Casual far Ming

by Taylor and Laura

Farmer

9. Book 9

Chapter One: First Day of Summer

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Summer! 90 days until the Summer Festival! As seems to be the norm on the first day of Summer, it's a perfect day for working! Get out and get things done! And... Ahh... Pay no attention to the rogue sunflowers running around the hills. A few of them may have escaped following last night's celebration.]

Jason laughed as he rolled out of bed, stretched, and slowly walked up to the window of his bedroom. It was already open, and he stuck his head out into the fresh, morning air, and took a deep breath.

The sun was just cresting the horizon, casting its long, warm rays across the softly-waving prairie grasses. Down below, horseshoes clopped across the yard as Milligan rode through the gate and up toward the great, red barn. Milligan doffed his hat, and Jason waved at him.

"You're up early!" Jason called down. "I told you yesterday to sleep in!"

"Boss, we both know I'm not good about that!" Milligan snorted and waved at him. "You go get dressed, I'll get chores done!"

Jason nodded and waved again, then slipped back inside and took a long, slow breath.

The first day of Summer always had a special meaning for him, as it was the first day he had started farming in Summer Shandy, so many years ago. Today marked the ninth year he had lived here, which was all the more remarkable given that, when he had arrived, he hadn't even been certain he would make it a few weeks. The first year or so had been hard, but now...

Footsteps echoed on the stairs, and Jason turned as Tess, his lovely wife, came sweeping inside. She wore a blue dress patterned with white flowers, and had a wide smile on her face. As she came over to him, he pulled her into a warm embrace, and they briefly kissed before Tess started making the bed.

"You're up early, too." Jason chuckled softly as he changed into overalls. "Did I miss a memo or something?"

"Nah. Just trying to get ahead of the day's work." Tess shrugged. "Back when I worked for the Dungeon Guild, I'd be up at 4:00 every morning, and that was if I slept in. Now that things on the farm are becoming a bit more routine, I'm starting to slide back into those habits, I think."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to complain about it, one way or another." Jason chuckled. He finished pulling on his boots, then slowly started making his way downstairs. "Are you letting the girls sleep in?"

"That's the plan." Tess nodded. They came out into the kitchen, where a stack of buttermilk pancakes waited on the two of them. They both sat down, and Tess pulled out a pitcher of milk along with a large jar of syrup. Some fruit also came out of the pantry a few moments later, and Jason blinked in surprise.

"It's not every morning I get a meal quite like this!" He laughed softly as he tucked in. "Something special?"

"Just happy to be married to you. To be out here." Tess leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Careful. You're more sappy than this syrup right now." Jason laughed, then smeared a bit of syrup across his lips, leaned over, and kissed her on the cheek. She gasped and pulled away, then scowled at him as she grabbed a napkin and wiped it off.

"Am I interrupting?" Boots echoed on the floor, and Jason glanced over his shoulder as Milligan stepped up to lean against the kitchen door.

"You're about to witness me show this farmboy that I haven't forgotten my Guildmaster training." Tess snorted as she started eating again. "I may have given birth twice, but I can still throw you through a wall, trust me. And, since we own this house, you'll then have to fix said wall while eating nothing but spinach and cabbage for meals until it gets done."

"Harsh." Milligan winced, then brightened. "That said, if Jason's punishment doesn't extend to me, I'd love a few of those pancakes."

"Not a bit. Help yourself, Milligan." Tess rose and turned to the staircase. "I'm going to go get the girls down. I'll try to have them out by the time you two start planting."

Jason smiled and waved, then focused on eating. He and Milligan soon finished, and made their way out into the yard. There, Milligan's horse, Dusty, had been hitched to one of the planters, while Angus, Tess's old warhorse, had been hitched to the other. Jason walked up and patted the great steed on the neck, then pulled out an apple.

"I can't believe how well he still holds up." Milligan commented as Jason climbed up onto the planter. "How old is he getting now?"

Jason thought for a moment. "I want to say that Tess bought him about five years before we met, and that's been... He's got to be about fourteen, fifteen years old."

"You think you'll retire him anytime soon?"

"Not yet." Jason shrugged and flipped open the seed box of the machine. "He's a solid worker. Maybe a couple more years, but... not yet, I don't think."

"Well, there's no rush. I'd just hate to see a steed like that get injured, you know?" Milligan changed the topic a moment later. "Alright, boss, what are we planting?"

"I don't know." Jason shook his head. "When are we going to start working on your specialized plants for the dungeon?"

"Not for another few months at least. Essentially when they're ready to start being taken into the dungeon." Milligan answered. "For now, I think we're good to just do whatever you feel like!"

"Whatever I feel like? That's a dangerous order." Jason opened up his inventory. He had bought a handful of different units of seed at the general store, all of which he planned to use for the Summer, but he hadn't yet decided what order to plant it in. After a moment, he just selected the first one on the list. "We're going to be planting Heirloom Wheat."

"An excellent choice." Milligan nodded, then frowned. "Is there a story behind that?"

"Yes, but I don't know if we have time for it right now." Jason heard the front door squeak, and he turned around to see two small children dashing out and racing pell-mell across the yard.

Fern, his oldest, was in the lead. She was four years old now - Or would be, in just a few months. And was bursting with energy. Just two years younger was Rachel, who half-ran, half-stumbled.

"Daddy!"

"Dadadada!"

Jason jumped down from the planter and held out his arms, and his two

daughters threw themselves into his embrace. He hugged them both tightly, then started tickling their sides while he gave them both a flurry of kisses.

"Daddy! No!" Fern giggled and pulled away. "Can I help you?"

"Not at the moment." Jason smiled and climbed up onto the planter. "Tell you what, though? Go help mommy with things, and be really good, and I'll have some work for you to do this evening with me. How does that sound?"

"Good!"

"Help daddy." Rachel called out as Jason took hold of the reins. Tess picked her up, and Rachel burst into tears. "Help daddy!"

"Shh." Tess bounced Rachel up and down on her hip, then gave a nod to Jason. "Best to get going, I think."

Jason nodded, then snapped the reins. Angus, well-trained, trotted off, lugging along the immense piece of machinery. As they approached the gates, Jason hopped down and swung them open, and quickly, they entered the field.

As always, Jason took one side of the field, while Milligan took the other side. He yanked a lever, lowering the seed disks into the soil, and took a deep breath as Angus pushed forward, drawing long lines through the dirt. Long tubes beneath the planter rattled loudly as seed poured down into the ground, while large, flat wheels in the back closed the trenches up over the seed. Jason took a deep breath as they rumbled along down toward the far end, enjoying every last bit of it.

Planting was his second-favorite thing to do on the farm, right behind the harvest. It was a time of life, a time of joy and anticipation. It was a time of preparation, where you put in the seed, and had to trust that it would come up on its own. He knew it would, of course, but it wasn't anything that he did to cause such a change. It made a person realize how truly dependent they were on the world; how small they were in relation to everything else. He chuckled at the thoughts, knowing Tess would only roll her eyes if she heard him.

In any event, he reached the end of the field without any issues. There, as he started to turn around, he paused for a brief moment. Stretching out to the horizon, as far as the eye could see, was an endless prairie covering wide, rolling hills. There were all sorts of landforms, buildings, and other things scattered through those hills, and in truth, the prairie wasn't endless, and terminated in a rather large forest not that far away, but... that wasn't the point. It was simply so majestic, with the waving grasses interspersed with woody forbs, a few Summer wildflowers, and other such things. A deer crossed through his vision, sporting massive antlers above its head. It turned and locked eyes with him, then made a sharp grunt and bounded away. Jason watched it go, laughing softly, then made Angus actually turn around and head back.

He and Milligan worked all through that morning, back and forth, until, as the sun crested in the sky at noon, Tess brought out a checkered picnic blanket along with a massive basket. Jason waved at her, then urged Angus on a bit faster. They were almost done, with just a few passes left, which he wanted to finish in time. It didn't take long to do just this, and he and Milligan soon had their horses turned out into the corral while they sat down on the blanket with Tess.

The girls raced around them, picking dandelions to make a bouquet at the center of the blanket, while Tess served the food. Jason slowly picked up a roast-beef sandwich, took a deep bite, sighed and then leaned back.

"Everything okay?" Tess asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jason nodded, then took a long and deep breath. The smells of the prairie filled his lungs and body. It was a peaceful moment, a focus point to remind him of the life and he had created. He smiled, eyes closed—listening to the

soft swishing of the grass, the snorting of the horses, and the flapping of birds overhead.

"Yeah." He nodded slowly, then caught Fern as she ran past, proceeding to tickle her up one side and down the other. "Yeah, everything's perfect.

Chapter

Chapter Two: Light

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 6th day of Summer! 85 days until the Summer Festival! Alright, folks! We've got a bit of rain today, but nothing more than some light sprinkles here and there. It'll be too wet to get out into the fields, I expect, but shouldn't stop you from doing too much else!]

As Jason's eyes flickered open, he found the bed empty beside him, but at this point, that was hardly unexpected. As he sat up, though, the door flew open, and three people came rushing inside, two of them slightly in front of the third.

"Daddy!"

Fern dove up onto the bed in a flying leap, fully dressed for the day, and threw herself into his arms. Behind her, Rachel attempted to do the same, but merely bounced off the edge of the bed and fell flat on the floor. She started to cry, though not from pain, and Tess quickly scooped her up and set her on the bed with Jason and Fern.

This was a particularly impressive feat, in Jason's mind, as Tess was also holding a large platter in her hand, which she set on the bed with a flourish.

"We bwing you bweakfast in bed!" Fern giggled. "Fun!"

"It does look like fun." Jason smiled and kissed both of his daughters. "Mommy has been busy this morning. Isn't it the dad who's supposed to bring the mom breakfast in bed?"

Tess shrugged. "I thought it would be a nice change. Is today still good to head down to the Lazy-H?"

"That's the plan." Jason nodded. "Head on out to chore, and I'll be along in a minute with the girls."

Tess nodded, gave him a kiss, and then vanished down the stairs. After she was gone, Jason and the girls tucked into the meal, dining on eggs, sausage links, and a great deal of bacon. When they finished, Jason shooed them out of the room so he could change, then, once he was dressed, took them downstairs and put on their boots.

They soon made their way out into the farmyard, where a light rain was slowly drizzling down. Rachel shrieked and ran for the barn, but Fern simply laughed and began dancing in the moisture.

"You can dance for a few minutes, then head up to the barn." Jason ordered.

"Otay, daddy!"

Jason smiled at her, then walked up into the barn. There, as he stepped inside, he felt a wave of... It wasn't sorrow, perhaps, but it was a sense of some sort of a loss. The previous year, they had accumulated countless animals, dozens of different varieties of strange and wondrous creatures, most of which had been zapped away when a dungeon core shard had been confiscated from a dwarf sasquatch. They still had a few pens of sheep, goats, and pigs, along with their horses, but... other than that—the only "odd" animals to have survived were the Static Caprines (electric mountain goats). Technically, a few others had made the transition as well, but they had all wandered away or escaped. Now, it left the barn with a sense of emptiness.

That, though, was going to change today.

Wheels rumbled on the wooden floor, and Jason scooped up Rachel as Tess drove a wagon up into the barn from the opposite side, pulled by both

Angus and Lady. She had a broad grin on her face, and waved at Jason. Milligan stood nearby, leaning against a wooden support beam.

"You ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" Jason laughed.

"Nope!"

"Then I'd say that I'm good to go." Jason swung up into the wagon with

Tess, planting Rachel on the seat between them. "We'll be back, Milligan!" "I'll be here! Don't worry about me, I'll stay busy!"

Jason waved at him in confirmation, then turned his attention forward as

Tess drove the wagon out and into the drizzle. They had to pause once more to get Fern up onto the wagon box, and then they were off, heading south along the hard-packed road out of Summer Shandy.

The Lazy-H Ranch was just a few miles south, and was owned by Tess's father, Richard. Once, it had been exclusively cattle, but over time, had grown to become an all-purpose agricultural operation. As they came up to the entrance on the west side of the road, they found Richard and Weatherhand waiting for them, just beside the sign that announced their brand.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Richard smiled and waved at Fern and Rachel. "And how are my favorite granddaughters?"

"We're your only gwand-daughters!" Fern smiled.

"You know what? You're right!" Richard laughed and smacked his forehead with his palm. "I'm getting senile in my old age. Well, how would you two girls like to help Mommy pick out some new animals?"

"Yay!"

Richard and Weatherhand smiled, and they turned to escort the wagon over to their loading chutes. Tess carefully backed the wagon up to a small

ramp that connected perfectly with the wagon bed, then climbed down with Rachel. Fern clung to Jason, and they made their way over to a handful of sorting pens nearby. The fences were tall, but had wide gaps between the horizontal slats that composed the structure, allowing them to see inside. All around, the rain started coming down a bit harder, but as it was a warm rain, no one seemed to mind.

"Alright, Tess. What are you looking for today?" Richard asked, leaning against the rails of the fence. A bit of rain trickled off his cowboy hat and onto his back, but he didn't make any note of it. "Do you want more of the same, or do you want to try something new?"

"For the moment, I'd like more of the same." Tess answered. She leaned forward to peer through the slats, and Jason did the same. On the other side, a large number of goats were stampeding around, bleating and calling out as they tried to find gaps in the fence. "I don't need anything else with wool, so I'd like either goats or pigs, I think." She paused for a moment. "Actually, I'd love to get some cattle, really. The barn was realistically built for cattle, and there's just so much of the barn that we haven't used."

"You're welcome to anything we have here, of course." Richard shrugged. "I'll sell you all the cattle you want, if that's truly what you're wanting to do, but I'd probably caution you against it."

"Why's that?" Tess frowned.

"Simple. In order to keep the cattle in your barn exclusively, you're essentially looking at a feeder operation." Richard answered. "You'll be fattening them up for the slaughter, and that's it. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but in order to make that work, you're going to have to order a lot of feed. Truly good fattening feed has a lot of different ingredients, and you'll need it all whether you have three pens of cattle, or

three hundred. Now, I'll sell you three hundred pens of cattle if you want, your barn is big enough for it, but that's a lot to bite off all at once. If you're going to do cattle, you need to start small and build your way up."

"But... How can I do that?" Tess frowned. "If you just said..."

"You need some grassland." Weatherhand explained. "That's really the best way to get started with cattle. They're easy, really, but there's a bit more to them than meets the eye. If you don't have the grassland, I'd suggest sticking with something small."

Tess grimaced, but nodded. Even as she did it, though, Jason's mind started spinning. He'd been contemplating whether or not it would be possible to expand the operation. He thought it might be, frankly, and now he had a bit more of an idea what that might look like.

"In that case, I'd like goats and pigs, half of each."

"Perfect! We'll get you loaded up!" Richard waved at Jason. "Come here! I've got a good spot you can watch things with the kids."

Jason nodded, and took Rachel from Tess while she went off with Weatherhand. Soon, Richard led the three of them to a catwalk on a narrow alley, and helped him climb up.

"Alright! The pigs will be coming right through here." Richard gestured down at the alley. "Fern, do you think you could wave at me when I come past?"

"Yes Gwandpa!"

Richard smiled, then hopped down. Jason craned his neck, trying to see everything happening. He could see gates swinging back and forth, heard the startled squeal of pigs and the bleating of goats, and crossed his arms in fascination. Soon, there was a rumble, and a great herd of pink backs shot past him down below, snorting and squealing and grunting. Richard came

right along behind, laughing and waving his hands and making all sorts of noises with his mouth.

"SUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!"

"GIDAPP!!!"

"YAW!"

The girls laughed and giggled at the display, and as he went past, Richard

pulled off his hat and threw it squarely onto Fern's head. It fell all the way down to her shoulders, and she laughed and pulled it back off.

"Keep it safe!" He waved as he vanished back up the alley.

Jason smiled, then helped the girls down. They wandered back to the wagon, where the last of the first load of pigs was just being crammed aboard. Tess climbed up into the driver's seat, and Jason helped up the girls, and with that, they started back toward home.

It was a joyous ride, and really, so was the rest of the day. Milligan helped unload all the pigs back at their home, and back again they went. Around lunchtime, Jason and the girls went inside, while Tess continued to haul more loads of the animals. After lunch, Jason put Rachel and Fern down for naps, then came back out to help, at least on that end.

The transfer of animals lasted all day. Finally, as the sun was setting behind the fading rainclouds, Fern and Rachel went racing through the barn, laughing and giggling at all the new pigs and goats and such creatures. Jason watched them closely, making sure that they didn't get too close and fall in. It was loud now, animals were always a bit riotous when they were moved, but it was a good noise. The sounds of life on a farm. The sky began to darken, and Milligan climbed back up onto Dusty.

"Farewell! I'll catch you again in the morning!"

"See you tomorrow!" Jason waved. Milligan soon trotted away, and the family made their way back into the house. There, an exhausted Tess sank down onto the couch before the fireplace, while Jason got together a simple meal of sandwiches.

As they ate, Jason nodded at his wife. "Did you get done everything you'd hoped?"

"I did, yes." Tess smiled after a moment. "Thanks for watching the kids."

"It was a joy." Jason leaned forward and gave Fern a kiss on the nose, which made her recoil, laughing. "It truly was."

After a moment, even though it was Summer, he threw a couple logs on the fire and got a crackling blaze going. The room was awash in light, and he smiled and leaned back in his chair.

Yes, life was good... And, somehow, he knew that it would only get better.

Chapter

Chapter Three:

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 20th day of Summer! 71 days until the Summer Festival! Today's looking bright and clear, folks! That said, we do have a pretty big thunderstorm coming through in a few days, so make sure to prepare for that!]

As Jason's eyes slowly flickered open, he yawned and sat up, stretching widely. No one came in to greet him that morning, and he slowly rose and walked up to the window to look out across the prairie. The sun was just cresting the horizon, as usual, but... well... Something wasn't quite right.

Just beyond the barn, a small herd of sunflowers was making its way along the fence. They were moving quickly, jumping and leaping with an odd intensity that Jason didn't usually see from the ordinarily-stationary plants. One of them swiveled around and pointed its head down at the ground, and several small flickers of fire, rather like gunshots, blasted down at the dirt. The reports hit the house a moment later, and Jason frowned.

"Ahh, Jason?" Tess's voice drifted up the stairs. "Are you seeing this?"

"I was sorta hoping it was a dream." Jason answered. "Have you heard anything from Milligan?"

"Just got a letter from him in the mail about three minutes ago! I was writing a reply, and then..."

Her voice trailed off, and Jason sighed deeply. He didn't particularly want to go get involved in a sunflower round-up, but... if that was the way it had to be...

He quickly got dressed, then made his way downstairs as quickly as possible. Tess already had the two girls dressed. At that moment, they both had their noses pressed to the glass of the front window while they ate some sausages. Meanwhile Tess sat at the writing desk frantically scribbling on a note. Outside, just beyond the apple trees, Jason could see several more plants scuttling about, though he couldn't tell exactly what they were.

"Milligan is patching up the damage on the greenhouse, and then he'll be down." Tess looked up from the writing desk. "He says he'll explain everything."

"Alright, then." Jason clapped his hands. "Guess I'm in for an interesting day. If you wouldn't mind writing to your dad, I'd sure appreciate it."

Tess nodded and started writing on another piece of paper, and Jason pulled on his boots and headed out the door. Fern cheered him on as he left, banging her hand against the glass.

"Go daddy! Get dose plants!"

Jason smiled and waved at her, then jogged toward the barn. He pulled the door open as quickly as he could and raced inside, where he found a large assortment of animals waiting eagerly to be fed. Grunts, snorts, bleats, and spitballs all came thundering through the air, especially as he ignored them, ran to the stables, and took out Angus. He fed the mighty horse an apple while he tossed on the saddle, then mounted up and rode off for the prairie.

The situation was a complicated one, and one that he had been dreading for some time. About a month earlier, Milligan had approached him about the prospect of growing a wide assortment of plants for a family-friendly dungeon that was being built up in Summer Shandy. Jason had agreed, even though a voice in the back of his head at the time told him that it would

wind up being a bad idea. He had ignored that voice, and now, he was beginning to wonder if he would be paying the price. A good number of Milligan's plants, which had been genetically engineered to shoot off fireworks for the Spring Festival, had escaped into the wilderness. Now, if Jason had to guess, several of them had managed to stage a jailbreak for their captive brethren.

Angus's hooves thundered against the ground as they rode out of the yard and onto the road. There, a fairly large herd of tulips was waiting, just idly walking around, not really seeming to have any care in the world. Jason rode around to the far side of the herd, then waved his arms and started shouting.

"Haw! Yee!"

The tulips turned to look at him, regarded him for a long moment, and then went back to their idle wandering. Jason sighed and gritted his teeth, then opened up his inventory and pulled out his pistol. It was a wonderful weapon, given to him as a gift from Jeremiah, and, while it was certainly deadly in a fight, more importantly, it was loud.

BAM!

The gun discharged straight up into the air, the report echoing off the hills. That got the attention of the tulips. Of course, instead of making them run through the nice, open gate, they scattered every which way instead. Some of them bolted north toward Summer Shandy, some of them went south toward the Lazy-H Ranch, some of them went east out across the prairie. None of them went west into the yard. Jason scowled, then tapped Angus's flanks and started riding out across the prairie, trying to circle around them. He had some small success, but a moment later, a sharp yip echoed across the prairie.

Until that moment, he hadn't even known that sunflowers could make noises, but the sound that emerged from the desperate plant certainly fit the bill. He caught sight of the herd from earlier, stampeding together, as they fought to escape from something. He rode Angus closer, and there saw a small pack of crabgrasses piling upon one another as they fought to get at the tasty crops. The sunflowers in the rear paused for a moment to let off several small firecrackers, which did scare the crabgrasses slightly, but not nearly enough. Suddenly, one of the sunflowers in the rear tripped, and the crabgrass horde jumped upon it instantly.

"Alright! Back inside the fence!" Jason swung around the side of the sunflower herd and began directing them back toward the yard. They obliged well enough, behaving much better than the tulips. That said, several of them did turn around and launch fireworks at him, too, though he mostly ignored them.

As the sunflowers rumbled back inside the fence, Jason turned and started looking for the tulips. They had mostly formed back up into a singular herd, it looked like, about a hundred feet off to the east. Jason let out a long breath, then started trotting in their direction. He slowly swung around to the far side, then hopped down, spread his arms wide, and rushed forward.

It was an unorthodox method, and if he had been herding something like goats or cattle, he certainly wouldn't have attempted it. With the tulips, though, he was actually able to snatch up several of them, and was soon able to chase the rest back through the gate. With that, he slammed it shut, leaving the herds (or would 'gardens' be a better phrase for a group of mobile plants?) to rummage around the property. He then swung back up

onto Angus, just in time for Milligan to come galloping up on Dusty from the side.

"Howdy, boss!" Milligan flashed an apologetic smile. "Near as I can tell, one of those wild sunflowers cross-pollinated with some red-hot peppers, and... well... The results weren't exactly pretty."

"Milligan." Jason set his jaw. "I warned you that using monstertrap genetics wasn't a great idea. They combine with everything."

"I know, I know, but that very fact made them way easier to manipulate." Milligan stroked his chin, then shrugged. "Well, help me get all of these rounded up, and I'll see what I can do and return to the drawing board. I'm almost wondering if starting with crabgrass would be a better--"

"Howdy, neighbor!" Richard appeared over a hill. Two of his hired men came behind him, and he pulled up next to Jason and Milligan. "Sorry I can't spare more people. We're driving cattle south to Darkwater today, I'm afraid this is all I have."

"We're just happy to have help." Jason assured him. "Thank you, very much." He sighed, then nodded at Milligan. "Well, point us in the direction of the nearest herd."

"There's a mass of popgun string beans that made it into a hollow up north." Milligan gestured vaguely toward Summer Shandy. "They're going to be the hardest, I reckon we ought to start with them."

Jason gave a nod, then swung Angus around and started riding in that direction. Behind him came the others, all of them ready to... round up some plants.

He shook his head at the thought of it. Sure, it combined the two best parts of farming: The plants and the animals. In that sense, he really couldn't wait to start doing more with Milligan's schemes and plans. That

said... well... He really hoped that mass breakouts weren't going to become a daily occurrence.

Oh, well. If it did, it did. Odd sorts of things were par for the course in Summer Shandy. If that was what happened, he would deal with it as it came... And maybe consider buying a bit of herbicide if it got too bad.

Chapter

Chapter Four: Harvest

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 22nd day of Summer! 69 days until the Summer Festival! We've got a thunderstorm this very afternoon, folks, so make sure you get your work done quickly!!]

As Jason's eyes sprang open, he felt a great sense of anticipation, a sense of joy, of wonder. He practically sprang out of bed as he walked up to the window, where he slowly stuck out his head and took a deep breath.

Down below, spreading across the field, was a full, ripened crop of heirloom wheat. It stood almost five feet tall, waving gently in the wind, pure and gold and ready for the harvest. As he spun back around, he ran into Tess quite firmly, who laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"You're excited today."

"I'm always excited on harvest days." Jason shrugged, but grinned. "That's nothing new."

"Very true." Tess nodded toward the door. "Well, I have breakfast on the table, head down, eat your food, and get out just as quick as you want. I'll bring the girls along once you're going, Fern's been really interested in the crop."

"Sounds like a plan." Jason dressed as quickly as he could, then made his way down the stairs and through the kitchen. An egg burrito was waiting for him, which was a nice touch. It was easy to eat on the go. He shrugged on his boots, headed out the front door, and started walking for the barn. A bit of egg escaped from his meal, and Chance came bounding up, snatching

it before it could hit the ground. Jason leaned down and scratched the dog's head, then straightened up and made his way over toward the barn.

On the horizon, he could just see the storm clouds starting to brew, but they were still a long way off. He didn't have time to goof around, that was for sure, but he also wasn't tremendously concerned. Milligan poked his head out of the barn and waved, and Jason quickly came up to meet him.

"Morning, boss." Milligan dumped a bucket of grain into a pig trough, then straightened and wiped his brow. "You wouldn't believe it, but it takes way longer to do chores than it once did, you know that?"

"Trust me, I believe it." Jason chuckled, looking across the barn. Almost every pen was full, and that was just on the upper floor! The lower level had quite a few animals as well, pigs and goats galore. Tess was absolutely loving having the menagerie, though it sometimes overwhelmed Jason a little. He quickly helped Milligan feed the remainder of the animals, then, together, they made their way out of the barn and down to the lean-to where all the machines were stored.

Milligan quickly hitched up Dusty to the older harvester and pulled it out into the open. The great blades swooshed softly and powerfully as the machine moved. As it came to a stop, Milligan began to do his standard check-over of the machine, and Jason did the same for his own harvester. When he was done, Jason hitched up Angus to the front of the machine, and the two of them made their way toward the entrance of the field.

They paused just outside the gate. The front door of the house slammed open as Fern came running out, and Jason hopped down to scoop her up. As he held her tightly, Milligan came walking over, and together, they all looked at the field of tall, waving wheat.

"Why's it so big?" Fern asked after a moment. "It's tall!"

"That's because it's heirloom wheat." Jason smiled and gave her a kiss, then glanced at Milligan. "Actually, I keep meaning to tell you about it. Do you remember that history guy, the one who... Hmm."

"What is it?" Milligan chuckled.

"Well, there's no way you could know who I'm talking about. That was before your time." Jason shrugged. "Long story short, back when I bought the old dungeon for Tess, I had a guy from a History Guild in Illumitir come down to look at it. We've stayed in contact over the years for this thing or that, and late last Summer, he sent me a small packet of seed. He said it was a really old variety of wheat, and that he had managed to find a few kernels and wanted to see if I could grow a crop out of it. Something about preserving history, or... I'm not exactly sure, but it sounded cool, so I agreed. I used the greenhouse to get enough seed to actually plant the field, and... now we're here."

"Huh!" Milligan laughed. "I didn't know any of that had taken place."

"In fairness, last year was pretty nuts, what with all the animals and such." Jason glanced over at Tess who was standing on the porch. He flashed her a thumbs-up, and she waved and went back into the house. "Well, Fern, would you like to help me? I could use a great big helper on this job, I think."

"Help daddy!" Fern grinned. Jason climbed up onto the machine and helped her up as well. He placed her right beside himself (she was old enough now to stand), and he placed her hands on some small metal bars.

"Alright, Fern, you hold onto these, and you don't let go." Jason smiled, then straightened up and nodded at Milligan. "You think we'll be able to get this field and the far fields harvested by the time the storm gets here?"

"I think the odds go down the longer we stand here jawing."

"Fair enough." Jason took up the reins. "Haw!"

Angus snorted and lumbered forward, and the blades beneath the harvester whirred to life. For a long moment, they simply hummed through the air, and then, as they entered the field, the loud rush of gain being sucked through the machine took precedence.

Harvesting the heirloom wheat was almost instantly one of the strangest harvests that Jason had yet done (and that was really saying something). He stayed on the edge of the field, so he could see out across the prairie, but... well... That was about the only direction he could see. The wheat was taller than himself, even standing on the harvester! Ahead of him, Angus could hardly be seen, it almost looked like the reins just stretched out into the wheat, to connect with nothing at all. Meanwhile, off to the side, it was difficult to see where Milligan was, and it was near impossible to tell how much more of the field he had left to get done. It was... it was interesting, to say the least.

That said, it was far from bad. Angus knew his job well, and even though Jason couldn't see, he knew how to turn around at the far end, and kept the harvester right where it needed to be in order to harvest everything. Fern, from her own perch, couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. Jason had put her in a baby sling before, but this was the first time that she had actually just been able to stand there. She rattled about, laughing in glee, as the harvest bumped up and over the uneven flow of the field, but she managed to hang on well enough that Jason wasn't worried. He ruffled her hair as they trundled along, and soon, they came to an end.

As they turned around and started back, Jason crouched down and called into Fern's ear.

"How are you liking this?"

"I wuv it!"

"Do you want to keep riding, or do you want to get off?"

"Keep widing! Help daddy!"

Jason smiled and straightened up again. He didn't know how long her

attention span would be. He wasn't really worried about her getting bored, but he did have a slight concern that if she became too restless, she wouldn't pay attention to holding on, and could fall. As they went along, he kept a close watch on her, but she stayed firm, stayed put, and his heart swelled within him.

When they reached the end of the field closest to the farmhouse, they found Tess and Rachel already waiting there. Tess waved while Rachel clapped, and Fern waved grandly.

"Hello, my dear wife!" Jason called as they passed. "How are things going?"

"I just came to check on Fern!" Tess called back over the noise of the harvester.

"Stay with daddy!" Fern was adamant. Tess shrugged and turned away, walking up toward the barn to work with the animals. Jason watched her go, then turned the harvester back around and kept going.

Fern stayed on the harvester for almost a full hour, which was almost fifty-five minutes longer than Jason had originally thought she would be able to make it. In the end, though, her attention did start to wane, and Jason handed her across to Tess before heading back into the field. As the morning wore on, he and Milligan worked their way closer and closer to each other, though due to the tall nature of the grain, they could only check on the progress of the other when they came to the ends.

When lunchtime came and they met in the middle, they beamed as they rumbled out into the farmyard, unhitched the machines, and turned the horses back out into the corral. Tess met them with a picnic basket, though the two girls were inside. Jason and Milligan leaned against the fence, and she passed the food across.

"That's one field done." She nodded up at the clouds, which were starting to swirl faster and thicker. "What are you thinking for the afternoon?"

Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. The clouds were dark, and certainly looked like they were full of rain, but nothing had started to fall yet, nor could he see any on the horizon. "I'm sure Obadiah is right, and we're getting rain today. The question is whether it's actually coming now, or if it'll come later in the day. Once the rain hits, we'll be out of the field for a few days at least, so if we can get anything done before it comes... On the other hand, if we're out in the field when the rain comes, that's going to be way worse than waiting."

"It's your call." Tess shrugged. "There's food in the basket if you decide to stay out, or you can bring it inside and have a picnic on the living room floor with us. We're eating in fifteen minutes, so if you wait beyond that, you'll be eating by yourself."

Tess turned and walked away, and Milligan chuckled. "She draws a hard bargain."

"I know." Jason crossed his arms and tried to think. "I don't know, I honestly can't decide what to think of this storm."

"You mind if I offer my two cents?" Milligan raised an eyebrow.

"Please do." Jason offered.

"Let's go for it. If we go, we'll be stressed because we're watching the

sky, but we'll be getting something done. If we stay, we'll be stressed for

the same reason, but we'll be wishing we were doing something."

"Fair enough." Jason nodded, a smile on his face. "We'll give the horses

a few more moments to rest, then get back to it."

They quickly opened up the picnic basket and ate a short meal while they

continued to watch the sky. The clouds continued to threaten, and, if anything, grew even darker. When the two men had finished eating, they took out the horses once more, hitched them up to the harvesters once more, and set off across the prairie, rumbling down the gravel road toward the Far Eighty. As they did, the wind blew colder and harder, but still, onward they went.

It was a strange feeling, but one that Jason was well-familiar with, the struggle to yield a crop, over and over, in the face of the elements. Still, though, as the air grew cooler, and the prairie grasses all around him waved and shook under the assaults of the breeze, he felt a sense of excitement. This was farming.

And it was what he hoped he could do for a long, long time.

Chapter

Chapter Five: Family Visit

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 30th day of Summer! 61 days until the Summer

Festival! Alright, folks, we're one month into things! If you have any big Summer projects you've been putting off, don't put them off any longer, because, contrary to popular belief, I cannot add more days to the end of the season. As an aside, work on the new dungeon is coming along quite well, and, in fact, we'll be holding a bit of a celebration this very evening to celebrate some exciting advancements in that realm of things!]

Jason frowned as he read the message. It seemed to him that Obadiah wasn't saying everything, though he couldn't exactly tell what it was. Beside him, Tess swept into the room, a smile on her face.

"Good morning, Jason!"

"Good morning." Jason rolled out of bed and yawned. "You're perky this morning. You don't happen to know anything about--"

Thump.

The whole house rattled slightly, like a single pulse of an earthquake had struck. The only problem was that there weren't any fault lines in the area, at least none that Jason was aware of. It was followed a moment later by a second thump, which was then followed by a loud crash.

"Little farmer! I broke a vase!"

Jason's blood ran cold, and he slowly shook his head. "No. Please tell me he's not here."

"He is." Tess apologized. "I'll... I'll go clean that--"

"Little farmer!" Daniel, tall and broad, burst through the door to the bedroom. It was entirely inappropriate in Jason's estimation, but, of course, Daniel had never exactly been one to care about such things. In any event, Tess's adoptive brother had a wide smile across his face, and wore a set of ceremonial dress armor decorated with a number of bright patches and tassels. "Good to see you again! Viola, come on up!"

"Daniel! It isn't polite to barge in on other people while they're sleeping!"

"He's not! I can see his eyeballs!" Daniel sighed and shrugged. "Sorry. See you downstairs at breakfast!"

He turned and clomped out of the room, and Jason let out a long breath.

"Question: Do we actually have enough food to feed him for breakfast today?"

"That depends on your definition of 'enough'." Tess laughed. "I'm working on it now. Get yourself dressed and head down."

Jason nodded, then swung out of bed. He glanced out the window, where he saw Milligan doing the chores, then changed into overalls and made his way downstairs. There, Fern and Rachel were racing around the living room with their cousins, laughing and giggling. Jason smiled and leaned against

the doorframe. At least, he did for a moment, then held up a finger and started counting.

Daniel was in the kitchen, chatting with Tess. Viola was on the couch next to the hearth, where she held an enlarged belly carefully, her face flushed and red. Meanwhile, the three-year-old Charlotte raced around with Fern, laughing and giggling, while Joseph, who was only a couple months older than Rachel, chased her around. Toddling after them all was a baby who couldn't have been more than a year old, waving his little arms and laughing at them all.

"And who's this little one?" Jason walked forward and swept up the baby, who laughed and giggled wildly.

"This is Fisher." Viola answered. "I did write to tell Tess about him." "And I told you about him!" Tess hollered out of the kitchen.

"Well... It didn't sink in my memory." Jason laughed and spun in a

circle, holding tight to little Fisher. He then set the baby back down on the floor, and Fisher raced off after Joseph and Charlotte. "Wow. Let's see... And you're about to have number four? You're not only outnumbered, but they're also double your own count!"

Viola laughed and nodded. "I know, I know. Everyone says we're crazy, but..." She lowered her voice. "Can I be honest. I really just like getting to be a mom. Daniel's home every night to help me with things, and... I mean, I ran the inn in Summer Shandy for years. In a lot of ways, these little ones are less trouble than some of the guests who came through."

"I can confirm that!" Tess called out from the kitchen. "I had to beat down a few of them. Trust me, she had her work cut out for her."

"But it prepared me for this." Viola spread her arms wide, and Charlotte rushed forward to throw herself into her mother's embrace. "And I wouldn't

have it any other way."

"Breakfast!" Tess hollered a moment later. "Anyone who wants food,

come and get it!" "Food!"

"Foo!"

"Yum!"

A proper stampede of children raced out of the living room, though the

kitchen, and into the dining room. Daniel was right among them, and within a few minutes, everyone had been seated around the long table. Tess had spread it with a white tablecloth, and then set it with eggs, biscuits, waffles, pancakes, sausage, and a great deal more. The parents spaced themselves out between all the children to assist with various food-related tasks, such as cutting everything up and wiping food off cheeks, and Jason smiled broadly.

"You're in town for the new dungeon, right?" Jason nodded at Daniel. "I'm honestly surprised they got you all the way out here. You're the head of the Dungeon Guild, right?"

Daniel nodded. "Chief in command, that's me! Yeah, it's actually an interesting series of circumstances. I mean, this new dungeon isn't expected to make any real money for the guild, at least not right now, but we're pitching it as a potential way to domesticate the warrior profession, so to speak, you know? Everyone knows warriors as these big, buff types, but... I really think a lot more of them would settle down with families if they thought they could. This might be a good way to get some of them to make that transition."

Jason nodded and smiled. "It sounds like a wonderful idea. You think it'll work?"

"I do." Daniel confirmed. "I think it's really going to be a big draw, especially for the warriors who do have families. The board isn't convinced, I'll admit that, but I'm providing quite a bit of the funding from my own pocket, and if it does work, the forecasts for profit are off the charts. Plus..." He laughed. "I think they're getting a little tired of me peering over their shoulders all the time! I left Hank in charge, so they're not really getting a reprieve, but it feels like it to them. Hank can't actually throw them all out the window if they annoy him."

"Have you done that?" Jason asked, half-joking.

"Three times." Viola confirmed. "I actually saw the first one, I was bringing him some dinner one day when he had a meeting that went late. There was this giant crash, and then one of the board members just comes tumbling down five stories and hits the ground. Broke every cobblestone on the street. He sorta climbed up and mumbled an apology, then slunk away."

"And I haven't seen him since." Daniel nodded firmly. "Good riddance, I say. He wanted to... ahh, I suppose that's a guild secret, but it wasn't pleasant, so I gave him the boot. The other two I've thrown out have both slunk back and apologized, so that's positive."

Jason could only shake his head. "That's... incredible."

"You want to know what's incredible? Or at least really funny?" Daniel started to snicker. "After the second time, the board went in and bought cannon-proof glass. When I tried to throw the third guy out, he just bounced back. I think they thought it would dissuade me from doing it again, but..." He snorted. "I just kept trying. Took me three tosses before I got him through. Now, it's been replaced by glass so thin it breaks just about every time the wind gusts, but none of them are willing to put up anything thicker!"

Jason could only laugh more. "I can't believe you. Sounds like things are going well, though."

"Fantastically." Daniel gobbled down his fifth sausage. "Now, if it's alright by you, I'd love to get a tour of the farm. That barn is impressive. Johan does good work, and I'd love to see the piece of art that launched him to fame, so to speak. I mean, I've seen his other buildings up in Illumitir, but he's adamant that this thing was his finest work."

"I'll take you out there as soon as we're done." Jason promised.

The rest of the meal was a simple affair, simply catching up with each other, sharing stories about their lives and all the assorted chaos that each of them had gotten into. When they were all done eating, they stood up and made their way outside, Fern leading the charge of young children as she sought to show them everything. They went racing out of sight, and Daniel glanced around nervously.

"They'll be okay, won't they?"

"Oh, yeah." Jason nodded firmly. "There's nothing around here that could hurt them, and Fern knows what she's allowed to do and what she's not allowed to do. Actually, I'd love for you to meet--"

"Boss!" Milligan appeared in the door of the barn, a broad smile across his face. He came ambling down, followed closely by Alice, Fern's pony, who was hitched up to her little carriage. "I thought you all might appreciate some rides!"

"Alice!" Fern came streaking around the corner of the barn, leading her pack of cousins. "Come on! Come on!"

Jason smiled and crossed his arms as the group of children began to take rides in the carriage around the farm. Two of them could fit into the carriage at a time, and even though the little strap of leather that ran from Alice's

harness to the carriage seat didn't actually function as a rein, Alice knew the lay of the land well enough to take them on a good trot. The families stood around, laughing and shaking their heads, and Daniel glanced over at Jason.

"You've got a nice thing going here." He sighed deeply. "You really do. I know I give you a lot of flack for things, but... I remember what this place looked like when I first met you, and I've heard the stories of what it looked like before that. You've done a good job for my sister." He paused, then nodded. "I approve of you getting married."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you already do that?"

"Publicly, but I reserved private judgement until time could prove itself." "Your confidence in me is overwhelming." Jason rolled his eyes, though

he knew that, coming from Daniel, it really was a great compliment.

"I'm glad!" Daniel thumped Jason on the back. "Now, little farmer, show me around! Our kids look like they have themselves all settled and are

having fun. I'd like to see everything this place has to offer."

"You have been in the barn before." Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I didn't know that Johan made it, so I wasn't paying

attention." Daniel snorted. "Obviously."

Jason rolled his eyes, but laughed, and started walking up toward the

barn. He loved his extended family, of that, there could be no doubt. He really couldn't ask for anyone better, and he was glad that they would be in town for a time.

He only hoped that Daniel didn't accidentally knock the farm down while he was there.

Chapter

Chapter Six: What About The

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 42nd day of Summer! 49 days until the Summer Festival! Today's a big animal-sale day, so make sure you're staying out of the way, folks! Unless you're one of the people working with the animals, in which case, get right in there where you need to be!]

As Jason's eyes flickered open, he yawned and sat up, then smiled as he heard the sound of hoofbeats below. Slowly, he rose and walked up to the window, where he found Tess and Milligan both hard at work. Richard and several of his hired men had just driven a handful of wagons into the farmyard, and were busy getting them up and into the barn to start loading up animals.

"Daddy!" Fern, still in her nightgown, came racing into the room. Jason turned and scooped her up, then did the same for Rachel, who was just a few feet behind. Together, they turned to look out across the farmstead, watching all the goings-on below. "Are you being mommy today?"

"I suppose you could say that!" Jason laughed. He set the two girls down, then patted them on the head. "Why don't you two run off to your bedroom, and I come along in a minute? We'll get you changed, then get some food and go see how mommy is doing?"

"Yay! I change Ray!"

Fern raced out of the room at top speed, and Jason held up a hand. That wasn't exactly what he had meant, though he supposed it would be humorous to see what they came up with. As soon as they were gone, he shut the door, then changed into overalls and strode out into the hall. There

was a crash, and he started walking a bit faster, only to step into utter chaos exploding rapidly across the floor of the bedroom.

"What did you guys-- You were only gone for thirty seconds!" Jason blinked in surprise. Fern had managed to pull out two drawers, spilling dresses, leggings, and underwear all over the floor. Rachel had pulled a pair of leggings over her head, causing the tight elastic band to snap over her eyes, blinding her, while Fern was in the process of getting tangled in her nightclothes as she fought to get them off.

"Alright, alright. Hold up." Jason held up a hand, then quickly picked all the clothes up off the floor and set them down on the bed. The moment that the temptations were out of reach, he pulled the leggings off Rachel's head, and quickly undressed both girls before changing them into matching town outfits. They both ran from the room the moment he finished, and he laughed softly as their little feet pounded down the stairs for the kitchen.

"Mommy left food!"

"Yay!"

Crash!

"Daddy, the food broke!"

Jason could only laugh as he climbed to his feet and stalked down the

stairs. At the bottom, he found an overturned plate of sausage and eggs. Thankfully, the platter was unbroken, and he quickly picked it up and set it into the sink. Chance, having apparently sensed the commotion from outside, came rushing in through the doggy door to start licking everything off the floor. Fern and Rachel both started bawling, and continued to do so until Jason had them up in their high chairs. The cookbook flipped several pages and created another, identical platter, and that, thankfully, seemed to cheer them up.

When they had all eaten, Jason took them outside, making extra certain to hold their hands as the doors opened.

"There are a lot of wagons and horses racing back and forth today." He warned. "You are not to go running off by yourself, do you understand?"

"Yes, daddy!" Fern nodded.

"Horsey!" Rachel pointed and began to tug against his grip, making him thankful that he had thought to take such a precaution.

"Yes, that is, indeed, a horse." Jason smiled as he led Rachel over to the edge of the porch railing, where he lifted her up to perch on the faded white paint. Fern wanted up as well, and he quickly obliged, and the three of them looked out at the rumbling wagons. Tess waved as she drove out with a full load of hogs, and all of them waved back at her. Several more wagonloads went by, and soon, all five of them were going on up toward the town. Richard, who had stayed behind with Milligan to get things set up for the next load, came ambling over to the porch.

"And how are my only grandkids?" He winked at Jason as the girls jumped down from the porch rail and ran over to him. He picked them up and gave them giant hugs, then slowly set them down. "Jason."

"Richard." Jason held out a hand, which Richard shook firmly.

"That'll be father-in-law to you." Richard answered, though he had a smile on his face as he said it. "How's it going?"

"Oh, it's going." Jason chuckled softly. With all the wagons gone, Fern raced down from the porch and ran out toward the barn, where Milligan was scattering some feed for the chickens. "How does everything look?"

"Couldn't look better. Tess knows what she's doing, that's a fact." Richard shook his head. "If you three weren't in the picture, I'd try to get her to come down to the Lazy-H. She's got an eye for animal care."

Jason snorted. "She spent most of her life learning how to beat them into a pulp. All she has to do is the exact opposite of that, and she's golden."

Richard opened his mouth, paused, and chuckled. "You know, you're really not wrong." He shook his head. "Ahh. She'd do wonders with a cattle herd, you know that?"

"I'm looking into buying the patch of ground just next to us." Jason admitted quietly. "Don't tell Tess yet, I want it to be a surprise, but I've been looking at my savings, and I think I can afford to buy... It would be a strip of ground just north of our property, which would then run way back, all the way to the Far Eighty and the New Eighty."

"Really?" Richard raised an eyebrow. "Tess would love that."

"By the end of this season, I ought to have enough. I have three fields now; they're producing quite a bit." Jason nodded, then chuckled. "Actually, I'd probably have bought more farmland by now, if I'm being honest, but Milligan and I together struggle to get it all done. I'd need a whole lot more help to expand my operation much more, and I'm just not quite ready to pull that trigger yet."

"Don't get me wrong, Jason, but you're not really the type to manage something that big." Richard patted Jason on the shoulder. "You could probably do incredible at it, don't get me wrong, but I see how much you enjoy getting to be the one to go out and do everything. You wouldn't get that opportunity if you just had a thousand workers doing everything. I'm always getting accused around the ranch of sticking my nose into everything."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You're the owner, isn't it your business to stick your nose into everything?"

"Nah." Richard shook his head. "Jeremiah gave me the advice at the beginning of my time at the ranch. Hired hands form a community among themselves, a community they can't share with the boss because... well, he's the boss. Sure, you might think you're doing them a favor, but most likely, showing up will only cause them to tense up and make more mistakes. I have my work on the ranch, and they have theirs, and they seem to like that fact a whole lot more than when I was bungling around all the time. If you do that here, you'll go stir-crazy sitting in that office of yours, let me tell you that."

"I'll take your word for it." Jason chuckled. He puffed out his cheeks as Fern came racing back out of the barn, followed closely by Alice. Milligan appeared in the doorway, smiling and waving at the little girl. It was just so innocent of a sight; Jason felt his heart melting just looking at it. He took a deep breath, then nodded. "Well, I think Tess wants me to stay busy today. We'll sit around and chat later, I think."

"I'll see you at dinner tonight!" Richard slowly walked away. "Tess tells me that you're really pulling out all the stops for it."

"First I've heard of this!" Jason laughed. "We'll see, I guess!"

Richard soon walked back up and into the barn, and the first of the wagons returned. Jason called the girls back around to the porch, and they remained there until everything had been loaded up and left once more.

That day was a pleasant one. Jason took the girls down to the field, which he had planted a variety of sunflowers that he hadn't tried before—the oil sunflower. The thick, black ooze that they dripped was a little gross, and it stained clothes terribly bad, but they yielded incredibly well. They could also, as Jason had discovered, be thrown into fires to cause them to flare up into proper infernos. He imagined that they had even more uses (Jeremiah

had some half-cocked idea about creating a horseless carriage), but he wasn't going to stress himself too much about it. He had fun with the two girls, in any case, helping them chase butterflies along the fence, or even helping them balance on the top rung of the fence as they toddled along.

A little before noon, he headed inside, and Fern helped him assemble a large number of sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, and some other odds and ends. They then took them out to the barn, which was almost half-empty, and fed the workers as they came through. Fern had quite a great deal of fun taking everyone's food to them, and they thanked her with profuse bows and other such displays.

When the day was finally done, most of the workers went back up toward the Lazy-H Ranch, with Richard and Weatherhand really being the only two to stay. Jason paused for a moment in the barn before heading in to start working on dinner, just looking over it all.

There were still a few animals, mostly the sheep and alpacas and such, but... without all the hubbub, the barn just felt empty. He sighed as he looked over all the empty pens, then shrugged and turned away. Tess would fill them up again soon enough. Before that time, Jason knew he needed to get the pens cleaned out, along with an assortment of other odd jobs. He would cross that bridge later, though. For now, he needed to get food for everyone, and help his exhausted wife relax for the evening.

The rest would come tomorrow, as it always did.

Chapter

Chapter Seven: Accidents

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 50th day of Summer! 41 days until the Summer Festival! Today's a great day to get things done! We had a cold front come through last night, which will bring a few storms along in a couple days, but until then, I think we ought to have some of the nicest days of the Summer!]

As Jason's eyes opened, the smell of fresh flowers, of dew, of life came floating inside, and he sat up to find the window wide open. Slowly, he slipped out of bed and walked over, where he stuck out his head to look around. The prairie grasses were gently waving as far as the eye could see, touched by the softest of winds in a perfect, incredible stillness. He didn't see Milligan down below, but he supposed that the hired man didn't have to be out early, by any stretch. The fact that he usually did get out so early was a bonus, not a necessity.

In any case, he soon pulled himself back inside, changed clothes, and headed downstairs. There, he found Tess bustling around the kitchen, setting out pancakes and sausage and a few other condiments. She was in town clothes, and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry. Viola sent me a message asking if I could come into town to help babysit the kids." Tess flashed a smile over her shoulder. "I said that would be totally fine. Sounds like they had an accident at the construction site that blew up a good portion of the Guild Hall, so everything's just a bit chaotic up there this morning."

Jason chuckled. "When did that happen?"

"Late last night." Tess shrugged. "I don't know all the details, but I know a cannon was involved, so you can take a guess at who the culprit is."

"At least he was having fun while he was at it." Jason laughed softly. He sat down at the table and ate quickly, then rose as the girls started calling down the stairs that they were awake. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Nah. Just get out the door and get things done." Tess smiled at him. "You're harvesting today, right?"

"That's the plan." Jason nodded. "We'll have to see how it goes! I'll admit I'm a bit nervous."

"Well, I hope it all goes well." Tess gave him a peck on the cheek, then jogged up the stairs. "Catch you later!"

Jason waved after her, then walked to the front of the house. Soon, he had pulled on his boots and made his way outside, where Milligan was just riding in through the gates.

"Sorry, Boss!" Milligan called out. "Had a bit of an issue with my plants this morning."

Jason shook his head. "Not a problem. I don't expect you out here so early most mornings anyway. Something you need help with?"

"Nah." Milligan shook his head. "The short version of the problem is that I started working on incorporating crabgrass genetics into the sunflowers instead of monstertrap genetics. Make them a bit more docile, right?" He held up his hands, then started chuckling. "Well, what I didn't take into consideration is that monstertraps eat crabgrasses. The two groups discovered each other last night, and there was quite the brawl. Both batches were almost completely destroyed."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jason frowned.

"Don't be! That's my secondary job. My primary duty is to you and the farm, and that's what I aim to do." Milligan nodded. "Now, let's go get these oil flowers out of here!"

Jason smiled, and they soon made their way up to the barn, did all the chores, and got their horses hitched up to the harvesters. About that time, Tess came out with the girls, and Jason helped her get Lady hitched up to the carriage. Soon, they were off, with Fern and Rachel both turned backward, waving frantically as they drove away. Jason waved back, at least until Tess told them both to sit down and face forward.

With that, Jason and Milligan mounted their machines, took up the reins, and started toward the field. Before they entered, they paused, and Jason spent a moment of time trying to think about how best to tackle the project.

When he had first planted the Oil Sunflowers, he had assumed that they were for cooking oil. Frankly, he wasn't really sure what the thick, goopy black oil could be used for. It was being bought for quite a high price, so it was apparently good for something, but it boggled his mind. In any event, the field before him was an absolute mess. The large, black sunflower heads had started dripping almost two weeks earlier, which now resulted in a massive portion of the field being transformed into what was essentially oily mud. Jason wasn't at all sure how they were going to get the harvesters through the muck, or if they would even really be able to harvest the stuff, though he knew they had to try.

"Alright." Jason nodded after a moment. "If you run into trouble, just holler. Otherwise... I don't know. Take your best shot at it!"

"After you!"

Jason puffed out his cheeks, then snapped the reins. Angus lumbered forward, squelching into the muck as he passed through the gates and into

the field. Almost instantly, the smell of tar, of... well, Jason wasn't sure exactly how to describe it. It smelled hot, that was the best way to explain it. The harvester itself whirred into the field after Angus, and Jason held on tight as they began to slew and slaw through the mud.

The one and only bright side was that Angus actually seemed to have an easier job pulling the harvester than usual. The wheels just slid on through the muck, gliding rather like a sled over snow. That said, everything else was downhill from there. It slid left and right according to the lay of the land, it was almost impossible to keep in a straight line, which meant that his harvest pattern was more than a bit uneven. Angus's hooves, as they pulled themselves up and out of the muck, splattered oily mud across his haunches and up onto the harvester, while the blades themselves simply blew oil everywhere. It was like driving through a soft, gentle mist... Except that it was bright and sunny out, and instead of water, it was the aforementioned oil.

By the time he reached the end of the first pass, Jason felt rather like a candle wick. A few more passes, and he felt like he was a lantern, just waiting for a spark to catch him on fire. His clothes were stained black by the gunk, his skin felt sticky and goopy, and he knew it was going to take him ages to get himself cleaned afterward.

All through that morning, the two men worked, rumbling back and forth. When they finished, Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. The two horses pulled the harvesters out into the yard, and he hopped down to look at the machines. They were almost black from all the gunk, while the horses themselves were a mass of mud, dust, and bits of the harvested sunflowers that had stuck firmly to their hair.

"Boss, I hate to tell you, but you look like you just crawled up out of a dungeon!" Milligan chuckled loudly.

Jason turned and raised an eyebrow. Milligan's mustache, which was usually quite well-trimmed, now hung droopily down from his cheeks, where several small insects had become trapped in the hair.

"And you look like someone needs to throw you in one. Not because you look like something that belongs there, but because it hurts to look at what's become of you."

Milligan laughed loudly. "Touché, my dear boy! Ahh... Well?" He looked down at himself and patted his oily overalls. "What now?"

"Now..." Jason paused. "We take the horses out to the Far Eighty. I'd like to get that field harvested today, if possible, just to get done with it. I'll go wash my hands and get some lunch together, then come out after you. When we get done, we'll just have to try to get everything washed up."

"Right you are, boss."

Milligan snapped the reins and took off for the Far Eighty, while Jason took Angus over to the house. He hopped down, then went over to the pump and poured out some water, which he used to try to clean off his hands. It was hard work, as the oil just sorta made the water run off without actually cleaning anything, but he kept at it, and in time, he managed to get enough of it scrubbed off that he didn't feel as though he would contaminate the food. With that, he made his way up into the farmhouse, coming down a few moments later.

"Howdy, little farmer!"

Jason glanced over as Daniel ambled into the farmyard. The massive warrior plucked an apple off one of the trees and started to munch on it as he walked over to join Jason.

"Howdy." Jason nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I was hoping I could ask what I could do for you." Daniel gave a small bow. "Tess told me that you were sorta dreading this harvest, and no one wants me around while they're building things. I tried to explain about the five nails, one hammer strike thing, but no one was interested."

Jason laughed, despite himself. "I could sure use the help. Head on out to the Far Eighty, and we'll..." He paused, then frowned in thought. He needed to get the Homestead Eighty cleaned up before he would be able to plant anything else on the property. He had a few thoughts about it, but several of them involved fire, and he didn't want to do such a thing himself until he had managed to clean himself up. "Actually, before that, can you shoot a flaming arrow out into the middle of that thing?"

"Sure thing, little farmer!"

Daniel quickly pulled out a bow and arrow, drew the string back, and let fly. The arrow burst into flame as soon as it left the weapon, causing a long string of fire to race out through the sky. It fell into the middle of the field... And the trail of smoke slowly faded away.

"Huh." Jason shrugged. "Alright, then. I'll have to come up with Plan B. Until then, Daniel, if you wouldn't mind--"

FOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The field suddenly exploded into flame, shooting tongues of fire almost as high into the air as the peak of his barn. Jason gulped as he looked at it, but Daniel laughed.

"Wow! You've got more of that?"

"Two fields." Jason nodded. The flames started to die down after only a few seconds, reduced to something a bit more realistic as all the oil was

used up. "The quicker we get all the grain out, the quicker we get to have fun."

"Then call me a farmer, because I'm going to get those fields harvested faster than you can say--"

Whatever Daniel was about to say was lost as he raced off across the prairie, and Jason laughed. He climbed up onto the harvester and started off once more. Once, Daniel had harvested a full eighty acres in one single attack of a scythe. If he could do it again, it would make it so much easier (and cleaner). Not to mention the fact that fire was just fun to play with.

"Alright, boy." Jason took up the slippery reins. "Let's go get this done! Haw!"

With that, he lumbered off across the prairie... Off to whatever the job happened to bring him next.

Chapter

Chapter Eight: Thunder

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 60th day of Summer! 31 days until the Summer Festival! Two months are down, one more to go! Today's a nasty one, folks! Lots of rain, lots of thunder, so if you've got little kids, keep them inside! Unless they like rain and thunder, in which case... Well... If there was a day you were going to let them play out in the mud, today would be that day!]

"Mud!"

Jason's eyes opened slowly, just in time to see Fern perform a flying leap onto his face. He yelped as she struck, then groaned and rolled to the side.

"Mommy said there's mud today!" Fern started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "Mud, mud, mud!!!"

"Very true." Jason groaned, slowly stood up, and then picked up his daughter. She was in grungier clothes than usual, and he slowly walked up to the window. There, rain came down in sheets, battering the house and the barn alike. "Next time, please try not to jump on my face. You want to play in the mud today?"

"Yes peas!"

"Then I reckon we can do just that." Jason slowly set her down and smiled. "It's been awhile since I've played in the mud, actually."

"Play with daddy!"

"I reckon so." Jason patted her on the head, then pointed her to the door. "Run along now, while I get changed."

Fern dashed out into the hall, and Jason closed the door. Soon, he had changed into an old pair of stained overalls, then made his way downstairs. There, Tess had prepared a lovely breakfast of eggs and sausage, and Jason took his head. Rachel was already happily munching away, while Fern was almost done.

"It sounds like it's a mud day?" Jason glanced up at Tess, a smile on his face.

"If that's okay by you." Tess nodded. "I've actually already gotten a letter from Viola this morning. Her kids, at least the older two, have been wanting to play in the mud since they got here. They've heard stories from the country kids in the area, but Illumitir doesn't really have any good places for it."

"Then have them come on down!" Jason grinned. "This will be fun!"

Tess nodded, then rose and went into the living room to write a return letter. Jason ate slowly, finishing about the same time as Rachel, and he stood. The two girls raced past him to the front door, where he pulled on his boots.

"Alright, girls. I have to go get chores done, and then we'll go get to the feature entertainment."

Tess shook her head. "I can get the chores. After that, I have some housework to get done if you'd be able to keep an eye on them, but I can at least cover the animals."

"That works for me." Jason smiled. He pulled his boots back off, and slowly pulled the door open. "Time to play in the rain!"

"Wain!"

Fern and Rachel shot past him, pounding out across the porch and down into the yard. A small pool had formed just next to the house, near some

peonies that Tess had planted, and they dove headlong into the muck the moment they could. As they came up, they had mud plastered all down their fronts, and a bit in their hair as well.

"Alright, girls." Jason slowly walked out into the main yard. There, the heavy flow of wagons and horses ensured that no grass grew, which, at that moment, had allowed it to be transformed into a massive puddle of mud. "Here's how you do it! AHHHHHH!"

He raced forward, got up to speed, and then jumped forward, landing flat on his belly. His momentum carried him forward, splattering his face (and the two girls, who had walked closer) with the thick goop. They both laughed and tried to imitate him, though they mostly just belly-flopped in the mud instead. Still, though, it was fun, and they both lay down on their backs and started sliding through the muck as best they could.

Jason sat down in the middle of the puddle, splashing the two girls when they came closer. Suddenly, though, he heard hoofbeats in the distance, and turned to look out at the road. Past the apple trees, he could see a wagon approaching, and an idea popped into his head.

"Alright, girls." He called them to himself. "Scoop up as much mud as you can, then throw it at them when they get here!"

"Okay, daddy!"

Fern grabbed as much as she could hold, then made a fist and dropped most of it. Rachel did her best, but mostly just smeared it across her belly. Jason smiled at them, then bent down and scooped up two massive handfuls of mud. Then, carefully, he crept up to the apple trees nearest to the gate.

As the wagon came trotting inside, he caught a glimpse of Viola and their children sitting high on the vehicle. Daniel didn't seem to be anywhere

around, which was somewhat disappointing, but Jason supposed he would live. He nodded to the girls, who rushed forward and screamed.

"Mud!"

Viola looked down and giggled as the two girls tried to throw their bits of mud up at the carriage. None of it hit them, and she simply laughed. Jason then stepped up and made to lob his own mud, and Viola shrieked. He laughed and threw it against the side of the carriage instead, and shrugged.

"You know I wouldn't throw mud on a lady, don't--"

"Surprise!"

Jason caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and he

turned as Daniel came charging up from the road. His own hands were full of mud as well, and he leapt into the air, spun, and threw the supercharged mud balls directly into Jason's torso.

That hurt. A good hurt, to be certain, but... Jason was picked up by the blast and thrown back into the puddle, where he skidded several feet over the thick mud before coming to a stop and settling into the ooze. He coughed and laughed as he sat up, then leapt back to his feet, scooped up a bit more mud, and raced back at Daniel.

The now un-armed Daniel glanced down at the very mud that Jason was standing in and bolted forward, rushing past the carriage. Jason laughed and threw his first blob of mud, which Daniel simply dodged by diving into a barrel-roll. As he came out of it, though, Jason followed up with his second mud ball, hitting Daniel square in the face.

"I'm wounded!" Daniel straightened up, then flopped over dramatically into the mud, causing a splash of muck that exploded up into the sky. Mud came showering down on everything nearby, which everyone (except Viola) seemed to appreciate. The girls laughed and clapped, and the muddy Daniel

stood up to help Charlotte and Joseph down. They both went to dive into the muck, and he offered to help Viola get down, but she politely shook her head and started climbing down with Fisher and Anastasia.

"I brought you out here so that you and the kids could play in the mud. I have absolutely no interest in getting coated myself, thank you very much."

Daniel grinned, and Jason could tell that he was seriously contemplating coating Viola in mud anyway, so he rather quickly intervened, and threw a blob of mud at Daniel before he could do anything. Daniel spun around; Jason grinned... And with that, the greatest mud fight Summer Shandy had ever seen began!

Daniel immediately tackled Jason to the ground, and slung him off through the mud. Jason sat up, laughing, and threw several more blobs of mud back at Daniel. Fern came toddling up to him as Daniel dodged, and Jason took her hands and formed them into scoops.

"Here." He bent her over, and helped her scoop up a good bit of the slop. "Now... let's see. I think Charlotte looks like she needs a bit of mud!"

"Charlotte! Quick!" Daniel cried out, rushing over to his daughter. He crouched down behind her, and helped her scoop up a bit of mud herself. "Get ready to defend yourself!"

The two girls slowly walked toward each other, a bit unsteadily. They both had wide grins across their faces. Soon, they drew up... And gave each other big hugs, splattering more mud all over their backs.

"That works!" Daniel grinned, then turned to Jason and spread his arms wide. "Bring it in!"

Jason stood up and walked over... Then, about a foot away, drew his hand out from behind his back, revealing a blob that he had concealed,

which he threw up into Daniel's face with all his might. Daniel laughed as he staggered back.

"Good one!"

With that, they simply launched themselves into battle once more, helping the little ones splatter each other with mud, and getting in some good shots themselves when the opportunities were presented. It was chaotic, it was wild, and it was completely and utterly fun.

The rain continued to come down all that morning, proving constant and fresh water to continue the joy. When noontime came, Tess and Viola came out onto the porch, and Tess cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Come to the porch! Stand under the eaves to clean off!"

Jason nodded, threw one more blob of mud at Daniel, and helped the assorted children to the house. There, water was pouring off the edge of the roof in a steady stream, which they used as an impromptu shower to clean off most of the mud. With that, they made their way up onto the dry porch, where a picnic lunch had been prepared.

By the time lunch was over, despite the warm temperature of the day, the kids were starting to shiver. Jason and Daniel helped their wives get them all inside, dried down, and changed into far warmer clothing. With that, they settled down in front of the hearth, where Jason lit a crackling blaze, and they all simply relaxed. The adults sat on the couches and chatted while the children ran in circles chasing one another, and Jason sighed in contentment.

It was a lovely day, of that, there could be no doubt. Perhaps not the most productive day, but... well... All of that could come later. For now, he was going to enjoy his family, let his kids play and have fun, and... well... The rest, he could figure out when the sun reappeared.

Chapter

Chapter Nine: Sunny

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 81st day of Summer! 10 days until the Summer Festival! Let's see here... My forecast says that we should be having quite the burst of weather right now, but looking out the front door, all I see are stars and an open sky. Huh. Well, I don't know what to tell you. If you feel like risking stepping outside, go for it! No judgement here.]

Jason snorted at the message, then slowly rolled out of bed and stood up. Tess was still in bed, and she slowly yawned and sat up as Jason walked up to the window and poked his head outside.

"Is it actually nice out there today?"

Jason shrugged. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the sun was just peeking over the horizon, and a nice, warm breeze blew gently across the landscape.

"Seems like it." He pulled his head back inside and shut the window. For several days now, Obadiah had been warning of a terrible storm, one that would certainly break a few records, that was supposed to hit that very day. While it was certainly possible it would crop up later... well... At least for the moment, Jason wasn't seeing anything.

"What does that mean for the day, then?" Tess frowned and swung herself out of bed. "We had been planning to more or less take today off. Think you'll try to get outside and do something, or do we just stick with our plan?"

Jason crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "I think I'll head into town, if that's alright by you. I have a few odds and ends I could stand to

pick up, and I wasn't sure how I was going to fit it into the schedule between now and the festival."

"Yeah, that works well for me." Tess nodded. "If you don't mind, I think I'll stay out here. The girls have torn all sorts of holes through their clothes, they could really use some mending, and the girls love playing in the yard."

"Then I'll catch you for dinner tonight." Jason quickly dressed in a town tunic and started down the stairs. "Hopefully nothing terrible blows up between now and then!"

Tess laughed as he started out. "I can't imagine anything that bad would pop up!"

Jason, quite frankly, could imagine such a thing, but he didn't want to worry Tess. He made his way down to the kitchen, where he fixed himself a small breakfast, then made his way outside. There, Milligan was just arriving to do chores, and the two of them quickly poured out all the feed for the assorted animals. When they finished, Jason started to get Lady saddled up and ready.

"You're heading into town?" Milligan glanced at him. "Would you mind taking something in to Jeremiah for me? I've got some paperwork he's been asking about."

"Yeah, for sure." Jason held out his hand, and Milligan tossed him a large packet. "Catch you around!"

Milligan rode off for his cabin on the Far Eighty, and Jason took Lady down to the porch. There, Fern and Rachel came running out, and he gave them both hugs and kisses.

"Can you bring me back something?" Fern batted her eyes at him. "Please?"

"We'll see." Jason smiled. "How about this? I'll see if I can find you something, but if I get back home and mommy tells me that you've been misbehaving, I'll eat it instead."

Fern's face twisted into an expression of utter horror. After a moment, though, she brightened.

"Okay, daddy! I'll be really good!"

"I'm glad to hear it." Jason patted her on the head, then swung up onto the back of Lady. "Now, I'm off! See you tonight!"

He rode off toward town quickly, cantering along the dusty roads with a slow purpose. Lady's hoofbeats echoed firmly on the path, and he sighed as another wind blew soft across the landscape. It was the loveliest day he had experienced in quite some time, there was simply no doubt about that, and almost made him frustrated that he wasn't using it to get work done.

Almost.

As he came up into town, he found it a hive of activity. Children raced around through the streets, laughing and playing, while women set out fresh-baked pies. Obadiah sat at the town well with Jeremiah and Daniel, chatting with whomever came by. Jason waved as he approached, and they waved back.

"Howdy! How are you liking this weather?"

"Better than I should!" Jason called back. "Maybe we ought to hire a new Guildmaster, if we're going to keep getting inaccurate reports like this!"

Obadiah rolled his eyes. Jeremiah, though, grinned broadly, and took his unlit pipe out of his mouth. "I'll volunteer myself! I'd do a mighty fine job as Guildmaster, I think!"

Gob, Jeremiah's goblin deputy, raced around the well and scrambled up onto Obadiah's lap, only to snatch a small badge off his chest to bring it to

Jeremiah. Obadiah leapt to his feet and started to chase the goblin, and Jason laughed. He rode over toward the item shop, where he swung down and slowly walked inside.

"Good morning, Alex!" Cecilia, the name-challenged tender of the store, called out to him.

"Best of mornings to you, as well." Jason slowly walked up to the counter. "I've got just a handful of things I need. I broke a wrench a few days ago, and I need a few screwdrivers, and... Ahh, here's my list." He took out a scrap of paper and passed it over to Cecilia. "And if you had some peppermints for the kids, I'd sure appreciate it."

"I'll get you wrung up here in just a moment." Cecilia nodded. She started flipping through an assortment of catalogues beneath the counter, and soon, items began appearing with small flashes of light. "How's Tess doing?"

"Just as well as ever." Jason chuckled. "Loving being a mom, I think. Rachel's at that age where she's just starting to get into everything." He sighed. "I remember when Fern was at that age. It was just her, of course, which made it easier, I think."

"I have eight younger siblings, so I'm sure that's true!" Cecilia laughed. She finished grabbing things, then pushed it all across the counter. "That'll be three hundred shandys."

"Done." Jason paid for it all, then turned to leave. He wished he could have more time to chat with Cecilia, but he didn't know her nearly as well as some of the other townsfolk, and he imagined that the next conversation was going to be a bit longer.

As he exited the store, he took the reins of Lady, then started heading toward Jeremiah's office. "Jeremiah! I need you!"

Jeremiah, who was being chased by Gob, who was still being chased by Obadiah (who was now being chased by Daniel), looked up and paused. A long string of people slammed into him from behind, and he laughed as he stumbled and nearly fell.

"Am I in trouble?"

"I think you usually are." Jason laughed and nodded toward the office. "I need to talk. Paperwork."

"Have to actually do my job. That sure puts a damper on things." Jeremiah muttered, though he had a smile on his face. "Alright, let's go get 'er done!"

They walked together over to the office. Jason hitched up Lady outside, then followed Jeremiah in to the office. Behind the desk were several jail cells and a large number of filing cabinets. The fact that one of the jail cells served as Gob's kennel was a testament to how quiet Summer Shandy was.

"What can I do you for?" Jeremiah sat down in his office chair. Jason sat down opposite him, and pulled out a piece of paper.

"I need to buy some more land."

"I thought you were about due for another purchase." Jeremiah grinned. "Turning into a proper land baron, seems like. You know, if you're interested, I once drew up a plan on how it would be possible to systematically buy up the entire province of Summer Shandy."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "First, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Second, what would the point of that be?"

"To say that I did it." Jeremiah shrugged. "I had a few other plans to then turn Summer Shandy into a tourist trap and sell the land at grossly inflated prices, thus making myself a zillionaire, but Elizabeth talked me out of it. Anyhow, let's see what you're looking at."

Jason passed the paper across, which had the boundaries all marked out. Jeremiah nodded as he looked it over, then started doodling some calculations in the margins.

"You've got this marked out really well already. You're a man who knows what he wants, that much is obvious. Let me see... And... That it'll be..." He worked his tongue around in his mouth for a moment, then nodded. "About two million shandys. Since the boundaries you've marked don't make a perfect square, I'll have to actually run the numbers for sure."

"Take it out of my account once you have it ready." Jason smiled and rose. "I appreciate it."

"Anything for you." Jeremiah stood as well, then held out his hand. Jason shook it, and Jeremiah smiled. "You're a good man, Jason. Keep up the good work."

Jason soon walked back out into the main square. As he did so, he noticed that it was getting dark... Fast. Overhead, thick black clouds were moving rapidly over the sun, and Obadiah crossed his arms.

"Hah! I wasn't wrong, everyone! Just a little off on the exact timing."

Jason laughed, then unhitched Lady and climbed up into the saddle. He had originally planned to spend a bit of time looking around at the new Guild Hall construction, maybe even the new dungeon, but now, he figured he just needed to get home. With that, he gave one last wave and rode off for home, dashing down the road as fast as Lady would take him.

Clouds were streaming, dark and thick, from the southwest. With it would come, if Obadiah was correct, near-freezing rain, possible tornados, hail, and a great deal of other unpleasantness. Ahead of him, though, was his home... His warm, welcoming home, where the hearth fire burned and his family was ready to greet him.

All he had to do was beat the storm.

Chapter

Chapter Ten: Last Day of

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Summer! It's the day of the Summer Festival! Come on out as soon as you can, folks, this is going to be a celebration of celebrations! I mean, I probably shouldn't hype it up too much, I suppose, but... This is going to be a good one, I promise!]

Jason smiled as he slowly stretched and sat up in bed. The warm and cozy rafters of the inn looked down at him, and Tess sat up and gave him a hug. Their children were long gone, with the door of the room hanging slightly ajar, while laughter and joy flickered up from outside.

"Sounds like they're having quite a time of things!" Tess laughed. She swung out of bed and shut the door, and Jason stood up as well. He dressed in his standard town tunic, then gave Tess a hug as she finished changing. "I know I've said this before, but starting to come in here overnight before the festival has been one of the best decisions we've ever made."

"I completely agree." Jason leaned in and gave her a kiss, then took a deep breath. "Well, ready to go face the chaos?"

"After you!"

Jason nodded, then pulled open the door and stepped out into the hall. Almost instantly, he was swarmed by dozens of children running amok through the halls, laughing and waving their arms as they played a game of... well, Jason couldn't tell exactly if they were playing capture-the-flag, hide and seek, or tag, but whatever the case, everyone seemed to be enjoying it well enough! He smiled as he saw Fern appear at the end of the hall chasing after Charlotte, and waved at her.

"Head downstairs to eat!"

She nodded back, then turned around and raced down the stairs. Jason started to fight his way after her, and soon came to the top, where he looked down on the large, open dining area. There, as had become usual, the elderly Lily had set up a long table piled high with just about every breakfast food Jason could imagine. Most of it was sugary, which, naturally, was what the children all ran to. Jason slipped down through the crowd and helped Fern and Rachel choose a bit of healthy food alongside their pastries, then led them over to a table by the side of the room where the four of them sat down and tucked into their food eagerly.

Fern and Rachel both munched through all their food quickly, then jumped back down and ran back into the chaos. Jason started to rise to call them back, but Tess shook her head.

"Just let them play. There's nothing they can hurt around here, and it's the festival." She shrugged. "I mean... what's going to happen? This is Summer Shandy, not Illumitir."

"Fair point." Jason laughed slightly. "I think I still get overwhelmed sometimes; you know? I'm just not used to being able to have this much freedom, and--"

"Tess!" Paulina appeared in the doorway. John and Michael, her little boys, came racing over, and she picked them up and carried them over to the table. Jason stood up, allowing her to sit down. "How have you two been? I feel like I've hardly seen you this season!"

"I know!" Tess leaned forward. "All the chaos with the dungeon, I think. Let's see... Last I heard, you were working on a quilt for your mother-in- law, how did that wind up going?"

Paulina snorted. "It went terrible! I tried using fabric from Portswain, some new, fancy stuff that's supposed to be used for royalty or something off over the sea, but... It's so slippery you can't get thread to stay in it! Every stitch I made just popped out as soon as I made it! I fought with it for way too long."

Jason smiled and waved, then started to walk away. He knew next to nothing about fabrics, save for the fact that they could be used to make clothing. As he strode out into the town square, he found Obadiah sitting at the town well, directing traffic as everyone came into town for the celebration. He gave Jason a friendly wave, then pointed off to the north.

"You're going to want to go check out the construction site!"

"I'll head that way!" Jason called back. "Thanks for the tip!"

"Anytime! Enjoy the day!" Obadiah had to turn away to help someone

with directions around the town, Jason smiled and slipped off toward the north. He remembered how busy Tess had always been on festival days, and knew better than to try and bother Obadiah at that moment. He soon passed around behind the Guild Hall, past the stables, and out to the north, where the Summer Shandy dungeon was located.

The dungeons, which were spread across the land, were the primary source of money for all the known world. Jason had heard stories of foreign lands where banks were actually the ones who printed money, which just seemed wild to him, but that was the way it went, apparently. In any case, the Summer Shandy dungeon wasn't large, and was located in a shallow basin just to the north of the town. Down at the very bottom, surrounded by a slowly-growing grove of trees, was a stone entrance, carved in the shape of a grand archway. From what Jason had heard, it was a wyrm nest, filled with tiny, three-foot long wingless dragons that were apparently rather nasty

for their size. It was a Level-F dungeon, easily accessible for beginners and newbies, which helped prevent Summer Shandy from becoming too much of a tourist trap.

Now, though, just to the west of the main dungeon, something new was being created. A large section of ground, almost the size of the town square, had been dug down to a depth of almost ten feet. A few stone walls had been put up here and there, made out of cobbles with a handful of empty doorways and windows showing where future obstacles and such would be located, but that was largely it. At that moment, a number of colored banners hung around a stone archway that matched the archway of the main dungeon, which then led into the unfinished construction.

"Step right up!" Daniel, who was standing just next to the opening, waved at Jason. "Come right in! You're in for a treat, a real treat!"

"I hope so!" Jason smiled as he stepped forward. "Are you giving guided tours?"

"Nope!" Daniel shook his head. "He is, though!"

Jason frowned. Suddenly, though, a massive man stepped forward through the archway. He had a thick, bushy beard that fell almost down to his belly, and had a grin that spread from ear to ear.

"Johan!" Jason held out a hand, which Johan shook firmly. "It's been a few years!"

"About two, by my count!" Johan beamed. "How's the barn treating you?"

"Couldn't love it more!" Jason beamed, then chuckled. "We had to go up on the roof to replace some shingles last year. You remember Milligan?" Johan nodded. "You should have seen him! He was terrified!"

"I'll admit, I got a little wobbly myself when looking down from the top of that thing!" Johan smiled, then sighed. "Ahh, Jason, it's good to see you again."

"You, too." Jason nodded down at the dungeon. "Well, why don't you tell me all about how things have been, while you show me this place?"

"I'd love to!" Johan walked down into the carved-out area, and Jason followed. As they came down to the dirt floor, Johan gestured at the floor, where wooden stakes had been driven into the ground, marking off different areas. "This will be the entryway! From here, just like in the main dungeon, you'll have three choices. One will lead you to a trap where you'll get sprayed with pollen, one will lead you to a treasure room, and one will lead you... This way, onto the next section." Johan started guiding him forward, then lowered his voice. "As for how I've been, I couldn't be better. Dungeon construction is an interesting business, I'll tell you that. I've been working on a particularly large, A-ranked dungeon that's been under construction for three years, just north of Illumitir."

"Three years?" Jason blinked.

"I mean, it would have been done sooner, but that whole drought business sorta messed everything up. You know how that goes." Johan shrugged. "Anyway, I've been working on the chamber where the final boss fight takes place. It's a whirlwind! As the architect, it's my job to keep the warriors safe, right? Well, I keep designing things, and then I'll go to start building it, and then the monster folks will tell me that the dragon will be able to smash through this or that, or that by putting it into too small of a space, long-range warriors won't be able to get the momentum they need, and all sorts of things like that. It's a fascinating business." Johan reached one of the doorways, and motioned for Jason to step through. "And, this

way, we have the second part of the dungeon. This place is more or less a gauntlet, it's got a maze with about two dozen plants that will all be shooting at you! Some of them you'll have to pass two, even three times, so it'll feel like way more."

Jason couldn't keep a smile from his face as they passed through the rest of the dungeon. Throughout the tour, Johan added anecdotes about the layout of the structure, interspersed with all sorts of stories about his family, and Jason told his own as he was able. When they came to the end, Johan had a broad smile on his face, and he shook Jason's hand once more.

"As always, all I can do is thank you." He gave a small bow to Jason. "Without your generosity, I wouldn't be here, working on this dungeon. On behalf of my entire family, thank you."

Jason just shrugged. "I'd have done it for anyone."

"And that's what makes you so great!" Johan thumped him on the shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go give more tours, but I do hope I'll see you later!"

He turned and strode off, and Jason smiled after him. Johan was an energetic character, and one that Jason greatly enjoyed. If he was on board, he knew that the dungeon was going to be a good one.

Slowly, Jason ambled back to the town square, where he found things really beginning to pick up. Milligan had just driven into town with one of Richard's wagons, the back of which was filled to the brim with an assortment of sunflowers, peas, tomatoes, and other such plants. A petting zoo had been set up near Cecilia's store, which was quickly filled with the plants. Children, Fern and Rachel among them, raced over to see the specimens that would soon be filling the dungeon.

"What do you think?" Tess asked softly, coming up behind Jason.

"I love it." He laughed softly, then turned. "I think the better question is what you think. You're the one who used to be in the dungeon business. How does all this stack up with what you're used to?"

Tess smiled softly, then shrugged and wrapped her arms around Jason. "You know... Don't ever mention this to Richard, but... in some ways, yeah, this seems to make dungeon-delving into a more silly and less serious prospect. If this had existed back when I was a kid, I wonder if my parents might have been willing to keep me around."

"I don't know." Jason puffed out his cheeks, then gave her a kiss. "On the bright side, maybe this will help other people not have to go through what you did."

"Indeed." Tess nodded. "And that's why, with your permission, I'll be taking the kids through it a lot, if for no other reason than to help it gain traction."

"You absolutely have my permission!" Jason laughed. "You absolutely do."

All around him, the town surged with activity as folks checked out the new dungeon and chatted with old friends. Right in the center of it, though, Jason felt a sense of peace. Things about Summer Shandy could change, but at the core, it would always be the same, always remain focused on family and friends, and bringing them together as much as possible.

And that, as far as he was concerned, was what easily made it the best city in the world.

Chapter

Chapter Eleven: Nothing

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Fall! 90 days until the Fall Festival! It's a beautiful day this morning, folks! The air is fresh and cool, though not cold yet, just the perfect weather for getting things done!]

Jason rolled out of bed slowly, stretching as he rose. He was exhausted, though that was hardly anything unexpected. He was always tired the morning after festival days. After they got back home and got the girls to bed, Jason and Tess had stayed up to see the season change, which was always an exciting experience. Once the temperature dipped and the fresh fall air came through, they had gone to bed, and now... well... Jason was regretting it somewhat.

The smell of bacon sizzling in the pan echoed from below, and he changed into overalls and made his way downstairs, where a bleary-eyed Tess was working over a frying pan. Fern and Rachel, as bright-eyed as ever, both sat at the table grinning from ear to ear.

"You two are up early." Jason leaned down and gave them a kiss. "I'm not sure Mommy is awake yet."

Tess laughed softly. "You may be right." She waved her hand, and a large platter of bacon, alongside a pile of biscuits, appeared on the table. "Alright, dig in. I'm not doing anything formal today, sorry."

They all sat down and tucked in, and Jason sighed deeply. He was on his third biscuit when the back door opened, and Milligan stuck his head inside.

"Morning, everyone!"

"Morning, Milligan." Jason yawned, then slowly stood up. "How goes it?"

"It goes well enough." Milligan smiled. "Just wanted to make sure you're up. I've got everything set up and ready for the fall planting. No rush, of course."

"Right." Jason shook his sleep-fogged head to clear it. "I'm on my way." He leaned over and gave Tess a kiss, then his two girls, then rose. "See you all at lunch!"

Tess flashed a thumbs-up at him, and he quickly made his way to the front door, pulled on his boots, and swept out into the yard.

Milligan was already striding toward the two planters, which he had hitched up to the horses. He climbed up onto his own machine, and Jason laughed softly as he took his own position.

"You're ready to get moving this morning!"

"I sorta forgot about the festival yesterday, so I went to bed early." Milligan rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "And then some of my plants got hungry and woke me up about... must have been about 4:00, and I've just been up since then."

Jason shook his head. "Are these plants of yours really going to be worth it?"

"You've seen the town. They're all banking on this new dungeon-thing. I have to get it right." Milligan smacked a fist into his palm. "I just need to figure out how to tone down the aggression."

"Well, if anyone can figure it out, it'll be you." Jason smiled. "Alright, then. Let's get to it! What are we planting today?"

"Soybeans, at least that's what you had written on the schedule." Milligan shrugged.

"Yes! That sounds right." Jason nodded. "Let's roll!"

He took up the reins and gave them a sharp snap, and Angus lumbered forward into the field. As they entered, he pulled the lever to drop the seed disks down into the soil. As usual, the steady rattle of seeds down through the machine started to echo softly through the air, and Jason sighed and leaned against the seed box.

Soybeans were nothing tremendously exciting, but they were actually becoming more and more in-demand. He wasn't sure of the exact circumstances, but the seed was widely versatile, able to be turned into oil, milk, even (though he struggled to believe this) a meat supplement. In any event, several companies in Illumitir had suddenly started paying top dollar for the food, so that's what he was growing now.

The wind whistled around him as he plodded down toward the end of the field, and for a moment, he simply found himself lost in the Fall. The wind was cool, though not cold yet, and carried with it... it was hard to explain the sensation, but it was a sense of fulfillment. He could smell the prairie grasses, not as fresh and green, but as rich, full of nutrients and ready to be used for a natural sort of hay for whatever animals happened to be coming through. He could smell the soil, well-packed from several seasons of animals walking over it, filled with decomposing leaves and other such things. It was simply... Everything was winding to a close. Everything was preparing to pack up for the Winter, and here he was, trying to leverage that fact to get out some of his best-yielding crops of the year.

When he reached the end of the field, he slowly turned around, where he glimpsed several figures making their way down out of the house. There were multiple adult-sized figures, which he thought was rather odd, and

snapped the reins to head Angus back toward the barn. Dust drifted up behind him as he went along, and he frowned.

When he came to the end, though, a grin broke across his face as he saw Jeremiah walking up to the fence. Fern was perched high on his shoulders, while Gob scampered in circles around him. Tess was just behind, a confused sort of look on her face.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah strode up and leaned against the fence as Jason drew to a stop.

"Neighbor? You moved away from the ranch!" Jason jabbed at Jeremiah good-naturedly. "Are you really still my neighbor?"

Jeremiah smirked. "Fair enough, fair enough. Well, then, Howdy, person- who-was-once-my-neighbor-but-who-now-lives-about-two-miles-away!"

"Hmm." Jason pretended to mull the name over. "It doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

"No, indeed." Jeremiah doffed his hat and took an exaggerated bow, making sure to keep Fern carefully positioned on his shoulders the whole time. He straightened up, replaced the hat, and then shrugged. "Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know that I got all the paperwork straightened out. The land's yours, good to go."

"Wonderful." Jason held out his hand, which Jeremiah shook. After the handshake, Jeremiah handed Jason a small packet of paperwork. "I appreciate your help."

"Nothing to it." Jeremiah smiled and turned away. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got to head out. Richard just bought some new land, too, and he wants to get the ranch certified for some new-fangled doohickey he bought in Illumitir. After that, I have to ride out for Darkwater. The constable there

is having some trouble with... Ahh, I suppose it's not really your business. Catch you around, Jason!"

Jeremiah swung Fern down from his shoulders and set her on the ground, and a few moments later, was riding out from the yard and down the road. Tess continued to look at him curiously, and he shrugged.

"Well, back to work!"

"Jason, what was that about?" Tess demanded.

"You'll find out!" Jason swung Angus around and started back across the

field.

"Jason Hunter!"

"I can't hear you!" Jason shouted back once more. "Sorry, talk to you at

lunch!"

He laughed softly as he heard Tess continue to shout at him. He was

pretty sure she didn't actually care, otherwise he wouldn't have done it, but... He did want to surprise her.

Jason and Milligan continued to work throughout the morning, and by the time the sun hit the pinnacle, they had the field done. They turned their horses out into the corral, then started walking up toward the house.

"Alright." Jason frowned as they stepped up onto the porch. "We shouldn't have any problems getting the Far Eighty done today, so long as we don't waste any time. You'll get the New Eighty tomorrow?"

"You got it, boss." Milligan grinned. "Happy to help."

Jason nodded, and the two of them soon came into the kitchen. There, Jason found four plates set out, and he frowned as Tess placed a large platter of roast beef on the table.

"Hon? You didn't set something for Milligan."

"Yeah, I did." Tess motioned for Milligan to sit down. She then took Jason's usual seat, and the two girls climbed up into their own chairs. Her eyes met his, and he saw a playful orneriness in them. "I want to know what Jeremiah was doing out here."

"It's... a secret?" Jason held up his hands.

"Uh, huh." Tess nodded, then turned and started cutting the roast beef. "I'm afraid that I suddenly can't hear you."

Milligan laughed. "Now this sounds like a problem! Sorry, boss, I wish I could help, but everyone knows that the only person who outranks the boss is the boss's wife."

Jason groaned and sat down next to Milligan, then sighed.

"I may have bought you a pasture." He mumbled.

"What was that?" Tess cupped her hand around her ear.

"I bought you a pasture for cattle." Jason straightened up, then sighed.

"There. Happy?"

Tess's shriek of joy, which was powerful enough to shatter several

glasses, was enough of an answer for him, and he smiled broadly. Fern clapped her hands over her ears, and Rachel laughed.

"Thank you!" She beamed when she had calmed down enough to speak. "Thank you. Oh, you have no idea what this means to me."

"I imagine I'll find out." Jason chuckled. "Now, do you mind if I get a plate?"

Tess clapped her hand over her mouth in horror, then nodded. "Yes, absolutely! Here!"

Jason sat down as she jumped up to race into the kitchen, and he sighed deeply. They were turning one more chapter in their lives on the farm, and... well... He couldn't wait to see how it wound up playing out.

Chapter

Chapter Twelve: Dig,

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 3rd day of Fall! 88 days until the Fall Festival! I know we're just starting the Fall, but as I always remind you, don't delay getting your Fall projects done! The end of the season will sneak up on you! Alright, the weather... It's looking like a nicer day today, a bit on the warm side, but it'll get cold tonight, and will likely stay that way for a week or so.]

Jason slowly rolled out of bed and climbed to his feet. He stretched for a moment, then sighed. He walked up to the window and looked out across the property, where things were already breaking into quite the event.

Milligan was already rushing about the chores, feeding the animals just as quickly as he could. Tess, meanwhile, was busy setting out a long row of tables along the side of the house. Jason chuckled as he looked at it all, then waved at her. She waved back, and he changed and headed out into the hall.

"Good morning, daddy!" Fern grinned up at him from the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning." Jason smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And how's my little one doing this morning?"

"Good! I'm having fun with gwandpa!"

Jason glanced into the living room, where Richard was tossing Rachel up into the air and beaming at her. He waved between tosses, and Jason waved back.

"Decide to sleep in this morning?" Richard laughed and slowly walked into the kitchen.

"No more so than any morning." Jason grumbled, then turned to the cookbook. "I used to think I was an early riser. It's not my fault every else around me is a really early bird."

"That's fair, that's fair." Richard chuckled. "I get up at 4:00 each morning, but that's really only because Weatherhand gets up at 3:30, and it just bugs me to wake up at a decent hour to find everything already done, you know?"

"I'm going to have to start doing the same thing." Jason puffed out his cheeks, then nodded at the book. "We need pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, and loads of it. On the double."

The cookbook began to flap its pages frantically back and forth, then slammed itself shut. A moment later, there was a brilliant flash of light, and a great stack of platters began to appear all over the counters. Jason blinked in surprise, then started picking up as many of them as he could.

"You want to help?"

"Help?" Richard raised an eyebrow. "I've been up and about for two hours now! I'm due for a break, and these girls are the perfect excuse!"

Nevertheless, Richard did help Jason carry everything outside, where they set out the platters on all the long tables. Jason finished with a large stack of plates, and, almost immediately, workers began to arrive.

Jason wasn't sure exactly how many of the Lazy-H hired hands came over, but it was quite a few of them. Richard assured him that the only ones who had stayed were the ones absolutely essential to the ranch's operation. Given that Jason hadn't really asked for any of them, he wasn't complaining in the slightest. In any event, they had come to put up fences for the cattle, which Tess was overjoyed about.

"Alright, men!" Richard climbed up onto the back of a wagon as his workers all filed into the yard. "You all know the drill! The plat map depicting the boundaries of the property has been posted on the barn! Get your breakfast, then get out and start putting up the fence! I don't want there to be a single post that hasn't been planted in the ground by the time that this day is over!"

The workers all nodded and rushed forward, surging to the breakfast table. In what seemed like no time at all, the food was simply inhaled, and with that, the day began in earnest.

Tess went right along with Richard as they started moving around the perimeter of the new property. It carved out a good chunk of the prairie, starting at the road, with a width of about the same that Jason's yard already occupied. From that point, it stretched backward, across the prairie, all the way to the Far Eighty and the New Eighty. Altogether, it was about 600 acres, more or less, filled with nothing but grassland for the cattle to eat.

Thankfully, the hired men knew what they were doing. First, several of them began to mark out fence posts, measuring along the perimeter of the property and placing flags to indicate where the posts should go. Only a couple of them did this job, and in no time at all, a long string of yellow flags fluttered across the dry prairie grass. That done, the rest of the workers came along behind, each one moving to a flag without anyone covering it. Jason took out a shovel, then made his way to one of them himself, followed by Rachel and Fern.

"Alright, girls." He smiled as he reached the first of the flags. "You want to help me?"

"Help daddy!" Fern declared. "Tank you!"

Jason nodded, then held out the shovel. "Alright, then. Help me, here!"

Fern gripped the shovel alongside Jason, and together, they carefully tapped the ground. There was a flash of light, and a large section of the ground was teleported out to form a pile of dirt nearby. Jason looked down into the hole, then carefully stuck the point of the shovel down into the pit. Rachel helped him this time, and as the blade touched bottom, there was another flash, and the hole deepened. That looked good enough to him, and he slowly straightened up.

"And that's how you do it, girls!" He grinned. "How's that? You helped daddy do some work!"

"Oh-ay! Posts coming through!" A wagon rumbled along the lengthening row of holes. One farm hand was driving, while two more rode on the tailgate. The two on back jumped free as it momentarily came to a pause, and they pulled a thick, wooden post from the bed. Moving quickly, they carried it over and dropped it down into the hole, then walked back to the wagon and jumped aboard as it rumbled onward.

"Hey! They filled our hole!" Fern scowled at the post.

"They were supposed to do that!" Jason took the hands of his daughters. "Now come on, let's see if we can go dig another one!"

Behind him, several other workers came along, dumping dirt into the small gap between the post itself and the edge of the hole. They then tamped the dirt down, firmly setting the post in place. Jason, though, knew that he would be better off letting such things be done by the professionals, especially with the two girls.

It was hard work to catch up with the front of the line. The workers there were fast, and could dig a hole and move on just about as fast as the post- droppers could throw the posts inside. That said, they saw how much the

two girls wanted to dig another hole, and slowed enough for Jason to dig several more holes over the course of the event.

All told, they moved across the prairie very quickly. It only took them two hours to make a line of fence posts all the way to the New Eighty, and thirty minutes more before they were well on their way back. Jason took Fern and Rachel back to the house around 11:00 to start working on lunch, and by the time everyone came walking back into the yard at noon, he had dozens of sandwiches, pickles, a wide assortment of cheeses, and other such foods ready for the taking. The workers all lined up, grabbed their meals, and quickly finished eating. When they were done, they all lined up against the barn and sat down in the shade, taking a good moment to recover.

"How are you holding up?" Richard asked, walking up alongside Jason.

Jason shrugged. "Well enough, I suppose. Your men have been extremely generous, make sure they know that."

"I will, don't you worry about it." Richard nodded. "A lot of them have families of their own, they all love kids, and will do anything to get kids involved on the farm. Way better than all the other junk they could be up to these days."

"Very true." Jason chuckled. "Well, what now?"

"Now, we get all the railings up, and then we get out of your hair." Richard shrugged. "This part will actually go faster, believe it or not."

Jason didn't believe it, but was soon proven wrong. While the rest of the men continued to relax, another wagon went out, this one filled with wooden rails. Between each set of fenceposts, they tossed out the long planks, two per section, making sure it was all ready for the workers. Then, when everyone had decided that enough had been enough, they rose and set back to work.

The second half of the day did, indeed, go quite quickly. Jason kept the girls back and out of the way this time, and the workers quickly made their way along the fence, pausing only to lift up the beams and hammer them into place. It took mere seconds, and before Jason's eyes, the property suddenly became a great deal more alive. He watched the crowd of hired men working their way out across the prairie, then turned his attention to the barn itself.

The day's work, while important, was really only to fence in the actual pasture. This time, while Richard worked with Tess, Weatherhand (who had exhausted all his actions that morning) stayed back, and showed Jason a small set of blueprints as the girls chased chickens around the barn floor.

"Here. This is what you'll want to build next." Weatherhand gestured at the north door of the barn. "Right now, you'll have the pasture, but there's no way to get the cattle from the pasture and into the barn. Just use this setup here..." He pointed at the drawing, which showed a large collection of gates and panels. "You ought to be able to handle things pretty well with just the three of you using this. Once the cattle enter, you can use these gates to send them here, or... If you put in an alley here, you can direct them to the lower floor as well, and..."

"I think I've got it." Jason took the blueprints from Weatherhand, then folded them and tucked them into his inventory. "Much appreciated, truly."

"Anytime." Weatherhand gave a tip of his hat, then paused. "You know, if I'm being honest, when you showed up and Jeremiah started throwing all sorts of money at your place, I thought he was crazy. I thought he was just getting sentimental for his kids, or something, but now... I dunno. He saw something in you. Richard does, too." Weatherhand clapped Jason on the shoulder. "You're a good man. Keep up all the good work."

Jason nodded and smiled as Weatherhand walked away, and he slowly walked up to the door to look out across the prairie.

Yes, everything was coming together wonderfully. Soon, they would have cattle, which, according to Richard, were much easier than a lot of the other animals. From that point, well... Jason could only imagine where they would go.

Chapter

Chapter Thirteen: Morning

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 10th day of Fall! 81 days until the Fall Festival! Alright, folks! Looks like that storm last night wound up being just about as bad as we feared! It's still a bit gusty outside, so be careful if you head out, but all that ought to be going away around noontime.]

Jason yawned and groaned as he stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back. Beneath him, a simple rubber mat separated himself from the stony ground of the long escape tunnel, which they used for a storm shelter. A small lantern hung nearby, which cast a pale light across his sleeping daughters. Tess sat just beneath it, reading a book, which she set aside as Jason sat up.

"Hey." He whispered softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded, then leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Yeah, I'm just fine. The girls are starting to stir a bit, but I think they'll still be awhile before they fully wake up."

Jason grimaced, but nodded. "Have you been up top yet?"

"Just to grab this." Tess held up the book. "The house looks alright, near as I can tell, but the outdoors looks to have taken a beating."

"I'll go check it out, then." Jason slid out from under the covers, gave Tess a kiss, and then turned toward the door. "I love you."

Tess smiled back, and he slipped out and into the basement. There, he could hear the gusts a bit more, though they were still muted. Chance was huddled on his own blanket down in the corner of the basement, and stayed firmly put as Jason walked up the stairs and into the kitchen.

Now there, the noise was a good bit louder. He made himself a plate of sausage and eggs, then walked to the front of the house and peered out through the wide bay windows while he ate. The prairie grasses twisted and blew about in the wind, which had to be gusting almost sixty miles per hour. The apple trees had taken the brunt of the wind, it looked like. There were countless branches that seemed to have been broken off and scattered across the road, and Jason sighed. They would regrow, of course, but Fern would be heartbroken in the meantime.

Quite suddenly, something thumped on the porch, and Jason caught a glimpse of a flash of fabric as something bumped up against the door. Jason quickly unlocked the door and pulled it open, allowing a weathered-looking Milligan to stumble inside.

"Morning, boss." Milligan's teeth chattered. "Don't let it fool you. It's cold out there."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jason gestured toward the couches. "Come on, have a seat."

"No time, I think." Milligan shook his head. "We've got some troubles. If you wouldn't mind giving me something to warm up my insides, I think you'd better see this."

Jason nodded toward the kitchen. "Help yourself." While Milligan walked to the kitchen, Jason made his way upstairs and quickly changed into overalls and a flannel shirt. When he came back down, he found Milligan nursing a mug of hot chocolate while munching away on some sausage links. Without a word, he finished up the sausage, though he carried the mug with him as they swept out and into the cold.

Milligan was right. Initially, it didn't feel tremendously cold, but once you made it out into the wind for a few moments, it was a humid wind, and

it cut straight through just about anything you were wearing. Jason stumbled toward the barn, and within a few minutes, he and Milligan had made their way inside.

Now, Jason expected to find it nice and comfy inside the barn, but, instead, he found that it was almost colder inside than out. The pigs and goats, which Tess hadn't gotten sold yet, stood huddled together in corners of their pens. Jason scratched his head, and Milligan wordlessly pointed toward the north door.

As Jason looked it over, his jaw fell open. The entire door, which ordinarily slid side-to-side on enormous rollers, had been shifted. The wheels were now stuck firmly on the ground, while the top of the door was twisted rather awkwardly in the track.

"Huh." Jason looked up at the damage. Mostly to confirm to himself that it was impossible, he walked over and pulled upward. The door stayed exactly where it was. Jason couldn't be sure, but the whole structure had to weigh close to five hundred pounds. It was solid oak, twenty feet tall, at least thirty feet wide... There was no way that he, or even he and Milligan working together, were going to budge it.

"On the bright side, this seems to be the only damage on the whole farm." Milligan offered. "I half-expected to see the place almost all the way razed to the ground, but it really seems to have survived mostly intact. I still need to check some of the fences, but unless something really big was blown through, I think we're even fine in that regard."

"Hmm." Jason puffed out his cheeks. "That is positive, but I don't have the faintest idea how to fix this. Ahh..." He started pacing back and forth. "Richard was just over here with all his men, and he'll be busy repairing things on the ranch anyway."

"What about Johan? He's good with fixing things." Milligan posited. "He built this place; he'll know how to get it back together."

"Now that's not a bad idea." Jason nodded slowly. "Why don't you head inside and write him a letter? I'll do chores, and hopefully he'll be out here before I'm done."

"Sounds like a plan, boss!" Milligan's teeth were chattering, and he turned and made his way inside just as quickly as he could. Jason continued to stare at the damage for some time, then made his way back into the barn and started pouring feed.

None of the animals offered their usual excited grunts, squeals, or other such accolades. When he finished working, Jason walked outside and looked around at the weather. The clouds overhead were grey, though not black, and the wind showed no signs of letting up. It was just one of those miserable, dreary days, but... well, there was nothing to be done about that, except to grit his teeth and get through it!

He went back into the house, where Milligan was warming his hands by a small fire in the heart. Tess had just brought the two girls up, though both had snuggled up next to mama, and didn't look like they were in any mood to chat. Jason smiled and sat down next to the fire as well, not saying a word, just basking in the heat. He was still sitting there, about ten minutes later, when heavy boots thumped on the porch.

"Jason!" Johan boomed as Jason let him inside. "Now what's all this? Everyone sitting about, kicking their feet back on such a fine morning? You should all be outside! Save you, of course, ma'am."

Tess smiled, and the two girls looked up at Johan with apprehension.

"What's the matter?" Johan chuckled deeply. "Don't you remember me? You were both a whole lot smaller back then, of course!"

Neither girl answered, and Jason smiled.

"I think they're just a little overwhelmed, you know?"

"Aye. My own kids will do that every now and again." Johan stroked his

enormous beard, then turned around. "Come on! Let's get to work! Show me the damage."

Jason led the way as they all made their way out into the windswept prairie. They went around to the north side of the barn, where Jason gestured rather vaguely at the broken door.

"Hmm!" Johan brightened as he looked at the door. "I've seen worse! Pfft, I've seen worse after whirlwinds came through! I told you; this barn would last you for an eternity and a day."

"I don't think that's exactly what you said, but..."

"The sentiment was there!" Johan walked up to the door and gave it a pat. "Ahh, this barn was a joy to build, and it'll be a joy to fix her again! Jason!"

"Yes?" Jason snapped to attention, then forced himself to relax. Johan just had a commanding sort of presence, that was for certain.

"I need a long piece of timber, the stronger the better. I also need a sawhorse, and I'll need a ladder, though not yet."

"Let's see." Jason opened up his inventory and scrolled through it for a bit, then pulled out an unused fence rail. "Will this work?"

"Absolutely! And the sawhorse?"

Jason soon found one of the odd structures. Like a portable table, the sawhorse was designed to move around and basically just take the brunt of whatever needed done. He rarely used them, but when he did, they always came in handy.

Quickly, Johan strode down the slope, then set the sawhorse partway toward the bottom, so that, on the slope, the top of the table was even with the tracks. That done, he placed the rail across the sawhorse, planting the far end underneath the edge of the door. It made a lever, of sorts, and Jason smiled as he caught on to what Johan was doing.

"Alright, spaghetti-arms! Both of you! Come here and grab hold!"

Jason and Milligan both took hold, and began to pull downward just as hard as they could manage. The door groaned slightly, but didn't move, not really.

"Hmm! Interesting." Johan crossed his arms. "We're going to have to get a bit more... creative. Here, let me..."

He reached past the two men, took hold, and began to pull. The three of them together were soon able to lift the door off the ground, up to the height it needed to be. All three were gasping with exertion, and sweat beaded on their brows.

"Shoulda brought Daniel with me." Johan grunted. "Alright... Jason. I need you to let go, and very quickly, run over and throw your shoulder against the barn door. Do it hard, like... You can think up whatever scenario you want, but pretend that Fern's life is on the line, and the only way it can be saved is if you manage to make the door move."

"Got it." Jason nodded. He let out a long breath, then let go and bolted forward. The ground flew by beneath his feet, and as he reached the door, he threw himself up and into the door, slamming his body, primarily his shoulder, into the structure.

CRASH!

With one mighty blast, the door slid off the end of the plank and fell back onto the rail. All three men cheered, and Johan let the plank fall with a

clatter.

"And that's how it's done!" Johan cheered as they celebrated. He let out a

long breath, then sighed. "Now I need that ladder. I'll get up there and fix all that damage, so hopefully this doesn't happen again."

Jason nodded, and he and Milligan stepped back while Johan took a ladder out of the farm's inventory and clambered upward. As he hammered away, Jason just watched, and sighed deeply.

Summer Shandy was a wonderful place for many reasons, but one of the best was just the sense of community. If something happened, it was a sure bet that someone would come out to lend a hand... And a surer bet that, somehow, you would manage to have a good time while you were at it.

Chapter

Chapter Fourteen:

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 20th day of Fall! 71 days until the Fall Festival! Today's going to be a beautiful day, folks, so get out and enjoy it! We ought to have bright and continuous sun for the next several days, but I am expecting rain to come at the end of the week, so make sure you're preparing for that!]

Jason smiled as he slowly rolled out of bed. Tess was nowhere to be seen, but then, that hardly surprised him. Today, he didn't bother walking up to the window, but simply changed into overalls and headed downstairs, ready to help out wherever he was needed.

As he came into the kitchen, he found Tess flipping the last of the pancakes onto the table, with Fern and Rachel already tucking into their meal. He sat down as well, and Tess flashed him a smile.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense." Jason chuckled softly. "When's the delivery getting here?"

"In about thirty minutes!" Tess grinned. "Thank you again, Jason!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then bolted for the front door. "See you out there!"

Jason laughed softly, then continued eating. Rachel picked up her pancake and smashed it into her face, smearing syrup all over herself, only to let it fall to the floor with a loud splat. Chance rushed forward to lap it up, and Jason sighed.

"Rachel's funny!" Fern laughed and pointed.

"Yes. Hilarious." Jason puffed out his cheeks, then rose. He grabbed a washcloth and started to dab at the syrup stuck to her, but Rachel only screamed.

"Daddy! Hurts!"

Jason scowled. "Then why did you... Ahh... Here. Don't tell your mother." Jason plucked Rachel out of the chair and set her on the ground, and Chance began licking all the syrup off her face. Both girls lost it at this, with Rachel laughing so hard that Jason thought she was going to fall over. When Chance was done "cleaning" things up, Jason wiped all the dog slobber off, then picked up both girls.

"Alright! Shall we get going?"

"Going!" Rachel beamed.

Jason carried them to the front door, where he quickly pulled on his own

shoes, followed by theirs. This was a rodeo, as usual, as both of them really wanted to be able to do it themselves, but just couldn't quite do it. When they finished, Jason took them outside, where Tess and Milligan were bustling about inside the barn, getting it ready.

"Mama!" Rachel raced forward across the farmyard. "I got ticky face and daddy had dog lick me!"

Tess glanced up sharply, and Fern put a finger to her lips.

"Shhh! We're not supposed to tell mommy!"

"Right." Tess rolled her eyes. "Well, as long as you're out here now, can

you go get the gates open so they lead out to the pasture? Girls, come this way, I've got a good place for you."

Tess motioned for the two girls to come over near her wool cleaning machine, where she had set up several barricades. Behind it were a number of toys, which Fern and Rachel immediately began using to amuse

themselves. With that, Jason walked down into the new alley between the barn and the pasture, and started swinging gates open.

When he was done, there was a clean line between the two locations. He was just in time, as the ground started to rumble a moment later, and the gates of his yard swung wide open.

"Yaw! Is this the Hunter residence?" A rather pudgy sort of a man rode into the yard, high on an appaloosa, wearing a cowboy hat that was so shiny-white it practically gleamed. He certainly didn't look like he had worked a day in his life, and Jason rather pitied any family whose address he got wrong. A massive herd of almost two hundred cattle came rumbling along through the gates and up into the barn, guided by a handful of men on horseback. Jason waved and walked down to meet him, and the man sniffed disdainfully.

"You're Tess Hunter?"

"I'm her husband." Jason shrugged. He chuckled. "You aren't tearing Tess away from her cows, I don't think! I can help, though."

"I suppose you'll have to." The man sighed and shrugged, pulling out a clipboard. "My name is Hal, and I supervise deliveries of bovines in this area. You purchased 200 head?"

Jason nodded. "That's right."

"Then sign here, please." Hal handed down the clipboard. Jason took the pen and signed it quickly, then passed it back. "Good, good. Well, that should put all in order. You just have fun with your little investment, and I'll be on my way. Do you know if I can make it to Darkwater in one day?"

Jason glanced up at the sun. "That depends on whether or not you enjoy riding. If you go fast, probably."

"I hate going fast, but if the alternative is sleeping outside again..." Hal shuddered, then turned around and rode away. Jason looked after him and shook his head, and a moment later, all the cowhands who had delivered the animals rode off as well. Inside the barn, the cattle were mingling freely through the barn, wandering in and out of open pens, just as planned. Tess had closed off the path out to the pasture, at least briefly, though she and Milligan now stood at that gap.

"Alright, Jason! Close the door!"

Jason nodded as he walked up, and, with a grunt of effort, he pulled the door closed, sealing himself in with the herd of cattle. He knew it wasn't actually a large herd, but the cattle were just so big! If a pig got mad and charged you, it might hurt a bit, but you pretty much knew you were going to be okay. If one of the cattle got mad, well... From the stories that Richard, Jeremiah, and Obadiah told, there was very little that an any cow couldn't tear into shreds if it so desired. Thankfully, these were quite docile, and didn't react as Jason threaded his way through the herd to the alley.

There, Tess waved at him, and the three adults set up a system. The alley had a number of gates, all relatively close together, that could be opened and closed at will. Milligan stood at the gate at the threshold of the barn, while Jason stood one gate inward. They both swung their gates shut, creating a small pen of sorts. Tess then stood just outside that impromptu pen, which was so narrow that only one of the great beasts could fit through at a time, and waved at Milligan.

Carefully, Milligan opened his gate, allowing a red steer to amble inside. He closed the gate behind, sealing it in and preventing it from running back, and Tess got to work. There wasn't much to do, but she put a tag in its right ear that displayed a number, and then dribbled a bit of formula on its back

that would help kill parasites, particularly several varieties of wyrms. The moment she was done, Jason swung his own gate open, allowing the animal to wander down and into the pasture.

It was a quick process, and utterly painless for the animal. None of them bellowed or kicked, and by the end of it, the animals almost seemed eager to get inside, so they could get to the grass. It took less than a minute per animal, and as such, it was only about two hours before each and every one of the beasts was out to pasture.

With that, Tess climbed up on top of the fence rails and sighed deeply, looking out across the pasture. Jason joined her, climbing up with Fern and Rachel. The whole family perched on top, while Milligan leaned against the rails to peer through the slats.

"It's a wonderful thing, boss." Milligan looked up, a twinkle in his eyes. "It really is. You've done well, ma'am."

"Thanks." Tess sighed deeply, then pulled the two girls into a hug. "I spent so much of my life trying to kill things, I think... I don't know. This just feels incredible, to be able to actually build something instead, you know?"

"You've already had two children." Jason raised an eyebrow. "Do those not count as raising something?"

"Of course! And I wouldn't trade the children for anything." Tess sighed deeply. "I just... I don't know. I love this so much, you have no idea how much. Thank you Jason, and thank you Milligan, for being willing to help."

"I'm just the hired help. I'll do whatever you want me to do." Milligan laughed and turned away. "Alright, you four just enjoy the view, and I'll be working this way when you're done."

Jason smiled, then slid a little closer to Tess. Out on the pasture, the cattle slowly wandered back and forth, munching on the grass and lowing occasionally. Yes, indeed, it was a wonderful thing, and he was more than happy for his wife. In a way, it was funny... Cattle had been the very first animal he had tried to raise, and it had gone terribly. Now, while it wasn't the pinnacle of their farm by any stretch, it did feel as though he had finally reached a milestone of sorts.

He only hoped, especially as Winter was coming, that they hadn't bitten off more than they could chew.

Chapter

Chapter Fifteen: Bad Day

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 25th day of Fall! 66 days until the Fall Festival! Good morning, folks! And I do mean that in the most uplifting sense of the word that I can convey, because... well... Frankly, it's a downright miserable day out there, so I sincerely hope that you don't have to get outside to do anything!]

"Well, I have to get outside to do things." Jason groaned, though in a good-natured way, as he rolled out of bed and slowly climbed to his feet. Behind him, Tess rolled out of bed as well, being careful not to disturb Rachel and Fern. A pretty bad storm had come through the night before, and while it certainly wasn't anything nearly as bad as the last storm, it had been loud, and had scared the girls.

"Do you need me to go instead?" Tess offered. "I know you're not fond of the cold, I can make it work."

"Nah. Don't worry about a thing." Jason leaned over and gave her a kiss. "You just stay inside and keep the kids busy. I'll go out and get everything done."

"You're the best." Tess kissed him back, then carefully got dressed. "Any idea how long they'll sleep?"

"Not a clue." Jason chuckled. "I'm guessing at least another hour."

"I'm going to guess two hours."

"What do I get if I'm right?"

Tess thought for a moment. "If you're right, I go clean out that mess you

call an office. If I win, you give me a back massage."

"Deal."

Tess smiled, and Jason quickly dressed and slipped out of the room. As he made his way down the stairs, Chance bounded up to meet him, though the dog seemed disappointed that the girls weren't with him. Jason soon arrived in the kitchen, made up some sausages, and tossed one to the dog while he ate the rest. As the food rested in his stomach, he pulled on his boots, put on a coat, and slipped out into the frigid air.

Obadiah hadn't been joking, the day was miserable, there was just no other way about it. The sky was dark and cloudy, though not a speck of rain fell. Wind blew cold and penetrating across the prairie, cutting through his clothing straight to his bone. It wasn't humid, which was nice, but... It easily felt more like Winter than Fall, and without the sun, it made his whole body seem to ache.

When he arrived in the barn, he quickly poured out feed for the few animals there, which mostly consisted of the few sheep that Tess had retained. That done, he slipped out to the pasture, where he double-checked the watering tank as well as the mineral feeder. Both of them were full enough, and he nodded at the few cattle that were grazing down by his location. They all looked good enough, none of them seemed sick or in distress, and he made his way back up to the barn.

There, he went to the horses, leaving Lady and Alfred, but taking out Angus. He didn't think the horses would appreciate the corral in such cold weather, certainly. Angus shivered a bit against the cold, but obeyed his master, and Jason soon had him hitched up to the harvester. Still, Milligan was nowhere to be seen, and Jason shrugged. He had no reason to be worried, most likely, Milligan was simply running late. Without wanting to waste any time, he snapped the reins, sending Angus lumbering forward

into the field. The blades whirled to life, and he sliced into the soybeans with vigor.

The beans had grown slower than they usually did, likely due to the unusual stretch of cold weather that they had been experiencing. They were a short plant, not quite ground-hugging, but no more than a couple feet high. As Jason lumbered along, a great plume of dust exploded into the air behind him, though it was whisked away quickly by the wind. Exposed, Jason was battered fiercely by the gale, but he clung to the harvester and went on, slowly making his way along.

He decided to take his usual stretch, the northern edge of the eighty acres, which now placed him along a border of the pasture. As he went forward, the plume of dust seemed to intrigue the cattle, who came rumbling over. Not all two hundred came, certainly, but there was a solid 50 or more who followed him as he went down the fence, tossing their heads and snorting and racing along to catch up with him. Some began to frisk and dance about, snorting and bellowing, and he laughed despite the cold weather. Cattle could be hilarious to watch, they kept acting like calves even into their adult lives.

When he reached the end of the field and started to cut back, since he was now a bit further into the field, a number of the cattle turned away, but the majority stayed and kept pace with him. He thought it was funny, and waved to them a few times. He wished he had some treats, but he wasn't even sure what cattle liked to eat other than grass. In any event, he stayed focused, and continued working his way onward through the cold world.

He was just nearing the end of his second pass when he caught a glimpse of a grey horse, and smiled as Milligan rode in, looking breathless on Dusty. Jason waved, and Milligan waved back, though they didn't speak

until Milligan had hitched Dusty up to a harvester and entered the field. There, Jason turned and harvested over to join him, and the two of them paused as they pulled up next to each other. Both jumped off the harvesters to stand behind the great machines to get a temporary cover from the wind, and Milligan nodded at Jason.

"Sorry I'm late, boss! I'm afraid I don't have any excuse other than oversleeping."

Jason shrugged. "I mean, it's not like you make a habit of it, so I'm not going to complain too loudly. What happened?"

Milligan shrugged. "The wind was just so loud last night. My chimney kept howling and waking me up, and when my alarm went off this morning..." He shrugged. "I remember the alarm going off very clearly. I sat up, and then lay down again for just a moment because I had to scratch an itch, and then... Bam! It's been over an hour, and here I am."

Jason grinned. "I wish I could say that I hadn't done the same thing before. You're totally forgiven, you can be assured of that. Have you been able to get everything you need? Do you need coffee, breakfast, anything?"

"I'll admit that coffee sounds incredible." Milligan grimaced. "I tried once to light a fire in the oven, but it didn't light immediately because of the wind, and I didn't want to waste any more time. I did eat breakfast, just some leftovers."

"Then why don't you head into the house?" Jason nodded toward the homestead. "Tess can fix you up a mug."

"I couldn't do that to you!" Milligan shook his head. "Besides, it's cold enough that I'm staying plenty awake."

Jason shrugged. "Ahh, it'll be good for you. Sure, you're awake, but a bit of caffeine will help you stay alert. Just take five minutes, that won't affect

our end time at all, you'll come back out here more efficient than if you just try to push through."

Jason could see that Milligan was wavering, so he grinned and punched Milligan lightly in the shoulder. "Come on! I'd love to go inside for a few minutes. Do it for me."

"Alright, but just for you, boss!"

Milligan rubbed his hands together as he slipped off toward the house, and Jason climbed back up onto the harvester. His hands were starting to grow numb, but he snapped the reins and forced his way onward, anyway.

Milligan took far less than five minutes, though, as Jason had hoped, he seemed to perk up a great deal after the refreshment. Soon, the two of them were plowing quickly through the field, working along just as well as they could. The gain dust from the soybeans continued to plume upward through the air, and in what seemed like no time at all, they came to the end.

Tess met them at the field entrance, bundled up in a coat. She had a picnic basket in her hands, which she passed over to Jason.

"Since it's so cold, I assume you'll want to be back inside just about as quickly as possible! Get up to Milligan's cabin, take a quick break, and then get back to it. I'll have a warm fire for you when you get home."

"You got it!" Jason waved at her. She turned and swept away, and he nodded at Milligan. Together, they rumbled up toward the Far Eighty, and the remainder of their work to get done for the day.

As they went along, they passed by the southern edge of the pasture, which ran all the way up to the winding path that connected the two properties. A few of the cattle continued to follow them, snorting and chasing after the harvesters, which Jason still thought was humorous. When

they arrived, Jason and Milligan turned the horses into the corral for a rest, then slipped inside the cabin.

The inside of the building was cold, and Milligan quickly worked to get a fire going. It took him a few tries, but as he succeeded, a warm glow filled the cabin. Jason sighed and sank into a chair, and Milligan sat down just opposite of him.

"You expect things like this in Winter! Not so much in Fall." Milligan chuckled as they pulled out thermoses of hot chocolate, along with several roast beef sandwiches that were still warm. "Your wife, she's a remarkable woman. Takes good care of everyone she can."

"That she does." Jason nodded as he started to eat. He chuckled softly. "This has nothing to do with anything, but if anyone happens to look at this property, it's going to look utterly wonky. No one is going to have a clue why I happened to build things like this, you know?"

"Indeed, boss." Milligan laughed. He dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, then shrugged. "It's because you like to take care of people just as much as your wife does. That's why the two of you go together so well, you know."

"Maybe so." Jason flashed a small smile. "I just... I don't know. She was always helping people when I got here. It draws a person to her, and now, the fact that she's taking care of children instead of adults, I don't know. It doesn't change a thing in my mind."

"Spoken like a good husband." Milligan drained the last of his hot chocolate, then looked out the window. "Are you ready to get to work again?"

"Not one bit." Jason slowly rose. "But that very fact means we ought to get to it. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can be back inside for

good and not have the dread of being out in the cold hanging over our heads."

"Very true!" Milligan smiled. "After you, then!"

The two of them soon walked out into the air, which was growing colder, it seemed, by the minute. Still, though, the hot chocolate seemed to rest as a ball of warmth in his stomach, and the thought of Tess kept his heart warm. The cold weather could come, and, in all reality, it would only grow colder. That said, he knew he could bear it... Because, at the end of the day, he would always have that warm heath, his incredible family, to return to.

Chapter

Chapter Sixteen: Field

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 45th day of Fall! 46 days until the Fall Festival! We're halfway to Winter, folks!!! I know that's not really that cool, we pass a halfway point every season, but... Just think for a moment about the fact that, at noon today, it will be exactly halfway between the start of fall and the end of it. My weird thought for the day. Anyhow, weather should be nice, so get out and enjoy it!]

As Jason rolled out of bed, he found Tess, as usual, off and gone for the day. He chuckled a bit at it, then slowly walked up to look out through the window. The sun was just cresting the horizon, while the massive herd of cattle was grouped just next to the barn, snorting and sniffing and stamping their feet. He watched them for a moment, then grinned as he caught sight of Milligan walking along the fence with a bucket in hand. Most likely, he was pouring them some pellets, which they loved, and would do almost anything for. One trick that Richard had told them was to train the cattle to come to treats, to make it easier to catch them when the time came. Tess particularly loved doing so, as it meant that she could pet some of the friendlier ones. Jason liked that aspect a bit less than she did, but he did have to admit that it was fun.

In any event, he changed quickly, then made his way down the stairs. Tess had a breakfast of biscuits and gravy on the table, and he sat down and inhaled deeply as she set out a plate before him.

"Are the girls really still asleep?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"So far, yes." Tess chuckled softly. "I think they'll be down soon, th--"

"Daddy!"

"Dada!"

Fern and Rachel came pounding into view a moment later, and Jason

turned as they flung themselves into his arms. He gave them both big kisses, then set them up in their chairs. Fern immediately grabbed a biscuit and started to eat it without any gravy, while Rachel dunked hers in the gravy pot (spilling gravy across the table) and then threw it to Chance, who was more than happy to receive the treat.

"Girls! Both of you!" Tess took Fern's biscuit, broke it open, and poured on a bit of the sausage gravy. She then passed a second one to Rachel, which she very pointedly didn't allow to be thrown onto the floor. "There. No more shenanigans."

"More shananins!" Fern declared.

"Listen to your mother." Jason admonished, though he had to hide a smile as he said it. He finished his own meal, then stood. "Do you want to help daddy today? Pending mommy's approval?"

"Yay!" Fern clapped her hands.

"I said it was up to your mother." Jason held up a finger, then gave Tess a kiss on the cheek. "It'll probably help if you're good."

"Good?" Fern scrunched up her nose. "No hitting Rachel?"

"That's a start!" Jason laughed as he made his way to the front door. "See you in a bit, hon!"

"See you!" Tess called back.

Jason soon had his boots pulled on, and was striding out into the farmstead. There, Milligan was just getting the horses hitched up to the planters. They had technically harvested the last crop several days earlier, but weather had prevented them from getting into the field very quickly.

Jason couldn't be certain, but it rather felt as though the weather was more unusual than normal.

"Alright, boss! Everything is all good to go." Milligan clambered up onto his planter. "What's the plan for today? I know you told me a few days ago, but I'm afraid I forgot to write it down."

"Not a worry." Jason opened up the seed box, then scanned through his inventory. "We're going to be planting... Here it is!" He made a selection, and nodded as corn came pouring down into the boxes. "Candy corn!"

"Now that's a new one for me, boss." Milligan chuckled softly as the seed boxes were filled with brightly-colored kernels of corn. "What is it?"

"I dunno for sure. Something Cecilia sold me the last time I was in town." Jason stroked his chin. "It's basically just sugar, but it's supposed to yield really well, and if we can get it sold before the end of the season, apparently the concept of a fall festival is actually starting to take off up in Illumitir, and this stuff is a big hit. They're paying all sorts of money for it, at least that's what I'm told."

"Huh." Milligan reached down and picked up one of the seeds, then popped it into his mouth. He chewed for a moment, then frowned. "You're right, it's awful sweet, but in a... almost a syrupy sort of way. I wonder..." He frowned. "My research on sugar beet development! I bet one of the other scientists from my old company managed to recreate the data."

Jason shrugged. "It's not like you were creating candy corn anyway. I do want to see new sugar beet varieties come Spring, but..." He shrugged. "Seems like everyone wins."

"Very true, boss!" Milligan slammed the seed box shut, then took up the reins. "Shall we?"

"Let's go!"

Jason snapped the reins, and Angus lumbered forward out into the field. Jason pulled the level to lower the machine into the ground, and the steady, familiar rattle of seed flowing down into the ground filled the air. The smell of sugar began to flicker around the planter as well... Except it was a bit more than that.

It was the smell of sugar combined with the smell of corn, the smell of Fall, the smell of harvest. It equally made him want to go home and have a traditional fall dinner, and go to a pumpkin patch or something equally Fall- ish. It was a strange feeling, one of nostalgia mixed with longing, and he sighed.

They rumbled down through the field, drawing the attention of several of the cattle in the pasture. Now that the newness of the machines rumbling around through the field had worn off, they didn't attract nearly as many, but several still liked to run alongside anyway. As long as he was on the pass closest to the pasture, Jason opened up his inventory and took out a small handful of pellets, each of which was at least an inch across and twice as long. He tossed them to the cattle as he went along (which brought over quite a few more), and the cattle seemed to enjoy.

When he reached the end of the field and came back, several of the cattle matched pace with him for a time, but when they realized that his arm wasn't strong enough to throw the pellets across the distance, they gave up and began to wander away. Jason watched them for a bit, then turned his attention back to the field. He didn't want to get off-track, which would be easy enough to do if he kept paying attention to the cattle.

Soon, he reached the end closest to the house again, where Tess was waiting with Fern. He drew to a stop, and Tess carefully set the girl across on the dirt.

"Fern has been very good, and even went so far as to give Rachel ten kisses in reparation for the next ten times she gets angry and hits her." Tess rolled her eyes when Fern wasn't looking, and Jason laughed. "She also cleaned up all the plates from breakfast by setting them on the floor for Chance to lick off, and she cleaned off our mud boots by scraping all the dirt onto the carpet in the living room."

"I was being a big helper!" Fern declared.

"It sounds like it!" Jason laughed. He carried her over to the planter, and carefully set her on the back. "Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

Jason climbed up next to her, and made sure that she had a good grip. With that, he snapped the reins and started off once more, sending up a plume of dust as he went along.

"What's that smell?" Fern asked after a moment. "It smells good!"

Jason smiled and patted her on the head. "That's candy corn."

"Candy?"

"Yup! If it wasn't so close to lunch, I'd give you one." Jason smiled and

puffed out his cheeks, then slowly pointed over at the cattle. "You see those?"

"Yeah!" Fern grinned and waved. "Hi, cows!" She continued to wave, then glanced back up at him. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?" Jason returned his attention towards the front, though he continued to listen.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Jason bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I really do."

She scooted a bit closer to him, then grabbed ahold of his leg with one hand and the support bar with the other. Jason sighed deeply with emotion, then steeled himself and kept going forward. It was a lovely feeling, one he never could have imagined before that very moment, but... There it was.

She continued to hold onto him as they went down, then came back, then went down once more. For that matter, she stayed for almost an hour and a half before she started to get wiggly, and Jason was forced to drive back over to the edge of the fence.

"Thank you, daddy!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Some day, I think I'll have enough pay-shence to be able to stay on for the whole field."

"You do?" Jason laughed softly.

"Yeah!" Fern beamed, then suddenly burst out sobbing. Jason gasped and held her close.

"What's wrong?"

Fern slowly pulled back away from him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "If I get big, and can help you on the farm, we won't need Miwigan, and he'll have to leave!"

Jason burst out laughing, which didn't help Fern's mood in the slightest, and he sighed and ran his hand through her hair.

"Shh. It'll be alright." He smiled. "Tell you what? If that does happen, and we don't need Milligan anymore, I'll buy another field so we can't possibly do it all, and he'll have to stick around."

Fern seemed to brighten. "Pwomise?"

"Promise."

"Yay!" Jason set Fern over the top of the fence, and she ran off toward

the house. "Mommy! Daddy says we can buy more fields!"

Jason just laughed as he climbed back up onto the planter. As he did so, Milligan rumbled over, and nodded toward Fern. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, lunchtime is now going to be spent with me doing nothing but explaining that I'm not actually buying the whole township, but..." Jason shrugged and grinned. "Other than that, yeah! Everything's fine."

"Wonderful! We're almost done here, so that'll probably be sooner rather than later."

"Sounds good to me." Jason took the reins and sent Angus rumbling off once more.

It was amazing the things that could make kids cry... But then again, there was such a lovely simplicity in it. Maybe, just maybe, it meant that he ought to be simpler in his own thoughts and mannerisms. He didn't know exactly how to do that... But he did have a pretty good example who could teach him.

Chapter

Chapter Seventeen:

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 49th day of Fall! 42 days until the Fall Festival! Today's going to be a chilly one, folks, though not terribly. The sun should be out, and there shouldn't be much wind, so I'd say you're good to get things done!]

Jason yawned and stretched as he rolled out of bed, then slowly rose and shook his head a bit to clear out the cobwebs. Tess came right behind him, giving him a quick hug before she started changing.

"You're up late today." Jason raised an eyebrow.

"I know, I know." Tess grumbled, though she had a smile on her face. "Fern had a nightmare last night, so it took a little bit for me to get her calmed back down."

"Is she okay?" Jason asked, instantly concerned.

"Yeah, she's fine!" Tess assured him. "Just a little shaken up. Honestly, she's probably already--"

"Daddy!" Fern raced into the room, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and dove onto the bed. Jason scooped her up and gave her a great big kiss, then slowly set her back down onto the ground. "I love you!"

"I love you, too." Jason smiled, then frowned. "Where's your sister?" "Dada! Tuck!" The voice drifted in from the hall.

Jason smiled, then swung his legs out of the bed and strode out. There, he

found Rachel standing in the doorway to her room. Her night gown had somehow gotten tangled in the hinge, holding her face. Jason had to work to

keep from laughing as he got her untangled, then gave her a hug and sent her on to Tess.

It was a solid half-hour before they all made their way downstairs to the dining room. There, Tess set out five plates, and was just in the middle of setting out an egg and cheese casserole when the door popped open, and Milligan stuck his head inside.

"Am I late?"

"Right on time!" Jason waved him in. "Come on! We're just getting ready."

"Wonderful." Milligan walked over and sat down in his usual seat, and Jason sat down just next to him. "Thanks again, Jason, for being willing to help me with this. It really does mean a lot to me."

"Glad to do it." Jason shrugged. "And you're sure these things are going to be alright?"

"Sure I'm sure." Milligan nodded. "I've been working on honing their genetics for almost two seasons now. They breed fast, so I've been able to get in... probably twenty generations, at least. They're all good for the test run."

Jason nodded, mulling things over in his head. The hope, at least of the folks in town, was to open the new dungeon sometime during the Winter. The whole thing wouldn't be done until closer to Spring, but they wanted to at least get part of it up and running, and thus, Milligan was transporting the first batch of plants up there that day. Jason had agreed to help, though, admittedly, he wasn't exactly sure how it was going to work.

When they finished eating, Tess took the two girls into the living room, where she started getting them ready. Jason pulled on his boots, then went out into the yard with Milligan.

The day could have been classified as the quintessential Fall day. The air was cool and crisp, with a wonderful sharpness about it. Still, though, it wasn't yet freezing (or it if was, it was only a tick or two below), and in the sun, there remained the faintest hint of warmth that spoke of pleasant times to come.

Dusty was hitched up nearby, alongside Angus. Jason mounted up on his own horse, and the two men rode off for the New Eighty, winding along the path, over the hills and through the ravines, past the herd of inquisitive cattle. Soon, they came up to the field (planted with candy corn, just like everything else), where a narrow path wound back through the crop to the greenhouse tucked away at the center.

"Alright. We can dismount here, I think." Milligan swung down off Dusty, and hitched him to the fence just next to the gate. "We'll carry everything back to here."

"Will we be able to fit it all in our saddlebags?" Jason frowned.

"Oh, yeah!" Milligan nodded. "We're only bringing a few live plants. Assuming those work, most of what we'll be taking are seeds. Come on, I'll show you!"

The two men quickly made their way back through the corn, the dry leaves crackling against their bodies as they forged their way along the narrow path. Soon, they came to the greenhouse door, which Milligan pulled open with a flourish.

Inside was a sea of green, more than making the house live up to its name. There were flowers and vines, crops and ornamentals, and all sorts of things in between. Importantly, at the far end, a number of cages sectioned off ground-level seed beds, where an assortment of sunflowers skittered back and forth, snarling and snapping at each other.

"And here we go." Milligan smiled as they walked up to the pens. There were four total, each with sunflowers of a slightly different size and color. The largest had bright red petals, the next smallest had blue, the next had green, and the smallest had standard, yellow petals. "These are based on the dwarf gnatcatcher plants, which are a whole lot more docile than crabgrasses or monstertraps. I had to import the seeds from way in the north, but here we are!" He chuckled, then reached down into the pen with the red flowers. The sunflower snarled, then lunged forward, beating against him with its leaves. "None of that, now!"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "More docile, eh?"

"I mean..." Milligan shrugged as he pulled out some twine and began to tie up the plant. "There aren't many reasons for a plant to move around, you know? Any vegetative life that decides to pull up its roots is going to be doing it to eat things, so..."

"Uh, huh. And I'm going to be carrying these things with me all the way up to Summer Shandy." Jason laughed. "Alright, just show me how to do this."

He grabbed some twine from Milligan, and the two of them quickly set to work. Soon, they had tied up eight of the plants, two from each pen, and started wrangling them back out to the horses. Even with their leaves and heads restrained, the flowers thrashed around and beat against their handlers with everything they had, and Jason was soon covered with bruises. Still, though, he pushed onward, and the two of them came out to their horses, mounted up, and took off.

The ride back across the prairie and through the homestead was significantly less picturesque than the first ride. The sunflowers protruded out of the saddlebags, and whacked both Jason and Angus, making the

horse jump in odd directions more often than not. Jason picked up speed as they got out onto the road, wanting to make the trip in as little time as possible.

They saw only a few other travelers on the road as they raced for Summer Shandy, most of whom were just warriors passing through the area. As they came into the town, they found Obadiah sitting on the town well, chatting with Jeremiah about the depth of the well. Jason came riding up, and the two men glanced at him.

"Maybe you can settle an argument." Jeremiah rubbed his jaw. "What do you think? If we were to measure the depth of this here well, would it be better to have someone jump inside and swim all the way to the bottom, or better to drop something inside tied to a rope or something?"

Jason blinked in surprise. "Ahh... Object tied to a rope."

"And the Guildmaster wins again." Obadiah grinned as Jeremiah sulked. "And, my dear Jason, would you mind explaining why that is?"

"Because if it's very deep, you're going to struggle to find someone to hold their breath for that long?" Jason held up his hand.

Obadiah's grin suddenly became a scowl. "And because people drink out of there, so that's really gross?"

"Do you have any idea how many animals have fallen in that thing over the years?" Jason snorted. "Trust me, especially if they bathe somewhat regularly, it wouldn't be nearly as gross as some of the stuff that's gone in there."

"Ha!" Jeremiah pointed at Obadiah. "So, I'm right, and it would be just fine!"

Jason rolled his eyes, then nodded down at the plants, which were still fighting to get away. "I don't mean to cut into the conversation, but is there

a place I can put these things? They're getting mighty antsy, and I'd rather get rid of them before they escape or something."

"Yeah! Just around back, you can just put them inside the dungeon." Obadiah gestured. "The whole thing's sealed up, so they can just run around inside or something if they break free. We'll go deal with them soon enough."

Jason nodded, and he and Milligan soon made their way back to the dungeon. Jason had rarely been so happy to throw something in a dungeon as at that moment, which he thought was rather humorous. With that, he and Milligan rode away, giving Obadiah and Jeremiah (who was now trying to convince Obadiah to let him fire a cannon into the well) a wide berth.

"Well, that's done." Milligan dusted off his hands. "Thank you, Jason. Johan and Obadiah will give those a test run, and that'll let me know what I need to do from there. I do, though, think that this will lead to prosperity! Or, at the very least, a fun, interactive dungeon."

"I hope it works." Jason chuckled softly. "I sincerely--"

"AHHHHHH!"

A scream echoed out from the town, and Jason turned around to see a flash of red racing out into the prairie, chased by Jeremiah and Gob. Jason scratched his head, and Milligan shrugged.

"They've got enough help. They'll be able to catch it, way better than us."

"I hope so." Jason puffed out his cheeks and focused once more on the road in front of him. "If they don't catch it... Are you sure the genetics are harder to transfer than the monstertraps?"

"I..." Milligan suddenly looked worried, then turned and rode off across the prairie. Jason watched him go, then sighed, turned, and started after

him.

It was yet another chapter in the general shenanigans of Summer Shandy,

but... well... He really didn't want those genetics getting out into the wilderness. If they did, there was no telling what sort of chaos could be unleashed.

Chapter

Chapter Eighteen: Warm

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 55th day of Fall! 36 days until the Fall Festival! Alright, folks, today's going to be a great day for getting outside! With only one month left until Winter, this is probably the last warm day we'll have!]

Jason, as usual, felt a great swell of anticipation fluttering through him as he slowly rose and walked up to the window. As he looked out across his field, a smile broke across his face, and he leaned against the frame, contemplating the harvest to take place that day.

"Morning." Tess swept into the room. "How's it going today? You look thoughtful."

"Something like that." Jason nodded. He stroked his chin, then shrugged and turned to her. "It just feels like a good day, you know? We should... we should have a party."

Tess raised an eyebrow. "You're harvesting today."

"I didn't say it would be a big party, but we'll have to break for lunch anyway." Jason shrugged. "Please?"

"It's only a month until the Fall Festival."

"Please?" Jason wriggled his eyebrows until Tess burst out laughing. "Alright, alright! Stop that!"

Jason laughed as well, then got changed. "I'll catch you downstairs."

"Will you?" Tess called after him, but by then, he was already down in the kitchen. There, Tess had been thoughtful enough to leave him an egg and sausage burrito, which he ate as he pulled on his boots and made his way out into the farmyard.

Milligan was out doing the chores, and waved at Jason as he approached. "Morning, boss!"

"Good morning!" Jason inhaled deeply, then let it all out. "How are you

doing today?"

"Not as good as you, it looks like." Milligan chuckled dryly. "You found

the right side of the bed this morning."

"And both you and Tess are going to hound me about it until I'm worn

clean through." Jason snorted. "Come on, let's get to work!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Milligan snorted. "I, for what it's worth,

found the normal side of the bed to wake up on this morning."

"Duly noted!"

Jason turned in a circle, drinking it all in, then strode up into the barn. It

didn't take them long to get all the chores done, at which point, they went down to bring out the harvesters. Angus seemed in just as perky a mood as Jason himself, and soon, they had everything ready. Jason climbed up and took up the reins, then glanced over at Milligan.

"Last one done is a rotten egg?"

"We finish the field at the same time." Milligan rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get this over with."

"Onward!"

The blades whirred to life as Angus lumbered forward, and Jason smiled as they hit the stalks. Of all the things to harvest, corn was by far one of his favorites. When the blades chopped through the stalks, there was an extremely satisfying whacking noise, and the chaff that was spit out the back end had a smell that was just... Wonderful.

Today, though, on top of all the normal stuff, the smell of candy corn filled the air. It was sugar, pure sugar, along with something like molasses

as well. It was rich, it was sweet, and, in Jason's mind, it was absolutely lovely. The cattle all seemed to smell it as well, and came charging over to the fence as he rumbled along. He tossed some pellets out to them, which they enjoyed, but they continued to snort and chase him, wanting the sugar. Jason wasn't exactly sure if the candy would be good or bad for them, and he wasn't going to risk Tess's ire if it poisoned one of them, so he refrained from tossing any of it in their direction.

In any event, it was a wonderful sort of harvest, and as Jason rumbled back and forth through the field, he felt as though he were walking - or perhaps harvesting - on air. The field seemed to be finished in almost no time, at which point, they turned the horses back out into the corral and started to make their way up toward the house.

"Wait!" Tess came out the front door, followed closely by the two girls. "Hold on! I'm not going to get in trouble with the husband, so just hold your shorts! It's just taking me a minute to get out there!"

Jason paused as she came walking over, and he grinned. She was carrying a picnic basket, along with a blanket. "Come on." She walked past him. "You're desperate for a Fall celebration, so let's go have it."

"Celebwation!" Fern grinned. Jason bent down and picked her up, slinging her onto his shoulders. Rachel held up her hands as well, and Milligan scooped her up and did the same on his own shoulders. Tess led them all back into the field, where she spread the red-and-white checkered blanket across the stalks, and they all took their seats.

"And here we go." Tess opened up the basket and started pulling out food. "We have mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, turkey, corn on the cob..." She continued to list things as a proper feast was set out, and Jason's mouth watered. Fern grinned and clapped, and Jason took a paper plate to get food

for his eldest daughter. Once she was set, he got a bit less food for Rachel, then helped himself. Tess and Milligan did the same, and they all leaned back to enjoy the day.

Overhead, the sun shone down, casting warm rays upon them, and Jason sighed in contentment. He opened up the farm's inventory and pulled out a handful of the candy corn kernels, which he dumped onto a napkin at the center. None of them really spoke as they ate, they simply watched the two girls and smiled at one another. Finally, though, the food was gone, and Jason flopped backward on the blanket and closed his eyes.

"Jump daddy!" He heard Rachel cry out. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to process this before she came crashing down onto his stomach, blasting every last ounce of air out of his lungs. He gasped and sat up, and found Tess laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Tess waved her hands, then nodded at Rachel. "Don't do that again."

"Otay, mommy. Sowwy, daddy."

"Oh, I forgive you." Jason gave her a kiss, then leaned back on his hands, reclining a bit still, but giving himself much more visibility. "Thank you, Tess."

"No, thank you, Jason." Tess shrugged. "It was nice. I don't know, it's sometimes nice to just take a step back and look at things, you know?"

"I do." Jason smiled softly, then, as the two girls raced off toward the distant portions of the field, he lay back once more.

"Do you mind my asking why you've been in such a good mood?" Tess asked a moment later. "Again, I'm not complaining, but you've been in a very Fall sort of a mood this season, way more so than usual."

Jason pondered for a moment, then shrugged and nodded. "I think so. I mean, it dawns on me that the seasons are sorta like our lives, right? When I first got here, it was like my springtime. I was learning, I was growing, I was making connections. Little shoots here, little flowers there, but still a lot to do. Then, a few years pass, and it's sorta like Summer. Everything's growing and expanding. We suddenly get a barn, our properties are physically growing, everything's progressing. Now... Now, it feels like we're sorta starting to reap the benefits of all of this. A Fall harvest. This, actually being in the midst of Fall just seems appropriate, you know?"

"I do." Tess nodded, then laughed. "If that theory is right, I sure don't want anything to come next, because next is Winter, and a philosophical, full-of-hardship sort of experience isn't exactly something I want to go through!"

Jason nodded, a grin on his face. "Very true, very true." He shrugged after a moment. "One thing I'm learning on the farm, in any case, is that we don't exactly have an immense amount of control about these things. If there is a Winter coming, we'll weather it well enough. I'm not too concerned."

"You wouldn't be." Tess shrugged, then sighed and rose. "Well, Milligan, it was lovely getting to see you at this little celebration of sorts."

"I wouldn't have missed it!" Milligan chuckled as he rose. "Well, ma'am, Jason, we really need to get moving if we're going to get the Far Eighty harvested before sundown."

"Very true." Jason rose and started helping Tess pack up the basket. "I'll be there in just a second."

Milligan wandered away, and Jason gave Tess a quick kiss. She kissed him back, then finished packing things and called to the girls. Jason turned

away and went to the corral, where he took back Angus and led him over to the harvester. Soon, he was all hitched up, and the two men rumbled off toward the distant fields.

As they did, the wind continued to blow softly, warming Jason to his core. He didn't know what sort of philosophical Winter was coming, but he did know that a physical Winter was coming, and that, too, filled him with an odd sort of joy. Images rose in his head, images of candles in frosted windows, and good times around the fire, and all sorts of other things like that.

He forced those images down after a moment, though. All that would come in due time. For now, it was still Fall, and he was going to enjoy every last moment of it. For this day, that meant getting the Far Eighty harvested... So that was exactly what he was going to do.

Chapter

Chapter Nineteen: Cold

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 66th day of Fall! 25 days until the Fall Festival! Today's a chilly one, no getting around that fact, folks! If you have young'uns, best to keep them inside, I'd say! I'll also note that there's a big cattle sale today, so stay out of the streets unless you have to!]

Jason's eyes flickered open. This time, he found Tess standing over him, a broad grin on her face. He sat up and gave her a kiss, and she slowly walked up to the window. He rolled out of bed and started getting dressed, flashing a quizzical look at her.

"I'm surprised to see you still here." He posited after a moment. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, everything's okay." She nodded, flashing a smile at him. "It's just really cold outside, so I'm waiting a bit to get moving. Figured I'd help you with the kids, and all that. I have to wait for Milligan to get here anyway, and he's not here yet, so..." She shrugged.

"That sounds like a plan to me." Jason stretched, then finished snapping his overalls in place. With that, he started out the door, smiling at her. "Why don't you get some breakfast ready then, and I'll be down as soon as I get the girls changed?"

"Works for me! Catch you in a minute!"

Tess swept out and down the stairs, and Jason crept into the girls' room. There, he found a slumbering Fern and Rachel, both of them just beginning to stir. Very carefully, he bent down and gave them both kisses on the cheek, then stepped back as they sat up.

"Good morning!" He grinned softly. "Are you two ready to help mommy sell some cattle today?"

Fern was instantly wide awake. "Cattle drive?"

"Yep!" Jason grinned.

"Can I ride on a horse?"

Jason held up a finger, then slowly shook his head. "Probably not. I think

we'll try to go into town, but it's going to be cold, so we'll need to be bundled up in the carriage."

Fern pouted for a moment, but nodded. Rachel, who had walked over to the window, suddenly pointed and started shouting.

"Cows, cows!"

Fern raced over to join her sister, and Jason laughed and walked up to the window. There, rumbling past, were hundreds upon hundreds of bovines, the cream of the crop from the Lazy-H. Jason caught sight of Richard himself riding high next to the horses. Jason and the girls waved down at him, but he seemed to be busy trying to prevent a red steer from breaking free of the herd, and didn't notice.

"Don't worry! We'll catch grandpa up in town." Jason promised them. "Come on, let's go!"

He quickly got the girls dressed, then took them down the stairs. There, Tess had set up a large number of pancakes, bacon, and more, but had since vanished. Chance, who had been slowly climbing up onto a chair to try and snitch the food, backed down. Jason chuckled and gave the hound a few pets, then sat down in his chair and helped serve the two girls. When they were done eating (which took quite some time, as both were so excited by the prospect of the cattle drive that they didn't want to focus on such a

trivial thing), he took them to the front of the house and started getting them dressed.

Outside, though it was hard to tell for sure through the window, it just looked cold. The sun was high in the sky, so it was bright, and there wasn't a breath of wind. Maybe it was a thin layer of frost, or maybe it was that eerie stillness in and of itself, but the whole world just seemed frozen. Once Jason had the girls bundled up and out the door, that suspicion was utterly and completely confirmed.

Not only was it cold, but it was freezing. Almost instantly, Jason's nose and cheeks, which were the only exposed portion of his body, started to sting. Fern and Rachel didn't seem to notice, as they ran down off the porch so they could better watch the cattle rumbling past. A few of the hired hands waved at them now, and Jason helped the girls wave back. Fern tugged on his arm, trying to pull him closer to the road.

"Come on, daddy! See cows better!"

Jason shook his head, and turned them toward the barn. "Sorry, girls, not today. If we get too close to the cattle, you might accidentally startle them, and then they could stampede!"

"What stampede?" Rachel asked, after stumbling for a moment on the unfamiliar word.

"It means that the cattle start to run really fast, and they squish everything in their path!" Jason held up his hands, trying to sound as dramatic as possible. "They might even crash through our fences, and then our cattle would stampede!"

"And then they would 'stroy the barn?" Fern asked, wide-eyed.

"Maybe!" Jason nodded, though he sincerely doubted that even cattle, as large as they were, could really damage the barn. It was, though, technically

possible.

"And then the house?" Fern's eyes got wider.

"Maybe!" Jason nodded again.

"And then us?"

"Maybe!" Jason confirmed one last time.

"Yay! Squished by cows!" Fern clapped her hands. Jason, at that very

moment, realized that he had no idea what Fern's definition of "squished" happened to be. He didn't bother himself about it too much, though, and they soon made their way up and into the massive barn.

Inside, it was a bit warmer, and the girls ran over to a pile of toys that Tess had set up for them. Jason watched them for a moment, then turned his attention to Tess and Milligan. They had opened up the alley for the cattle to come up and into the barn, and arrayed a few of the gates inside the barn to contain the beasts. About half of the cattle had come, and had taken up a quiet residence in the assorted empty pens. The rest were still out, though they were lumbering steadily toward the barn as Tess shook a bucket filled with pellets.

"Your wife sure knows her way with cattle." Milligan walked up next to Jason, and the two of them leaned against a gate. "You'd think she'd been born into a long line of ranchers going back for a dozen generations."

Jason could only shake his head. "She's something else, that's for sure. There's not much that she can't apply herself to, if she so desires."

A few minutes later, the last of the cattle had come up inside the barn. Tess slammed the gates shut to pen them in, then hopped a few gates to come over to where the men were standing.

"Has the Lazy-H finished going by yet?" Tess glanced out through the door.

Jason followed her gaze. The trail of cattle rumbling past had diminished somewhat, but was still coming nearly in full force.

"I bet they have about twenty minutes left." He answered after a moment. "Best guess."

"Then we'll just have to wait." Tess shrugged. "Richard told me that we could just run our cattle with his, but we have so many now that I just don't want to risk it. Ten to twenty head? Not a problem. Two hundred? That's going to cause a headache for the guilds, and since it's so cold, they'll probably dock us if that happens."

"You're the expert." Jason shrugged. "You just tell me where and how you need me."

"I need you watching the kids." Tess answered. "Actually, once we get moving, if you could drive the carriage between the back of Richard's herd and the front of our herd, that's about where I think I could use you most."

"Then that's just where I'll be." Jason smiled, then started walking down toward the corral. "How's it feel? First cattle drive on our own?"

"It feels great!" Tess called out from behind him. "Thank you again, so much!"

Jason nodded and waved over his shoulder. Soon, he pulled Angus from the corral and hitched him up to the carriage, then took him over to the barn entrance. That done, he left the mighty steed with Tess, and made his way down to the house, where he gathered up a number of blankets, as well as bricks from the fireplace. He soon had a lovely nest worked up in the carriage box, which would hopefully keep the two girls a bit warmer than they might have otherwise stayed.

"Alright!" Jason cupped his hands around his mouth. "If you're under the age of five, come here!"

Fern and Rachel both came racing over, laughing and giggling, and Jason hoisted them up into the wagon box and got them wrapped up just as tightly as he could. When he finished, he climbed up beside them, took up the reins, and gave a bit of a snap. Angus lumbered off, slowly at first, up to the gate. By now, there were only a few Lazy-H cattle left, and soon, the last of them trickled past.

With that, Jason drove out himself, with Tess and Milligan following with the Hunter cattle. Tess carried a bucket from her place in Lady's saddle, which she shook every few feet, giving off a loud rattle to indicate the presence of treats. The cattle responded in kind, and came along rapidly, snuffling and snorting and stamping merrily. Milligan stayed back, coming along in the end to keep the stragglers moving. All in all, it was...peaceful. Easy. Smaller animals were so wild and crazy, but these? They were huge, but they were gentle giants, in just about every sense of the word.

It didn't take long for them to lumber all the way up to Summer Shandy. There, things got a bit trickier, but even then, it didn't take much effort to get them to walk around to the backside of the item store. There, the Guild men loaded the cattle into the corrals with a practiced hand, and Tess hopped down to go chat with them.

"Can we go play, daddy?" Fern looked up at Jason, batting her eyes. Her lips were already turning blue, and she shivered, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Where do you want to play?"

"In the town square!"

"No." Jason snorted, then smiled. "We can go into Cecilia's, though!" "Will John be there?"

"I haven't the faintest idea, but we can check!"

A few minutes later, Jason and the two girls were making their way into the shop. Jason set them down and let them run off through the shelves, admonishing them that their dessert was on the line if they caused any trouble, and from the counter, Cecilia smiled.

"You really do have a lovely family." She craned her neck, watching the girls play tag amidst the shelves. "And if they do break something, I'm sure it will be an accident, which I don't care about."

"Maybe not, but I'd rather they not know that fact." Jason muttered softly, with a smile on his face. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I have a few items I need to pick up, some for myself, and some for Tess."

"I wouldn't mind in the slightest!"

Jason was just finishing when Tess and Milligan strode inside, wide grins across their faces. Jason turned and raised an eyebrow.

"I gather that things went well?"

"Actually, they sold for somewhat lower than usual." Milligan answered, holding a small note in his hand. "Something about a trend in Illumitir involving the consumption of goat meat instead of beef. That said, Tess just made her first beef sale, and might as well be over the moon."

Tess rushed forward and threw herself into Jason's arms, and he chuckled. A moment later, she pulled back and sighed, then nodded.

"It's settled."

"What's settled?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Lunch at the inn before we leave." Tess nodded. "We need to celebrate." "Yay!" The two girls, who would have been utterly incapable of hearing

Jason give any instructions, came running at the first sound of a treat.

Jason laughed, then picked up the girls and started to walk out. "Thanks,

Cecilia!"

"You're more than welcome, Jefferson!"

Jason could only laugh as he made his way out of the store and into the town square. The cold wind continue to blow, but in so many ways, he just didn't care. He had a family, and that fact kept him warmer than anything the sun could manage. Tess was happier than he had ever seen her before, and his two girls were growing up faster than he could imagine.

What could possibly get in the way of

Chapter

Chapter Twenty: Last day of

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Fall! It's the day of the Fall Festival! It'll be bright and sunny, folks, but don't let that fool you! It's still the end of Fall, so expect temperatures to be plenty cold! On the bright side, it won't be raining today! On the slightly less bright side, it means we won't have snow when Winter starts tomorrow, but hey! That's the way it goes sometimes!]

A loud crash jarred Jason from his slumber, and he slowly sat up to the noise of a great thumping and banging from above. He groaned softly, then glanced at Tess.

"Now I know why we were always on the upper floor in the past."

Tess chuckled softly, but nodded, and gave him a kiss. "I'm just glad to be here with you."

"Me, too." Jason kissed her back, then rolled out of bed. To his great surprise, Fern and Rachel were both in the trundle bed still, slumbering peacefully in the Inn. Jason reached down and shook them slightly, and they both jumped back to their feet as if they'd been shot from a cannon.

"It's the festival day!" Fern gave Rachel a massive hug.

"Fesival!" Rachel declared. They both started to run from the room, but Jason and Tess caught them before they could make it more than a few feet. Quickly, they changed them out of their night robes and into more day- appropriate clothes, then let them go. The two girls flashed out of the room and into the growing chaos of the hallway, and Jason and Tess soon changed clothes themselves and walked outside.

In the hall, as was the usual on festival days, everything was in a state of utter chaos. To Jason's eyes, though, perhaps because of the weather, it was a bit more crowded than usual. Children of all shapes and sizes ran back and forth, playing dozens of games. Jason and Tess made their way through the throngs to the dining area, where they gathered plates for both themselves and the girls, then sat down near the edge of the room to wait.

"How long should we let them play for?" Jason asked as he took a bite out of a cinnamon donut.

"I'd say at least fifteen minutes." Tess shrugged. "They only get to do this once a season, and there's going to be a lot of time spent indoors today, you know?"

"Very true." Jason nodded. He finished his own breakfast shortly, then leaned back in his chair and simply enjoyed the scene of children racing around everywhere, just laughing, giggling and having fun.

"Jason!" A hand came down on his shoulder, and he glanced up to see Obadiah just walking up from the back of the room. Jason grinned and sat up, and the two men shook hands. "How have you been? I've seen you for all sorts of random things, it feels like, but I haven't actually talked to you in ages, you know?"

"Ahh, it's been going well." Jason nodded, thinking things through. "I mean... The cattle drive was probably the biggest thing we've done this year, really. Tess got a new herd of cattle about a week after we sold the last herd, I think they're scheduled for sale here in the first couple weeks of Winter."

"Good to know." Obadiah frowned. "I don't remember seeing it on the schedule, but I might have missed it."

"There's no sale in Summer Shandy until... Pfft, I think it's almost Spring." Jason answered after a moment's thought. "We're running the cattle down to Darkwater."

"That ought to be interesting. Real pretty country down there." Obadiah grinned at the thought. "That's down where Donald the veterinarian works out of, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Jason nodded. "We actually need to have him up this way to look at some sort of canker one of our cattle started showing, but he's not coming up until next week sometime for a bit of business at the Lazy-H."

"Alright, then. Important question." Obadiah leaned forward. "Donald. Are he and Theresa ever going to get together? They're a perfect fit, I'm just saying!"

Jason laughed and shrugged. "You know, I haven't even thought about it! I think the last time I saw them together was... Had to be around the time you got married to Paulina."

"I see them together anytime he comes through town, and I think she likes to get hospital runs down that way." Obadiah shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, it's none of my business, and I don't mean to gossip or spread any rumors, I'm just saying that it's about time."

"I can't argue with you there. 'Course, I can't because I don't know things one way or another, but..."

Jason's voice trailed off as a low thump echoed through the room. It wasn't much, just enough to make his glass of orange juice tremor slightly, and he likely would have chalked it up to a kid jumping off a bed or something, except for the fact that Tess and Obadiah both froze.

"Was that a giant monster?" Jason asked softly, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Sure sounded like it." Obadiah gave a small nod. "I'm guessing it's at least B-ranked."

"Definitely." Tess slowly rose from the table. "Jason, get outside and stop the thing. I'll be with the kids."

"Me?" Jason wondered if Tess's brain had suddenly been replaced by the cream puff she was eating. "You're the warrior!"

"First, I don't have any of my armor." Tess held up a finger. "Second, I've given birth twice since I stopped practicing regularly. Third, you have guns in your inventory. I do not."

"Fair." Jason rose, then slowly, carefully, walked with Obadiah out into the town square. Behind, he saw Tess waving at other parents, who started rounding up their kids as quickly as possible without causing a panic.

In the town square, wagons were rumbling up into the town. Jeremiah stood nearby, directing traffic with Gob, though he looked distracted. Gob was jumping up and down frantically, chattering in his goblish tongue, and pointing out across the prairie, down in the direction of Jason's farm. Jeremiah glanced over at the two men, and flashed an ornery sort of grin.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Gob sensed some sort of a giant monster, and I'd start rolling out the cannons."

"Dad?" Obadiah clapped a gauntlet onto Jeremiah's shoulder. "First off, you've never known any better. Second, that's exactly what he's doing. Go get your cannons, all of them."

Jeremiah's grin split his face, and he stuck his two index fingers into his mouth. An earsplitting shriek echoed across the town, and he followed it with a call to action.

"If you used to be employed by me and still know how to use my cannons, get to the town armory and bring them out! Point them due south,

at least for the moment!"

There was a long pause, and then Richard, emerging from the Item Store,

confirmed.

"Get 'er done!"

Hired men, who were mingling with the townsfolk, burst into action,

racing pell-mell toward the lean-to where Jeremiah kept all the cannons. Meanwhile, all the townsfolk shrieked and began to race into their homes, slamming doors and locking themselves inside.

"You made a panic." Obadiah gave Jeremiah's shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks."

"I cleared the streets. You're welcome."

Jason shook his head, then walked to the southern side of the town and looked out across the prairie. Something was moving, for sure, making its way across the prairie up from the trees of the forest. It was... well... It was still a long ways away, but if Jason wasn't mistaken...

"It's a tree." He gaped in astonishment. "An oak tree, if I don't miss my guess!"

Sure enough, rumbling up across the prairie, a massive oak was lumbering along on its roots, using them rather like tentacles, dragging itself along through the grasses. There was a sharp zing, and an acorn flashed through the air and slammed into a wooden beam of the inn, imbedding itself so deep that only the cap stuck out.

"Well, what do you know?" Jeremiah tapped the projectile as he walked over. "It can shoot back. "Cannons, everyone!"

By now, the town was quickly falling into full panic mode. The Lazy-H hired men rushed the cannons over to that edge of the town, pointing them across the prairie as best they could. Jason drew out his blunderbuss as

massive cannonballs were rammed down the barrels, and fuses were placed. Jeremiah and Obadiah stood near the back, and Jeremiah pulled out a silver pistol.

"Dad, that isn't going to do a thing against that tree."

"I know, but it'll make me feel a heap better." Jeremiah nodded down at Jason. "That thing ain't going to do a lick of good either."

"It might!" Jason scowled. "It has a base damage of 500!"

"Huh." Jeremiah scowled down at his pistol. "This thing only does 50. I need a more powerful gun. Anyhow, aim and fire!"

He pointed his pistol off across the prairie, cocked it with his thumb, and fired. A stab of flame sparked out across the grasses, and Jason, even from such a distance, saw a bit of the bark blown off. The tree emitted a noise that sounded like branches slamming together, a drumming sort of noise, and Obadiah nodded.

"All cannons, fire at will!"

Jason fired his blunderbuss at the same time that all the cannons went off. Truly, there was nothing quite like the display. Smoke filled the air, and for a moment, nothing could be seen but sparks and soot. After a long moment, it started to clear away, and Jason was granted the sight of seeing the tree staggering, but not yet falling. It swayed a bit, and a flurry of acorns peppered the town, blasting small craters in the ground and cracking stone walls. A few men ran for cover, but most of them just started working on reloading the cannons.

"You have permission to fire again the moment you're loaded!"

The men were good to their orders, and a few moments (and cannon blasts) later, the tree was staggering greatly. Jason fired one last time

(admittedly, at the same time as two cannons), and with that, it fell to the ground with a mighty crash.

"We got it!" Jeremiah whooped. He reloaded, then fired his pistol once into the air to celebrate. Jason crossed his arms, mulling the event over, then glanced at one of Obadiah's page boys.

"Can you get my horse?"

Obadiah caught his eye and nodded, and a few moments later, the two of them were riding off across the prairie. When they came up to the tree, Obadiah hopped down and held up his hands, using some sort of scanning skill to determine the origin of the thing. Jason, though, as he looked it over, was already pretty sure that he knew what had happened.

"Right here." Jason pointed at a spot near the base of the roots. "Look at these little hairs."

"What are they?" Obadiah walked over, confused.

"They're... Milligan told me about them once, eons ago." Jason shrugged. "They're sensory organs, essentially."

"Do all mobile plants have them?" Obadiah raised an eyebrow.

Jason gave a tiny shake of his head. "Only monstertraps, to my knowledge. Grabgrasses have something similar, but they're actually down on the tips of the roots."

Obadiah let out a long breath. "Milligan mentioned to me that some of the monstertraps might have gotten loose. He was fairly certain he had them all, but said that it was possible that a few of them made it out."

"I'll have a talk with him." Jason sighed.

"We'll have to do more than that." Obadiah turned to him. "I wasn't here, but I've heard the stories from the last time the monstertraps took over. I

know they're nasty creatures. If they're growing this large, there's a good chance they'll keep spreading."

"So, what do we do?"

Obadiah puffed out his cheeks. "My scans are telling me that it's a carnivorous oak tree. That's what we're going with. You keep this to yourself and Milligan. Get him to work on a solution over the Winter, and I'll have a plan in place by Spring. No one else needs to know about this. Got it?"

"Got it." Jason nodded.

As they rode back up toward town, Jason could hear the sounds of the festival ringing through the air, but... suddenly, Fall wasn't nearly as exciting.

Winter was well on the way, and he, quite frankly, didn't have a clue how he was going to get through it.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-One: First Day of

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Winter! 90 days until the Winter Festival! It's... well, it's really just cold, folks! You know the drill well enough by now, I'd say. Nothing else is going to grow until Spring, so on and so forth!]

Jason was slow to roll out of bed as the sun rose on the first day of Winter. He had lit a fire in the hearth below, so the house was plenty warm, but the frost creeping across the window certainly made it seem like it should be far colder. He shivered a bit as his feet hit the cold floor, and he dressed quickly, then added a nice, thick layer of socks just for good measure.

The smell of bacon sizzling rose up through the air, and he followed his nose out into the hallway and down the stairs. There, he found Tess just setting out breakfast, and smiled as he sat down in his usual place.

"Good morning." He yawed. "Are the girls still asleep?"

"No, daddy!" Fern raced into the kitchen from the living room. "I'm not! Silly daddy!"

Jason laughed, then picked her up and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. As he set her down, she raced back to the living room, and Tess gave a nod.

"They're snuggling up in front of the fire, where it's warmer. I can't say that I blame them, really."

Jason nodded. "True that." He stretched, then slowly tucked into breakfast. "Alright, girls! If you want food, now's your chance!"

"I'll wait a bit!" Fern called back.

"No, I said that now's your chance." Jason returned. There was an assortment of grumbling, and Rachel and Fern stomped back in and climbed up into their seats. Jason started to munch on a strip of bacon, when a sharp knock came at the back door, and Milligan slipped inside. With him came a blast of cold air, which sent the girls shrieking back to the fireplace.

"Girls!" Jason shouted after them, then chuckled as Milligan pulled off thick gloves and started rubbing his hands together. "Good morning, Milligan."

"Morning, boss." Milligan stomped over to the stove and held up his hands over the fire, staying off to the side so he didn't bother Tess. "You sent me a letter last night asking to see me early this morning. All the chores are done, not that there were a lot of them, so I should be available for whatever you need."

"Perfect." Jason nodded at the table as Fern and Rachel slunk back inside. "Breakfast?"

"I'm not going to turn it down!"

They ate breakfast slowly and surely. When they finished, Tess ran the girls upstairs, and Jason followed, bringing Milligan along with him. They soon stepped into Jason's office, which had gotten rather messy over the course of the previous... Well, it had realistically been getting messier and messier over the course of several years. Jason pulled a stack of books off his chair so he could sit down, and made a mental note to get the place back in order by the end of Winter. His four suits of armor stared at the two of them as they got comfortable, and for the first time, Milligan started to look nervous.

"Am I in trouble, boss?"

"Not at all." Jason shook his head, then shrugged. "Actually, the reason I want to talk to you is to try and keep you out of trouble."

"You're not filling me with much confidence!" Milligan laughed and shook his head. "What's going on?"

"Did you make it into the festival yesterday?" Jason asked. "Things were a little chaotic, so I can't remember for certain."

"I made it in for the dinner at the end of the night, but that was about it." Milligan shrugged. "I mostly just talked to Lily about her cats. Why?"

Jason let out a long breath, then explained about the tree. When he finished, Milligan had turned slightly pale.

"And they think it's monstertrap genetics?"

"I saw it myself." Jason nodded. "I'm almost positive that it's a monstertrap. I'd show you for yourself, but Obadiah had it burned so that no one else could come to the same conclusion and spark a panic."

"Probably a good thing." Milligan frowned, then took off his hat and threw it on the ground in frustration. "I'm sorry, boss. I feel like a fool. I shoulda known not to mess with monstertrap genetics. You warned me, and I didn't listen, and then one of them must have gone and eaten an acorn or something, and..." He sighed. "I'm really sorry."

"We all make mistakes. Once, I took Theresa on a date when Tess had a huge crush on me." Jason shrugged. "The point is, we have to figure out what to do. There's a good chance that only one of the monstertraps grew to that size, in which case, we've killed it. No muss, no fuss. On the other hand, there's always a chance that more of them are out there."

"And if there are any smaller ones, they could always grow." Milligan murmured. "Don't get me wrong, I know the Winter will kill them, but if any of their seeds lie dormant over the Winter, or..."

"Lots of possibilities." Jason agreed. "That's why we need to get on top of this now. I need ideas, and I need them about as fast as you can give them to me."

"Alright." Milligan crossed his arms. "As far as killing them goes, do you still have any of that old pesticide that you used to kill them the last time they showed up? You told me the name once, but I don't remember."

"DDP. Death to Deadly Plants, or something." Jason shrugged. "Yeah, I have some, but I think it's now illegal to use in this province."

"Jeremiah can backdate you or something." Milligan waved his hands. "In any case, that stuff can kill entire countrysides. I don't want you to spray it anywhere, I just want to know that you have it. I have some ideas, but I need to know what I have on hand before I follow any line of thought too far."

He continued to think for a good, long minute. Jason was starting to wonder if he had just zoned out, when Milligan gave his head a small shake.

"Yeah. Sorry. I have some ideas, but I'm going to need to sit down with a pencil and a pad of paper so I can chart them all out. I don't want to create something even worse than the monstertraps, you know?"

"Well enough." Jason nodded. "Do you mind my asking what they are?"

Milligan waggled his hand back and forth. "Some of them are going to sound crazy. Essentially, we can do one of two things: We can either try to come up with a reactionary plan, so we can take them down the moment they appear, or we can try to get ahead of the curve and find them before they find us."

"I like the second option a whole lot better, assuming we can pull it off."

"And it's that assumption that has me nervous." Milligan nodded. "I really see two options there. First, I can try to engineer something that can track them. I'd probably have to use something... I don't know, a mosquito, for example, as a base. Then, I'd train it to hunt monstertraps, and essentially create a whole new species of insect that could track them down, if not kill them."

"That sounds like an objectively terrible idea." Jason laughed softly.

"And I completely agree." Milligan nodded. "Which brings me to the second option I see: Finding Frances."

Jason blinked. "The crazy animal lady?"

"I thought she was actually rather nice." Milligan answered, then nodded. "But yes, her. She has the shard of the dungeon core. She'd probably be able to use it to locate any surviving monstertraps, you know?"

"Maybe." Jason nodded slowly. "How do we find her, though? She was impossible to locate when we knew she was in the area, and... she's been gone for six months. She could be outside my window; she could be as far south as Portswain or as far north as Illumitir."

"Very true." Milligan crossed his arms. "I'm not saying it's a good idea, I'm just saying that it's better than my other ideas."

"Then I'll do some thinking. You do the same."

Jason leaned back in his chair, took a pencil off the desk, and idly began to chew on the eraser. Milligan sat in thought for some time as well, then rose and walked away. He vanished out into the hall, but Jason remained where he was, just... Thinking.

Indeed, there were many, many options, none of them good. Finding Frances did, indeed, seem like the best option. The only question was how to do it... And in that respect, he was completely and utterly clueless.

What was more, he had only 90 days more before any surviving monstertraps would thaw out, and he would have to face the situation head- on, solution or not.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Bad

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 7th day of Winter! 84 days until the Winter Festival! Stay careful out there, folks! We got a ton of snow last night, no getting around that fact! If you have to go outside, stay bundled up, and it would probably be best to keep the little ones nice and cozy by the fire!]

"Achoo!"

The sneeze went off in Jason's ear like a cannon, and he leapt out of bed and fell flat on his face. As he climbed back to his feet, he found a sick- looking Tess laughing miserably at him, and he chuckled as well.

"Sorry." Tess groaned and flopped over in bed, resting her head on the pillow. "I feel... Miserable."

"You look worse." Jason raised an eyebrow. "Swollen eyes, flushed complexion, stuffy nose."

"Rub it in, sure." Tess sighed, then sneezed once more. A rather large blob of snot erupted from her nose and splattered across the bedsheets, and she sighed. "On the bright side, I can breathe now! Wait... No... There we go." She sighed as her nose apparently clogged once more. "I feel like I've already sneezed out half my body weight in snot, and that's just been since midnight. Where's it all coming from?"

Jason laughed. "There, I can't help you." He started to get dressed, putting on a light tunic for wearing around the house. "Well, you stay in bed, and just tell me what you need done today."

"I need you to go check the cattle."

Jason froze, then glanced over at her. "Huh?"

"Sorry." Tess pulled herself a bit more upright, then pulled out a hanky and blew her nose. When she finished, she nodded at him once more. "I need you to check the cattle. That was a big storm last night, and I need to know that they're all okay. They probably are, but cattle can sometimes bunker down during snowstorms and get covered up. Just take out Angus and ride through the pasture until you count all of them."

"All of them?"

"At least the majority." Tess waved her hands. After a moment, she sighed and swung her feet out of bed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to put more work on you. I'll do it."

"No." Jason caught hold of her, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting that. Let me help you downstairs so you can keep an eye on the girls, and I'll head out right away."

"Thanks."

Tess allowed him to help her down the stairs, she was apparently rather dizzy, until she came to the kitchen. There, she was able to steady herself against the counter, and had the cookbook make up a bit of breakfast. Jason ate quickly, then walked to the front of the house and pulled on his boots. He turned and waved at Tess once, who nodded wearily and sat down in a chair. With that, Jason turned and headed out into the cold, ready to make a stab at checking the cattle.

Outside, the snow was deep, there was no getting around that. The porch had nothing but a light dusting. Heading out from there, deep drifts lay across the ground, sometimes rising as high as five feet, other times dropping as low as three—but never any lower than that. Jason was forced to carve his way through the drifts as he fought toward the barn, and once there, it was no easy task to force the door open to slip inside.

Thankfully, the inside of the barn was warm, heated by the handful of animals that Tess still kept around inside. Jason quickly made his way around them, pouring out feed to the food animals and the horses alike. Angus seemed to sense that something was up, and tossed his mane in excitement. Jason let the mighty horse eat for a few minutes, then took him out and saddled him up.

He had sent Milligan a letter the night before telling him to stay home, and not bother coming out for the day. For that matter, most days now Milligan was staying out at the cabin. There just wasn't much work to do around the homestead while Winter was ongoing, so having him ride all the way out to do chores just didn't make much sense. Now, though, Jason rather wished that he had someone to ride with, though he certainly wasn't going to go bother Milligan about it now. Gritting his teeth, he took Angus down through the alley and into the pasture.

Forging his way through the snow on horseback was technically easier than on foot, but not by a lot. Angus seemed uncertain about how deep it was, and more than once, he stumbled as his foot came down on a rock instead of hard ground. Still, though, after a few moments of floundering, both horse and rider seemed to get their footing, and forged outward toward the far end of the pasture. The cattle weren't anywhere nearby, that much was easy to see, and Jason began slowly forging his way out through the drifts.

"Here, cattle!" Jason pulled a bucket out of his inventory and added a few pellets, which he shook deftly. The rattling noise echoed across the eerie stillness of the prairie, and he sighed deeply. "Here, cattle!"

He soon passed the end of the field, and started through the ravines and hills that marked the landscape between the front and back half of the

property. There, the snow drifted in really badly, sometimes so high that only Angus's head stuck out above the powder. Still, though, they forced their way onward, until they finally reached that final crest.

Now, up until that point, Jason's heart had been starting to sink. Nowhere could he see a single head of cattle, and his brain began to spin with all the worst possibilities. They could all be buried beneath a thick layer of ice and snow, or maybe a section of fence had blown down and they had escaped! The only consolation he had was the vast, wide expanse of the frozen prairie.

Truly, no matter the season, there were few things more beautiful than the prairie. In the Spring, it was a wide expanse of colored flowers and rapidly- growing grasses. In the Summer, it was a mixture of green, brown, and a whole different variety of flowers. In the Fall, it was a great sea of brown, full of seed and life. Now, during the Winter, it was a single expanse of white. A pure, pristine canvass that stretched out as far as the eye could see, dotted only by little birds that flew down to peck at the surface of the snow, or holes where foxes poked their noses up for air.

As he came over that final hill, thankfully, his trepidation faded away, as he found a massive heard of cattle clustered up against the north fence. They had tramped down the snow in that area, making a makeshift pen for themselves, and were munching on the grasses below. All of them turned to look at him, and he threw some pellets into their midst. Instantly, they began swarming to that location, and he chuckled, then drew Angus back a bit to start trying to count them.

All in all, there were almost five hundred head of cattle in this herd. They were moving around enough that there was no way he could count all of them, but by measuring the size of a group of ten, he could eyeball it well

enough, and soon came to the conclusion that he was right about five hundred there. He smiled and started to turn when he heard Milligan calling out over the snow.

"Boss!"

Jason turned and waved, then rode through the herd and over to the fence, where Milligan was working with a snow shovel, cleaning out a path between his cabin and the stable. As Jason rode up, Milligan tipped his hat.

"The missus didn't feel like coming out today?"

"Sicker than a dog." Jason shook his head, chuckling. After a moment, he paused. "Not that I've known many dogs to be all that sickly, but..."

"I get the idea, in any case." Milligan grimaced. "I'm sorry to hear that. Do you need anything?"

Jason glanced at the herd, then laughed. "Well, it sure would have been nice if I had known all these guys were here! Would have saved me a heap of trouble."

Milligan chuckled. "You should have just sent me a letter next time."

"Yeah, but if they weren't close, then you would have forced your way down to the homestead to help out." Jason countered.

"I can't argue with you there." Milligan flashed a small smile. He puffed out his cheeks, then brightened. "Let me make it up to you. Here, give me half a second."

With that, he turned and walked back into the cabin. There was a long pause, and then he emerged with a large thermos, the same one that Tess had once sent with hot chocolate.

"First off, I need to give this back. I accidentally borrowed it, and I keep forgetting about it when I have the opportunity." Milligan handed the thermos up to Jason. "There's a chicken soup inside. It's an old recipe my

mother gave me, I keep all the ingredients on hand. It'll clean up just about everything from a cold to the flu to the chicken pox, so long as it's E-ranked or lower."

"I appreciate it." Jason tucked the thermos into his inventory. "What's the secret ingredient?"

"Now, if I told you that, I'd have to kill you." Milligan grinned, then shook his head. "Ahh, it's nothing that interesting. It's a special herb that my family made. I think my great-great-grandmother was the first to start combining herbs together to create super-herbs that could treat just about anything you came down with. Over the generations they made it even more powerful. That's actually what got me interested in plant genetics in the first place."

"In that case, I shall treasure this, and make sure that Tess gets every drop."

"Do that, and I promise you, she'll be up and moving within a day." Milligan nodded. "If it doesn't work, she's sick enough that she'll need to be hospitalized or something. I dunno, just hope it works!"

Jason laughed, then slowly turned away. "Will do! Thanks, Milligan!"

With that, he started back across the pasture, pushing through the cows, then back along the same path he had come along the first time. The return trip was substantially easier, and soon, he came back up to the barn and made his way up and inside. There, Angus shook himself and stamped his feet to get the last of the snow off, and Jason put him back inside his stall.

"There you go." Jason patted his neck. "You just stay nice and warm, and we'll get you back outside again when it's a little warmer."

Angus snorted, and with that, Jason started working his way down and into the house. The wind started to blow across the landscape, making it

even colder than when Jason first emerged, but he didn't rightly care.

He was heading back inside, back to take care of a sick wife and play

with his lovely kids for the rest of the day.

The best part was that if he happened to get sick too, well... He had a

hired man who could apparently cure him of it, just like that. Really, what more could he ask for than

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Good

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 27th day of Winter! 64 days until the Winter Festival! Today's yet another cold one, folks! The snow we got a few days ago is still on the ground, and with that little bit of a melt we got yesterday, there's likely to be a layer of ice underneath of it, so stay safe!]

Jason's eyes slowly flickered open, and he yawned as he sat up and stretched. Tess, as per usual, was nowhere to be seen, and he slung his legs out of bed and rose to his feet. His feet were cold on the floor, though not terribly so, as he marched up to the window and looked out through the frosty glass.

Down below, the slowly-fading snow covered just about everything. It had all slid off the barn roof, landing in uneven, broken piles of sharp ice along the edges, and the yard itself was all packed down from all the foot traffic it had received, but otherwise, the whole expanse was still remarkably well-preserved. All across the prairie, dead grasses poked up here and there, but that was really the only break in the great white slate. Jason took a deep breath as he watched it all, then slowly turned around and walked back to the wardrobe, where he slowly got dressed into a warm, around-the-house sort of tunic.

"Daddy!" Fern burst into the room just as he finished. "Guess what today is?"

"Hmm..." Jason scooped her up and pretended to think. "Let's see... Is it... Sunday?"

"No!" Fern laughed. "That was yesterday!"

"Right, right." Jason frowned. "Christmas?"

"No, silly!"

"The Winter Festival?"

Fern thought that one was utterly hilarious. When he finished guessing,

he set her down on the bed, then shrugged.

"Alright, what's today?"

"It's Rachel's birthday!"

"Rachel's birthday?" Jason gasped and put his hands on his head in an

exaggerated manner. "Does that mean we should celebrate?" "Yeah!"

"Should we have cake?"

"YES!"

"And should we invite lots of people over to the house?"

Fern's shriek of joy echoed through the house, and Jason scooped her up

once more and carried her back to her bedroom. There, Rachel had gotten tangled up in her night gown once again, and Jason helped her out, then changed both girls into attire appropriate for a day around the house. They both ran from the room with shrieks of joy and mirth, and Jason followed them downstairs to the kitchen, where Tess was hard at work.

"Good morning, my dearest wife." Jason gave Tess a kiss as he walked through. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go get the chores done and out of the way, so I don't have to go out again after breakfast."

"Go for it." Tess nodded, smiling. "When you get inside, we have a lot to do!"

Jason groaned loudly at that, though he did so in jest. He quickly put on his boots and a warm coat, then made his way out into the yard, where he did the chores just as quickly as possible before coming back into the

house. By then, the girls were just starting in on a breakfast of bacon and sausage (Rachel's favorite), and Jason joined them eagerly. He could practically feel his arteries slamming shut, but... well... It tasted extremely good.

When they finished breakfast, Fern and Rachel both jumped up and pounded away into the living room.

"Last one to the dolls is a scrambled egg!"

"That's rotten... Oh, never mind." Jason chuckled as they vanished. "I suppose that making sure they know how to sling insults properly probably shouldn't be high on my list of ways to parent them."

"Very true." Tess laughed softly. She started to clean up the dishes, then gave a nod to him. "How does it feel for your youngest daughter to be two years old?"

"Weird?" Jason chuckled softly. "Still feels like I just got to Summer Shandy, in some ways. In other ways, it seems like I've been here all my life."

"I know the feeling." Tess walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Now, I do apologize, but this house is filthy. We have a lot of people coming over here tonight, which means we need to get on top of all this cleaning, and we need to do it now."

"Alright, alright." Jason grumbled. "You don't have to rub it in. Just tell me where to scrub, and I'll do my best!"

The rest of that morning, and a good portion of the afternoon, was subsequently spent cleaning everything in the house that Jason wouldn't have thought to clean, and a good portion of things that Jason never would have dreamed needed cleaning at all! He dusted the couches, the bookshelves, the writing desk, the light fixtures, the picture frames—the

mantle, the fireplace, the table, the chairs—all the fancy china plates, and just about everything in between. It was exhausting, there was no doubt about that. Every time he thought he was coming to a good stopping point, Tess informed him that he was actually still quite a ways behind his goal. Finally though, as the evening started to draw down, Tess nodded and told him that it would "have to do," which in his mind was a resounding victory. He flopped onto the couch, kicked up his feet, let his head hit the pillow... And groaned as the first knock came on the door.

"Yay! Grandpa's here!" Fern came racing down the stairs and flew through the living room up to the front door. She was followed closely by Rachel, and Jason slowly rose and walked over to follow them. He swung the door open, and Richard and Weatherhand stepped inside, kicking the snow off their boots as they did so.

"And how's the birthday girl?" Richard bent down and pressed his cold nose against Rachel's cheek, eliciting a shriek from the child.

"Gwanpa!" Rachel declared. "Told!"

Richard laughed as Rachel raced back over to the fireplace to warm back up from the encounter, and Jason held out a hand. Richard shook it firmly, and the two representatives of the Lazy-H quickly made their way inside. It wasn't long before more folks began arriving. Obadiah and Paulina were next, followed by Daniel and Viola, followed by Johan and his family. Milligan was last, a broad grin across his face as he observed everything. The house was filling up very quickly, and Jason blinked in surprise as almost a dozen children raced around, making the floor shake like there was an earthquake in progress.

"Little farmer!" Daniel called out of the kitchen. "I didn't break anything!"

"Um... Okay?" Jason called back. He snatched up Rachel as she tripped over John's feet and nearly fell headlong toward the fireplace. He quickly sat down on the step of the hearth with his back to the flames, forming a human barricade. "Go play further away from here!"

Crash!

"Charlotte might have just dropped a plate, though. It's amazing what toddlers can do!"

Jason rolled his eyes, but chuckled and just observed the chaos. There were so many kids, and all they wanted to do was have fun. Johan's kids, mostly being older, did their best to supervise and keep the younger ones out of too much trouble, which Jason greatly appreciated.

"Alright, everyone!" Tess's voice rang through the house. "Who wants cake?"

"Take!" Rachel grinned and shouted.

The herd of children immediately flocked to the kitchen, though they were called back by their assorted parents. Soon, Tess appeared in the doorway, walking slowly with a massive, three-layer chocolate fudge cake covered in chocolate frosting. Two candles flickered on the top, and she held it out for Rachel to blow out.

Rachel made several valiant attempts to extinguish the candles, and when she failed, was assisted by the entire group of children. Those candles blew out faster than Jason could blink, and Tess smiled and took the cake back into the kitchen.

"Any parent who cares what size of slice their child gets, now's your chance to censor things!"

"That'd be me." Paulina held up a hand as she swept past the line of kids forming up across the floor. "I want everyone sleeping tonight!"

"I second that motion!" Johan's wife called out.

"Mom!" Johan's oldest daughter scowled, though she didn't seem to actually mind all that much. Jason sighed and scooted to the side of the fireplace so he could watch it all, leaning back against the stonework and sighing deeply.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Johan slid over to the side of the couch closest to Jason, and nodded at all the chaos. "It's crazy, and it's wild, but... it's so full of life, you know?"

Jason nodded and smiled. "I know. These days, seems like no one wants kids, but..." He shrugged. "Is life a little more chaotic? Sure. Does the house stay as clean? No. Would I trade it for anything?"

Crash!

"Not one bit of it!" Johan laughed deeply. "And you never will, no matter how many plates get broken or pictures get smashed, or any of it!"

"Yeah." Jason sighed deeply. He didn't have the words to express it, but... It filled his heart to no end to see all the children—racing back and forth, just laughing and playing and having fun, and he, in so many ways— never wanted the night to end.

Unfortunately, like all things, it eventually did have to come to a close. The clock announced that it was 8:00, and one by one, the families started packing up to leave. Paulina and Obadiah went first, followed by Johan and his family. Daniel went next, taking along the remainder of the cake just in case he got hungry on the way back to Summer Shandy. Milligan was next, promising to come help clean the house the next morning. Finally, Richard and Weatherhand departed, with the promise to invite the family down to the Lazy-H for dinner sometime soon. As the door fell shut, Tess sat down on a couch and smiled softly.

All around them was complete and utter disaster. It was a mess, but... it was a good mess. Fern and Rachel came walking up, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

"Daddy? Can we sleep out here tonight?" Fern climbed up onto a couch and lay down on the pillow. Her eyes started flickering closed.

"Yeah, I reckon that's okay." Jason gave her a kiss, then lifted a similarly bleary-eyed Rachel up to lay down next to her. "Sweet dreams, my beautiful ones."

He glanced at Tess, who stretched.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not really comfortable sleeping all the way up in the bedroom when they're down here." Tess shrugged, then flopped down on the love seat. "Can you lock the front door? As long as one of us is down here, I think you can go take the bed."

Jason chuckled and locked the door, then slowly and carefully stretched himself out on the rug in front of the fireplace. Was it as soft as his bed? No... But the light from the fire was comforting, and the heat was better than the softest of blankets. He was surrounded by his family, after concluding a day filled with the greatest joy he could imagine.

Who cared if the floor was a little hard? It was well worth it, and he wouldn't have changed it for the world.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Four:

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 35th day of Winter! 56 days until the Winter Festival! Alright, folks, today's actually going to be a nicer one! I'm not going to say it'll be warm or anything, but you'll be able to step outside without freezing your nose off, so that's good!]

As Jason rolled out of bed and slowly stood up, he heard the lowing of cattle echoing up from below, and a smile spread across his face. Without another word, he walked over to the window and looked down at the farmstead, where Tess and Milligan were quickly loading the last of the cattle into the barn for the big drive that day. He watched them for a moment, then crossed his arms as the door burst open and Fern came running in.

"Where's mommy?"

"Right down there." Jason picked her up and pointed. Down below, the farmyard was a rather unappealing shade of brown. Now that the snow had melted... well... Winter didn't exactly lend itself to a great variety of foliage, that was for sure. "We're going to be running cattle down to Darkwater today!"

"Fun!" Fern grinned, then paused. "What's Darkwater?"

"It's sorta like Summer Shandy, but a little bit bigger, and a long ways away from here." Jason answered. "Mommy and Milligan are going to get the cattle moving early, and then we'll come along after I get you guys dressed and fed!"

"Oh!" Fern nodded. "That sounds fun!"

Jason smiled, then carried her back into the bedroom and quickly got her and Rachel dressed. He wanted them bundled up as warmly as possible, but also didn't want them to start sweating before they got on the road, so he tried to prepare a handful of layers to add at the door. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, but he did his best, and soon made his way downstairs with them.

He quickly set the two of them up into their chairs for breakfast, then glanced out through the window. There, Tess was just starting to take the cattle out through the gate, so he ran to the front door, threw it open, and waved. Tess waved back at him grandly, then turned her attention back to leading the cattle down the road. Jason watched them go for a long moment, then slowly walked back into the house and re-joined his daughters.

They ate slowly, and Jason didn't really try to rush them. He was pretty certain they would be able to catch up with the cattle herd in relatively decent time, and knew that the girls would stay entertained for longer if they could go faster once they were on the road. Once they were done eating, he chased them around the house for a bit to get their wiggles out, then, finally, got them fully dressed in their winter outfits and herded them outside.

True to Obadiah's almanac, it wasn't terribly cold outside, but it also wasn't tremendously warm either, especially for two little girls who would be stuck sitting in a carriage all day. Jason soon had Lady hitched up to the carriage (Tess had taken Angus, which was probably the better option), and fixed up a nest of blankets, complete with bricks taken from the fireplace. Fern and Rachel snuggled in, and Jason climbed up, took the reins, and with that, they were off.

Lady set out at a brisk trot, keeping her head high as they made their way south along the winding road. Since he had come to Summer Shandy, Jason had only gone that way a few times, all for the odd sorts of things you didn't ordinarily plan for. They rumbled down and soon came past the Lazy-H Ranch, where Richard waved at them. The girls and Jason waved back, and he smiled. Due to the longer distance than usual, and the fact that the cattle buyers would be set up in Darkwater for a bit longer than usual, Tess had coordinated with Richard to drive their cattle on different days, to avoid issues in transit.

In any case, down south from the Lazy-H, the road began to wind slowly through the hills, which grew a bit more intense. They passed other small farms, one particularly large hog farm, and then, about an hour after they left, came to a wide expanse of trees. It was the same patch of trees, really, that housed Jason's dungeon, which grew up on either side of a winding river. The ground sloped downward, and they slowly entered the trees, gaping in awe at the ancient road.

The trees here seemed older, somehow, than around Jason's property. Immense cottonwoods grew on both sides of the road, with their branches mingling overhead to form a great canopy. Even in the dead of Winter, without a speck of green among them, it was still impressive, there was simply no doubt about that. Fern and Rachel looked in amazement at everything, and Fern pointed off to one side.

"Look! Deer!"

Jason turned just as a deer bounded away into the woods, and he grinned. "Yeah, you're right! What else do you think you can see?"

They spotted a few other odd creatures as they went along through the

woods, including a raccoon, an opossum, and a few skunks. After a time,

they passed over a wooden bridge that stood across the babbling stream, then followed the ground back upward to the prairie again.

Here, the prairie leveled out, into a vast, open expanse that stretched out for miles upon miles. It was so flat that Jason could see the herd of cattle, several miles ahead, in the distance. Fern pointed and laughed, and Jason nodded. Lady picked up the pace, and they started to move along at a faster clip, trotting along toward their destination.

There was very little to see for that section of the drive, really. It was a portion of the prairie that wasn't inhabited, without any real farms or settlements to speak of. After an hour or two across that land, they started to enter some hills once more, until the road suddenly turned sharply down into a ravine.

The deep cut in the ground was almost impossible to see unless you were looking for it. Inside, though, the road went steeply downward, with exposed, weathered limestone on all sides. A moment later, they came out the bottom side of the ravine into a landscape that was... well... It was hard to describe, really, but it was beautiful.

Behind them, the ravine that the road came through proved to be only one of many, marking fissures in an immense limestone cliff almost a hundred feet tall. The outcroppings of stone in between the fissures stretched out like fingers, ending in crumbling natural monuments and pillars whose weathered features and smooth corners defied all explanation. At the bottom of this ran a brook, hardly a trickle, really, which gurgled over the smooth stones there. The road itself went through the brook instead of over it, crossing on a smooth limestone slab slick with moisture. Still, though, Lady handled it expertly, and they went onward.

From there, the ride became far duller, as they wound back out into the open prairie once more. They could see in the distance now the roofs of Blackwater, rising up from the grasses like a beacon. Still, even after they came into view, it took almost two hours of driving before they actually came to town, which was a rather wonderful community that Jason enjoyed immensely.

It was built around a small lake, perhaps three hundred feet across, that was filled with clay so dark that it gave the city its name. The houses were mostly made out of brick furnished by this very mud, though a few newer structures were made of wood. Jason sent the carriage down the streets of the town, which was a good bit bigger than Summer Shandy, until he came around to the southern side. There, the immense pens of the Guild were set up, with buyers escorting cattle into custody as Jason watched.

"Mommy!" Fern pointed and shrieked.

Jason grinned as Tess came riding over with Milligan. She drew up alongside the carriage, then leaned over and gave Jason a kiss as best she could.

"Me next!" Fern climbed up over Jason's lap, and he held her out so Tess could kiss her as well. Rachel followed along, and Milligan laughed.

"Well, don't expect me to be next in line. If it's okay with you all, I'm going to go grab a drink at the tavern before I head back up to the farmhouse."

"Go for it. Thanks, Milligan!" Jason waved, then glanced at Tess. "Well? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that today was a good day, and that the cattle sold far better than expected!" Tess leaned forward and grinned. "You know that goat meat fad? Over and gone, and beef is back to stay!"

"The way trends work these days." Jason chuckled softly, then shrugged. "Shall we head over to the tavern then, too?"

"I think we should." Tess nodded. "This deserves a celebration. Actually..." She glanced up at the sun, which was already a smidge past noon. "I don't think there's any way we can make it back today, unless we leave right now. How about we just make it a mini-vacation?"

"Yay!" Fern started clapping. "Do that! Do that!"

"Alright, then!" Jason laughed. "I'll take the girls over to the tavern and order food; you go get us a room booked at the inn. See if there's anything else to do in town while we're here, too. We'll have a good time of things, I think!"

The girls grinned from ear to ear as Jason headed off through the town, rumbling on toward the tavern. He had only been there once before, but it was a nice enough place from what he remembered, and... well...

It was always fun to get out of the house every now and again. They didn't do it very often, so even if it was just for a cattle drive, he was going to enjoy it.

After all, with such a family as his... well... It was hard not to enjoy every moment, anyway. All he had done was drive around the country so far that day, but if that was all that had happened, he would have thoroughly loved it.

Turning it into a vacation, as far as he was concerned, was just the icing on the cake.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Five: Something

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 50th day of Winter! 41 days until the Winter Festival! Today's a cold one again, folks! We had a pretty nasty front come through last night, no two ways about it, and I expect it to bring along a bit of nasty weather later today. If you have things to do, best to get them done early!]

Jason smiled as he rolled out of bed. The air was warm, and the floor even felt pleasant beneath his feet. One of the nicer things about Winter was that the hearth was always burning, so even when it did get tremendously cold, that just meant that the fires inside the home burned ever-warmer. Jason stretched, then slowly walked up to the window and looked out.

The sky was a grey-slate color, covered in clouds that certainly looked like they would be the forerunners of a storm of some sort, though he admittedly wasn't sure exactly what that would look like. Thankfully, all that the farm really had were chores, and from what he could tell, Tess and Milligan were out working on those right at that moment. He watched them for a moment as they called the cattle up toward the barn, likely wanting to get them inside before anything turned nasty, and he quickly got dressed and went to go help the girls.

Tess and Milligan still weren't inside when he got Fern and Rachel downstairs, so he fixed them some breakfast and set them in their chairs. He was just sitting down to start eating, himself, when he heard something rattle in the mailbox. Frowning, he rose and walked over to the mail slot, where he pulled out a single letter.

"What is it, daddy?" Fern called out as Jason walked back to the table and sat down again.

"I don't know." Jason slit the envelope open and tugged out a small, handwritten letter. "Let's see... it says... Dear Jason!"

"That's you!" Fern pointed at him.

"It is." Jason nodded, then kept reading. "This is Jeremiah, in conjunction with Johan, Daniel, Obadiah, and a few others. If you're not busy today, would you mind coming up to the new dungeon with Milligan? We could use a chat with you. Thanks! Jeremiah."

Hmm. Jason sat back in his chair and puzzled over the letter for a long moment. What did that mean? He had a handful of theories, none of which made a ton of sense. What could they want with him at the new dungeon? Did it have to do with the monstertraps on the loose? He didn't have the faintest idea, and he set the letter to the side.

It wasn't much longer before Tess and Milligan came walking inside, stamping their feet and rubbing their hands to warm up.

"Wow! Boss, it is chilly outside." Milligan puffed out his cheeks. "I do not want to be out in it any longer than I have to be."

"Unfortunately, that may be for a bit longer than you'd like." Jason passed the letter to him. "Any idea what they want to see us about?"

Milligan frowned as he read over the letter, then passed it to Tess. "I wish I did, boss. I sure hope everything's okay."

"Me, too." Jason nodded, then shrugged. "Well, only one way to find out. Tess, are you good to watch the kids for the day?"

"Of course! We'll have lots of fun together." Tess booped Rachel on the nose, then glanced at Fern. "How would the two of you like to make a craft?"

"Yay!"

"With glitter?"

"YAY!!!"

"As long as it's not in my office, have fun." Jason chuckled as he rose up

from the table. "Well, Milligan, help yourself to whatever food you want, and then let's get on the road."

Milligan nodded and took a small stack of pancakes, and soon, the two men had made their way outside and were trotting up toward Summer Shandy. Jason wasn't sure exactly why, but he felt like he had butterflies in his stomach. There was just something about the way the note was phrased that made him... Nervous. Were they upset with something he had done? He couldn't think of anything, but it was always possible that on accident he had managed to muck things up. Most likely, it was about the plants, but... even then, he really didn't know what he had to do with it.

When they came up into town, they found Obadiah sitting at the town well. He was alone, likely on account of how cold it was, and he rose and waved as they rode up.

"Glad you could make it!" He smiled and shook hands with both of them. "Come on! Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

"That doesn't mean that nothing's the matter." Jason grumbled. Obadiah didn't really have an answer for that, which simply seemed to confirm Jason's suspicions. In any event, one of Obadiah's page boys came out and took their horses to the stable, and soon, the group had made their way into the new dungeon.

It had come quite a long way even since Jason had last seen it. A roof had been put over the top, upon which had been heaped a great deal of dirt. At least for the moment, it was still bare dirt, but Jason imagined that it

wouldn't take too long before it grew over with grass and things. Obadiah held open the door, and the two of them went down into the depths of the dungeon.

Inside, Jason had to smile. It was designed to look like a real dungeon, at least in some senses, with cobblestone walls and floors and things. In other ways, it already just looked like a funhouse. There were comical suits of armor standing against the walls, holding things like shovels and pitchforks instead of weapons, and someone had painted a number of flowers in place. It was also remarkably well-lit, with a handful of sun-stones placed in the ceiling at intervals to keep everything illuminated. Down at the bottom of the main stairs, Johan, Jeremiah, and Daniel were all standing, and looked up at the group as they came down.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah grinned and held out a hand, which Jason shook. "Glad you could make it."

"I'd still greatly like to know what exactly we made it to." Jason crossed his arms and glanced at Milligan. "I have a feeling that you didn't call us out here on such a cold day just to discuss the layout of the dungeon, although you're sure going out of your way to make it look like that's what you're doing."

Everyone grimaced, even Daniel, who was usually pretty hard to get down. There was a long pause, and Obadiah spoke.

"I suppose I'll get things rolling, then. The long and the short of the problem is that my scouts have been combing the woods nearby, as well as in the wildlands just north of us, and we've found at least three more monstertrap trees. One more oak, one elm, and a weeping willow. They're all frozen for the Winter, but we all know that will only last until ."

Jason frowned and crossed his arms. "If you know where they are, can't you just make sure you're in a place to take them down as soon as they thaw?"

"And believe me, that's exactly what we're doing." Jeremiah nodded. "We're rigging up their branches with pesticide bombs and all sorts of other gizmos like that, but... That's only going to work on the ones that we find. The fact that we're already coming up with so many means that we need a better way to locate them. We just... We thought you both should be appraised of the situation."

Milligan sighed, then pulled off his hat and threw it on the ground in frustration. "I'm sorry, guys, I really am. I feel like this is my fault."

"First off, I'm the one who asked you to produce the plants for the dungeon in the first place." Obadiah held up a hand. "Well, me and dad."

"I accept no responsibility!" Jeremiah held up a hand, although he winked at Jason when he did it.

"Anyway, we're the ones behind it. And, for what it's worth, the ones you brought up in the Fall are marvelous. We've done some test runs, and it's an absolute blast." Obadiah chuckled softly. "We're waiting to open the dungeon until we can confirm the volatility of the pollen and things. Like... If someone gets pollen on their clothes, and it gets outside the dungeon, is it going to infect the neighbor's tulips? That sort of thing."

"Never even would have thought about that." Milligan murmured, then shrugged. "Well, you want solutions, and I'll tell you what I've got. For the moment, at least... Nothing good." He sighed deeply. "I tried a bit of a genetic modification. I've dabbled with insect genetics, so I created a mosquito line that I trained to search out monstertraps specifically."

"What would that do?" Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Mosquitos drink blood, not sap."

"Actually, only female mosquitos drink blood. Males eat fruit and things." Milligan explained quickly. "In any event, what I would have done was add a bit of genetic code, a kill switch, so to speak, that would turn off key monstertrap genetics. If it worked, in theory, the mosquitos would turn all the monstertraps they could find back into ordinary plants, and if they happened to bite a human or animal or something, nothing at all would happen except an ordinary itch."

"So, what's gone wrong?" Jeremiah asked.

Milligan shrugged. "Monstertrap DNA is terribly aggressive. Even in tiny portions—trace amounts used for training the mosquitos to kill them, all I was doing was infecting more plants. If I had released a whole cloud of those mosquitos, the forest would be leading an attack on us inside of a fortnight."

"Hmm." Jeremiah stroked his chin, then crossed his arms. "In that case, we have to follow Plan B."

"Frances?" Jason asked quizzically.

"It's the only option I see." Jeremiah nodded. "We have to find a way to locate these things, and fast. The only way I see to do that is with Frances. Now, I have a few thoughts on how to locate her, and that's really the point of this meeting."

Jason let out a long, pained breath. Finding Frances was going to be about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack... Though, he supposed, the job would be easy enough with the right size of a magnet. Or, alternately, by flinging yourself into the straw and rolling around until you got pricked.

They spent the next several hours talking over plans. When they finished, they didn't have a great plan by any stretch of the imagination, but... They had something.

Now, all they had to do was put things in place, and hope, desperately, that it would work.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Six: Ice

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 65th day of Winter! 26 days until the Winter Festival! Looks like we've got ice today, folks, and a whole lot of it! Stay inside if you can! And if you can't... well... Dress warm!]

As Jason rolled out of bed, he sighed and stretched. Winters were cold and miserable, but they were good for one thing: Staying nice and cozy warm in bed! He put on a pair of slippers that Tess had bought for him, and slowly walked up to look out the window at the ground outside.

A steady drum of rain pattered down on the landscape, a rain that froze into a sheet almost immediately upon impact. It wasn't a hard rain, which meant that the ice wasn't accumulating very quickly, but it was still growing a whole lot faster than Jason would have liked. Oh, well. All he had to do was force his way out to the barn to do chores, and then he would be free to come back inside and rest by the fire, enjoying his family for the remainder of the day.

"Jason?" Tess poked her head in the door. "You've got a letter!"

"A letter? Already?" Jason raised an eyebrow, then shuffled over to his wardrobe. "I'll get it in a minute. Who's sending me a letter?"

"I'll just say that you might want to read it before you get dressed for the day."

A few minutes later, Jason, dressed in overalls and a warm flannel shirt (instead of his nice, comfy house clothes) was busily gulping down a warm and filling breakfast of biscuits, gravy, sausage, and bacon. Tess was

upstairs getting the girls ready, and just came back down into the kitchen as Jason finished and climbed to his feet.

"You're heading out?"

"Seems like." Jason nodded slowly, but smiled. "I guess that's how it goes! Makes you appreciate the quiet days more, you know?"

"Yeah." Tess leaned forward and gave him a kiss. The two girls rushed up and hugged his legs, and he hugged them back before turning and walking to the door. "Be safe out there!"

"I'll do my best!" He called back.

A few minutes later, he had pulled on his boots and was slogging out through the ice toward the barn. He wasn't one to wear a hat, at least not ordinarily, but that day, he was quick to put one up to block the drizzle from getting onto his face. Even then, icicles started forming from the brim and dripping down toward his skin, forcing him to break away chunks of ice every few minutes.

It was a miserable day, there was no doubt about that, but he supposed that sometimes, that was just the way things were. It took him a few minutes to break his way into the barn, as a thick layer of ice had grown across the door handle, but he managed well enough after a few tries. That done, he quickly poured out feed for all the cattle (Tess had brought them inside so they wouldn't be injured by the ice storm), then got Angus ready. The moment that the great steed had eaten enough, Jason saddled and mounted him, and they were off.

The ice continued to pour down as Jason rode for Summer Shandy. He felt himself freezing to the saddle, he watched as ice grew across his clothes. By the time he made it up into the town square, he looked like a regular popsicle, and he imagined that if he could see himself, he would

likely laugh. That said, as he couldn't see himself, he was mostly just miserably cold, and as he reached Jeremiah's office, he had to break himself free of the saddle in order to swing down. One of Obadiah's page boys slipped out and led Angus away to the stable, and he slipped inside.

There, a roaring hearth kept the room nice and cozy warm. Jeremiah, Obadiah, Daniel, and Milligan were already there. Jeremiah had out his pipe, and was actually smoking it. That usually meant things were serious, and Jason slowly leaned against the wall as Jeremiah let out one final puff of smoke and stuck the pipe into his inventory for later.

"Thanks for coming." Jeremiah rose from his chair and crossed his arms. "Did you read the letter all the way?"

"You think you saw Frances, but you're not sure, so we're going to check it out." Jason summarized the letter.

"Exactly." Jeremiah nodded. "Someone saw lights up at the old Finnegan place a few days back. I figured it was probably just a squatter, but... Since the house is abandoned, and it's Winter, I didn't figure I'd run them off until after the storm came through. Last night, though, some of the townsfolk reported a ghost-like figure bumping around through the rain, and then this morning, I got a report from Ralph Mullsworth off to the east that he saw something. I already confirmed that the Finnegan place is abandoned again, though there definitely was someone there... Really not all that long ago. I can't prove it's Frances, but it's our best lead."

"Have you contacted Hank?" Jason asked as the men all moved toward the door.

"I did, yes." Jeremiah nodded. "The short answer is that he's no longer with that department, he's currently investigating the... I think it's the

Irrigation Guild or something. Has to do with water. Short answer is that he didn't know, and wasn't in a place to look."

"Bummer." Jason shrugged. "Well, that's the way it goes! Let's get moving, so we can find our ghost and get back home."

No one had any objections to that. Outside, several page boys led out a team of fresh horses. Angus probably would have been fine, but he had accumulated a lot of ice even in that short ride, so it was probably for the best to let him rest. Jason swung up onto a dappled grey-and-brown mare, and with that, the group thundered off out of the town.

Anyone who happened to be watching would have known instantly that something was the matter. You didn't have that many people all riding off together in such a storm if it wasn't necessary. Once more, Jason felt the ice building up around him, and the cold cut straight to his bones. Icicles dripped down from his hat, down his back, but... well, he had a duty to do, and he wasn't about to shirk it.

The ride out to the Mullsworth farm wasn't a long one. Jason had never been out that way, though that was largely because there was no need. Summer Shandy had three roads heading into and out of it, one to the north, one to the south, and one to the west. The only way to go east was to head north out of town for about half a mile, then turn sharply onto a little trail of a road that was easy to miss unless you were looking for it. Most of the time, Jason simply hadn't been looking for it at all. Now, he found himself riding through the bottom of a small gulley, past a handful of sheep pastures, all of which held stables carved deep into the limestone hills of that part of the land. He kept his eyes trained on those stables in particular, looking for any sign that one of them was inhabited by an invisible human.

In any event, the Mullsworth farm was small, consisting of a simple log cabin surrounded by some sheep barns. A lantern was hung by the front door, and as the posse came riding up, a man stepped outside, wrapped in a thick blanket, and motioned for them to come under the porch.

"Howdy." Ralph nodded at them all, grimly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get everyone all startled! It's probably nothing, just a trick of the weather, I just thought it worth mentioning just in case."

"Very much worth mentioning." Jeremiah gave a small nod. "Just tell us the story."

"It was early this morning. I wasn't even remotely ready to get up yet, and I just heard this thumping noise on the porch." Ralph shrugged. "My wife thought it was a traveler from the storm, so I jumped up to go see what the matter was, but when I opened up the door, there was no one there. I don't mind telling you it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up right quick."

Jeremiah just nodded. "What happened then?"

"Well, I felt something brush past me, something invisible, and it sure felt like something stepped on my foot. I thought it must be the ghost of my mother." Ralph looked down at the ground. "I haven't been praying for her near as much as I should, so I went and--"

Ralph continued to talk, but Jason let his attention wander across the farm. His eyes lit upon one of the sheds nearby, whose door was cracked ever-so-slightly open. He frowned and crossed his arms, then slowly slipped out into the rain and started toward it. Daniel had gotten antsy from all the talking as well, and was making his way around to some of the stables. Jeremiah and Obadiah, though, didn't look terribly intent on moving.

In any case, as Jason came up to the shed and poked his head inside, he inhaled deeply, tasting the smooth scent of old, cured hay. He slid aside the door to allow himself a bit more visibility, then cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Frances? Frances, are you here?"

There was no answer.

"Frances?"

Something creaked in the back of the barn, and Jason took a cautious step

forward. The light was low, making it hard to see exactly what all the building held, but Jason could see some old, rusted equipment, along with a wide assortment of feed sacks and, of course, hay. It was unorganized in the extreme, and he wrinkled his nose slightly.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air, and something exploded out of the back of the barn. It was small, and it was fast, and before Jason could blink, it had shot past him and out into the rain. He spun around to charge after it, and stumbled out into the farmyard just in time to see the thing, whatever it was, race into the stable where Daniel was poking around.

"Daniel!" Jason slogged out through the icy rain. "Daniel, catch that thing!"

There was a mighty crash from inside, and the building titled slightly. Ralph, on the porch, jumped slightly, but Jason only smiled as Daniel came stalking outside, a wide grin on his face. Both men made their way back over to the main porch, where Daniel held out his hand.

Inside was a small kitten, no bigger than Daniel's palm (though, admittedly, Daniel had quite a large palm). It had jet-black fur that crackled with electricity, and Jason grinned.

"Lily's monster-cat had babies!"

"It does look that way." Jeremiah sighed deeply, then nodded to Ralph. "Does that look like what got into your house?"

"I don't know! I... I mean... I suppose it's possible... I..." Ralph had turned rather red. A moment later, he slipped back inside and slammed the door shut, and Jeremiah sighed deeply.

"Well, I sure am sorry to have drug you folks out here into all this for a dead end. Daniel, why don't you turn the poor cat loose?"

"Wait!" Jason held up a hand. A thought had just struck him, and he paused. "What if... What if this wasn't all in vain?"

"What do you mean?" Jeremiah frowned.

"Frances likes weird creatures. We now have one of those." Jason felt a grin growing across his face. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that things does look distinctly different from the cat that Lily has, which means--"

"Which means that we just might have genuine Frances bait on our hands." Jeremiah's lips twitched upward into a smile. "I like the way you think! Daniel, you keep that poor kitten safe and dry. Jason... You're welcome to a cup of coffee back at my office, or you can get straight back home, up to you."

"I wouldn't turn down a quick cup." Jason smiled as they walked back to their horses and mounted up. "I won't stay long, but I wouldn't mind a bit of warmth to get me back home."

As they rode off, Jason sighed deeply. Things hadn't gone quite the way that he had expected... Or even hoped... But maybe, just maybe, it would all turn out alright, anyway.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Times To

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 70th day of Winter! 21 days until the Winter Festival! We're on the downward slope toward Spring, folks, but don't let that fool you! There's still a whole heap of Winter left between now and then. Today, expect snow, snow, and more snow! And then more snow on top of that.]

Jason chuckled as he rolled out of bed and walked up to the window. Some winters, it seemed like they only got a few snowfalls every now and again, but this winter, it seemed like he had hardly ever seen the bare ground. The previous few days had dumped several feet of snow across the ground, and now, the flakes were coming down thick and fat, piling up even more snow! It was beautiful to watch, but it also meant that they were stuck inside. Again.

"Good morning." Tess came up behind him and gave him a hug. She had just gotten out of bed as well. Her cattle had been staying in the barn through all the thick snowfall, so she didn't have nearly the need to get out and about so early. "Have you heard anything more about Frances? I know you were up late last night writing a letter to Jeremiah."

Jason shook his head. "No, nothing new, at least nothing substantial. Jeremiah's put out word through all the constables in the area trying to reach her, and it sounds like he's been able to reach most of the towns in the southern half of the Illumitir province, but no hits yet. A few of them say that they might have seen her here or there, but... I mean, you remember what it was like when she was around these parts."

"Very true." Tess frowned. "What were you doing up so late, then?"

"Just thinking." Jason shrugged, then chuckled. "I actually started doing some writing on a book, believe it or not."

"A book?" Tess grinned. "What about? Monsters?"

"Sorta. Actually, I was writing about our lives here." Jason answered. He walked over to the wardrobe and started changing. "Just a chronicle of our lives, really."

"Come on." Tess snorted. "Who's going to read about our lives?"

Jason opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off as Fern and Rachel came racing inside, little feet pounding on the floor.

"Mommy! Daddy! More snow!"

"Indeed!" Jason laughed and scooped up both girls, then gave them big kisses on the cheek. "More snow! I guess it's another day around the house, then." He paused. "Now... Which room should we clean today?"

"Daddy!" Fern wriggled out of his arms. "We've cleaned every room in this house!"

"Not the attic!" Jason pointed a finger upward.

"And we are not taking the kids up there." Tess raised an eyebrow. "I'll get the attic cleaned out this Spring, when they can play around the house while I'm working."

"Fair." Jason paused. "Umm... What if we go downstairs and make the living room a giant mess, and then we clean that?"

"No." Fern pouted. "I want to do something fun!"

"I'm sorry." Jason crouched down. "I wish I could help, but there's just so much snow, it's hard to..." He paused for a moment. "There's a ton of snow."

"Probably quite a few tons, from the looks of it." Tess nodded. Her eyes started to narrow. "What are you thinking?"

Jason simply smiled. "Let's go get ready for the day. Daddy has a plan." "Yay!"

Fern and Rachel streaked out of the room, and Tess followed them to get

them changed. Jason watched after them for a long moment, then rose and made his way down the stairs. In the kitchen, he fixed up a quick breakfast of pancakes and waffles, nothing too fancy, along with some sides of fruit. When the three girls came down, they ate quickly, and then Jason rose and stretched.

"Alright. Why don't you three snuggle up by the fire for a few minutes, and daddy's going to go do chores? I'll be back inside in a bit."

"But what about your plan?" Fern held up her hands.

"Be patient." Jason patted her on the head.

"Don't want to be."

"I know, but you have to be." Jason kissed her on the forehead, then

walked to the front door. Tess was looking at him curiously, but said nothing as he pulled on his boots and stomped outside. Chance followed him for a moment, then, upon seeing the snow, darted back inside, and, frankly, Jason couldn't blame him.

The snow was just about the deepest that Jason had ever seen it. In some places, it had drifted to a height of almost ten feet, though that was really only up against the buildings. In most places, though, it was easily a good four or five feet high, making it nigh-impossible to get across to the barn. He made it, though, practically having to swim the distance.

"It's days like this that I wish I could be an elf instead of a human." He muttered. Elves weren't real, of course, but he had heard stories of the fair

creatures that could run on top of snow, and... well... That sounded nice. Still, though, he couldn't really complain, and he soon had the barn door pulled open.

Inside, all the vents were open, allowing for circulation of air. Five hundred cattle certainly served as a furnace, that was for sure, keeping the inside of the barn so warm that it was almost hot. Jason had to pull off his coat and gloves as he did the chores, pouring out feed for all the assorted creatures. The cattle seemed happy to see him, snorting and stamping their feet, and soon, he'd made it back out and down to the house. When he poked his head inside the front door, the girls jumped off Tess's lap and raced over to him, and he crouched down.

"Alright, girls." He grinned. "Instead of cleaning this house... How would you like to make a new one?"

Tess's eyes lit up, and Fern and Rachel looked at each other.

"What you mean, daddy?" Rachel asked.

A few minutes later, he had the girls bundled up, and marched them out

onto the front porch. Tess followed, wrapping herself tightly as well, and Jason assembled them all. He pulled a shovel out of his inventory, and Fern groaned.

"No, daddy! Not scoop snow!"

"Trust me, you'll like this." Jason walked to the steps, crouched down, and started carving a tunnel out of the snow. He soon had a hole, about three feet across and five feet deep, carved out, and he backed out to let Fern and Rachel crawl inside.

"This is epic!" Fern declared. "More, more!"

Jason laughed, then waved them out of the way. He went first, shoveling and carving, and made a tunnel that stretched down along the side of the

house, around Tess's flowerbeds, and to the ground just next to the kitchen (at least, he thought that's where he was at. It was bright inside the tunnel, as light filtered down through the crystals to create a dappled sort of effect. As he came to his chosen location, Jason started carving upward, and soon hollowed out a dome almost five feet tall. He remembered the place from when he had been doing chores as having a particularly deep drift, which made it perfect for his intentions. The girls both stood up and started running around, and Tess crawled through and stood up as well.

"Well? What do you think?" Jason smiled, then held the shovel up and carved out a small hole in the ceiling. It wasn't much, just enough to let a bit of air inside, and Fern and Rachel shrieked.

"No, daddy!"

"Now it's cold!"

"First off, it's already cold!" Jason laughed. "We need air to breathe! If I

was actually making this into a shelter, I'd do it differently, but this is just for fun. If we want to get warm, we'll go back inside."

"Oh." Fern frowned, then grinned. "Can we make another room?"

"I reckon so." Jason nodded. He crouched down and started carving another tunnel, one that ran out toward the barn. "Let's see... Should this one be the living room? What do we need next?"

"Kitchen!"

Tess laughed as Jason got to work. While Jason dug, she took snow from the walls and packed it together to form furniture (which the two girls, being rather light, could actually sit on). They used their fingers to carve pictures into the walls, and they even tried their hands at snow sculptures. It was going to be the most elegant, upscale snow fort that Jason had ever seen, that was for sure!

How long they played in that snow house, Jason didn't know. They carved out room after room after room, creating a whole network that really made it into an entire snow mansion instead of just a house. There were bedrooms and bathrooms and attics and basements (all on the same level, of course), and a great deal more. They ate snow food from snow tables, and... well... It was just a simple, marvelous sort of fun, there was simply no other way of looking at it.

When they finally got too cold to keep playing, they slowly trooped up into the house for lunch. As they reached the door, though, they paused, and Fern looked up at Jason.

"Can we go back out here this afternoon?" She scowled. "I think the house needs cleaned. It seems to get dirty just as fast as I can clean it!" She then held up her hands in an expression of exasperation that perfectly looked like Tess when she was frustrated. Both parents burst out laughing, and Jason steered them all back inside for lunch.

These were the days that he loved, the simple days where play took over. Work would come again (and in all reality, he was facing a lot of it over the upcoming weeks and months), but, for the time being... well... He was just going to enjoy time with his family. The rest would come when it pleased.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Story

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 75th day of Winter! 16 days until the Winter Festival! We're on the final push, folks! Almost to the Winter festival! Just hang in there! And... well... Maybe stay nice and cozy warm! It's another chilly one today, for sure.]

Jason shivered as he crawled out of bed and slowly climbed to his feet. He could hear the howling of the wind around the house, and as he walked up to the window, he could certainly attest to the fact that it was cold. Down below, the snow was a sheet of ice. It hadn't melted since the last of it had fallen, but instead, under the influence of high winds and increasingly colder temperatures, had solidified into a layer of a much harder, much crueler substance. He could feel the cold seeping through the window even several feet away, and he shuddered, then walked back to the wardrobe and changed.

Tess had gotten up before him, likely starting to go stir-crazy. She often did toward the end of Winter, and he frankly couldn't blame her. When he finished getting dressed, he made his way down the stairs, where he found breakfast on the table, waiting, while Tess and the two girls (both still in their night clothes) snuggled in front of the fire.

"And then then little calf said, 'Where's my father? I know I have a father!'" Tess looked up from the book and smiled, then looked back down. "He looked behind the hay feeder, but didn't find his father. He looked behind the water tank, but he didn't find his father. Then he found the hole

in the fence, and he said, 'I know my father made this hole. The fence is strong, and only my father could have smashed through it!'"

"Strong daddy!" Rachel beamed.

"Yes, indeed." Tess smiled. "And so, the little calf stepped through the gap to find her father. Before she could take a step, though, she heard a growl, and the big bad wolf started charging through the grass!"

"Oh no!" Fern gripped Tess's arm tightly.

"But then, who should appear but the bull!" Tess beamed. "And he bellowed his terrible bellow, and he flashed his terrible horns, and he head- butted the wolf so hard that it flew over the forest and came splashing down in the river."

"Yay!" Fern clapped her hands, then frowned. "Did the wolf die?" "Ahh..." Tess flipped through the book. "No, doesn't look like it."

Fern scowled. "Then he'll just come back and try to eat more little

calves!"

Tess laughed. "Maybe he learned his lesson?"

"No, mommy." Fern shook her head. "Wolves eat calves and bunnies and

little kiddos. They don't learn."

"Alright..." Tess flipped back to the page. "How about this? He bellowed

his terrible bellow, and he flashed his terrible horns, and he head-butted the wolf so hard that the wolf was smashed back against the fence, and died on the spot!"

"Yay!" Fern and Rachel clapped their hands, then jumped up and ran into the kitchen for breakfast. Jason laughed, then held out his hand to help Tess up. She accepted the help, and they made their way into the small room. There, as they all sat down, Jason let out a long breath and smiled softly.

"You three seem to be getting along nicely today."

"Yes!" Fern nodded. "Mommy's been reading us books!"

"Is that so?" Jason smiled. "And where did mommy get these books?" He paused, then lowered his voice. "I didn't think we had very many children's books."

"We don't." Tess grimaced. "I wish we had more. Paulina mailed these to me late last night, after you went to bed. There are some travelers that have been stuck at the inn now for... Pfft, must be the better part of a week now. Anyway, Paulina's been trying to help cheer them up, especially since a lot of their supplies have been running low, and one of them turned out to be a book peddler! She bought a whole bunch of his stock, and then mailed us some."

"That was awful nice of her." Jason started to eat his pancakes and bacon, then paused. "On that subject, and this is somewhat of a tangent, Fern's going to be five next year, right?"

Tess nodded. "Yup."

"Isn't that when she would ordinarily start school?"

Tess nodded once more. "If we were in a town that had a school, yes. I

know in Illumitir, where you obviously grew up, there are quite a few options for school. When I was growing up, I attended a handful of places, but we moved around so much that it was inconsistent at best, so I was usually behind. I can read plenty well enough, but most of my education has been self-taught since I came to Summer Shandy."

"What are we going to do with the girls, then?" Jason shrugged. "I mean, what do most of the moms up in Summer Shandy do?"

"I don't think most of them really worry about it all that much." Tess answered. "Illumitir doesn't have any laws regarding schooling, at least not out in the countryside. Portswain does, I think, but..." She shrugged. I don't

know. I just figured I'd school them here at home, I think Paulina's going to do the same when John turns five. We've been comparing some notes. We want our kids to be able to read, and Paulina knows some teachers up in Illumitir who have been sending her some curriculums to use."

"Interesting." Jason flashed a small smile. "Well, I'm sure you'll be good at it."

"I sure hope so." Tess sighed. "I want our girls to have opportunities that I never had."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Tess, you were the most epic warrior I'd ever seen, at least before meeting your brother. Do you have even the slightest idea how many people would have rather had that opportunity instead of a boring store job?"

Tess laughed. "I suppose that's something! And you can teach them quite a bit on the farm." She shrugged. "I dunno. We'll figure it out. I'd say that we should set up a school in Summer Shandy or something, but it's such a far ride that I don't think I can manage it every single day, especially not with the cattle."

"Something to ponder, for sure." Jason stroked his chin, then shrugged. "Anyhow, I'm glad you're having fun with the kids."

"Indeed. And we have lots more to read once breakfast is over!" Tess declared. "What are you up for today?"

"I think I'm going to do some desk work." Jason shrugged. "It's not as exciting, but I have some paperwork I need to file, and all that."

"Alright." Tess gave him a kiss. "Have fun, then!"

A few minutes later, breakfast had come to an end. Tess and the girls retired to the living room to keep reading more books, and Jason pulled on his boots and forged his way out into the snow. There, he had carved a

narrow path through the snow to the barn, which actually protected him from the wind rather well. When he was done feeding the cattle (who were also starting to grow a bit stir-crazy), he came back inside the house and started pulling off all his warm attire.

"No, mommy!" Fern was in the process of declaring. "You don't make friends with dragons!"

"That's just what the book says!" Tess snorted.

"Mommy." Fern puffed herself up, taking on Tess's very own 'I-have-a- lesson-for-you' tone. "The third rule of dungeon-delving is that you never think anything in a dungeon is cute, because it thinks you look tasty. Dragons eat people. You tell us this all the time! Tell the story right."

Tess rolled her eyes dramatically, then looked down at the book. "Alright, then. Little Tommy arrived at the dragon's cave, took up his little wooden sword, planted his little feet, and cut off the head of the dragon! Then, he carried it home and mounted it on the wall over his fireplace so that every dragon in the country would know not to mess with his little brother again."

"Yay!" Fern and Rachel applauded, and Jason laughed as he made his way up the stairs. He really did love to see Tess reading to the kids, everything he had ever heard was that reading to your kids, especially at such a young age, did nothing but set them up for success. Once he arrived at his office, he pulled open the door, walked inside, and sat down behind his desk.

The office itself was a great deal cleaner than it had once been, curtesy of the assorted family cleaning days that had been necessitated as a result of all the snow. He sat down behind the desk, then stared at the large pile of paperwork in front of him.

The forms were for a wide assortment of things. Some of them were contracts with seed companies for bulk volumes of seed, which he was purchasing through Cecilia's store. Some of them were backdate forms for an assortment of minor laws that he had apparently broken in his first several years (often at Jeremiah's advice) that Jeremiah was now trying to clean up. There were tax forms, and income declaration forms, a historical analysis form that was required to be completed every few years on account of his dungeon, and a handful of letters from his mother that he hadn't yet answered. Truth be told, it was likely to take him days to get through. He let out a long breath, and then slowly grabbed a piece of paper.

"Once upon a time, there was a farmboy named Jason." Jason licked his pen as he decided to put aside the paperwork for just one more day. "He was a good farmer, but sometimes could be a bit too trusting. One day, he heard a great thumping noise, and he watched in amazement as a giant came tromping up over the prairie!"

He proceeded to write a short story about Jason and the Giant. The giant, being a giant, carried off all Jason's cattle, ate all his crops, stomped on his garden, and even took his house. When he came to the end, though, he paused, then rose and folded up the paper.

"I reckon that Fern will have the right ending for this." He chuckled as he slipped past the desk and out the door. "Let's try this out for size."

He didn't have any plans of writing more stories, and he certainly didn't hold any aspirations of becoming an author, but... Writing the story had been fun, and it was a needed break from the cold dreariness of the lengthening Winter. He would try it out on the kids, and then get back to paperwork.

After all, at the end of the day, his family was what he was working for, not his job. He would get everything done in its own time. For now, he was going to enjoy the wondrous mind of a child, and that was all there was to it.

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Just A

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 80th day of Winter! 11 days until the Winter Festival! Alright, folks, I think I can officially make the call that we're going to continue to see cold weather all the way through to the end of Winter. I know, I know, we usually wind up getting some early Spring-like temperatures, but that just doesn't look to be the case this year. Sorry about that! In the meantime, enjoy what we do have, and get ready for Spring to come!]

Jason yawned as he rolled out of bed, then stretched as he slowly walked up to the window. Down below, the ground was a rather dull shade of brown. The grass had all been beaten flat by the repeated snows and winds. Now that the snow was gone, it was left as a simple, barren expanse that would remain in such a state until the warm rains of Spring came to wash it all away and bring new life. Jason stood there for a long moment, contemplating it all, then slowly walked over to the wardrobe to change clothes.

Tess was already downstairs making breakfast, though both of the girls were still asleep. She smiled at him as he dropped into his chair, and he smiled back.

"Well, what's your plan for today?" She asked after a moment. "Anything interesting?"

"I honestly can say that I don't know." He laughed. "At this point, I'm pretty much just hanging on until Spring. All my paperwork has been filed with Jeremiah, I feel like we've had every kind of party I can think to have,

and the house has been cleaned from top to bottom so many times I don't think there's a speck of dust left anywhere around. I'm totally good just playing with the girls for another day..." He shrugged. "But I honestly think even they're getting bored of just playing with dolls."

"Ahh, they love it." Tess waved her hand dismissively. "They've started playing dragons, or dungeons and monsters, and all sorts of things like that. Their dolls are quite the warriors."

"And all because your books had the wrong endings." Jason laughed softly, then shook his head as Tess set a platter of eggs in front of him. "Thank you, truly, for all that you--"

A soft rattle came from the front of the house, and Jason frowned. He rose and walked into the living room, where he saw a small envelope sticking out of the letter box. He quickly walked over and pulled it out, then returned to the kitchen table.

"What's that?" Tess asked as he slit it open and pulled out a small note.

"It's from Milligan." Jason frowned. "Hey, boss, sorry to bother you, but could you come out to the greenhouse today? Not tremendously urgent, but I'd sure appreciate your thoughts on something. Thanks! Milligan."

"Well, there's what you're doing for the day." Tess shrugged.

"Fair enough." Jason tucked the letter away, then leaned forward and finished eating. When he was done, he rose, gave Tess a kiss, and headed out. "If I'm not back for lunch, feel free to eat without me. I don't have the faintest idea what this will entail."

"Will do!"

He struck out for the barn, making his way through the bitter cold, crunching through the last vestiges of snow. It didn't take him long to do chores, as all the cattle had been turned back out onto the pasture once the

snowdrifts receded a bit. As soon as the animals were done, he saddled up Angus, waved to Tess, Fern, and Rachel (who were peering through the kitchen window) and rode off for Milligan's cabin.

The ride was a lonesome one that day, though he wasn't exactly sure why. The wind whipped around him, as if trying to tear him from his horse, and he shivered. Overhead, the sky was a slate grey, with no sign at all of the sun. It was a dreary prospect, there was no doubt about that.

When he came riding up to the cabin, though, things suddenly seemed to get a bit brighter. Smoke puffed merrily from the chimney, and a candle shone in the window. As Jason approached, the door swung open, and Milligan came bustling out, a wide smile on his face.

"Boss! Good morning! Thanks for coming."

"Anytime." Jason swung down from Angus, then put him into the small stable there. "Why don't you show me what's up?"

"This way. I think you'll like it." Milligan waved his hand, double- checked that the door to the cabin was shut tightly, then started across the frozen ground toward the greenhouse. They walked across the empty field, and were soon inside the warm, tropical building. There, as Jason shrugged off his coat, he found the air almost steamy, and with the addition of the grow lights, he could hardly tell it was Winter at all. A smile spread across his face, and he let his gaze wander around.

All the mobile, carnivorous plants were gone, either destroyed or taken up to the dungeon. In their place were simple seed beds filled with a wide variety of mostly tropical plants displaying beautiful flowers and lovely foliage. Interspersed here and there were a handful of crops, including a number of sugar beets, which made Jason's mouth water. Finally, toward the rear of the greenhouse, there were a number of miniature landscapes,

which had always captured Jason's attention. Tiny little trees of wide varieties grew up upon tiny hills and valleys and plains, under which grew carpets of the tiniest flowers Jason had ever seen. They were absolutely beautiful in every sense of the word, though he didn't have the faintest idea what they might be for.

"This way, boss." Milligan led the way to the back of the greenhouse, past the rows upon rows of plants, to a small workbench. There, he gestured at a large rifle that lay out, amidst a number of tools. Among the tools were metal files, drills, a lathe, and a handful of other items often used for metalworking. Slowly, Jason reached down and picked up the odd gun, staring down at the thing.

The barrel was enormous, both in length and in diameter. Jason had never seen a bullet large enough to fit inside, he imagined that his entire thumb could easily be stuck down through the aperture. The firing chamber was large as well, while the stock... Well, the stock, instead of just being a solid chunk of mass designed to absorb shock, it seemed to hold a large number of springs, gears, and other such odds and ends.

"I wish I could say that I knew what this was, but I'm afraid that I'm at a complete and utter loss." Jason grimaced.

"Then I'll explain." Milligan grinned broadly. "This, dear boss, is my patented Treekiller! Patent pending, of course. Essentially..." He slid open the firing chamber, then picked up a massive dart from just beside Jason. He carefully fitted it inside, then slid the chamber closed. There was a loud click, and with that, he reached for the end of the shock, where he unfolded a small crank.

"I'm not going to do it now, because I don't want to shoot a hole in the side of the greenhouse, but... If you crank that up a dozen or so times, the

thing can shoot that dart the better part of half a mile."

Jason frowned, then turned to the table. He located another such dart and

picked it up. It was a good three-quarters of an inch wide, three inches long, and made entirely out of metal. That said, upon a closer look, the pointed tip of the dart was hollow, like a hypodermic needle.

"What exactly are these?"

"Mostly, they're metal." Milligan shrugged. "Inside, there's a little chamber, which will be filled with your herbicide, the really good stuff. Fire this into the trunk of a tree, and we get to stay back and well out of range, and the whole tree ought to just keel over and die!"

"Interesting." Jason frowned, then put the dart back down onto the table. "First off, isn't that herbicide illegal? I don't want to go messing with the law, even with Jeremiah's backdate forms. Second, if it only takes a small amount, why do you need such a big dart?"

"Both excellent questions!" Milligan grinned. "It is illegal, yes, but only when used as-is. If I dilute it with a handful of other chemicals, it becomes less effective, but totally legal. Now, we needed a way to kill just the tree and not the whole countryside anyway, so toning down its power doesn't wind up being an issue. As for the dart, it's because when I experimented with smaller darts, they were so small that even the slightest wind could blow them off course. These things are nice and bulky, I reckon you could shoot it through a tornado and still hit your target on the other side."

"I'll take your word for it." Jason chuckled. "I'd rather the tornado not decide to start shooting back at me. Well... Thank you."

"You like it?" Milligan grinned.

"It sure seems to be a good option." Jason nodded. "That herbicide is good stuff. If we can kill monstertrap trees from a distance and not have to

get close enough to cause issues, I mean... That'll make things way easier for Obadiah and everyone else who winds up being on the posse to take them down. Jeremiah will be disappointed, but he'll live."

"I'll make him a giant dart that can fit into a cannon. Just one, but that way, he can have his shot."

Jason laughed loudly. "He'll be forever in your debt."

"Then it's settled." Milligan clapped his hands. "I think I can have two more of these churned out by the time of the Winter Festival. That way, if we haven't caught Frances, we'll at least have a preventative measure."

"And I wish I could give a better update on that front, but I'm afraid I still don't really know anything." Jason sighed, then shrugged. "But, in any case, we're doing the best we can, and that's really all that can be asked of us, right?"

"I reckon so, boss." Milligan held out his hand, which Jason shook. "Thanks for believing in me, and for giving me a second chance."

"Anytime, Milligan." Jason gave a small salute as he turned to leave. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not unless you'd like to play a game of chess." Milligan shrugged. "It's been a long Winter, and I'll admit that I wouldn't mind playing against a human opponent for once."

Jason paused, then shrugged. "Let's do it."

A few minutes later, he and Milligan were seated at a table in the cabin, with an ornate chessboard between them. Jason felt a smile growing across his face as the two of them began to play, and he sighed deeply.

Winter was still ongoing, and they still had problems, but all was far from lost. All they had to do was stick together, stay focused on the issues

at hand, and... well... Jason was certain that nothing would wind up being able to stand in their way.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty: Last Day of

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Winter! It's the day of the Winter Festival! Let's see... It's cold! That's really about all you need to know, folks. Just come on out, stay bundled up, and enjoy yourself! Just... ahh... Make sure not to drive into the town square, take the side road around the edge of the town. You'll see why when you get here!]

Jason's eyes flickered open as a general hubbub began to swell around them. He rose slightly up onto one elbow, looking around the interior of the Guild Hall. He was lying among some bookshelves, at the far end of the hall from the blazing hearth, but he never would have known. The interior of the building was so warm, so cozy, that he might as well have been lying right next to those lovely flames.

All around him, countless other families were starting to stir as well, rising up from their sleeping mats and folding up their blankets. Fern and Rachel both popped up from theirs, saw several of their friends, and went racing off without another word. At the same time, people began to slowly make their way inside from the cold, bringing with them a large assortment of food from Lily's inn. Jason smiled for a long moment, then lay back on the mat beside Tess, who put an arm around him.

Due to the frigid temperatures, more people than usual had come into town the night before the festival, causing the inn to overflow. To help contain everyone, Obadiah had opened up the Guild Hall, and... well... In some ways, Jason liked it even better than staying at the inn. In other ways, he greatly preferred staying at the inn. There was a whole lot more privacy,

and it was easier to get the girls to settle down at bedtime, but the general chaos of the previous night had been fun, as well.

The food was soon spread out across the long tables at the middle of the hall, and Rachel and Fern came racing back over to jump on their parents.

"Food! Food!" Rachel pointed.

"Daddy, can I have a donut, and a pastry, and some candied cherries?" Fern batted her eyes at him. "And a slice of pie for dessert?"

"No." Jason sat up, then stretched. "No dessert for breakfast. Otherwise, sure."

"Yay!"

Jason laughed, then slowly climbed to his feet and wandered over to the table. He grabbed a plate for the girls, and then a plate for himself and Tess. After loading them both up (with help from some of the other fathers who also had their hands full), he made his way back to Tess, where he sat down. The family tucked into the meal, and Jason sighed deeply in contentment.

They were just finishing up when the door blew open, and Jeremiah came stomping inside. He had a wide grin across his face, and he stuck his two index fingers into his mouth and whistled sharply. A great hush fell across the interior of the Guild Hall, and he raised his hands.

"Alright, alright! First off, I just wanted to say thank you for coming out here so early this morning. We've been getting a better and better overnight crowd, and it's always wonderful to see. Now, I do want to say that when you start leaving the hall to go out and about, you'll need to tread carefully."

Jason frowned. The almanac had mentioned something about the Town Square, but he didn't have the faintest idea why.

"Because we've turned the Town Square into an ice-skating rink!"

Laughter and applause rippled through the room, and Jason smiled. He hadn't been to an ice-skating rink in... Well, it had to have been back in Illumitir the last time he went. Fern clapped her hands, then frowned.

"What's an ice-skating rink?"

"You'll find skates inside Cecilia's Item Store." Jeremiah continued. "We'll have shoes you can wear, or blades that you can attach to the bottom of your own shoes. Now... Get out there and have fun!" There were cheers, and Jeremiah started to turn away, then paused. "Also, I should note that I have a document on my desk stating that anyone who decides to partake of the skating rink takes all liability for injuries upon themselves. Alright, have fun!"

The door shut behind him as he walked out, and people began to chat a bit more. Jason couldn't stop smiling, and Tess helped the girls eat faster. When they finished eating, Jason and Tess packed up their belongings into their trunk and rolled up their sleeping mats. Tess then took the two girls over to the Item Store, while Jason returned the mats to the Guild, and lugged the chest back to the carriage, which had been parked out behind the stable with all the other carriages.

All that done, Jason went himself to the Item Store. As he passed the main body of the square, he found it alive with activity. Families glided around upon the ice as if they were birds gliding upon the breeze, flashing here and there gracefully over the cobbles. A few more experienced skaters were able to perform tricks, leaping and spinning and doing all sorts of other wild things, which Jason thought was just incredible. Most, though, simply held hands with their families and kids, and just went in wide, gentle circles around the town well.

Now, Jason did have to say that he pitied the mothers who were still trying to draw water from the well for their assorted households, but those unfortunate souls aside, it really just seemed absolutely marvelous to watch. Tess and the two girls made their way along the very edge, with both of them clinging tightly to Tess's arms. She smiled at Jason, and he smiled back, then made his way into the item store, got a pair of blades to stick on the bottom of his own boots, and took off.

That, of course, was when he discovered that it was a great deal harder to skate than he had originally thought.

The town square, being a town square designed for commerce and such things, had no guardrails or hand rails or anything of the sort. Jason stepped out onto the ice, took one practiced glide, and fell flat on his tail. He groaned as a sharp pain lanced through him, and he slowly climbed back to his feet.

"Alright. That didn't go so well." He groaned and tried once more, pushing off with his right foot. That foot shot out from underneath of him, and he almost did the splits, which hurt even more than falling on his backside. He yelped in pain, then tried once more.

"You might need more help than they do." Tess laughed as she glided past, moving a bit faster now that the three of them were getting the hang of things.

"Well... I weigh more!" Jason called after her, though he laughed as he said it. She was right, he was apparently a great klutz, though he was determined to give it a try.

Well, he tried for the next several hours, but by the time the girls got bored, he still hadn't figured it out, and he resigned himself to trying again at a later date. The family made their way down and off the ice, and Tess

took the girls back into the Guild Hall for hot cider and a snack. Jason, meanwhile, sat down on a bench to pull the blades off his boots while a trio of siblings started doing a trick show—spinning around each other, even using the town well as a vault of sorts to jump up into the air. Everyone started clapping, and Jason grinned.

"You seem to be enjoying it." Jeremiah walked up, sipping on a cup of steaming coffee.

"I have to admit, I've never seen anything quite like it before." Jason shrugged. "You've come up with another winner."

"I wish I could take the credit." Jeremiah shrugged. "Johan had the idea. He helped build a big rink like this a year or two ago, and thought we would like it. I nixed the idea of actually building a designated area, since I don't think we'll use it all that much, but I do think it's fun. Might not do it every year, but we'll be bringing this back at some point."

"I'm glad to hear it." Jason nodded, then paused. "Not to turn the conversation to business, but I do have a question."

"Fire away." Jeremiah gave a nod.

"Any luck on the Frances front?"

Jeremiah shrugged. "Maybe? We've been keeping the kitten in the upper

rooms of the constable's office, and I've been sending out word about an unidentified critter to just about every-which-where I can. Mostly, I'm just getting a whole bunch of random sightings like I did last year. You know how it was, any time people heard a twig crack, they'd report it. I'm fairly certain that no matter how good Frances is, she can't be both in Illumitir and Portswain at the same time, you know?"

Jason nodded. "So, what's the maybe bit?"

"Well..." Jeremiah shrugged. "I keep a list of the sightings in my office, and I put them into two columns, reliable and unreliable. I mean, there's more distinction than that, but... There's one particular train of sightings, one I consider more reliable than not, that's been working its way steadily back toward Summer Shandy. There will be a flurry of sightings in one town, and then a pause, and then a flurry of sightings at the next town, and then a pause... The last one was just in Darkwater, not two days ago. Had to have been two dozen total sightings, I think, and they all matched up pretty well with what we know."

"Huh." Jason frowned. "So, you think she might actually be on her way?"

"Hard to tell. Hard to tell." Jeremiah shrugged. "Now, as long as we're talking business, tomorrow, everything's going to thaw out, and the monstertrap trees are going to wake up. Thus far, we've identified a total of six, and I think we have them all rigged up to blow the moment they start to move, but... If anything else starts moving, I'm going to need your help."

"You got the guns from Milligan?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I got them." Jeremiah nodded. "He kept one, and gave us two. I figure that's reasonable, I just... There's a lot of country to cover, and if something hits the Lazy-H at the same time it hits town, I'm not going to be able to be in both places at once."

"You can count on me."

A smile came across Jeremiah's face, and he clapped Jason on the shoulder. "I know I can, and that's what makes you so great. Among other things, of course." He sighed and started to walk away. "Enjoy the celebration!"

"I will!"

Jeremiah soon vanished into the crowd, and Jason let out a long and satisfied sigh. In front of him, families continued to glide around, and likely would continue to do so for some time. Slowly, he rose, turned, and slipped back inside the Guild Hall to find Tess and the girls.

Winter was coming to a close, and next would come the Spring. Life would return once more to the world, and with it... Well, with it would come a host of problems that he hoped they would be able to handle.

Until then, though, he had about twelve more hours of frozen bliss, and he wasn't going to waste a single second of it.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-One: First Day of

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Spring! 90 days until the Spring Festival! Alright, folks, it's a beautiful day outside! I mean, it always is on the first day of Spring, but... Wow, is it nice! Get outside, enjoy the weather, get done any work you need to do, and so on! You know the drill by now, you don't need me telling it to you.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: Update: If, by some strange chance, you happen to see a tree walking about, please alert myself or Jeremiah. No need to panic, certainly, but... well... Don't go anywhere near it, either.]

Jason slowly rolled out of bed, his body weary and exhausted. The night before, after dinner, someone had gotten the bright idea to stay up and keep skating on the ice until Spring came, so they could experience the ice suddenly melting underfoot. Jason and Tess, being caught up in the moment, had decided to stay and do that very thing. Rachel and Fern had gone to sleep in the Guild Hall while they waited, and then, in anticipation, they headed out at midnight with several dozen other people to watch the ice all dissolve into water.

It had, of course, been extremely anticlimactic, as they all forgot that the only substances that experienced an instantaneous change were the ones actively coming down from the sky. Snow would suddenly be changed into rain, and so on. The snow already on the ground, though, in past years, simply melted away rapidly in the changing temperatures. That was exactly what happened, and so, disappointed and exhausted, they went home.

Now, it was morning, and Jason's body was completely and utterly exhausted. Tess was still asleep, and he gave her a soft kiss before dressing and walking up to the window. He pulled it open, stuck his head out, and inhaled deeply.

As was always the case with the Spring, he found himself utterly enraptured with those first few moments. Spreading out all around the farm, in all directions, the prairie was green again. Tiny blades of grass, so tender and small, were shooting up out of the soil that had been prepared by the long, frozen Winter. Birds shot overhead, flowers were slowly opening, and as the sun rose over the eastern horizon, a great sense of life and wonder filled the air. Down below, the cattle lowed gently as they started making their way out across the prairie. Milligan, having just rode up on Dusty, waved at Jason before riding up and into the barn. Jason waved back, then turned and made his way back through the house.

The girls were just starting to wake up, so he roused them and got them both changed, then fixed them a breakfast. They were just finishing when Milligan poked his head inside, and Jason gestured at the table.

"You want something?"

"I'll be fine, boss, but thank you for the offer." Milligan smiled. "I had a few hard-boiled eggs before I left. You two often aren't the quickest out of bed on the first day of the season, so..."

They all chuckled, and Jason let the girls down to go racing off through the living room. "I can't argue with you there. Tess is still passed out, but I do think she'll be up soon."

"That's good to hear." Milligan paused and looked out through the window, then nodded at Jason. "Well, what's the plan today? Are we getting out and planting, or are we going to wait a day?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't see a reason to wait, do you?"

"I was just pondering..." Milligan shrugged. "I don't know. With all the talk of the monstertrap trees and things, I was a little worried that if we start planting, we'll miss an attack or something. If one of them's going to show up, it's likely as not to be today, you know?"

"Very true." Jason puffed out his cheeks, then shrugged. "That's not a bad idea, really. Let me write a letter to Jeremiah to see what he's seeing, and then..." A grin spread across his face. "We can go up into the barn to see what we can see from there!"

Milligan groaned, and Jason laughed. Milligan, as it turned out, was utterly terrified of heights. Still, though, he didn't protest, and as soon as Jason finished cleaning up the dishes, he rose and went to the writing desk. He was just sitting down when a letter appeared in the mailbox, which Jason fished out quickly.

"Jason! This is Jeremiah. Just wanted to let you know that the traps and things we rigged up on the monstertraps seem to have worked, by and large. We went out to check this morning, and five of the six were dead, though that last one seems to have escaped. Obadiah is tracking it now; it might even be dead by the time you get this letter. Anyhow, if you see anything, just let us know."

The letter ended, and Jason nodded. He flipped it over and scratched out a quick response, then folded it and put it back into the mailbox. It vanished with a pop, and Jason grinned.

"You really can stay down if you like."

"Nope." Milligan shook his head. "I'll not have my boss doing things that I'm not willing to do myself. We both go, or neither of us goes, and if you're willing, then I have to be."

Jason nodded, knowing that it would be futile to argue. He opened up the front door and let Fern and Rachel race outside, where they started playing barefoot in the grass in the front yard. Chance bounded around them, barking at birds and the like, and Jason and Milligan walked up to the barn.

Getting up onto the roof of the barn was quite the process. The barn was sturdy, but Jason had to admit that climbing up the ladder that led to the cupola on the roof was, objectively speaking, terrifying. It was a tall barn, close to a hundred feet off the ground at its peak, which meant... well... The probability of surviving a fall was a whole lot lower than Jason would have liked.

In any event, the two of them had soon climbed up to the rooftop, and crawled out onto the peak. There, they could see for miles upon miles, easily viewing the town of Summer Shandy and a good bit of the land beyond, as well as almost the entirety of the Lazy-H, and a good portion of the forest around the river. Jason steadied himself against the cupola as he stood up, gazing out across the landscape as best he could.

It didn't take long to find that sixth tree. It was lumbering across the plains up near Summer Shandy, marching through a sheep pasture that thankfully seemed abandoned. Jason could see several horses, so small that they looked like ants, racing in circles around the thing as they sought to bring it down. Even as he watched, it stumbled and came crashing to the ground, and he nodded.

"Boss?" Milligan pointed off across the distance. "Look right there."

Jason frowned and looked off to the west, toward the Far Eighty. Beyond the fields, the treetops of the forest swayed gently in the fresh, spring breeze, which was nothing extraordinary. As he watched, though, he began to see what Milligan was talking about. One of the treetops seemed to be

pushing itself between the other treetops, even knocking trees down as it sought to push through. It was so far away that it was hard to see many details, but it was there.

boom!

The noise was so quiet he almost didn't hear it, but Jason nevertheless turned toward the south, where he caught a glimpse of another tree stalking through the Lazy-H pastures. Puffs of smoke rolled up as cannons fired at it, which meant that one was taken care of (probably), though at a glance, it looked like there might have been another one in the trees not terribly far from that location. Jason grimaced, not really wanting to believe it, but... There it was.

He and Milligan spent the next ten minutes up on top of that barn, charting the assorted monsters they could see, and marking down their paths on a piece of paper. All told, he counted five, and those were just the obvious ones. When they finished, Milligan folded up the note and handed it to Jason, then closed his eyes.

"If it's okay with you, boss, I'm going to take my sweet time climbing down from here. You need to get that to Jeremiah, and then get going."

Jason gave a simple nod of his head. "Can do. Where's the dart gun? Are you okay if I use it?"

"Go for it, boss." Milligan gave a simple nod of his head. "Mine is in my saddlebag, you're welcome to it. I've got another one in my cabin that I basically need to put together. Five minutes and it'll be ready to fire. Just let Jeremiah know where you're heading, and tell me which ones you'll be taking, and... Yeah. Go knock yourself out. I mean, go knock them out. You know what I mean."

"Go it." Jason smiled. "Thanks for your help. I couldn't have spotted them all without you."

"You're more than welcome. Now get out of here so I can focus on calming down."

Jason chuckled, then nodded and slipped back inside the cupola. He climbed down as quickly as he could, and before long had made it back into the yard. As he walked through the door into the house, he caught a glimpse of Tess in the kitchen, and walked over to give her a kiss.

"Busy morning?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that." He nodded. "I've got to run. Are you good to watch the girls?"

"I think so." She kissed him back. "Go save the world, and all that."

"Will do!" He flashed a sloppy salute, then ran back outside. A few minutes later, he was pounding away on Angus, head held high as he flashed off over the hills.

When he had fought the monstertraps once before, it had seemed like a war. Now, realistically, the stakes were far, far higher. That said... well... Summer Shandy was more than prepared to handle such a war.

And those monstertraps were going to regret having ever come.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Two: Sowing

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 3rd day of Spring! 88 days until the Spring Festival! Let's see, folks... First off, I want to commend everyone for their patience during the Great Monstertrap War, as Jeremiah seems intent on calling it. As near as we can tell, all the large monstertraps have been destroyed, though we certainly appreciate it if you all could keep your eyes open, and alert us if you see something. In the meantime, as always, get outside and enjoy the Spring weather! I'm expecting storms to hit here within a few days, so make sure you're buckled down for that, otherwise just enjoy yourselves! While, of course, getting all your work done.]

Jason smiled as he slowly rolled out of bed and stretched. It was true, the previous two days had been absolutely nuts. He rather enjoyed calling it the Great Monstertrap War along with Jeremiah, though that was mostly just to make it sound more epic. Chasing trees around the countryside and then shooting them with hypodermic darts didn't sound nearly as exciting. In any event, they had destroyed almost fifteen of the beasts, and, as of the night before, hadn't been able to locate any others in the township. They still desperately wanted to get the opinion of Frances to be certain, since even a small monstertrap wandering around the woods could wind up creating more of the monsters, but they had carved out a bit of breathing room, and that was the important thing for the time being.

That, of course, meant that he could actually get some work done that day, which he was greatly looking forward to. As he walked up to the window and gazed out at the farm, he found Tess and Milligan down below,

working with the cattle. He smiled a bit, watching them, then went back to the wardrobe and quickly changed into his overalls and a short-sleeved flannel.

"Good morning, daddy!" Fern came rushing inside, followed by Rachel. "You're going to work today?"

Jason laughed. Fern had been begging to help him work ever since Spring had arrived. She had gone just as stir-crazy from Winter as her parents, that was for sure. "Yes, I'm going to work today. Do you want to help me plant?"

"Yes!" Fern clapped her hands, then looked down at Rachel. "Do you want to help daddy plant?"

Rachel shook her head. "Scary."

Jason smiled, then picked her up. "Well, maybe you won't think so in a few years. For now, why don't we go get you dressed, eh?"

He carried the two of them back into their bedrooms, and soon had them all dressed and ready for the day. As he carried them downstairs for breakfast, Tess and Milligan came walking back inside, and Jason set them down to run over to their mother.

"Good morning, my dears!" Tess bent down and hugged them both. Jason smiled, then started putting some breakfast onto the table. "And how are you two doing today?"

"Help daddy work!" Fern declared.

"Mmm, that sounds like a lot of fun. A lot of responsibility, though." Tess raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're big enough for that?"

"Yes, mommy!" Fern planted her feet and put her hands on her hips.

"Alright, alright! Forget I ask, I suppose." Tess chuckled. "Milligan, would you like some food?"

It took another thirty minutes for them to finish eating, and a bit longer before they all got outside for the day. It was a slower start than usual, perhaps, but... well, it was a good morning, and they weren't in any particular rush. Fern came running down to the lean-to right along with Jason, and he lifted her up onto the back of the planter while Milligan used Dusty to pull it out into the yard.

"Alright, Fern." Jason set her down on the ground once again. "Do you remember what we have to do after each Winter?"

Fern paused, then nodded. "We have to check to make sure that nothing has broken!"

"Exactly." Jason crouched down, then slid himself under part of the planter. "Do you want to come under here and help, or watch from there?"

"Help." Fern flopped down on her back, then did her best to wiggle underneath the machine. There, she pointed at just about everything as Jason made some minor repairs, tightened a few nuts and bolts, and greased a handful of bearings. When he finished, he crawled out, and they climbed up onto the machine once more. At that point, Jason pulled open the seed box, and they cleaned out a rat nest that had gotten built up inside over the Winter.

When they finished cleaning everything out, Jason dusted off his hands and stretched. "And there we go! Are you ready?"

"Ready." Fern nodded. She took her place on the back of the planter and grabbed hold of the supports, and Jason walked over to the corral, took out Angus, and got him hitched up. As he started connecting the assorted straps, he nodded to Fern.

"Do you know where this strap goes? Which ring do I thread it through?"

Fern peered up over the top of the machine and pointed. "That one! No, that one! Yeah!"

Jason repeated this several times as he went along, and was shocked to find out that Fern actually knew almost exactly how to hook Angus up. There were a few things she got wrong, sure, but she was only four years old. The fact that she knew that much was more than a little surprising, and Jason made a mental note to have her start helping more around the farm whenever he could.

In any case, once Angus was hitched up, Jason took his own position, and filled the seed boxes with sugar beet seeds. Milligan had some extra varieties worked up for later that Spring, but to start out, they were going to do good, old-fashioned plain sugar beets. Fern grinned as Angus lumbered off toward the field, and Dusty came right along behind. Soon, they entered the field, and Fern laughed and clapped with joy.

Just like always, the first planting of Spring filled Jason with a nigh- inexpressible joy, and the fact that he could now share it with Fern just made it even better. The fertile soil hissed as the seed disks cut through it, the seed rattled through the tubes as it was poured into the ground, the smell of dirt and moisture and life just floated up to fill the air.

"Look daddy! Cows!" Fern pointed off to the side as several cattle came charging up, snuffling and snorting and tossing their heads. Jason smiled, then opened his inventory and pulled out several pellets. He handed one to Fern, and she did her best to throw it. Given that she continued to hold onto the planter with one arm, she simply didn't have the strength, so Jason did the hard work. Fern laughed and clapped just as much as if she had done it herself, which only made Jason throw several more. Finally, though, they

reached the end of the field, and were forced to turn around and go back a bit further away from the edge.

Through it all, Fern continued to have a look of amazement. She watched the cattle for the first several passes, then sat down on the little platform to just watch the dirt flashing by underneath them. Jason was concerned at first, but decided that she was probably hanging on better that way than when she was standing up, and decided to allow it. In any event, she just watched the ground rushing by with an odd intensity that Jason found fascinating. He wouldn't have been able to just sit and stare at something so simple for so long, but she didn't look away for a good, long time.

This time, Fern lasted for almost half the morning. When she got tired of looking at the ground, she lay down on the platform and turned her head so that she was looking into the guts of the machine, at all the tubes and whirring parts that made the planter tick. When she got tired of that, she stood back up and looked out toward the front. She had an interest about her that Jason knew he didn't even begin to have, something that was almost certainly born from the simplicity of their life out in the country.

She did, though, finally start to squirm, and Jason drove over to the edge of the field to let her down. Tess was nowhere around, so he hefted her over the top of the fence and set her down.

"Go check in the barn for mommy, and if she's not there, go knock on the front door. If she's still not there, just play in the yard around the house." Jason smiled. Oh, how wonderful it was to be able to let his daughter have so much free rein and not have to worry about her! It wasn't even remotely something he could have done up in Illumitir.

"Daddy?" Fern spoke up as he started to turn away. He turned back, and she crossed her arms. "Why don't people come from the ground like

plants?"

Jason paused, then shrugged. He swung up and over the fence, then

dropped down onto the other side just next to her. "Well, because you come from mommy's belly."

"Yeah, but why?" Fern pressed. "Why don't we get planted, and then just come popping up?"

"Umm..." Jason bit his lip, then opened up his inventory and pulled out a single grain of wheat. "See this?"

Fern nodded. "Yup! That's a seed!"

"Exactly." Jason nodded. "Now, do you know where this seed forms?" "No." Fern shook her head.

"Well, when the plant starts growing from the ground, it puts out a

flower." Jason pointed at a dandelion nearby. "The flower blooms, then goes away. Below the flower, though, is a little chamber, and that's where the seed grows. So, the seed does form inside the plant, just like you formed inside of mommy. Then, once we harvest, the seed comes out of the plant, and that's kinda like you being born! The only difference is that the seed doesn't grow while it's above the ground, and then when you plant it, it starts growing. You, on the other hand, just start growing right away!"

"Oh!" Fern grinned. She leaned forward and gave him a big kiss on the nose. "Thanks, daddy! You know everything!"

With that, she dashed away, and Jason chuckled and stood up. He swung back over the fence, climbed up onto the planter, and took up the reins.

He didn't know if he knew everything, but... well... Being given such a title by his daughter was just about the best thing he thought he could imagine.

He only hoped he could live up to the title as time went on.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Three:

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 11th day of Spring! 80 days until the Spring Festival! Alright, folks, today's looking like a wonderful day to get out and about! There's a pretty stiff wind, but nothing that should stop you from work. Now, that wind is bringing along a pretty nasty storm with it, so make sure you're buckling down for that, here in a few days. Otherwise... Yeah!]

As Jason rolled out of bed, he found Tess standing by the window, fully dressed in her standard cattle-working outfit; a brown, fairly tight-fitting dress that still gave her plenty of ability to move her legs, so she could run fast enough to get ahead of the creatures. He rose and walked up behind her, giving her a small hug, and she sighed in contentment.

"Any particular reason you're not out and about yet?" Jason asked softly. He looked past her, to the brilliant green of the prairie.

"I'm just... mulling things over." Tess shrugged. "We've got the cattle drive today, you know?"

"Mmm, hmm." Jason nodded, then frowned. "You know, I'm surprised Obadiah didn't mention it."

"He doesn't always, mostly just when he thinks it'll cause issues." Tess shrugged. "Mud, bad weather, that sort of thing. Anyway, today will be the day I sell to the Cattle Guild, my two-thousandth head of cattle."

Jason nodded slowly. "Pretend I know the significance of that milestone."

Tess laughed, then turned to him. "Before two thousand, you're counted as a small herdsman. Once you top that, though, you get formally registered

with the Guild, provided that the two thousand have been sold within the span of one year."

"Oh!" Jason grinned. "And what sort of benefit does that bring?"

"Mostly it just means that I have to start paying them a 3% fee." Tess grumbled, then smiled. "The bigger thing, though, is that I get to choose a brand."

"A brand?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Like the thing you stick in a fire and then press into their sides, searing their flesh to make a permanent mark on them?"

Tess laughed once more. "That is how they used to do it! Nowadays, it's a... I don't exactly know how it works, but it's painless, and it just dyes the hair. I mean, it's a permanent dye, but... way better than fire."

"Huh!" Jason chuckled. "Alright, then. What brand do you think you're going to get?"

"I don't know." Tess frowned. "That's part of the problem. I'd love to do something with the letter H, since our last name is Hunter, but Richard already has the Lazy-H registered to him."

"Wait." Jason blinked. "That's what Lazy-H means?"

"Yes!" Tess burst out laughing. "Look on the flanks of the cattle he runs! It's a little H that's laying on its side. That's his brand. Jeremiah registered it years and years ago."

"Huh." Jason shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you'll come up with a great one!"

"I sure hope so." Tess chuckled. "Once you choose, it's a huge fee to change it, and even then, you can only do it once a year, or something like that. They really don't like people changing brands."

"Then... choose well!" Jason chuckled. Behind him, feet pattered on the ground, and he spun around as Rachel and Fern raced into the room. "You'd better think on your feet, because I think it's time to get rolling."

From there, the morning seemed to roll quickly. Tess made her way out into the yard, where she and Milligan started getting the cattle ready. Jason dressed himself, then the girls, then made up a breakfast for everyone. Tess and Milligan ate their burritos (which really were just fantastic for when they needed to eat on the go) as they started to drive the cattle out onto the road, Jason and the girls watched from the porch.

"Why does mommy like cows so much?" Fern asked from her perch on the porch railing.

"I don't know." Jason crossed his arms, leaning against one of the wooden beams supporting the porch roof. "I reckon it's because she sees a little something of herself in them. Something that's powerful enough to knock down a building made of stone, but docile and tame. Unless, of course, you get between her and her children."

Fern nodded as if she understood, and Jason laughed. Soon, all the cattle were out onto the road, and Jason moved the girls to the carriage. He wasn't in any particular hurry to follow, and by the time he got the carriage out onto the road, the herd was almost three-quarters of the way there, so he set off at a brisk trot.

Even with such a large head start, Jason still came up into town on the heels of the last of the beasts, which lumbered and lowed and tossed their heads at everyone and everything that watched them. Fern and Rachel smiled and waved to all the children who were watching, mostly from behind fences or peeking out of windows.

"Makes you feel like you're in a parade, doesn't it, boss?" Milligan, who was bringing up the rear, fell back to ride next to the carriage.

"Just about anytime I'm in public with the two of them, I feel like I'm suddenly the center of attention." Jason chuckled. "I'm pretty used to it by now, I think."

Milligan nodded, then waved at several children who were frantically waving at the group. Just for kicks, he took off his hat and flung it through the air to them, and they laughed as they snatched it up.

The trip through town was uneventful. Cattle, docile as they were, simply followed the leader, and were soon around the backside where the Guild loaded them all into the pens. From up high on the carriage, Jason looked out over the sea of fences and cattle, all of which were lowing and snorting and rummaging around, eating every last ounce of grass upon which the fences had been set up.

"Can I go look at the cows?" Fern looked up at Jason, pleading.

"I reckon that's okay." Jason brought the carriage to a halt, then climbed down and helped Fern to the ground. The moment he set her down, she raced away, right up to the edge of the pens. One of the Guild workers saw her and started walking over, and Fern looked up at him and grinned.

"I'm going to be a farmer when I grow up!"

"Is that so?" The guild member, a rather pudgy man who wore a ten- gallon hat and a broad smile on his face, crouched down next to her. "And what can you tell me about these cattle?"

"Let's see..." Fern crossed her arms. "That one is an Angus... And that one is a Hereford..."

"Good job!" The guild man seemed impressed. "And do you know what we do with the cattle here?"

"Yes!" Fern nodded. "You buy them from us for way too little, sell them for way too much, and charge a whole bunch of fees to boot!"

Jason and Tess both felt their cheeks turn red, and the guild worker burst out laughing. He turned almost as red as Jason felt as he stood back up, he was laughing so hard, and he came walking over to the two of them.

"You've got a sweet little one there." He shook Jason's hand, then Tess's. "She'll make a fine rancher someday. So long as she keeps that head on her shoulders, she'll do just fine." He gave Jason a wink, then turned and wandered away. Jason made a mental note to watch what he said around Fern a bit closer, while Tess turned to several other Guild workers who were walking up to her.

"You're Tess Hunter?"

"That's me." Tess nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"As I think you already know, it's time for you to get registered." One of

the men produced a clipboard, while the other held out a book. "We need you to fill all this out before you can sell any more cattle with us. We also need you to select your brand. You can find a list of approved branding nomenclature here in this book. The back contains an index of all registered brands in the Illumitir province, to guide you on what's available and what isn't."

"Got it." Tess took the paperwork, then passed the book to Jason. "Here, why don't you start looking through this?"

Jason nodded, then flipped it open. The start of the book was actually fairly simple. You could use just about any symbol, or string of symbols, that you wanted. If they looked like you would write them on a sheet of paper, they were just named after that symbol. Laying them on their side made them Lazy. Flipping them upside-down made them Crazy. Tilting it at

a 45-degree angle made it Tumbling. Putting them in a circle or box or diamond was an option, and there were a great deal more. Jason's head was starting to spin by the time he got to the end, and he passed it back to Tess when she finished up with the paperwork.

"Alright. All this looks in order." The men nodded. "Now, all we need is your brand. The start of your last name is often appropriate, though of course you can do anything."

Tess nodded for a moment lost in thought. "I would use our last name, but it starts with H, so even if we do something completely different, it's still going to look similar to the Lazy-H brand down the road."

"Fair." The men nodded. "Strictly speaking, it would be absolutely legal, but if your herds got mixed it would be more difficult to sort out."

"Then..." Tess pursed her lips. "What about S? For Summer Shandy?"

One of the men looked through the book, then shrugged. "No one in the area has an S-brand. Do you just want the letter S, or..."

"Circle-S." Tess glanced at Jason. "Yeah. That's what I want."

"Then... I have you down for Circle-S. You'll receive your branding irons by post in about... Oh, I'd say two weeks." The men smiled and started to turn away. "If, for some reason, it hasn't shown up by the time the next cattle drive takes place, you can use this document here to claim proof of ownership." The man handed a small piece of paper over to Tess. "Good for up to three months. On the off-chance something really goes wrong with the iron, you can apply for another one, but that doesn't happen too often."

The guild workers walked off as another herd of cattle started to lumber in, and Jason gathered up Fern and went back to the carriage. Soon, they were rumbling back off down the road toward the farmstead, and Jason sighed in contentment.

Beside him, Tess was overjoyed, bouncing in the seat and grinning from ear to ear. Jason smiled at her, enjoying the moment. He loved it when she was happy, that was for sure. They had their own brand now, so... that made them official, at least in the ranching business.

And that, as far as he was concerned, was just another thing to celebrate.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Four: Minor

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 27th day of Spring! 64 days until the Spring Festival! Let's see... The ground will still be a little soft from that storm, so be safe if you have to get out into the field, but otherwise, it should be a great day for getting things done, folks!]

Jason's stomach twisted with anticipation as he rose from the bed, and he walked up to the window with a wide grin across his face. Looking out across the sea of green that made up the prairie, just brightening under the morning sun, he sighed deeply and turned his attention to the field.

There, bursting from the ground, were the tops of the sugar beets, ripe and ready for the harvest. He opened up the window and stuck his head out, inhaling deeply. The air was full of the smell of life, of potential, and he smiled widely once more and pulled himself back in.

"Good morning." Tess swept into the room, wearing a bright yellow spring dress. "You ready?"

"I think so." Jason walked over to the wardrobe and changed, then smiled. "What do you think the odds are that Fern wants to ride along with me?"

"Pretty high!" Tess grinned, then paused. "Will that be safe, though? The digger bounces around quite a bit more than some of the other machines, doesn't it?"

"It does." Jason paused. He hadn't thought about that possibility, but he also did know that Fern would be heartbroken if she couldn't come along.

"Let me do some thinking on that while I get things ready. It'll take me a hot minute to service the machine, anyway."

Tess nodded, then swept out of the room as the girls started to call from down the hall. Jason made his way down the stairs, gulped a quick breakfast, and then headed outside. Milligan was just riding up, and nodded down as he swept up to the lean-to.

"Sorry I'm moving slow this morning, boss!"

"Not a problem." Jason chuckled. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah! At least mostly." Milligan shrugged. "One of those giant

monstertrap trees came rummaging out of the forest, so I had to chase it down to dart it."

Jason frowned. "I hadn't realized there were more of them still around."

"I hadn't either. I think we all sorta forgot about them after the big war." Milligan sighed. "I sent a letter in to town, but hadn't gotten a reply when I left."

"You did the right thing." Jason nodded, then shrugged. "Well, let's get to work! We can deal with that at a later date, unfortunately."

Milligan nodded, and Jason got to work. In short order, he had pulled the two diggers out of the shed, and crawled underneath to start servicing the machines.

The diggers were by far, the machines that took the most abuse on the farm, since they had so much of their bulk getting showered in dirt. Plus, there was the fact that Jason really only used the diggers in the Spring, so for three seasons of the year, they just sat around unused. As a result, as he climbed underneath, and he found great patches of rust, loose bolts, and an assortment of other problems.

"Good morning, daddy!" Fern crawled underneath the machine next to him. "Can I help?"

"I reckon you can." Jason puffed out his cheeks, then shrugged. "Watch that spade. Now, what can you tell me that needs to be fixed?"

Fern frowned, then pointed. "There! That spring is twisted!"

Jason blinked, then looked where she was pointing. Sure enough, one of the compression springs that helped keep tension on the spades was twisted around a bolt, such that... well... He wasn't exactly sure what problem it would have caused once they got into the field, but he was sure it wouldn't have been good.

"Nicely done." Jason reached up and popped the spring back into place, then started tightening several bolts. "Do you see anything else?"

"There!" Fern pointed. "Rust, and lots of it!"

They spent the next fifteen minutes working together under the machine. Fern caught several more issues that Jason would have missed, and when he crawled out, he decided that she had earned her ride, no matter how difficult it became. Milligan came striding over, and they all got up onto the great machines. Jason took up the reins, then looked down at Fern.

"Alright, you're going to have to hold on really tight. Can you do that?"

Fern nodded rapidly. "Yes I can!" She grabbed hold of a cross-bar, then looked up at Jason and grinned.

Jason nodded to confirm, then snapped the reins. Angus lumbered forward into the field, slowly and surely. As they crossed over the threshold, Jason yanked the lever to lower the digger into the earth.

With a rumble, the whirling spades bit into the dirt, carving the sugar beets from the ground and flinging them into an assortment of chains,

rollers, and other such things that shook the dirt off of them. The beets were then dumped into the farm's inventory, just like all the other assorted crops.

As a result of lowering the digger, though, the rear platform, where Jason and Fern were standing, dropped down to only a few inches above the ground. Fern gasped and stumbled, and Jason reached down to steady her.

"I'm okay, daddy!" Fern declared. "Just keep driving!"

Jason laughed, then nodded. "Alright, alright. I just want to make sure you're safe."

"I'll make sure of that!" Fern sniffed, then sat down on the platform. She had to sit cross-legged, as letting her legs dangle off the back would have put her feet on the whirring ground itself. There, she was a lot more sturdy in her seating, at least it looked like it to Jason, and he was able to turn his attention to the field a bit more, though he did still keep a pretty close eye on her.

Digging sugar beets, in Jason's opinion, was one of the most exciting harvests, with the exception of those crops that had exciting harvest effects, like shooting sunbeams or other such things. The whole machine rattled and clanged, you just felt like you were doing something. The noise certainly seemed to scare Tess's new assortment of cattle, who snorted and refused to come anywhere near. Fern, though, wasn't bothered by this fact, and just grinned through the whole experience.

When they reached the end and turned around, Jason caught a glimpse of Tess standing at the gate, looking across at them, waiting. He smiled, and started the long trip back, rumbling along through the ground. When he came up to the gate, he paused, and Tess nodded.

"How's it going?"

Jason shrugged and gestured down at their daughter. "She couldn't be better, near as I can tell."

"I'm okay, mommy!" Fern called out. "I'm being very safe!"

"Alright, then." Tess shrugged. "If daddy's okay with you staying there- -"

"He is!"

"Alright, alright!" Tess laughed and turned away. "Just send her to the barn when she gets bored!"

"I won't get bored, mommy!"

Jason laughed, and swung the digger back around into the field once more. He knew she could last for a while, but still did expect her to tap out at some point. That day, though, whether through sheer willpower or through actual interest, she made it all the way through the morning. When Jason and Milligan finished up the field and pulled out into the yard to break for lunch, Fern jumped down and raced out across the farmyard, laughing and clapping.

"I did it, mommy! I harvested the whole field!"

Tess laughed as she came down out of the barn, followed by Rachel. "Indeed you did! Good job!"

Jason smiled, and he and Milligan turned their horses out into the corral while Tess spread out a blanket. They all sat down to eat lunch, and Jason sighed in contentment. Lunch was simple, just ham sandwiches with lettuce and tomato, but it was still simply exquisite, in Jason's opinion. When they finished, Jason and Milligan both lay back on the blanket, and Tess sighed.

"You know, I really wish I had made something for dessert. I was just so busy working with the sheep that--"

"Here." Jason opened up his inventory, then pulled out a sugar beet. It still had a bit of dirt, which he wiped off carefully. "Voila! Dessert!"

Fern scrunched up her nose. "That looks like a vegetable! Healthy things don't taste good!"

"First off, I didn't say that this was healthy." Jason pulled a pocketknife out of his inventory and started to peel off the outer layer of skin, then cut thin slices for each of the people there. "Just take a bite."

He handed one slice to Rachel, who shook her head and refused to touch it. Fern held it tentatively, and Jason chuckled. He took a bite of his own beet slice, and grinned as the taste of pure sugar filled his mouth.

"Mmm! It's so good! And not like the way that mommy and I pretend that most vegetables taste good."

Fern giggled, then slowly took a bite. Her face lit up a moment later, and in seconds, the rest of her slice had been devoured.

"More, please!"

Rachel, watching the example of her sister, took a nibble. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly gobbled it down.

The rest of the sugar beet vanished in mere seconds. When they finished it up, both girls lay back on the blanket and closed their eyes, going into sugar comas, and Jason rose to his feet.

"Well, we're off once again. I love you!"

"I love you, too." Tess started packing up the food. "I'll see you for dinner this evening. Have fun!"

A few minutes later, Jason and Milligan were rumbling off across the prairie toward the Far Eighty, which Jason hoped to finish up that day. He knew that Fern would be disappointed when she woke up and realized she had missed the second half of the harvest, but he also wasn't quite sure that

she was ready to make a full day's work yet. That said, she was improving rapidly, and was really getting quite the eye for things. If she kept it up, she would be a full-fledged farmer in no time... And, if Jason was being honest, there were very few things that would make him happier.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Five: Bunker

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 35th day of Spring! 56 days until the Spring Festival! We're looking at a nasty Spring storm today, folks! And trust me, I do mean a nasty one. Tornados, rain, hail, lightning, the whole shebang! Stay inside unless you absolutely have to go out!]

As Jason read the message, his eyes snapped open wide. That hadn't been in the forecast. He leapt out of bed and raced up to the window, where he found Tess and Milligan rushing about frantically, getting the cattle into the barn. Overhead, thunder rumbled as thick, black clouds rolled in from the west. The storm was coming, and it was coming fast.

"Daddy, is everything okay?" Fern and Rachel came walking into the room, holding hands. "Mommy went running outside really fast and told us to wait for you to wake up."

"Yeah, everything's just fine." Jason smiled. "Run along to your room, and I'll be there in a second to get you dressed. It's just a storm."

At that, Fern brightened. "Does that mean we get to hide in the tunnel?" "Maybe! Depends on how bad the storm gets."

"Come on!" Fern raced down the hallway, pulling Rachel behind her. "I

hope the storm gets really bad!"

Jason laughed loudly, then closed the door behind them, got changed, and

ambled out into the hall. There, he found the two girls waiting by their bedroom door, laughing and giggling. He took them inside, then closed the door and got them changed. The moment they were done, they went racing

down the stairs to the kitchen. Jason made up a small meal, watching out through the window to see how Tess and Milligan were doing.

They were just finishing up when the two of them came stumbling back inside, already wet from the first drops of rain. Milligan pulled off his raincoat and shook his head, which was quite bare.

"The wind got my hat." He grumbled as he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Carried it right away like it was just a leaf. That was my best hat, too."

Jason chuckled. "I assume you're staying here?"

"I reckon so. This is shaping up to be the storm of the year, and I'd rather be here with you guys than cowering in my root cellar." Milligan chuckled. "Not that I really mind the root cellar, mind you. It's got that nice, earthy smell to it, and it's really quite cozy in a storm, but it is sure nice to be with folks in times like this."

"Well, you're more than welcome to stay. I'm glad to have you." Jason glanced out the window, then shuddered. "Alright. That storm's getting awful close. Get whatever you want to have downstairs, any food or games or toys or anything else of the sort, and get down into the tunnel, fast as you can."

"Dolls!" Rachel jumped from her chair and went streaking away.

"Books!" Fern jumped down as well, then looked over at Milligan. "The person who wrote the books wrote the wrong endings. We'll tell you the right ones!"

Jason laughed as Fern raced away as well. "You're in for quite the treat."

"I look forward to it, boss." Milligan rose, taking a bite out of a biscuit as he did so. "Just tell me how I can be of help."

The next several minutes were spent gathering up an assortment of items, mostly just the daily necessities, which they carried down into the tunnel. Jason grabbed a chessboard, Tess grabbed some sewing, and Milligan helped the girls carry down more toys than Jason thought would fit. As they made their way down the stairs to the basement, the storm picked up, howling against the side of the house with an immense fervor. Wind moaned across the top of the chimney, the windows rattled, even the structure of the house seemed to groan under the force of the blast.

Down below, Jason pulled open the door into the tunnel and helped Rachel and Fern down inside. Tess lit a lantern, which she hung on a hook there, and Milligan started to climb in last. Suddenly, though, there was a resounding crash from above, and the whole house seemed to shudder.

"What was that?" Tess looked up, startled.

"I haven't the faintest idea." Jason murmured, then shrugged. "I'll go check it out."

"I'll come with you." Milligan climbed back out. "No sense in you going off by yourself."

Jason nodded, and as Tess sealed herself and the girls into the tunnel, Jason and Milligan slowly crept back up the stairs. A faint gust of wind hit him as he walked into the kitchen, and he groaned softly. It was coming from up the stairs, and, carefully, he made his way to the upper story. There, as he came out into the hall, he found the door to one of the guest bedrooms blown wide open. Inside, the window had been shattered, though it wasn't clear what had broken it. The sheets had been blown off the bed, and were now flapping about on the floor, while all sorts of china decorations had blown off the dresser and smashed against the walls. Jason grimaced at the destruction, but shrugged.

"I'm real sorry, boss."

"Wouldn't be the first time that something like this has happened. We've bounced back before, and we'll do it again." Jason slowly walked forward, stepping gingerly around the broken glass and pottery. He crept up to the window and poked his head out, where the sky was a thick mass of churning black clouds. Lightning flashed so quickly that it gave him a headache, and he looked down at the ground. There, leaning against the siding of the house was a large chunk of fence, and he winced.

"Alright. Well, I know what we're doing tomorrow." Jason sighed, then started to pull himself back inside. On a whim, though, he looked out across the farmyard, where everything seemed to be straining against the power of the storm. It was fascinating to see... And even more so as, quite suddenly, the handle of the barn door vanished.

It didn't get torn off, it simply vanished, as if it had never existed in the first place. Jason's eyes narrowed, and he slowly pulled himself back inside.

"Something the matter?" Milligan asked.

"Maybe." Jason nodded, and started tiptoeing back through the room. "Come with me. I've got a hunch, and I want to follow it."

Milligan nodded, and they quickly stepped back out of the room. Jason closed the door, then braced it shut with several chairs as best he could. That done, the two of them made their way back downstairs. Milligan still had his boots on, but Jason pulled on his own, and the two of them stepped out into the storm.

Rain was just starting to fall, in big, flat drops that splatted against whatever they hit. The wind was so strong that they were blowing parallel to the ground (or nearly so), and Jason struggled to keep his footing as he

forced his way toward the barn. As he walked closer, he found that, still, the door handle was missing.

"Now that's odd." Milligan commented. "That thing was solid! I'm shocked the wind managed to get that thing off."

"Me, too." Jason reached out for where the handle had once been. His fingers closed on a piece of cloth, and he slowly pulled it away. The handle appeared once more, and he clutched the invisibility cloak as tightly as he could. It cracked loudly in the wind, and before it could blow away, he tucked it into his inventory.

"Is that..." Milligan's eyes went wide.

"I think so." Jason turned to the west, where the wind was coming from. "I think we may have just had a verified Frances sighting."

"She sure chooses the worst times to make her appearances." Milligan laughed.

"Trust me, I'm aware." Jason gritted his teeth, then slowly started walking toward the west. "Come on!"

"Are we really going out in all this, boss?"

Jason shrugged. "It's either that, or risk missing out on our one and only chance we've had in a long while to solve the issues we've been facing."

Milligan's face twisted into a mask of indecision, but he gave a nod. "Onward it is."

With that, the two men set off across the prairie. They didn't dare bring out the horses, so simply on foot, they struck out along the gravel road that wound its way back to the Far Eighty. The rain came down thicker and harder, soaking the two men to the core, and reducing visibility to a matter of fifty feet or less. It was a struggle to take even a single step, so walking

the whole distance was quickly proving to be a colossal challenge. Still, though, they forged on.

The wind was so loud that even a few feet from each other, it was difficult to understand what the other was saying. As such, Jason knew it was futile to cry out for Frances. He was starting to realize that it might have been better to stay back home when he heard the soft chitter of something echoing across the wind.

"What's that?" Jason called out.

Milligan simply held up his hands, and Jason gritted his teeth. He walked on a bit faster, and soon came to the end of the gravel road. He heard the chitter again, a brief noise tossed about on the howling wind, and took a deep breath. Heading straight into the wind, he made his way toward the trees, the best source of cover around.

It was a relief when he finally got under the cover of the thick branches, though even they didn't do a whole lot to alleviate the storm. There, though, Jason was able to catch a glimpse of a large, red squirrel clinging to the bark of a tree. He smiled and started walking toward it, and the squirrel darted around the trunk and vanished. He forged forward, and, after only a few moments, came to the hollow of a large oak tree.

There, huddled beneath the roots, was a blue-haired woman whose face he knew well. She lit up as the two men came slogging down into the makeshift cover, and rose to hold out her hand.

"Jason! Milligan! It's been a few weeks, hasn't it?"

Jason blinked. "It's been almost a year."

"Huh! Time flies when you're having fun, I suppose." Frances let out a

long breath, then gave her squirrel a soft scratch behind the ears. "When he

mentioned he saw people coming, I thought he was crazy. After all, who would be out in this storm?"

A distant roar echoed over the trees, a sound that Jason knew well. A tornado had just spawned in, and, quite unfortunately, there were no warriors around to drive it away.

"We need to get to cover, now." Jason glanced around. "Are you in any shape to travel?"

"Of course I am." Frances nodded. "I always am. Where are we going?" "We have to get back to the farmhouse, immediately." Jason answered.

"I don't know if we have the time for that, boss!" Milligan cried out. A

massive boulder flashed through the trees overhead, shattering branches and sending a spray of waterlogged foliage showering down on them. "We need to get down now!"

"The dungeon!" Jason snapped his fingers. "We can hide in the dungeon!"

"That works for me!" Milligan struck off through the trees, not waiting to see if anyone was following.

"I like dungeons!" Frances grinned. "This will be fun! By the way, have you seen my invisibility cloak? I lost it again. It's terribly easy to lose, you know. That's why I have thirty of them, but I really hate going through them so fast. I lost one just last week when I set it on a berry bush to hide the berries from a bear—I was really hungry, and bears like to eat berries, so I wanted to save them for later, but then--"

Frances continued chatting as they made their way through the woods toward the dungeon, as if they were just having a friendly conversation on a bright and sunny day. Jason couldn't help but laugh through it, despite the

rain and the impending tornado. He had forgotten how amusing she could be, that was for sure.

Now, maybe that she was around... well... Maybe they could get things back to normal once and for all.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Six: Things

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 36th day of Spring! 55 days until the Spring Festival! Alright, folks, that was... that was just an awful storm last night! If you need help rebuilding anything, please don't hesitate to let us know!]

Jason groaned as he slowly sat up from his sleeping mat in the tunnel. Tess, right next to him, stretched and sat up as well. Milligan was already awake, a bit further down the tunnel, chatting by lantern light with Frances.

"So anyway, this thing has me cornered, right?" Frances beamed. "It has something like thirty tentacles, and they're all covered with sharp barbs, and I just keep using [Tame Animal, but it keeps telling me that Celestial Horrors can't be tamed, but I can't run, and I can't fight it, so what choice do I have, right?"

Milligan nodded. "Do tell."

"So anyway, this thing opens up its mouth, and since it's a celestial horror, I can totally see stars and nebulas and black holes and all sorts of other crazy things inside, and it goes to eat me, and then--" Frances turned and noticed Jason, and she lit up. "Hey! You're awake!"

"I am." Jason rubbed his eyes and stood up, being careful not to step on Rachel or Fern. "At least in some sense of the word."

Tess smiled, then climbed to her feet. "Why don't you go get some food on the table, and I'll get the girls up?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jason yawned, then nodded at Frances. "Glad to see you you're alright. We have quite a bit to talk to you about, once breakfast is over."

"I can't wait!"

Jason smiled, then slipped out of the tunnel and upstairs. He soon had a hearty meal on the table, which was still steaming hot when everyone else managed to troop up the stairs. They all sat down wearily, eating mostly in silence as they simply tried to regain their strength.

The previous day, in the chaos of the storm, Milligan, Jason, and Frances had stayed in the dungeon until that afternoon, when the storm waned enough for them to make it back to the homestead. Once there, they had only just arrived when a second wave of the storm hit, driving them into the tunnel for the remainder of that day and into the night. Tess, of course, had been utterly frantic until Jason came back inside, at which point, he had been forced to spend most of that time apologizing to her for not telling her ahead of time that he was going to risk himself on something so crazy. He did feel bad, but was just glad that they had managed to get Frances, safe and sound.

When they were all done eating, the group of them rose, tidied up, and made their way outside. Fern and Rachel were still in their clothes from the day before, but Jason was tired enough that he didn't feel like changing them, at least right away. He was still wearing his clothes, for that matter. As they came out into the yard, he looked around slowly, feeling his heart sinking.

It wasn't that there was a ton of damage, but the farm had certainly taken a beating. They had lost a second window, and a great deal of the fence lay scattered across both their farmyard and the prairie. Jason crossed his arms and stared at it all, then slowly shrugged.

"Well, nothing more to it, I suppose. We'll just have to get to work." He sighed and nodded up at the window. "That's the critical part. Tess, can you

start making a list of everything we'll need to buy in town? Two windows... At a glance, I'd say about thirty fence posts and corresponding rails... Mmm, and we'll need some barbed wire to string across the gaps in the fence until we can get it rebuilt, since we're not going to be able to keep the cattle closed up in the barn until we can fully rebuild the fence."

Tess nodded, scribbling everything down as quickly as she could. When she finished, she tucked the note away and sighed, looking around the yard.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to take the girls with me into town. There are enough nails around here that I don't really want them playing until you get it picked up."

Jason gave a nod, and within a few minutes, Tess and the girls were loaded up in the carriage, riding off down the road. Meanwhile, Jason and Milligan walked through the yard, picking up pieces of fence and throwing it all into a large pile, out behind the house, well away from the siding. As they worked, Frances did her best to help as well, though she struggled with some of the larger pieces.

"Alright, guys." She gasped as she tossed a post onto the growing pile. "Can you tell me why you've been needing my help so much?"

"Yes, actually." Jason nodded and wiped his brow, then picked up a few smaller pieces and tossed them on. "We need you to solve a monstertrap problem. You can still sense monsters, right?"

Frances nodded. "I still have the dungeon shard, yes. That's why I'm in the area, actually! I heard a rumor of a really strange creature that had been captured, and I could sense that it was being held captive in... wait a minute." Her eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"We tried everything else we could. We were desperate." Jason sighed, then explained about the monstertraps. When he finished, Frances's eyes lit

up.

"Oh yeah, I can totally do that! Won't even be hard for me. Just let me

know when you're ready for it."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "It's that simple?"

"Yeah!" Frances grinned. "It's actually really cool. I didn't know how to

control it at first, but now that I've figured it out, it's pretty easy. I just have to select from a list of the local fauna..." She paused, and her eyes started darting back and forth rapidly. Jason could only assume that she was looking at some sort of a display that he couldn't see. "There we go! Monstertraps. Let's see... How many are we dealing with?"

There was a flicker of blue light, and she started turning in a circle. As she did so, her eyes grew wide, and she got rather quiet. Jason frowned, and Milligan paused as he threw another board onto the pile.

"I... Hmm. That's a lot." She murmured, then waved her hand, probably dismissing the pop-up. "And just what are you wanting to do with all these monstertraps?"

"Kill them." Jason shrugged. "Before they cause any further damage." "Kill them?" Frances turned rather white. "They're creatures!"

"They're bags of DNA that just turn into whatever they happen to eat!"

Jason countered. "And on top of that, they like to eat anything and everything. I've had them try to eat me before, and that was when they were small. Generally speaking, I don't like killing things unless I have to, but... When monsters are threatening my crops, I have to do what I have to do. When monsters are threatening the city, the entire countryside..."

Frances's voice got quiet, and she sighed. "I... I suppose I see your point." After a moment, though, she scowled. "Doesn't mean I like it, though."

"When you say there are lots of them, how many are we talking about?" Jason lugged one last post over to the pile, then opened up his inventory. After a few moments of scrolling, he found a great deal of the oily gunk from the sunflowers the previous Summer, and threw it across the pile. Finally, he pulled out several matches, struck one up, and tossed it on.

The resulting inferno was quite pleasing to look at, and he took a step backward and crossed his arms. Milligan whistled softly, and even Frances looked impressed.

"There we go. Now that that's done, we need to start getting the glass and things cleaned up inside." Jason ordered. "We'll get the pasture cleaned up when we head out to rebuild fence."

As he started to walk up to the house, Frances stopped them.

"There are about a thousand that I'm detecting." Her voice was soft. "Some of them are mostly docile now, taking on the form of dandelions and such things. There are a handful of trees, some wildflowers, quite a few grasses..." She sighed. "I hope you know how much I hate this, but I do see your point."

Jason put a hand on her shoulder. "And we appreciate..." He paused. "Wait a minute."

Frances looked up at him, and he took a step back. "What?"

"Your dungeon core shard. Just how much power does it still have?" Frances shrugged. "Not enough to turn one creature into another. Trust

me, I've tried. It still acts like the function is there, but it just gives an error message when I try."

"Alright." Jason nodded. "So... What if you don't change them into something else, but just stop them from changing on their own? Could you do that much?"

Frances paused, and he saw her become thoughtful. "Maybe, yeah. It'll take me a little bit of experimenting, but I imagine it would work."

"Good." Jason nodded. "If you could do that, and freeze all the monstertraps into the forms that they currently inhabit, take away the ability for them to change--"

"You would only have to kill the ones big enough to actually cause harm!" Frances lit up.

"Exactly." Jason nodded. "Please, that seems like the best of both worlds."

"I'll get right on it!" Frances started to turn away, then paused. "Oh! Can I have my invisibility cloak back?"

"How about I hang onto it until we're done here?" Jason posited. "Just to make sure that you don't get distracted?"

Her squirrel raced up her leg and chittered rapidly, and Frances laughed. "I suppose that's fair. Well, I'll head up to Summer Shandy to talk to Jeremiah. We'll get this solved, don't you worry!"

She ambled off down the road, and Jason let out a long sigh. For the first time in a long while, he actually wasn't worried about it.

He only hoped that she truly wouldn't become distracted before she managed to come up with a solution.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 50th day of Spring! 41 days until the Spring Festival! Today's looking like just the perfect Spring day you could imagine, folks! That's... yeah, that pretty much sums it up, so get out here and have fun!]

Jason's eyes flickered open just in time to see two sets of sharp knees heading straight for his face. He flinched, and Rachel hit him in the nose while Fern came crashing into his chest.

"Daddy! It's the party day!"

"Party!"

"I know, I know!" Jason laughed and rolled out of bed. Both girls were in

their best play attire, matching dresses of blue and white lace. "Alright, get on out of here, and I'll be down in a minute!"

"Yay!"

"Cousins!"

They went racing out of the room, and Jason laughed and changed

clothes. As he made his way down the stairs, he found Tess working up a massive breakfast, which she was spreading across the dining room table with flair. He gave her a hug and a kiss, though, as she had a spatula in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other, she only gave him a small peck in return before racing back to the kitchen once more.

"And how is my lovely wife doing this morning?" Jason asked with a grin.

"She's a bit overwhelmed by the amount she has to get done, but is otherwise alright." Tess answered quickly. She had a smile on her face though, and she glanced back at him. "And what about my dearest husband?"

"About the same." Jason sighed and sat down. "I'm glad Daniel's able to come out today. I feel like we've hardly seen him at all this year."

"I know." Tess murmured, but shrugged. "I know he's been busy, though. He's still being the Guildmaster, and like he mentioned when he arrived, a lot of his subordinates were happy to see him gone. He's had to spend a lot of time in the Guild Hall doing paperwork, more than he's spent working on the new dungeon, and he's had to make an emergency trip back to Illumitir... Twice now?" She shrugged. "Viola has been a trooper through it all, but I think she's getting a little overwhelmed, and is looking forward to getting back home."

"I can imagine." Jason flashed a small smile, then rose as a loud thunk sounded on the front porch. "And there are our guests now!"

He walked to the front door, but before he could reach it, a mighty crash shook the room, and the door fell inward, landing on the floor with a thud. Daniel was framed in the doorway, blinking in surprise.

"I'd get those hinges checked if I were you. They seem loose."

"They're gone!" Jason pointed at the splintered wood.

"True enough. Makes it easier to decide that they need fixed!" Daniel

stepped forward, then scooped Jason up in a massive hug. Jason was fairly certain that several of his bones popped, and he groaned softly.

The next hour was a joyful one. Viola came inside with all the children, and they sat down around the table to enjoy a hearty meal. When they finished, the whole lot of them went outside to let the children race around

the farmyard. Milligan appeared up at the barn, doing the chores while Fern, Rachel, Charlotte, Joseph, and Fisher all raced pell-mell here, there, and everywhere. Viola held the infant Anastasia close to her, and Jason sighed in contentment.

"I know I've said it before, but you've got a real nice place here." Daniel crossed his arms as he looked out across the farm. "You really do. You've done right by my sister, and I commend you for it."

"Thanks." Jason glanced up at him. "That means a lot, coming from you." There was a long pause, and Jason shrugged. "Thanks for coming out here. I really wish we could have spent more time together this year, but I suppose that's how it goes."

"Ahh, life's life, and you get way less free time when you have kids." Daniel shrugged. He started walking up toward the barn, and Jason came along. Tess stayed behind with Viola, and the two men soon entered the massive structure. Daniel put a hand on Jason's shoulder, and Jason sighed. Suddenly, he felt Daniel tense, and without any other warning, Daniel threw Jason high into the rafters, up to the ladder leading to the cupola. Jason grabbed hold with all his might as his heart hammered wildly, and Daniel laughed.

"I'll be up there in a minute, little farmer!"

Jason's heart still hadn't stopped racing by the time he and Daniel climbed out onto the roof of the massive barn. He leaned against the cupola for support, while Daniel crossed his arms and balanced perfectly on the sharp ridge.

"This is incredible." He whispered. After a moment, he shrugged. "The tower for the Dungeon Guild, where my office is located, is technically

taller than this, but I don't have nearly the view. It's all buildings and streets, and people just trying to swindle each other."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "That's a pessimistic outlook on things."

Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. Sorry, I don't mean to bring things down, I just..." He shrugged. "Being out here has been really nice. Before this job, life was just about punching things. Now, I actually have a family to provide for, and I don't want to do it dungeon-delving. That said, I'm also struggling up in Illumitir. The folks there are nastier than most of the monsters in the dungeons. It's kill or be killed, and with the amount of time I have to spend trying to wrangle them in, I see my family just about as much as if I was actually dungeon-delving."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jason put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You're a good man, and you've got your head on right, if that's worth anything."

"Coming from you, that's a lot." Daniel turned and flashed a smile at him, then turned back to look out at the view. "Honestly, right now, I just want to look out at all of this. Now that Frances is back, we're going to be opening up the dungeon at the festival, and then it's back to Illumitir with us. I just want to savor this moment."

Jason smiled. "Well, savor away." There was a long pause, and he glanced over at Daniel. "Why don't you just stay here? Let someone else be Guildmaster."

Daniel laughed and shook his head. "You've seen firsthand how deadly the Dungeon Guild can be. If I step down, it'll be a bloodbath. No, I've got to stay there, so other folks can live in peace." After a moment, he laughed. "Plus, you've seen how bad of a farmer I am. There isn't much around here I'd be any good at except maybe Guildmaster, and I don't think Obadiah is giving up the job anytime soon."

"Nah, he loves it too much." Jason smiled. "Well, I wish you the best of luck. Just tell me if you need anything."

"I will." Daniel slowly sat down, staring out across the wilderness. "I will."

The two men sat up there for some time, until Tess started calling for them to come back down. Daniel, true to form, simply slid down the roof and jumped, sailing the distance to the ground with the ease of a bird. Jason was forced to climb back the normal way, arriving back on the ground sometime later. There, Tess and Viola had set up what looked like a croquet game, though the children didn't seem terribly interested in hitting the balls through the hoops, and just whacked them left and right around the farmstead.

"Menfolk, at your service." Jason bowed at the waist as he walked up.

"We just thought it would be fun to play some sort of a family game." Tess shrugged. "What if we did... Hide and seek?"

"Nah." Daniel shook his head. "Your kids will win every time. They know where all the good hiding places are! We should play tag!"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Your kids are almost twice the size of mine." "Mmm. Right, good call, little farmer."

"Or..." Viola stepped forward. "We could just play something without

worrying about winning. I was thinking that the dads could be giant monsters, and the kids could be tasty sheep."

"Now that sounds like a fun game!" Daniel grabbed Jason and hooked their arms together at the elbow. "We'll be a two-headed giant! And giants love to eat little children!"

"Sheep!" Viola held up a finger. "Not children. Remember, no traumatizing them!"

"That's right!" Fern paused as she ran past. "Monsters love sheep! It can be good to take them into dungeons to use as distractions, so the monsters chase and eat them instead of you! Rachel! Mommy is a helpless explorer, and we have to lead the giant away from her!"

"Baa!" Rachel ran past, doing her best to imitate a sheep. Daniel grinned, then lunged forward, yanking Jason along with him like a sack of potatoes. He flopped left and right, but still did his best to emit a giant-esque growl. The kids all shrieked with laughter, while the moms laughed and clapped from the sidelines.

It was a silly sort of game, but it was a fun one. Jason could absolutely understand Daniel's hesitation. He didn't know if he would ever be able to leave Summer Shandy again... And, frankly, he knew that he would do everything in his power to avoid such an event.

Thankfully, he didn't think that would be a problem, and now, in this moment, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Daniel's last bit of time in the settlement was as carefree as possible.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Normal

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 55th day of Spring! 36 days until the Spring Festival! Alright, folks, today's the day! If you hear an inordinate amount of cannon fire, loud ruckuses, and other such chaos, we'll be hunting down and killing the last of the monstertrap trees! Thus, unless involved with the hunt, I advise you to stay inside.]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and he practically leapt out of bed. He didn't bother walking up to the window, but instead simply raced to the wardrobe, changed just about as quickly as he could, and then jogged down the stairs to the kitchen. Tess was already there with the two girls, and had a steaming breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, and more. He sat down and started to eat, and Fern clapped her hands.

"Yay, daddy!"

"Daddy!" Rachel echoed. "Going to kill twees!"

"Yes, he is." Tess walked up and ruffled his hair. "Does it feel weird to be

the one doing this instead of me?"

"A little bit, yeah." Jason laughed softly. He shook his head, then quickly

finished up his meal. "I do have to get moving, though."

"Go! Have fun! Save the township!" Tess grinned as he made his way

through the house and started pulling on his boots. "You're going to do great."

"Thanks." He paused as he reached for the door handle, then turned and gave her a kiss. "This is really exciting. Does it always feel like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Tess nodded. "I mean, after the hundred-thousandth time, it does start to get a bit repetitive, but..." She laughed as he scowled. "I kid. Go have fun. Blow things up with other men. You'll do great."

Jason nodded, kissed her once more, then jogged out into the farmyard. Milligan was already there, holding the reins of both of their horses. Jason climbed up, and with that, they rode off for town.

Neither of them said anything as they went along, but each could tell that the other was excited. They weren't exactly the combatant types, so doing something like this was an absolute blast. As they rode up into town, they found a large posse formed around the town well, where Obadiah was standing tall on his massive, red warhorse. Jeremiah was nearby with some of his old, hired hands, as was Richard, Daniel, and several other men from the village. They all waved as Jason and Milligan appeared, and Obadiah crossed his arms.

"Alright! You all know what we're up against, and you know the stakes. Before we begin, I do want a brief introduction to be given by the elusive star of this show... Frances!"

A light smattering of applause echoed across the courtyard, and with a flourish, Frances appeared out of thin air just next to the well. She blinked in surprise, only for Jeremiah to hand her back the invisible cloak. She blushed slightly, then climbed up onto the well so she was next to Obadiah.

"Alright, everyone!" She clapped her hands. "Over the last few weeks, I've gone through and neutralized the aggressive adaptation DNA in the monstertraps. They'll still be plenty aggressive, don't get me wrong, but the ones that aren't already trees shouldn't be in danger of turning into trees, and the ones that are trees won't make any new ones. Kill all the ones we've identified, and the threat will go away."

Obadiah took up the speech once more. "Frances had identified five in the local area. Unfortunately, they're spread out over a distance of almost thirty miles, so we aren't going to be able to go together. We'll be splitting up into teams of two and three, and will each be assigned one. Make sure to take down the one you've been given, and there won't be any problems. Does anyone have any questions?"

No one raised their hands.

"Good! In that case, assignments are posted on this clipboard. After it!" Jason nodded, then waved at Milligan and started riding around the edge

of the crowd. He already knew who he was paired with, and soon made his way over to where Daniel was sitting on his powerful, black steed.

"You ready?" Jason looked over and grinned.

"Little farmer? I get to ride with you?"

Jason nodded. "You can check the clipboard to confirm, but yes. We're

taking one that's down by Blackwater, due south along the road."

"Ye-haw! Let's go!"

With that, Daniel thundered out of Summer Shandy, racing along as fast

as his steed could go. Jason shot out after him, and for the first time in quite a while, Angus was able to let it all out.

Angus, of course, was born and bred as a warhorse. He had adapted well to pulling the enormous machines of farming, which, in reality, had only made him stronger, but he was made for speed. Following on the heels of Daniel, Angus soon got up to speed, and the ground simply flew by beneath them. Jason, quite frankly, started to feel queasy at their speed. If he fell, he was going to have to spend a long time in the healing den, that was just a simple fact.

In any case, the two of them went racing past the farm, where Tess and the girls waved at them from the porch. It felt like mere seconds later before they flashed past the Lazy-H, and on south past all the other assorted farms of that area.

All told, it was an entirely different experience than on the cattle drive. On that trip, it had taken hours to get to the trees around the river. This time, they arced down into the depression in the ground and shot through that thick grove a mere thirty minutes after leaving Summer Shandy. The landscapes that Jason noticed were different, the... well.. Overall, it was simply an entirely different time.

As they came up the far side, Jason caught a glimpse of something massive moving across the plains. The thing had to be a good fifty feet tall, at the very least, maybe even a bit bigger. His jaw dropped as he took it all in, and Daniel whistled.

"Now that's a monstertrap!"

"I think we got the big one." Jason opened up his inventory and fished out the dart that they were intended to use to kill it. "I only have one. I hope it works."

"Give it here!" Daniel held out his hand. "I'll get it! One shot! I promise!"

Jason tossed the dart over to Daniel. They only had a few of the guns, and since Jason was with Daniel, it had been determined that a gun wasn't necessary. That fact, of course, hadn't been told to Daniel. Together, the two of them continued to approach, until they were only a hundred feet out. The mighty elm tree slowly turned, then raised its leaves. Instead of shooting acorns, a whole fleet of whirling helicopter seeds came down in a flurry, swirling and rushing about.

"And here we go!" Daniel drew back his arm. "Die!"

The dart flashed from his arm as if it had been shot from a cannon. Jason watched as it carved upward through the air and slammed into the bark. There was a resounding ka-whump, and a great deal of bark was blown off the point of impact. A matching ka-crack echoed an instant later, though, as the dart flew straight out the other side. The elm tree staggered, and all the helicopter seeds fell out of the sky like they'd been hit by a shotgun, and Daniel cheered.

"Take that, elm! I bet none of the other hunters were able to get theirs all the way through!"

"Daniel?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "The whole point was to get the stuff inside the dart inside the plant."

"Huh." Daniel paused and frowned. "No one tells me anything. Alright, then! Guess it's time to get down to work! Little farmer! Go find that dart! I'll deal with this ruffian!"

Over the next few minutes, Jason was treated to a display that he would never forget. Daniel went charging forward, standing up on the back of his horse. The elm reared itself upward, until the roots struck almost ten feet above the ground. With that, Daniel leapt into motion, proving, as always, that he truly was a warrior at heart.

His horse, nimble of foot, flew between the roots of the trunk. Daniel jumped up and briefly swung underneath the thing, causing it to try to squish him by sitting down, so to speak, hard enough to make a small shockwave ripple across the ground. This seemed to stun it, and Daniel bounced up the side of the trunk, from branch to branch, until he leapt up to a point about halfway up the trunk.

"And take... That!"

He punched it as hard as he could. The shockwave rippled out through the air, visible to an even greater degree than the shockwave from the giant tree itself. The monstertrap was lifted off its roots and sent staggering backward, but Daniel wasn't done yet. A grappling hook shot from his wrist and anchored itself in the bark. He proceeded to swing around the side of the tree, drawing his sword and landing a long cut through the bark, until he dropped down to the roots and cut clean through one of the largest of the supports. The whole thing came crashing down hard enough to shake the ground, and Jason went racing past and started looking for the dart.

Now, thankfully, it wasn't hard to find. The dart had hit the ground with enough force to blast a rather large crater into the dirt, making it easy to locate. As he scooped it up, though, he found that most of the actual pesticide had leaked out into the dirt, which was... a problem.

"Hmm." He tossed the dart in his hands for a moment, pondering what course of action to take. Before he could figure it out, though, the sun was blotted out, and he caught a glimpse of a massive shadow crashing down on top of him.

"Timber!" Daniel cried out. The warrior came flashing through the air, still swinging on a grappling hook, and landed just next to him. The massive trunk hit a moment later, and while Jason firmly expected to not walk away from it... He opened his eyes to find Daniel standing there holding the entire tree aloft. He wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"Get it!" Daniel ground out. "Now!"

Jason nodded, then stuck the dart through the bark. It wasn't as hard as he had been afraid of, and Daniel threw the whole thing to the side, where it landed with another crash. Slowly, the tree started to stir, and Daniel scowled.

"None of that, now. Time to try the... Jason? What's something on a farm that starts with the letter S?"

Jason frowned. "Ahh... Our brand is the Circle-S. Does that work?"

Daniel blinked, then grinned. "Yeah, that's perfect! Alright, tree, it's time for the Circle-S Slam!"

With that, he ran forward, jumped up onto the trunk, crouched down, and jumped upward with all his might. He was launched into the sky like a rock from a catapult, and Jason frowned. A moment later, he came crashing back down hard enough to blast the trunk into splinters, and then he rolled away and grinned.

"And there we have it! One dead tree, and a whole new battle move to boot. Can't beat that!"

Jason blinked in surprise.

"And to think! All of that destruction came from one little dart." Daniel looked down at the little metal dart in amazement. "Fascinating what modern technology can do."

As they rode away from the scene of the destruction back toward Summer Shandy, Jason could only shake his head in amazement. It wasn't the way he had expected to take it down, but the great beast was dead, and that was the important part.

Anything more than that... well... He could figure it out later. The township was safe, and that meant that they could move on.

Only thing left to be decided exactly; what direction that would take them.

Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 90th day of Spring! 1 more day until the Spring Festival! Don't get too excited, folks, we still have twenty-four hours until we get there, so if you need to finish anything up, now's your chance!]

Jason took a deep breath as he slowly woke up. No one jumped on him, and he chuckled and slowly rose, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. As he walked up to the window and looked out, he took a deep, satisfied breath.

Ever since the monstertraps had been taken down, they had done what they could to spend time with Daniel and his family, as well as Johan, and several of the others. Francis, to no one's surprise, had vanished entirely. Now, there had been a bit of surprise when it was discovered that a sixth monstertrap tree was spotted lumbering across the wild lands to the north, one that had a particularly large squirrel seen scampering across its bark, but Jason decided that he wasn't going to put a lot of thought into it. Frances was an animal-lover, and that was really all there was to it. If she had decided to save one of the trees for herself, Jason could only assume— and hope—that she had some sort of a way to control it.

In any event, with only one day left before the festival, all the crops had been harvested, all the cattle had been sorted and branded, all repairs had been done, all that was left to do was attend the Spring festival the following day. Which, of course, left them with a bit of a gap before that point. Everyone they wanted to see was busy packing their bags so they could leave right after the festival, so they weren't available for visiting.

Jason milled it over, then changed into a simple tunic and made his way downstairs, where Tess was putting the finishing touches on a small breakfast.

"Good morning." Tess looked up at him and smiled softly. "How are you feeling today?"

"Good, I think." Jason sat down, then looked at a pancake piled high with fruit. "What's this on my breakfast? It looks..." He shuddered dramatically. "Healthy."

Tess laughed. "You remember how I used to eat when we first got married, before I agreed to your diet of carbs and fats?"

"I try not to." Jason scowled.

"Well, don't worry, I'm not going to be doing that anymore." Tess smiled, then shrugged. "However, I do think we need to start eating healthier. Healthy bodies make healthy minds."

"That sounds like something out of a textbook!" Jason laughed, then paused. "That really sounds like something out of a textbook."

"It does." Tess smiled, then nodded toward the living room with her head. "Come here!"

Jason frowned, then stood up and followed Tess as she led him over to the writing desk. There, spread across his space was a large pile of books, inkwells, quills, pads of paper, and more. He crossed his arms as Tess picked up the top book and showed it to him.

"An early reader primer." He frowned, then glanced at the other books. "Beginning mathematics, introduction to Illumitir history... What is all this?"

Tess shrugged. "We've been talking about Fern's schooling, and the fact of the matter is that we just don't have any good way to provide a formal

education for her. That being the case, I've decided that I'm going to start doing a bit of it myself. These books ought to get her through kindergarten and first grade." She paused. "Is that okay?"

"Okay? I think it's wonderful." Jason nodded as he took the reading primer and started parsing through it. "Fern's ready for it, I think. Her level of intuition on the farm is absolutely incredible. She can see things that even I can't see, really."

"That's what I've been thinking, too." Tess gave a small nod. "I'll give her the Summer off, that seems to be the norm, then start her on school in the Fall." She paused for a moment. "And... That actually could wind up leading into something else, too."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"I've been talking to some of the other moms in the village. John is a year behind Fern, and after that, there's a whole slew of kids who are going to be in need of education. I mean, there are quite a few of them now, but none of the moms really have the education themselves to teach their kids anything more than the basics, and the town can't afford a teacher."

"Are you thinking about becoming that teacher?" Jason suddenly felt his world beginning to spin a bit. "Tess, I don't know how to tell you this, but I do not like cattle. If you switch over to teaching, I'm going to be busy enough with other stuff that--"

"No, no!" Tess laughed. "It's nothing like that at all. Basically, next year, I'm going to teach Fern and see how it goes. If that goes well, I'll have a year's experience with the curriculum, so I'll sort of serve as a... A focal point. I'll give the lessons and things to other moms in the village for them to teach their kids, and like once a month or so we'll have a general meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page. It's nothing terribly formal, and

it'll still be way lower-quality than a lot of the schools elsewhere, but it's to try and make the best with what we have."

Jason's world solidified a bit, and he gave a nod. "I like it. I really do." He smiled, then gave his wife a hug. "Go for it. You have my full permission."

"Great!" Tess beamed. "I really appreciate it."

"Absolutely." Jason nodded, then started thumbing through some of the books. "Huh! This stuff is actually really interesting."

"I know, right?" Tess sat down on the couch nearby. "Just wait until you see this rule about why we put a silent 'e' after the letter 'v.'"

They spent the next hour on the couch, so lost in contemplation that Jason hardly noticed the passage of time at all. Finally, something creaked on the stairs, and he looked up to see Fern and Rachel sticking their heads around the corner. He didn't have the faintest idea how long they had been standing there, and they burst out laughing.

"Oh, come here!" Jason held out his hands. They rushed to his side and jumped up onto his lap, and he pulled them into a tight embrace. After a moment, he relaxed a bit, and let them down. "Alright, let's get you girls some breakfast, and then... Let's have some fun!"

"Yay! Fun!" The girls went racing away, and Tess raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking for fun?"

"I dunno." Jason shrugged. "I'm just thinking that tomorrow is going to

be a lot of socializing and goodbyes, and then after that is the start of Summer. Planting, harvesting, cattle. Not that we won't have fun then, too, but it's going to be a whole lot of work, and this just seems like the perfect opportunity."

"Then I think so, too." Tess rose and gave him a kiss. "Last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg!"

Jason jumped up and tackled Tess to the ground before she could get a head start on him, and the two of them began desperately (and slowly) racing toward the kitchen.

It was a simple day, and a slow day, but sometimes, those were just what was needed. It was true, the next day was going to be hard... And Jason wanted to make sure he was ready for everything that it would entail.

Chapter

Chapter Forty: Last Day of

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 42 starting actions]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Spring! It's the day of the Spring Festival! Come on out folks for the best of the festivals! Well, best if Spring is your favorite season. I don't know, this one just always seems to be better than the others in my mind. Look, get out here, and make sure you bring a change of clothes, because the Hunter Dungeon is officially opening!]

A broad grin spread across Jason's face as he slowly sat up. He was driven back to the pillow a moment later as Fern jumped onto his chest, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can we go in the dungeon? Charlotte and John say that it's lots of fun! Please, daddy?"

"Hold your horses!" Jason laughed as he rolled out of bed. "It's only 6:00 in the morning! How early do kids get up in this town, anyway?"

He was answered a moment later as a torrent of other children ran past the door of the hotel room, as seemed to have become the custom on festival days. He laughed as he watched it all, then slowly stretched and waved at the two girls, who had dressed themselves in what seemed to be the worst-matched clothing possible: blue dresses with greenish-yellow garters beneath. That naturally meant that, when they came out of the dungeon covered in gunk, the girls would both change into blue garters with greenish-yellow dresses. He decided that such a thing would be Tess's problem, though, and decided not to say anything about it.

"Alright, alright. Get out of here, let me get changed." He waved his hands, and the girls ran back out into the hallway. Tess chuckled and rolled

out of bed as Jason closed the door, and they both got dressed as quickly as they could. Once they were presentable, Jason gave Tess a kiss, then slipped out into the hall.

This time, they didn't spend a whole lot of time hanging around the dining area of the inn, though they did stop for a brief bite of food. Instead, along with just about everyone else, they swept out into the town square and around the side of the Guild Hall, over to the opening of the new dungeon. There, standing on one side, was Daniel, grandly gesturing for anyone and everyone to enter.

"Step right up, step right up! I've been through this, and it's quite a doozy! Alright, you two can head in! Wait, only so many inside the dungeon at a time. That's Guild Rules, even with full-sized dungeons." He winked at Jason. "Officially, it's so that people don't get crowded and have room to fight. Unofficially, it's so you can't get a really big group that can cheese their way through fights. What? Nope, I didn't say anything pertaining to Dungeon Guild secrets. Alright, next set, step forward!"

Jason, Tess, and the two girls got in line, which was growing to be quite long, indeed. Fern took Jason's hand, while Rachel paired up with Tess. As they approached, Daniel walked up and handed them both a wooden sword and a shield, though Fern's was a good bit smaller than Jason's.

"Alright, here are the rules!" Daniel seemed to be having entirely too much fun with everything. "The plants will spit all sorts of goop at you! Block it with the shield! Each plant also has a little red ball on a stem. Just give it a poke, and the plant will fold up and pretend to be dead. No need to actually kill anything. Any questions?"

"Is there any loot inside?" Jason flashed a grin.

"That depends on your definition of the word!" Daniel answered. "Does having a great time with your kid count as loot? Timeless memories that you'll cherish forever, a romping good time that will never collect dust the same way that goblet on the mantle does? If so--"

Jason laughed, and soon, he and Fern were standing in front of the dungeon entrance. Daniel swung it open a moment later, and they went charging down inside.

After the fact, it was hard to say who had more fun, Jason or Fern. The dungeon, now that he could go through the whole thing, was laid out in three sections. The first one had a number of choices to make. Jason and Fern, of course, walked right into the trap room that had a dozen plants that covered them in a thick, sticky green goop in mere seconds. The second section was a maze, filled with plants hidden behind paintings and in alcoves and more. Finally, the third section was simply a long gauntlet that had at least three dozen of the things, which mostly just seemed to be there for the sake of soaking anyone who, by some strange skill, had managed to get through unscathed up until that point. When Jason and Fern stumbled out, they were covered from head to foot, but were laughing almost uncontrollably.

"That was fun!" Fern laughed and clapped her hands. "More?"

"I don't know about... oh, why not?" Jason grinned, and the two of them went back to the rear of the line, and had soon gone through twice more. By that time, though, Tess determined that it was time for them to give someone else a chance, and as the line was growing steadily longer, they made their way back to the inn, got changed, and then headed out into the growing crowd of people.

Festival days were always a fun time, filled with a few organized activities, and a whole lot of just hanging around and seeing what happened. This one, more than any of the others before, seemed to be greatly focused around this second one. Jason caught a glimpse of Johan standing near the town well, chatting with Obadiah and Jeremiah, and Jason came walking up with a wide grin on his face.

"Jason!" Johan held out a hand, which Jason shook firmly. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well." Jason grinned. "Well, did you have fun working on your first-ever family dungeon?"

"I did." Johan nodded. "And I think it'll prove to be quite a success. I'm hoping to build lots more over the next several years, though..." He lowered his voice and winked. "I'll admit that I'm also looking forward to getting back to some more challenging projects. I still consider your barn to be my greatest achievement, though I hope to top it one of these days. These dungeons will fill my free time, but I'm planning something grand."

"Is that so?" Jason chuckled. "Care to share?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Johan laughed. "Let's just say that... You'll know it when it happens. Until then, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing."

"Well, I look forward to it, whenever it happens." Jason chuckled, then shrugged. "It's been good seeing you again, even if we haven't spent much time actually together."

"You as well." Johan grinned widely. "You as well." He glanced over, then bowed his head. "Forgive me, but I have to step away. Gentlemen?"

He dipped out, and Jason was left with Obadiah and Jeremiah. Jeremiah, as was usual on such occasions, had an unlit pipe in his mouth, which he

smiled around.

"So, what's the plan from here on out?" Jason asked, crossing his arms.

"Any big plans for next year? Any hidden agendas I need to know about? Another scheme to put Summer Shandy on the map, or another dungeon, or..."

Obadiah laughed and shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of, honestly. Dad?"

Jeremiah shook his head as well. "No. No, I don't think so."

Something about the way he said it made Jason raise an eyebrow. "Something the matter?"

"Not exactly." Jeremiah scratched his head, then shrugged. "Just some thoughts running through my head. You know how those get to going."

"Altogether too much." Jason nodded. "What sorts of thoughts?"

"Just... I'm getting old, Jason." Jeremiah shrugged. "You know it's been nine years since you showed up around here? Tomorrow will be the tenth anniversary of your arrival. That's a long time, and my bones aren't what they used to be. When I got off the ranch, I think it prolonged my span of things for a while, but even being constable is starting to wear on me."

"You think you're going to retire?" Jason blinked in surprise.

"Not yet certainly. I've got another year in me at least, but it's something I'm considering." Jeremiah nodded. "I could just build a house next to the grandkids, and settle in to be a grandpa. I reckon such a thing's just about right, don't you?"

"I've told you a thousand times, if that's what you decide, I'll absolutely support you in it." Obadiah clapped Jeremiah on the shoulder, then shrugged. "I just don't have the faintest idea who we'll get to replace you.

Hank's living his dream out on the road, and there aren't many other people around here I'd trust to do the job."

"And that's why I'm not settled on anything yet." Jeremiah shrugged. "We'll wait and see how next year plays out. And in any case, I wouldn't be leaving the town. Just handing the reins to someone a bit more spry."

Jason chuckled, and opened his mouth to ask more questions, but before he could answer, a goo-covered Daniel came walking up. Charlotte (who was sparkling clean) was holding his hand, though she let go as he joined the men.

"Alright, run along to your mother." Daniel waved at her. "Daddy's going to talk for a moment."

Charlotte ran off, and Obadiah clapped Daniel on the shoulder.

"She looks like she sucked up all your skill."

"Something like that." Daniel muttered. "She's fast. You know how fast I

had to be to keep jumping in front of her? She'll make a good warrior someday, that's for sure." He sighed deeply, then shrugged. "How are you all doing?"

Jason opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Daniel beat him to the punch.

"I'm retiring from the position of Guildmaster."

Jason blinked in surprise. Obadiah and Jeremiah both stared at him, but it was Obadiah who spoke first.

"Really? What are you going to do now? What about all the people you were worried about?"

Daniel shrugged. "I have a shortlist of people I think could do the job well. I won't actually resign if I can't get one of them to accept the position, but... I've made the decision that if they will accept it, I'm out. As for what

I'll do..." Daniel held up his hands. "Honestly, I don't know. We have savings for about a year, so I'll be doing my best to try to find something in that time. Viola already gave me the okay. We honestly don't know what the future will be, but that's something we're willing to walk into."

Jason smiled, then put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "I know you'll do good."

"Thanks, little farmer." Daniel took a long, deep breath, then shrugged. "It's weird, trying to be responsible and having absolutely no skills for doing things that are actually considered responsible."

"Trust me, I know the feeling!" Jason laughed. "When I came here, I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Over time, though, you figure it out."

"I sure hope so." Daniel shrugged. "Anyhow, I thought you guys ought to know. If you happen to hear of anything, you let me know."

"We'll do that." Jeremiah promised. He held out his hand, which Daniel shook. That done, Daniel walked away to go get cleaned up, and Jeremiah sighed. "Well, I reckon I ought to go find the missus. She's been on me to eat healthier for my bones or something, and it looks like lunch is getting set out, so I'm going to get in trouble if I don't sit next to her. Catch you around."

He ambled away, chuckling softly, and Jason shook his head.

"Lots of things changing around here, seems like." Obadiah chuckled softly. "And Tess becoming a teacher on top of it all."

"Yeah, but that's all-small changes." Jason held up a finger.

"Small changes are often just precursors to larger ones." Obadiah shrugged. He looked around at the town, then shrugged. "You know what I reckon?"

"What's that?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"I reckon that it doesn't matter much what we little people do to the world." Obadiah shrugged. "There's been a whole lot happen in this town since you showed up, and since I showed up, and it seems to me that most of the contributions have been keeping the place from falling off the face of the earth. I reckon that no matter how much we shuffle around, this place will always be here, different people will just take up our roles, you know?"

"Yeah." Jason chuckled. "I know. Before I was here, my uncle had the farm, and now I have it, and... Oh, someone else will take it over later."

"Yeah." Obadiah chuckled, then shrugged. "By the way, I don't know if I've ever asked. How did your uncle wind up dying?"

"Honestly, not a clue." Jason shrugged, then paused. "From what Hank told me, I don't think they ever actually found a body. He just vanished one day, and after a while, someone checked on the farm and realized it was vacant."

"Huh." Obadiah blinked. His eyebrows curled into a frown, and Jason could see him thinking, but he didn't have the faintest idea what about. "Interesting."

He didn't say anything more, and Tess soon pulled Jason away to come eat lunch with the girls. All the rest of that day, the party continued, and Jason soon put the conversation well out of mind.

As he went along, Jason said goodbye to Daniel and Johan more times than he could count, Daniel in particular. It was strange, he had never had a terribly strong attachment to the man before, but now... The more that Daniel seemed to mature, the more that Jason could see a great struggle within him, the struggle that all true men faced, the struggle to provide for a family in the midst of an ever-more chaotic world.

Jason himself had been blessed with the farm. Daniel, it seemed, was about to move on from safety. It made Jason ever-more thankful for what he had, for the community, for Summer Shandy.

As the festival wore on, he gathered Tess, Rachel, and Fern around himself, and simply enjoyed their company, as well as the company of others. Truly, Summer Shandy was a special place. Some people had to leave as soon as they had come, but others, like himself, were blessed to be able to stay.

His only hope was that he would continue being able to stay there for the rest of his life, and that his children, if they so desired, would have that same chance.