is it plausible for a large stable at a noble estate to be left unattended for a short period of time? if not, how would these scenarios work out: 1) I have a scene where my female MC meets with my male MC in the stables. No one is supposed to know that he's alive. He's in acting as a guard for another noble and is in disguise but catches my other MC when she returns from riding to give her information, among other things (cough cough). 2) at a different time, during the night a wolf-beast gets into the stables, kills a horse, and escapes undetected. (why only one and not a bunch of other horses, you ask? it was following my MC's scent and it led it straight to the stall that housed her horse, and kills it)
Though unlikely, it could be. If a festival or some other kind of entertainment was going on, I could see the lord of the estate giving the staff leave to attend. This would probably work best for the first instance, as it would be plausible for the entire stable to be deserted of workers. A few horses could have also gotten out, perhaps because of the male MC, to act as a distraction in case anyone is still around. In the second case, I don't think the stable would need to be empty. The attack would wake the hands, but not in time for them to do anything besides perhaps catch a glimpse of the wolf-beast as it runs off. I hope this is helpful and best of luck, it sounds like you've got a cool story in the works.
The easiest scenario might be to have a groom, stable boy, etc. with a less than stellar work ethic. He's supposed to be in with the horses, but he has a thing for the kitchen maid and they sneak out for a little personal time, or his leech of a brother shows up and tries to get money. You could come up with a dozen different things that would give your characters the time they need.
Horses don't need to be supervised every moment of every day, whether they are in a big open pasture or an elegant stable owned by the richest folk in the realm. Of course, there are horses like our Reb who'd manage to hurt themselves in a guarded padded room, but most equines can happily munch their hay in solitude without suffering ill-effects. To leave a stable unattended while everyone goes off to dinner could be a resonable daily occurance. Must it be a wolf-beast? Can't it just a beast-beast? Sigh. Okay. If you must.
Very true. I was thinking that this sounds like a historical piece, where people would be hired specifically for that area and there would be enough related work to keep them busy in the stables for most of the day. The horses don't need to be supervised 24/7, but there's tack to maintain and stalls to clean and grooming to be done, all without modern supplies. A shiny coat takes a fair amount of brushing when you don't have Show Sheen. Most who could afford to pay the help would also want someone there to guard against thieves or fire. But maybe that's not the scenario here.
Work enough to keep stable hands busy- yep, there's that. But that wasn't the question: is it plausible for a large stable at a noble estate to be left unattended for a short period of time? My two cents worth is yes, that is plausible. I had to laugh at the "without modern supplies" comment. Running water was about the most modern supply we had, and it still had to be hauled from the well the old fashioned way, bucketful by bucketful. Sigh. Makes me miss our horses, all out running with the wind now. My son still has half a dozen or so equines on his place, but visiting them is not the same as going down the road to the stable two or three times a day to hang out with the hooved ones.
Looks like a beast-beast to me, except for the smoking jacket. Wonder if he is related to Whoville's roast beast?
Likely, atleast some of the hands would sleep in the stables. The horses would scent a predator and react to it. That reaction would wake any hands sleeping there.
