Claire walked towards another farm, clearly bigger than the other. Countless cows and sheep roamed around the area, munching away at the small amount of grass that the owner had planted. She stepped inside the house that also appeared to be the shop and introduced herself.
"H-Hello. My name's Claire, I'm running the farm."
An old man looked at her over the counter, sizing her up. He suddenly shouted 'May!' and continued smiling. A small girl soon made an entrance, staring at the confused farmer.
"This is the new farm girl May, the one that Mayor Thomas was talking about. Introduce yourself."
"Um, I'm May. I hope we can be friends." She said shyly, making Claire smile.
"I'm Claire. Maybe you can come and play at my ranch one day. I mean, only if you want to…"
May's eyes widened, her whole face brightening up. She happily nodded, skipping back outside.
"Thank you for cheering May up. She's been down all day. My name's Barley. I, and to a certain extent, May own this store. If you ever need any barn animals, come straight to me. I trust I'll be seeing you rather soon." He assumed.
They chatted for a few minutes before Claire made her way to the town square. No one was there, so she turned left to view a large building. She walked inside, ready to greet whoever was inside.
"Welcome. Hey, I haven't seen you before. What's your name?" A red headed girl asked. She was young and looked around the same age as Claire, dressed in overalls and a yellow shirt. Someone, who Claire presumed to be her father, was stood next to her.
"Um, my name's Claire. I'm running the ranch. Nice to meet you."
"Oh, I'm Ann. Me and my dad run this inn. So, did you come to eat? Just wait a minute." She turned to her father, who was silently watching. "Can we give her a meal, y'know, on the house? She's new here, so it would only be natural to give her a treat."
The man didn't say anything for a moment. Claire started to get worried, wondering if the man was going to ask her to leave or refuse to cook for her. He noticed her expression and laughed.
"Sure, as long as you come back often! My name's Doug, by the way."
Ann's smile grew wider. She grabbed the blonde's hands, her blue eyes twinkling with hope.
"See? Why don't you stay and eat? Please, I'd love to get to know you!" She pleaded, still grasping Claire's delicate hands.
'Well, I am hungry. Why not? I'm not gonna pass down free food.'
"Sounds great!"
"Good! Make her your special, dad!" She grinned. Claire heard her stomach rumble. She blushed, while Ann just giggled. "I knew you'd be hungry! Come on, sit over here with me!"
Claire wolfed down the apple pie and grape juice she was offered. The pie was fluffy and light, while the juice was rich and tarty. It was delicious, true heaven.
"How does it taste?" Asked Doug, laughing at Claire's enthusiasm.
"Amazing! How do you make stuff this good? I mean, I can't make toast without causing a house fire…" Claire giggled nervously. It was true; Claire was not a good cook. Even juice, which is only made with fruit and a blender, would end up salty and thick.
"Eat all you want." Ann said gently. She liked Claire's determination. For such a small girl, she really had an appetite.
"I've decided I like you, Claire." Doug beamed. "Come anytime and visit Ann. I'm sure she'd appreciate a friend."
"D-Dad! Don't say stuff like that!" Ann shouted, blushing. She apologised, claiming her father was 'incredibly inconsiderate' about Ann's emotions. Claire laughed. She wished she'd had such a close relationship with her own father, but they never got along too well.
"I best be off then. W-Will I see you around then, Ann?" Claire squeaked, unsure of the ginger's answer. Ann cocked her head, clearly confused at Claire's sudden shyness.
"Of course. You seem like one of the only girls who I could really get close to. Popuri's too ditzy, Karen can be… more than a little rude, especially when she's drunk, Elli's caught up in work and Mary's too awkward to have a decent conversation. It's hard to find a good friend here." Ann frowned. Claire opened her mouth but then shut it. She realised it would not be a good idea to start trash talking any of the girls; she didn't know half of them!
Claire said her goodbyes and wandered left, coming to a winehouse.
"Hm? Oh, you must be the new farm girl! My name's Manna, my husband Duke and I own this place. You can buy wine and juice here, it's simply wonderful! However we don't open for too long." Her eyes suddenly fell to the floor, her cheerful smile fading into a contrast of a sulk. Her lower lip slightly started to quiver and her eyes were on the verge of tears. "Duke's an awful drunk. I assume he's the reason my daughter left. I miss her so much, but he's too much of an alcoholic to care about what I say!" She looked back up at Claire, anger filling her eyes. "Aja would love it here! I heard last time she was here she'd taken a liking to Harris, but Duke upset her once again and she hasn't been back since… I miss her, I want her back. So, what're you here for?"
Claire stared blankly at Manna, unsure of what she had just said. She giggled nervously, trying to look like she knew what was going on.
"Haha… um, I'm Claire. I'm gonna work at the ranch, y'know, um, the abandoned one? Haha… it's nice to meet you."
Claire was ready for Manna to ask why she didn't answer her question, so relief flooded her when Manna smiled back.
"Oh yes, you're the new girl that's running the farm! Thomas won't shut up about you! He said that you were really nice and friendly, I'm so glad he told the truth. Unlike my Aja, she turned so bitter after Duke yelled at her. Maybe that's why she left? Was it Duke's alcohol problem, or maybe the way he'd hurt her by shouting? I don't know. I'll pray that one day she'll come back. Speaking of which, I'm sure you have a lot of people to meet so I'll let you leave, but remember that you must pay me another visit! Goodbye, Claire!" She gabbled, ushering her out of the door.
All Claire got out of that was 'Aja', 'Duke', 'alcohol', 'shouting' and 'left'. She pretty much got the picture.
"Hello?" Claire blurted, alerting the man and woman enjoying peace in their living room.
"Hm? Oh my, could you be Claire?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. Claire nodded cautiously. "Oh, good! Thomas didn't mention how cute you were!"
Claire blushed and mumbled 'Thank you' underneath her breath. The woman laughed quietly, gushing over her shy nature.
"Well, I'm Anna, and I live here with my husband, Basil." She pointed towards a man who was reading a book about plants. He waved slightly, before turning back to his book. "…And my daughter Mary. You know what? I think you should go and meet Mary right away! I bet she'd love your company."
Before Claire could protest she was being pushed out of the door and taken to the building next to it. For such a delicate woman, she had strong hands and had no trouble forcing Claire to leave. She didn't mean any offense; she just wanted Claire to meet her daughter.
Anna opened the door and shoved her inside gently.
"See you, darling!" She called, closing the door.
Claire looked at the girl who stood a few feet away from her. She had long, black hair that was pulled into a braid and wore a blue dress with a white shirt underneath and thick glasses. A look of frustration lay on her unusually slender face, and she stood still, not seeing Claire stood before her.
"I wonder what I should do with this… No… Hm…" She groaned, beginning to pace back in forth. She suddenly noticed Claire, taking a step back in surpise. "O-Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there…"
"Um, don't worry about it. I'm Claire, I'm working at the ranch." She smiled. Mary smiled back.
"Oh, hello Claire. I'm Mary. Welcome to the library! Not many people actually come to the library, so I'm glad you're here."
Claire felt sorry for her, deciding to play on.
"Oh yeah, I, um, love books. So what's up. You looked a little… angry. Did something happen?"
Mary shook her head.
"Oh, sorry about that… When I get lost in thought I don't really think about how I look. I was just having a case of writer's block, is all."
"Can I help?"
Mary looked at Claire, a look of pure shock on her face.
"I-It's fine if you don't want me to…" Claire stuttered, taken aback by Mary's astonishment. Mary fiddled with her wrists, looking down at the floor.
"N-No, it's not that I don't want you to, it's just… well, not many people usually want to help me."
Claire felt a pain run through her chest. Sure, she didn't have many friends but at least they all stuck by her. Mary seemed to be a really nice girl, but without any friends. It was pretty upsetting to Claire, and she didn't even know why.
"Well I'll help, come on. Tell me what you're writing?"
Mary grinned, finally finding a topic she was interested in.
"I'm writing a novel. Writer's block can't really be helped, but thank you anyway. It's… really nice to have someone who wants to talk to me here… Please come back, Claire. I'd really appreciate it."
Claire agreed and left the building, a feeling of pure satisfaction lay deep inside her.
'I met someone more awkward than me today, and I managed to make them smile.' She thought. 'I feel good.'
Hi!
So I felt a bit sick today, so what a great time to update, amirite? No...
I've been in Spain for two weeks, and I only got back last night. It feels weird to be back in dull England, but I missed it here(:
Idk, this chapter is just 'meet, talk, leave' basically. I can't get onto romance considering we met no bachelors this chapter! How sad...
If you review I'll marry you and maybe buy you Ben and Jerry's!... Maybe.
And thanks to wildivy for following. I know, it's been a while...
Love youuuuuu;;)
-Cherry xx