind and not your usual crazy self.”
Theo keeps his distance, which is a good thing as he’s much smaller than me. He smiles at me. “Welcome, Jack.”
“Now run along and go work.” He listens and with a quick wave he runs off in the direction of a huge building. It’s made of sturdy wood, and it’s huge!
As soon as Theo is gone I get back to shoveling the manure into the wheelbarrow. When I’m sure the wheelbarrow can’t take anymore, I stick the shovel into the manure and take hold of the wheelbarrow. Without a word Miss Ella starts walking back and I follow behind her.
When we get back to the house, she goes straight into the kitchen.
I bring the wheelbarrow close to the piece of ground I’m working with, and start to work the manure into the ground. It takes me a long while to get all of the manure nicely worked into the dry ground. I need water.
I hook the hose to the tap next to the steps by the backdoor. For now I just need one hose, but I’m sure with time I’ll use all three.
I set the nozzle to a fine spray and take my time wetting the ground. When I’m happy with the ground, I grab the first tray of flowers and start to plant them.
With each little plant going into the ground I feel my heart swelling until something inside of me bursts and tears spill over my cheeks. I don’t bother wiping them away.
This is all that mattered, and it’s all that will matter. Plants, trees, flowers – nature - it’s where my soul finds a sliver of peace and happiness.
I don’t know how long I’ve been working, when Miss Ella calls to me from the kitchen door. “Come have something to eat and drink. No use in you dying out in the heat. Who’s going to do the gardening then?”
She disappears back inside and I quickly rinse my hands. I dry them on the back of my pants and then go inside. It’s cool and my eyes immediately fall on the stack of pancakes and orange juice. It looks delicious.
“You can sit here with me, Jack.” Miss Ella moves around the heavy wooden table and takes a seat. She has a plate filled with pancakes, as well. She takes some syrup and pours it over the pancakes.
When she cuts off a piece and pops it in her mouth, I move closer to the table. She takes another bite, and I quickly go to sit down. I don’t bother with the syrup, I’m too hungry.
I scoff the food down, and take huge gulps of orange juice. I want to get back to the garden. Just as I finish Master Ryland walks into the kitchen with Sophia following him.
My heart constricts and I freeze.
“Morning,” he says in a calm manner, then he looks at his watch. “It’s more afternoon than morning. You two enjoying your brunch?”
“You know I love a snack here and there. At my age there’s no such thing as watching my figure. Who knows what kind of foods they have in paradise. I want to get my fill while I still can.”
“Excuses, excuses,” Master Ryland laughs at Miss Ella, and then he says, “Nanna, do you have two more plates?”
I wonder why he calls her Nanna.
Miss Ella quickly prepares two plates and I move to get up when Master Ryland sits down in front of me and says, “Stay a while, Jack.”
I slump back into the chair, disappointment scratching at the scabs on my heart.
I watch as he pours two glasses of orange juice for himself and Sophia. She’s so quiet next to him. I haven’t seen much of her in the past three days.
He fills my glass again and then says, “I’ve noticed you’ve started on the garden. I’m glad you’re feeling better. There’s a chapel close to the river. I’d like to go show you. I think you’ll be able to do something with it.”
“Yes, Master.” I try to keep my voice toneless, but it’s hard and even I can hear the suspicion and doubt lacing my words.
“My name is Adam Stone but you can call me Adam. There are no masters and mistresses here.”
They keep saying that and the question slips from me, “Then why did you call yourselves Master and Mistress Ryland?”