Author's note: Finally chapter 4 is here!
I stared blankly at nadia's reddened face. Tears fell like raindrops down her cheeks and it looked like she was really distraught.
"A dead….chicken?" I asked, confused. My chickens were healthy. Not a single one had been ill in a while. Usually, the sound of them clucking awoke me from my sleep. I brushed off the sweat from my brow. Nadia sobbed and looked like she was about to unleash a river of tears.
"I….I-" She sniffled a few more tears fell, "I'm sorry Mr. Farmer. This is all my fault!" She cried out. I was taken aback. Why did she believe she was the cause of this? Death is natural in all living things.
"Nadia, What are you talking about?" I reached towards her and held her in a tight embrace. Her her was beating harder than my own. It made me scared.
"But Mr. Farmer, Everything goes bad when I'm around." She said through choked sobs, "The townspeople said so."
Ah! The townspeople again. I felt my mind mentally groan at the sound of these words. The people of this town weren't friendly to outsiders and especially creatures like nadia. I held my hand against her back and rubbed it gently, feeling the thump of her heartbeat. I released my grasped and looked at her, tears finally dried up. She still had a dejected expression on her face.
"Nadia, Listen to me, Nothing here is your fault." I said with a tender tone to cheer her up, "You've been a great help on the farm. She looked at me and smiled.
"Really?" She asked as she brushed away a dried tear from her cheek. I nodded and continued to praise her.
"Without you, I don't know what I'd do around her. All these critters around here would have driven me crazy already. Killed every crop that I have." I sighed with a pained smile. She really was one of the things keeping this farm going.
"I'm…" She sniffled and perked up, "Happy to be of service, " Nadia patted her stomach with pride.
"Any bad critter knows what awaits them!" She said with a grin. I laughed a bit at her comical act. She reminded me of a villian from a comic book with that line of hers. She paused for a moment and sneezed.
"I'll get back to work !" Nadia replied as she turned around and sniffled again, moving in a wobbly manner and went back to the chicken coop. I continued my own duties. I finished milking the cows and herding the sheep.
I feed the pigs their slop and watched them bathe around in mud like the animals they were. When it came to it, I would probably have to bring one off to the slaughter house to get some bacon and ham. Some of them were looking to be pretty ill and I didn't want them to affect the rest of my livestock.
Around 2 hours passed by before I took a long swig of ice cold water. I looked around from nadia, calling out her name in the wind. I didn't think she had any water for a while. I searched and searched all around but there was no sign of her.
Befuddled, I held my finger to my chin and thought. Where could you she? I pranced around and thought.
The chicken coop! Of course! I ran as fast as my old bones could carry me. She was feeding the chickens before, why would she stop when the job hadn't been completed. I slammed the door open, out of breath, and looked around. The sound of clucking filled my ears.
"Nadia? Nadia!" I heard my voice ring out. The hens were all huddled together in a corner. I made my way through.
"Out of the way, Out of the way!" I hissed. The chickens flapped their wings and clucked. My reached the object of their curiosity and my heart sunk. There nadia was passed out on the ground, covered in chicken feed. I quickly picked up her slender and small body and rushed her inside the house, hoping I could find what was wrong.