Day 7 - do you know your horses?

No sooner than he had torn his bread than came an insistent knock on the door. As Helmuth rose to answer the caller, the door creaked open from the force of the rapping.

"Master Helmuth?" came a voice, cracked with age and wear, but sure of itself. "Helmuth, are you here?"

Helmuth pulled open the door the full width and appraised the visitor.

"I am, sir," he answered. "How do you come to know me?"

The visitor half-chuckled. "You are known, Helmuth," he replied. "There are few who haven't heard of your excellence with horses." The man paused to let phlegm crackled in his throat, cleared it abruptly, and swallowed. "Yes, you are well regarded as the best of those who know young horses. It is you I must speak to."

The pronouncements were not a surprise. Helmuth was well-known in near villages, as well as other villages farther afield that shared trading routes with his. What was surprising was that this inquiry (if it was a business inquiry) was not preceded by an introduction from one of his former clients.

In a land where, as mentioned, gold could buy very little, but it could buy horses, a trainer such as himself was highly regarded. Information was also highly regarded as a form of currency. And so, it was typically in a horse owner's best interest to "sell" the name of his trainer to another for favors. To ensure the transaction, the owner tended to contact Helmuth at the first and make arrangements for a meeting. Such were business dealings in the Hafstone region.

"As I say, I am Helmuth. How may I be of service?"

"I am in possession of a foal," the visitor replied. "I think you might be interested in helping…" He rattled off into a succession of small coughs.

Helmuth politely waited until the coughing spell had passed. "What is this foal?" he asked.

The man looked Helmuth straight in the eyes. "I have an Oldenburg," was the reply.

Helmuth took this in and let it echo in his mind. "Olde… Olden… did you say Oldenburg?"

"Indeed."

"How? W-where?" Helmuth began to stutter. "When d-d-did this come to be?"

The visitor raised an eyebrow. "You are not familiar with this horse?"

"No! With it I am quite familiar!" Helmuth paused. "But… I think you already know that?"

"It seems likely."

"Who are you and what do you want with me?

"I am a man with a horse," the man said, with a few wispy throaty breaths between. "I am aware of your talents and I am assured you can help with this… special specimen."

"I am not sure I can…" began Helmuth.

"I will pay you well in gold."

"That is not what I…" he began again.

"And I can pay in information," the visitor concluded. "And when that is not at my disposal, I have means to acquire it."

Helmuth stared at the man for a few moment. Then, abruptly, he sat down on his pallet, from whence he had risen minutes ago to answer the knock at the door. The time since felt very long.