Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 1: The Beginning

Human And Livestock Increment

After the 4 of us had comfortably seated ourselves and prepared some refreshments, the leader of the Irish Travellers began his announcements.

"There are 14 families that travelled with the Irish Travellers and 6 of them had decided o cross over to become settlers in Gracehaven. The remaining 8 would be following me to allow the livestock to graze the pastures and us to trade with the people around settlements, villages and towns that dotted across the riverbanks."

The leader of the Irish Travellers, Macintosh announced to us as be began to make his opening speech. We listened intently and I can't help but feel very elated and hoped that the one joining us soon to be inducted would involve livestock as well.

"Out of these 6 families, 3 families have quite a considerable livestock with them while the others do not have any wealth with them. How would you like to work around with it and *ahem* plan ahead with the livestock?"

"Yay...!" my heart swelled when I heard that and I wished to punch the air on having God to answer my earlier questions. This was truly unexpected and I was just wishing in my heart and *BAM*, my wishes came true. This was really sweet surprise for us all.

I saw that Heather was  controlling herself by not whooping in joy at the time after she had discovered that there are 6 families out of 14 that had considered themselves to be settlers here in Gracehaven.

"Secondly, there are livestock added to the animal population and could thus provide food on a long run." Furthermore, the leader of the Irish Travellers had somehow cleared his throat in a fake manner when he mentioned about the plans for the livestock.

"Are those sitting on the benches behind you, the families that would be settling down in Gracehaven after tomorrow?" I saw lots of grownups and a fair handful of young ones. There wasn't any infant so there would be no need for a nursery of some sort in order for the infants to be cared for when their parents were off to work.

"Macintosh, you may scoot a bit to your right and then invite one family at a time to sit here and introduce themselves. Let's start without the livestock first." Macintosh then called the first family, MacDonough to come forward and introduce themselves.

Heather got ready the quill pen and census populace journal before me as the first family came forward and introduced themselves. It was then recorded inside the journal first and discovered that they had three children and the eldest was my age and another younger daughter and son.

Next that follows were the Mackenzie's and Macpherson's. Both families had 5 members and the youngest was a girl, 6 and the eldest was a boy, 17.

All the three families do not own any livestock but they ever cared for animals before. The women of the three families were hunter-gatherers, that put them in a place of Gwen and Kayla in a great combination. The men were either a metalworker, like Jack, much to his delight, and 2 handymen.

After taking down these 3 families data, that includes their known birth dates, as well as their ages in the journal, next in the queue, would be those with the livestock.

When it was a Macguire turn to speak, he was excited that he can't contain his word and the sentences simply fell from his mouth and onto the table, so to speak. He had 4 children and the eldest was a daughter, 14 and the youngest a daughter too, 8.

"Wha kind of livestock do you have at the moment?" I inquired and the Macguire's then answered that they had 1 bull and 3 dairy cows. He then rattled on how the bulls were temporarily castrated so that they won't accidentally impregnate the dairy cows.

He explains every detail of it and even showed how the bulls could once again be a healthy raging bull once the leather straps that were wrapped down there had been removed.

He was excited to talk on forever but was stopped by the leader of the Irish Travellers and had spoken in the secret language also as not to reveal too much information.

"So sorry, Sir Lord. I am simply too excited to tell you more about my work. Do you wish to leave the livestock outside or lure them inside? I could set the enclosure if you want them inside the village, Sir Lord." the Macguire once again rattled off until he was nudged with an elbow to stop talking.

"Hahaha. Just the question I need to ask what had been answered by you. Hang on, I need the specialist to come and discuss this livestock. Honey, could you call Crystal over?" I gestured for Heather to call for Crystal because she knew of the prices of livestock.

A while later, Crystal came over after she had done checking on the progress of the pregnant pigs and goats. "Yes sir, you need my help on something?" I then informed her of the new induction of citizens from the group of Irish Travellers and she was equally delighted.

She was informed of the livestock that would be transferred over and I asked her if she would have the time to take a look over. She noted that there were quite a few animals that she needs to look at and evaluate the price so she would do it at one time instead of making the trips over.

Crystal noted of the list of livestock that would be transferred and finds them yet to be beneficial to the community, one way or another.

"Sir, there would be a need to setup the enclosures and sturdier ones especially the bull that was currently castrated at the moment. I wonder what kind of rage it would create once those shackles around his thingy is released."

"If I were you, Sir, I would not be caught sleeping next to them as the bull would be making of snorting and wild grunts of ecstasy. Hahaha." Crystal poked fun and everyone laughed at her way of describing matters.

At the end of the session, the Murphy's and Mahoney's had concluded their introduction and had their data recorded in the journal as well as the livestock.

A short while later, Crystal went to the fields outside the perimeter with the three men and after checking out the health of the livestock, she returned to the courtyard and gave me the verdict.

"Sir, the Macguire's have 1 bull and 3 dairy cows. They are all in good health and had no parasites on them. As you realise, the bulls cannot reproduce and are sold at 5s each while the dairy cows fetch double and at 10s each, just like a dray horse. However how strong the bull may seem to be, it can't be put to work like any other bull."

"Eh? How come they cannot put to work?" I was a bit surprised because each of these would weigh 1,500 to 1,800 pounds. Surely they could pull 10 wagons with ease...!

"Sir, those that could be put to work are called buffalo. Those can work in both the sun and the rain and they love to waddle in mud to cake themselves with it." Crystal explained and narrated about the nature of cows which was the opposite of goats in nature.

"Do you leave those cows roaming about or they do have some kind of stable to return to?" I asked and once again I received more information on the cows.

Since space was limited for them to roam with only a 30' by 30' enclosure, individual sheds would be made for each individual with a space of 40 square feet for them.

4 sheds would be set on one side of the lot and there would be enough space for them to mingle. The cows could roam freely with plenty of space and for them to cohabitate.

The problem would be the food that these cows consume. As they eat the same hay or grains as horses, goats and sheep's, each cow would consume a daily feed of at least 25 pounds of hay each day.

4 of those cows would be 100 pounds each...! The next best thing was to build the enclosure closer to the perimeter and let those animals roam outside to eat and then return back to the evening to rest. Once during winter would these cows have their fodder brought to them.

Then there were the sheep that Crystal had checked and evaluated the price to be 2s each and there's a total of 8 of them. The sheep belonged to the Murphy while 6 were mountain goats or commonly known as rams.

The sheep would be shorn for their furs and it could be turned into furs spun into threads. Since there was no one among the citizens that knew how to spin thread, the idea of shorning the sheep would left entirely to their previous owners.

Rams were male bighorn sheep, animals that lived in the mountains and often settled arguments with fights that include ramming their heads into others. Not to be confused with mountain goats, rams can be identified by their long, curved horns, long fur, and split hooves.

The price of rams equals to the price of sheep as well and 12s were set aside for the rams. When the families heard about us buying the livestock and in turn, they would be in care for them, they were confused.

Why should the young Lord before them insist on paying the livestock and then he engages them to tend to the animals? This is unheard of and it was told that it was a normal practice. The livestock that was bought would belong to Gracehaven as everyone would be able is share its products such as milk which could be turned to dairy cheese.

"There's work to be done, so we need everyone's cooperation at this moment. The shed and enclosure need to be set up before we usher in the livestock."

"If the sheds for them can't be ready for them, at least the enclosures should be. Gather the 6 miners to assist. Thank you, that is all. Tonight I would make the formalities to inform the rest of the citizens."

Right after they were dismissed, and reimbursing the contributors with coins for the livestock exchange, all of them went to work in measuring the lots for the livestock.

Materials were brought in and since the animals had not been in an enclosure before, their owners were the one that managed among and gave them feed and cooed their temperament.

Sheep, cattle and rams are quite docile and only takes some time for them to adjust to their new enclosures. Materials for the shed had been brought in and the men with the ex-miners worked fervently and by 2 feet of a shadow's length, the enclosure and several open-air sheds for the cattle, rams and sheep had been introduced.

The work was pretty quick and it would then be rectified for the better in the next few days. As it was the most basic structure the animals could live in right now, it was better than being left out in the open and exposed to the elements of nature.

Spring was at its last days and Summer would be next in line for at least 3 or 4 long months. Without leaving the seat, I had spent a total of 35s for the cattle, 16s for the sheep and 12s for the rams. For the sake of future development and growth, this little investment would go a long way ahead.

The leader of the Irish Travellers nodded his head approvingly at the way we perform our obligations for the future citizens and also his past group members. Deep inside his heart, he too wanted to be part of the settlers but with the other 8 families that remained as Travellers, he dared not to disappoint any of them.

The leader thanked me and the rest for accommodating to his requests and went to the livestock area and watched the rest of the progress as he commended the new citizens of Gracehaven for their job well done.

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