In His Name

Chapter 41 - Singing in the rain

Thick black storm clouds had moved in overnight to match the aura of Rosco's heart. Heavy rain beats down against the stable's roof in an unrelenting downpour, but the static sound of rain drumming against the roof is not enough to drown out his thoughts. Unlike Lolly's shack, this roof has no leaks, keeping the loft warm and dry, which feels a bit rude right now. Being cold and wet and miserable would better match his mood. Despite being exhausted, Rosco has been unable to sleep, not that he'd expected to. The others however, are sleeping soundly in their beds, undisturbed when the rolls of thunder start, and the spikes of lightning illuminate the room. Not long after the start of the storm, the sounds of anxious horses reach up into the loft. Deciding work is a better use of his time than staring at the ceiling, Rosco extracts himself from Tansy's grip, which is not as easy as one might think. But after a lifetime of sharing a floor with traumatized children, Rosco is well versed in the ways of wiggling out of a sleeping persons hold without waking them.

Tucking his lantern under his arm, Rosco makes his way down the ladder. "Light please." He whispers. The flame winks into existence, casting light around the stable floor. Another roll of thunder shakes the building, causing the distressed horses to whinny and press against the doors of their pens. One by one Rosco visits the frightened horses. Patting their noses and passing them stolen handfuls of grain, humming softly to sooth away their nerves. The storm shows no signs of letting up and Rosco's humming soon transitions into softly whispered songs. It's a small offering of comfort to the creatures who would rather be with their proper masters and not alone with some kid in a storm.

A clearing of someone's throat startles the boy into silence, whipping his head around to find Rowen leaning in his doorway, pipe dangling from his lips.

"Oh," Scrambling to his feet from his place on the floor, nervously twisting at his ring, "I'm sorry sir, was I bothering you? I couldn't sleep, and the horses didn't like the thunder. I was just trying to calm them down a bit and I guess I got carried away, was I too loud? I was definitely too loud, wasn't I? What was I thinking?" hands finding his hair, "People are trying to sleep and I'm down here singing in the middle of the night like an idiot. I'm really sorry, I'll be quiet now," letting his head fall, "Sorry."

Rowen grunts, in that very specific way old men grunt from the back of their throats in a neither positive nor negative sounding noise that is really hard to know how to respond to. Is he mad? Indifferent? Lost on how to proceed, Rosco peeks up, waiting for something more concrete to go on.

Rowen's eyes are wondering the stables looking for something. "I came to calm the horses," he finally provides, his gruff voice slow and unbothered "seems you had a handle on it." his pipe bobbing between his lips as he speaks.

Rosco shuffles his feet, "Um, how long have you been standing there?"

"Saw you climbing down the ladder."

Heat pools in the boy's cheeks, "Oh," letting his eyes fall back to his feet.

"You sing alright," Rowen muses, pulling the pipe from his teeth, "Be pretty good if you'd sing one whole song before skipping to the next one."

The boy shrugs, embarrassment killing his voice.

Rowen wanders over, running his hands over the snout of the horse next to Rosco, giving the mare an ear scratch, "Did a pretty good job of keeping these ladies relaxed though, so can't fault ya for it." he glances down at the boy, fitting his pipe back in his mouth, "That pixie not following ya around tonight?"

"Pixie?" He asks in confusion before his eyes go as wide as saucers, "You can see Tansy!?"

"Little yellow feller, about this big?" holding his hands about Tansy length apart.

"That's them!" Rosco cheers, louder than necessary and pointing excitedly, rising up on the balls of his feet, "You can see them too! I thought I was the only one!"

The ageing man nods his head, "I thought the same thing, till I saw you talkn to the little feller one day while you were mucking out the stalls," leaning his back against the frame of the horse pens, "When I was young I used to trade wildflowers with one near the house where I grew up, never saw one again after I came to the city, but I never forgot, never doubted it was real," a warm smile pulled his lips, eyes focusing on a past only he can see. "I was grateful when I saw the one always buzzing around you. Quite a treasure for an old man to see a dream from his childhood." His gaze refocusing on the boy before him, "Almost feels like my life is complete."

"I'll bet Tansy would be happy to talk to you! They're super friendly and a bit of a showoff. They can be kind of dramatic at times." furrowing his brow, "But they're not a pixie, and I don't much think they'd like you calling them that, they're a wildflower spirit. Oh! And they're not a feller either, just a they.

"Just a they?"

Rosco nods happily.

"Huh," Tapping his pipe against his lips, "Just a they you say." Shaking his head in slow surprise, "Well I'll be." Taking his time to process that fact before speaking again. "I reckoned it was a good omen, when I saw you with one. Figure Pixie- er, wildflowers?" rising an eyebrow for confirmation, "Are good judges of character." He proceeds when Rosco nods. "You've been doing a pretty good job here," the old man complimented, straightening his back and shuffling his feet, "You're a bright enough lad and well mannered, bit scatter brained but that's alright, you mean well and you're certainly not lazy. And well, the Mr. and Mrs. and I talked it over a bit tonight and we'd like to offer you a permeant job here." Rosco opens his mouth to speak, not that he knows what to say, but Rowen holds up a hand stopping him before he can start. "Now don't go answering me just yet I aint finished. We both know this aint always easy or fun work but it's always honest. A lad like you with your head always in the clouds needs some stability, some people who will look out for you. You could have that here, with us. A family of sorts. The Rosewoods are good folks, and they've taken a pretty good shine to ya, I've," Clearing his throat, "Taken a pretty good shine to ya. And we'd all be rather happy to have you stay here with us. I know you've been doing them odd jobs for that fellow you came here with, and that may have been the best choice for ya at the time, but that just don't seem like the most long-standing work. A man your age needs to think of his future, needs to start forging connections with people who have your best interest at heart. I could teach you a real trade out here in the stables, Mr. Rosewood could show you the way round a kitchen, the Mrs. could teach ya about the books n keeping em. Good solid foundations for the rest of your life," Taking a deep, steadying breath, "This is an important decision, Rosco. So, I don't want you to answer us until you've had a good think about it." Awkwardly turning away to pet the horses, "Thank you for checking on the ladies, but you should get some rest now, I'll see to them, so you don't need to worry. Head back on up to bed now." Shooing the boy away.

"Y-yes sir." Rosco nods even if it wasn't seen. He gathers up his lantern and dashes back up the ladder. "Out you go." He whispered to extinguish the light, giving the object a pat, and hiding under his blankets, heart thudding in his chest.

They offered him a job.

Rosco pinches his arm hard enough to leave marks, sure this must have been a dream. The bright spark of pain tells him it isn't.

Rowen specifically asked him to stay because they want him here, they've already met him, seen him work, and they still want him.

They want him.

He closes his eyes to stop his world from spinning. But vertigo still dances in his head from all the extra energy bouncing around inside him. For a few minutes he considers waking up Tansy, to let off some of the pressure building behind his tongue but decides against it. If he started talking now, he'd never stop, and he needs to sleep at some point. So instead, he curls himself into a ball, running Rowen's speech over and over again in his head, unable to keep the smile off his face.

They offered him a home.