Talks On The Lawn*
Outside the house, Vander hung up his phone and sighed while looking up at the gray sky. He adjusted his leather jacket once more before walking across the lawn toward the garage.
Hearing the porch door open and shut a second time, he glanced back and spotted Vi leaving the back door by the kitchen. She jogged to catch up to him.
Vander stopped and waited for her to approach. She too adjusted her sweatshirt around herself in the chilly mist, crossing her arms as she stopped and stood a few feet away from him, staring at him for a long time.
The eldest girl he raised gazed up at him with that all too familiar expression on her face. The one that told him she wasn't done speaking. A scowl like she was looking for something to prove.
She always had that determined face, especially when she wasn't ready to give up.
"You always say we have to earn our place in the world," Vi answered flatly. "It's not a big deal! We need it."
Vander held a hand up. "I'm earning enough income at Benzo's shop–"
"Apparently not!" Vi shot back.
They both seemed a little shocked at what she'd said, both of their eyebrows shooting up.
Vi's face fell. "I'm sorry. I just… I don't want to be kept in the dark."
Vander shifted closer, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Yes, the water damage and the fire from our other place has… set us back a bit. But I promise we have enough. I've got savings tucked away. I'm going to the bank today to get it sorted out. You aren't missing out on anything."
Vi frowned, gazing down at the ground. Vander waited a long time for her to look up at him.
"Save your pennies for another rainy day, Vi. In the meantime, we'll salvage what we can. Like we always do."
He ruffled his huge hand on her head, messing up her hair, like he did when she was younger. She didn't fight it or resist like she used to. The tiniest of grins curved her lips but was gone as quickly as it came.
"Try to focus on other things," Vander suggested, "Go have fun with your sister. I get the feeling she's gonna miss you once school starts."
He nodded to the house before walking away toward the garage.
Vi watched the man who raised her walk away, then she sighed, standing out on the lawn, breathing in the chilly air. Once Vander disappeared, she smoothed back her hair, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck.
When she turned and looked back at the house, Vi spotted Powder through a window in the drawing room, lying on the couch with her headphones on. Her little sister was drawing something in her sketchbook, frowning at the paper like it insulted her.
The corner of Vi's mouth tugged in a tiny smile.
…
Leaving Vander to his work, Vi walked across the lawn and came back to the house, climbed the front porch, and entered through the front door. She tried to be quiet as she entered the drawing room. She crept over to the couch and watched over Powder's shoulder.
After a few minutes, Powder still had a white sheet of paper with 'Mist' written on it in one corner, in slightly wiggly letters resembling cursive.
"Hmm. Very modern, dear," said Vi.
Powder jolted a bit, looking up at her from the couch with a start.
"You scared me," she grunted, lying back down, and glaring at her paper again.
Vi leaned over the arm of the couch, hovering above Powder's head, smirking down at her.
"Well, before you visit the neighbors, I wanted to know… where was that old well you wanted to show me?" Vi asked.
Powder looked up at her sister in surprise and grinned widely.
…
"It's at the top of this hill, back here!" Powder called as she led the way up the dirt path.
Vi followed close behind her, shielding her eyes from the overcast sun. Climbing the hill, she looked out over the valley with a contented sigh. "Oh, wow. You can see the whole property from here. It's beautiful."
"If you say so," Powder grunted at the gray clouds.
Vi shrugged, leaning back with her hands on her hips. "It'll look better once we plant those flowers. What were you going to get this year?"
"Tulips," Powder answered.
"That's right. Tulips!" Vi nodded.
"Anyway, it's over here!" Powder waved her over.
Skipping ahead of her, Powder scanned the ground once she knew she got close to where the well was. She picked up a stick and poked at the ground, careful not to step on the lid this time. Vi watched her sister from a short distance as she worked.
Then Powder smiled widely as her stick hit something in the mud. She knelt down and scooped mud away with her hands to show Vi. Vi came closer and knelt beside her, touching the lid.
"Ekko said it was so deep that if you were at the bottom and looked up, you'd see, like, a bunch of stars during the day," said Powder.
Vi nodded, looking down through the peep hole. "No kidding, that does look deep."
"But I know that can't be true," Powder said, crossing her arms. "It isn't scientific!"
Vi merely shrugged, smirking at Powder's attitude. "I like him. He seems like a good kid."
"He's so annoying!" Powder exclaimed, throwing her arms, "He comes over here, like, all the time!"
"Maybe because he's excited to have friends that are his age?" Vi suggested, cocking her head to the side. "I think you might like him more if you focused on having fun instead of finding insults to tell him."
Powder scowled at first but softened slightly.
Maybe Vi was right. Maybe she was being too harsh on him.
Then Vi read her watch, her eyebrows going up. "Oh shit, it's almost lunch time! I gotta start the food!"
She started heading down the hill without Powder, only to turn around halfway and wave to her.
"I have to go into town and pick up some things! Are you okay heading back to the house on your own?" she called.
Powder huffed to herself and made a show of raising a thumb to the sky. Across the distance, Vi gave her a thumbs up in return and headed back toward the house.
Powder pouted her lips and kicked at a pebble.