Takuya jerked awake suddenly, nearly falling from his perch, on a high branch of the tree overlooking the sleepy village below. He stabilised himself, then ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his fingers caught on tangles. It's been so long since I was clean… He scrubbed at his eyes, and sighed, looking back at the village, smoke rising from the chimneys standing out against the sunset. Guess the days work is done… assuming its not Rest-day, or Holy-day… Families gathering round… laughing… eating… His stomach growled at the thought of food, and he felt in his pocket for the last piece of bread, now growing mould, and examined it. Felt so guilty for stealing this… but I was desperate… He turned it over in his hands, trying to decide if he should eat it, throw it away for the mould, or save it for when the hunger-pangs started again. Maybe I could go down there and… He shook his head. I can't… They'll all have hearths… fires… I don't know if its chance, or if I… He killed that thought. That's crazy. The Goddess just took pity on me, helped me when I asked. His hand stroked the token under his shirt again. Fire is controlled by the will of the gods, not man.

He pulled his knees up to his chin, careful not to fall off the branch. Just a little longer to nightfall, then I can pass through without being seen… No one to call me demon… He shuddered as he remembered the mob in West-bound, and ran a cautious finger along the healing cut on his cheek where a stone had passed too close. It wasn't me… I just asked the Goddess, and it happened. He ignored the small voice that reminded him how close the flames were when he woke, and all he felt was gentle warmth.

I guess I must find more food soon… Maybe some money… He looked around at the hills. There must be farmland nearby… maybe a valley just beyond the hills… Midsummer is coming, that nice man said so… He paused and shivered as he remembered the hate and fear in the tavern owners eyes. The farms must be looking for extra hands… Papa always said that we barely had enough people to get the crops in before first frost. He paused. Papa… He remembered the last time he'd seen him, standing as a barrier between Takuya and his mother and brother, calling him changeling.

Takuya started to cry. I can never go back, nevernevernever… They thought I was some creature… He thought of the ball he'd carefully stitched together, that lay under one of the floorboards of the house. Guess I won't be able to give it to you on your Life-day, Shinya… Guess the people will forget me… I'll be a tale to frighten children… 'Be good, or the Takuya will come set your house on fire'… He sighed and slid from the tree, landing heavily. "Bet I can cross the hills before dawn," he challenged himself.

Silence answered him.

*******************

It's like a village of ghosts, thought Takuya as he crept through the abandoned streets in the dark. His footsteps sounded loudly as they slapped against the packed earth of the main street. He fancied he could hear the echoes of children's laughter, and of merchants haggling over wares.

He could see his friends racing round that corner as he passed, and his mother stood at the stall, pausing over the reams of fabric the traders had brought from Lyndora. He smiled as he remembered his father's complaint that fine dresses were not meant for a farmer's wife. She'd laughed, and told him every woman should have the chance to wear fine things once in their life. But she'd never bought any of the cloth through all the long years of looking at stalls.

Suddenly he could take his closeness to normalcy no longer. It was like a veil hung between him and the people asleep in their beds, keeping him apart. He broke into a run, wanting to get out of the parody of normal life running through his head.

I want to go back… wish it never happened…

He left the village behind, and kept running up the hill beyond, unable to think about anything except the rhythm of his feet on the ground and the memories of his family, behind him in Greenfields. His mind just went blank until the ground stopped its rise and fall, the tall grasses gave way to undulating green wheat, and the sun started to rise over the plains.

I made it… the hills are behind me, and dawn is here…

He slowed, and only now found how his legs were trembling from their hours of running. Finally they gave out, sending him tumbling into the ditch at the side of the road.

His head collided with a rock, and the world went black.

*********************

"… Do you think he's dead?"

Consciousness came rushing back to Takuya, along with a thudding pain in the right of his head. Someone was leaning over him as he lay on the ground.

A second voice came. "Don't think so. Old Granny Fawcett, Mithrir protect her soul, was blue when she was found."

"Uuuurg…" Takuya moved a hand to his head as the shadows around him withdrew.

The second voice spoke again. "Told you he weren't dead."

Takuya finally got up the strength to open his eyes, squinting into the sunlight. "Uh, where am I?"

As his vision cleared, he saw two men dressed in worker clothes, one with a spade over his shoulder. A wheelbarrow rested up on the road, with another spade within.

The two men looked at each other, then back at him.

"This is part of the lands of Applefield Farm, lad." Seeing Takuya's blank look, the man continued. "Near the temple of the Lady, about a day and a half from Whitefords."

Takuya started to shake his head, then thought better of it as it made his head start to ring. "I don't recognise any of those names, sir."

The man snorted. "Sir he calls me? Like I'm some landed gentry? My name is Jeb, boy." He shrugged towards the other man. "This here is Ichiro. And we've got work to be doing." He started back towards the road.

"Wait!" called Takuya, scrambling to his feet. "Does the master of this place still need workers?"

Jeb started to laugh.

"A scrawny little thing like you?" asked Ichiro. "Some merchants brat who wandered too far from home?"

"My family were farmers," protested Takuya. "I've worked the fields since I could walk."

Ichiro sighed. "Well the farmhouse is about an half hour down this trail. You should ask them if they want another child under their care. They may have their hands full with those boys."

Takuya smiled. "The farmer has kids?"

"Oh Goddess, no," laughed Jeb. "He gave these two stray boys jobs, but they seem to be more trouble than they're worth." He scratched his head. "Maybe they come from another country, or maybe they are just simple-minded, but they never speak, and always need to be shown what to do, and where to go."

"Sounds complicated."

"Yeah, but for four coppers a day, plus room and board, wouldn't you cope with 'complicated'?" Jeb shrugged, then went back to his barrow and started to push it away.

"Thanks Mister!" called Takuya, as they walked away, then turned and started to walk again, down towards the farmhouse.

As he walked, the green wheat fields gave way to vegetables and ploughed fields, then finally to the orchards that gave the farm its name. In the trees he thought he saw figures twining in the branches, picking out the ripe apples as he passed, then he found the farmhouse.

****************

The 'farmhouse' was a collection of buildings, arranged in a horseshoe, with bunkhouses and a bathhouse on one side, the long farmhouse opposite, and the barn and stables forming the back wall of the yard.

The sounds and smells brought it all back to Takuya. He closed his eyes, and he was home, his mother running out of the farmhouse, her hands dusty with flour, to wrap her arms around him and say it was all a mistake and that Shinya had knocked over a lamp in the barn, and blamed him as usual…

"What are you doing here boy? Clear off!"

Takuya's eyes flew open to see a grumpy looking old man stood on the house porch.

The man continued. "Go on! I don't want any more of you simpletons here. Just go away!"

"Please, sir," he called back, "I'm looking for the master of this farm."

The man paused. "You talk, boy?"

"Yessir," Takuya smiled, "When needs be."

The old man made a 'humph' sound. "Less of you cheek, boy. I be the master of Applefields, what do you want with me?"

Takuya moved closer, so not as to need to shout across the yard. "I wanted to ask if there was a job."

"You done much farm work?"

Takuya puffed out his chest. "My family owned a farm. I've been working in the fields ever since I can remember."

The old man looked suspicious. "So why aren't you working there now, lad?"

"… There was a fire… we lost almost everything…" Goddess forgive me this small lie of omission, but I cannot say I caused it.

The old man considered this for a while. "How do you feel about babysitting? I've these two lads, strong as anything, but they're… there's something wrong with them. They don't understand, they have to be shown what to do. You have to watch them, they don't understand."

Takuya thought about it for a moment. I don't know if I should agree, but it would mean a job and money and food, and they can't be asked to do any really complicated stuff… "Okay, I agree, Mister…?"

"Farrow, lad. And you must have a name?"

"Takuya Kanbara of Greenfields."

Farrow stroked his chin. "I remember hearing of the fire…" He shrugged. "But anyway, go out into the fields and find Tony, he's the foreman. He'll sort you out." He looked at Takuya sternly. "Follow the rules, and I'll have no quarrel with you working here. Break them, and you'll be out of here so fast your head will spin."

Takuya grinned. "Yes sir!" He sped off to the fields to find Tony.