The rumors that someone was trying to tackle the challenge the old farm across the river spread throughout the small town like a disease. For years, the farm lay in a state of neglect after its previous owner, a nice old man by the name of William, passed away. The barns and the farmhouse looked fine enough, but the large field right outside was not in a similar state. Even from a distance, many of the citizens of the town could see years' worth of rocks, boulders, and branches scattered throughout what was once a bountiful field of crops. It didn't seem that anyone would try to fix it up, the task at hand too daunting for any of the townspeople to do alongside the jobs they already had.
But now, the word that someone was attempting to make the farm operational again was the talk of the town, or to be more specific, it started with the town gossip, a talkative woman named Manna, and it was only inevitable that the rest of the town knew soon after. One of Manna's close friends and fellow gossiper was Sasha, who told her friend Lillia, who in turn told her children in passing about everything she knew about it - which is how Rick Byrrd first heard about the new farmer.
Rick spent most of his days on his parents' Poultry Farm, helping his mother with their many chickens while his father was off… somewheretrying to find a cure for his mother's illness. Recently, she'd been getting a little better (or so she said), but Rick thought that he had every reason to worry about it. Ergo, he did as much as he could to help on the farm so his mother wouldn't have to lift a finger and maybe, just maybe, finally start to get better with more rest. That being said, being on the farm so much allowed him the perfect opportunity to look over the small river to the old farm and he was very familiar with the state of disrepair that it had fallen into over the last few years. If he thought hard enough, the young man could remember the old farmer's kind face when he'd come to buy chicken feed from his mother, back before she'd gotten sick and his father was still at home. That had been years and years ago now. Every time he had to feed the chickens, he'd look across the way and saw just how sad of a state the place was in.
Hearing about someone trying to come in to turn the farm around didn't really encourage a lot of hope in the young chicken farmer's mind. Rick could hardly believe that someone was actually trying to repair the damage that had been done. He saw it as a lost cause and honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if the person gave up after a few weeks.
But… he could have swornthat saw someone running around the old field the last few days, and maybesaw lights on at the farmhouse – but that was always after he'd gotten home from the bar, and perhaps that was just the product of drunken imagination…
Regardless, he wasn't very confident in the new farmer's abilities to get things done. If word from Karen, a childhood friend of his (who was also Sasha's daughter), was correct, the new farmer was from the city.While he normally didn't have any qualms against people from the city, he certainly didn't think that someone who probably spent their days in an office could handle farm work. It was a lot to take in if you didn't grow up around it.
Rick shook the thoughts away, his long strawberry-blond hair following the movements of his head. It was hot for a spring day, the sun beating rather mercilessly on his back as he looked over the many chickens outside of the barn of the Poultry Farm. The hens were certainly less pushy now that they had their food and were content to leaving him alone for the time being. Rick took off his large glasses and wiped his brow, wondering if wearing his green turtleneck was such a good idea in the first place. Maybe he'd change his clothes now that the weather proved to be too much for him. As much as he liked wearing the sweater, sometimes enough was enough. No use in sweating the day away. He replaced the glasses onto his nose and headed towards his house, which was a short walk away, outside of the chicken barn. He didn't look back at the old farm across the river, but if he had, he would have gotten a glimpse at the new farmer that he'd heard so much about…
The door to the farmhouse swung open with a squeak,notifying the two women inside that Rick was coming in. He was thankful for the much cooler air inside the house. It must have been apparent on his face as his mother came out from behind the small counter in the front of the main room to get a better look at him.
"Goodness, Rick, you look like you're burning up!" Lillia said gently, if not concernedly, raising a delicate hand onto his forehead. "You're not getting sick, are you?" How ironic that shewas the one asking if hewas sick, as if her illness was nothing in comparison. But, Rick had never known his mother to be anything if not selfless and unbelievably kind and patient to anyone that she talked to. Really, she was everything that he could have asked for in a mother. Rick shook his head, feeling a little exasperated by the question.
"No, at least I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it's just the weather, mom," he responded, taking her hand into his. "Honestly, I'm fine. I think I'll just go and change my clothes. It's hotter than I expected it to be today." Which was true; the weather forecast promised much cooler temperatures than what they received. He turned and walked up the staircase to his room, purposefully ignoring the face that his sister Popuri was sending him as he did so.
His mother called him down not even a few minutes after he'd went upstairs in the first place, saying something about someone needing a chicken. That made him stop and think exactly who would need a chicken, especially since no one else in town really raised animals like they did, except for the ranch next door; but his mother wouldn't have had him fetch the chicken for them. There really wasn't anyone else that made sense, unless -
Unless it was that city-person that was taking over the farm.
He finished changing and headed down the stairs with a bit of curiosity, wondering exactly who he was going to see. He didn't want to assume anything, but every time somebody mentioned this mystery farmer, he always pictured a skinnier guy in a suit, looking rather annoyed with everything around him, like he got swindled into running a busted old farm. Well, whoever the new farmer was, he'd try to keep an open mind when they picked which chicken they wanted. Rick had to laugh a little to himself. They'd probably just pick the first chicken they see.
He reached the bottom of the stairs and saw his mother and sister talking with a woman that he'd never seen before. He could only see the back of her head, where he could see that she had long, straight blonde hair that was neatly kept. Lillia noticed that Rick had come down the stairs and smiled brightly.
"Oh, there's Rick now," she said to the stranger, prompting her to turn around. She did, and Rick saw her face for the first time.
She looked at him with a friendly smile and he felt all of the air leave his lungs. She was... really pretty. He drank in the details of her face as quickly as he could perceive them so as to not stare at her for too long. Her eyes were a bright blue and shimmered as she smiled at him. There were a few patches of freckles that were sprinkled over her cheeks and nose and the slight pink of those freckled cheeks made her look unbelievably cute to him. Rick shook his head a little, casting out all of the pesky thoughts that suddenly plagued his head. Pretty girl or no, this was still a customer and he needed to be a professional about everything – drooling over a girl that needed a chicken was certainly not very good business!
He approached her with as much confidence as he could muster and put a slightly shaky hand out for her to shake. "H-hi! I'm Rick," he said a little-too-loudly, forcing himself to breathe normally. Good Goddess, he'd never acted this nervous around a woman before! She's a customer, dammit,a small voice in his head reminded him, and he let that thought relax him as the blonde woman placed her much smaller hand in his. It was much softer than he expected; she really must have juststarted on the farm to have such soft hands. He just hoped that his hand wasn't too clammy.
The woman grinned, shaking his hand firmly. "My name is Claire Durand, I just moved here a few weeks ago. Your mother said that you could help me pick out a chicken?"
"Um, yes, of course I can! Nothing to it, easy-peasy." Shut up, you idiot,the voice was back and was still annoyed. Quit rambling."The chickens are outside, c'mon out."
Rick led Claire out to the coop, feeling much calmer as the hens welcomed him back with a flurry of feathers. Claire, for her part, didn't seem much put off with the smell of the place nor the loud clucking of the chickens. That was fairly impressive, Rick mused, dusting off a few feathers and stalks of hay from his shirt after his greeting from the hens. He could have sworn that he heard giggling from the woman behind him but he didn't let that thought fully develop in his head for his sanity's sake. He did manage to make himself look at her and smile, though, grabbing a clipboard from off of the wall. "Well, what kind of chicken are you looking to get today? We have lots of different kinds here." Talking about chickens was something that he excelled at and finally put him in a mindset that didn't horrify him quite so much as the previous one had. If he just focused on talking about chickens, then everything would be fine.
Claire's blue eyes went wide as she blushed a little and looked down at the many clucking chickens at her feet. "Well…" she started, suddenly very different than the outgoing person he took her for, "I'm not really sure if I know what kindof chicken I want. I'm kind of new to farming. Do you have any recommendations?" Her gaze shifted back up to him, looking very desperate for his advice. He was in full-on farm assistant mode now; no longer was he the timid, shy boy but someone who was fully dedicated to his trade and willing to help a customer out.
"Sure thing," Rick said brightly, checking the worn clipboard in his hands. "We've got a lot of really good egg-layers here, they'll help turn over a good profit of eggs, unless you want to keep those eggs for breakfast, heh heh." Claire's embarrassed face slowly shifted back into a smile with his lighthearted tone. It was pretty cute, Rick thought, and he had to swallow quickly to stop himself from going back down that road of thought. "H-here's Pepper, one of our Rhode Island Reds," he stuttered, picking up the hen that was nearest to him with one hand. "She'd make a great first chicken if you're looking to produce a lot of eggs."
"That would be great," Claire beamed, taking the brown hen from him as gently as she could. The hen clucked calmly in her hands and Claire seemed satisfied that the chicken wasn't attacking her face. Rick had kind of purposely selected Pepper as he knew that she was one of the more calm hens in the coop and would be a good chicken to start with, and it looked like that was a good decision on his part. "I think I'll take her! How much do I owe you?"
"Mom'll ring you up. Here, I'll take you back." Rick led her back to the house, the chicken left behind in the coop, and told his mother that they'd found a chicken. Lillia was all smiles as she told Claire the price of the chicken and took her money. Rick watched the exchange from a step back, conspicuously (or what he prayed was conspicuous) watching Claire as she smiled and even giggled a little bit with his mother. He'd just met this woman and he wasn't entirely sure why he was so transfixed with everything she did, but there was something about her that was really alluring to him. That could be dangerous thinking, he reminded himself, willing himself to look away from Claire only to meet the smug grin that was on Popuri's face. He jumped nearly out of his skin and Popuri chuckled under her breath.
"Wow-oh-wow, big bro, what's the matter? Why are you so jumpy?" The pink-haired girl asked, clearly just trying to get under his skin as he calmed himself down from her sudden appearance.
Rick huffed. "Go away, Popuri. Don't you have chores to do or something?" This was all-so similar to when they were kids; Popuri acted a little too much like a child for his taste sometimes and he often thought that she really needed to grow up. Case in point: it was Popuri's turn to huff as she turned away from him towards the front door.
"Fine, I'll get out of your hair…" She stepped closer to him. "But hey, maybe next time don't make it so obvious that you're staring, Rick," she whispered with a wink, laughing at the burning blush that erupted on his cheeks. Little sisters! What a pain! He began to sputter a rebuttal but Popuri was already out the door. Rick didn't even notice that Claire was looking at him until he turned back to the counter, jumping for the second time a matter of a few minutes (which was getting kind of old, he thought). Claire wasn't nearly as mean about it as Popuri was and put up a hand to her face, but Rick could still see the ghost of a smile on her lips behind her fingers. Somehow he's wasn't annoyed with her as he was with his sister.
Lillia shook her head from behind the counter. "Really, Richard, you shouldn't bicker so often with your sister. Please try to be a little more mature, that's all I can ask," she sighed, but the weariness in her face disappeared a little when she looked back at Claire. Rick knew in the back of his mind that her sickness was really taking a lot out of her that day but she was keeping it fairly hidden from Claire and even her own children, something that concerned him greatly. "Is there anything else that I can do for you, dear?" Lillia asked the new farmer. Claire looked contemplative and glanced over for just a moment over at Rick. His heart beat a little faster and he begged himself to calm down.
"I don't have any feed… you sell that here, right?" The question was aimed at Lillia but her sight was back on him, as if she was really asking him instead. He wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to mean but he figured that maybe she trusted him to help her out, despite the fact that they'd literally just met that day. A warm feeling spread through his chest as he approached the counter with a newfound purpose and a little bit of a spring in his step.
"Yeah, we grow the corn here and turn it into feed that you can buy," Rick answered, watching as a relieved smile softened the worry lines that had formed on Claire's face. "Hey, if you buy any, I'll help you carry it back to your farm!" What the actual hell am I doing,he thought, trying to not let the internal panic he was experiencing show on his face. Claire looked surprised for a moment but that went away as she nodded and turned back to Lillia, her wallet back in her hands.
Claire bought only 15 bushels of feed, claiming that she'd buy more once everything started taking off on the farm - which, from the sounds of things, she seemed pretty confident that it would all work out. Rick went out to the feed supply shed and started putting all of the feed into a wheelbarrow as Claire said her goodbyes to Lillia and joined him in the shed. "Wow," she whistled, looking around in awe. "This is a lot of chicken feed. You make all of this?"
Rick paused in his work, taking the time to wipe a trail of sweat that was dangerously close to getting into his eyes. "Yep. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it in the long run!" He looked up at the many bags of feed that were stockpiled in the upper parts of the shed and frowned, remembering when more people bought things from them. "We have a lot of product backed up since nobody else in town really raises chickens." He glanced at her over the rim of his glasses. "You know, you're the first person in a long, long time to buy a chicken from this town. So, uh… thanks for that! We really do appreciate it."
"Really? Well, I'm glad I could help your family!" Claire was smiling that cute smile again and Rick was very glad that it was so warm out to give him an alibi for the rosiness that bloomed on his freckled cheeks. He turned back to the wheelbarrow and quickly put the remainder of the feed onto it, just to do something to make him look less suspicious. "Do you need any help with that?"
He shook his head and began to push the wheelbarrow out of the shed, Claire on his heels. "You can pick up Pepper as we head out though," he suggested over his shoulder as they passed the coop. Rick watched Claire go into the coop but come out empty-handed only a few moments later, a sheepish grin on her lips.
"Um," she said, the embarrassed blush from before was back and she wouldn't make eye contact with him. "I'm not sure which one is Pepper," Claire laughed quietly. Rick placed the wheelbarrow onto the ground and smiled gently at her, passing her into the coop. He quickly picked out Pepper from the flock and picked her up, walking out and plopping her into Claire's hands. She was surprised and inspected the bird in her grasp. "That was so fast! How could you tell them apart?"
Rick shrugged. "I dunno. I think the longer you spend around them, the easier it is to tell them apart." Claire began to laugh then, but it wasn't an unkind laugh at his expense. He'd heard that kind of laughter enough growing up to know what that sounded like. No, this was a surprised, happy laugh, and the genuinely pleased look on Claire's face confirmed that. Rick found himself chuckling a little too.
"Well, I hope I can be as good as you with chickens someday," she giggled, her blue eyes sparkling with friendliness and something akin to mischief. Rick swallowed roughly and turned back over to the wheelbarrow. Just when he thought that he was getting comfortable enough to have a normal, non-embarrassing conversation with Claire, she did something cute and his brain decided to stop letting him react like a normal human. This is getting a little ridiculous, he thought morosely. But maybe he would be lucky and Claire wouldn't notice how much he was struggling to have a normal conversation with her and trying to not pass out from the mysterious anxiety he was suffering from. Normally, Rick wasn't afraid to talk to people and express his opinions - if he didn't agree with something, he would make it pretty obvious. But here, for some reason, with a woman that he met not even an hour ago, he was afraid that saying the wrong thing could make her see him in a negative light and not talk to him any more, or worse, think that he was a jerk. Rick wasn't nervous around the other girls his age in town; if anything, they were close friends of his that he didn't see any differently because they were women. But with Claire… there were a lot of confusing emotions running through him and it was both a horrifying and almost exciting experience all in one.
Claire led the way to her farm with a confident stride, Pepper the chicken clucking softly in her arms. Rick somehow mustered up the courage to ask her where she was from and how she found Mineral Town. She was more than happy to tell him that she was from the city originally - thus proving that the rumors going around the small town were actually accurate for once. Claire said with a bit of a laugh that she worked with computers before coming to Mineral Town and wouldn't have imagined that she was going to end up building a worn-down farm back up until she discovered an advertisement in the newspaper, but she thought that it was going pretty well so far. And, as the two crossed the river and walked onto the property, Rick was inclined to agree; what once was a barren, messy field was suddenly an empty land of opportunity, just begging to be filled with crops of all kinds. It was almost a completely different place than it had been only a few months ago. Rick let out a low whistle. "You've really done a great job so far," he said, internally praising himself for sending her a compliment without stuttering.
Her face lit up and she turned to him. "You think so? All I've really done is clean up the place, but thanks." Claire looked out onto the property and sighed. "I can tell this was a place where there was a lot of love and care at one point." Rick stole a glance at her face and saw that she was blushing with a warm smile towards the fields ahead of her. "I want to bring that feeling back." She noticed him staring and chuckled nervously, looking at the ground in embarrassment. "Sorry, I tend to get a little sentimental about these kinds of things."
"I don't think that's a bad thing," Rick blurted out and immediately felt a sense of self-loathing. He was known for speaking without thinking sometimes but this was most definitely a situation that would not be forgiving of such behavior. But by the surprised-turned-gleeful grin that Claire sent him, maybe that statement wasn't such a bad thing either. "I-I mean, it's not bad to be a caring person, right?"
"No, I guess not." The late morning sunlight reflected off of her face and gave her an almost serene sort of look. Her bright smile was beautiful, Rick mused. Rick caught himself staring and turned back to the chicken feed. "Right. The coop," came Claire's voice next to him.
"The coop," he agreed, and made very sure that he stayed behind her. What the hell was that?!The Angry Voice was back and upon some fast reflection Rick realized that it was his own voice that was yelling at him. Quit doing dumb things. Do your job and go home before you do something really stupid, stupid.As much as he didn't want to admit it, Rick had to agree with himself (as if that made sense). He came here to do a job and not to ogle at his new neighbor.
The chicken coop itself was a modest building, obviously not as big as what they had at the Poultry Farm but it was perfect for a farm like Claire's. It sat next to the river and Rick noticed that there was a water wheel attached. He was about to point out that with the wheel, Claire would be able to make feed if she grew corn but a quick moment of association made him realize that if he said something, there was always the possibility that Claire wouldn't need to come back to his farm anymore and he instead remarked, "This is a pretty nice coop. This'll do you good for a while."
Claire nodded and set her new chicken onto the floor. She turned back over to Rick, who was trying to find a good place to store the feed. A quick sweep of the walls revealed the chute door where he could deposit the feed bag by bag into the wall. Not the most effective method, but it was the only way available for now and Rick didn't mind too much. Claire approached him from behind. "Are you sure you don't need any help with that? I really don't mind if you do."
Rick waved her off. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to it," he assured her, lifting the first bag of feed into the chute. It was hard work, especially in the heat of the coop, but it wasn't too difficult for Rick to complete. He was just glad that he'd decided to change his shirt earlier. As he was about halfway through depositing the bags of feed he could have sworn that he saw Claire watching him intently as he worked. He wasn't sure what to make of the way that she stood still in her spot nor could he see what exactly she was looking at, but he chose to just continue working rather than letting it get to his head. Maybe she was just watching because she felt bad for not being allowed to help? That's how Rick probably would have reacted in her place. It was probably nothing too serious.
Eventually, Rick finished the last bag and dusted off his shirt. Claire approached him right after, her cheeks mysteriously very pink. Well, it waspretty hot in there. She smiled at him. "Thank you so much for everything," she chirped, picking up one of the empty sacks that had fallen from the wheelbarrow.
Rick felt a little confused. "W-well, I really didn't do thatmuch," he countered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, "All I did was help you pick out a chicken and carry some feed. You could've done it without me."
"Mmm, I don't think that's true. I'm new to farming and I don't know much about different kinds of chickens. You really helped me." Claire placed a hand on his arm and Rick felt his heartbeat skyrocket. It was impossible to stop his face from going completely red and he needed to leave before he made a complete fool of himself.
"Uh, well, um - y-you're welcome. A-anytime. I-If you have any questions, just come back, okay? I'll, uh, see you around right?" She nodded, grinning. "Great! W-well, I'd better get home. I've got a lot of work to do!" He made a mad grab for the wheelbarrow and rushed out the door of the coop, waving back towards Claire's goodbyes. Rick was thankful that his home was so close so he wouldn't think about what had just happened for too long before he was distracted by work again. Regardless, the spot where she'd touched his arm was warm, somehow warmer than the air around him, and that was all he could think about all the way to the Poultry Farm.
"So," Popuri questioned him the moment he stepped into the house, grinning slyly like a cat, "How was helping Claire?" She held the last word out a little too long for Rick's taste. He would have retaliated but with his mother right there he decided to keep his mouth shut. Lillia smiled sweetly from her chair at the table.
"How did the farm look up close? Sometimes it's hard to see from over here," she stated. Rick allowed the dreamy look on his face to materialize, but only a little bit.
"She's done a lot so far, she cleaned up the field and even the coop! I think she's gonna do great things for that farm."
Lillia nodded and glanced back down at the needlework in her hands. "Yes, that's what I figured. Claire seems like a really determined young woman - I'm sure she'll be able to bring that farm back to how it used to be." She paused, looking back up at her son with a smile that he couldn't read. "I hope that she doesn't stay a stranger."
Popuri laughed quietly from the other side of the table. "I'm sure that Rick hopes that too."
Rick glared daggers at his sister, his face flaring. He had to bite his tongue from saying anything and instead turned around towards the door, mumbling something about needing to finish his chores. He needed to get out of there before he started fighting with his sister again.
It felt good to step back outside and get away from all of that teasing, even if it was entirely too hot outside. Rick ventured back into the coop, thankful that the only things pestering him now were a flock of boisterous hens instead of nosy sisters. He sighed heavily and sat down on the edge of one of the feeding bins. This situation was… interesting, to say the least. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on in terms of his emotions and he really wasn't sure of whether or not he was okay with it. It was one thing to have powerful emotions towards someone that you've known for a long time, but to have those feelings (or something so similar to them that it was hard to see the difference) so soon after meeting someone? That didn't seem right. It almost felt to Rick that he was taking things too quickly and he forced himself to focus more on his work than on his new neighbor.
His mind had other ideas as he stood up and reached for a broom, the hay that he was sweeping up reminded him far too much of Claire's long, blonde hair. Rick sighed and allowed the inevitable thoughts to invade his mind.
It was going to be a long season.