What Freedom Means (5)
As I munched on the bagel, Tal'ena showed me around the kitchen. All the cabinets were marked with what was supposed to go in them, and there were a few small devices on the counter when I had seen, but had no idea how to operate. I figured I would learn over time how to run them. She showed me the pantry, which was organized in much the same manner. There was a door on each wall of the room. We had come in from the north door, which led to the stairway and the front entrance to the house via a hallway. The west exit went outside. We went through the east exit, and into the dining area. It was set up for about 20 people total, but there were no plates or anything set up at the moment. It was explained to me that dinner was typically served in here when everyone was together, whereas breakfast and lunch was a 'make and serve yourself' type affair. We went north though a doorway and into a common area. There was a television set up here, along with a video game system. The couch and arm chairs were mismatched and well worn, but otherwise in good shape. We continued north into another hallway. This led to three rooms off the side. We did not enter these rooms. These were the offices and sleeping room of the permanent residents. The hallway connected to the main foyer via another door. Like most things here, it looked well worn, but taken good care of. "That's the downstairs," Tal'ena explained. "You've already seen most of the upstairs, but there are additional sleeping rooms like these upstairs as well. If you'll come with me, I'll show you the outside of the house and the barn."
The house's exterior looked smaller then the inside. It looked exactly like a rambling 1920's farmhouse that has been renovated several times should have: well cared for, but with a subtle hint of decay that could never be expunged. The barn's exterior was much the same way, only it appeared to be in need of a fresh coat of paint. I mentioned this to her. "It does need a coat of paint, but we won't do it until it cools down. For the large part, we do all the upkeep here except for major projects, or projects that require approval from an inspector. It's just not cool enough to be on a ladder and painting a barn at the moment." I nodded in agreement. We entered a side door to the barn, and I got a surprise when I walked in. Instead of a rough, bare area and warm slightly stale air, this area had a hallway, and led into a reasonably cool space. "We insulated most of the barn during the last renovation, and added a workout room and an indoor pool. There's still space left over, which we use as a workshop area for various things." As we entered the pool area, our noses were assaulted by a very unpleasant odor. Tal went straight to the big double doors and started to open them. I grabbed the other door and between the two of us, we got the doors opened. The odor started to go away. Tal's next move was for the folder containing the upkeep schedule which was sitting in a rack on the wall next to the pool equipment. She opened the book, and found the last page. SHe gave an exasperated sigh. "It was as I thought. No one's done anything with the pool in a month except keep up the chemicals, and only barely." She shook her head in frustration. At my curious look, she explained tht some of the day workers didn't bother doing upkeep on the stuff they used, even though they were asked to do it. We finished the tour of the barn, and were getting ready to head back inside when the Doctor's car pulled up with a female human inside as well. They both got out and headed in our direction. The female called out first. "Hi Tal! How are you doing?" Tal waved at her, and waited until we were all close enough to respond. "I am fine. Hello Jeff." She nodded and bowed slightly to the Doctor. The Doctor bowed back, and turned to me. "Hello Eddie! I talked with Jack already, and he told me the name that you chose. How was your first night?" I replied that it was OK. The female (whose name turned out to be Wendy) went with Tal and they started to go back to the house. They stopped and went instead to the pool equipment, presumably to work on it. Jeff took me back to the house and into the dining area. The next three hours were spent taking tests and other such things. Jeff said at the end of the tests that it would take a day to get the results back to me, so I would have to wait for the results. He then told me that I would be under the general direction of Tal'ena for time being.
I went out to the barn and told Tal'ena what Jeff had told me. She stated that that was great, and immediately drafted me into helping with finishing the long overdue maintenance on the pool. By the time we got finished, it was nearly six pm, and the day workers were arriving back from their labors. Tal'ena, I think, took a somewhat malicious glee in telling them that the pool was closed because it needed new filter sand due to lack of keeping up with maintenance on it. Jeff and Mike had ordered pizza tonight to celebrate my arrival, which made me feel quite embarressed. This was the first time that people paid attention to me in such a manner, and I had no idea how to deal with it. I ended up treating it as just another meal, which seemed to work out ok.
After dinner, the day workers went into the living room area and watched television or played on some of the games that were there. Tal asked me if I could give her a hand with dishes and getting things ready for the next morning, and by the time we got done with it it was slightly after 11 pm. The day workers had already gone to sleep by now, and I did not want to wake them up by coming into the room. I asked Tal and if it was ok if I slept on the couch that night for that reason. "No, but we can do one slightly better, if you don't mind the floor for a night. Go upstairs and grab a blanket out of the linen closet on the left of the staircase, and come back down here." I did as requested, and she led me to what turned out to be her room. I found a spot on the floor that would suit me, and I laid out the blanket on the floor. She handed me a pillow from the cot in her room, and I laid down and tried to get some sleep after she turned out the lights. I didn't get too far asleep, when Tal spoke up. "Eddie, do you mind if I ask some personal questions?"
"No. I'll try to answer you the best I can." I heard the cot creak as she climbed into it. "What happened to bring you here? Jeff only said that your former master had abused you in some way, but you seem to be all right phyiscally and mentally. What did he do to you, and what did you do for him? You certainly seem more intellegent then one of the day laborers." In the dark, I thought over the questions, and crafted a reply. I explained to her the incidents as I told the hearing officers, and also gaver her a generalized description of what Master has me do for him. I also told her about the side jobs, and she nodded when I told her that I refused to do anyhting that I thought was illegal. She asked me if I ever did a chaperone or escort type of side job, and I shook my head. "No. If the job looked even remotely illegal, I refused it. I lost a few good paying side jobs that way, but I want to think that I was correct in refusing them. Master never had a problem when I refused a job. Most of the side jobs I did were of the brute force variety, or was similar to the stock moving and warehousing job I did for Master." She seemed to be satisfied with this. "May I ask you the same questions in return, if you don't mind?"
I could tell that I had hit a sore spot or something, because she was quiet for a long time. I added, "You don't have to if you don't want to. I seem to have struck a tender spot, and I apologize for any grief this might have caused." Her reply was quick. "No, that's ok. I'm willing to tell you. my story is a great deal sadder then yours, though."
To be continued.