Chapter 3

Evee awoke early feeling refreshed. She had been living on the farm for only a few days, but she already had a routine down. Every morning she would wake up at 6 and give Charlie, her new dog, some attention. Though she had just bought Charlie from Grady's pet store, you wouldn't know it by looking at the two of them. From the outside looking in, it seemed that Evee and Charlie were the best of friends, as if they had been together for ages. Though Evee was glad to have a friend with her on the farm, Charlie was not an entirely selfish purchase, he helped with the farm work by bringing Milky out to the pasture when the weather was nice and putting her back inside at night. This was helpful since it freed up Evee's evenings so that she could forage in the mountains for wild plants that she could either sell or give to people as gifts.

That was another thing that had become a part of Evee's routine; she had started giving gifts to the villagers in a feeble attempt to make more friends within the village. This was, of course, contradictory to what her grandmother had always told her about making friends, that if they were only friends with her because she gave them gifts, then they were not really her friends… But nevertheless, it seemed an effective way to gain trust and friendship in this village.

After quickly getting into her little yellow and red dress, the one given to her by Rutger, she would grab her watering can and quickly water the few plants she kept on her farm. Though they were still very small, Evee was proud that she was able to grow the flowers she purchased from that jerk, Cam. Evee had grown plants before, but by no means did she posses a green thumb. Whenever she decided to keep a plant back in the apartment in the city it would either die within a few days or her grandmother would take pity on the thing and water it for her.

The memory of her grandmother brought moisture to her eyes, but she quickly rubbed it away. She missed having a family, but things were better now that she was forced to be responsible, right?

Evee looked down on the small delicate plants that would soon bloom into flowers and smiled. She felt that in growing them she was somehow rebelling against the rude young man who sold her the seeds.

After watering her plants, Evee grabbed her brush and milker and headed into the barn. As she entered she was greeted with a happy moo from Milky. Ever since she had had the private lesson on animal care with Ash, Evee had been getting along a lot better with her cow and, due to her new found confidence with animals, Evee had decided to purchase a lamb. However, the lamb was taking its time warming up to Evee, but this might have been due to Evee's slight negligence. After purchasing Charlie, Evee had assumed that he would herd both the cows and the sheep, but that was not the case. Evee learned this the hard way when the lamb did not get fed the first day she owned it since Charlie didn't herd it outside to graze in the pasture. So Evee and the lamb did not start out on the right foot. In addition to this, Evee also felt that the lamb resented her for the name she had given it. It seemed that the lamb did not appreciate the name 'Fluffy' since whenever Evee called her that, it looked as if it was trying to glare at her. Despite all this, Evee was determined to make the lamb like her and that was why this morning after brushing Milky and Fluffy, Evee gave the lamb a treat.

"There you go Fluffy! Try this!"

Evee dropped the treat on the ground near the lamb. Fluffy moved towards the treat and sniffed it before devouring it. Evee smiled as the lamb baaahhed happily. Evee was getting better with her animals, but she knew she had a long way to go. Every time she milked her cow, she would look uncomfortable so Evee was not confident in her milking skills. Thus far she had managed to use her milker to milk her cow, but she knew she must be doing it incorrectly.

Today was no exception, though Evee had been trying to milk Milky in a different way each day, it still seemed like the cow really disliked being milked and Evee couldn't help but feel it was due to her inexperience and lack of knowledge on how to properly execute the task. This was when it finally dawned upon Evee that she actually knew someone who could help with this problem.

'I can ask Ash to show me how he milks his cows! Then I will know how I'm supposed to do it.'

But it was as she was thinking this that Evee realized the flaw in her plan. Her face reddened as she thought back to the last time Ash had given her a lesson about animal care. Evee was still unsure about how she felt about the first encounter so she was hesitant when the possibility of a second arose. However, as she looked into her cow's large brown eyes she knew that she would have to ask for help for Milky's sake.

"Alright Milky, I'll go see Ash today and have him teach me how to properly milk you."

The cow seemed to understand what Evee had said because she responded with a happy moo.

So after moving her animals out into the pasture, with the help of Charlie of course, Evee set out to visit Ash and ask for help.

Evee arrived on the Jessica's farm around 8 am so she assumed Ash must be taking care of his animals by now. However, she didn't see him in the pasture and it was late for him to still be inside so she searched the property. In her search for Ash, Evee ventured into the old barn behind the shop. It was about the same age as hers, but it was considerably smaller with only enough space to keep 8 animals. Evee was sure that if she had a larger pasture she would be able to keep up to 16 animals on her farm, but the thought of having to be responsible for that many animals made her feel slightly queasy.

As her eyes surveyed the barn, she finally spotted Ash in the northeast corner. He was brushing a small lamb and it appeared to be quite fond of Ash. The lamb baaahhed appreciably when Ash finished brushing her and even followed him as he moved to brush the next animal. Evee was hit with a pang of jealousy; she wished that Fluffy was as fond of her as this lamb seemed to be of Ash.

Evee moved further into the barn and when Ash spotted her and began to approach she immediately felt butterflies rush into her stomach.

"Hey there Evee! How are you today?"

"Hi Ash…Um I'm fine, but I uh actually need a favor…"

"A favor huh? Well sure! Anything for you…"

At these words Evee's face turned scarlet and her palms began to sweat as her heartbeat quickened.

"Um…well it's just that my cow looks really uncomfortable whenever I try to milk her and…and I was hoping you might…"

Ash smiled broadly.

"You want me to show you how to milk a cow?"

"…yes, please."

Evee was still blushing when she lifted her eyes to meet Ash's. His eyes had a kind of calming effect on her. They made her feel almost tranquil. Her heartbeat had just begun to calm when Ash stepped forward and grabbed her hand. The sudden physical contact sent her heart into overdrive and her stomach began to churn.

"Alright, come over here to Anabelle. I haven't milked her yet so I'll let you try so I can see if you're doing something wrong."

This proposition made Evee exceedingly nervous, she knew she was going to do it wrong and she didn't want to look silly in front of Ash.

"Uh..actually I was kind of hoping just to watch and see how you do it..."

"Nonsense! This way will be much faster and I'll get to critique your form."

Ash pulled Evee closer to the cow and sat her down on the milking stool. Evee pulled her milker out of her bag and nervously fumbled with the tool. Once she had it in hand and was moving in to try to milk the cow, Ash stopped her.

"No, that's not how you do it. Here, hold it this way."

Ash readjusted her hands around the milker. The contact yet again made Evee's heart race and her breath caught in her chest. She could feel his strong hands reform her small delicate ones around the milker. He then covered her hands with his own and demonstrated the amount of force needed to work the machine. As he leaned over her, Evee could feel his hot breath tickle the back of her neck and the sensation sent shivers down her spine. Considering his proximity, Evee was certain that he could hear the quick beating of her heart and this thought made it beat even more rapidly. When Ash removed his hands, Evee was surprised to see that there was quite a bit of milk in the bottle, a lot more than what she was able to get out of Milky, and the cow didn't seem to be bothered at all by the milking process, in fact she looked quite happy. Evee stood up and was relieved when she saw that she was not the only one who was blushing in response to the close contact.

Evee quickly thanked Ash for all of his help and insisted that she did indeed remember how to do it and was sure that she didn't need to be shown again. Evee left the barn at almost a run and headed towards the mountain. After such an encounter, Evee didn't feel capable of interacting with anyone else that day.

As Evee entered into the forested area, she was surprised at how differently it looked at this time of day. Usually she would go into town for a few hours before going into the mountain so her surroundings seemed almost alien. It was as she was pondering these differences when she saw him, the rude young man. He was standing near the stream and Evee, not wanting to be spotted, jumped into a bush to watch him and plan an escape route that didn't involve a confrontation with the person she hated most in the village.

However, as she looked on she saw that he was not alone. He was sitting on an old tree stump and playing with a cute tabby kitten. His bright emerald eyes looked lovingly at the kitten as he tossed a small bell for the creature to entertain itself with. Evee was shocked, was this really the same person who treated me, a newcomer with no friends, with such distain and disregard for my feelings? These thoughts were running through Evee's head when she abruptly shifted her weight and a twig beneath her foot snapped under the added strain. Evee saw that Cam had been startled by the sound since he jumped up from his seat. He was staring right at the bush that Evee was hiding in so when he started to approach she decided there was no avoiding him. She stood and tried to pretend like she had been searching for wild plants.

"Oh, it's you, what do you want? Came to bug me some more?"

Cam was sneering at her as he said this and it made his words sting even more. He didn't even know her, how could he be so dismissive?

"Sorry…I was looking for plants…"

"Well look for them somewhere else. I'm here right now and I would appreciate not being disturbed by your clumsiness!"

His harsh words cut Evee and tears began welling in her eyes as she turned around and headed back to Bluebell.

Evee put her animals away early that day. She tried to console herself as she lay in bed that night. How could he be so mean when he didn't even know her? She didn't understand how he could have any friends if he treated people so cruelly. But then Evee realized that maybe he was nice to everyone except her. Was there something wrong with her that made him hate her so much? These thoughts disturbed Evee and that night she fell asleep with a heart full of sorrow and uncertainty.