as
the other digboks appeared and wandered over. The animals rubbed up
against them insistently until they were fed, and devoured the
pellets hungrily.
As soon as they had finished
the feed, the digboks turned their inquisitive snouts to Ben,
wriggling their damp noses around his legs and hands. He worried
they may have confused him for a food pellet.
“These ones aren’t so proud!”
Ben laughed
“They seem to be quite
interested in you actually!”
Finally, in the largest pen,
Eva introduced Ben to the two hayhoppers, Mirri and Mordred. “The
hayhoppers will eat anything that grows out of the ground, and have
got quite an appetite, so we have to move their pen around
regularly. We only transferred them from the north side of the camp
a couple of days ago, and they have already eaten their way through
all the grasses and plants here.” She motioned to the earth, and
Ben could see it was very brown at the end nearest to where the
animals stood.
One of the animals looked up
from the grass it had been busily munching through, and began to
slowly rear back on to its two rear legs. It had a long tail, Ben
could see now, and its front legs were slightly smaller. Then it
began to hop towards them. It wobbled around awkwardly like it was
a bit too fat to be jumping, but managed to keep its balance until
finally it had reached them. It lowered back onto all fours, and
sniffed at Ben’s feet and hands.
“Mordred’s looking for a reed
sugar lump!” Eva explained. “Here you go, why don’t you make
friends.” She handed Ben a cluster of reed sugar.
Ben slowly extended his closed
hand out towards Mordred, but the hayhopper had already covered it
in a long tongue and soaked it in green saliva before he could open
it. He yanked his hand free before the animal digested it too, and
wiped it off on his shirt with a groan.
Eva laughed. “Don’t worry, they
do that to me too!”
Ben was eager to help despite
his lack of farming experience, even with animals in his own
world.
On that first day he managed to
let one of the Pomp-hens out of the day pen, and had to run after
it, bowing enthusiastically. Later, he was bitten on his behind by
Appleby’s favourite digbok. But Eva’s gentle laughter and
reassurance helped him overcome his embarrassment, and he quickly
picked up the basics.
Each day Ben would get up with
Eva before dawn and help with her morning chores; collecting the
pomp-hen eggs for breakfast, milking Mirri the hayhopper, and
checking the fences around the animals for any suspected wildfox
burrowing.
Soon they were racing through
their tasks, and able to devote more time to what Appleby called
‘mischief’, which seemed to be anything except the chores. They
gave the pomp-hens great warrior names, tasted the autumn wild
berries Eva knew were safe, and would watch the sunrises from a
hill to the west of the camp, hidden from Appleby’s watchful eye by
a few bushes.
One day, as the sun rose over
the great Lake Kaidesh, from where only a few days earlier Ben had
appeared, he found himself confiding in Eva.
“You know, I didn’t come from
King Elmer or Norchand, Eva. I don’t even know who King Elmer is
for that matter.” He tried to gauge her reaction.
“ I came from the lake. I
came through the lake, through some kind of portal. From a
different world to this one; to yours.” Ben tried to assess whether
she would run away and call for help, and he would be thrown out of
the camp. “Please don’t scream and run away.”
Eva’s expression eventually
cracked into a smile, and Ben breathed again.
“Perhaps you are a reincarnated
fish.” She made a fish faced pout at Ben, and pretended to swim
towards him, a hand raised as a fin above her head.
Ben grinned. “Perhaps I am. Or
maybe I am one of those ghostly creatures from the mysterious
lake!”
They both laughed.
Ben knew he was safe. They
rolled down the far side of the hill like younger children, and Ben
thought of Toby and how much he
the other digboks appeared and wandered over. The animals rubbed up
against them insistently until they were fed, and devoured the
pellets hungrily.
As soon as they had finished
the feed, the digboks turned their inquisitive snouts to Ben,
wriggling their damp noses around his legs and hands. He worried
they may have confused him for a food pellet.
“These ones aren’t so proud!”
Ben laughed
“They seem to be quite
interested in you actually!”
Finally, in the largest pen,
Eva introduced Ben to the two hayhoppers, Mirri and Mordred. “The
hayhoppers will eat anything that grows out of the ground, and have
got quite an appetite, so we have to move their pen around
regularly. We only transferred them from the north side of the camp
a couple of days ago, and they have already eaten their way through
all the grasses and plants here.” She motioned to the earth, and
Ben could see it was very brown at the end nearest to where the
animals stood.
One of the animals looked up
from the grass it had been busily munching through, and began to
slowly rear back on to its two rear legs. It had a long tail, Ben
could see now, and its front legs were slightly smaller. Then it
began to hop towards them. It wobbled around awkwardly like it was
a bit too fat to be jumping, but managed to keep its balance until
finally it had reached them. It lowered back onto all fours, and
sniffed at Ben’s feet and hands.
“Mordred’s looking for a reed
sugar lump!” Eva explained. “Here you go, why don’t you make
friends.” She handed Ben a cluster of reed sugar.
Ben slowly extended his closed
hand out towards Mordred, but the hayhopper had already covered it
in a long tongue and soaked it in green saliva before he could open
it. He yanked his hand free before the animal digested it too, and
wiped it off on his shirt with a groan.
Eva laughed. “Don’t worry, they
do that to me too!”
Ben was eager to help despite
his lack of farming experience, even with animals in his own
world.
On that first day he managed to
let one of the Pomp-hens out of the day pen, and had to run after
it, bowing enthusiastically. Later, he was bitten on his behind by
Appleby’s favourite digbok. But Eva’s gentle laughter and
reassurance helped him overcome his embarrassment, and he quickly
picked up the basics.
Each day Ben would get up with
Eva before dawn and help with her morning chores; collecting the
pomp-hen eggs for breakfast, milking Mirri the hayhopper, and
checking the fences around the animals for any suspected wildfox
burrowing.
Soon they were racing through
their tasks, and able to devote more time to what Appleby called
‘mischief’, which seemed to be anything except the chores. They
gave the pomp-hens great warrior names, tasted the autumn wild
berries Eva knew were safe, and would watch the sunrises from a
hill to the west of the camp, hidden from Appleby’s watchful eye by
a few bushes.
One day, as the sun rose over
the great Lake Kaidesh, from where only a few days earlier Ben had
appeared, he found himself confiding in Eva.
“You know, I didn’t come from
King Elmer or Norchand, Eva. I don’t even know who King Elmer is
for that matter.” He tried to gauge her reaction.
“ I came from the lake. I
came through the lake, through some kind of portal. From a
different world to this one; to yours.” Ben tried to assess whether
she would run away and call for help, and he would be thrown out of
the camp. “Please don’t scream and run away.”
Eva’s expression eventually
cracked into a smile, and Ben breathed again.
“Perhaps you are a reincarnated
fish.” She made a fish faced pout at Ben, and pretended to swim
towards him, a hand raised as a fin above her head.
Ben grinned. “Perhaps I am. Or
maybe I am one of those ghostly creatures from the mysterious
lake!”
They both laughed.
Ben knew he was safe. They
rolled down the far side of the hill like younger children, and Ben
thought of Toby and how much he
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