Pat Davies

I lay in my bed, aching all over. Thomas and I had been practicing my new method of swordsmanship every day now for a solid month, with the usual bout of “old fashioned” sword practice at the end of each session.  I was getting better at my own method, but I still lacked the strength and length of arm to defeat Thomas in the usual way of fighting.  Thomas was more convinced than ever that the only way I would be able to survive on a battlefield was with this new method of fighting that relied on my quickness and agility.  Surprisingly, Thomas was now becoming my pupil as he tried his best to learn how to fight my way.  Thomas was so big, however, that it was hard for him to move quickly, and there was no way he could do the flips and turns that I found so easy.

It was still early in the morning, so I was surprised when my little sister knocked on my door and yelled out, “Get up sleepy head!  Jarvis wants to see you in his study right away!”

“I’m awake,” I said tiredly.  Boy, I did not want to get out of this bed.  Yawning hugely, I decided that I had better not keep Jarvis waiting.  Of all of my brothers, I was most scared of Jarvis.  I really don’t know why since Jarvis really didn’t have much to do with me.  He was always so busy with the business of the estate that he rarely even showed up at the dinner table.  However, Jarvis was probably 7 feet tall and had muscles on his muscles!  That man could probably squish me and not even work up a sweat!  Yeah, I was scared to death of Jarvis.

So, after quickly washing up and donning my clothes, I hurried down the hallways and made my way to Jarvis’ study, nervously wondering why I had been summoned there.  I approached his door timidly and quietly knocked.  After hearing him shout out, “Come in!” I slowly opened the door and entered, looking around Jarvis’ study curiously.  I had never been invited into Jarvis’ study, so I was naturally curious even though part of me just wanted to bolt back out of the door.  The first thing I noticed was there were a lot of books—on the floor to ceiling bookcases, on his desk, stacked up on chairs.  There were books everywhere!  I found myself relaxing a little bit, deciding that anyone who loved to read that much couldn’t be as bad as I had feared.  Then I looked over at Jarvis’ bent head.  He was hunched over a ledger on the top of his desk, a frown on his face as he seemed to be noting something in the ledger.  He finally looked up at me, the frown lines deepening as he looked me over.

“Sit down, Jasper,” he said, waving towards a chair that was already occupied with a mound of books.  “You can just move those onto the floor for now.”

Nodding, I went over to the chair and lifted the top two books and carefully set them on the floor.  Then, bending back over the chair, I lifted the other two books and placed them carefully on the floor before seating myself in the chair.  I knew immediately that I must have done something wrong, because Jarvis’ face was even more creased in that frown and he looked very displeased about something.  I nervously looked down at the books on the floor, “I’m sorry Jarvis,” I said quickly.  “I thought you told me to put them on the floor.  Did you want me to put them somewhere else?”

“No, Jasper,” he said, shaking his head.  “Tell me, why didn’t you just lift them all at the same time and put them on the floor?”

“Oh!” I was startled.  It had not even occurred to me to do it that way.  “What if I had dropped them or something, Jarvis?  I wouldn’t want to hurt your books!”

Jarvis nodded, looking a little less upset, “But you could have lifted them all at one time if you weren’t concerned about possibly damaging them?” he asked me.

Looking down at the books, which were indeed quite thick, I answered him as honestly as I could, “I think I could lift them, Jarvis,” I said hesitantly.  “I’m not really sure though.  Do you want me to try?” I looked up at him quickly.

Jarvis looked thoughtful for a moment, “An honest answer, Jasper.  I appreciate that.  Thomas came to talk with me yesterday evening.  He wants me to attend one of your training sessions.  He seems to feel that you are getting much better and he wants me to observe your progress.  What is your opinion on the matter?  Wouldn’t you rather our father come to observe your training?”

“No, Jarvis,” I answered him quickly.  “I would be honored if you would like to come and give me any pointers you have.  I would rather wait to have father attend until I feel more confident that he won’t be disappointed in me.”  Thomas and I had discussed how best to approach Jarvis.  Thomas had already given up on the idea of having me fight Jarvis, for which I was extremely grateful.  I can’t tell you how extremely grateful I was for that!  I mean, I had felt like kissing Thomas’ boots I was so grateful!  You get the point.

Jarvis leaned back in his chair and regarded me with the air of someone who was certain I was holding something back from him, something he wouldn’t like.  However, all he said was, “Okay, Jasper.  I will attend your training session this afternoon promptly at 3 o’clock.  I am very busy, so I will not be able to stay for long, but I will try to give you any pointers I can.”  He looked me over critically, “I guess the first pointer would be to tell you to get busy and grow some!”

Just as I was about to get angry over that ridiculous statement, I saw a glint in Jarvis’ eye and realized he was actually teasing me!  It startled a snort of laughter from me and I actually saw his lips quirk up in a grin.

Straightening back up in his chair and leaning back over his ledgers, Jarvis waved a hand at me, “Go on now, Jasper.  I am extremely busy.”

I stood up slowly and then screwed my courage up, “Jarvis?”

Looking up he asked me impatiently, “Yes?”

“I was wondering…well…I mean,” seeing the frustration on his face at my stumbling around, I quickly said, “I was wondering if maybe you ever needed any help maybe I could help you I’m pretty good with numbers and books and such and maybe you wouldn’t have to work so hard if you had some help maybe,” and, taking a deep breath, I clapped my mouth shut, waiting nervously for his response.

Jarvis placed his quill down on the desk and looked at me thoughtfully, “That’s probably the nicest offer any of my brothers has ever made to me, Jasper.  I’m really quite surprised that it is my youngest brother who has made the offer.  Let me think it over, okay?  We will see.  Now, you may go get your breakfast before it is too late.  You definitely need some meat on all those bones of yours!”

“Okay, Jarvis.  Thanks, Jarvis,” and I bent down and picked up all four books from the floor and carefully placed them back on the chair.  Afraid to look at Jarvis although I could feel his eyes on me, I quickly opened the door and left hurrying down the hallway to the dining room where I knew most of my brothers would already be eating their breakfast.

As I entered the room, I felt several pairs of eyes looking at me and I headed nervously for the bar that held steaming trays of eggs, ham and steak, as well as fresh baked rolls.  There were cold plates of fruit and jugs of milk.  I helped myself to the food, poured myself a generous glass of milk and then headed toward the table, looking for an empty place at the table.  I quickly sidestepped William’s foot out of long hard-won practice and found an empty spot at the table.  I quickly placed my food down on the table and crawled over the bench that ran the length of the table and proceeded to dig into my breakfast.

“Hey, kid, I hear you visited Jarvis in his study this morning,” William piped up.  William was the third brother, which meant he was just older than Thomas.  “What was that about anyway?  Did you snitch one of his books?”

“No, I didn’t snitch one of his books,” I told him irritably.  William always managed to make me irritable for some reason.  Maybe it was because of all the times he had tripped me up while I was carrying food—or maybe it was just because William was plain irritating.  “He just wanted to talk with me, that’s all.”  I sneaked a look at Thomas and saw him nod slightly.

“Well, it’s highly unusual of him,” William said thoughtfully.

“What’s unusual, William?” boomed out a voice at the door of the dining room.  Everyone turned as one to watch as our father as he made his way into the room.  Michael, who had been lounging in father’s chair, quickly vacated it and moved over to the bench, sliding along it and bumping everyone else over.

“Oh, Jarvis taking an interest in the kid, there, Sir,” William replied.  “He called him into his study this morning and they had a real nice chat apparently.”

Father turned from filling his plate at the buffet and pierced me with a look, “You’re not bothering Jarvis are you?” he asked sternly.

“No, sir,” I answered quickly.  “I just asked him if there was anything I could do to help him, that’s all.  He works so hard, I thought maybe I could help him.  He said he would think about what I could do.”

Father continued to stare hard at me for a moment, almost as if he knew I was hiding something, but then he turned back to filling his plate.  “It’s commendable that you want to help your brother, Jasper, but I don’t want you bothering him.  He does have a lot to do and he doesn’t have time to babysit a kid.”  Father turned around with a full plate and made his way to his chair at the head of the table.  As he sat, he turned toward Thomas, “Is the boy practicing his swordsmanship?”

“Yes, sir,” Thomas replied honestly.  “We’ve been practicing every day and he’s even doing the exercises I gave him to do.  Unfortunately, he’s still pretty small and his reach isn’t what it should be.  I guess time will take care of that problem though.”

“We can hope so, son,” Father said and then proceeded to eat his breakfast.  Everyone at the table followed his example and, to my vast relief, no more was said about Jarvis or my mysterious visit with him, or about my sword practice.  I really didn’t want Father to decide he should come and see for himself what progress I was making.  Thomas and I needed to get Jarvis on our side first.

I spent the rest of the morning in the library, studying my books to see if there were any further pointers I could glean from them about this new method of fighting, or at least, the fighting method was new to me.  Apparently it wasn’t actually a new method or it wouldn’t be in the books.  I eagerly read how a person could take out several men by moving swiftly and decisively from one to another, without giving them the chance to fixate on his position.  The key was in moving swiftly and on different levels, but strength of arm was also mentioned and, with a groan, I read about some additional exercises that were mentioned and encouraged.  With a resigned sigh, I laid the book out flat and proceeded to follow the instructions in the book, working on the exercises.  I was in a particularly difficult position when I heard heavy footsteps in the hall and then heard the library door bang open.  This told me it was father coming in.  I quickly moved to the book and closed it, shoving it under another stack of books, and hurriedly sat down in the chair pretending to read.  I heard father moving around the bookcases until he was standing in front of me.

“Well boy!  What time are you supposed to show up for practice today?” he said sternly.  “You don’t want to be late!”

Looking up and hoping to avoid the boxing of my ears that ignoring father would earn me, I told him, “Thomas said to be there at about…” I hesitated for a moment.  If I told him the exact time, would  father take it into his head to show up and monitor my progress?  But I had never deliberately lied to father before.

“Well, boy?  What time did Thomas say?”

“Uh, I think he said 3 o’clock, or maybe it was 4?” I looked up at father anxiously while telling myself it wasn’t exactly a lie.  “Maybe I should get there early, just in case.”

“That might be a good idea.  If Thomas isn’t there right away, you could always use the time to practice or do your exercises,” father said in a gruff voice.  I watched as father rocked back on his heels for a moment, and if I didn’t know him better, I would have thought that father might be nervous.  Instead, I was nervous as I waited to see what father would say or do next.  “Well, I’ll leave you to it then, boy, but I just want to say I’m pleased at the way you’ve been practicing lately.  Keep it up.”  Father turned and left as quickly as he had come, leaving me with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide with surprise.  When I heard the door to the library bang shut, I managed to snap my mouth closed and I shook my head to clear it.  I then let out the air and I had been holding in a big whoosh!  Father had actually praised me!  At least, I think he did.  I mean, he praised me!  Jasper!  Wow!  This was going to be a banner day!  I just knew it.