Chapter 6: Friends to Some

Edie woke before dawn, as the house stirred with life. She could hear a kettle whistling and a pot bubbling, someone rocking in a wooden chair, and pattering footsteps outside her window. She pulled herself awake and opened the pane, tying back her hair as a shadow flickered past.

"You're awake!" Jamie darted from a water trough and stood on a box next to her window. His hand barely reached the sill. "Did you sleep good? Mother said you went to sleep only a little after I did. I thought you three would stay awake a little longer and drink from the cabinet."

"The cabinet?"

"That's where Mother and Father keep their special stuff." Jamie stood on his tiptoes and wobbled. "But I hoped you'd wake up before the sun rose. Mother said I should go into town quickly, but you should see, too."

"It's dangerous to defy your mother."

"So, you'll ask?"

Edie ruffled his hair. "Finish your chores, and we'll see."

"Thanks, Eddy!"

"Ee-dee."

"Edie!"

She changed into her skirt and blouse, still tightening the top when she walked into the kitchen. Hajule greeted her with a smile but barely looked up from the book in one hand, the other stirring thick oatmeal. Larmie rocked in the chair, propping a newspaper in his lap.

"Have you heard of the conflict in the underground, Edie?" He asked, glancing over the top with a smile.

"Larmie, she's just got back from a traumatic experience." Hajule clicked her tongue.

"Well, it's all most educated people can talk about. And you've got an educated air about you."

"Perhaps save that for later, dear." Hajule spooned oatmeal into four bowls and set them around a table. "Did you sleep well?"

Edie exhaled. She couldn't remember her shoulders ever being this relaxed. "Yes."

"Well, take as much time as you need to recover, alright? You don't want to get overwhelmed. Is there anything you need to get sorted today?"

"Just a few. Are there any general store closer to the farm? Then the one we were at with Domo, I mean."

"Yes, there's a town a short horseback ride away. Jamie was going to run there this afternoon to get your posters printed, but I suppose he could take you along." Hajule pressed her lips together. "Mind him; he can get distracted."

"I will." She looked at the table setting. "Only four?"

"Yes." Hajule wiped her hands on her apron. "Corini has always been a bit of a lone wolf."

Jamie ran in a few moments later, and the four crowded around the table. It was a quiet meal, except for the little one's occasional comments. When they finished, Edie and Hajule cleaned up as Larmie finished the last of his tea. Jamie ran around, cleaning up his things and tidying the house, as the sun rose and made the candles obsolete. Soon, Hajule informed Jamie of his morning errands and wrote a long list of supplies, entrusting him with carefully folded bills locked with a clip. He stowed these solemnly in his pocket, locking eyes with his mother as he promised to do well. Edie, bags in hand, watched from the door. Hajule kissed her son's forehead, assured him of her love, and pushed him forward. He grabbed his charcoal drawing from the cabinet by the door and waved to his parents.

The walk from the porch to the driveway's end took nearly ten minutes, but cool weather and a kind sun made the trip pleasant. Jamie told her about his morning chores and their usual routine, and Edie paid partial attention, looking more toward the horizon. Nothing blocked the bright light, except for a crest of faraway trees, and the flat farmland created a shadowy pattern. The driveway was smooth from constant use, but her shoes were still firm. She supposed blisters would form by the time they reached the village.

"It's mostly the same every day," Jamie continued, picking up rocks and chucking them into the ditch. "Some Saturdays, when there's not much work to do, mother lets me sleep in until the sun comes up, but then, it's too hot to be working. I'd rather go to bed early then work in the awful heat. Well, it's not so awful, but you work up a sweat pretty fast." He looked up at her. "Usually, father lets newcomers get acclimated for a week or so, and then they start working at the farm. But we've only had one other girl, so I don't know what he'll have you do."

"I can learn pretty much anything."

"Yeah, but farming's got a rhythm to it, father says. You have to know when the crops need more water, sun, or singing. Not that father sings to the crops very often, just when we have the harvest and planting festivals. Everybody comes around to make sure we got a good start."

"Does he hire hands?"

"Sure, but they're just for picking and watering. They follow father's orders." Jamie paused for a moment, craned back his arm, and threw the rock high in the air. It crested over the trail, just over the fence, and plopped in a puddle. "Father got the farm from his father, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him."

"And his father before him?" Edie joked.

"No, father says he can only remember that far back. Guess they didn't know how to read and write, which is why I have to stay in school. But Father lets me stay home during the harvest season, so long as I read a book every night. You see?"

"Sure."

"But if you don't have a knack for the crops, there's plenty else. We've got to take care of the horses, chop wood, take care of the house, do cooking, mend fences and keep wildlife away. If you really fought a bear, maybe you could take care of the birds and squirrels and stuff. They like to dig up the roots."

"Awful things."

Jamie shook his head. "Father says they've got families same as us. He lets 'em get some of it, so long as they're not greedy. He says there's not another farm in the walls who's as kind to the animals as we are, and that's why we always get good harvest. But that's also why we can't take care of cows."

"Your father's pretty important to everybody, then."

"Yeah." Jamie kicked a tree root. "Yeah, people need a farmer. But they don't say it much."

The two met the main road (bumpier than the farm's driveway) and turned left, the opposite direction Edie had come. A few hundred feet down, and trees began lining both sides of the road, spreading into a thin forest with small houses along the way.

"Most of these are kind of noble families. Mother said they married down, or something, so they live here instead of in Sina. A few are empty, and the families only come for vacation. But one of my school friends lives there—" He pointed at a two story home with an arching doorway "—and he has a horse all of his own. He's going to be a businessman when he's older, and he always gets the better half when we trade lunches."

"That's nasty."

"It's alright. His family has a peach tree in their backyard, something about father of a father of a father planting it, and on special occasions, I can trade that for a purple onion. Father has a small crop of them, and everybody on the farm gets a handful when the harvest comes."

"Harvest time must be a special time."

"Yeah. You'll have to wait a whole year for it. We finished the festivals just last month, and Corini is already tilling the ground." Jamie scrunched his nose. "He's nasty."

"Does he smell?"

"Well, yeah, but he's nasty inside, too. He doesn't talk kindly. Mother says we should always talk kindly, especially around the crops."

Half and hour later, the two reached the small village. It was a cluster of thirty or so houses, in rows of four or five, with three shops in the center. A general store, a clothing shop, and another for odd items. They met many people who knew Jamie and gave their greetings. Every time, Jamie grabbed Edie's hand, puffed out his chest, and told them she was his new cousin, from his mother's side. They nodded, confused, and said hello, before diving into whatever mundane story and conversation starter they'd planned for the day.

"Heard the groundhogs are larger than life this season," one tight lipped woman said. "Have you heard your father say anything about that, Jamie?"

"School will be back in session, young man. We'll see you there." The schoolmaster looked curiously at Edie. "Have you…already graduated?"

"You're such a dear," one elderly woman pinched her cheek. "Perhaps you can keep this youngster out of trouble. He's got hopes too big for his head."

"My sunflowers are already wilting," a man with white hair whined. "You'd think a week or two more, when my sister comes to town, but no! It's such a disappointment. She said they don't have anything like this in Wall Maria."

"There's rock candy in the general store!" A boy a little older than Jamie shouted while sweeping a porch. He wore an apron and looked quite official. "Ol' Dempster had it in the works for nearly a month, but it wasn't ready for the festival."

Luckily, that was their destination.

"You don't seem like a troublemaker to me," Edie told Jamie as they stepped through the door. "If anything, you're helping me stay out of trouble."

"Oh." He scuffed his shoe on the wooden floor. "It's just…that's nothing. I'm not a troublemaker, but I want to be in the Scouts when I'm big enough."

"But they're the ones that go outside the walls, right?"

"Yeah." He huffed. "Father and mother say I've got to take over the farm, anyway. But Mr. Emerson, our schoolmaster, pinned up my essay on the Scout regiment, and now everybody in town knows. I wish he's just grade our stuff and burn it."

"It sounds awfully brave," Edie admitted, "but awfully dangerous."

"I—"

"JAMISON CARTWELL!" A voice boomed, and behind a shelf of precariously stacked pottery, a huge man in a shoulder-to-foot coat emerged. He swept Jamie off the floor (his feet barely missing the stacks) and onto his shoulder. "YOUR MOTHER LET YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE THIS EARLY?"

"Mr. Solway!" Jamie kicked his chest. "I'm not four anymore!"

"Still small enough to be! You've got your mother's muscles and your father's brains." The shopkeeper held him at arm's length, far enough so that Jamie's feet couldn't reach him. "You've got no business being here without your mother. Tell me she sent you with a list, please, or we'll both end up on the chopping block."

"You know father doesn't have a chopping block! Just a stump of wood." Jamie pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket. "But it's here. Mother doesn't trust my memory."

"Would you?"

"…no."

Mr. Solway adjusted his grip, just holding Jamie by the cuff of his shirt now, and took the list. He scanned it and scowled at the last item. "Copies? What copies? She wants more copies of the newspaper now? Those people in Wall Sina haven't got anything good to say. Is she ordering a chicken coop?"

"No!" And Jamie was finally set down. He hurried to Edie and took her hand. "This is Edie! She's my new cousin and is going to stay with us forever, but just in case her family's around, we've got to get copies of her picture printed."

"Picture?" Jamie pulled out his drawing, and Mr. Solway compared the two. "Alright, kid, go fire up the copy machine. You remember what I told you about slathering the thing with enough ink?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Get, then."

Jamie ran into the back room, shouting something over his shoulder, and Mr. Solway chuckled. He extended his hand to Edie. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Edie. Where you from?"

"Don't know. I came down from the mountains."

"Ah, those dangerous things. It's quite common. And you're friends of Hajule's cousin?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful, wonderful. Well, it's good to have you. Sit on down, and we'll get something worked up that's better than Jamie made in two minutes."

Edie sat on a stood by the front counter, accepted some complimentary rock candy, and smiled as best she could. Mr. Solway turned the page over and began sketching carefully, eyes darting between her and the page. He paused several times to erase stray lines and eventually transitioned to ink.

"Well, you couldn't run into anyone better. If you'd found one of those military men, they'd send you straight to the loony bin and not bother to put up pictures, not to mention they'd try to sleep with you first. But Hajule and Larmie never did turn away a stray."

"You've known them for a while?"

"Larmie got his farm from his father, and I got this store from my father. We're all generational here, just passing on from father to son. But I never got around to having children, and Jamie would rather swing from rooftops than farm."

"You really love that kid."

"Sure I do. He's my best friend's kid. And Larmie adores the kid, too. You won't think it from first glance, but after a few months there, you'll see it." Mr. Solway caught himself. "Oh, unless your family finds you, of course. They'll be looking, surely."

"I doubt that."

Mr. Solway paused for a moment but didn't inquire. He held up the sketch for approval, then carefully wrote a few words. "We'll get some copies made and sent to the nearby villages, as well as post a number here in town. They'll come here with information, since it's my seal. We wouldn't want just any strangers knowing where a pretty girl like you is."

"Thanks."

He took another look at the list. "There's things on here Hajule needs right now. She wouldn't like if I held the two of you up. But come back sometime. You're family, so long as you're living at Larmie's farm. He wouldn't send Jamie to town with just anyone."

"Thanks."