“I see. I think it is clear at this point that there was never any contract between you two men. I judge in favor of Shama in the matter of the horse, Frey. In addition I urge this village to reconsider their treatment of the child. Let us hope that on my return here, that progress will have been made in that pursuit.”
Frey was mine. I could breathe again. The air smelled sweet. I barely heard the babble in the school house courtroom that rose up at that rendering. Perhaps it was only the buzzing of a bee too far away for alarm. Or maybe, it was just that nothing could penetrate the joy flooding through me.
I heard the judge’s hammer hit the desk. “Judgement rendered. Shama retains her rightful property, the stallion, Frey. Shama is owed the sum of 20 pueks or goods worth that amount, the choice to be the claimant’s from Mr. Henderson. Are there any other matters I must attend to?”
“Your honor,” Mrs. Krinkel said, standing up. “You have stated that the horse is not to be sold to pay the house parents for the child’s keep, but what of these funds she has just come into. Could they not be apportioned out to clear her debts?”
“Your name, please?”
“Mrs. Krinkel,” the judge repeated, nodding to her after she gave him her name. “I would gather that you did not understand my ruling for the previous house parents, so I will repeat it so I am assured that you understand it fully. In addition, Shama may no longer give her services away to any of you. She has paid all her debts. Any future requests for her labors will be in trade or coin, and you will pay her the same amount in goods or pueks as you would any other citizen of this village. Is that understood, Mrs. Krinkel?”
“But she isn’t a citizen,” the woman cried out.