The sun peeking in through a window next to the four-post bed woke Randall from his slumber the next morning. He groaned and grabbed another pillow to cover his face, but the aches and pains throughout his body made it impossible to fall back to sleep. His arms hurt from swinging the scythe the day before, and his legs throbbed like he’d ran a marathon. Worst of all, blisters had formed at several places on his hands.

“Who knew farming was such hard work?” he mumbled into the pillow before throwing it aside.

Of course, where he came from, they had machines to do most of the heavy labor. There were tractors for plowing and seeding, while giant harvesters collected vegetables in a wide swath and discarded the husks, vines, and other debris so all you got was the produce. He’d have to do all those things by hand, at least for now. Who knew what systems were in place to make the process easier as he progressed. It was a game after all, and he vaguely remembered from when he’d played before that there had been ways to cut down on the tedium as his character developed.

“Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to unlock some advancements,” he said as he stood up with a yawn.

Unsure what to do next, he recalled the quest he’d been given when he first arrived at the farm. He’d already cleared the path to the main road, which left repairing the house and preparing one of the fields for crops.

He walked out to the barn to check on his supplies and found he didn’t have many boards left. Those remaining also weren’t in the best shape. They might be suitable for small repairs, like patching up the bucket he’d used in the well the day before. He gathered some scraps and got to work covering over the hole where the water leaked out.

He dropped the bucket into the well and let it fill completely before pulling it out again by the rope he’d attached. This time, only a small trickle dripped from the bottom, which he could live with. He took another long drink and marveled again at how good it tasted.

In the past, he’d noticed when he exercised that sometimes after a long workout, regular tapwater tasted delicious for some reason. He’d not added anything like those powders you could get to turn water into an energy drink, but it tasted way better than normal. The water from this well was different. Even though he was no longer worn out like he’d been the night before, the water was refreshing in a way that the aches and pains he’d been annoyed by when he woke up seemed to dissipate.

Underneath the roof covering the opening to the well was a crank handle attached to an empty wooden spool. He looped the end of the rope that wasn’t attached to the bucket around it and tied a knot to keep it in place. Then he turned the handle around to take up all the slack and locked the ratcheting mechanism so the bucket dangled near the top.

There wasn’t much else he could do in terms of repairs, so Randall turned his attention to the fields next to the barn. The one closest to the well looked to be a vegetable patch. Although weeds had overtaken everything, he could make out furrows running through the dirt with mounds in between them.

Grass covered the ground like the rest of the farm, but in some places the remains of volunteer crops could be seen as well. A brown mound with a few streaks of orange running through it could have been the result of a pumpkin rotting away. Several yellow stalks still had cobs attached to them from corn that had likely been eaten by the local birds. Here and there were hints of other vegetables that must have regrown from lost seeds.

“First things first, I guess,” said Randall. As he looked at the scythe propped against the inside wall of the barn, his fingers throbbed where he’d developed blisters the day before. “Hopefully it doesn’t take long for some calluses to form, so this isn’t so painful.”

He spent the rest of the morning like he had the day before, cutting down the vegetation and moving the resulting hay out of the way. He found an old wheelbarrow at the back of the barn that made transporting the heavy loads easier.

A few saplings had started to grow in the field as well, and he chopped down the thicker ones with an ax. He piled these behind the barn then broke up the roots as well as he could. By the end, the ax blade had become very dull, and he left it by the whet stone so he’d remember to sharpen it later.

With all the tall plants taken care of, he was left with a field full of weeds. They were everywhere and came in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. He found a hand shovel and crouched on hands and knees, digging out the roots of each weed one at a time. As he moved foot by foot down the first furrow, the sun arced higher into the sky.

#

“Look at you all covered in dirt!” a voice yelled from near the barn.

Randall sat back on his knees and examined his clothes. Dark brown stains spotted his chest, while the legs of his pants below the knees were caked in mud. He’d torn out the weeds in the first three rows, and he felt like he was wearing half the field as proof. He stood and walked back to the barn.

Kate waited at the edge of the field. “Seems you’ve gotten the spirit of farming since I left here yesterday.”

“You could say that.” Randall looked up at the sun high above and judged it to be around noon. “The time passed without me even noticing.”

“You did a nice job clearing the path up to the bridge. The cart didn’t get stuck once.” She waved for him to follow her. “We brought some fresh lumber and two panes of glass for the windows. There are some other supplies as well.”

“I appreciate anything you brought to fix this place up,” Randall said as they walked over the hill. “The rest of the boards stored in the barn probably aren’t good for anything but firewood.”

Parked on the other side of the bridge was a small cart pulled by a single horse. It had a wide bench seat at the very front and short sides to brace any cargo carried on its bed. Kate’s mother and the young man he’d seen outside the general store the day before were untying ropes and sorting through the things they’d brought with them.

“Hello again,” said Kate’s mother when they walked up. “We didn’t have a proper introduction yesterday. My name’s Meredith.”

“Nice to finally get your name.”

When the young man didn’t introduce himself, Kate added, “The one with no manners is Liam. Don’t mind him. He was born in a barn.”

Liam jumped down from the cart and shook Randall’s hand, although he addressed his words to Kate. “I know how to greet a stranger. And I was born at the doctor’s office in town, just like you.”

“In the barn ward,” Kate said while picking up a pack of shingles and walking in the direction of the house.

Liam rolled his eyes, grabbed some of the boards, and followed behind her.

“Don’t mind them,” said Meredith. “They bicker like that because they’ve known each other since childhood. Would you mind getting one of the panes of glass?”

“No problem.”

Randall found two sheets of glass laying in a crate with a thick layer of hay cushioning them. He gently lifted out the one on top and grasped it by the sides before walking up the hill. He watched the ground and stuck to where the grass had been flattened down from so many trips of people going back and forth between the house and the bridge. He made it to the porch with no problem and set the glass down to the side where nobody would disturb it. A second trip brought up the other pane of glass, while Kate, Liam, and Meredith carried the rest of the supplies.

“Come with me,” Kate said when he’d found a safe place to leave the fragile glass. She held up a small paper bag. “We’ve got planting to do.”

She practically skipped back to the field he’d cleared earlier, while Randall hurried to follow behind her. Earlier in the day, he’d moved all the tools he thought he might need to the edge of the field. She crouched down next to them and dumped out the contents of the bag. There were two packets of seeds, along with a mesh sack with dozens of little white tendrils poking out the side.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the sack.

“Seed potatoes,” said Kate. “They’ve already started sprouting. Cover them with dirt, and the white stalks near the surface will turn green and spread out into the body of the plant. The rest will send out roots and grow more potatoes on their ends. Do you want to start with these?”

“I guess so.” He picked up the hand shovel he’d used for weeding earlier.

Kate laughed. “It’ll take you forever to plant a row of potatoes with that.”

“Oh…” He looked around and picked up the hoe instead, which got a nod from Kate. “Have you planted these before?”

“Yes, we have a small garden behind the house. Want me to handle the first one so you can see how it’s done?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Kate took the hoe from his hand and began digging at the end of the first row. She cut down into the earth, making a hole and dropping one of the seed potatoes inside. They didn’t look much like the potatoes he normally ate, with wrinkled skin and the little white tendrils poking out in all directions. Kate used the hoe to shift the dirt she’d dug back over top of the hole, forming a small mound where the potato had been buried.

“That’s all there is to it,” said Kate. “You’ll want to water it and any other seeds right after you plant them, but it’s better to put all the seeds out first, then come back with a watering can and do it all at once.” She held the hoe out to him. “Your turn.”

Randall took the hoe from her and moved to a spot a couple feet down the line from where she’d just planted. He dug a hole and dropped one of the seed potatoes into it, then covered it over with the excess dirt.

“Not bad,” said Kate, “but we’ll still be here all day if you dig them one by one. Try holding the hoe down at an angle so it cuts into the ground then walk straight backwards. Think of it like a tiny plow.”

He did as she’d said, and the blade of the hoe cut a wide V shape all the way down the row. Kate walked next to him, taking potatoes out of the netting and dropping them into the trench he was making with some space between each one. By the end of the row, the seed potatoes were all gone.

“Now you can retrace your steps and cover them with dirt,” she said. “I’ll get the other seeds ready while you’re busy with that.”

Randall made his way back up the row, piling the soil he’d removed earlier into small mounds over each potato. When he’d finished, Kate held her arms out, a packet of seeds held in each hand.

“Pick one,” she said.

He looked back and forth to try to figure out what they were, but she must have been holding them with the picture of the type of crop towards herself. All he saw was the folded paper on the back side of the packages.

“This one I guess,” he said, pointing at the packet on his right.

Kate’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Eww, cabbages.”

“What’s wrong with cabbages?” asked Randall.

“Let me put it this way. Mom fixes pork and fried cabbage when the new year rolls around because it’s supposed to be good luck for the coming year. I only eat a spoonful of the cabbage.”

Randall laughed. “And do you have good luck?”

“I don’t have to eat cabbage for the rest of the year,” Kate said with a shrug. “So yeah, I guess I do.”

He shook his head. “Spring rolls have cabbage inside them, and they’re delicious. You should try them.”

Kate frowned. “Why would you ruin perfectly good bread by putting cabbage in it?”

Randall wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “It’s not like a dinner roll. It’d be easier to show you one, although I don’t know how to make them.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” said Kate with a grin. “Because then I won’t have to think of an excuse to run away when you want me to try one.”

“Guess you’ll never know what you’re missing out on.”

Randall turned the hoe at an angle and plowed another line down the second row he’d cleared earlier. Kate dumped a pile of small black seeds into the palm of her hand and dropped them periodically as she followed him down the line. This time the seeds were too small to see clearly, so he simply shifted the dirt back to where it had been before.

“All right, I weeded one more row, and there’s one packet of seeds left,” said Randall. “What have we got?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“We definitely saved the best for last.” Kate turned the package around to show a cluster of bright red berries. “Strawberries!”

He examined the picture. “Huh…”

“What do you mean, ‘huh?’ These are delicious.”

Randall started carving the V shape in the dirt. “Don’t get me wrong. I like strawberries, but I’m not the type to go crazy for them.”

Kate stared at him dumbfounded. “Listen here, mister. Sometimes people stare out the window, looking at the first new day of spring and wishing they had a juicy, sweet strawberry to wash the awful taste of fried cabbage out of their mouth.” By the end, she couldn’t keep a straight face and cracked up laughing.

Randall chuckled.

“Strawberries grow fast,” said Kate. “You’ll want to plant a variety of crops that have different growing periods. That way they won’t all ripen at once. Otherwise, you’ll have nothing to harvest for long stretches then be overwhelmed when they’re all ready at the same time.”

“Good to know.” He waited for Kate to drop the last few seeds into the row he’d plowed then started covering them over. “I doubt I’ll have a lack of chores to take care of as it is.”

“Don’t overdo it,” said Kate as she watched him finish covering the strawberries. “Farming is hard work, so you’ll need to build up your stamina over time.”

Now that she mentioned it, he felt drained. All the work he’d done clearing three rows in the field was catching up to him, and his hands ached where the blisters from yesterday had popped and the fluid drained out.

Kate walked over to the well and dropped the bucket down to fill. While the water was still refreshing, his stomach growled as he drank.

“Sounds like somebody is hungry,” said Kate.

“Actually, I haven’t eaten since before I came to the island,” said Randall.

Kate stared at him. “You cleared all that ground between the bridge and the road, but you didn’t eat any supper?”

“I was so tired afterwards, I fell asleep.”

“You have to take care of yourself!” She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the house. “If I know Mom, she’s already got something cooking inside.”

They walked around the barn to find Liam on the front porch with both the broken windows removed from the tracks that held them in the wall. He’d also taken down the boards that had been nailed over the window frames, so there were now two gaping holes in the front of the house. He looked up when they approached and frowned.

“Another set of hands would be useful to put the new glass in,” said Liam.

Kate let go of Randall’s hand before going up the steps to the porch. “Have you seen Mom?”

“She checked the pantry and said she’d found enough different things to make a pot of vegetable soup,” said Liam. “I’ve heard the sounds of pots and pans knocking around in the kitchen.”

“She might need help,” said Kate.

“Randall, why don’t I show you how to glaze these windows?” asked Liam. “Kate can assist with making lunch.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Kate disappeared through the door into the house, while Randall crouched next to the broken window Liam was taking apart.

“First step in replacing the panes is to remove all the old glass.” Liam pulled the broken shards out of the wood frame and scraped the caulking away with a wide, flat knife. “Once that’s cleaned up, you can insert the new glass and spread putty at the seams to hold it in place.”

Randall helped position the glass inside the frame and made sure it was seated flat against the wooden supports on the sides. Liam used the putty knife to smear globs of caulking around the outside. When he was done, Liam held the handle of the knife out.

“All right, you’ve seen how it’s done. You can do the next one.”

Randall removed the broken glass from the frame and scraped away the dried caulking. Liam helped him lift the glass into place, then he did the rest. He was slower with the putty knife than Liam had been, unsure if he was doing it correctly. Liam pointed out a couple spots he’d missed but otherwise didn’t say much. He finished and Liam said the caulking would need time to dry before it could be mounted into the wall again. About that time Kate stuck her head through the opening from the dining room.

“Soup’s on!” she said then peered at the windows. “Wow, you guys are done already.”

“Yeah,” said Randall. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

Liam snorted. “You weren’t here for the part where I took the windows down. And putting them back up without breaking the glass again is going to be the hardest part.”

“Oh…” Randall examined the parts of the frame still in the wall. They didn’t appear to have the quick releasing latches most of the windows in his home had. “We’ll just have to be careful squeezing them back into place.”

He walked into the dining room to find a giant pot steaming in the middle of the table. Four bowls had been laid out, already filled with what looked more like stew than vegetable soup. He counted carrots, potatoes, onions, corn, and cauliflower floating in what looked to be some kind of tomato-based broth. It smelled delicious.

Along with the soup was a loaf of bread that had been cut into thick slices and a crock filled with butter. Small plates were placed next to each bowl, along with a tall glass of water for each of them.

A swiveling door between the dining room and kitchen swung open, and Meredith entered carrying a tray with several different kinds of cheese already cut into chunks. She placed it next to the bread and looked everything over.

“It’s not much,” said Meredith. “Dig in before the soup gets cold.”

“Not much?” asked Randall. “This looks like the sort of meal you’d find at a fancy restaurant.”

Meredith removed the apron she’d been wearing while cooking. “Kate didn’t tell me you were so good at flattery,” she said, although she was smiling.

Randall sat down before replying, “It’s not flattery if you mean it.” He took a taste of the soup and added, “This is amazing!”

“Glad you like it,” said Meredith. “There’s enough there to last you the rest of the week.”

Liam sat down next to him, earning a glare from Kate who was forced to go around to the other side of the table and sit beside her mother. They made small talk as they ate, and like when he’d drank from the well the day before, Randall could feel his fatigue draining away. He remembered farming games often had mechanics whereby the character could take actions like eating, drinking, or other restful activities to regain the energy they’d spent on chores.

After two bowls of soup and a mountain of bread and cheese to go with it, Randall finally pushed away from the table. “That was really good. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” said Meredith. “Kate and I will clean up while you boys finish installing the windows.”

Liam led the way back outside, checking the putty they’d spread on the edges of the windows. “It’s set up enough we should be able to put these back in the frames. Just don’t bend them if you can help it. Stretch them too far, and the new glass could break.”

They took the windows inside, and Liam lined up the one in the sitting room. The fit was tight, and Randall was a bit tentative when it came to pushing against the wood that held the glass in place. With a couple taps from the handle of the putty knife, the window slid into the frame. They repeated the process, this time more quickly, for the the window in the dining room.

Kate walked in to gather up the dirty plates and stopped long enough to say, “The windows look great. Liam, could you check the roof next? I saw a couple places where shingles had blown off when I looked out the shutters in the attic earlier.”

“Sure,” said Liam. “Where are the shingles we brought with us?”

“Up in the attic.” Kate gathered all the dirty bowls and went back into the kitchen.

Liam started up the stairs to the small attic space and called over his shoulder, “Bring a hammer and some roofing nails.”

“Uh…yeah.”

Randall found the hammer he’d used the day before and another for Liam to use. Then he looked through the canning jars lined up on one of the shelves. There were long nails, skinny nails, ones with big round heads, and ones with almost no head at all. The nails here were less refined than the mass produced nails he could get at a hardware store back home. The shapes were a little different than he was used to, but he grabbed the ones that looked closest to roofing nails he’d used in the past, picked up the hammers, and headed back to the house.

The attic was a square space measuring about five feet on each side. Shutters on the wall opposite where the stairs came up opened onto the roof. Randall climbed out and found Liam had already removed some cracked shingles. Randall handed over one of the hammers and the jar full of nails.

“Normally, I’d say you should try your hand after I’ve shown you how to replace one,” said Liam, “but it’s very easy to damage other shingles while doing this. So in fixing one, you might break two others. I’d rather not spend more time than we have to up here.”

“I’ve actually done this before,” said Randall, which got a look of surprise from Liam. “Although the shingles were a bit different. Where I come from, they’re a lot flatter and not made out of wood.”

Liam shrugged. “Suit yourself. But if Meredith says they’re ready to go, and you’ve made a lot more work that needs to be done, you’ll be on your own.”

With that, Liam grabbed some of the nails and started replacing one of the shingles. Randall didn’t know what to say to such bluntness and almost asked if he’d done something to offend Liam. He decided the best course was leave it be, so he grabbed some shingles of his own and got to work. With two of them replacing shingles, it only took about twenty minutes to finish, and Randall gathered up the tools and took them back to the barn.

#

Quest Completed: Clean up the Farm

It didn’t take long to get the farm in working order again, although there’s plenty more to be done. Keep making improvements, and you’ll soon see the bits rolling in.

#

When he got back to the house, Meredith, Kate, and Liam were gathered together on the porch.

“The place looks much better than it did this morning,” said Meredith. “I’m glad to see someone getting use out of this old farm.”

“I appreciate you letting me stay, since I’m sort of stranded here for the time being,” said Randall. “And once I start making some money, I’d gladly pay rent on the place.”

“Just keep up the maintenance, and we’ll call it even.” Meredith looked at the other two. “Ready to head back into town?”

Liam nodded but Kate cleared her thoat.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked. “The collection box.”

“Oh, right.” Meredith grabbed a basket that had been by her feet and set off towards the bridge. “Let’s get that set up.”

They followed her back to the cart as she explained what the collection box was for.

“Liam and his brother often bring in crops from their farm, which is farther down the road from here. They’ve offered to pick up any produce you’d like to sell and take it into town, since you don’t have a cart of your own.” She pointed at the large wooden crate that had held the supplies they’d brought with them. “We’ll set this up by the road, and anything you place inside will be credited to your account with the store once it’s delivered.”

“That’s handy,” said Randall. “Thank you, Liam, for offering to help me out.”

Liam merely grunted and went to retrieve his horse, which he’d let roam free rather than be hooked up to the cart while they were working. The horse was contentedly munching on a mound of grass he’d made the day before while clearing the ground here.

Once the horse was tethered to the wagon again, they rode in the cart back to the main road. Randall and Liam lifted the collection box and placed it next to where the path met the road.

“I almost forgot,” said Kate. “We should have watered the crops after we planted them. Make sure to tend to them every day so they grow nice and big.”

“I’ll water them as soon as I get back,” said Randall.

“You should also go to the town hall when you get a chance,” said Meredith. “Haven is too small to have its own bank, and with our inability to go to the mainland, the mayor has decided to create accounts for everyone. You’ll need one to trade bits with other residents of the island.”

“I’ll do that.”

Meredith smiled. “Good luck with the farm. I hope you have as much success with it as my brother Jack did.”

“And come into town to visit sometimes,” added Kate.

“Would you like a ride back to the store?” Liam asked.

“That’s all right,” said Meredith. “It’s not far, and I’m sure you have things to do at home.”

Meredith started down the road back into town, and Kate gave a little wave before running after her mother. Randall stood there awkwardly as Liam climbed back onto the seat of the wagon.

Liam looked down at him and said, “Just so you know, Kate and I are together. I saw how you were acting with her, so don’t get any funny ideas.”

Randall stood there dumbfounded as Liam snapped the reins, and the cart rolled away.

#

Relationships

Kate ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Meredith ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

#

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