I'm cooking again. Like actually standing in a kitchen cooking for other people. After Sophie and Pierre got home this morning, I very kindly asked them if I could work here at the inn and temporarily live here as well. Pierre took a little convincing, but Sophie managed to help me there. I swear that woman is a negotiator right down to her core. So now yours truly lives and works at Le Fou's which I am guessing is named after the man that Gaston mentioned last night. The only person who believed him about his attack. An attack from a seven-foot-tall beast.
Ever since my conversation with Gaston, I've been playing the story over and over again in my head. If such a beast does exist then shooting it down would be a massive accomplishment. Mind you the chances of it being alive are slim but if this thing is seven feet tall and doesn't match the description of anything I have ever heard of then it might still be alive.
The door to the kitchen hits the wall as it's violently pushed open. Fearing an attack of some sort I grab the nearest weapon I can find, which is a knife, and point it at the person who just barged in. With my knife raised in the air, my eyes rake over the person before me taking note of every aspect of them. It's a young man around my age, slightly taller than me with pale skin, a fairly muscular physique, corn-coloured hair, and almost deer-like brown eyes.
When he notices the large knife I have pointed at him his eyes widen and he raises his hands as if to say 'I surrender'.
"Easy there, louve."
"Who the hell are you?" I spit at him my voice laced with anger, mostly from the massive scare he gave me.
"I think I should be asking you the same question," he chuckles.
"Yeah well, I asked first."
He smiles at me. "You know this is a very unladylike way to act."
"Just answer the question before I do another very unladylike and stab you?"
His smile grows wider, I'm not scaring this man at all. "You must be Valerie. My mom told me about you."
My brow furrows in confusion. "Your mom?"
"Sophie."
As the realization hits me that I have just threatened my boss's son I lower the knife and set it back on the table where I found it. My mouth forms an O shape and I use my hands to cover it.
"I'm guessing she didn't tell you about me," he laughs.
I can't speak I just shake my head. This is it. I'm gonna get fired for this. Can't even keep a job for a day.
He swaggers to the nearby chair and sits down "I'm sure if you keep your mouth in that shape it might stick," he laughs again.
"Adrien, please don't disrespect the new employee," Sophie's voice comes up from behind me. I'm thankful for her help but at the same time, I'm waiting for the hammer to come down.
"The opportunity was right there how could I not take it?" he whines.
What is this kid five?
"Didn't your father tell you to go help clean the stables?" Sophie says her hands clenching into fists and resting on her hips.
I like her, she's got so much power.
Adrien leans his head down and looks at his shoes that he is sweeping under the chair and out.
"He will just criticize anything I do, so I don't see the point in me going."
Sophie sighs and lovingly puts her hand on his shoulders.
"Sorry, my petit cerf, but you don't have much of a choice here."
With a long sigh, Adrien reluctantly picks himself up and leaves the room but not before smiling at me one more time.
As soon as the door closes behind him Sophie turns to me with a warm smile on her tired face. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you about him."
"I'm just sorry I pointed a knife at him," I nervously chuckle.
Her face bunches up in confusion. "I'm not even going to ask about that," she says.
A wave of relief fills me and I have to hold onto the table so that my legs don't collapse from under me.
Pierre calls her name from the front, and she quickly rushes to him. With my body still hot with embarrassment I go back to my tasks and get the last few sandwiches ready for a hunting party that will be heading out this afternoon. I would love to join them and show off my skills but I have to remember that these are a bunch of men who will most likely rather eat horse manure than let a woman hunt with them. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century.
But maybe later I can head off on my own. Go out and remember what nature looks like. But at the rate of how much food I have to make this thought may only be a dream rather than a reality.
To my complete surprise, Sophie trusted me to take the sandwiches and other lunch items we made to the hunting party. According to her, I'm the most likely to go out there and not be foolish enough to get myself shot with an arrow. That kind of made me wonder if that did happen once but I was far too scared of the answer to ask.
So, with very little complaint, I load the food into a large sack, fasten them to Dante's harness, and ride off to find the hunting party.
A hunting party in my opinion is a too prestigious title for this group of men. As a hunter or huntress, you have to blend in with your surroundings so as not to alert your prey. Your steps must be taken with precision and delicacy, your clothes must not stand out and your voice must be kept to a low noise level. These men didn't get taught this.
Even from about twenty meters, away I can hear their loud laughter and some of the things they are saying. I didn't even need to use their tracks to find them, all I had to do was listen. If they manage to catch anything today or ever it will be a miracle sent straight from God himself.
I give Dante a light kick and we take off towards the men. They all let out yelps of fear when they see Dante suddenly appear from behind the bushes.
"What the hell, woman, you'll scare off the prey coming in like that," one of the older gentlemen spits at me.
A small part of me wants just to ignore his ironic comment and give them their food and leave them to fail. But that is only a very small part of me.
"Don't worry you guys are accomplishing that all on your own," I snap at him as I demount Dante and start untying the bags off him.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" another man asks me. He leans his skinny and sunburnt body against a tree and spits onto the ground.
"You guys were talking and laughing so loud I'm sure the animals on the other side of the hills can hear you. You know I thought finding you guys to give you these sandwiches would be a bit of a challenge since you're such expert hunters," I say with sarcasm, "But, I have been deeply disappointed. Seriously, I could hunt better when I was eleven," I scoff.
This causes a few of them to either laugh or snicker.
"A female hunter now I've heard of it all."
"So what, just because I have breasts I can't shoot a deer? Cause I'll be happy to prove it to you, unless," a smirk tugs on my lips, "You're too scared to be beaten by a woman."
With his eyes pulled together and a look of pure rage from the fact that I just questioned him the leader of the group or at least that's what I assumed he is shoves his bow and arrows into my hands.
"Well then, little girl, let's see what you can do."
So what do you guys think of Adrien? If you have quite figured out what you feel about him then don't worry you'll get the chance because he is not going away anytime soon.
Translations:
Louve- wolf (feminine word for wolf)
petit Cerf- little deer