Chapter 1 - I need a job Ma'am

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The next morning Gael crawled out of bed and took several minutes to get ready for the day. It hadn't been a good night since he hadn't slept well. Bridget had woken several times to be fed as well. He stuffed a goodly amount of food down his throat as well as several mugs of coffee. Since he had promised to do his best without help he tossed some items into the diaper bag. Most of it was food for him but there were also some items she was going to need as well.

He had a baby back pack for her as well and once he had her in it he grabbed the diaper bag and walked out. Gael headed for the main house and checked in with Annabelle. That had been hard since she appeared to be a rather nice lady. She had a scent of sadness as well and he had to wonder why. There was something in the house as well but since he had rarely worked with humans he wasn't sure what it might be.

Gael didn't even realize it when he mentally turned away from his wondering. He didn't have enough energy to care for more than dealing with some work and his little girl. "Mornin' Ma'am and what do you need me to do today?" Bridget was in the baby pack and quietly sleeping with little baby snores. He could feel the tiny puffs of air from her breathing on his neck.

Annabelle barely managed not to smile at the baby. She did have to wonder what the story was. Yes, he had mentioned his wife had died in an accident but how long had they been married. What had she been like and all that good stuff. His not smiling much didn't really cross her mind since she hadn't smiled for a while herself. "Morning Gael and thanks for the work yesterday. From what I understand you did a good job. Today if you wouldn't mind feeding the horses and mucking out the stable I would appreciate it."

He nodded. "Can do ma'am. I will head over right now and get started." He didn't give her much time to offer to take care of Bridget. She had indicated he needed to prove himself and he was going to do that. As far as Bridget he wasn't worried since he had everything he needed. Chances were good he could find a spot to tuck her in near where he was working.

When he reached the barn with the horses he quickly found an empty stall. In the stall was a hay trough and after adding some hay in it he settled the little girl on top of the hay. After making sure she was comfortable and warm he left the stall and started taking a look at the horses. He could tell they weren't very sure of him due to his scent. Animals could also tell lycan's were predators which also made them a bit jittery. It would take some time for them to be really comfortable with them but as long as he was slow and gentle with them it should be fine.

Once he checked all the stalls with animals in them he made a mental note of what each horse needed. After he had the mental list he went to the feed room and looked to see if there was anything indicating anything special each horse might need. He found that and after reviewing it he started getting the feed buckets ready and filled a barrow with them. Gael headed back out and started putting the feed buckets in each stall.

When he started doing that he kept his voice low and quiet as he was working. Gael also let them catch his scent from his hand as he bribed them with a bit of carrot. It would help get them to associate him with something other than the fur scent he had. After he had the feed delivered he pulled a bale apart and started passing that out as well. It didn't take that long to get the horses fed and watered. Once he was done he went and checked on Bridget and found her sleeping.

Now came the fun part... Not really but the stalls needed to be mucked out and fresh hay and sawdust laid down. Gael checked on the horses and they had pretty much finished eating. One by one he led them out of the barn and into a paddock so they could move around and get some exercise. He rather hoped they didn't ask him to ride any of the horses since he weighted far more than he looked. Anything smaller than a Clydesdale would have problems after carrying him for a while. Now with a lead rope he could and was familiar with that.

His lost mate - Nano 2015Where stories live. Discover now