Chapter Seven

Little Lake of Jewels

The grounds that belonged to Vladislav were vast. There was no clear border to his property, they just sort of faded away into the wilderness.

He had no neighbours, his closest were a few miles away, and Vladislav made it clear very quickly, and numerous times, how much he enjoyed the tranquillity of the countryside.

‘I do of course enjoy visiting the bustling cities’ Vladislav explained, ‘and different towns and environments…but the wilds of nature is what my heart truly desires. It’s so peaceful…so very peaceful…lovely…and so quiet.’

Vladislav caught himself then, realizing he was falling into some sort of trance.

‘You really do like the countryside don’t you’ Beatrice noted, as she walked by his side.

‘I absolutely do’ Vladislav said enthusiastically. ‘The only sound that really disrupts the silence and peace, is the occasional vixen scream.’

‘Scream?’

‘Nothing to worry about’ Vladislav added hastily, ‘merely a fox. They do make some peculiar noises.’

‘They do?’

‘Of course.’

Vladislav pointed in one direction.

‘You can see them through the trees going about their business. They don’t often come into the garden. I think Jack scares them off.’

‘Jack?’

‘My guard dog.’

‘You have a guard dog?’ Beatrice said, her voice wavering suddenly as she glanced about her, hands clutched to her chest now. ‘It’s not dangerous, is it?’

‘Not at all.’ Vladislav reassures her. ‘When he sees you with me, he will understand that you’ve been accepted by me, and he won’t consider you an outsider.’

‘Is he running free?’ Beatrice asked. ‘Or is he chained up?’

‘He has free reign of the property. I don’t think I even own a chain or rope or anything like that. Don’t worry’ Vladislav again, ‘he likes to keep to himself. We’ll go see him now.’

Beatrice pursed her lips, following him only reluctantly.

They traversed the grounds, and they were beautiful. There were flowers everywhere, bushes, little trees that Beatrice recognised as fruit trees. There were several of these, all modest in size.

Beatrice saw some pears, and apples, and other fruit she could identify, maybe some plums.

‘I like the small trees’ Vladislav explained. ‘They look nice closer to the house. When they get a bit bigger, I like to move them to another place so they can be a part of the forest, and grow to their potential.

‘You move the trees?’ Beatrice asked as they walked.

‘Yes, I do. It’s not an easy job. I have to plan my whole day around it.’

‘Oh…’

They continued to walk through the grounds, now following a stone path that wound this way and that. First one way around a circular flowerbed, then another way around a vegetable patch, one of several miniature ones they had passed.

Vladislav led Beatrice to a rickety fence, the gate, equally as rickety, was held closed by a single flimsy piece of string. Vladislav held the gate open for Beatrice, closing it after her.

They came to a section of the property that was partially fenced off, but only in areas, other parts were left wide-open, the rest of the property clearly visible.

Here there was a large pond, narrow enough in certain areas for one to jump to the other side with little trouble. The edges were lined with large flat rocks, smaller rocks paler in colour resting between the crevasses. Green areas of soft moss, nestled among were patches of purple flowers, maybe lavender, Beatrice wasn’t sure.

Upon the water itself, rested circles of dark-green lily pads. A little waterfall trickled water into the pond on one side, rolling down the stones like little steps. Behind the waterfall, were large bushes, the leaves maroon in colour.

Within the water itself, Beatrice could see large fish, many large fish. Some yellow, some white, some gold, others patterned. Some were solid in colour, others were shiny.

Beatrice approached the water, seeing one of the fish drifting closer to her, it was white with small patches of grey. Another beside that one, was pure gold in colour, a very pale and shiny shade of yellow. It looked like a jewel.

‘They are beautiful’ Beatrice said.

‘They are koi’ Vladislav said, leaning forwards, hands behind his back, eyes shining bright. ‘They are my pride and joy.’

‘Amazing’ Beatrice breathed. ‘They are like…they are like….’

Vladislav turned his head towards her.

‘This pond…’ Beatrice said, ‘it’s like a little lake of jewels…’

Vladislav straightened up, resuming his height, his eyes burning even brighter.

‘How long did it take for you to create all this?’

‘That is…’ Vladislav paused. ‘It has taken many years, for me to create this property as you see it today. It has changed greatly over time. When I first came here, it was empty land. There were not even any trees here, not a single one. Not in this area at least.’ Vladislav turned his great head away, surveying the area. He turned his skull-head first one way, then the other. ‘This was a great valley’ Vladislav went on. ‘You can see on either side of us’ he indicated, lifting both his arms simultaneously, ‘the gentle slopes that surround us, were once bare. You can see the trees here now are large. I planted those trees, every single one of them. And I love them all.’ He pointed ahead of him then. ‘You can see the ocean, between the trees.’

Beatrice turned her head in an attempt to see.

But the trees blocked her way.

‘I’m afraid I cannot see’ she lamented. ‘Maybe if I were as tall as you.’

Vladislav lowered his arm.

‘In any case’ Vladislav said, ‘the most beautiful things worth seeing, are right here in my garden. Ah, look, there is another deer.’

Beatrice looked over to it.

‘I wonder how it got in.’

At that very moment, the deer leapt over the fence, with very little effort.

‘Oh’ Beatrice said.

‘There’s also several gaps in the fence’ Vladislav explained. ‘They wander freely, and come and go as they please. No matter how far they wander, they always come back.’

‘Oh’ Beatrice mumbled. ‘They must feel safe here then.’

‘I certainly hope they do. And look’ Vladislav said, ‘there’s the guard-dog I was telling you about.’

They both looked over towards the same direction. Beatrice wasn’t sure at first what Vladislav was looking at, and then it moved.

‘That’s a dog?’ Beatrice asked.

‘It certainly is’ Vladislav answered. ‘Let’s see if he wants to come over.’ Vladislav lifted his hand, waving at the dog. ‘Here Jack! Here boy!’

The creature looked around, and Beatrice could indeed see now, that it was a dog.

The dog was very fluffy, almost bear-like, but only medium in size. It had a mane like a lion, its coat a solid cinnamon colour, and a cute and squishy face.

It looked around as Vladislav called out to it, but it did not get up, instead continued to lay there, before looking away again.

‘I should have known he would not be interested in greetings’ Vladislav sighed, lowering his hand. ‘He does like to keep to himself.’

‘I thought you said he was a guard dog’ Beatrice asked.

‘He is. And he is excellent at his job.’

Vladislav knelt down, patting the water with his hand.

Jack immediately looked up to see what the disturbance was. Realizing it was not a threat, the dog sighed heavily, going back to sleep.

‘He may not appear to be at first, but Jack is actually alert at all times.’ Vladislav rose to his feet then. ‘I even tested it some time ago. He is a very light sleeper.’

‘I’ve never seen a dog like that before.’

Beatrice said.

‘He’s what’s called a chow. That is his breed. They are quiet, independent, and intelligent, more cat-like than dog-like. They come from faraway lands. They’re very common in their land of origin, here…well…’ Vladislav tilted his head. ‘He may be the only one now that I think about it.’

‘You’ve travelled far then.’

‘Yes.’

Beatrice looked up at Vladislav’s skeletal head.

‘I wanted a dog to protect the koi from herons’ Vladislav explained. ‘I have lost quite a few in the past. I had another dog before, I believe she was a retriever of some kind, lovely blonde coat. But unfortunately, she wasn’t very good at guarding. Instead she would spend most of the day swimming, and scaring the fish. Luckly the next dog I got, Jack here, has no interest in swimming.’

‘What happened to the other dog?’ Beatrice asked.

‘I ate her.’

‘What?’ Beatrice gasped.

Vladislav began to hiss.

‘I’m joking’ he told her. ‘No. ‘I gave her to my neighbour.’

‘You have a neighbour?’ Beatrice asked.

‘A few miles in that direction’ Vladislav pointed vaguely in a direction. ‘She was a sweet girl but I thought she would be more suited to the home and life that he could give her. He likes dogs very much. I have visited them both several times since, and she seems very happy.’

‘Oh. That’s nice.’

‘Do you like dogs?’ Vladislav asked Beatrice then.

‘I don’t really know’ she confessed. ‘My family have never had a dog…’

She abruptly halted then, looking shocked, cheeks going a little red.

‘I know you don’t like to mention your family’ Vladislav told her in a comforting tone. ‘I’m not going to ask you about that. I just want to know what you think about dogs.’

‘Um’ Beatrice went on awkwardly, fiddling with the fabric of her dress. ‘Well…’ she took a slow breath, composing her thoughts again. ‘I’ve never had a dog or a puppy or anything. I don’t…um…’

Vladislav watched her intently, but Beatrice seemed not to know what else to say. And so Vladislav tried to help her out.

‘They have purple tongues you know.’

‘Hu?’ Beatrice looked up at Vladislav.

‘The dogs’ Vladislav explained. ‘Him’ he pointed to Jack, who had resumed his frozen posture. ‘They have purple tongues. In their homeland, its said that their purple tongues ward off ghosts and evil spirits.’ Vladislav began to hiss again. ‘And since Jack arrived, I have not seen a single ghost, nor ghoul, nor wraith, nor anything else equally or slightly more-or-less unpleasant.’

Beatrice stared up at him mutely, seemingly lost for words.

‘Come’ Vladislav said, indicating for her to continue along their path. ‘Let me show you the rest of the grounds.’

[END OF CHAPTER]