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"He lied about how he hurt his hand!" Olive cried, as she and Maya made their way to school for the half day.
"Maybe he was just embarrassed about however he actually hurt it," Maya replied.
"Yeah, smashing a general store window is pretty embarrassing," Olive said. "As for the pocket watch, he could've snuck in during chore time while Ma was in town."
"There's no way!" Maya retorted.
"Oh, who else could it be?" Olive shot back.
"Maybe it was you!" Maya replied.
"Martha…I mean, Maya are you kidding?" Olive asked. When Maya had a crush, it was intense. Olive was honestly getting scared, she was not expecting Maya to throw under the bus (or rather, buggy) for some fake pioneer boy she had met two days ago.
Maya sighed. "Yes," she replied. "I'm sorry, Olive. It's just…this whole thing feels like such a fever dream. I'm way out of my element. I'd probably be the first to die on the Oregon Trail. But Jeff…even though I hardly know him, has been a bright spot on this clown show of a field trip. I know whoever did it was just playing a part, but for some reason, I just feel so defensive of him. I've never really had a crush before. I guess I just assumed I was above anybody who did. But nope. I have fallen for Jeff hook, line, and sinker. Did you hear Matthew say how good of a fisherman Jeff is? I don't really have the patience for fishing but maybe I -" Olive interrupted her sister with a sigh and then burst out laughing. Maya joined in.
"It's been quite the trip," Olive agreed.
The girls arrived in the schoolyard and Sara revealed her family's chicken had been stolen.
"It's my chore to collect her eggs," she explained. "So I went out there, bright and early, basket in tow, but Elsie was nowhere to be seen. So I called out, 'Elsie? Where are you?' As if she'd respond, 'I'm over here!'" Sara sighed. "Pa thought maybe she'd been eaten by a coyote but there were no signs of that," Sara said.
"A pocket watch, flour, and a chicken," Olive listed. "What a weird burglar."
Mr. Hawthorne rang the bell and the children filed in. He informed them that the burglar had left the stolen shoe outside the general store this morning so he no longer had to wear his brother's old pair that were too tight and falling apart. He sounded both confused and excited.
At 1:00, the children were sent back home. The festival would start at 3:00 - everyone was to stay in their costumes, but would be allowed to go by their real names. The festival would end at 5:00, the students would get dressed in their modern day clothes, and the parents would start arriving at 6:00.
Olive and Maya had two hours to kill. The Anderson homestead had a swing, so the girls were planning on testing that out. They were also going to see if Matthew, Michael, and Jeff would want to play some games with them (what exactly those games would be they had no clue - they were hoping the boys would have some ideas.)
As Maya was swinging, she was suddenly startled when she felt someone push her from behind.
"Guess who?" The voice said.
"Jeff!" Maya cried, she was both caught off-guard but also thrilled. She nearly fell off the swing. Fortunately, for her, Jeff caught her just in time.
"Sorry!" He said, as Olive, who had been standing there mouth agape, started laughing.
"It's…okay," Maya said. "I'm fine. Thanks for catching me."
Michael and Matthew walked over at that moment.
"Jeff, what exactly are you doing to my sister?" Matthew teased.
"Pushing her off the swing," Olive smirked.
"I was not!" Jeff shook his head as everybody laughed.
Michael got his marbles out and the fivesome played a few rounds.
Soon, Matthew and Michael were called off by Dan to help him with something and Olive had to use the bathroom. This of course, left Maya and Jeff alone.
At first, the pair just talked. Maya revealed she'd never played marbles before (who in the 21st century *had* outside of a pioneer simulation?) Jeff said both she and Olive were pretty good for beginners. They also talked about the festival - Jeff said in addition to games and music, Dan would play the fiddle, there'd be dancing, and the students would be able to buy souvenirs.
But then, she found herself looking into Jeff's eyes. And then he kissed her. It lasted about a second, and when the pair pulled away Jeff looked horrified, and Maya looked…well, euphoric.
"Please don't tell anybody about that. That wasn't in my job description," he laughed. "But I really like you and I can't wait to see you at the festival…and find out your actual name."
Maya just grinned. All she could do was grin.. She figured from Jeff's perspective she probably looked like a creepy axe murderer, but she was beyond giddy.
As she watched Jeff leave, Maya thought to herself, "I *cannot* tell Olive about this." But when she turned around, she saw her sister standing there with a matching creepy axe murderer grin.
At 2:50, Maya, Olive, and their pretend parents and brothers hopped on the family buggy and headed for town hall, where the festival was going to be. Before the festivities began, there was going to be a speech or something by Jim, who was apparently the staff member sitting by Mrs. Morris and Ms. Jason on Thursday.
Olive smiled, taking in the scenery of the village. Maya was smiling too, but for a very different reason.
The group arrived at town hall and everyone took a seat. Jim walked up to a microphone.
"Hi everybody," Jim said. "How are you this afternoon?"
Jim's question was met by a chorus of "goods" or "fines." But Maya was the only one who called out, "fantastic!"
Jim seemed a bit taken aback, but composed himself. "Love the enthusiasm, young lady," he remarked.
"Anyway, my name is Jim Merkin. Years ago, I founded Pioneer Village with my now late wife, Jillian. Jillian and I have three children, and we homeschooled them. We wanted a field trip destination where students and volunteers alike could use their imagination. Some of the other folks in our homeschool group liked this idea as well, and we were able to work out an arrangement with the lovely people here at the museum, and every spring and fall we get lots of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young people like you to play pretend with us." Jim smiled at the group who stared back. Some smiled too, but all were exhausted.
"This time, we decided to try something a little different. We wanted to really draw in y'all's attention. I think for some students, living like a pioneer for three days seems kind of boring."
"You'd be correct," Maya muttered under her breath.
"As you'll recall, we had a bit of a mystery on our hands," Jim continued. "Some crimes occurred in our humble little town. Can anyone recall what they were?"
"A stolen pocket watch!" Olive called out.
"A stolen chicken!" Sara added.
"And someone broke into the general store," Cassie finished.
"Yes indeed," Jim said, seriously. "Does anybody think they know who it was?"
Olive raised her hand. "I *know* who it was. Jeff, our farmhand," Olive eyed Jeff suspiciously.
"Well we've got an accusation on our hands!" Jim said excitedly. "Jeff, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Well," Jeff stood up and removed a pocket watch from his pocket. "Looks like my time is up," he laughed and while most of the students and volunteers gave a sympathetic chuckle, Maya let out a hearty guffaw. Olive stared.
"That was a good one!" Maya said defensively.
There was then a brief Q session. A girl asked if Jeff really smashed the general store window with his hand. He informed them that Kevin (aka Mr. Hawthorne) smashed the window with a sledge hammer (the windows needed to be replaced anyway). Jeff was told to take whatever merchandise he wanted, but also took the shoe for good measure. The bandage was for show and to create suspicion (clearly it worked.)
Someone else asked if the volunteers in the "families" were really related. This turned out to be true. The school-aged children were all homeschooled and many were part of the same homeschool group. People with no children or children who were no longer in school/too young for it heard about the program by word of mouth and wanted to get involved. While they were referred to as "volunteers" they did get a stipend.
The students also learned that the farm animals belonged to Jim's brother. They were borrowed for the few days students would be staying in the village (and lived with families who were familiar with how to care for them) and then Jim's brother and his sons would come pick them up in trailers after the students left.
After the Q session, the students were allowed to eat food, buy souvenirs, and chat with the volunteers. Maya made a beeline for Jeff, Olive got to talking with Michael and Matthew.
As established before, they were actually brothers, and Ruby and Dan were their actual parents. They had an older sister Melanie who was in her twenties, but as a child/teen, she had also participated in the pioneer simulation. None of the Anderson children were huge fans of it, but…they didn't really have a choice and it was important to their parents. It also meant they got out of school for a couple days and made a little money.
"So," Jeff said when Maya walked over to him.
"So," Maya smiled.
"What's your real name, Martha?" Jeff asked.
"Maya. Maya Hummel-Anderson."
"Maya," Jeff said. "I love that name. Where are you from, Maya?"
"NYC" Maya replied.
"I'm from Yonkers," Jeff said.
Maya's face lit up. "That's like a half hour from me!"
Jeff nodded. "My brother actually lives in NYC and we visit there quite frequently. Maybe I'll run into you sometime."
Maya smiled again. "Maybe."
"You have a cell phone?" Jeff asked.
Maya nodded.
"Can I see it?"
Maya handed it over. Jeff typed something into it and handed it back. He had opened her contacts, made an entry for "Jeff Leonard" and put in his number.
Leonard. Jeff Leonard. Maya smiled for the millionth time that day.
"Send me a text sometime," Jeff said.
Before everyone knew it, it was time to go home. Maya and Olive gathered their things and saw Jesse, Blaine, and Kurt walking towards them. The girls sped up and ran towards their fathers.
"Hey, how was the field -" Blaine started. Maya leapt into his arms.
"When we go home I'm going to kiss the TV and my bed and…the sink!" She cried.
"The sink?" Kurt asked, laughing and holding his arms out waiting for his hug.
"We didn't get a sink! We had to wash our hands in a little tub with a pitcher! It was horrible! I can't wait to go home," Maya cried dramatically.
"It wasn't all bad," Olive said, after she had hugged Jesse and he informed her Rachel, in her own words, "is too pregnant to make that trip again," but was looking forward to seeing Olive when she got home.
"If it weren't for this trip, you wouldn't have met Jeff!" Olive continued.
Maya stared daggers at her sister while Kurt and Blaine looked at each other.
"Who's Jeff?" They asked in unison.
Jeff Leonard.
Upon learning his last name, Olive, as planned, referred to Maya as "Maya Leonard" on Monday at school. But that didn't bother Maya.
Because as soon as she got home, that's exactly what she had filled about four pages of her diary with.
What a weekend.
