Chapter 3

I do not own Spice and Wolf or Holo, the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu

The drive into town was mostly uneventful in that her grandmother didn't have to engage the four wheel drive on her old Nissan even once. "The roads are getting better each year!" She said cheerfully as the Nissan made its way over the rain washed rolling hills of rural upstate New York. Elizabeth smiled at her grandmother as she hung on to the passenger strap, she remembered her first time visiting her grandparents and the huge truck her grandfather had picked her up in.

It was an old army truck that had been converted into a beastly farm truck that had huge tires and could drive over anything.

Her mother had blanched at the sight of it and almost forbade her from climbing into it until her father had intervened and simply picked her up and plopped her into the seat and belted her in. Elizabeth had loved every minute of that memorable ride to the farm.

Now the road, if it could be called as such, was almost boring. It did make getting the crops to market much easier though.

They pulled up in front of the store, it was one of those old time general stores that seemed to carry a little of everything and stubbornly refused to go out of business in spite of the best efforts of Megamart.

Entering the store was like a trip back into time, Elizabeth paused at the doorway then took a deep breath and smiled at the aromas.

She browsed around in the store while her grandmother presented a shopping list to the smiling granddaughter of the store's owner.

Emily Hawkins had gone off to college and came back with a business degree and the connections and internet savvy to pull the old store out of the red and back into prosperity once again.

Coming back from her scouting trip through the store, Elizabeth plunked down a box of handmade fudge and smiled at Emily, Emily grinned at her and said, "You really like my gramma's fudge don't you?"

Elizabeth grinned back and replied, "Of course! I can't get fudge like this back home, so I have to wait until I come back here to buy some!"

Her grandmother smiled as she whisked the fudge into her own pile and declared firmly, "Not until after you've had your supper, young lady!" "Aww!" groaned Elizabeth as Emily laughed and handed Elizabeth the receipt for her purchase.

Elizabeth noticed the brand name on the bag of flour her grandmother was buying, "Running Wolf wheat flour" and asked, "Running Wolf, isn't that the name of our farm?" "It sure is sweetie." replied her grandmother.

Puzzled, Elizabeth asked, "Do we make flour too?" "No honey, we are in a partnership with a local miller, they grind it into flour and package it for sale."

Emily grinned at Elizabeth and said "Your grandfather grows some of the best wheat ever. Ground into flour and baked into bread, it just has this flavor that is sooo good. People who are really serious about baking, will pay very good money to get some of this flour and we just can't keep it in stock!"

Emily chuckled and said cheerfully, "Your grandfather also grows some of the best fruits and vegetables around!" impressed, Elizabeth thanked Emily and they carried their purchases out to the old Nissan.

The rain had stopped and the sun was peeking through the late afternoon clouds as they drove back to the farm.

Everything looked so fresh and clean, the greens and blues of the hills really stood out in the early evening light. Her grandmother took a deep breath, then declared, "I have always loved these old hills after a rain and all of nature has been washed clean. Your grandfather brought me here from the city to meet his parents, it had just finished raining like this and by the time we got to the house. I was more in love with this land than I was with him! We got married shortly after he brought me here and I insisted on having the wedding here!"

She chuckled and laid her hand on Elizabeth's hand, squeezed it a moment and said, "Of all our grandchildren, you seem to be the only one with the gift for growing things. Your grandfather marks off the days until you can come up so he can watch you plant and grow things, you really have a gift for working in the soil."

Elizabeth smiled at her grandmother and replied happily, "That's funny, I mark off my calendar too. Back home, my mom is always trying to 'civilize' me as she puts it, my dad kind of looks the other way when we go to the nursery and I look at the seeds for sale. I wish mom would be more understanding, I'm just not interested in being like her or my sisters. I just want to be me."

Lapsing into a comfortable silence, the two rode in the old Nissan over the winding road.

Nearing the farm, they drove past the woodsy copse that was left in the wild.

Elizabeth started a bit when she thought she saw a naked young girl looking out of the woods at her, but when she focused her gaze on the spot where she'd thought she saw someone, there was no one there.

Elizabeth silently resolved to look the area over in the morning. Back at the house, they unloaded the items they had bought while her grandfather closed up the old barn for the night.

Dinner; or supper, as her grandmother called it, was as usual, good, solid farm food. A tamale pie was the main dish and freshly picked snap peas and baby onions made up the vegetable side dish. Dessert was fresh apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Her grandfather had a cup of coffee with a dollop of brandy in it "To warm these old bones!" as he put it, while grandma sipped some hot cocoa.

Elizabeth helped clear the big table and scrubbed the pots while her grandparents washed the dinnerware and plates, he sang softly to himself while he dried the plates until Elizabeth asked, "Grampa?" "Yes sweetheart?" "Where did that song come from? The one you're singing I mean?" He chuckled softly and replied, "You sure are a bundle of questions today! My own grandfather taught me that song and he learned it from his grandfather before him. I don't know how old it is, so don't ask!"

"Okay, I won't!" retorted Elizabeth with her own grin. "It's just that I've heard it before from your father, he sang it at camp one evening."

He chuckled and replied, "My dad always was a good singer. Sadly, I didn't inherit his voice, just his rugged good looks!"

Elizabeth heard her grandmother chuckle and she remarked, "Now, where did I leave my waders?" Elizabeth laughed as her grandparents embraced in a lingering hug, obviously, they were still in love after all these years.