Chapter 2: The Late-Night Visitor
THE rain gave way around noon, and the first customer of the day finally stopped by. It was one of her regulars, a man in his fifties.
“Good to see you, Joshua,” Olivia said.
“It really came down earlier, didn’t it? I managed to avoid the worst of it while out thanks to your weather forecast,” said Joshua.
“I’m glad I was on the money.”
“Could I get your soup of the day and a slice of bread? Oh, and a sausage,” said Joshua, placing his order after glancing at the blackboard on the wall that said, “Soup of the Day: Three bean and bacon.”
“Coming right up,” Olivia said as she moved into the kitchen.
Joshua took notice of Arthur sitting in the corner, his eyes landing on the too-short trousers and shirt sleeves. Those’re Jenkins’s clothes, aren’t they? he murmured in his head.
“Sorry for the wait,” Olivia said as she brought the food. “Here’s your bean and bacon soup of the day, bread, and sausage.”
“Looks great.”
Customers started trickling in. They were traveling merchants, local farmers, the man who delivered the meat—stopping for a bite while there—and even some who came all the way from town in carriages. The restaurant bustled with activity. Since it was so small, it only had five tables that seated four people each.
The last customer left around two in the afternoon.
“Arthur,” Olivia called to him. “How are you feeling about lunch? Are you hungry? You don’t have to worry about paying since I called you into the restaurant.”
“If you have any of today’s soup left, I’ll take another bowl of that. And I’ll be paying. For this morning’s food, too. I’ll feel better that way.”
“You sure? Well, if you insist.”
Arthur handled paying before she got the food, then settled down at a table. He only ordered soup, but Olivia said she’d worked up an appetite while she was busy and went ahead and sliced up two sausages, placed each sausage on a piece of thinly sliced bread, and served that along with the soup, then added in a side of asparagus she quickly boiled.
A little after they started eating, Arthur said, “You were right.”
“About what?” asked Olivia, looking at him with confusion.
“Well, the soup was great this morning when you’d just finished it, but the bacon flavor really got into the beans once you let it simmer for a while. It tastes completely different. You also have a really good knack for judging the amount of salt.”
“Thank you.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“All the customers today said they avoided the rain thanks to your forecast. What’s that about?”
“Oh, that. I just get a feeling whenever it’s about to rain. My grandmother used to say I was as sensitive to the signs of rain as a wild animal,” she explained.
“Hm.” Arthur fell deep into thought as he started eating again. Almost every customer had thanked Olivia for her weather forecast. She must be really accurate, he thought.
Rob came from the corner of the kitchen where he’d been sleeping, sat at Olivia’s feet, and whined. “Hold on just a bit,” she said, then stood and got some small pieces of boiled chicken from the kitchen. “Just a little bit.”
He scarfed it down then returned to his bed, his tail wagging. Olivia’s eyes were filled with tenderness as she watched him.
Arthur went out into the backyard to check on his clothes. He’d rehung them out back when the rain stopped, but it was still humid outside from that morning’s rain. They likely wouldn’t even dry by evening. He didn’t mind, though. As he started to put his still-damp clothes on, Olivia hesitantly stopped him.
“This might be butting my nose into your business a bit too much,” she began. “But it’s going to rain again soon. I think it’s going to be just as heavy as it was this morning, too. If you plan to head to town, it may be best to wait until tomorrow. I can’t offer you a room in the house, but there is the barn, if you don’t mind sharing it with the goats.”
“It’s going to rain again?”
“Yep.”
He had a hard time believing that, though, so he went out of his way to walk outside and stare up at the sky. There were thick clouds, but also some patches of blue. He didn’t think there was about to be another rainstorm.
Olivia looked at him with uncertainty.
“You wouldn’t mind if I stayed here just a bit longer, would you?” he asked. “I’d like to be sure about your prediction.”
“I don’t mind at all. It’s probably for the best, actually.”
After about an hour, it really did start raining again, and it was fairly strong.
“Uh, just checking, but when do you think it’ll let up?” he asked.
“My gut’s telling me it won’t stop until well into the night. I wish I could lend you an umbrella, but I only have the one.”
“Guess I’ll have to impose and take you up on that offer of the goat barn. I’ll pay for the night’s stay, and I swear I won’t enter the house.”
“There’s no need to pay. And Rob would attack a bear if he thought I was in danger, so I’m not worried about that either.”
“It’s reassuring you have such a great bodyguard. And you have goats in the barn? I didn’t even notice.”
“They’re really well-behaved when it rains. They hate when it’s coming down like this. Let me show you inside the barn while it’s still light out.”
The two of them squeezed under the umbrella and walked through the rain from the main house to the barn.
“This is a barn?” Arthur asked, impressed. “Looks more like a detached annex.”
“It used to be. My grandfather always enjoyed lending a hand to others. He’d let travelers who had no other place to stay sleep here for the night. The bottom level is just a dirt floor, so I ended up making it the goat hut, but the loft is still fine for humans to use. If you don’t mind climbing up the ladder first, Arthur,” she said, indicating her skirt.
Arthur went up the steep ladder, using only his legs and right arm, he didn’t move his left. Olivia watched as he climbed, but then followed up behind him.
“Huh, actually looks pretty comfy,” Arthur observed.
“Right? I’ll get everything ready for you,” said Olivia. She pulled off the dust sheets from the furniture, including the bed. “Don’t worry about the mattress being in here all the time, I make sure to take it out in the sun on a regular basis. I’ll go get you a blanket.”
“I can do that.”
“You sure? Well, here’s your lamp. Feel free to let me know if you need anything.”
After that, the two ate dinner together, and Arthur turned in for an early night on the second floor of the goat barn, but he had a hard time getting to sleep. His left shoulder was aching from an old wound he got in battle, perhaps getting soaked like that from the rain was making it act up.
At some point, he realized the rain had stopped. It really did stop during the night. Olivia’s kind of like a fortune teller, or a witch, he thought, impressed.
He gave up trying to sleep, the pain was keeping him awake, and instead sat up and looked out the window. After some time staring into the darkness, he saw a light come on in the main house. What’s going on? he wondered, not really focusing on it until he heard the bell over the door let out a quiet chime.
“She’s going out this late at night?” he said with surprise as he watched Olivia leave the house, a lamp in hand. Her black dog, Rob, was with her, but there was another dark shadow at the very edge of the lamplight, walking ahead as if leading her somewhere.
Arthur blinked several times in disbelief, then squinted into the darkness. “Is that…?”
The dark form was large and four-legged, and, no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, it still looked exactly like a wolf. He leapt out of bed and quickly changed into his own still-damp clothes before strapping on his belt with his sword and dagger and rushing down the ladder.
The light from Olivia’s lamp was already far ahead, steadily moving deeper into the forest.
“This reckless woman…” he muttered. He didn’t understand why Olivia was with a wolf. After a moment of indecision, he followed them at a distance. He was good at tailing people. He put one foot quietly in front of the other, moving soundlessly.
They walked for about twenty minutes before the light ahead stopped. He quietly crept closer to get a better look. Olivia had hung the oil lamp on a branch and crouched down, her eyes on a wolf pup lying limply on the ground.