Chapter 29: Farm Girl

But, treat him allus good and kind,
And never strike him with a stick,
Nor aggervate him, and you'll find
He'll never do a hostile trick.

~"The Hoss," James Whitcomb Riley

Malon hummed as she worked in the barn, tackling the endless string of chores Ingo threw her way. First, she had milked and fed the cows. Then she had shoveled hay for an hour before gathering eggs. Then she had fed the pigs. And the horses. And the chickens.

"That's it!"

The humming stopped when she threw a pitchfork against the wall, scattering the hens. Bitterness rose in her throat. She kicked the milk pail over, soaking the floor, then she picked up a handful of hay and tossed it at one of the pigs, causing the animal to sneeze.

The barn door opened with a creak, and Ingo strutted in like a nervous rooster that sees the farmer coming with an axe. He stopped, eyeing the chaos of misplaced tools, hay, and the overturned milk pail.

"What's this?" He scowled.

Malon almost regretted her actions, but the backlash that had been building over the last few weeks had already stoked a fire in her cheeks. "I'm not working for you anymore."

Ingo's color rose to match hers. "We have guests who are interested in buying. You'll ride Epona to show them how well we breed our animals." He pointed a finger at her. "And she'd better behave, or you'll spend the next month in here, eating hay and sleeping in manure."

I'm already doing that, she thought. What she said was, "They're Gerudos, aren't they?"

Ingo threw up his hands. "Who else has any money these days?"

She took a deep breath. "No."

His eyes narrowed. "No what?"

"I won't ride for your customers, especially if they're Gerudos!"

Ingo's face turned purple. "Why, you!"

Malon snatched the upturned milk pail in time to block Ingo's fist. The metal rang with the impact. She threw the pail aside, grabbed his bruised fist, and bit it. Hard.

Ingo tore his hand away and dove for the pitchfork. Before he could get at it, she jumped on his back and hooked her arms around his neck, cutting off his oxygen.

"You…you'll get us both killed, you wretch." He backed up against the wall and slammed her into it, breaking her grip.

Her hand went for the pitchfork, but he slapped her arm away, and the two of them pummeled each other with abandon, knocking stools, tools, and chickens aside, rolling in the hay, stumbling past the horses and cows, kicking and scratching, biting and clawing, bleeding and bruising in a brawl to rival any riot at the Golden Rupee.

Outside, the Gerudos waited in the yard by the corral. Loud thumps had been coming from the barn for the past five minutes, but they made no move to investigate. They knew very well that Malon, the former owner's daughter, was not as cooperative as Ingo had made her out to be.

"If that fool does not quicken his pace..."

There were four of them. The one who had spoken folded her arms and scowled at the barn door. The other three traded knowing glances.

Three minutes later, the thumps quieted, and the barn door creaked open tentatively. Ingo shuffled out, dragging Malon by the arm. His hair was full of hay, and the scratches on his face dripped bright red blood on his overalls.

Malon, though sporting a black eye and several bruised ribs, smiled at the looks the women gave Ingo. "I think they're impressed."

"Shut up, you." Ingo hissed in her ear, then straightened, trying his best fake grin on the Gerudos. "I apologize for the delay."

"You were informed of our visit a week ago," their leader said, fingering the hilt of one of her scimitars. "You should have been ready."

The grin faltered, but Ingo was wise enough to ignore the remark. "I believe you'll find the merchandise well worth the wait."

"We will see."

They turned to face the corral, and Ingo jerked on Malon's arm. This time, she refused to budge.

"If you don't get moving…" Ingo growled in her face. "Your father won't just be a widower. He'll be childless."

With a trace of her girlhood impishness, Malon spat in his face. "So get it over with."

The Gerudo leader, tiring of the game, stalked over and clutched a fistful of Malon's red hair. With the other hand, she drew a scimitar and held it against Malon's stomach. "Worthless rat."

A shout came from the roof of the barn. "Drop the sword!"

Everyone in the yard froze. The Gerudo leader's eyes swung to the barn, where a figure in bright red held an arrow strung and aimed at her neck.

Ingo stared, mouth agape. "What in tarnation?"

The Gerudo twisted Malon around so that the young woman's body stood between her and the arrowhead. "I welcome your shot."

Link never flinched. With one eye closed, he focused on the situation at hand as Impa had taught him, and the arrow flew, spearing through the Gerudo's sword arm. "Run!"

Malon stamped the Gerudo's foot and made as if to grab the sword from her limp arms. Before she could, one of the woman's companions rushed forward, knocking her senseless with a spinning kick to the head.

Link jumped from the roof and relieved another woman of her weapon. By this time, everyone had had plenty of time to react. The four Gerudos surrounded Link and Malon quickly, while Ingo sneered from the perimeter.

"Who are you to harm the friends of the King of Hyrule?" Ingo spat.

"I am a friend of the King of Hyrule. He died seven years ago." Link drew the Master Sword and moved back-to-back with Malon as she regained her feet. "If Ganondorf is a King, it is only a King of Evil."

The barb had the expected effect: all four Gerudos charged at once. Link whipped the King's shield out in a tight circuit, braining two of his opponents into unconsciousness with the broad flat surface. The third—the woman he had shot—fell when he smacked her skull with the hilt of his sword after a brief tussle.

The fourth woman slowed, seeing her comrades drop. She frowned, gauging the wisdom of a one-on-one duel with this stranger. Malon took the decision from her with a pole to the back of the head.

At the sight of Ingo cowering next to the barn, Link smiled. "Malon? Is there anything you'd like to say?"

Ingo stood up, trembling as Malon approached him. "Miss Malon? I'm sorry for—"

Ignoring the pain in her body, Malon slapped him. "That's for taking over my father's ranch and keeping the two of us apart for so long."

Ingo blinked, unsurprised at her boldness. "I probably deserved that."

"You sure did." Malon punched him full on, knocking him against the side of the barn, unconscious. "That was for the horses." The sight of him lying there, splayed like a scarecrow that had fallen over in a field, made her giggle for the first time in six months.

Link cocked an eyebrow but said nothing. Despite the advantage of working together, it took them a half-hour to drag Ingo and all four Gerudos to the barn and tie them up properly.

Malon sighed. "What say we go get some milk, fairy boy?"

They made their way out of the barn, into the house. Link waited in the kitchen while Malon disappeared upstairs. She returned wearing a clean top and a clean skirt, her hair combed and free of hay and other signs of roughhousing.

"You look different," Navi said.

Malon blushed. "Thanks to Link." She set a cold bottle of milk on the table and two pewter mugs from a cabinet by the window. "That's twice he's saved my life."

Link sat down, refusing to look at her. "They came for me, you remember."

"The first time, yes." She poured the milk out and handed him a mug. "What about this time?"

Link took a sip of his milk and focused on a knot in the table, wondering if he had done the right thing. He had gone out of his way to come for her, but to what end? Seven years ago, he had almost been killed trying to save an innocent girl from being trampled on the cobblestone of Hyrule Castle Town. What reward had there been in that? Why did he do these things?

Because I don't want others to suffer what I've suffered. A sudden thought occurred to him. "What happened to the horses?"

Malon smiled sadly. "Ingo sold most of them to the Gerudos. He said it was his duty to Ganondorf for allowing him to keep the ranch."

"So many?"

"Some of them were stolen, too, usually right before the Gerudos showed up. They blamed it on Ingo, and Ingo blamed it on me, even though we both knew who had taken them."

Link stared into his mug, lost in thought.

Malon looked at him. "Are you alright, fairy boy? You've hardly touched your milk."

He shook his head. "It's hard to think straight."

"I know." She slid a hand across the table. "I waited so long for you to come back."

That's not what I meant. He took a deep breath. Maybe this had been a mistake.

Navi, sensing his discomfort, perked up. "Was that Epona the Gerudos were looking at? You remember her, don't you, Link?"

Link nodded. "She's grown into a fine horse."

Malon's eyes flashed in the sunlight streaming through the window. "She's yours."

Link set his mug down. "Malon…"

A blow to the door of the house shook them awake. Certain the Gerudos had escaped, they hurried to bar the door.

"Ingo, I know you're in there." Thump, thump. "Come on out, and bring my Malon with you!"

"Dad?" Malon's eyes widened.

The door burst open. Talon stood in the yard with a small crowd of men, some of whom Link recognized from the Golden Rupee.

At first, no one said anything. Surprise seemed to paralyze both sides.

"Who's he?" One of the men from the village waved a torch. "He doesn't look Gerudo."

Link bowed his head slightly. "The Gerudos are in the barn. They won't be bothering anyone for a while."

Talon held still for a moment longer before running into the house to bury his face in Malon's hair. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. It's okay. It's over now." Tears ran down his face and onto his arms, mingling with hers. Neither moved or spoke for a long time after that.

Navi brushed Link's ear. "Shouldn't we check on the Gerudos?"

Link nodded and slipped into the crowd waiting in the yard with one last glance at Malon and Talon. "They have a lot to catch up on."

Once things had quieted down at the ranch, Link reluctantly agreed to a meal and a bed for the night, since he had yet to find out the location of the next temple. The villagers who had marched over with Talon left pulling the Gerudos behind them, but Talon declined their offer to take Ingo, insisting that he and Malon would deal with him first.

Link slept fitfully, thinking over Malon's thinly disguised confession that her childhood feelings for him had grown with her. Though he hated himself for it, he found that the prospect of a relationship that he need not wait for appealed to him on some level. When his duties were through and Hyrule was safe, would it be so bad to return to the ranch and lead a quiet life with Malon, he wondered? Zelda might never come back, even if she was alive.

The absurdity of that last thought eventually woke him, and for a while, all he could do was stare at the wall beyond the foot of the bed. Then a shadow moved in the dark, drawing his gaze. Suddenly, he berated himself for sending Navi into the yard to watch for intruders.

The figure clung to the shadows, saying nothing. Two eyes watched Link as if they were bound to him by some invisible cord, but their expression was unreadable.

Link swallowed and clutched the sheets to his chest. "How long have you been standing there?"

"You have stayed too long," Sheik whispered, "as have I."

"I didn't know where else to go. I had to help them."

"Your compassion may do Malon and her father more harm than good. The Gerudos will return eventually, in force."

"Is that what you came here to tell me?"

"No. You must leave for Zora's Domain immediately. The Sage of Water is in peril."

Link broke out in a sweat. The thought of leaving in the middle of the night without an adequate recovery made him feel nauseous. "Even the Hero of Time has a body that needs rest."

Sheik leaned over the bedside and touched Link's forehead. Link felt the fatigue in his mind and body draining away as if he had had a full night's rest.

"Sheik, I left my best friend once without saying goodbye. I don't want to do that to Malon and Talon."

Sheik nodded. "I will explain your absence. Before you go, will you also learn another of the sacred melodies?"

Link rolled over on the bed, groping for the Ocarina of Time. "I thought you were going to say that."

Sheik strummed his harp as he talked. "Did you come here to save a friend, or is the girl more than a friend?"

Link frowned. "I'm not sure how to answer that."

Sheik continued strumming, saying nothing. Suddenly, his voice rose.

"Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends. A childish mind turns to noble ambition. Young love becomes deep affection. The clear water's surface reflects growth. Listen to the Serenade of Water."

The melody softened, and this time Link followed it on the Ocarina.

Young love becomes deep affection. Those words stayed with him long after he had forgotten the rest of Sheik's strange aphorisms.

Less than an hour later, with dawn still a distant prospect, Malon padded into the kitchen for a drink. Long hours and hard work had rarely bothered her, but having Link around certainly did. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so restless.

She found the letter sitting on the kitchen table. She didn't even have to read it. The fact that it was there could only mean one thing.

He was gone.

Still in her bedclothes, she slammed the mug of water down and scrambled towards the staircase leading to her father's room. If he thinks he'll get rid of me that easily…

Can you tell I had fun selecting the quotes that lead off most of my chapters? Let's see, we've had Shigeru Miyamoto, C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, J.M. Barrie, Susan Cooper, The Bible, Homer, Tolkien, R.D. Blackmore, "The Story of Stone Soup," Juvenal, Beowulf, and James Whitcomb Riley, among others. And it's not over yet! Hey, cribbing zingers and profound thoughts from the Great Authors of the past is a hallowed tradition! James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans, borrowed 395 quotes from Shakespeare for his Leatherstocking Tales about the early history of the United States. Not that I would ever bother to research the exact number. What do you take me for, a literature otaku? Psssh.

Anyway, only three more temples to go before we reach the home stretch. I hope everyone here can swim, because our next destination is arguably the most infamous temple in the entire Zelda series. Hopefully, reading about it won't be nearly as frustrating an experience as it was playing it for the first time...