RP: Into the Woods
“Come on, Milky White,” Annis scolded gently as she pulled at the reins attached to the lead around the white cow’s head, “I take you walking and this is the thanks I get. Yer not a cow, yer a mule.” Annis scratched behind Milky White’s dun-red ears and the animal stepped forward again into the woods with her. “‘Course having a couple of irritating Crups at yer heels isn’t yer dream walk in the moonlight, now, is it?”
Annis turned and stamped at the ground toward the two mischievous Crups who were conspiring to jump up and latch on to Milky White the Cow’s tail as it was in mid-swish.
“Barker! Bride! If ya don’t stop that right this instant I’ll hold you both down and let Milky White kick you good! Now scat!” The Crup pair seemed to laugh in a good-natured manner as they trotted off in a circle around Milky White, making sure to avoid her hooves. The two wagged their double tails almost mockingly at their mistress as they went to sniffing the brush around the trees before jumping into a shrubbery of some sort.
All became peaceful and quiet again and Annis walked alongside the cow before it stopped abruptly. “What now?” Annis asked with a tone of mixed concern and mild irritation, “You hear something?”
Annis listened…and she did hear something…a man’s voice. The man’s voice was clear and warm and sounded as if he were talking to a child or a lover, so pleasant were his words. Soothing in tenor, as if asking permission or expressing concern. Annis stood still and closed her eyes, trying to picture the man in her head, what he could look like, because it was not every day that one heard the voice of a caregiver or dearest one and she missed that sound of concern and companionship.
(Yes, those are Steven Sondheim references.)