It had been nearly two years since Sterling and Maple had come to live with their grandparents. It was okay. Maple had turned 8 last spring, and today was Sterling's birthday. Right now he was eating a smallish slice of cake from the local Joja Mart (Grandma was convinced that a slice thicker than your thumb was too much for little boys. But not little girls, because Maple got as much as the adults.) He didn't like that cake very much. He couldn't help but compare it to the homemade cake Starla had made for him 2 years ago. He never realized how much he loved chocolate cake with eggs from Starla's beloved chicken, Crystal, milk from Millie and Vanilly the goats, and flour and sugar grown and milled on the farm. He missed the big slice his mom would always cut him with a smile, titanic compared to the measly square before him. He turned to Maple, who was messily eating her piece.

Her surgery had gone well. The slash wound had healed and shriveled up into a scar. She still couldn't see very well in the damaged eye, which was why she had a pair of big spectacles. The lens for her good eye was plain window glass, though. Sterling was glad Zuzu City had professionals that were able to help his little sister. He wasn't glad about the hospital bills that made their grandpa refuse to pay for the surgery until the government gave them money for it.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Grandma went to the door and pressed the button to let the stranger in, or at least check him for concealed weapons at a distance. Grandma was a bit paranoid. A man, dressed in almost the same outfit Krobus had worn to Starla's funeral, held up an important-looking paper, and started talking. Grandma made a shooing motion, a signal Sterling and Maple knew meant 'Run along, Granny's having an adult conversation you wouldn't understand.' The children decided to listen around the corner.

"Hello, I'm here to deliver the deed for Snowyfox Farm in Stardew Valley to the rightful owner."

"If you're delivering this inheritance, why did it take 2 years? We're way over the minimum age." Grandma seemed to assume the property was for her and Grandpa.

"The previous owner, now deceased, left it in her will to her two children, once her eldest reached 10 years of age."

"… Oh, are you sure there wasn't a mistake? Ten years is far from old enough to own much of anything, really."

"Quoted in the deed is the relevant section of the will. See for yourself." Grandma too out her reading glasses and squinted at the paper.

"Ah, I see. Very well, then." She took the paper from the man's hand. "Off with you, then." The man turned and left obligingly. "Chaaaaaarles! Guess what we just got for FREE!"

"Free?" Grandpa poked his head out of his bedroom door. He was very stingy about money, so he loved anything free. Grandma showed him the deed. "Well, well, that would probably go for at least 50,000 gold. But wouldn't it be a bit illegal to sell something that legally isn't ours?"

"Oh, the kids won't even know! They don't know what an inheritance is!" Sterling did know what an inheritance was. He was very upset. This was illegal! They were willing to commit crimes for money? Sterling knew he had to stop them. He pulled Maple to the side so fast her glasses fell off. Sterling picked them up and handed them back.

"Sorry about that. Come to our bedroom, we need to talk." They walked down the hall to their shared bedroom. (Grandpa was stingy about space, too.) They flopped onto a bed. "We can't let them sell the farm. We need to do something."

"Maybe we could just ask them not to?" Maple said, but Sterling knew that wouldn't work. They would just do it anyway.

"They don't have to listen to us, or so they think. Maybe we could take the deed and hide it somewhere."

"No… this apartment is pretty big, but not big enough to hide something in."

"They wouldn't look in our room."

"Yes they would. I've seen them doing it! Checking in drawers, in our backpacks, even under our mattresses!"

Sterling suddenly had a crazy idea. So crazy it just might work.

"Okay, hear me out. This might sound crazy, but what if… we went back? Back to our old home? We legally could, because we have the deed. We have enough gold to buy bus tickets. Evelyn said she would try to keep the house from falling apart, so we'd have a place to sleep."

"Yeah! That's a perfect plan!" Maple was bouncing up and down and brimming with excitement. "How soon can we start?" Suddenly they realized that their grandparents were in the living room talking about selling the farm. Sterling couldn't make out what they were saying, so he went to the AC vent to listen in from there.

"so… how soon can we sell it?"

"…don't see no problem with sellin' it tomorrow…"

Sterling turned back to his little sister.

"How does tonight sound?