The women of the homestead need a little girl time and this story needs some female bonding. I hope you like this chapter and yes, I would like a review. We will have a Carol/Daryl less TWD so get your fix here.
Market Day
Carol had been trapped in the house for the last two days by heavy rains. Daryl and Tyreese had gone outside to do chores but for the most part everyone was stuck in the house getting on each other's nerves. The good news was that the sun hat battled with fog and clouds this morning and by midmorning the sun was declared the winner. Daryl, Tyreese, Jesse, and Carl had just left for a run to get more fencing supplies and the only ones left at the homestead were the women and girls.
Carol and the others stood on the porch and waved goodbye to the fence getting crew. "Goodbye, Sweetheart," Carol called while Judith waved "bye-bye".
"Goodbye, Laddie," Michonne mimicked Jesse's fake Scottish accent.
"Goodbye, Big Brother," Sasha rumbled.
Lizzie and Mika bolted for the barn and the horses. The three women sank in the rockers on the porch and listened to the sounds of the truck as it rolled farther down the hill. "If that truck turns around and comes back up the hill, I am taking the Sub somewhere away from Daryl," Carol declared.
Michonne snickered. Daryl had gotten bored hanging around the house and his constant pacing around had driven Carol up the wall. Carol lifted her eyebrow at her and said, "Be honest, Jesse was driving you up a little crazy".
Michonne laughed, "Yes, I wanted to go out to the barn and work out. There he was offering to spar with me. He just hangs around all damn day. I need some space."
Sasha said, "Tyreese has hovered over me since I got sick and he hasn't got the memo that I have recovered."
Carol said, "I am not cleaning today and it is too wet to work in the garden".
Michonne said, "I would like to go shopping".
Sasha laughed, "Retail therapy."
Carol was starting to enjoy just hanging out with the girls. Ed had not allowed her to have friends and she had cherished her friendships with Lori and Andrea at the farm. She loved Daryl but she wanted friends too. Today was Wednesday and Ashton had told her that was Market Day in Adair. The parking lot of the high school was set up as a place for bartering and trading of goods. "We could go to Market Day in town, " Carol said, "Even if we didn't trade anything at least we could go see what it is like. Ashton told me that he and Jo usually go."
Michonne looked at the muddy yard and knew that it would take most of the day for it to be dry enough to practice on. "What can we use for trade? We don't have all that much stuff."
Everyone thought for a while. "We could use that ammo that you all got from the run last week," Carol said. "Or anything that is useful that we don't need. Grandma was a pack rat. Let's go down to the basement and see what is there."
The basement had all sorts of junk and they collected can openers, knives, and other small items easily transported. They found several boxes of liquor ranging from airplane size small bottles to gallon jugs of whiskey. They grabbed a box of ammo and got Lizzie and Mika. The jumped in the Sub and headed down the hill stopping at Ashton's house to tell them where they were going. Ashton's son Jonathan and Patrick's Joshua came out to talk to them. Ashton and Jo had already left. Josh maneuvered around to Sasha's window to tell her that he was glad that she was feeling better and asked if he could ride down with them. Carol smiled assent; the boy had been by several time to check on Sasha. Josh gave them directions to the high school though you just follow the crowd which was all headed to that direction.
Michonne found a parking space and they walked to the market area. Most vendors had tables with their wares on them and there was the smell of popcorn in the air. The mood was festive and they wandered through the market on their first round just trying to figure out where to get started. There was a little of everything for sale. Carol found some blue jeans for the girls and traded a can opener and a flat iron for them. Michonne found a leather jacket in her size and bartered it down to a half a box of shells. Sasha found a pair of boots and traded five airplane size bottles of whiskey for them. Carol was still trying to figure where her grandmother had gotten all those boxes of whiskey. Michonne and Sasha convinced Carol to trade for a light blue top and she gave up two knives for it. Everyone was very friendly to them and they met with smiles everywhere they went.
Sasha got Tyreese two cotton shirts and a two pairs of pants for a wine opener. Carol found some cross bow bolts and traded the other half of the box of shells for them. They met up with Ashton and Jo and they formed a large group. Ashton walked with Carol on one side and Jo on the other. Josh had Sasha on one hand and Michonne on the other. Michonne carried Judith. Mika and Lizzie walked beside of Carol. Josh directed them to the old football field where the animals were sold and they saw horses, cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, and chickens for sale. Carol watched Lizzie and Mika with the horses. The girls loved Jesse's horses but he would soon take them back to his place. She knew all the reasons why they shouldn't get the girls a horse but she was going to talk to Daryl about it anyway. Michonne looked at a clincher which would Jesse needed to reshoe the horses, and was able to exchange it for a several small bottles of whiskey.
Lizzie and Mika wanted to go back and see the horses again before they went home. The girls had picked out two that they thought were the prettiest. Lizzie favored a chestnut mare and Mika a palomino mare. The stopped to look again at the horses and a man came out to shake Ashton's hand and to speak to Carol. "Carol McAllister, I haven't seen you since I was a boy and you beat the living sh..daylights out of me". That statement attracted the attention of their group and all of their eyes were on Carol. "Then, you would be Brian McKenzie, and you deserved every blow that I delivered," Carol answered.
Brian McKenzie laughed. He was a tall strong looking man in his forties with black hair just going to gray. "I did deserve it and my father punished me even worse than you did. I heard that you were back but I was too afraid to visit". He turned to Lizzie and Mika, "Don't underestimate Carol McAllister or you'll be sorry. I apologized to Jesse just the other day and I hope that you will finally forgive me." He held his hand out and Carol shook it and found that he kept hold of it just a little too long.
Michonne noticed that Brian seemed very interested in Carol and she turned to take a second look at her friend. Carol did look very pretty today and Brian obviously thought so too. Carol had drawn her hand back and changed the subject, "Are these your horses, Brian?" she asked motioning to the chestnut and palomino mares.
"They are for sale for the right price," Brian answered. "And I will make the right price pretty low considering that your grandmother helped me buy my farm twenty years ago."
Carol did not want to talk about this in front of the girls; they had had enough disappointments already. "We aren't in the market for horses; the girls just wanted to look at them."
Brian said, "It was good to see you again, Carol and aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Carol introduced everyone to Brian and soon they were ready to go.
Ashton asked, "Has everyone been friendly to you all today?" Jo laughed, "I bet they have, I forgot to warn you about coming to the marked unaccompanied by a male escort. It means that you are on the market for a man. Good looking women like you won't go single long and so they were making their wants known."
They laughed all the way home about Market Day being a gigantic singles bar. The attention had been surprisingly flattering and they were in a good mood when they put Judith down for a nap and made sandwiches for a late lunch. Josh had come back with them and was hanging out with Sasha on the porch swing. Carol and Michonne sat in the rockers and drank sweet tea. It was a nice day to sit outside and talk.
Michonne asked, "What did he do to occur the wrath of Carol down on his head?"
Carol said, "I can still remember the first time I saw Jesse Graham. I was five years old and staying here with my grandparents. Jesse's mother brought him home to visit for a few weeks. She sat down here on the porch and showed me her baby boy. He had chubby cheeks and big blue eyes and I told her that I would take care of him for her. He would be my little brother and I would be his big sister. I loved him from the moment I saw him. I would see him at family occasions and would insist that he call me "Sister" and I would call him "Brother".
My father was away on some sort of mission and my mother was taking nursing classes when I was ten. I spent most of that year in school here. Jesse and his mother were staying here while his dad was away. Jesse was going to kindergarten at my school. Brian called him the "n" word and made him cry. I found out on the bus going home and I jumped him right then and there. It was my first fight but I had grown up with all these cousins. I beat the shit out of him and he gave me a cut lip and a black eye."
Michonne said, "I knew that you and Jesse seemed more like brother and sister than cousins."
Carol laughed, "He is still my baby brother and I hope that you don't break his heart. I know that he hangs around you all the time but I think he is lonesome in that house by himself. "
Michonne thought it was time to dish out some truths, "I care too much about him already. I am starting to miss him when he isn't here. I thought he was driving me crazy hanging around and I have had a great day, but I am ready for him to come home and go for a ride with me. He makes me laugh when he uses that stupid Scottish accent and calls me his lassie, but I can't lose anybody else".
Carol knew that she and Michonne shared a painful common bond, "I didn't want Lizzie and Mika at first because I didn't want to lose another child. I wanted to keep everybody at arm's length so that I couldn't be hurt again. Then, when Rick threw me out, and told me that nobody wanted me I found out that it still hurt me to lose the people I love. Daryl told me that Rick had told me a lie, that he wanted me and he wasn't nobody. Well, Mika and Lizzie weren't nobody either. I found out that I wanted to be loved and I wanted to love. Loving won't stop losing, but not loving is always losing." Carol got up and walked out to the barn and checked on the girls. Together they went to feed the chickens and gather the eggs.
Michonne had sat there for a few minutes and then went in a checked on Judith. She was awake and was hungry. Carol came in with the girls and they fed Judith while Michonne made some bread dough and left it to rise. It was spaghetti Wednesday and the girls went to the basement and got the spaghetti sauce and spaghetti stored there. They had a while until they expected the men home but there were always things that needed to be done.
Eventually the men came home and they all sat down to enjoy Spaghetti Wednesday and being back together. Jesse ate dinner beside of Michonne and she didn't bother to shift away from him like he usually did. She wanted his attention this evening and she didn't bother to question why. Carol had said it best, "Not loving is always losing".
Sasha told herself that Josh was just too young for her, but he seemed years older than his age. Maybe a few years wouldn't matter so much anymore.
After dinner, Jesse and Michonne took a ride on the horses and Carol and Daryl took the girls for a long walk. Sasha and Josh got the kitchen detail.
Daryl held Carol's hand and they walked toward the family cemetery. The girls clattering on ahead and Carol mentioned that the girls had fallen in love with some horses at the market. Daryl looked at them and thought that horses were a waste of resources. Carol was looking at him and he knew that she wanted to the girls to have those horses. "We could cut the meadows for hay and plant some corn in another field. Jesse has planted more corn than he will need and we can go on runs to find things that we can trade for grain," she said. Just then the girls turned and smiled at them and he knew that he was going to love having horses. He was going to love watching the girls ride and maybe once in a while he and Carol could take a ride together.
"What could we possibly trade for the horses?" Daryl asked.
"We could go on a run and find something that Brian can use and he promised to give us a good deal because my grandmother helped him get his farm," Carol said.
Daryl didn't like the sound of Brian but he liked the way the evening sun's ray caught the colors in Carol's engagement ring. He decided that he should find someone to say some words over them. He felt married to Carol, but it wouldn't hurt for the rest of the world to see a wedding ring on that left hand. You had to lay claim to what you wanted to keep in this world to warn claim jumping Brians that you watched over the ones you love.
Daryl kissed Carol's hand. "Do you think we could ride the horses once in a while?" She smiled so radiantly that he was glad that he was so pussy whipped. "And who the hell is Brian anyway?"
Carol laughed, "I love you, Daryl. You are such a good Papa Bear."
Hope you liked enjoyed this chapter.