He had never seen a tin tub on wheels, and for a moment, it fascinated him in its unusual construction. Silently, he wondered if Elody...<br/><br/>"Not as fancy as the ones back East, but it doesn't take much to fill it...and it gets the job done. If you could help me with the buckets, I'd be most grateful. It will take ten cold buckets of water, and ten buckets of hot. I have the large cauldron in the kitchen boiling already, so we just have to pump from the well and you'll be soaking your muscles in no time."<br/><br/>Malcolm turned to her with an easy smile and a nod, "Well, it's a fine thing indeed that I happened along this lovely little place you got here, ma'am. I haven't had a bath in over a<i>week</i>now and was fixin' to tear the skin right off my body if I had to go much longer!" He managed the words with as much dramatic seriousness as he could pull off before breaking into another grin.<br/><br/>Following her out into the hall towards the back porch, Mal had his first real opportunity to watch the way Elody's hips shifted when she walked, tracing his eyes from them up her back and through the silken strands of her chestnut hair.<i>She gets more beautiful every time I set my eyes upon her</i>, he thought. When they arrived at the pump out back, however, and he glimpsed the...<i>two</i>headstones, that fire died down within him.<br/><br/>"<i>Two</i>," he muttered, barely audible above the December wind, the word prying its way between his lips in a moment of consideration. One headstone was full-sized and one... was noticeably smaller.<br/><br/>"Alright, Mr. Blackwood," she broke his reverie with her musical voice and soft laughter as they both turned towards each other, first...I insist you call me Elody. Second, it will take you less time to get the water flowing than I, so time to earn your room and board..."<br/><br/>His smile returned with the warmth of her words and he nodded, "Elody, it would be my genuine pleasure to assist in any way I can. Between you and I, you make a far more lovely leader to take orders from than most of the ones<i>I've</i>served in my lifetime." Mal gave her a wink and then set to work on the pump. Taking the long handle in hand, he began the process of rhythmically raising and pushing it back down, up and down, up and down, not too fast, not too slowly; just with a nice, powerful, sure-handed rhythm. After several moments of his pumping, the well started to show signs of water rising within it, and then the first few drops, followed by an increasing flow began to pour from its spout. Malcolm Blackwood always had some luck with machines, simple or complex, and seemed, on some level, to understand them just enough to get them to cooperate after a fashion.<br/><br/>"I think it's ready, Elody!" he turned back to her with that smile under his mustache, holding out a gloved hand. Taking the first bucket in his hands and filling it up with several more pumps, he set it aside and took the next. "I'll carry them in, darling," he said, grabbing the second bucket and the first by the handles and starting back into the house. Returning with two empty buckets later, he repeated the process four more times, finally bringing the two empty buckets back to her after the fifth trip. He took a long swim in her sea-green eyes and asked, "Shall I bring these in or leave them out here?"<br/><br/>When they moved into the house to begin the process of hauling the ten buckets of hot water to the tub, the gravestones remained in his thoughts. Mal didn't know how to raise the subject, but they simply wouldn't rest. He attempted to be as delicate with the subject as he could. Drawing closer to her, his face one of concern and sympathy, he asked, "How long has it been that... you've been taking care of this place yourself?" His hands shifted and raised, instinctively, to reach out and console her warmly, but he halted their progress, wondering if she'd really accept his touch upon her body. Instead, he managed to ask the<i>other</i>question that demanded its own attention after the first:<br/><br/>"What happened?"