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  "Yes, I'd hate to have my father hire you both and have you be-"

  "I see." Gaspard cut her off quickly. She didn't say anything to comfort Elijh, but instead made his fidgeting worse.

  Jocelyn followed his gaze to Elijh, suddenly realizing what the matter was.

  Gaspard decided to get off the subject, but wasn't sure what to say, instead they walked in silence once more until they reached the mansions large double doors.

  Chapter 2 Roux Mansion

  Jocelyn began to open the two large front doors to the

  mansion when they opened the rest of the way without her help. Elijh freaked out at first to only be nudged in the ribs by Gaspard who then pointed out two butlers now standing against the entry walls, each with a door handle in hand.

  "Thank you," Jocelyn nodded to them politely, and then turned to Gaspard and Elijh. “My father should be in his office right now. Follow me."

  "Is it all right to bother him if he's working?" Gaspard asked as she led them down the short entry way to a large marble stair case. "It's not a problem," she smiled; slowing her steps as she seen Elijh was lagging behind.

  "Oh, don't mind him, he's slightly scared of heights," Gaspard whispered to her but slowed down as well for his friend to catch up.

  The stair case rose up to the second floor, stopping in the middle of another hallway. But this one was much larger than the entry one. Jocelyn turned left and took them all the way to the end of the hallway where a beautiful door waited. She wrapped her knuckles softly on the door to get a greeting for them to enter.

  Her father’s office was rather large, almost like a meeting room, only without as many chairs. All of the walls were lined with shelves, book shelves to be exact. But not all of the shelves were home to books. Many of them held old scrolls from some older time, trinkets from places visited and some other odd artifacts that grossed out Elijh a bit as they were bones. Bones of what, he couldn't tell, nor did he really want to know. But one large bone could not have been mistaken for anything less than a skull of a large animal. Gaspard eyed the books with interest, as not even half of them seemed to be books to read for pleasure, but instead books like albums. He guessed that they must be filled with past family history, or maybe even work information. Gaspard didn't put too much thought in it. It was an office after all.

  "Father, this is Gaspard and Elijh. They are both looking for work and came to the mansion in hopes of a job," Jocelyn spoke in a very soft, polite tone.

  Her father, whom was sitting behind the desk of course, was a bulky fellow. What he lacked in height, he made up for, if you could call it that, with his girth. His receding hairline and squashed face made him look nothing less than a moldy mushroom. As Gaspard looked at him, the only thing he could think of was how this man hadn't keeled over from heart strain yet.

  But, what startled him even more was the woman who stood behind him; if she could even be called a woman. Her beak-like nose, scowling expression and black hair pulled back into a bun at the back of her neck made her look like a starving crow. She was at least a foot taller than Jocelyn's father. He stole a glance at Elijh and almost snorted as he seen he was also staring at her. But even more so, Elijh's eye had actually twitched. His attention was adverted from the crow woman as Victors rough voice sounded through the air.

  "I am Victor Roux, Jocelyn's father. And this is my wife, Luciel."

  Wife?! Gaspard almost visibly gagged at the word. If this is Jocelyn's mother, he thought, I feel terrible for her. What a terrible fate to grow old and look like a scavenger! Luckily, Victor wasn't finished with the introduction. He just needed to take a breath, which was not surprising on account of his size.

  "And Jocelyn's stepmother," he finally finished.

  Gaspard let out a silent sigh. Thank goodness for Jocelyn, he thought.

  "I’m Gaspard Dautry, and this is Elijh Barret. We are in dire need of a job, and if it is possible, as Jocelyn has already stated, we would like a job here, at your mansion."

  "Yes, yes, I heard my daughter already," Victor stated impatiently, "But I’m afraid I cannot hire anyone..."

  "But father, we do need workers," Jocelyn almost pleaded, causing Victor to look at her suspiciously for a moment, "And I've already informed them of the… mishaps," she quickly added.

  Victor nodded his head once in acknowledgment then rested his head on his folded hands, elbows on his desk as he looked at Gaspard and Elijh. Elijh fidgeted slightly under Victor's gaze, he was never fond of being stared at, especially not with such intensity as if he was being observed like a caged animal. Gaspard just stood next to Elijh calmly. He attempted to look Victor in the eyes, but when he looked at him, it was like looking into an empty house; no one was home. So, instead, Gaspard let his eyes wander around the room briefly, avoiding the bird woman's piercing eyes. Once it seemed like Gaspard's legs would go numb, Victor finally spoke up, leaning back in his chair in the process.

  "I think I'll take a chance...and hire the both of you," he said slowly, as if he were unsure he should be saying it. "You," he looked at Elijh, causing him to jump a bit, "Will be in charge of landscaping, and the gardens. You will cut the grass, trim hedges, water the lawns and garden, and that entire sort of thing. I would like to see the mansions grounds back to its former glory in no more than two days time, understood?"

  "Yes, sir," Elijh answered, his voice a bit shaken, causing Gaspard to smirk. How easily intimidated his friend was.

  Victor nodded and turned his gaze upon Gaspard next who once again stared back calmly. "And you will be in charge of the stables, horses, and livestock. You will feed the livestock and horses and groom the horses, clean the stalls and keep the stables clean. The bridles and saddles will need to be hand cleaned once a month until they shine and you will always be in charge of the mansions supply of wood. All the wood we gather from the nearby trees. It can get confusing inside the trees, so I suggest you don't wander too far in search of good wood to chop."

  "Yes, sir," Gaspard replied the same as Elijh, but in a stronger tone, and a slight grin on his face.

  "Jocelyn will show you two where to go, where you will sleep, and all that sort of thing. You will be paid at the end of each week. You may go now."

  Gaspard and Elijh said their thanks once more, receiving a nod from Victor and a scowl from Luciel, before they exited the curious office with Jocelyn. As soon as they were down the stairs and outside, Elijh finally relaxed.

  "We can’t thank you enough for persuading your father to hire us," Elijh said smiling

  "It was no problem at all," Jocelyn said with a small laugh, causing Gaspard to look anywhere but at her.

  Jocelyn steered them to the left and lead them to the side of the mansion where a large area was fenced in nicely. This was obviously supposed to be the gardens, but from the dying vegetables and plants, it was a very sad site. Jocelyn explained to Elijh that he would water the plants, take care of weeds and harvest the vegetables when they were ready and take them to the kitchen. After he asked a few questions, she took them back to the front of the mansion to view the wide lawn.

  "This is all Elijh's job, huh?" Gaspard asked as he eyed the barren wasteland that was supposed to be a beautiful mansion lawn.

  "I'm afraid so. It's terrible for you to have such a big job," she apologized to Elijh

  "I've never done any landscaping before," Elijh admitted, feeling a bit foolish.

  "Let's hope you’re not fired before you even start then!" Gaspard teased him and nudged him in the ribs.

  Jocelyn laughed lightly and then showed Gaspard his area of work. She took him to the hen coop first, showing him where the seed was kept and that he had to feed them every morning and afternoon and to make sure they where tightly closed in the coop each night.

  "You sure do know a lot for not actually working here," Elijh commented.

  "Well, when your outside with the workers as often as I am, you tend to know their jobs just as good as they do," she smiled then turned t
o Gaspard. "You have already seen the stables, and the horses are in the pasture right now next to the garden."

  "Oh yes, it's quite a mess. Lots of horse droppings everywhere." He wrinkled his nose again causing Jocelyn to giggle a bit.

  She went on to explain the process with the horses and that when they started tomorrow, one of the workers would show him how to brush and clean the horses and how to lead each one to the pasture each day. The stalls would be scooped and refreshed each morning while the horses are outside, and each horse would get fresh food and water when they return for the evening.

  "Looks like we've both got our hands full then, doesn't it?" Elijh let out a sigh.

  "It's a good thing you both can get a good night’s rest before your hard work starts then."

  They reached the small hut that Jocelyn informed them they would be sleeping in. She then informed them that they would wake at dawn, have a breakfast provided by the mansions kitchen and get to their work. The head-grounds keeper would inform them each morning if they had extra jobs to do aside from their daily tasks. He would actually have been the one giving them their tour, but he was already done and gone for the day. Only when they had completed all of their daily chores could they then rest or do as they please.

  "It may take you both a few days to get use to your jobs, but that's to be expected." Jocelyn smiled. "I'll see you both tomorrow then," she added before giving once last glance at Gaspard and then headed back to the mansion.

  They both tossed their small bags of belongings to the ground before looking at the beds, turning to each other, and laughing.

  "Well, it sure isn't much, but it's ours," Gaspard laughed, taking a seat on one of beds. It squeaked a bit under his weight, but that was to be expected from the thin mattress and frame.

  Elijh walked over to the other bed, gave it a worried glance, and then sat down as well. "And tomorrow, the work begins," Elijh sighed.

  Gaspard just grinned in reply and leaned back, his arms folded under his head as he looked up at the ceiling. They had a job, a place to sleep and currently worry free. It had been a long, hot day, and it didn't take them long to fall asleep. Elijh was first asleep, as always, leaving Gaspard to lay there in the dark, listening to his friend’s silent snores.

  Chapter 3 Visitor

  Most of the next few days were spent doing odd jobs outside

  of the Roux Mansion. They, like all the servants of the mansion, awoke at the same time every morning and ate a small breakfast of eggs and biscuits before beginning their daily chores.

  Elijh often had to shake Gaspard awake from his dreaming that put him in a deep sleep. His dreams became more intense as the days passed. He woke with a start and found himself sweating uncontrollably. He tried making sense of what happened to his family, but the more he thought about it, the less he remembered. Plus, how was he to know that what he was seeing was the past and not just his mind imagining things and making up stories like normal dreams? Were the people in his dreams really his family? Yes, Gaspard thought, they had to be my real parents. Why else would I dream of them almost every night? Each time he dreamt, he would slightly remember more of his childhood. No matter how much he hated seeing his parents die over and over again, he didn't want to stop dreaming of them. It was the only way he could hold on to his past.

  Their outdoor jobs weren't too difficult and they were paid quite well for servants. Elijh was in charge of the landscaping. He cleaned the weeds out of the garden, raked leaves, cut down vines and trimmed the brushes around the mansion. It looked almost like a different mansion by the fifth day. Even the birds were happy to have a place to land now. The flowers bloomed beautiful shades of red, yellow and white in the front yard. The vegetables in the garden that were wilted and barely growing anything had lifted and started growing bigger vegetables.

  The summer heat was now fully in effect. Elijh had to water the garden several times a day to keep them from drying out. Jocelyn complimented on his work and told him he must have a green thumb.

  Gaspard worked mostly with the animals. Cleaning their coops and stalls, herding, feeding, and grooming them. He loved animals of all kinds. But his favorite was the horses and that was where he spent most of his time. They took to him like he was their caretaker for years.

  He occasionally went into the forest to look for fallen or leaning trees that could be used as firewood. He had the tiresome job of replenishing the pile of chopped wood. However, Gaspard didn't mind at all. He found the forest fascinating and the hiking and chopping kept him in shape. He enjoyed every chance he got to explore the surrounding wildlife that he never got to experience when he was a child in the orphanage. Sometimes, he would rest underneath a tree and just listen to the birds chirping and the sounds of small streams when the water would splash against the rocks.

  Gaspard was in the forest collecting wood as it began to drizzle. He glanced up at the sky, squinting. "Oh, great." Clouds were moving in fast and it looked like it would be there for the rest of the day. He would have to come back later for the wood. It was no use trying to split wet logs in the rain. He quickened his pace through the trees back to the mansion grounds.

  Today was the first day of rain for weeks in Paris. The clouds obscured the sun and there was no sign of blue sky anywhere in sight. Jocelyn viewed outside from a window in her room. Rain drops slid down the glass as she watched the new workers with interest. She saw Elijh putting buckets underneath the ledges of the roof to keep the water from digging holes in the garden as it fell. The rain water kept splattering in his face as it ran down the roof shingles and she could make out him saying something under his breath and figured it must have been curse words.

  Jocelyn's eyes moved to Gaspard. He was soaked from the rain. She could see his muscular chest through his shirt and was thrilled by it. She giggled as she watched him trying to herd all the chickens back into their huts. Every time he would catch one and put her back, two more would flock out. She gasped when Gaspard slipped and fell in the mud. But he quickly got back up and tried to wipe the mud off his clothes. Clearly to no use, he gave up and began to chase the chickens around their pen again.

  "I dare say you are looking more beautiful by the day." Jocelyn quickly swung her head around away from the window, hoping he didn't notice who she was looking at. She didn't hear him arrive and knew she probably would have if she wasn't paying so close attention to Gaspard.

  "Uh, thank you, Olivier." He looked her up and down. Jocelyn rolled her eyes in annoyance at his scrutiny. She only put up with it because they used to be good friends and she still had a soft spot for his company. Though, it was beginning to become firmer every time he looked at her like that. He had started flirting with her ever since he hit puberty a couple of years ago. Could they ever just have a normal conversation and be around each other without him hitting on her? She missed when they could talk about anything and play in the mud or chase each other around the mansion when they were children.

  "What are you doing in here?" She asked politely as she could.

  "I thought I would stop by and see how you were doing. I just came back from a meeting in Lille and was reporting to your father." Olivier had worked for Victor for the past two years and went to several different towns in France on business trips for him often. He was one of the higher ranking employees already, though, Jocelyn didn't know why. She didn't know much about her father's work at all, nor did she really care.

  "Oh. I am doing fine, and I see you are doing well, yes?" "Never better. It’s good to be home." He gave her a wide grin. It looked odd on his skinny face.

  Jocelyn wasn't sure of the meaning of that, and figured she didn't want to know. "Good." She waited impatiently for him to leave but it didn't seem that he was going to go anywhere soon. "Will you excuse me while I change for the outdoors?"

  "What is a beautiful lady like yourself going to go outside for in this weather?"

  Jocelyn struggled with herself from yelling at him to leave her alone and to
stop flirting. She felt like kicking him out the door. "I need to give the new workers towels so they can dry off."

  "Oh, you have finally replaced the old workers?" He took a quick glance out the window over Jocelyn's head.

  She could have kicked herself for mentioning them to Olivier. But it was the only thing she could think of to get away. "Yes, my father has."

  "Good. Though, wouldn't it be more appropriate if your house servants gave the towels to them?"

  "They are busy. Now, I must hurry before they catch a cold and won't be able to work."

  "Very well. I will see you again soon, my lady." He took her hand and kissed it.

  Jocelyn cringed at the feeling of his lips on her hand. He left them there a little too long for her liking. "Good-bye Olivier," she said and then curtseyed. She hated acting so formal around him.

  He walked out of the room with a satisfied smug on his face and closed the door slowly behind him.

  Jocelyn sighed when the door shut. Great, she though, now I will have to deal with him for the next few weeks. She went to her closet and found a long coat. Even though it wasn't too cold out, she could still catch a cold if she wasn't dressed properly to face the rain. She slipped her arms in and buttoned it over her rose-colored dress.

  When Jocelyn reached the first floor she looked cautiously around to make sure no one saw her-especially Olivier. She didn't want to have him walk her outside like she was a child who couldn't do it herself. It was quiet around the mansion and she didn't hear anyone close by. With two towels in hand, she set off for the double doors and reached them with success-no one had seen her.

  Outside was just as misty as her window had been. It was a bit chilly for summer and she was glad she wore her coat. She lifted the hood over her head and walked out into the rain. She first spotted Elijh in the vegetable garden, picking the ripe tomatoes and putting them into a basket. He was a little startled when she first appeared almost out of nowhere thanks to the mist.

  "Oh! Hello Jocelyn." He quickly got to his feet, brushing off the dirt on his knees. "Fine day isn't it?" he said humorously.