A/N: YAY!! I have reached the lovely five reviews mark. Imagine my glee when I get on the computer and find lovely new reviews from my readers!!
I HAVE READERS!!! -glee- Okay, to all who have reviewed, you all have new review cookies waiting for you on this new chapter page!! -holds out basket of steaming, assorted review cookies- Don't all attack at once!! X3
Anyhow, your reviews have kept me going so far, so keep 'em coming!! And help me through this BAD BAD writing shlump... (Yes, I am aware that I misspelled "slump." I meant to do that.)
--Crater
Disclaimer: I own it not. NOW READ IT!! X3
Chapter 3: Farm Work?
Nami's Pov
I furrowed my brow at the prospect of doing farm work. Me? Wow, this should be interesting.
I shook my head, my red hair rustling against my ears, and walked to the closet. Jack had an old pair of work boots that didn't fit him anymore, and I pulled them on over my converse.
Good grief, he has big feet, I mused, lacing the boots. I then took his gloves from the dresser and pulled them on. They were a little loose, but they would have to do.
I quickly left the house and went to the barn. I opened the door and was met with the unpleasant scent of cattle. The livestock took my entrance to mean food and immediately began to groan and bleat at me.
Oh, goody, I mutter to myself. I get to feed them all.
I walked over to the thing where Jack got the fodder and got an armful, carrying it over to a manger with "Clover" painted on the front in Jack's unique handwriting. A black and white cow "moo-ed" and began to munch.
I repeated this step for the rest of Jacks livestock, only tripping once over a fluffy, mild-mannered sheep and scattering the fodder on the barn floor. It didn't seem to care and began to eat it off of the ground behind it's manger. I looked at the name painted on its manger; it said "Cloud." How fitting.
As I dumped the last of the fodder into the horse, Quincy's, manger, I sighed and wiped the sweat off of my forehead with the back of Jack's glove.
"Dang, this is monotonous," I muttered. I got the milking bucket and the stool and set them down on the side of Clover. I sat on the stool and pushed the bucket under Clover's udder. I began to milk, but nothing would come out. I tried again, but, again, no milk came out.
"SHI-" I began, but I felt Kyo tap my shoulder. "-IZZ..." I finished, not wanting to taint Kyo's mind with bad language. "What is it, Baby?" I turned around to see him holding some sort of thing with a suction cup on one end and a transparent container of some sort on the other.
"Try this," he said, pushing it at me. "It's a milker. The sucky thingy goes on the cow's milky thing." I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at my son's choice of vocabulary.
"Thankyou, Kyo," I said. I put the suction cup on the udder and pressed the "on" button. It began to pump, squeezing the milk that would not come out for me into the container. When it stopped, there was enough milk in there to fill four milk bottles.
"Okay, the other cow is pregnant, and that one's a bull, so I guess I'm done with that." I pushed the stool back and kicked the bucket away, picking up the full milker.
I poured the milk into the bottles on the wall that Jack had, only spilling a little. I'd see that as an accomplishment, seeing as I had Kyo leaning over my shoulder the whole time.
"Let's get these to the storage... thing," I said, handing Kyo two bottles and picking the other two up myself.
We carried them to the storage unit across the way and put them in with all the other food items that Jack had collected so far. There were dried forest foods handing from it's ceiling and dairy products stored on the second shelf to the top. I slid the milk bottles in next to the others and shut the door.
"Okay, two out of several tasks done: milking the cow and feeding the livestock, and a bunch of others to still be done." I sighed and Kyo followed me back to the barn.
(A/N: What next? Ooh, I'll give you a hint: it has to do with the stubborn goat that refuses to give me milk anymore. Review, my lovely readers!! X3)