The Spider Incident - George

[thefolksbetween]

He had just finished carting off a fresh bunch of towels to a guests room, helping out with the maids and such with small tasks. As he was trying to rush back, trying ot be invisible and small and not a large boy of ten years old, but as he rushed off to get back to a section he was permitted to be in… well he had been stopped.

“Boy!” a girls voice called. He stopped, scared for a moment, but turned back to look. The girl, the House Masters daughter was leaning out a door and looking at him. She had a calm look to her face as she crooked a finger waving him over. “Come here a moment.”

He frowned to himself, but had learned to hide it well already. What did she want? Was he in trouble? She was only a year or so younger then him and already spoke as if she were much older. It was intimidating.

He went over though and she looked at him, head tilted. “What’s your name, boy?”

“George.” He said simply, not giving the rest of his poor name because it mattered not anyhow.

She nodded to this and repeated it. “George. Please. Can you come take care of something for me?”

She was so polite and calm, it really was intimidating. But he nodded and watched in sudden horror as she turned to go into her room. He stood, his hands stiff and down his sides, but fingers curling into his pants. Wide eyed he stood there staring in. The girl seemed to notice this.

“Come. Hurry! Please, come take care of this for me. It’s disgusting and I don’t want it here.”

Still so calm. But George nodded, wondering what the hell it could be… and walked in. He felt fear that he would be in trouble for being, not only in a girls room, but in Marjorie’s room. She was after all the daughter of the Lord of the House! But he came in, and watched as she scrawled across the bed, over to a night stand.

He walked around, and peeked over to the nightstand, not understanding. But he watched as she pointed something out.

“Please… c-can you get rid of it?” It was the first time he had heard a stammer in her voice, and the sound of something like a little fear. It was odd, but he felt a little better about it.

It was a spider though, that was all. A small daddy long legs kind of spider. He frowned, for which ever maid was to clean the young lady’s room had done a very poor job of it. Carefully, he reached down, cupping both hands around it and drawing back, destroying it’s web. “It is done miss.” He said, and gave a little bow, backing up, peeking in at it. It squiggled in his hands.

“I… ah, thank you. If you could ah… please get ride of it for me. Thank you, George.” She said, biting her lip and staring at his hands, as if it were going to jump out at her.

George decided that she really was very scared, he could see it on her face and how she spoke. It was odd, she seemed to be so calm before, but now frightened. He of course didn’t see her flapping her arms at it 5 minutes earlier before she got him, at a loss of what to do. No he didn’t see that, but he could see now that she wasn’t so calm, just… very good at hiding it.

“I will let my father know, that his maids are falling down on the job, Miss. This wont happen again.” He said, hands cupped, bowing to her and backing out of the room. He hit the hall and flushed scarlet as he was sure he heard her call out a thank you once again.

Licking his lips he began to run, out the back and to the servants entrances, out to the gardens and stopping, to one plant, opening his hands and trying to get it the spider to move out onto the rose there. “Here… you’ll be safe here. Go feed on some aphids.” He told it, watching it wobble down the rose and away.