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On his way back to the stables from the women’s quarters, Léof turned a corner and nearly collided with someone. “Sorry, not watching where I’m going…” he trailed off when he realized it was Nydfara – Scyld.
“Indeed not,” said Scyld. Léof fought to keep his features even; after all, had not Scyld been equally not watching his way? The man was truly irritating. Léof wished he understood why Eodwine had taken him in. Any other leatherworker in all of Middle-earth and Léof would have been thrilled – it was so much more convenient to have someone in the Hall when tack needed repair or replacement.
“Sorry,” he said again. “Anyhow, when you’ve got a few minutes, would you mind coming to the stables? I’ve a few bridles and a saddle that need some work.”
“I’m free now,” said Scyld, glad for something productive to do. He’d helped restore the tables in the hall to their right position after court ended, but that hadn’t taken long and he’d found himself at a loss for something to do.
“Very well,” said Léof. He had plenty to do, but this wouldn’t take long. He led Scyld to the stables in silence.
“Mostly it should be pretty easy work,” said Léof as they entered the tack room. Léof was glad of this; he was still skeptical of Scyld’s claims about himself and Léof was glad to have the chance to the quality of Scyld’s work on a few simple tasks before entrusting him with anything more complex.
Scyld nodded and took mental notes as Léof began to show him what needed to be done. As Léof had said, it would mostly be easy work: re-sewing a couple seams, replacing one of the straps on a halter, and the like.
“Last one,” said Léof, holding out a bridle. “A mouse got to this one.” Scyld could see where one of the reins had been chewed nearly all the way through close to the bit. “Normally the cats do a good job with the mice, but one seems to have gotten past them,” Léof was saying irritably.
“Have you tried using mint?” asked Scyld absently, still studying the bridle.
Léof frowned. “No, how do you mean?”
Scyld looked up. “Either mix just a little bit into your leather cleaner, or rub the oil from the plant around the tack room. Should keep the mice away.”
“I’ll try that,” said Léof. Certainly couldn’t hurt. Maybe put some in the hay loft as well… no, best to wait and see if it worked. It took a lot of mint to make a fairly small amount of oil.
“The easiest way to fix this might be to just shorten the rein, rather than replacing it entirely,” said Scyld, referring again to the bridle in question.
Léof considered. “Yes, I think that would be fine,” he said.
“Good,” said Scyld. “I have the tools but not the raw material to fix most of these things. With the roads as they are, I’m not sure how long it will take.”
“Of course,” said Léof. “Thank you.”
“At your service,” said Scyld, and Léof couldn’t tell whether or not he was being mocked. He watched as Scyld left, thinking that overall that hadn’t gone so poorly. Well, anyone could behave themselves on the first day. Scyld would have a whole year to prove his mettle – or show his true colors, as the case may be, and Léof wasn’t the sort to take bets.
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