Casual far Ming

by Taylor and Laura

Farmer

5. Book 5

WOLFE Sowing Season

Chapter One: The 1st 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 40 starting actions.]

[Pregnancy - Gain 1 action per day due to your impending child. Starting actions: 41]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Summer! 90 days until the Summer Festival! It's looking like a hot one, folks! For that matter, as near as I can tell from the advanced forecast, it's likely to be one of the hottest summers on record. Make sure you stay inside as much as possible, drink lots of water, and whatever you do, do not leave jars of honey sitting outside near daffodils when the temperature hits triple digits.]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and he sighed contentedly. The memory of the previous night's Spring Festival still danced in his mind, and he rolled out of bed and stood up, stretching as he prepared for the day. Chance, his hound dog, came bounding up to him and began to lick his face, and he laughed and gently pushed the dog down.

"Good morning, Chance." He petted the dog's head, focusing particularly on his ears, then glanced at the bed. Tess was missing, which was at least somewhat concerning. At least... It was for a moment. A loud retching noise came from the master bathroom, and Jason slowly walked over to the door that sat in the wall of the large bedroom.

"Tess? You okay?"

"Yeah." She gasped, then retched again. "Just... Throwing up... I'll be okay. Go get started without me, I'll be down for breakfast in a-"

She threw up again, and Jason flashed a small smile. "Anything you want for breakfast?"

"Pancakes."

The answer came quickly, and he blinked in surprise.

"You hate pancakes. Do you want me to make sure they have spinach powder mixed in, or-"

"No. Just pancakes. Maybe with marshmallows on top, and loads of syrup. That sounds so good right now, you have no idea."

"Coming right up." Jason nodded, then slowly walked up to the window of his bedroom. It overlooked the small farm, and he marveled at it with delight. Their stable sat just across the driveway from the house, and their three horses were all poking their heads out eagerly: Lady, Jason's horse from the very first year he arrived in Summer Shandy; Angus, Tess's trusty steed; and Alfred, their foal, born about six months earlier. Alfred was really starting to get his footing now, and it wouldn't be much longer before they could start riding him. Jason smiled at the sight, then turned his attention to the field.

Just a bit deeper into the farm, away from the road, were a full eighty acres of ground. It was good, fertile land, and had never served him wrong. There'd been problems with it, sure, but those had always been external, never stemming from the soil itself. Beyond those eighty acres, he actually owned a second eighty acres as well, up and over a few ridges. He smiled as he looked down at his plentiful parcel, then dressed in his overalls, strode out of the bedroom, through the house, and down the stairs to his kitchen.

As he walked into the room, his cookbook began to flap its pages eagerly. Jason smiled and sat down at the kitchen table, then paused.

"For Tess, I need pancakes with marshmallows and loads of syrup. For me... The same thing, but without the marshmallows."

There was a pause, and with a flash of light, two plates of pancakes appeared. They were followed by a bag of marshmallows appearing on the table just next to them, along with a bottle of syrup. Jason nodded and

dressed up Tess's plate the way she had requested, then sat back to wait for her.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, she came striding down the chair in her lovely blue dress, though it wasn't sitting quite the same as usual. Instead, the fabric rippled over a small bump that rose out from her belly, and she smiled and placed her hand lovingly on the protrusion as she sat down.

"You're already showing?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "I thought that usually didn't come until later."

Tess nodded as she tucked into the pancakes. Jason had heard that women always ate strange things when they were pregnant, but Tess eating something that she didn't consider to be healthy was, perhaps, even more shocking than if he had been asked to run to the store to buy anchovies and ice cream.

"Yep, you start showing almost instantly." Tess mumbled around the pancakes as she ate. "And of course it's going to be the hottest summer in recent memory. No one wants to be pregnant in Summer. It's going to be a long three months until this baby is born."

At that, Jason blinked in surprise. "Three months? I thought it was nine?"

"Nope." Tess shook her head and laughed. "You men have no concept of how things work. Three months is all it takes." She sighed and put her hand back on her belly. "And no matter how much I may complain, I am so happy our family is-"

Whatever else she was about to say was cut off by a sudden green look around her gills, and she rose and dove for the kitchen sink. Jason winced as she threw up every last ounce of her breakfast, then slowly sank back down to her chair once again.

"Do you want me to make you something else?" Jason offered.

"No." Tess sighed. "I'll try again in a bit. I... Bleh. On the bright side, morning sickness usually goes away after the first month, so... That's something to look forward to." She rose from her chair and started to walk past him. "Go get to work. I'll be fine, and I'll just holler from the house if I need you. It's going to take me a moment to get moving, and..." She paused and grimaced. "I need to change dresses."

Jason nodded, and Tess swept past him and up the stairs. He sighed deeply, wishing he could do something to alleviate her suffering, but nothing came to mind. After a few minutes, he rose and made his way outside, Chance bounding around his heels as he did so. He put on his work boots, then strode out to the stable and let the horses out into the corral. As they began to frisk and prance, he poured them a generous helping of oats, then walked over to the storage shed to begin getting his planter ready for that day's work.

"Howdy, neighbor!"

The voice came echoing across the grass, but it wasn't Jeremiah's voice. A feeling of horror began to settle in Jason's stomach, and he rose and turned as a wagon drove down the road. Two people sat on the wagon box, both clad in heavy armor, suitable for delving into dungeons and other such things. The older man was worn, covered in scars, but still had a smile upon his face: Richard, Tess's father. The other was much younger, and, from what Jason had been able to see, had been utterly unable to get a scratch on him no matter how hard he tried (and, with the intention of getting hospitalized so he could spend time with Theresa, the town healer, he had tried).

"Howdy!" Jason called back, rather hoping that they were going to just ride straight on past. Instead, they bumped off the road on the opposite side from Jason's farm, and the two of them hopped off.

"This is the ground we bought from Hank!" Daniel crowed. "We're next-door neighbors! How's that, little farmer?"

"I'm sure Jason has his own work he needs to be getting to," Richard spoke up. "We have our own. You go start marking things out, and I'll get

all these boards unloaded."

Daniel jumped down from the wagon and nodded, though as he strode off through the tall grass with a tape measure, Jason rather wondered if the admittedly impressive warrior knew how to use anything that wasn't designed for killing. Richard, meanwhile, came walking across the road and up to Jason.

"How's Tess doing?"

Jason shrugged as he slid under the planter and started tightening bolts and scrubbing off rust and dirt.

[Action Used: Maintain Planter. Remaining Actions: 40]

"She's throwing up a lot, but nothing that I wasn't already expecting." Jason shrugged as he worked. "I don't know exactly how she's feeling, I don't exactly have a frame of reference for pregnancy, but she's still up and about, so that's good."

Richard nodded and sighed. "I remember when my wife was pregnant with Tess. She had morning sickness, bad. After the first week, she could hardly get out of bed until Tess was born. I sincerely hope, for both of your sakes, that Tess doesn't wind up getting that same intensity."

"If she doesn't, it'll be the only thing she doesn't do intensely," Jason laughed. "She's an all-or-nothing sort of girl."

"Now there, I can't argue with you." Richard turned to walk away, then paused. "You mind me asking what you're planting? We're still trying to figure out what we can and can't manage. Right now, of course, we're just trying to build a house and stable and such, but we do have a planter and harvester and all that stuff that we purchased from Paulina, that we can pick up when we're ready."

"I'm planning on planting sunflowers," Jason enthused. "They're a fun summer crop, especially with the butter flies they attract. We still have two barrels of butter from last summer, so I don't really plan on harvesting

much of them, but they're still interesting creatures. You two will want to start with wheat, though, if even that. You might just try a small garden while you're still building things, at least until you get your feet underneath you."

"We'll do that." Richard waved as he started to walk away. "Best of luck to you!"

"And don't be afraid to ask Jeremiah for help!" Jason called out as Richard meandered back over to his side of the road. "There's never been another man so willing to help a neighbor!"

Richard flashed a thumbs-up in acknowledgement, then vanished into the tall prairie grasses on that side of the road. It was a true-enough statement. Jason never would have gotten the farm up and running if not for Jeremiah, there was no two ways about it.

By that time, though, the day was getting on, and Jason had work to do. He went back to the corral and grabbed Lady, and soon had her hitched up to the planter. With that, he rumbled across the driveway toward the field, scattering crabgrasses, histles, and other small monsters that were waiting to dine on his crops. Chance barked and chased the monsters as they fled, and soon, they had passed through the gate and entered the field.

As soon as they were inside, Jason pulled a level and dropped the seed disks down into the fresh, ready soil.

[Action Used: Plant Sunflowers. Remaining Actions: 38]

A wide grin split Jason's face as Lady tugged the planter down the length of the field, then back again. Each action got him down and back, and, all told, it took somewhere around thirty actions to finish up the field. Planting was easily one of his favorite aspects of the farm, of that, there was no doubt. It kicked up a fair bit of dust, but as long as you weren't standing right behind the machine as you went along, that wasn't really a bother. No... All told, planting was quite peaceful. It was the epitome of potential, of a new season. Seed went into the ground, and for the next several days, wouldn't emerge. Jason had to rely on trust that it would come up, which,

of course, it always did. There was no reason for fear, no reason for any form of distress. There was only the future to look toward, and the harvest in several weeks.

He had finished about half the field by the time the sun shone down from its pinnacle, and he turned an exhausted Lady back into the stable and headed inside for lunch. Tess already had a meal prepared, and while she fed Jason a rather hearty roast beef sandwich with egg salad as a side, she herself ate something that looked like fish soup with a side of waffles. Jason said nothing about it, and, immediately after eating, Tess threw all of it up once again. With that, Jason went back out to work, and Tess stayed in the house to clean up... Again.

For the second half of the day, Jason took Angus out instead of Lady. It was nice to be able to switch horses halfway through, so that neither of them got too tired along the way. Angus was a warhorse, but had adapted well to the farm. On Angus, Jason was able to move a good deal faster than with Lady, and by the time five o'clock rolled around, he had finished the last of the field. He put the planter back into the shed, turned Angus loose in the corral, and slowly walked up onto the porch of his grand, stone-walled house.

Tess already sat on the porch in her rocking chair, with a handful of sandwiches on a small table nearby. Jason dropped into a chair just next to her, and then glanced at the sandwiches.

"They're for you." Tess smiled wearily. "I'll eat in a bit. My stomach's churning too much right now."

Jason nodded and picked up the top sandwich, taking a bite as he leaned back. He felt wonderfully content as the sun began to set, and a cool night air began to blow across the prairie. Tall grasses waved in the wind like ocean waves, and just across the road, hammering echoed through the air as Richard and Daniel began work on their new home. From what Jason could tell, Daniel had used a scythe to clear out a large section of ground, and they were, at that moment, trying to drive support posts into the ground for the four corners. At a glance, they seemed to be trying to build a very large house, which Jason supposed matched the ambition of the two men.

"Have you seen your dad at all, yet?" Jason glanced at Tess. "Or Daniel?"

"No." Tess shook her head. "I saw him talking to you, and I think he wants to come over, but he's trying to give me space."

"Are you happy to see him?" Jason asked.

"I am." Tess smiled softly. She glanced at Jason, and sighed deeply. "Did you realize that today marks the fifth year you'll be living in Summer Shandy?"

At that, Jason laughed softly. "It's been a ride."

"Indeed." Tess sighed deeply, and she reached out and took his hand. As their fingers met, she gave it a squeeze, then turned her gaze out to the setting sun as it began to slip behind the horizon. "And, if I don't miss my guess, that journey has really only just begun.

Chapter Two: Stay Hydrated

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 15th day of Summer! 76 days until the Summer Festival! It's looking like another scorcher, folks! Stay inside and stay hydrated if at all you can. Oh, and if you happen to be doing construction projects and have an abnormally large amount of strength, please do not throw your hammers up into the air in frustration. We've had several of them come down on the town, and would like to prevent any injury. Thanks!]

Jason chuckled softly as he woke up. Chance bounded up and began to lick his face, and he laughed and shoved the dog away. Chance changed tactics and pounced on Tess instead, who also began to laugh and shove him away.

"Go down to your dog bowl. I'll feed you in a minute." Jason waved his hand at the hound. Chance gave a small bark, then turned and scampered through the door and was gone in the blink of an eye. Tess slowly sat up, wiping dog slobber off her face, and laughed softly.

"Just think, in just a few months, that will be baby slobber instead of dog slobber." Jason's eyes widened as he contemplated having a baby around the house.

"I can't wait!" Tess squealed, then paused. "When that comes around, at least for the first few months, we're going to have to find a way to keep Chance out. It's not that I don't trust him, but the baby will have to sleep in here, and he can get excited."

"I'll see about buying a better lock." Jason nodded. As he rose from the bed and stretched, he walked up to the window and gazed out across the farm. His sunflowers were all turned toward the eastern sky, and their jet- black centers told him all that he needed to know.

It was harvest time!

"How are you feeling today?" Jason glanced at Tess as she rose from the bed and walked over to the wardrobe.

"Better." She winced, then rubbed her lower stomach. "This child! I can't feel her kicking yet, but she's sure making things rough."

"Have you been to Theresa yet for a medical exam?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Tess nodded. "It was... Three days ago, when you went down to Jeremiah's to help with branding cattle. I thought I told you about it, though I guess I might have been so tired I forgot. Everything looks good; our baby seems healthy, and so on."

"Is she worried about the amount you're throwing up?" Jason asked, worried. "You've hardly been able to keep a meal down in two weeks. That can't be healthy for you."

Tess laughed as she slipped into her blue dress. Jason put on his overalls, and the two of them started down the stairs to the kitchen.

"I'm actually keeping down more than you think. Besides, women are resilient when it comes to this sort of thing."

Jason grimaced. "I hope so. I just want you and the baby to be okay."

"We need to come up with a name," Tess changed the subject as they entered the kitchen. Jason prepared himself a plate of biscuits and gravy, while Tess got herself a bowl of ice cream and a jar of pickles. "That way, we don't just keep saying the baby."

A smile spread across Jason's face. He was going to be a father! It was so strange, and yet... So wonderful. He leaned back in his chair and stroked

his chin.

"Let's see... It's a girl... Tess Junior?"

Tess laughed. "I appreciate the sentiment, but there are two problems wrong with that." Jason waited for her to tell him what they were, and she quickly obliged. "First, girls don't really do the whole junior, third, fourth, and so on thing. That's for men, for preserving the family name. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly..." Tess leaned forward. "I don't want a baby with the same name as me. I don't hate my name, but I'm not my mother, and I don't have the same reasons for naming a baby as she did."

"That's fair." Jason nodded, then stroked his chin. "Then... Baby... Felicity!"

"No." Tess shook her head.

"Why not?" Jason protested. "I like it."

"I'm not saying I don't like it, but it's not the name of my baby girl." Tess shook her head. She paused for a long moment in thought, then looked up at him. "Willow?"

"Isn't that a boy's name?" Jason asked. "Wasn't he like... I dunno, a famous wizard or something?"

"Oh. Right." Tess frowned, then shrugged. "We could sit here all day debating about names, and you have work to get done."

"Right you are." Jason finished eating his meal, then rose. "What are you planning on doing today?"

"I'm just going to stay inside today," Tess affirmed. She retched for a moment, but wound up not vomiting, which was a bonus. "I know that's not the most helpful thing in the world for you, but I just... I need to rest. Once I get over this morning sickness, hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll be able to start coming back outside again."

"Get rest. I love you." Jason leaned across the table and gave her a kiss, then rose and made his way out into the yard. The monsters were coming in larger droves now, and several dozen crabgrasses snapped at the edge of his fence as they tried to get at the sunflowers behind it. A handful of butter flies flew overhead as well, spitting out their rich butter onto the leaves while they prepared to feast on the sumptuous meal, and Jason chuckled. He let out the horses and started getting the harvester ready, then cast a glance over at the farm across the road.

He had to stifle a laugh as he cleaned away the rust and gunk that had built up on the harvester. The two warriors had just started a field, and at a glance, it looked like Daniel was pulling a large plow through the field instead of using his horse. Jason almost rose and went to confront him, but after a moment, he decided against it. Daniel had seen Jason working on the farm enough times to know how things were supposed to work, so telling him otherwise wasn't going to accomplish anything. On the brighter side, though, their house seemed to be coming along well. The front side of it was almost done, and it seemed to span a distance of almost sixty feet. There were no doors, windows, or other fixtures, and Jason had absolutely no idea what the two bachelors were planning on doing with so much space, but it wasn't his business.

When the harvester was finished, Jason went and got Lady, then hitched her up. The machine gave a rusty creak as he climbed on, reminding him that he likely needed to buy a new set of equipment that season. After making a mental note to price things at Paulina's store the next time he was in town, he set off for the field, and he soon rumbled into the sunflowers with a vigor.

Of all the crops he had harvested, sunflowers were perhaps the most pleasant. Wheat, soybeans, and especially sorghum all belched up immense clouds of dust that made him cough, and often nearly caused him to fall off the machine. Sunflowers, though, produced only a small amount of dust, and, as a rather secretive effect, they let off small, shimmery sunbeams as they were cut down. The effect produced a rather hypnotic, sparkling effect beneath the harvester, and the smell of hot butter from the butter flies, roasting the kernels in the summer sun, added an odor that made his

stomach rumble. Down and back they went, down and back, and when lunchtime came around, he was almost disappointed to hop down from the harvester and turn Lady back out into the corral.

Now, all that said, Obadiah hadn't been joking in his almanac entry. It was a powerfully hot day, and Jason was more than a little drenched in sweat as he strode across the yard and up onto the porch. The horses were all lying down, flicking their tails idly in the heat, and Jason found Tess sitting on the front porch with a full array of hard-boiled eggs, pickles, hot dogs, fresh-baked bread, and a small variety of jams that looked like they came from Delilah, Jeremiah's wife. Jason sat down in his chair and picked up an egg to eat.

"I gather that someone dropped off a bit of care package while I was out working?" Jason smiled at Tess.

Tess, who was quite red in the face, nodded as she fanned herself vigorously. "Mm-hmm."

"We can go inside, if it would be more comfortable for you." Jason offered.

Tess shook her head. "I'm the one who brought this out here. You smell awful, and I am not letting you drip buttery sweat all over the house. I have to clean enough of my own vomit as it is, and I don't want to spend all afternoon on my knees scrubbing the floor."

She had a smile on her face even as she said it, then shrugged. "Besides, I look worse than I feel. When the wind comes by, it's really not too bad, and it's a lot better than it's going to be in a couple months. When I'm almost due, whew! Heat will be my worst enemy."

Jason nodded as he popped the egg in his mouth and began to chew. He then picked up a slice of bread and began to pour out some jam, but before he could finish, there was a loud crash from the other side of the road.

"YEOW!"

The whole sixty-foot-long front of the house came crashing down, revealing Richard standing right behind it. He dropped a hammer from one hand and started waving the thumb of his other hand around in pain, and Jason winced in sympathy. Daniel came running from the field to see how Richard was doing, though as he did so, he forgot to un-hitch himself from the plow, so he accidentally drug a long furrow across the entire length of their front yard. Jason couldn't hear what was being said as the two warriors conversed, and he stifled a laugh.

"Those two." He shook his head. "If they don't burn down the whole countryside, I'll be shocked."

"Don't say that." Tess reached out and punched him, then lowered her voice. "Our farm is in the countryside, and I don't want it burning!"

They both laughed, then Tess rose.

"All right. Sorry, Jason, but I've got to head back inside. When you get done, head straight for the shower, and then I'll have something on the table for you by the time you get down."

"You know, I really can help with anything you need." Jason rose slightly. "The cleaning, or-"

"Jason? You 'took care of' your own house for three years. I saw how bad it was, and I am not letting our house fall back into disarray." Tess laughed as she vanished through the door. "I'll take you up on that offer later, when things have progressed a bit more, but for now..."

She shook her head as the door clicked shut, and Jason nodded. He finished eating, then packed up the lunch and set it inside the front door. With that, he returned to the field and got back to work.

As per usual, he took Angus for the second half of the day, and he rumbled quickly through the remainder of the sunflowers. The sparkling effect began to grow a bit more wearisome the longer he went, as the sun continued to burn down from overhead. Twice, Tess brought him out some water, and he stopped at the hydrant several more times to refresh himself

and Angus as well. The butter smell eventually began to burn toward the end of the day, and burnt kernels are never something appetizing. By the time the last of the grain was out of the field, Jason was utterly exhausted, caked in sweat and dust, and more than ready to turn in. He put the harvester away, turned Angus back out into the corral, kicked a histle that was trying to snap at him, and slowly meandered toward the porch. After a moment's hesitation, though, he turned and walked across the road to where Richard and Daniel were sitting on the ruins of their home, eating dinner.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jason flashed them a smile as he strode up. Neither of them really smiled back, and Jason crossed his arms. "What's the trouble?"

Richard shrugged. "I don't know. We just can't figure out this house," he lamented. "Two weeks of work, and it all came toppling down. I'm not going to say I should have kicked it when I smashed my thumb with the hammer, but if it couldn't stand up even to that..."

"And all my plowing was undone," Daniel scowled. "I spent the whole day getting that field ready, and then a bunch of monsters came out, and I tried to kill them, and now the ground needs to be tilled again."

Jason nodded in understanding. "Did you stomp on the monsters? The impact probably reset the soil." He paused for a moment. "Do you want some advice?"

"No," they chorused.

"Well, suit yourself. If you ever want some pointers from someone who's started out farming before, just let me know."

"Little farmer?" Daniel called out as Jason started to turn away. Jason turned back, and Daniel sighed. "Thanks."

"I'll ask you for help tomorrow," Richard acknowledged after a moment. "I just... Thought we could do this all ourselves, you know?"

Jason chuckled. "First piece of advice? You can't. I wouldn't be where I am if Jeremiah hadn't helped me out my first year... And some of my second... And let's be real, he still bails me out every now and again. You try to do this on your own, and you'll sink real fast."

Daniel nodded. "And I have to prove to Viola that I can hold a steady job. I have to do this."

"That's the spirit!" Jason grinned. "I've got to get back to Tess, but you two keep at it, and I'm sure we'll have the two best farms in the countryside by the time of the Spring Festival next year."

Both warriors wearily flashed him thumbs-ups, and he turned and strode back to his house. It was a little odd to be the one giving advice instead of taking it, but he supposed that that was just the way things went sometimes. In Summer Shandy... Things rarely went, at least in the long run, quite the way that they were expected to go.

Chapter Three: Crop of Sunflowers

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 17th day of Summer! 74 days until the Summer Festival! It looks like we've finally got a break in the heat, folks! Of course, that's because a massive storm will be rolling through this evening, but before then, we'll have a good, stiff breeze that should bring a lovely bit of relief along with it.]

"Now that's what I like to hear." Tess murmured as she sat up. Chance bounded into bed and began to lick her face, and Jason rolled away and onto the floor before the dog could get to him. He smiled and strode up to the window, where he looked out across the farm.

The day before, he had planted another crop of sunflowers, but nothing had yet sprouted. The monsters seemed to know that something had been put there, though, and they swarmed around the edge of the fence, desperately trying to find a way inside. Jason chuckled softly at it all, then turned his gaze toward the sky. The sun was just visible, peeking over the horizon to the east, but the western sky was dark as clouds began to rush in for the big storm. Jason pulled open the window and sniffed the air, and he was instantly struck by the amount of moisture. It was going to be a big one, that was for sure. After a moment, he pulled the window back shut, then turned and walked up to the wardrobe.

"What are you thinking for today?" Tess asked as she swung her leg out of bed. "I know you've been wanting to get over to the Far Eighty. Think that'll be on your list today?"

Jason shook his head. "I scouted it out the day before I harvested. I do want to get a start on it this summer, but I'm going to need to get a fence around the thing before I can do much else. The problem is that it's going to be expensive to put up a fence there."

"More expensive than this fence?" Tess asked.

"First off, the one around this eighty acres wasn't exactly cheap." Jason pointed out. "Second, since I'm only going to be going out there for planting and harvesting, really, I'm going to need a much stronger fence there than what I have here. I haven't priced it out yet, but I'd estimate a few million shandys."

Tess gulped. "Do we have that much money?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded. He changed into a green tunic, which he often wore when heading into town. "I've been saving for the last few years, we haven't really had any major expenses since things all came together. That said, I need to buy a fence, I need to buy better equipment-"

"Right." Tess nodded. "I'd forgotten! The planter was starting to break down even last summer, and that was a full year ago."

"Mm-hmm." Jason agreed. "The equipment we have isn't going to survive many trips over the prairie and back. Now, potentially, to save time and maintenance, I could build a shed out there and store our current batch of machinery on that side of the prairie, and then buy new equipment for here. That said... It's just a lot of expenses, and I don't exactly know how much we can afford and what we can wait on. I think I'm going to head into town to talk to Paulina about it today."

"I think I'll stay home, if that's okay." Tess winced. "I have a doctor's appointment with Theresa in two weeks, and... I honestly just don't have the energy to make that trip twice in such a short time. Cleaning vomit out of a sink is one thing; scrubbing it off the carriage is another."

"Get some rest." Jason nodded. He started walking to the stairs, then glanced back at her. "For that matter, why don't you just spend the day in

bed? I'll bring you some breakfast, and you can just kick your feet up?"

Tess shook her head. "I do have some housew- House-"

She turned and bolted for the bathroom, and Jason sighed in sympathy. He walked in after her and rubbed her back (which she had told him was an immense help), then went down the stairs and began to get ready for the day.

All told, it was about half an hour later before he departed for town. He moved a bunch of pillows to the couch in the living room to help make Tess comfortable, then helped her get breakfast together. That was a process in and of itself, since she changed her mind several times about what she would or wouldn't throw up. In the end, she went with cold pizza, which Jason thought was actually rather normal. With that, he did the chores, then mounted up on Lady and headed into town.

The ride up to Summer Shandy was a pleasant one, down a long road that wound over the hills to the north. The sky was now almost completely covered in clouds, but they weren't dark rain clouds, simply the advance force. With them, indeed, came a pleasantly cool breeze, which nearly made Jason shiver given the immense heat of the past few weeks.

As he rode up into Summer Shandy, he glanced about appreciatively. The town square was a sight that he would never grow tired of. A well sat at the exact center, where Constable Hank and Obadiah sat, chatting with anyone who came by. The northern edge of the square was marked by the Guild Hall for the Warriors Guild; the eastern side featured Constable Hank's jail, along with Viola's Inn; the southern side was home to Theresa's Healing Den; and the western side held Paulina's store. It was this latter location where Jason was headed on that day, though he waved to Obadiah and Hank on the way.

As he drew up, he hitched Lady to a small rail outside, then strode through the door. A bell jingled, and Paulina looked up from the counter and smiled.

"Jason! Long time no see!"

"You're not kidding," Jason chuckled as he walked up to the counter. There were shelves upon shelves of items that he could browse at his leisure, but over the years, he had found that, especially with larger farm stuff, it was usually easier just to talk to Paulina directly. "I don't exactly get into town as much now that Tess just... you know... lives with me."

Paulina snickered a bit at that, then lowered her voice. "How's she doing? Everything looking good with the baby?"

Jason nodded. "Everything's wonderful. That said, I was hoping you might have something that could help her morning sickness? She's pushing through it better than I would be, but she's still hurting an awful lot, and I'd love to be able to give her something for it."

"You're such a sweet husband. Most men would feel embarrassed, asking about pregnancy stuff." Paulina pulled a small catalog out from underneath the counter and started flipping through it. "Let's see... You probably want something more natural... All that newfangled medicine they're pushing out from Illumitir makes me nervous, especially with all the list of side effects. And... Here." She spun the catalog around and pointed at a picture of some small, hard candies. "They're made with some sort of an herb found out west, near the wild country. Some people have brewed it into a hard candy. I've heard good things about them, but I've admittedly never tried it myself. They have varieties for all forms of stomach illnesses, and I think they're all the same if you were to look at how they were made, but this one is marketed specifically for pregnancy."

"Then I'd like to buy some of those." Jason nodded.

"Aisle... Twelve, section A." Paulina nodded off to her left. "Anything else?"

Jason quickly explained the situation with the fence and the equipment. When he finished, Paulina pulled out a different catalog and started flipping through it.

"All right, let's see what we've got. It's a pity you didn't buy last year. There was a really good line of equipment coming from the James Antelope

company, but they got bought out by Farmco last winter, and all their equipment has been discontinued while they consolidate their product lines."

Jason grimaced. "It is what it is. I had a few bad years before last year, if you'll remember, so I didn't really have the funds at that time."

"Fair enough." Paulina bit her lip as she flipped through the pages. "In that case, I'd advise... these."

She flipped the catalog around and pushed it toward Jason. He looked down at a number of shiny, silver-white pieces of equipment. They were all horse-drawn and came in a handful of different sizes and models.

"The... Harvest Reaper brand." Jason mused as he looked them over. "They look like nice pieces of equipment. Let's see... There are so many sizes to choose from!"

Paulina nodded and let her finger run down the page. "You're probably going to need their Model M line. They're a smidge larger than the ones you have now, but the next size down in the L line, and those have become pretty outdated."

Jason nodded, then let his eyes sweep upward, just for the sake of it. There were lines L through S listed, with the S line holding absolutely enormous machines that had to be drawn by a team of ten horses. They advertised being able to harvest a full eighty acres with a single action, which Jason thought was a little extreme, though he supposed that if you really had a good-sized field, it might be needed.

The price was the determining factor. In his account, he had stored up about five million shandys. Altogether, the three pieces that he needed were going to take four of that, which didn't leave him with enough to buy the fence for the Far Eighty. On the flip side, was he really going to be able to do anything with the Far Eighty until he managed to get better equipment?

In the end, he went ahead and made the purchases. Paulina took the money from his account, had him sign a good deal of paperwork, and told

him that it would all be there by the end of the week. Jason then flipped through the catalog a bit more, and selected a prefabricated lean-to that he planned to build out on the Far Eighty. That took his account down to a mere five hundred thousand shandys left, but such was life. Satisfied with his purchases, he bade Paulina goodbye, then strode out into the town square.

Obadiah and Hank were still sitting at the town well, though a third figure had joined them: Jeremiah. Jason waved and started to amble over, and Jeremiah grinned broadly.

"Howdy, neighbor!"

"Howdy!" Jason joined them, then cast a look at the clouds overhead. "You think we'll get anything nasty tonight?"

Obadiah shook his head. "The reports I've been getting are that the storm is only producing rain. No hail, no tornados, just good, old-fashioned rain."

"That's something you don't get every day." Jeremiah smiled, then frowned. "'Course, with no monsters about, Delilah isn't going to let me fire the cannons."

"You never shoot at the monsters, anyway." Obadiah turned toward his father. "You just think it's fun."

"You've been right there with me! Don't you try to tell me that it isn't an absolute blast," Jeremiah mock-protested, then flashed a huge grin at his obvious pun. "And I'm still telling you that a cannon would do a whole heap of good in that dungeon of yours. With all those new boss rooms that keep popping up-"

"I am not letting you go fight a demiurge with a cannon inside of a closed space that could collapse on you." Obadiah shook his head. After a moment, he looked up at the sky, then squinted at the sun. "And speaking of the dungeon, I've got a guided tour I'm scheduled to give today. Bunch of kids came down from an academy in Illumitir, registered as warriors, and

they want me to take them through. I think they're trying to impress a bunch of girls, but I honestly couldn't tell you for sure."

He rose and strode away, and Hank chuckled after him.

"Now there's a guy who takes his job seriously. Even more seriously than Tess, at least in some ways."

"I didn't raise him to loaf around," Jeremiah agreed firmly, then glanced at Jason. "How's Tess doing?"

"She's coming along," Jason answered. "I mean, you've had children, you know morning sickness."

"Worst thing I've ever gone through. All that throw-up you've got to clean up, and then you've got to run to town every three minutes for new food..." Jeremiah let his voice trail off, then burst out laughing at Jason's somewhat horrified look. "I kid, I kid. I don't envy our wives one bit for what they go through to bring children into the world. If there's ever anything I can do, just let me know. I know Delilah's been sneaking over here and there to leave food; she hopes it's helping."

"It's been immensely helpful," Jason emphasized. "Tell her thanks, and that we'll try to repay it once the baby's born."

"When's the due date?" Hank asked.

"Somewhere around the Summer Festival." Jason shrugged. "I don't know if Tess knows exactly."

"Well, you'll know it when it comes." Jeremiah grinned. "Best of luck, and make sure to invite us over when the baby shows up!"

"You'll be the first!" Jason paused. "Well, maybe the second. Tess's brother and father probably get first dibs after us, but you know how that works."

"Indeed." Jeremiah swept off his hat, then put it back on.

A few minutes later, Jason was riding back out of town, clopping down the road toward home. The clouds overhead were blowing stronger and faster now, and the first hints of rain could be felt upon the wind, but he paid it little mind. In so many ways, it felt like he was entering a new era. New equipment, a new baby... His life in Summer Shandy was just about to change forever.

Chapter Four: No Weather on the horizon

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 30th day of Summer! 61 days until the Summer Festival! Let's see... Just another scorcher today, folks! No impending monster attacks, no weather on the horizon, nothing of any real importance that might somehow affect your daily lives, unless you count the impending arrival of my mother-in-law-to-be. Anyone who's not my dad, feel free to give me advice!]

Jason laughed at the report, then sat up as Chance bounded onto the bed. Tess, who hadn't seemed to sleep well the night before, winced, and Jason narrowly blocked the dog from pouncing on her.

"Thanks," she whispered as Chance bounded back to the floor. She yawned, and Jason frowned at her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Tess nodded. "I think I've officially entered the second trimester as of this morning. I'm starting to feel her rolling around, and it is not pleasant."

She groaned and slipped out of bed. Sure enough, her belly was slightly more bulged out than it had been the night before, and Jason felt a smile growing on his face.

"Put your hand right... here." Tess took his hand and placed it on her lower belly. "You might be able to feel her kick, just... there. Did you feel

that?"

Jason hadn't felt a thing. He closed his eyes and focused the best that he could, but once again, felt nothing as Tess informed him several more times that the baby had been kicking.

"Today's your appointment, right?" Jason asked.

"Mm-hmm." Tess nodded slowly. She let out a long breath, then straightened up. "I know it's a lot to ask, but could you drive me into town? I'm feeling a little queasy, and I'm not supposed to ride a horse at this point if I can avoid it."

"Sure! Of course." Jason nodded, then changed in a tunic and walked up to the window. As he gazed out across the farm, at the steadily-growing sunflowers, at his horses, and at his brand-new equipment, he felt a smile breaking across his face. The silvery-white machines, which he had only used once, had performed admirably. The old ones, he had moved over the hills and placed in the lean-to on the far property, where they would be ready when he got around to working on that chunk of land. "I don't have much to do on the farm today anyway, so it's a good day for it.'

Tess nodded, and she got dressed as well. It was still strange to see her in dresses instead of armor, though he supposed that she wouldn't really be able to wear armor with a baby bump very well anyway. In any case, they soon fed Chance and all the horses, and Tess sat down on the porch while Jason got the carriage ready.

While he got the horses hooked up, he couldn't help but notice the utter ruckus coming from the other side of the road. There, Daniel and Richard had started on their second attempt at building a house. For that matter, they were just finishing up that very day, from what it looked like, it was... much less ambitious than their first attempt.

"Howdy, little farmer!" Daniel waved from across the road as he hammered nails into the shingles on the tiny, one-room cabin. "Y'all headed into town?"

"That's the plan!" Jason hitched Lady to the wagon, then drove it up to the porch. He hopped down and began to help Tess climb up, and Richard poked his head out through the front door.

"Hey, Jason! Our hope is to have a field fenced in within a week. You think you could help us figure out how to plant-"

"Hey, little farmer!" Daniel cut in. "Want to see me hammer in five nails at once?"

"No!" Richard screamed and spun around. He was too late, though, and Daniel held up his hand, dropped a handful of nails, and swung his hammer as hard as he could. There was a resounding crack-smash, and the roof of the house caved in. Daniel fell inside with a scream, and the resulting boom shook the ground.

"Daniel, turn off your inertia." Jason called out as he and Tess started trotting down the road.

"Will do!" Daniel called out from the ruins of the house.

Richard sighed and waved as Jason and Tess passed him by. "It... might be closer to a month before we get that field done."

"Just let me know whenever!"

Jason smiled broadly as they trotted up toward the town. He glanced at Tess, who looked rather green around the gills, and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry I'm not talking." Tess mumbled. "Don't want to throw up again."

Jason nodded, then smiled and hugged his wife tightly. She leaned into his embrace, and they simply enjoyed one another's company as they rode up into Summer Shandy. When they arrived, Hank waved at them from the town well, though Obadiah was nowhere to be seen. Jason waved at a few other people he knew as well, and they pulled up in front of Theresa's

healing den. He hopped down first, helped Tess get down as well, and they strode through the front door.

"Good morning!" Theresa stood up from a large cauldron, where she was stirring something rather greenish. She was the shortest of the group of women who had once referred to themselves as the "Shopkeepers Guild," and she wore her trademark red dress. The color was, of course, so that when she helped people who were injured, they didn't panic at seeing their own blood splattering over her clothing. "And how are you two doing this morning?"

"As good as I can be." Tess nodded. She placed her hands on her belly, then nodded. "I can feel her moving around."

"Her?" Theresa raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Right. Your dad had a [Detect Life] skill. You told me that, and I utterly forgot. Well, come this way." She beckoned at one of the private rooms, then glanced at Jason. "Do you want him to come in, or stay out?"

"I don't see any reason he can't be in here," Tess figured.

Jason nodded, and he followed the two women into the small room. He had spent a fair bit of time in the hospital once or twice himself, after being injured in one way or another. The healing spaces were lavishly furnished, and each made one feel as though they were an honored guest staying at the house of a loving grandmother. There were doilies on the chairs, oil paintings on the walls, and thick bed covers spread across fleece-stuffed mattresses. Tess sat down on the edge of the bed, Jason took a chair, and Theresa knelt down in front of Tess.

"All right. First things first, we're going to take a listen to this little girl." Theresa reached over to a nightstand and pulled open a drawer. Hidden inside were dozens of different types of medical instruments, and after fishing around for a moment, she pulled out a stethoscope. Tess winced a bit as the cold listening end was pressed against her belly, but as Theresa moved it around, the healer nodded.

"Everything sounds lovely. The baby has a healthy heartbeat, I can hear her moving... Yup. Everything's good there."

"Wonderful." Tess nodded. "What else do we need to do?"

"Oh, a handful of things." Theresa shrugged and stood up. "I'm going to draw your blood to check for certain issues that could pop up during birth. None are common, and I don't expect to see them, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"How will drawing her blood do that?" Jason asked.

"Well, why don't you watch and find out?" Theresa walked into the other room, then came back with a small, glass square. She pressed it up against Tess's arm, and a small drop of blood came out onto the plate. With that, she slapped a small bandage over the draw point, then placed the plate of blood on a nightstand. She then ran back into the other room, returning with a rack of multi-colored test tubes and an eyedropper.

"First, we're going to separate Tess's blood from the baby's blood." Theresa took up a drop of orange liquid, then dripped it into the blood. There was a swirl, and a small amount of blood trickled away from the main drop. "There we go. At the moment, baby and mama are sharing a circulatory system, so we can learn things without ever having to touch the baby. Now..." She used the eyedropper to snag a bit of blue substance. "I know we already know the gender, but I have to add this anyway for the next reaction to work, so..." She dripped the blue liquid onto the smaller dot, and it immediately spread out across the glass, forming an almost- imperceptible pink sheen. "And there you have it! Pink for a girl. Now..." She took the eyedropper and squeezed up a bit of green liquid. "This will look for a few specific abnormalities."

She dripped the green liquid onto the pink sheen, and for a long moment, nothing happened. Jason held his breath as the liquid swirled about, and then, without preamble, it all turned black.

"Is that bad?" Jason glanced at Theresa, who laughed and shook her head.

"Not a bit! That's actually a good thing. There were several possible reactions, but that right there indicates that it wasn't able to react with anything. Tess, Jason, your baby is as healthy as a horse. We'll keep doing checkups to make sure, but I don't think I really need to see you again before the start of the third trimester."

"Great!" Tess beamed, then paused. "Can you tell us the due date of the baby?"

"I might just be able to do that." Theresa nodded, then glanced at Jason. "I really am going to need you to leave the room for this part."

Jason nodded, then rose and walked back out into the main area. The door clicked shut, and he frowned. He wasn't sure exactly what Theresa could be measuring, and he was quite certain that, in the long run, he didn't really want to know. Finally, after about five minutes, Theresa opened the door, and Jason came back inside.

"As near as I can tell, the baby will be born on the day of the Summer Festival. It could come earlier, but it almost certainly won't be any later."

Tess beamed and glanced at Jason. "We'll have our baby before fall!"

"Probably." Theresa held up a finger. "I'd be shocked if you give birth after that, but it's not unheard-of. This is your first pregnancy, so we'll just have to see. After this first one, we'll be able to gauge things a bit better."

Jason and Tess both nodded, and after a bit more talk, they rose and walked out into Theresa's waiting room once again. There, Theresa went to the cauldron, which had turned a rather lovely shade of blue, and had an odor vaguely resembling rose petals. She spooned out a bit of it into a small vial, then passed it to Tess.

"This trimester, you're going to start feeling a lot more movement. Generally speaking, it shouldn't be uncomfortable at all, but, particularly at night, if you're really struggling, take a drop of this. Just put a single drop into a glass of water or milk or something, and it should ease the pain a bit. It won't change the amount that baby is actually kicking or moving, and it

won't really even change the amount of pain that you're feeling, but it does increase some of the chemicals in your brain that let you handle pain better." She chuckled. "You're going to be chugging this by the gallon when it comes time to give birth."

Tess laughed and took the vial. "Thanks. I appreciate it, more than you can know."

"Some day, I hope to know for myself," Theresa confessed. She sighed deeply, then glanced at Tess. "Have you heard any details on Paulina's wedding?"

"I got a letter a few days ago asking about colors and where to buy flowers, but that's all." Tess shook her head. "Why?"

"She just told me last night, and said she was hoping to catch you, but if I saw you first, to pass it along." Theresa answered. "It's going to be the day of the Spring Festival, exactly one year after your wedding. She doesn't want to steal your anniversary, but it's also really convenient."

"Oh, tell her not to apologize." Tess waved her hand. "We probably share an anniversary with ten thousand other people through the land."

"Fair enough!" Theresa laughed, then lowered her voice once more. "Oh! And while we're on the subject, have you heard about Daniel and Viola? Do you see them together much?"

Jason began to feel rather like a third wheel, and he had no interest in being involved in gossip, so he turned and walked out of the healing den and into the town square. Of course, that allowed him to see Daniel racing through the square, pulling a wagon behind him like a horse. Viola was perched on the driver's seat, grinning from ear to ear and laughing wildly.

"I'd say they're doing just fine," Jason chuckled in glee as the unlikely pair went racing off down the road past the dungeon. He laughed more thoughtfully, though, as he realized that Richard had almost certainly sent Daniel into town to get him away from the house while he worked on putting the roof back up.

With that, Jason stuck his head back inside, interrupting a riveting dialogue on a number of recipe substitutes.

"Hey, Tess? I'm going to head back out to the farm and see if Richard needs any help."

"Go for it." Tess nodded, then paused. "If you take the carriage, how will I-"

"I'll leave the carriage here." Jason shook his head. He glanced over his shoulder as Daniel came barreling back into town, moving a good deal faster than even Lady could often manage. Angus would put him to shame, that was for sure, but most draft horses would be hard-pressed to match the overpowered warrior. "I think I've got another ride home."

A few minutes later, having challenged Daniel to make it back to the farm before he could count all the way to one-hundred, Jason sat in the back of the wagon as Viola held onto the reins and pretended to steer Daniel this way and that. The town receded behind him, and he exhaled in relief.

Their baby was healthy, and she was going to show up on the day of the Summer Festival! What could be better than that? The community was growing rapidly... And that, in his mind, was the greatest measure of success that could possibly be applied to the charming community.

Chapter Five: Smoke on the Farmstead

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 45th day of Summer! 46 days until the Summer Festival! Today's actually going to be a bit more on the mild side, all things considered. The temperature should top out somewhere around 98 for those who use a standard thermometer, and around 31 for those who use those weird overseas things.]

Jason's eyes flickered open to the sound of booming, and he slowly sat up and walked to the window, where he looked out across the farmstead. His crop was just emerging from the ground, far from being ready, but that wasn't what caught his attention. No... What drew his eye was the amount of smoke drifting across the road from Daniel and Richard's farmstead. He frowned in confusion, then shrugged and walked over to Tess, who was slowly sitting up in bed.

"What's my brother doing today?" Tess asked as she stood up. She winced a bit as she did so, putting her hands on her hips, then straightened up. "This child! It's not even the third trimester yet, and she is pressing down on my hips. Makes it hard to walk, I can tell you that much."

"I'm sorry." Jason apologized, though he didn't really know what else to say. After a moment, he decided to answer her question. "As far as your brother goes, it sounds like he's firing a cannon, though I have absolutely no idea why."

"If Jeremiah gave him a cannon, I'm going to harp his ear off, as will his wife," Tess muttered. "You'd better get out there. I'll get some food on the table for you to eat once you get back in."

Daniel nodded, then changed into overalls and made his way downstairs. Chance followed eagerly, and after putting on his work boots, he strode out into the yard to find one of the oddest things he had ever seen.

The tiny house across the road was still standing, and had been ever since Jason helped Richard get it back up. That said, Jason could easily see that fact changing. Two sides of a long field had been fenced, the north and the south side, while the east and west ends were left open. Daniel stood with one of Jeremiah's cannons (and Jeremiah himself) right next to the road, and were busily firing the cannon at the field to plow long trenches through the soft dirt.

"Hey, little farmer!" Daniel waved as Jason came walking across the road. "I hope we didn't wake you!"

"Not really." Jason scowled at Jeremiah. "What exactly are you doing? Where's Richard?"

Jeremiah opened his mouth to speak, but Daniel beat him to it.

"Richard went up to the dungeon for a day to relax! Jeremiah was the one to suggest it, actually, and then I had this idea! See, one time Jeremiah mentioned firing a cannon at a tornado, and-"

Jason rolled his eyes. He had heard the tornado-cannonball story more times than he cared to count. Jeremiah was turning rather red around the ears, and Jason crossed his arms.

"First off, I feel rather betrayed that I wasn't asked to join in the fun." Jason held up a finger. "Secondly, I worked hard on building that house, and I don't want the two of you accidentally shooting it apart. Third, I have a pregnant wife who'd really like you to stop." He paused, and a glimmer of an idea came into his mind. "Fourth, Daniel, I bet you could throw one of those cannonballs just as well as the cannon itself. How would that be for a pedigree? Strong enough to harvest an entire eighty acres with a single swing, and strong enough to plow a furrow by throwing a cannonball?"

Jeremiah scowled at Jason as Daniel grinned and picked up one of the heavy, lead-filled weights.

"You know what? I bet I could! Watch this!"

He drew his arm back and threw with all his might, and the ball, indeed plowed a long furrow down the entire length of the field, then out the far side and through a good deal of the prairie.

"Spoilsport," Jeremiah muttered as Daniel picked up more of the cannonballs and began to indulge himself in the newly-invented sport. "You're getting just as bad as our wives."

"And you'd do this right next to your house?" Jason raised an eyebrow. At Jeremiah's guilty look, he snorted. "Didn't think so. Off with you!"

Jeremiah's stern face broke, and he laughed as Jason walked away. A few minutes later, Jason was back inside the house, where he sat down at the table with Tess. She had prepared a meal of egg salad and bacon, which seemed to indicate that she was getting some of her strength back.

"Did he give my brother a cannon?" Tess demanded as Jason sat down.

"Gave? No." Jason shook his head. "And the one that was accidentally unhitched there is making its way back down the road."

"Good!" Tess declared. They ate in silence for a moment, and she nodded at him. "What are you up to today?"

"I was going to head out to the Far Eighty," Jason explained. "I bought a few links of fence with the proceeds of the last harvest, and I'd kinda like to go look at the old dungeon again."

"Have fun." Tess winced, then flashed a small grin. "You know what? My morning sickness is almost gone. I think I'll be able to start getting out and about again soon, and I haven't looked at that old dungeon in awhile, either. I'd like to check it out myself."

"I'll get the carriage ready!" Jason grinned. A few minutes later, he had made his way outside and hooked Lady up to the small carriage. Chance came bounding along behind, and they began making their way across the long, waving grass of the prairie. Tess winced here and there, but she largely seemed to be doing much better than before.

Originally, the purchase of the Far Eighty hadn't been for agricultural purposes at all, but it had turned out quite wonderfully. To get there, he went through sharp ravines cut by flowing waters, up over rises, and through shallow depressions. He knew the land well, and soon, he came up over the final rise to find himself looking at the long patch of ground.

The eighty acres itself was instantly visible, as, due to the constraints of owned land, the prairie grass didn't grow on it. A great deal of smaller, more normal grass filled the expanse, while the tall grasses of the prairie looked down around it. A cabin sat at the south-eastern corner, closest to the two of them, while the lean-to protecting his old machinery sat just next to it. Behind that, just on the edge of the eighty acres, grew a large forest that stretched out into the distance. All told, the forest was part of a long strip that went from the southeast to the northwest, and was there because of a large river that wound there. It was also the place of an old dungeon, which Jason had discovered several years earlier, and then managed to purchase as a wedding gift for Tess.

As they came rumbling up, Tess climbed down while Jason hitched Lady to a rail that he had set up. He then made his way out to the edge of the prairie grass, and opened up his inventory to select the fence that he had purchased. With a crash, a large number of metal rails and posts (coated with an anti-rust sealant) came tumbling down across the ground, and he took out a shovel to get to work.

"Hey, Jason?" Tess called out from the cabin. "Have you seen this?"

Jason frowned, then left the metal where it lay. He poked his head around the corner of the doorframe, and found Tess looking at a fully- furnished interior. Jeremiah had built the frame of the cabin out of guilt after he had spawned a dragon and destroyed a previous cabin that Jason had built, but as far as Jason had known, no furniture had been placed

inside. Now, the one-room cabin was filled with a bed, a stove, paintings on the wall, and even a crib. Tess slowly walked over to a cabinet, and took a note off the wood.

"Jason, Tess, congrats on the new baby. Love, Jeremiah and Delilah. P.S., This is a surprise, so I hope you find it before everything gets covered in dust. I'll tell you all about it at the Summer Festival if you haven't said anything before then."

"Do we think that Delilah had a hand in this?" Jason glanced at Tess.

"Not a one," Tess shook her head, though she laughed as she said it. She sank gratefully into a plush rocking chair and kicked her feet up. "Ooh, this feels good. I could sit here all day."

"Feel free!" Jason grinned. "I'm going to go hammer in some fence."

"Do that." Tess let out a long breath. "I'll be there later."

Jason nodded, then walked back out into the field. Despite the large heap of metal, it actually didn't take him long to get it all put up. He spaced the main posts out every twenty feet, and in between each were three thick metal rails. When he finished, it was just about lunchtime, and a small plume of smoke was rising up from the chimney of the cabin. He made his way back over, and walked inside to find Tess cooking some ground beef for hamburgers.

"Does the inventory of this house connect to ours?" Jason wondered. "I know the farm's inventory does, but I didn't think you'd be able to connect to our pantry."

Tess nodded. "It looks like Jeremiah sprung for one of those fancy, long-distance container- connector things. The only thing that doesn't transfer is the cookbook, so I actually have to add my own ingredients."

"I didn't even know those existed." Jason sat down in Tess's chair, then moved when she glared good-naturedly at him. A few minutes later, they were sitting down at the table.

It didn't take them long to eat, all things considered, though that was partly because Tess wasn't that hungry (the baby was pressing up against her stomach, or something like that). When they finished, they cleaned up, then made their way out into the prairie and looked at the old forest.

When the dragon had come bursting up from the depths of the ground, it had shattered the upper floors of the dungeon; then it had gone ahead and flattened a good portion of the forest. New growth was starting to spring up among the desolation, but even still, fallen trees and brush were everywhere. Making their way through the forest was nigh-impossible, especially for Tess, but out of sheer stubbornness, they pushed ever-onward. Where Jason had once been able to walk through the forest blindfolded, with all the landmarks gone, he found that the only reason he even knew where the dungeon was located was because it was at the end of the wide swath of destruction.

Finally, after nearly half an hour of trekking, they approached the edge of the large pit. The old oak tree that had once served as an entrance lay askew nearby, and in its place was a thirty-foot-wide pit, which simply carved straight down into the ground. It seemed narrower than Jason remembered it, though he wasn't sure. In any case, it was a long drop to the bottom, which ended in an old boss chamber. He could just barely see the bones of the old boss down below, though they looked somewhat more weathered than the last time he'd seen them. All along the edge of the walls, they could see dark caverns and passageways, broken open by the dragon's ascent. Birds flapped out of the corridors of the top floor, and Jason saw a few raccoons scurrying out of sight on the second floor.

"It's not as bad as I remember," Tess shared after a moment. "All things considered... It could be a lot worse."

Jason nodded. He still felt at least somewhat guilty for helping Jeremiah spawn in the dragon, though in all reality, he had only been watching, and if he hadn't been watching, he would have been crushed by the beast when it emerged.

"You know..." Tess continued as she started to walk around the rim. "It almost reminds me of an old dungeon I ran, back when I was just getting

started. It was low-level, nothing too major, but it had this building that had been constructed over the top of a fifty-foot-deep well. You had to jump down into the well, and fall, blindly, into the depths of the place. There was a cushion you could have deployed at the bottom to catch you, if you wanted, but most people didn't take it."

Jason laughed and shook his head. "I'm not jumping down into that place, even if we have a safety net at the bottom."

"You don't have to." Tess laughed at the prospect of the farmer leaping blindly into space. "That said, it probably wouldn't be too hard to put a foundation around the edge of this, and then build across, and have an elevator or something that goes down inside. There's something called a dumbwaiter system that uses loads of pulleys and things so you can just lower a box up and down by ropes; it's pretty neat."

"I'll look into that," Jason offered. "Unfortunately, it may have to wait until I get the fence up around the Far Eighty."

"Take your time," Tess consoled him. "It was just an idea, and we have all the time in the world. I just..." Something sparkled in her eyes. "We know your uncle pulled things out of this dungeon. Who knows how many other people did the same thing over the years, but... They all were only able to get to the top four floors. From the fifth floor down to the twelfth, there's nothing but potential. It could be a true glimpse into another era, an older time when the world was simpler."

"Then I'll move it up on my to-do list!" Jason chuckled, then glanced up at the sky. The sun was starting to spiral downward, and they had a long walk back. "Come on. We should get going, if we're going to make it back before dark."

"Or we could just spend the night in the cabin here," Tess suggested. "It has all the fixings, Chance is out here, and no one is going to break into our house with Daniel and my father across the road."

"That's fair," Jason agreed. "I'll have to ride back to stable Angus and Alfred, but that won't take me more than fifteen minutes, and there's no

rush on that."

"Whereas it will take you a long time to drive the carriage carefully enough to get me back," Tess reminded her spouse. "We have a deal, then."

"Indeed we do." Jason sat down on the edge of the great pit, and Tess joined him. They dangled their feet into the abyss, and Jason sighed deeply. It was a wonderful feeling, one that couldn't be put into words, as he gazed at the infinite potential below their feet, and ahead of them in their lives.

He simply couldn't wait to see how it all turned out.

Chapter Six: Sooth The Hound

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 50th day of Summer! 41 days until the Summer Festival! Let's see... Today, we're looking at loads of wind, folks. Like... A lot of wind. If you have to be on the road, don't use any sort of tall wagon, or you're liable to get blown over.]

As Jason's eyes flickered open, he could immediately confirm that Obadiah's entry in the almanac was very true. The wind howled about the house, and while the old stone that it was made from was more than solid enough to withstand the blast, the wind still made a low moaning sound across the chimney, rattled a few of the windows, and made a slight tremor that Jason could feel in the floorboards. He slipped out of bed and found Chance cowering at its foot, and he bent down to pet the hound.

"Morning." Tess swung herself out of bed and rose. Her belly was larger than ever, though still not quite at the stereotypical "pregnant-woman" size. She placed her hands on her belly and winced slightly as she walked to the wardrobe, and Jason nodded in her direction.

"You're looking a lot better than usual this morning."

"I know I don't look it, but believe it or not, I feel a lot better than usual this morning," Tess answered. "There's pressure, and it hurts, but I took a drop of that stuff Theresa gave me last night, and I think it's helping." Her face flinched. "At least when I'm not getting kicked right in the ribs."

"Just wait until you're in the third trimester!" Jason joked. "Then it's going to be really-"

The look that Tess shot him indicated that she knew exactly how it was going to feel, and she didn't want him reminding her of the fact. A few minutes later, Jason had dressed in overalls, and Tess had put on a red sundress that Jason didn't recognize. As they made their way downstairs, Tess had to lean heavily against the wall, and when they came out into the kitchen, she dropped heavily into a chair.

"Well, what's your plan for today?" Jason asked as he whipped up some breakfast. He had the cookbook put together a plate of pancakes for himself, then asked it to prepare an egg salad for Tess. Both were done immediately, and they sat down together to eat.

"I actually want to head outside and try to get some work done," Tess answered. "I've done just about all I can do from inside the house, and I really am feeling better now that the morning sickness is gone. Walking is hard, sure, but that's not the whole battle, you know?"

Jason nodded, though in reality, in his adult life he hadn't had any real difficulties walking, and he couldn't really bring any experience to bear on what it was like to walk around while pregnant. "What do you think you're going to do?"

Tess contemplated. "The side garden has been sorely neglected since I got pregnant, along with the rose bushes. I think I'm going to start with those, if that's okay. I might need some help, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stay close."

Jason leaned back in his chair and thought. He had been planning on slipping out to the Far Eighty to work on the fence, but that could wait. There were still a few days before the next crop of sunflowers could be harvested. He could find things to do around the farm, or, if worse came to worst, he could always just go across the road to help out Daniel and Richard. They always seemed to be in need of it these days.

"Sounds like a plan," Jason agreed. "Let's do it." They rose, and then, as an afterthought, he nodded at Tess's dress. "Nothing to do with anything, but where'd that come from? I haven't seen you go into town without me, and I don't remember you buying anything the last time we were in there."

Tess laughed as they made their way to the front door. "This is one of Delilah's old maternity dresses. She brought it by a few days ago, I just haven't put any of them on yet. They're nice and roomy, I like them."

Jason flashed a small smile. "Then we'll just have to buy you some more maternity clothes, both for this pregnancy, and if you need them again in the future."

Tess's smile broke across her whole face, and she and Jason soon made their way out into the yard. There, Tess walked over to the side garden (which had become a rather weedy mess, since it hadn't been tremendously high on Jason's to-do list), while Jason walked over and let the horses run loose while Chance raced about. The wind was still howling across the prairie, buffeting Jason left and right. To Chance's annoyance (but Jason's delight) the assorted weed monsters were all staying low. He saw a single crabgrass trying to skitter across the yard, but it was caught by the wind and blown away, rolling across the road to where Daniel and Richard were busily trying to repair their roof.

"Hey, little farmer!" Daniel called down from the rooftop as Daniel meandered over. "How's it going?"

"Better than it's going for you, it looks like." Daniel nodded at them. "What's the trouble?"

Richard shrugged as he began to hammer down one of the wooden shingles. "Nothing we can't handle. It seems we didn't make these flat enough, so the wind is-"

"Jason!" Tess's voice echoed in the wind. "Jason!"

"Hold that thought." Jason turned and walked back across the road to where Tess was kneeling next to the garden. She had torn out a pretty significant chunk of the weeds already, and she looked up at him with an apologetic face.

"Can you run into the house and grab me a kneeling pad? They're in the basement. I'd grab it myself, but the farm's inventory isn't connected with

the basement inventory, and I kinda lost my balance the last time I tried to stand up in the wind."

"I'll get right on it." Jason strode up and into the house, then returned a few moments later with a gardening pad. Tess slipped the rubber mat underneath her knees, thanked him, and then got back to work. Jason, meanwhile, turned and walked back across the road.

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked the two warriors. As he watched, one of the shingles they had just nailed down was caught by the wind, torn up, and flung across the house to land on the far side.

"I think we've got it, but thanks anyway." Richard shook his head. "If we can't get this figured out, we have no business farming."

Jason glanced at their tiny, half-acre field. It had the most pathetic crop of wheat growing that he had ever seen, and with the Juun Bug infestation that he had fought off several years earlier, that was really saying something. He bade them farewell and strode back across the road, then took a toolbox from his storage shed and made his way over to the corral, where Lady, Angus, and Alfred were kicking up their heels in the wind.

"Jason!" Tess called out once again. "Jason?"

"Coming!" Jason put down the tools and walked over to her, where he found that she had cleared away probably a quarter of the garden. "What can I do for you?"

"I need you to go get me the tilling fork." Tess nodded at the house. "It's up in the baby's room."

Jason blinked. "Why exactly is the tilling fork up in the baby's room?"

"You'll see when you get there. Please, Jason?"

"Of course!" Jason strode up into the house, then climbed the stairs. Tess had been converting one of the old guest bedrooms into a proper baby's room, when she had the chance, for the summer season. As Jason

walked in, he had to chuckle a bit at Tess's use of decor. The room was pink, that much was fairly normal, but along one wall, a painted dragon's arm poked up from a crack near the floor, and a long set of scratch marks marred the pink background. There weren't actually scratch marks in the wall, of course, but the tillage fork nearby, which had more than a bit of black paint splattered across it, seemed to have been used to paint the effect. Jason chuckled, then took the tool back down to Tess, who began using it to churn up the soil.

With Tess settled once more, Jason walked back through the wind to the corral, where he took out his tools and started walking the length of the fence. Here and there, some damage had started to take hold. The fence was about a year old now, after all, and it was made of the far less durable wood instead of metal. In theory, it could last for decades if it was taken care of. Jason just wanted to make sure that such a thing happened. He hammered a few nails back into the wood that had started to pop out, and he was getting ready to shore up a connection point between two rails when he heard Tess call out once again.

"Jason! I'm really sorry, but I need you again!"

Jason smiled, then set down his tools and jogged back over to meet her. She looked up at him and batted her eyes, and he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"I need seeds to plant in the garden."

Jason was immediately confused. "You should be able to access the farm's inventory from out here, right?"

"Yes..." Tess acknowledged. "Except that it seems that rats ate all the garden seeds. I have exactly one corn seed that I could plant in here, that's pretty much it."

Jason understood his wife's exasperation. "So you need me to run into town?"

"Yes, please, if you could." Tess nodded. "If you take Angus, you can be back by lunchtime. In the meantime, I'll work on pruning the rose bushes."

"I... All right." Jason nodded, and he strode over to the corral. As he was getting Angus saddled up -- which was no small feat, as Angus was massive -- Tess called out to him once more.

"Jason? I need the pruning shears! They're in the living room."

"Why are they- Just a moment!"

Jason strode up and into the house to grab the pruning shears, then brought them out for his pregnant wife. He handed them to Tess, climbed up on Angus, and started out for the road.

Quite suddenly, with an enormous crash, the house across the road collapsed into smithereens. Jason hadn't seen exactly what happened, but as the two warriors picked themselves up from the bits and pieces of the old place, he could see fury on Richard's face and amusement on Daniel's. They began to argue, though Jason couldn't hear the words, and he rolled his eyes.

At least until one of them kicked a shingle and sent it flashing through their air, up and over the road, and through one of Jason's second-story windows.

"Daniel!" Tess's voice roared across the road. "You'd better fix that!"

Daniel blanched and looked up at Jason, and Jason only shrugged. "I'm heading into town right now if you want to come."

Richard let out a long breath and ran a hand across his gray hair. After a few moments, he shrugged and kicked away some of the debris (much softer than Daniel had just done).

"Go, Daniel. Fix what you broke. Jason, I'll stay with Tess and see what I can do to help her."

"Much obliged." Jason nodded down at him, then started riding off toward town. Daniel mounted up on his own horse, which was nearly as massive as Angus, and they quickly set off.

Neither of them spoke much on the trip in, nor on the way out. Daniel was off in his own thoughts, though Jason had absolutely no idea what he could be thinking about, while Jason was preoccupied with his own mind. Tess worried him, of that there was no doubt. She was out and about, trying to get things done, but was just struggling so much! He just wanted her to be okay, to be able to do the work that she wanted to do. Even as he mulled this over, he comforted himself with the thought that, especially with the seeds, and with the amount of help she was getting, hopefully she would be able to do just that.

When they got back to the farm, it indeed was lunchtime. Tess and Richard sat on the front porch with a picnic basket and enough food for all four of them. They all sat down and ate quickly, and then Daniel went back across the road to start cleaning up the mess, Richard went inside the house to start fixing the window, and Jason passed the packets of seeds over to Tess.

"I got all your favorites. Some squash, tomatoes, green beans, and asparagus."

"Thank you, Jason." Tess smiled, then sighed. "I think I'm done for today, though. The wind has me beat. I do appreciate it, though!"

Jason nodded and smiled at her. "Did you have a good time with your dad?"

"I did." Tess let out a long breath. "For living across the road from him, I really don't get to see him all that often, and it was... nice. We still just have so much catching up to do, you know?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded, trying to think of what to say next. "What do you think you'll do for the rest of the day?"

Tess shrugged again. "I think I'm going to go across the road and supervise the two of those hooligans as they try to rebuild things again. They need a woman watching them, that's why everything keeps falling down."

Jason chuckled at that. "Well, have fun. I'm going to keep doing what I can."

"Oh, come over and help them. They need it, and it'll be fun to still be around you."

Jason cast a longing look at the corral fence, then nodded. "If that's what you want, then that's what I'll do."

Tess smiled softly, and they rose from the porch and began to slowly make their way across the road. Jason carried Tess's rocking chair along with her, and soon, they had her set up on the prairie where she could watch the three men at work. When Richard finished putting the new window in place, he showed up, and they all set to putting the house back together for a third time.

Jason hoped, desperately, that this time the house would get put together in such a way that the two warriors would be able to make it. He understood the trials of trying to get your feet underneath you while farming, and he really did like both of them. They were doing everything possible to get a new start in life, and they weren't going to be given many chances anywhere else. Tess loved having them around, too, which was enough for him.

As saws snipped and hammers pounded, he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Tess would make a lovely mother. There she was, exhausted, and still pushing through as best she possibly could. What more could he want in a mother for his children?

He simply couldn't wait until he could see their child in her arms.

Chapter Seven: Low

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 62nd day of Summer! 29 days until the Summer Festival! We're on the final countdown to the festival, folks! It's yet another hot one, though we've got a bit of relief in a minor storm tomorrow. If you have anything left you need to get done in the summer, now's your chance!]

Jason rose from the bed to hear the sound of banging. Loud banging, as if it were coming from the world's largest hammer being whacked on the world's largest nail. He frowned in confusion, then rose and slipped up to the window. Chance joined him, and they both stuck their heads out and looked toward their new neighbors.

There, across the road, Daniel and Richard were just finishing up their house. It was a more reasonable size for the two of them, though, all things considered, it wasn't a lot larger than the cabin that Jason and Tess owned on the Far Eighty. Daniel appeared to be putting together a wooden front porch, though why exactly he was hammering so loudly was beyond Jason's comprehension. He slid the window shut, then walked back to the bed, where Tess was slowly sitting up.

Now in her third trimester, she was as round as a balloon, and she struggled to stand as Jason helped her up. She walked slowly and purposefully over to the wardrobe, and Jason helped her change into another maternity dress, this one a light blue. When she was done, he changed into overalls himself, and the two of them made their way downstairs. Tess had to pause at each step, letting out gasps of air.

"I'm just going to have to start sleeping on the couch before too much longer." She winced as she reached the ground floor. "This child is sitting so low right now."

Jason smiled and put his hand on her stomach. Her skin rippled as the baby spun around inside her womb, and he laughed as he actually saw momentary bumps appear when she kicked. Tess wasn't smiling nearly as much, though she did have a loving sort of look on her face. They went and sat down at the table, and Jason prepared a quick breakfast for the two of them.

"You know, we really do need to decide on a name," Jason prompted as Tess started to eat. "Have you had any good ideas?"

"I have a short list, but I'm not sold on any of them."

"Let's hear it." Jason leaned forward, eager. Tess blushed, then pulled a small notepad out of her inventory.

"Al lright." She set it down on the table in front of her while she tucked into the egg salad. "First name... Olive."

Jason nodded slowly, but didn't say anything.

"Jane. Jordan. Heather. Holly. Mary. Felice. Margret. Matilda." She paused, then shrugged. "That's all I have." Jason didn't say anything as he mulled the names over, and Tess scowled. "You don't like any of them."

"That's not quite true." Jason shook his head. "But... Like you said, I'm not sold on any of them."

"They just don't seem quite right," Tess agreed. "I keep picturing myself holding our little baby girl, and then I call her by the different names, and see which one sounds like it's the right one. Nothing has come to mind that really sticks with me."

"Don't forget, we'll also need a middle name," Jason pointed out. After a moment, he chuckled. "Jeremiah once told me that you can test the merits

of a middle name by yelling it. Just as loud as you can, you just cut loose."

Tess blinked. "Why?"

"Because the only time you're ever going to use it is when the kid is in trouble." Jason laughed, and even Tess had to chuckle a bit. "If you can't yell it easily, then it's not a good one."

Tess sighed, then put her hands back on her stomach. "Our little angel is never going to get in trouble. She's going to be the perfect little child that everyone wishes they had."

Jason smiled as well, though he was certain that he would, indeed, inevitably have to discipline her from time to time. He remembered getting spanked here and there as a kid, and it had straightened him out something fierce. He sighed deeply as he thought about all the things that he would do with their baby girl, then shook his head.

"Well, we need to be getting on with the day." He rose up from the chair and started cleaning dishes. "What's on your agenda?"

"Sit down and try not to get kicked in the lungs." Tess chuckled as she leaned back in her chair. "In all seriousness, I need to take care of some gardening, and then I'll be around the house. Dusting, cleaning, that sort of thing. Nothing too strenuous, certainly." She paused. "On a completely different note, have you talked to my dad?"

Jason shook his head. "Not for a few days, why?"

"He came over last night, before you'd gotten back from the Far Eighty." Tess grimaced. "I meant to tell you, but forgot. Pregnancy brain. He was hoping to get some help today harvesting their crop, if you were up for it."

"Yeah, for sure," Jason agreed. "I'll only be working on odd jobs around here until the sunflowers are ready for harvest again. I'll head on out."

Tess thanked him, then rose and ambled into the living room. When Jason walked through, he found her sitting at the writing desk, which looked out the front window. She was tapping her fingers idly against the wooden surface, then turned and looked at him.

"Maybe I'll come with you. I can sit down over there, and I wouldn't mind talking with my brother again."

Jason flashed a smile at her, then helped her over to the door. She needed a bit of assistance getting her boots on, and soon, they were both striding out into the yard. Chance barked and raced here and there, and Tess started walking over across the road while Jason went to let the horses out into the corral. As he poured them food and they began to eat, Richard came striding up with a smile on his face.

"Howdy, neighbor!"

Jason chuckled and turned toward him. "Howdy. You do realize that there's only one person around here who actually talks like that, right?"

Richard just shrugged. "It's kinda fun, all things considered. Tess said you'd be coming over?"

"Yeah!" Jason patted Lady on the neck, then walked over to the lean-to, where his new equipment was still waiting. He had only used the gear a handful of times, but already, he was in love with the brand-new machines. "I'll just bring this beast along. It'll be easier to learn on than one of the older machines, which is what you'll probably have to buy when you get your own."

Richard nodded as he walked around the machine. Unlike his older harvester, this one was... much nicer. There were four whirling blades on the bottom, connected to the wheels by gears. Some of the fancier models had levels that could disengage the blades, so you could drive down the road or across the ground without making the blades spin, but those had still been a tad too expensive. In any case, the best part about the machine was that the blades were entirely encased in a thick, protective metal shell. Jason still had to ride on the back, but as the machine clanked and whirred and

rattled, if he fell, he wasn't at risk of actually falling into the whirling blades. It was a vast improvement over the older one, and he rather wondered why he hadn't thought of just building something similar the first time. The metal guard also blocked a good deal of the dust, which was an added bonus, and all around, the heavier weight meant it rode a whole lot smoother, too. It took a much larger bump to make it fling around, that was for sure. Finally (and least importantly), the silver-white color was a vast improvement over the rusty color of his previous machines.

"First, we have to service it." Jason dropped onto his back and slid underneath the cage, where the blades were located. Richard followed, though it was a tight fit. "This is obviously specific to this machine, but most harvesters are going to have at least a somewhat similar design."

Richard nodded as Jason showed him how to apply oil and grease here and there, and where to look for rust buildup. When they finished, they both slid back out from underneath, and Jason went to get Angus.

"Now, the one downside is that Lady isn't really big enough to pull this," Jason explained. "I think your horses are both larger than her, so you guys will probably be good no matter what you buy, but that's also something to take into consideration. I didn't even think about it when I first made this purchase."

Richard nodded, not saying a word, as Jason took Angus, hitched him up, and then climbed onto the back of the machine. He took the reins and gave them a snap, and soon, Angus was happily trotting across the road.

On the other side, Tess was sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch, right next to Daniel. The house actually appeared to still be in one piece (due, in all probability, to the intense scrutiny Tess had given it when the two warriors were trying to put it together). Daniel and Tess both waved, and Jason drove the harvester over to the entrance of their field.

All told, the field did look a bit better than the last time he had seen it. That said, while nearly the entire expanse was covered in wheat, it was patchy at best. Jason didn't think it would yield more than a thousand

kernels, hardly even enough to replant. He glanced down at Richard, who shrugged.

"I don't know what we did wrong. It just... doesn't look good."

Jason frowned as he thought about it. "Did you plow it up after the whole cannonball thing?"

Richard laughed. "Yeah, we went down and borrowed Jeremiah's old plow and planter. They didn't seem to work terribly well, though."

"That'd be it." Understanding dawned on Jason. "I had to borrow those once, and they are rusty. Nice to have around, but I think we can get you guys doing better." He paused for a moment while he thought. "Why don't you hop up here? The walkway you stand on goes all the way across, and you can hang onto that bar right there."

Richard nodded and climbed up onto the machine next to Jason, and with that, they set off. The blades hummed smoothly as they bumped through the field, and, all told, it took Jason only two actions and about twenty minutes to finish the harvest. When it was done, he transferred all 1,521 kernels into the inventory of Richard's farm.

"You can either sell those, or use them to replant, later." Jason nodded as they climbed down from the machine. "It's up to you, but if you've got the funds, I think you'd be better off using them to replant. You can keep borrowing my equipment until you get a better feel for things, if you'd like."

Richard and Daniel glanced at each other, though Daniel didn't really know what that meant. Jason took Angus across the road and put him back in the corral after putting the harvester into the lean-to, then strode over and joined the trio on the front porch of the new home. Richard was leaning against the wall, chewing on a stalk of wheat, while Daniel was telling Tess all about a dungeon he had run down in the volcanic country. Jason nodded at them, then leaned against one of the posts holding up the porch roof.

"If you don't mind my asking, how are you guys doing on funds?" Jason asked, when a pause came to the conversation. "You just seem to be able to keep buying new wood and things, but you obviously haven't just splurged and bought larger equipment, or... really much of anything."

"That's because we want to tough it out ourselves!" Daniel puffed out his chest. "We want to-"

"We're just about broke," Richard confessed. Tess reached out and took his hand, and he continued. "I don't mean to complain, and I don't want to admit it, but that's the truth. I had a small bit of savings stored up, but I haven't been dungeon-delving in years, not since..." He glanced at Tess. "Not since your mother was killed. I had enough savings that I didn't really need to, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it, and Daniel here blew his fortune on parties."

Daniel scowled at Richard, but didn't say anything. Jason nodded slowly, then looked up at the two wannabe farmers.

"If you guys really do want to make it out here, I can help you, but you're going to have to start acting like farmers first, and warriors second."

"I, at least, truly want to make it," Richard affirmed. He looked down at Tess and ran a hand through her hair. "There's not much left in this world to keep me going, but my little girl... And the fact that she's about to have her own..." A tear trickled down his cheek. "I've got a lot of lost time to make up for."

"And I'm going to marry Viola," Daniel declared. No one really responded to him, and he crossed his arms. "So this is going to have to work."

"Then I suggest you listen to Tess." Jason nodded down at his wife, who smiled up at him. "I can give you pointers on farming, if you'll take them, and she can give you pointers on transitioning from being warriors to farmers."

"Then that's what we'll do," Richard declared.

Tess didn't really say anything, but she put her hands on her belly and smiled. Jason felt a grin creeping across his own face as well. Tess had all the family in the world that she could want, and Jason wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Chapter Eight: Everything Is Alright

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 80th day of Summer! 11 days until the Summer Festival! Less than two weeks to Fall, folks! That's no laughing matter, no matter what you may think. It's going to sneak up on you faster than you're expecting, and I do not want any more people coming to me asking if I can turn back the seasons. I cannot. I tell what day it is, I have absolutely no control over them. Thank you for understanding.]

As Jason's eyes flickered open, he heard Tess moaning softly just beside him. Instantly, he jumped out of bed, even as Chance bounded up to begin licking Tess's face. She groaned again, and Jason grabbed the dog and led him out of the room (which was accompanied by much whimpering on his part). When Jason had shut the door, he ran back to Tess's side, and she slowly sat up. Her face was a mask of pain, and she had her hand on her extended belly.

"Is everything okay?" Jason asked quickly.

"Yeah." Tess started breathing slowly and purposefully. After a few moments, she relaxed. "It's called a false contraction. They start... Well, they can start as early as the second trimester, but I've been lucky to only get them now!"

That last word was screamed, and she put her hands on her belly once again. When the false contraction passed, she let out a long breath and slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Sorry about that. These should start going away soon. I hope."

She climbed shakily to her feet, and Jason rushed to help steady her. She nodded in thanks, and they soon made their way over to the wardrobe, where he helped her change into a green maternity dress that fluttered and flowed down around her feet.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jason asked as he helped Tess down the stairs. She winced at every step, and when they came to the kitchen, she walked right past the table and into the living room, where she sat down on the couch instead.

"Yeah," Tess breathed softly. "I'm okay. Just in a bit of pain. Nothing to worry about. Theresa was talking to me about this, and it's all perfectly normal. Doesn't mean a thing."

She let out another gasp of pain, and Jason frowned.

"How do you know the difference between a false contraction and a real one?"

"That's complicated, but trust me."

"Are you sure?" Jason pressed. "I can run to town to get Theresa for you, or you can come with me, or-"

"Jason," Tess snapped. "I'm fine. Now deal with it and go get to work."

"Do you want some food?" Jason turned back toward the kitchen. "I can make you anything you want."

Tess sighed, then nodded. "Make me a scrambled egg, but just leave it on the table, out of Chance's reach. I'll probably eat it in a bit."

Jason nodded, then went and did as he was asked. He made a plate of pancakes for himself, then took them out and sat on the couch next to Tess. She leaned against him as he ate, wincing every now and again, and then he rose and made his way out into the yard. Chance followed him and began to race about in the hot sun, and Jason rubbed the back of his neck.

Across the road, Richard and Daniel were settling in quite well. They had taken some of Jason's advice, and the pair now actually had a half- decent crop of wheat growing. Their fence left something to be desired, but then, Jason remembered when he had cobbled together a fence out of a broken picket fence he had torn up from the front yard. They both waved at him, and he waved back, then went over to let the horses loose.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah's voice rang through the air, and Jason turned to see his old friend riding into the drive. "How goes it?"

"It goes well!" Jason grinned broadly. "It's been awhile!"

"Indeed. Too long." Jeremiah swung down from his horse as he came up to Jason, and they shook hands. "How's Tess doing? I remember it being hard to slip away from the house while Delilah was pregnant, too."

Jason nodded. "She's doing. Right now, she's having... What did she call them? False contractions?"

From inside, a muffled yell echoed through the windows, and Jeremiah winced.

"Are you sure those are false contractions? I don't remember Delilah having that much pain with any of our kids. That sounds like labor to me."

"That's what I thought, too," Jason worried. "She won't come with me to town, though, and she doesn't want me going by myself."

"Then just do it," Jeremiah prodded. "You have a duty to protect your wife, as well as your children. Let's say, in an hour's time, she decides that it is really labor. At that point, she has to call you in from the field, and then you have to get ready to go, and then you have to ride all the way into town, and all that jostling around is not going to be pleasant for Tess, and with all that, there's a good chance the baby will just show up along the way anyway. On the other hand, if she realizes in a few hours that it's labor right as you show up with Theresa, you'll be a hero."

"You're right," Jason admitted. "I'll get headed out right away."

"That's the spirit!" Jeremiah grinned as Jason rushed for the saddles. "I'll catch you along the way!"

Jeremiah soon rode off down the road, and Jason quickly saddled Angus. He heard Tess crying out once or twice more, and he hurried along all the faster. As soon as Angus was ready, he rode the great horse out onto the road and pounded up toward town.

The miles flew by under Angus's hooves. The massive horse was built for a good many things, and speed was certainly one of them. He blew straight past Jeremiah an instant later, who waved his hat at him. Within mere moments, he was tearing up into the town square of Summer Shandy, and rode quickly over to the healing den.

Angus had hardly come to a stop before the eager father-to-be leapt out of the saddle and came thunking down in front of the door. He quickly stepped inside, where he found Theresa administering a bandage to a farmer who looked like he had been gored in the leg by a goat horn. She looked up and smiled at him, then carefully began applying a patch of herbs to the wound.

"Hey, Jason! What's up?"

"It's Tess." Jason breathed softly. "It's time."

"Really?" Theresa turned to him. "The due date is still... Eleven days away. Are you sure they're not just false contractions?"

"She says they are, but Jeremiah and I both think they're real," Jason explained. "She's in a lot of pain, and she can hardly stand up, and-"

Theresa let out a long sigh. "I suppose I can come out, but I really think it's a false alarm."

"But what if it's not?" Jason pressed. "What if she's there, having the baby right now, and no one is around to help, and-"

"I didn't say I wouldn't come." Theresa went back to wrapping the wound. "Give me just a few minutes, and I'll be along."

Jason nodded, then walked back outside. He mounted up on Angus, then sat back to wait. Perhaps sensing his rider's nervousness, the steed began to kick at the cobblestones and clip back and forth a bit, and Jason held onto the saddle horn. Angus was large, and he did not relish a fall from that height.

Five minutes went by, then ten. The injured man slowly hobbled out, but right after him, a young woman came over from the dungeon. She was sporting a long gash across her right arm, and Obadiah came along with her to make sure she got to Theresa okay. He waved at Jason, and Jason waved back, trying not to explode with anticipation.

What if Tess was back home, right that very instant, holding their newborn baby and wondering where help was? What if she was staring, longingly, at the window waiting for Jason and Theresa to come bursting through? Worse, what if there was something wrong with the pregnancy, and she was just sitting in the living room, going through labor, without anyone else around?

By the time that Theresa came out, Jason was ready to bust a seam. She smiled at him rather casually, then climbed up onto her own horse, a red- coated mare that held its head high. They both took off, and Jason quickly left Theresa in the dust. He paused several times to allow her to catch up, which elicited no shortage of eye-rolls and annoyed looks. Finally, though, they came trotting up into the yard. Jason, his mind full of fear, raced up to the porch and leapt down from Angus, tying him hastily to the porch rail. Theresa hitched her own horse to the corral fence (which was far sturdier), and came slowly walking over.

"Come on!" Jason waved at her. "She's probably almost ready to give birth! Or she's-"

As Theresa came walking up the steps onto the porch, the front door swung open, revealing a rather annoyed-looking Tess. Her pregnant belly

forced her to lean backward slightly to compensate, and Jason was glad for the few extra inches of space between himself and her anger.

"Jason," Tess spoke softly. "What did I tell you this morning?"

Jason glanced at Theresa, and turned almost as red as her dress. "I... Umm..."

"I told you that I wasn't ready to go into labor yet. They were false contractions, and as the morning has gone on, they've left." Tess crossed her arms. "Don't you ever listen?" After a moment, her eyes narrowed. "Jeremiah. I heard him call out to you right before you vanished. I thought you had just gone on over to the Far Eighty."

Jason scratched the back of his neck. The Far Eighty was suddenly exactly where he wanted to be, just about as far away from everything as he could possibly get.

"Umm..."

"Theresa, thank you for coming all the way out here. I really do appreciate it." Tess nodded to Theresa. "Would you care for a drink before you head back? I know you have business and can't take any extra time, but it's the least I can do for you."

"I'd love that." Theresa walked past Jason and into the house. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you anyway. Paulina and Obadiah just selected their wedding colors, red and blue, and they wanted to-"

The door clicked shut, and Jason finally began to relax. For a long moment, he gazed at the door, then shrugged and turned away. Sure, he had gotten in a bit of trouble, but what if there had been any issues? What if she really had gone into labor? For that matter, what if she went into labor right then and there? Then she'd be happy that he had brought Theresa down.

Jason soon found himself out at the field, where he proceeded to walk the perimeter, idly fixing a handful of minor breaks here and there. Theresa emerged from the house after about fifteen minutes, waved to him, and then

rode off toward town. Jason waved back, red-faced, and continued his work. Finally, around lunchtime, he reluctantly returned to the house, where Tess met him on the porch with a small sandwich for lunch.

Neither of them spoke as they sat down and began to eat. Tess only took a little, as largely she just held her belly as their baby rolled back and forth, kicking and punching at the edge of her womb. Finally, as they neared the end of the meal, Tess turned toward him.

"Theresa told me not to get too mad at you. She's dealt with a lot of husbands over the years, and she says that you're one of the better ones."

Jason blinked. That was a positive outcome. "Really?"

"Don't let it go to your head. You still didn't listen to me, and for that, I'm still a little mad." Tess sighed. "You have to trust me. I trust you when you say that you have this thing or that thing to do, or that doing such-and- such isn't actually as dangerous as it looks, but you have to do the same for me. If I say I'm not in labor, you have to trust that I'm not in labor."

Jason centered himself for his beloved. "From here on out, I will."

"You'll try." Tess rolled her eyes, then chuckled. "But yes, Theresa gave me a few stories. Some husbands don't care at all, and won't even take their wives to the hospital when it comes time for the baby to be born. Others are way more over-the-top than you, and won't let Theresa have a moment of rest for the last month before the baby is born." She paused for a moment, and Jason felt a punchline coming. "She wasn't around to see it, but she's heard stories that when Delilah was ready to give birth to Obadiah, Jeremiah was so nervous that he went and got the veterinarian instead of the doctor! He was used to going to the vet for his cattle, so he just fell into an old habit."

Jason laughed. "That does sound like Jeremiah."

"What makes it even better is the fact that the vet didn't realize what was happening until he showed up. By that point, Delilah was well along,

so he had to deliver the baby. It was his first and last human delivery, is what he says."

Jason laughed even harder, and Tess pointed a finger at him. "For what it's worth, I'll hang you up by your toenails if you ever do anything like that."

"Don't worry." Jason waved the threat away, then sighed. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Me, too." Tess smiled, reached out, and took his hand. "And I will be okay, Jason. This is going to be a long eleven days, but the wait will be worth it. Trust me, and we'll make it through."

"I... I will." Jason nodded, and a grin spread across his face. Eleven more days... Could he make it? He had to... But Tess was right. It was going to be a long eleven days, and he simply couldn't wait to see the end of it.

Chapter Nine: Just Plum Exhausted!

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 85th day of Summer! 6 days until the Summer Festival! We've officially passed the one-week-remaining mark! That, of course, means a possible uptick in Summer Hawk spawns, but as they only eat field mice, voles, and other small creatures, I don't anticipate any real issues. The weather's still going to be hot, that's for sure. Actually, looking at the extended forecast, I expect it to remain hot even into fall for a while, so don't get your hopes set on cooler temperatures until closer to winter.]

Jason yawned as he woke up. Tess had been up half the night with false contractions, which, in turn, had kept him up for slightly more than half the night. After all, it was hard work worrying about whether or not she would go into labor, even though she didn't think she would. He was exhausted... Nevertheless, he rather regretted the decision to yawn, as Chance seized on the opportunity to lick the inside of Jason's mouth. He coughed and spluttered as he rolled out of bed, and Chance barked playfully.

"No, Chance," Jason spluttered as he tried to spit all the dog slobber out of the inside of his mouth. He ran to the bathroom and grabbed a glass of water from the sink, swirled it around his mouth, and then spat it out. As he walked back into the bedroom, he found Tess still asleep even as Chance licked her face.

"Here, boy," he called the dog away, then looked down at the face of his slumbering wife. He sighed deeply, then nodded and turned away. It was best to let her sleep; she didn't need the chaos of the day when she had been up so much. Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he made his way down the stairs

to the kitchen, poured Chance some food, and then sat down to eat his own breakfast.

It was the first time in quite awhile since he had eaten breakfast by himself. The cookbook flapped its pages at him curiously, and he just shrugged in return.

"She'll be down in a bit. Make up her favorite as soon as you see her, I think she'll really appreciate it."

The cookbook clapped its covers once in acknowledgement, and Jason rose as he finished eating. With that, he finished getting ready, and strode out onto the front porch.

The weather forecast had been right, and if Jason wasn't mistaken, it was setting itself up to be one of the hottest days of the entire summer. The wind rippling across the prairie was already hot, and as the first rays of the sun crested above the horizon, Jason felt himself beginning to sweat. No two ways about it, it was going to be a scorcher, that much was undoubtable.

He strode down off the porch and let the horses out into the corral while Chance chased some small monsters, then walked up to the fence surrounding the field. The sunflowers were all turned eagerly toward the eastern sky, and he smiled at their black centers. After a moment, he frowned and stroked his chin.

Strictly speaking, they wouldn't be ready to harvest for another two days, but that was getting awfully close to the due date, and even Theresa was willing to admit that, inside of a week, the baby could come at any time. Jason would get docked slightly by harvesting early, but the loss was one he was willing to bear. Satisfied with his decision, he walked over to the corral, took Angus out, and quickly hitched him up to the harvester.

"Hey, little farmer!" The ground gave a soft tremor as Daniel came thunking up behind him. "How goes it today?"

"It goes." Jason finished tightening down the straps, then turned around. To his immense surprise, Daniel was wearing overalls. It was the first time he had ever seen the warrior wearing anything but armor, and it just didn't seem to suit him quite right. Jason couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was just slightly off.

"What's up?" Jason asked after a moment. He climbed onto the back of the harvester and took up the reins. "Anything you need?"

"Nah. Just looked like you were doing something important, and dad told me to keep an eye on you so we could learn from a professional, and it's a whole lot easier to keep an eye on you from over here instead of over there."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Dad? Richard isn't your father, Daniel."

"Yeah, but he's Tess's dad, and I'm Tess's sister, and my own dad is dead. And so's my mom. And..." Daniel sighed.

Jason truly felt empathy for his brother-in-law. Daniel and Tess had been given hard starts to life, there was no doubt about that. "All right, then. You can watch me, just make sure you turn off your inertia skills before you lean against my fence."

Daniel closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Done."

Jason nodded, then snapped the reins. He swirled off toward the field, then paused at the gates. "One more thing, Daniel?"

Daniel leaned against the top rail of the fence and nodded in his direction. "Yeah?"

"If you hear anything from Tess, make sure to call out for me."

"Will do, little farmer!" Daniel grinned.

With that, Jason rumbled into the field. The blades whirred to life, slicing through stalks left and right. Just as always, the sunflowers emitted

their unique sunshine effect as they were cut down. The smell of cooking butter filled the air, and Jason inhaled the delightful aroma appreciatively.

At least he did for a while. It didn't take long for him to begin sweating profusely. It was nothing that he hadn't experienced before, but on that particular day, as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, the effect became worse and worse. On his old harvester, there had been nothing beneath him but whirling blades. Now, the painted layer of metal beneath him reflected the sun right back up into his face and arms. It felt as though he were being cooked from both sides, and after a mere two passes back and forth, he had to pull over at the edge of the field. Bits of butter had stuck to his skin and started to sizzle, which was not pleasant, and he already felt more than a little parched.

"You okay, little farmer?" Daniel asked, concern on his face.

"Yeah. Just hot," Jason lamented. He looked at the wannabe farmer, and an idea sprang into his head. "Would you want to give this a whirl?"

Daniel's jaw dropped. "You'd trust me with that?"

"You've seen me do it, and I've shown you what to do when we were stationary. Just take it slow. Go down, then back, and we'll see how you're doing."

Daniel nodded, then climbed up onto the machine as Jason climbed down. Jason then found himself leaning against the fence as Daniel whirled away through the field. He watched carefully, then, as Daniel neared the halfway mark, he nodded in satisfaction. The warrior was actually doing a remarkable job, there was no doubt about that. Confident that nothing would be amiss for the next several minutes, Jason walked over to the hydrant to get himself a drink of water. While he was at it, he washed down his arms, something that he usually never bothered with in the middle of the day. It made him feel a great deal better, and he returned to the fence to watch Daniel's return.

All through it, though, he kept a close eye turned on the house. Tess still seemed to be asleep, and he couldn't hear her crying out in labor, which

was always a bonus. That fact hadn't changed by the time that Daniel returned, and Jason stepped forward. Daniel brought the machine to a halt, with a wide grin plastered all across his face.

"That was amazing!" He beamed as he climbed down. "Can I do it again?"

"As far as I'm concerned, since all the fence is still standing, the machine hasn't been damaged, and the crop has been harvested, you can have as many turns as you want!" Jason beamed, glad to have a break from the heat. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit hot, but nothing I haven't faced before. Once, there was this dungeon called the Kiln of the Fire Warrior. It was guarded by this undead sorcerer, and let me tell you, he knew how to barbecue."

Daniel was still talking as he climbed back up onto the machine with Jason's approval, and he soon drove away. Jason watched him closely once again, and once more, Daniel made it all the way down and back without any major issues. This time, though, as he pulled up to the edge of the fence, his face was a bit more drawn, and he had a little bit less oomph in him.

"That's... That's getting hotter."

"Then hop down." Jason climbed over the fence and took his place once again. "Wash up, take a drink, and get to feeling better."

He rumbled off into the field once more, and Daniel soon vanished behind him. Once more, it was painfully hot, even more so than before. The machine itself seemed to be soaking up the heat, such that the metal standing platform was growing hot even through his boots, and the rubber handles were becoming painful to hang onto. He made it down and back two more times, then pulled to a stop and hopped off.

"Yow!" he yelped as he happened to touch a piece of metal that had simply been exposed in the sun. "That's... We're going to have to call an end to the day."

"No, you aren't." Richard's voice echoed through the air, and he came striding up. With a flourish, he pulled a crystal out of his pocket and tossed it to Jason. "Here. I saw you two trading off and came over to see what the fuss was about, and Daniel told me what was happening. It's a hot one today, no two ways about that."

Jason caught the crystal. It was pure ice... Or maybe what a stone made out of ice would have felt like, and was cool in his hand.

"What do I do with it?"

"Give it a squeeze, then when you have a prompt to activate it, choose it," Richard ordered. "Sorry, I sometimes forget that crystal activation is a skill you have to take when you become a warrior."

Jason nodded and squeezed the crystal. [Would you like to use Ice Crystal?] "Yes," Jason nodded.

The crystal dissolved in his hand, and suddenly, the air around him seemed to cool. He looked with surprise at the two warriors, and Richard whacked Daniel upside the head.

"If he had been thinking, he would have remembered that the Kiln of the Fire Warrior can't be attempted without a dozen of these at minimum, even for strong warriors."

Daniel turned slightly red, and Jason climbed gingerly up onto the machine once again. Sure enough, it was a lot less hot than before, and he smiled. As he turned the machine around, he nodded at Richard.

"If you're sticking around, I'd appreciate it if you kept an eye out for Tess."

Richard nodded, and Jason took off once again. Down and back he went, until noon crested, and his stomach began to rumble fiercely. He parked the machine, then took the panting Angus over to the coral, where

the stallion gratefully drank some water and began to roll about in the dust. Jason strode up onto the porch, where Richard, Daniel, and a rather exhausted-looking Tess all sat around a small picnic. Daniel passed a sandwich to Jason, and he took it gratefully.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Tess as he sat down on the railing of the porch. "Is today the day?"

"No. Don't think so." Tess rubbed her belly, then looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks for letting me sleep. I don't know how I would have managed today without it."

Jason nodded, then glanced at Daniel and Richard. "Thanks for that ice crystal. I couldn't have harvested the field without it."

"I've got a whole bunch more where that came from," Richard chuckled. "There are dozens of different types of crystals, but just about every monster that has a level higher than 10 will have at least one. A lot of warriors just start discarding them after a while, since there's no real need for them."

"Well, I'll take as many as you have," Jason enthused. "Can horses use them, too?"

"You'd better believe it!" Daniel nodded.

"You'd better all be careful if you start using crystals on my horse," Tess warned. "I may be pregnant, but that won't last for much longer, and I can whoop you something fierce."

Jason chuckled, and he sighed as they continued to talk. The meal wore on easily, and then as they finished up, Richard left to go grab some more ice crystals while Daniel strode down into the yard to look at the horses. Jason hopped off the rail and came over to Tess, who took his hand.

"They told me that you told them to keep an eye out for me," Tess whispered softly. "I appreciate it. I know I yelled at you last time, but now,

it feels like the baby could come at any time. She's pressing up against my hips, and I can feel things starting to widen."

"You think it's going to be today?" Jason asked, his heart fluttering.

"No, not today." Tess shook her head. "At least, I don't think so." A moment later, though, a smile flickered across her face. "That said, it'll be soon. Very soon, Jason. The wait is almost over.

Chapter Ten: Due Date

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Summer! It's the day of the Summer Festival! I wish I could give a different forecast, but it's just going to be hot today. Hot, hot, hot. Bring out lots of water, and preferably as many water- based fruits as you can find. Mellons would be good... Citrus... Yes, Paulina, I know this isn't a shopping list, but that doesn't mean I can't give suggestions! Anyway, the big party is today, so make sure you all come out early!]

Jason smiled as he woke up. Today was the day! Today was the day of the summer festival! More importantly, though, it was the due date of the baby, and that meant that, even if Tess didn't give birth that very day, she was going to stay with Theresa until she did. It was more than a little exciting, and Jason leapt up from the bed just as soon as his eyes opened.

And that was when he realized that Tess wasn't in bed.

Chance was gone, too. Jason frowned, then quickly ran to the bathroom. Tess wasn't there, either, though the wardrobe was hanging open. He glanced inside and noticed that one of her dresses was missing, and he quickly changed into his dress-up tunic and scampered down the stairs.

Tess was sitting on the couch in the living room, leaning back as best she could. She held her belly in both hands, and she had an expression of utter pain upon her face. After a few moments, she relaxed, and Jason nodded at her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah,." Tess nodded, then slowly swung her legs over the side of the couch. She had a smile on her face that set Jason rather on edge, and he frowned. "Jason? I have something to tell you, and I need you not to freak out."

"That's me." Jason nodded. "I never freak at-"

"It's time."

"It's-" Jason started to repeat the phrase, and then the meaning struck him. "It's time? It's time! What are we still doing here? Quick! Do you want breakfast? You've probably already eaten. We've got to get going!"

He was halfway to the door before Tess stopped him.

"Hold up! It's okay. Go sit down and eat a good breakfast. Theresa doesn't really allow food in the delivery room, and if we're there for a long time, I don't want you getting hungry on me, and I definitely don't want you leaving me alone while you go get food."

Jason let out a long breath, then nodded. "Do you want anything?"

"No." Tess shook her head. "Now, all that said, I'm going to just sit right here while I wait for you to eat, if that's okay."

"Perfectly!" Jason walked into the kitchen, where he prepared himself a plate of pancakes. He then went back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Tess. About halfway through his breakfast, his wife flinched and held her belly once more, and began to breathe heavily and in pain.

"Do we need to leave now?"

Tess didn't answer for a few long moments. Finally, she relaxed again and shook her head. "We'll leave soon. The contractions are still close to twenty minutes apart. That's more than enough time."

"Contractions? You're in labor?" Jason jumped up.

"Yes, I'm in labor. Sit down, you're going to make me dizzy with all that shooting around." Tess waved him down. "I've been in labor since midnight. Contractions start out something like an hour apart. Then they get closer and closer together, and it's actually not until they're coming every few seconds that you really have to worry. I'd like to be in Theresa's place by the time they're five minutes apart, but we probably don't need to rush for that." She flashed a reassuring smile. "I know women who have been in labor for over twenty-four hours, especially with their first kid. Go take care of the animals."

Jason nodded, then frowned. "Where's Chance?"

"I sent a letter to the Lazy-H Ranch. Jeremiah came by and picked him up this morning, around five o'clock or so," Tess revealed. "His hired men will be taking care of the horses. Everything is set and good to go, you can rest assured of that."

Jason slowly nodded, then finished eating. Tess sat back on the couch and waited, and he quickly got his boots on and tromped out into the yard. The adult horses nickered cheerfully, and he let them out and poured their oats. As he did so, he looked at Alfred and patted his neck. The young foal was over six months old now, and was nearly as large as his parents. It wouldn't be much longer before they were able to start riding him right along with the other two, but that was still some time off, Jason assumed.

After a bit of debate, he took Lady out of the corral and hitched her up to the carriage, then brought the vehicle around to the front of the house. Tess emerged, shutting the door tightly behind her, and soon, they were riding off down the road. Daniel and Richard both waved as they passed, and Jason waved back, then snapped Lady's reins.

He had selected Lady due to the somewhat smoother nature of her ride. She wasn't nearly as fast as Angus, that was for sure, but she was sure to jostle Tess around a good deal less. Tess seemed to appreciate this fact, as she had several more contractions on the way into town. When they came rumbling up into the Town Square, Jason had to smile.

Preparations for the festival were well underway, as they always were by this time of day. People rushed back and forth, carrying enormous amounts of food here and there, preparing tables and stages, and other such things. Weatherhand, Jeremiah's chief farm hand, met them as they came rumbling up. He helped Tess climb down, then took their carriage around to the field where all the other carriages and wagons were being parked. Jason watched him go, then quickly led Tess over to the front door of the healing den.

Theresa met them at the door, a smile on her face. "Are we just checking you in, or is it time?"

"It's time," Tess confirmed, then gasped in pain as another contraction hit. Theresa immediately took her arm and led her to a nearby chair in the waiting room, where she coached Tess through the pain. When it ended, she nodded sharply at Jason.

"Start counting the seconds, and stay here until I come for you."

Jason nodded, sat down, and started counting seconds while Theresa led Tess down the hall and into one of the rooms whose windows looked out across the town square. He counted all the way to three hundred and seven before Theresa's voice echoed down the hall once again.

"Stop counting! Remember that number!"

Jason nodded, then clicked his heels together. Finally, Theresa appeared and asked him for the value, and he gave it.

"Five minutes. She timed that just about perfectly." Theresa smiled, then nodded down the hall. "If you'd like to come in, now's your chance."

Jason eagerly leapt to his feet, and he soon stood in the small room. It was nearly identical to the one in which Tess had been examined, but it had a somewhat larger bed. A large window had been covered over by curtains, and Jason sat down in a chair just beneath this. Meanwhile, a set of rags and baby clothes had been laid out over a nearby cart. Tess's maternity dress was folded neatly on the bottom of this cart, while she wore a white gown

in its place. At that moment, she was lying on the bed with a blanket drawn up to her belly.

"All right, you two." Theresa came in and nodded at them. "My best guess is that you've got four to six hours left before things get really intense, but at the end of the day, the baby will come when she's ready. Start thinking of a good name, and call me if you need me."

With that, she ducked out of the room, and Jason breathed slowly to center himself. He glanced at Tess, who had a smile on her face. She reached out and took his hand, and he sighed deeply.

"This is it," Tess whispered. "The birth of our first baby. From this moment on, our lives will never be the same again."

"Nope, they sure won't," Jason shook his head, even as a flutter of excitement ran through his soul. "This is... This is incredible."

"I know!" Tess squealed. "I just... Jason, do you know-"

Her voice was cut off as she went through another contraction. After a few moments, it faded away, and she smiled again.

"What are we going to name her?" Jason asked.

"Don't worry," Tess reassured him. "I have it all figured out." "You do?" Jason blinked in surprise. "I don't get a say?"

"If you don't like it, I suppose we can change it." Tess shrugged, then leaned over and whispered a name in Jason's ear. When she leaned back, he smiled as well.

"I love it," he whispered, then reached out and placed a hand on his wife's belly. "Come quickly, little one."

From there, the time passed relatively quickly. Jason peeked through the curtains every now and again to see how things were progressing with the festival, but all things considered, it was nothing any different from the

other festivals that he had experienced. Theresa brought in some board games after a while, and they amused themselves with chess, checkers, and a few other such games. Mostly, though, they just talked. There was so much to discuss, that was for sure, and Jason's heart continued to flutter with pure and simple anticipation.

Around the time that noon came, Tess's contractions began to come quicker and quicker. The time between contractions dropped to little more than a single minute, and then less than that. Theresa came in, all the board games were cleared away, and things began to get serious. And that was when Jason got kicked out of the room.

"Do... Do I really have to leave?" Jason protested as Theresa led him to the door.

"It'll just be for a few moments," Theresa promised. "Just trust me. Childbirth is nothing you want to see anyway."

Jason, who had seen Lady give birth to Alfred, did have to admit that it didn't appear particularly pleasant, but he was nonetheless frustrated to be left out in the cold. He leaned up against the wall right outside the door, and he sat back to wait. Within minutes, Tess's pained breathing began to echo loudly through the door, and within a few minutes more, she began to cry out in pain. The cries got louder and louder, until there may as well just have been no door in between Jason and Tess at all. He desperately wanted to rush to the side of his wife... And then, there was silence.

And then there was another cry. A much higher-pitched cry.

Jason't heart leapt, and a moment later, the door swung open. Jason burst inside to find Tess cradling a small, pink bundle against her chest, a warm smile unlike anything Jason had ever seen before upon her face. As he walked up to the side of the bed, she slowly turned the bundle away, revealing a wonderful, screaming face that was... in a lot of ways... just a smaller, slightly chubbier version of Tess's face.

"Baby Fern," he whispered and reached out, placing a hand on her head.

"Do you want to hold her?" Tess asked.

Jason nodded without saying a word, and dropped into the chair. Theresa came back in and took the baby from Tess's arms, but before she passed Fern off to Jason, she placed the tiny baby on a warm pad on the cart, took a number of measurements, and then put on the smallest diaper that Jason had ever seen. She was then dressed in a tiny little pair of fuzzy pajamas, and then was passed back to her father, who received the bundle with unbridled joy.

As Fern lay there in his arms, he hardly felt the weight at all, she was so small. Her wide eyes blinked up at him for a few moments, but they soon slid shut under their heavy weight. He bent over and kissed her on the cheek, and she waved her arms.

"Hold her a little closer," Tess urged him. "She's not used to being outside my womb. She's going to want to be cuddled."

Jason nodded, and did his best to reposition his arms. It was a little awkward, but he soon settled into the routine. She calmed down a bit, and then Jason passed her back to Tess, who cradled her lovingly as well. After a few minutes, Fern started to scream again, and Tess fed her for a few moments.

"How are you two doing?" Theresa poked her head in the door.

"I think we're doing well," Tess expressed, then let out a long breath, with a smile upon her face.

"Good, because you have a few visitors," Theresa beamed. She ducked back out of the room, and Jeremiah appeared in the doorway.

"Jason!" He rushed forward, then peered down at Baby Fern. "She's beautiful. Just stellar. You two did a good job. 'Course, the easy part's over, but now Jason gets to share in the pain, too."

Jason and Tess both laughed. Jason couldn't keep a grin off his face, that was for sure. He was unable to look away from Fern's perfect little

face, her wonderful little grin. Jeremiah did the same, perhaps thinking back over the births of his own children. Finally, Theresa ushered him out, and Daniel and Richard came in, followed by Paulina, Viola, Obadiah, and a host of other people throughout the town.

Two hours passed with ease, simply showing off Fern to anyone and everyone who came. Finally, though, Theresa came into the room and shooed everyone away, including Jason.

"I imagine that Tess needs to rest now, and it would be good to test how Baby Fern sleeps without being around her mama." Theresa took Fern and swaddled her, then lay her in a small crib that she scooted over right next to the bed. "Since this is your first baby, I'd like to keep you here overnight, just to make sure that everything works out well. Tess, I'll bring you some food, too, here in just a few minutes. Jason, go enjoy the festival, and when you're ready to sleep, I'll put up a cot on the other side of the room."

Jason didn't want to leave Tess at all, but as Tess was already half- asleep before he left the room, he knew it was the best thing. Theresa shut the door behind the two of them, and Jason slowly made his way out into the festival.

By that time, the meal had long since started. Jeremiah waved at him, and Jason made his way over to sit down next to his friend. The music, the noise, it all swirled around him, but he found himself unable to think about anything other than little Fern, back in that hospital room.

"Congratulations!" Jeremiah beamed at him as he sat down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar, which he handed over. Jason blanched at the object, and Jeremiah snorted. "I know you don't smoke, and strictly speaking, the tradition states that you're supposed to give me a cigar, but I know that's not going to happen, so even if you just throw this away the moment you get home, let me be happy for you!"

Jason laughed and accepted the cigar, tucking it away in his inventory. With that, he started eating, and found himself utterly famished, as he really hadn't eaten since breakfast. Dozens of people clapped him on the back and congratulated him, but it all just seemed to roll off of him. He was in a daze.

His world had changed. Now, he was a father... And his world now rested with two people, his two favorite girls, sleeping in that nearby hospital room.

Now, he just had to figure out how to adjust to that new life.

Chapter Eleven: The 1st Day of Fall

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Fall! 90 days until the Fall Festival! You remember how I said it would be hot? Don't say I didn't warn you! It's not as bad as summer, but expect temperatures to remain between 70 and 90 for the next month, even as the trees lose their leaves and all that. No storms are predicted yet, though, so that's good!]

Jason slowly woke up on the cot in the hospital. He blinked in surprise for a moment, then slowly rose up onto his elbows. Tess was sitting up on her bed, a smile on her face. She was feeding Fern at that exact moment, and Jason nodded in her direction.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well," the new mother whispered. "Still a little tired. I don't know how much you woke up to Fern's cries, but it's going to be a little while before she really starts sleeping through the night."

Jason nodded in understanding, though, in all reality, he had slept straight through and hadn't noticed a thing. That would probably have to change, he realized. "Are you ready to head home?"

"As soon as Theresa comes in and clears me, yes," Tess affirmed. "I'm pretty sure I got everything set up before we left, so we should be good to just show up." She paused. "Actually, why don't you head out and get the carriage? Bring it around in front of the hospital, that way we can get going just as soon as we can."

Jason nodded, then rose quietly and slipped out into the hall. As he walked into the waiting room, he found Theresa quietly stirring something in the cauldron. It was thick and black, and smelled rather like tar. She looked up at him and smiled broadly.

"You three ready to get headed home?" She asked.

"If possible."

"Good. I was hoping you three would be up early." Theresa rose and started making some preparations, grabbing a handful of tools and placing them on a rolling cart nearby. "I'll go start my final examination. It shouldn't take too long, I just need to make sure that Tess and the baby are both recovering as expected. I don't anticipate any issues, of course, but it's always better to be safe than sorry."

Jason nodded as if he understood, though prior to that moment, it hadn't really dawned on him that the process could go wrong. After a moment, he strode out into the town square.

There, the town was just waking up. Women were out and about getting water from the well, while Obadiah and Hank were both perched on the rim of said well. They waved at Jason, and he waved back as he came walking over.

"Lady's in the Guild stables, and the carriage is over around the backside of the hall." Obadiah jerked his thumb to the north. "I know, I know, Tess is going to get upset if she knows about it because she's not with the Guild anymore, but there's a clause in the Guild constitution that lets me hold the horses and equipment of townsfolk if necessary, so consider it a favor."

"I'll do that." Jason chuckled. "Have a great day!"

Hank tipped his hat as he walked by, striding around the Guild Hall to the stables. There, one of the young boys from the village who had been hired as a stablehand took Lady out of her stall and helped Jason hitch her

up to the carriage. That done, Jason drove around and through the town square, up to the hospital.

Just as he pulled up, Tess came walking out, holding Baby Fern in her arms. She was back in her maternity dress, which now hung in loose folds around her much-thinner body. Jason hopped down and helped her climb up, and with that, they were off back down to the farm. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, casting its warm rays as a soft breeze began to blow. Baby Fern gave a crackling cry as they bumped down the road toward the farm, and Tess sighed deeply.

"Jason, we have a baby now!"

"I know!" Jason squealed. "It's so exciting!"

"When we get home, I'm going to take her up to our bedroom to get her settled in," Tess enthused. "If you'd be willing to put that lock on the bedroom door, that would be great, and then I have a few other odd jobs around the house that I could use some help with. I'm really sorry, I know you usually go out planting on the first day of a season, but there are just some things that I haven't been able to get done without Fern actually here."

Jason simply grinned. "That's what I'm here for. The field can wait until tomorrow, don't sweat that."

Tess smiled, then leaned her head against Jason's shoulder as he held the reins. Soon, they were home. Jason helped Tess get down from the carriage, and she walked up and into the house. The door clicked shut, and Jason went about putting the carriage and Lady away. Angus and Alfred were already out in their corral for the morning, and an assortment of oats had been poured out for them, indicating that Jeremiah or his hired hands had already been there for the day. Jason turned Lady loose with the other two horses, then, after glancing around the farm to make sure that everything was in order, he walked up and inside the house as well.

By that point, Tess was upstairs. Jason walked into the kitchen and made himself a plate of pancakes and Tess an egg salad, then went upstairs

to meet here. There, she lay in the bed, cradling Fern, with the bassinet right next to the bed. She nodded gratefully at the food, and slowly lay Fern down in the bassinet while she and Jason began to eat. Fern waved her arms with her eyes shut tight, and Jason found himself smiling broadly once again.

"When do you think she'll start opening her eyes more?" the proud new dad asked softly.

Tess shrugged. "Probably in a few days, really, though it'll be a few weeks before they're open a lot. Infants sleep a massive percentage of the day when they're first born, and that's not going to change, really, until they're about three months old."

Jason nodded slowly. There was so much that he suddenly realized that he didn't know about babies. He knew a little bit about animal babies, just from talking to Jeremiah and from observing Alfred, but human babies? Those were something new. He just hoped, desperately, that he wouldn't make any mistakes. He just wanted to be the perfect father for Fern, he wanted to make sure that she would be safe and comfortable and have everything she could possibly want (without spoiling her, of course). It was a tall order, and one that he didn't have the faintest idea how to deliver.

"All right," Tess began as she finished the meal. "I have a short list for you. If you don't mind, I'm probably going to take the next couple days to just rest. I'm exhausted, and the thought of walking around anywhere is just... awful."

Jason eagerly agreed, "Don't think anything of it. Just tell me what needs to be done, and I'll have it done."

"Thank you, Jason." Tess let out a long breath, then nodded at the door. "The baby room is the first order of business. We need to make sure that there are clothes in all the drawers, diapers in all the right places, and so on. I know I've been spending a lot of time in there, and I think everything should be ready, but I want to make sure. Once I get my feet under me, that's where I'll be spending most of my time with her, at least until she's a smidge older."

Jason nodded, then rose and walked into Fern's room. It was bright and ready for him, with the window curtains spread wide open and brilliant sunlight streaming inside. He got to work and was quickly able to confirm that everything was, indeed, in order. He brought a handful of diapers and some infant clothes into their bedroom for Tess to use until she started feeling better, and she nodded gratefully.

"Thanks. Next project, and this is going to be a bigger one." Tess let out a long breath. "I need you to go down to the living room and start baby- proofing it."

Jason blinked. "What do you mean?"

Tess explained, "Anything that could be grabbed or knocked over by Fern once she starts to crawl needs to be put up somewhere. The fire pokers come to mind, and I think we have a number of vases and things that need to be moved. The kitchen should be okay, though we're going to have to move Chance's food bowl out onto the porch so Fern doesn't start eating dog food."

Jason frowned. "That's not going to be an issue until she starts crawling, though... right?"

"That's true," Tess noted, but then she paused. "However... When she starts crawling, she's not exactly going to give us a lot of notice. One day, she'll be immobile; the next day, she'll be zooming like a racehorse, and I'd really rather see all of this sort of thing get taken care of now while we know it's okay, rather than waiting around until she starts racing everywhere and knocking things over and then we're scrambling."

"That's fair," Jason acknowledged. He turned and made his way downstairs, where he began trying to do exactly as Tess asked. The fire pokers, indeed, were obviously an issue, and he put them up over the fireplace for the time being. He made a mental note to try and put up a grate or something around the fireplace to keep Fern from crawling into it, but that was going to require him to buy materials from Paulina first. He then got down on his hands and knees and started crawling around on the floor, looking for anything out of the ordinary that might be a hazard. At this

point, he discovered that the couches, which all sat rather high off the wooden floor, harbored a great deal of dust and debris underneath them, and he realized that this task was going to take a lot longer than he had originally anticipated.

Before he could get anything done, though, a sharp knock came on the door. He walked over and swung it open, revealing Daniel standing there with a wide, rather shy sort of grin on his face.

"I... Uh... Richard told me not to come over here, but since he's not my dad, I don't have to listen to him, and I was just wondering if I could see my little niece?"

"Tess is resting right now," Jason apologized. "I can have her come across the road when she's feeling better, though."

"That would be great." Daniel nodded and turned, then paused. "Do you... Do you think I could just stay here until she's ready? I just keep thinking back on that cute little face and-"

Jason laughed. Daniel was far from the person that Jason would have expected to get googly-eyed over a baby, but then, he was a softie at heart.

"You can stay if you help me clean the house."

"Ooh! I can do that." Daniel thumped into the house, and a vase started to topple. Jason caught it quickly, and Daniel grinned. "Your reflexes are getting faster."

"They're going to have to get a whole lot better than that, if I'm going to do this whole 'dad' thing." Jason put the vase into the house's inventory instead of replacing it, then went into the back room and grabbed a broom and dustpan. As he came back into the living room, he gestured at the furniture. "What I need you to do is lift this stuff up. I need to sweep under it, and I really don't want to have to push all this back and forth myself."

"You got it, little farmer!"

Daniel flexed his muscles, then picked up the nearest chair. Jason swept underneath it, finding mostly dust, along with a handful of splinters from the chair that had been there previously, before Daniel had accidentally broken it. From there they moved on to the couch, then to more chairs, and so on around the room. Predominantly, all he found was ordinary house debris, but a few of the items, including a dagger that he recognized as part of Tess's collection, did rather worry him. He also began thinking about blocking off certain parts of the house. The basement, for example, was never going to be baby-proof, with all the dripping water and other such nasty things. He began to imagine a series of tiny gates, which adults could step over, but babies would be trapped behind. It sounded a bit cruel on the surface, but it wasn't like you could lock them in a room and be done with it, and it might prove to make things safer. He decided to see what he could do to make some of the 'baby gates,' though he didn't know when he would have the time.

Daniel stayed and helped him clean for the better part of an hour. They went through the rest of the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room. Finally, as Daniel was brimming with anticipation, Jason went upstairs and got permission for Daniel to come see Tess, since she still wasn't feeling up to coming on down. He burst up the stairs three at a time when he got permission, and gazed down at the sleeping form of his niece with rapt fascination.

"She's so beautiful." He reached out a finger, and slowly caressed her cheek. "She's just like a little version of you, Tess. When do you think she'll kill her first monster?"

Tess laughed. "Let's not get too excited about that just yet." She let out a long breath. "We're home, and that's what matters. We can decide exactly how we're going to raise her as time goes on. For now..." She gazed down into the bassinet, and Jason found himself unable to tear his gaze away from Fern's slumbering face. "For now, I just want to enjoy this precious moment.

Chapter Twelve: Mooing in the yard

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 10th day of Fall! 81 days until the Fall Festival! It's looking like we've got a storm brewing today, folks! No tornados, thankfully. Of course, those can only spawn in the fall under very specific circumstances, so we'd have been safe anyway. That said, the storm is looking like a bit of a nasty one. We'll have some pretty high winds, possible hail, and more. Stay inside if at all possible.]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and in that moment, a number of noises buffeted his ears. Baby Fern was crying, Tess was shh-ing her while bouncing her softly in her arms, Chance was scratching at the door and whimpering, distant thunder was booming, the wind was howling over the chimney, and something seemed to be mooing out in his yard. There was only one thing that Jason knew of that could moo, and he was quite certain that, the night before, none of them had been on his property.

"Can you go check on things, Jason?" Tess glanced over at him. "All the noise has Fern shaken up. I've been up with her for almost an hour now, and I'm kinda at a loss. She's not hungry, she's just upset."

Jason nodded and rose. "I'll go see what all the hubbub is about." He reached the window and looked up, and, quite suddenly, he wished that he was back in bed.

Sure enough, a large herd of cattle was stampeding through his farm. It was somewhere around a hundred heads, he guessed, and while they hadn't broken anything yet, they were certainly tramping down his grass. Lightning flashed off in the distance, and he stroked his chin.

"You aren't aware of any end-of-the-world predictions set for right about now, are you?" Jason glanced over his shoulder at Tess, who was still trying to calm down Baby Fern. "I-"

"Get along, little doggies!"

Daniel ran through the yard, straight through the middle of the herd, scattering cattle left and right. Some of them broke away and raced off into the prairie, some of them turned and began to race in a circle around the house, and none of them seemed to go in the direction that Daniel wanted them to go.

"It's your brother," Jason sighed, then walked over to the wardrobe and changed into overalls. "Do you want me to bring you up some food before I-"

"No." Tess shook her head. "Get out there, get this mess cleared up, and I'll be able to eat once I get Fern asleep again."

Jason nodded, then ran down the stairs as fast as he could go. He paused for only a moment before heading outside, and that was to write Jeremiah a letter asking for help. The instant it was sent, he pulled on his boots and raced out into the farmyard.

By that time, the cow herd had mostly stampeded off over the hill toward the Far Eighty. Jason sighed, then glanced over as Richard came riding across the road on his enormous horse. Almost as large as Angus himself, the horse was another war animal, a dappled gray animal that brimmed with muscle. Richard drew up alongside Jason, looking down at him in concern.

"What's going on?"

They both asked the question, then looked up as they heard Daniel's cry once again, somewhere distant across the prairie.

"Get along, little doggies!"

"Do you have any idea what he's doing with those cattle?" Jason asked as he raced to the corral and let the horses loose. He began throwing a saddle on Angus as quickly as he could move, and Richard rode up next to him.

"Not a clue. We have a fence for a field, but I don't know if he's trying to put cattle in it, or..." Richard's voice trailed off. "The fence! That's... Me and my big mouth. Come on, hurry up."

Jason had just climbed back up into the saddle when hooves thundered on the ground. Jeremiah, Weatherhand, and a handful of his other hired hands came roaring into the drive. They all drew up around the two, and Jeremiah glanced across the prairie.

"This is where he took them?"

"Do you know what's going on?" Richard demanded. "Did you sell him those cattle?"

"I most certainly did not." Jeremiah snapped. "Come on. After them! Jason, Richard, with me!"

He gave a sharp yaw, and the farmhands all roared away, angling off across the prairie. Meanwhile, Jeremiah, Richard, and Jason all tore straight across the grasses, angling toward the Far Eighty. That seemed to be where the largest concentration of cattle had gone, judging by the trampled grass.

The trio went up and down the familiar hills until they came roaring out across the final rise. There, Jason breathed a sigh of relief to find that all his fence was still intact. That said, the cattle were standing on his piece of ground at that moment, while Daniel seemed to be trying to circle around the backside of them. Jason had to hand it to the warrior: He was fast. That said, he was bent over double, gasping, as he cornered the cattle against the one section of fence that Jason had gotten built.

"Circle around the cattle, and spread out." Jeremiah ordered. "More toward the western side, then the east. We want to drive them back toward the road, but slowly."

Jason and Richard both nodded, and they did as they were told. Daniel turned and waved, but he received only hard glares in return. He seemed rather confused by this, but he did nothing other than to join the line of horses as they started to drive the cattle back across the prairie.

Jeremiah knew his cattle well, that much was immediately obvious. He kept the group moving slowly but purposefully, and always told Jason and Richard how to move to cut off stragglers. As they made their way across the rises and through the depressions, two other herds were brought back into play, until the different groups had all fused together. About an hour after Jason had woken up, the herd was driven back through Jason's yard and out onto the road. Jeremiah's hands sent them trotting down toward the Lazy-H, and since they didn't need as much help guiding the animals on the road, Jeremiah dropped back to talk with the farmers. Jason dismounted and stalked toward Daniel, who was leaning against the rails of the corral and glaring fiercely. Overhead, thunder boomed a bit louder as the storm drew ever-closer.

"You're taking all my cattle!" he protested. "I worked hard to get those!"

"Those were my cattle!" Jeremiah snapped. He hopped down from his horse and strode up to Daniel, who shrank back at the approach of the weathered farmer. "Now, I consider myself a decent man, and I won't hesitate to give the shirt off my back to someone who needs it, but I do take issue with people just taking my herd without asking about it first."

Daniel flinched, then glanced at Richard, who simply raised an eyebrow.

"Last night," Richard gently explained, "I did suggest that it would be fun to try cattle over the winter, but... Apparently, you didn't hear this closely enough... I emphasized that we would need a stronger fence."

"No, you said that the fence was plenty strong enough!" Daniel protested. "We were sitting down, talking, and you said, and I quote: 'I reckon that fence would hold some cattle.'"

Richard rolled his eyes. "I believe the full quote was: I reckon that fence would hold some cattle, but not more than one or two, and not for more than a day or two."

Daniel blinked. "Ahh..."

"And where in that conversation did I tell you to go steal some of Jeremiah's herd?"

"You didn't... I wasn't stealing!" Daniel insisted. "I don't even think those cattle were Jeremiah's. I found them out on the prairie this morning, so I decided to put them in the pen like we had talked about."

"It's not a pen. It's a field." Richard snapped. "And what do you mean, you just found them out on the prairie?"

"Like I said! I climbed up on the roof to take a look around, to do my perimeter check like you're supposed to do when you're out in the wilderness, and lo and behold, there was a herd of cattle just a few hills away!"

Jason glanced at Jeremiah, who blinked a few times. "If that's true, I might have a fence down somewhere. They do break periodically, especially when we get herds of rain-deer in the area, and this does look like a storm that might spawn them. I keep petitioning to call them a flood of rain-deer, instead of a herd, but the fancy-pants scholars up in Illumitir..." His voice trailed off, and he sighed, a bit red-faced. "I may... I may have slightly misplaced the blame here. When we noticed the cattle missing, we formed a search party, and then Jason sent me a message to let me know they were out here, and..."

He rubbed the back of his neck, and Daniel grinned.

"It's okay, little rancher! I forgive you."

Before Jeremiah could react, Daniel lumbered forward and gave Jeremiah a hug. Several bones in Jeremiah's back popped, and he groaned as he pulled himself free and backed away.

"That's okay. Knowing you forgive me is enough."

"If you'd like, I can go try to fix that fence for you!" Daniel offered. "I'm good with a hammer! Once, I hammered in five nails with the same stroke."

"You also broke the roof while you were at it!" Jason looked at him with incredulity. "I watched you!"

"Yeah, and those nails are still in the floor of the house! That's how well they were hammered. Come on, I can show you!"

"That's fine." Jeremiah held up a hand, then climbed up onto his horse. "I'd... I'd better be going."

With that, he wheeled around and rode out of the yard, after his receding herd. Daniel turned to Jason, but Richard caught hold of him and started pulling him across the road. Jason waved, then slowly went back about his business. He put Angus in the pen, poured some grain, then glanced at the field. It was full of ornamental corn, which, he had heard, could be sold for an extraordinary profit to certain buyers up in Illumitir. He wasn't all that interested in becoming rich, of course, but he did rather like the idea of being able to finish buying all the materials for the fence on the Far Eighty. A few monsters were milling about the edge of the field, including the annual smut monsters that showed up every fall. They writhed about on their black, gooey pseudopods, but were driven back by the eternal torches that Jason had placed there almost five years earlier. He watched them for a moment, then turned and walked up into the house. His stomach was growling, and he eagerly strode into the living room and began taking his boots off.

"Everything okay?" Tess rose from the couch. Fern was nowhere to be seen, and Jason nodded.

"Yeah. Just a bit of a misunderstanding." Jason paused. "A big misunderstanding, really, but I think it's all sorted out by now. How are things in here?"

"Well enough," Tess affirmed. She walked into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast. "Sorry I don't have anything ready, I wasn't sure when you'd be done."

"Not a worry at all." Jason sat down and sighed. "Fern's asleep, I assume?"

Tess nodded while she worked. Since the baby had come, she had started preferring to do most of the cooking herself, which seemed to annoy the cookbook. It flapped its pages as she cracked eggs into a pan, but she ignored it. "After you and Jeremiah's posse rode off across the prairie, she was out. My guess is that she'll be waking up to feed in another hour or so, but I couldn't tell you for sure of that." A gust of wind made some of the windows rattle, and Tess lamented, "I'm fairly certain this will wake her up, so I'm just counting every minute she can get some rest."

Jason nodded, then walked up to the kitchen window and looked out. He had left the horses with the option to head back into the stable, and it looked like all three were heading back inside as the first of the raindrops started to fall. The wind gusted a bit stronger, and the prairie grasses bent under the blow.

"If she wakes up, can I be the one to hold her?" Jason asked after a moment. "I haven't really... I..."

Tess turned and beamed. "I'm sure she'd love that. Now, I'm also hoping that she doesn't wake up for-"

A brilliant flash of light left spots dancing before Jason's eyes as a bolt of lightning slammed down into the prairie around a quarter mile away, and a moment later, the resounding blast shook the house. Almost instantly, Fern's cries echoed down the stairs, and Tess spun away from the stove.

"I'll go get her, you sit down on the couch, and grab that pink blanket. It's her favorite."

Jason nodded, then walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. A pink blanket was draped over one of the arms of the couch,

and he picked it up and cradled it in his own arms. A few moments later, Tess came down with Fern, who was dressed in green pajamas. She lay Fern carefully in Jason's arms, then wrapped the blanket around her. Jason then leaned back on the couch and held her close, trying to swaddle her the way that Tess had done. Fern made a few satisfied cooing noises, then stuck her arms straight out as if she were stretching. Her little fingers opened and closed several times, and then she pulled them back into her body once again. Her little legs kicked against Jason's chest, and he winced slightly.

"She's got some muscle."

"I know." Tess laughed as she turned back to the kitchen. "I had her

kicking the inside of my ribs."

A few minutes later, she brought out some pancakes for Jason, who, since he was holding Fern, had to be fed rather like a baby. Nevertheless, he didn't mind. He was holding his daughter, and that was a fact that he knew he would never grow tired of. He sighed and relaxed into the couch as he finished eating, and Tess snuggled up next to him.

Outside, the wind began to blow stronger, and the rain started coming down in sheets. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and Jason sighed in contentment. He was safe inside, safe with a woman he loved and a daughter he cherished. Even if the sun had been shining brightly, he wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else, and for that reason alone, he was more than thankful for the foul weather.

He had a proper family... And for that day, he had nothing on his schedule except to enjoy it.

Chapter Thirteen: Bassinet

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 30th day of Fall! 61 days until the Fall Festival! Let's see... Today, I think we're getting the first real cold snap of fall, folks! Nothing major, no frost or anything, but if you've gotten used to the warmth, you're going to want to bundle up.]

Jason rolled groggily out of bed as the message scrolled across his vision. As he rose, ever-so-quietly, baby Fern burst out crying, and he blinked sleep out of his eyes. Tess rolled over, took Fern out of the bassinet and began to feed her, then glanced over at Jason.

"How are you doing? You look awful."

Jason yawned. "I'm rather regretting the decision I made to handle Fern last night to give you a night of sleep." He laughed even as he said it. "I don't know how you do it, day in and day out."

"In fairness, I do tend to nap a bit more than you." Tess slowly sat up, holding Fern in place as she did so. "Are you going to be okay for today?"

"I've run on way less sleep before." Jason shrugged as he walked up to the window and gazed out across the farm. Sure enough, things were finally starting to look like fall. He opened the window just a crack, and the blistering wind that leapt inside made him shiver. He slammed it shut again a moment later, and baby Fern gave a strangled cry.

"Sorry about that." Jason apologized. "Didn't mean to... Sorry."

"It's okay. She's just still learning about the world." Tess stroked the back of Fern's head. "She's so precious."

Jason walked over and gazed down at his daughter as she drank, then turned and walked to the wardrobe, where he changed into overalls and a long flannel shirt. "What's your plan for the day? Anything I need to take into consideration?"

"If you could hitch up the carriage, I'd sure appreciate it," Tess answered. "Fern turns one month old today, so we're heading into town for her first checkup. If you want to come along, you're welcome. I don't know what you have planned on the farm."

"Not a lot. The corn's all looking good for harvest in a few days, so I was going to take Lady and head over to the Far Eighty. I was able to buy almost two hundred feet of fence with the sale of the first crop of ornamental corn, and haven't gotten nearly all of it put in."

Tess laughed as Fern quit nursing, and she laid the baby back in the bassinet. She was soon dressed in a lovely red fall cloak, and walked back over to Fern. "You're really doing everything you can to get that place up and running, aren't you?"

"I'd really like to be able to start planting it by springtime," Jason explained. "You know, I bought that place back in the second year I lived here, and since then, all we've really done is walk around in the forest. I reckon it's high time that I started getting a return on that investment, especially now that we have a little one to care for."

"You do you. I certainly don't begrudge it of you." Tess chuckled as she picked up Fern and started walking toward the stairs. "If you'd be willing to get some food on the table, I'll be down in a minute once I get Fern changed."

Jason nodded, and soon walked down the stairs into the kitchen. He made a plate of biscuits and gravy for himself, and some scrambled eggs for Tess. She soon came down, and they ate while cradling Tess on their laps,

passing her back and forth here and there. When they finished, Jason went and put on his boots, and tromped out into the cold.

In all reality, it wasn't nearly as cold as he had initially thought, but it was a good deal chillier than it had been for the past four months, and he had been wearing nothing but his nightgown when he had first opened the window. Jason guessed that it was in the lower sixties, maybe upper fifties, with a heavy hint of moisture in the air. There was a storm coming at some point in the near future, he was certain of it.

In any case, he let the horses out and fed them, then took Lady and hitched her up to the carriage. When he brought it around to the front of the house, Tess came out with Fern wrapped tightly in a thick blanket, and Jason helped her climb up. When he went ahead and climbed up after her, she looked at him somewhat in surprise.

"You're coming with me?"

Jason agreed enthusiastically, "Why not? I can always put up the fence tomorrow, and I haven't been to any of her appointments yet. Plus, I could always stand to see how things are shaking out in town."

Tess beamed, then took the reins. Jason cradled the heavily-wrapped Fern in his arms, looking down at her closed eyes as Tess sent them out of the driveway and up along the road toward town. About halfway there, as the cold began to feel a bit more oppressive, Fern's eyes flickered open, and she scowled around them. Jason had to laugh at that: It looked just like she was angry at the weather for growing cooler. After a moment, though, her face relaxed, and she simply giggled the rest of the trip as Jason held her in his arms.

When they came up into town, things seemed quiet. Hank was at the well, but Obadiah was nowhere to be seen. The constable waved as they rode up to Theresa's healing den, and Jason waved back.

"How goes it?" he called out.

Hank shrugged. "Same old, same old. Can't complain, but I'd sure like to, about something or another."

Jason laughed at that. Tess walked over and started talking to Hank about something, and Jason turned and walked into Theresa's healing den. Tess and Hank had once been close friends, and ever since she quit the job of Guildmaster, she'd seen hardly any of him, so he could hardly blame her for wanting to catch up. As he stepped into the much warmer interior of the hospital, Theresa's voice echoed from the hall.

"Coming! There in a minute!"

Jason nodded and sat down in a chair, and a moment later, Theresa hurried into the room.

"Sorry for the delay! Had an emergency this morning that I've been working to set right. Let's see..." Theresa walked over to a large notepad on one of her many tables. "Yes! This is Fern's one-month appointment!"

Jason nodded and climbed to his feet as Theresa began rushing around, grabbing an assortment of tools from different drawers and cabinets. When she finished, she pointed at the closest room and ushered Jason inside.

"Shouldn't we wait for Tess?" Jason asked.

"We will," Theresa agreed. "I'm just going to do some of the preliminary measurements while she's out there talking. Nothing that she'll care if she missed. Can you take off those wrappings?"

Jason lay Fern down on the bed and began to unwrap her. When he got her free, she began to flail her arms and legs about wildly, and she emitted a piercing scream that cut straight to Jason's heart.

"She does not like being unswaddled, does she?" Theresa laughed as she took a measuring tape and began to try to read how tall Fern had grown.

"Not at all." Jason laughed. "Tess has been trying to work with her on that, but-"

"Oh, she's only a month old. She's entitled to be a little picky about things." Theresa leaned over and cooed down at the screaming baby, then took a few more measurements with the measuring tape. "Well, it looks like-"

"Is everything okay?" Tess burst into the room. "Is Fern all right?"

"More than all right," Theresa reassured her. "She's growing right on schedule. A bit on the short side compared to a lot of the babies I measure, but you two are also both relatively short, so I wouldn't be concerned. Compared to her height at birth, she's growing steadily and wonderfully. I need to measure her weight, so if you wouldn't mind putting her in that basket..."

She gestured at a small scale that consisted of two baskets. It was something that Jason had seen before, but he had never realized that it was actually a scale. Now, Tess laid Fern into one side of the scale, which was lined with fleece blankets and soft pillows, and Theresa began to put weights into the other side. Finally, the scale lifted just a few inches off the ground, balancing, and Theresa nodded.

"She's growing well in the weight division. You're feeding her well, which was going to be my next set of questions."

Tess nodded. "Everything's been going well with feeding; no issues that we've noticed."

Theresa nodded as she started to set out some of the tools. "And you've been nursing her, correct?"

"Yes." Tess nodded, then paused. "We did buy a small supply of formula so that Jason could give her bottles. He actually did that last night, so I could have a few hours of sleep."

"And that's perfectly all right," Theresa comforted her. "I've talked to Paulina about the issue in the past, for some of my other parents, so she'll only sell you brands of formula that are actually safe for babies. I'd still

suggest nursing most of the time, but it seems like you're already on that track."

She paused, then nodded down at the bed. "I'm sorry, baby Fern, but you're really going to hate this. Tess, would you mind laying her out and taking off her pajamas?"

Tess nodded, then lay her down on the bed and slowly unsnapped her pajamas. As soon as she did so, and the open air hit her skin, Fern unleashed a piercing bawl that echoed around and around the room. She waved her arms around, balled her hands into tiny little fists, and Theresa rushed forward.

"Don't worry, I'll get this done just as quickly as I can." Theresa took out her tools and started working. She poked a small mirror on a stick into Fern's mouth (which was quite easy to do, since it was wide open at the time) to look around, then began taking different measurements with an assortment of metal devices. One in particular looked like a tool used for drawing, with two arms, and a circular disk in the middle that gave an assortment of different angle and length readings. Theresa measured the distance from the shoulder to the elbow, hip to knees, across the chest, and a handful of other things. She also took out a stethoscope and listened to Fern's heart, lungs, and stomach, and then used a pressure cuff to try and take Fern's blood pressure. This last attempt didn't go too well, but Theresa confessed that it was often a struggle to get newborns to cooperate for blood pressures. When she finished, she nodded to Tess, who quickly began bundling Fern up once more.

"All told, she looks wonderful," Theresa announced as the appointment came to an end.

"You didn't notice anything at all?" Jason beamed, excited.

"I'm not going to say nothing, but nothing concerning," Theresa answered. "Her lungs have a bit of a hiccup in them, but that could be just a today thing. Unless you really notice her struggling to breathe, I wouldn't worry about it for the time being. These little bodies are still struggling to

figure out how to adapt to the world, so they sometimes take a little bit to figure out how to all work properly."

Jason blinked. "What if it's not just a today thing? What could that look like?"

Theresa paused and tapped her chin. "That's a broad question. In theory, if there was something wrong with her lungs, it could be as simple as getting more hiccups than most people, or as serious as some form of major impairment. As I said, though, it's most likely just a today thing, and I wouldn't have even mentioned it at all except for the fact that I want you to know that I'm being open and-"

Jason quit listening as his mind began to fill with all the possible horrors that could await him down the line. What if Fern was forever crippled, hardly able to move from the couch as she grew older because of her inability to breathe? It would be hard for all of them, but of course they would make it work, they would just have to find more unusual ways of-

"Jason." Tess snapped into his thoughts. "Fern is fine."

Jason pulled himself back to reality, then took a deep breath and nodded. "Right. I... I knew that. Know that." He looked at Theresa. "When's her next checkup?"

Theresa laughed. "I like to see my newborns once a week for the first month, once a month for the first three months, and once a season for the first year. After that, we switch to once a year, pending anything extraordinary happening."

"Right." Jason let out a long breath. "So, next month, and if we see her struggling to breathe-"

"You'll ask me, and I'll decide if it's worth bothering Theresa," Tess answered. "Got it?"

Jason sighed. He rather hated the idea, but he nodded nonetheless. "Got it."

A few minutes later, they had left and were trotting down the road back toward their home. Jason glanced at Tess, who was looking lovingly down at baby Fern, and he smiled. He was glad that she seemed to be doing okay. Nervous, of course, that she might wind up not being okay, but happy that things were going well for the time being.

He just hoped that things stayed well as they continued to move into the future.

Chapter Fourteen: Leaf Monster

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 35th day of Fall! 56 days until the Fall Festival! Today's another warm one again, folks! Please, stop asking me if I can make fall more fall-like. I can't... At least, not without a leaf monster, which I could theoretically spawn with- I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Stop yelling at me. All right, yeah, it's warm, and that's about the only thing happening today with the weather. Sorry it's boring, but on the bright side, this winter should be lively!]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and he heard Chance scratching at the door. He slowly rolled out of bed and stood up, then stretched and walked up to the window. His rows of corn stood tall and ready for the harvest, and he smiled broadly.

"Morning." Tess sat up as well, though she spoke softly. "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Like a rock." Jason chuckled. "After what happened two nights ago, I don't think I moved once I fell asleep."

Tess chuckled softly. Fern had gotten a runny nose and had become quite stuffed up, shortly after her visit to Theresa's. Tess had spent several very sleepless nights trying to take care of her, and then Jason had taken his own turn. Exhaustion had subsequently set in, and when he went to bed the night before, he had fallen asleep before his head hit the pillow. Now, he felt much more refreshed, and Tess even looked quite a bit better as well.

"You look like you actually got some good rest, too," Jason observed as he changed into overalls.

Tess looked relieved. "Fern actually slept through... most of the night. I almost woke her up to nurse a few times, but she's just been struggling to sleep so much for the past few days that I didn't want to risk it. I think the exhaustion finally caught up with her."

Jason flashed a small smile at his sleeping daughter. "What's your plan, then?"

"If you don't mind, I'll slip downstairs and get some breakfast, then come back up here," Tess answered. "I do feel a lot better, but I was awake quite a bit worrying about her, and I do think she could be waking up at any time. I don't think she's quite kicked the cold yet, and I want to make sure we stay on top of it."

"I don't mind at all." Jason shook his head. "I've got a big day harvesting corn. You might bring Fern out sometime, once she wakes up. I don't think she's seen a harvest, and it'll be good to start teaching her young."

Tess laughed, for they both knew that Jason simply wanted to see his daughter. Fern stirred and they both quieted down, then made their way down the stairs. Jason ate a quick breakfast as he walked to the door and pulled on his boots, and Tess grabbed a small meal as she went back upstairs. Soon, Jason was out in the yard, with Chance scampering along behind him.

It didn't take long to feed the horses and turn them loose, and he went over to the harvester to start servicing the machine. Thankfully, the paint that the thing was coated in had turned out to be a powerful anti-rust sealant, which meant that each day, he had far less maintenance to do than he ever had on his older machines. It was a lovely feeling to be able to just touch it up here and there, and then hitch it up to Angus for the day.

As soon as the machine was ready, and Angus was attached to the machine, they were off. Jason decided to let Chance into the field, and the

dog happily yelped and skipped through the rows of corn as Jason began the first pass. Blades tore through stalks, grain began to flow into the farm's inventory, and Jason smiled.

The ornamental corn was a unique variety, and one that he had only heard about prior to trying this experiment. Instead of being yellow, which Jason had thought was the only real variety of corn, it had an assortment of brightly-colored kernels. Some were still yellow, but others were brown, others were red, a few were even blue, and there was an assortment of shades in between. It really was quite beautiful to look at, and as he tore through the field, a number of the kernels were thrown up into the air in a rather mesmerizing sort of sparkle effect.

Jason cut along to the end of the field, turned around, and came back. Now that the summer sun wasn't making the surface of the harvester heat up to unfathomable proportions, he was able to experience the full brunt of just how nice the machine was. All the dust was kept contained and sent out the back of the machine. He had an enormous amount of surface that he could lean upon when necessary. His balance was better, he felt safer, he could breathe easier... All told, there was simply no reason why not to use the nicer machine. At that moment, Jason knew he would never be satisfied with an old harvester again, even though he knew that he would almost certainly have to use one.

Down and back he went, all through the morning. When lunchtime came around, and he took Angus back to the corral for his break, he saw Tess appear from the house. She was carrying a large blanket in one hand, while Fern was tucked into her elbow on the other arm. She soon reached a place near the field, where she set down Fern in the grass and spread out the blanket. Fern was then placed onto the blanket instead, while Jason wiped off his hands and slowly walked over to meet them.

"Just a minute, and I'll be back." Tess turned around and vanished up into the house, then came back down a few moments later. She had a broad picnic basket in her hands, which she set out. Baby Fern looked up from her swaddle and blinked her wide eyes, and Tess reached out and undid the tight wrappings.

"Al lright, what do we have here?" Jason sat down on the ground as baby Fern stuck her arms and legs up into the air and began to wave them about.

"Nothing spectacular," Tess apologized. "Egg sandwiches, pickles, there's some salad, and I made a bit of meatloaf if you'd like it. It's not the most balanced meal in the world, but it's also been awhile since I went shopping."

"I'm not complaining. I'm starving." Jason picked up an egg sandwich and began to munch. Baby Fern stretched out her hands toward the food, but Jason shook his head. "Not yet. Soon, you'll start eating this, but not quite yet."

"Theresa actually told me that we could try giving her a few soft things, like applesauce, anytime we wanted," Tess shared. "It's not recommended to give her a lot, but we could if we had any around and wanted to see how she tolerated it."

"Then let's get some the next time we're in town," Jason declared. He laughed as Fern gurgled, then he reached over and carefully flipped her onto her belly. She gasped and lifted up all her arms and legs, then slowly lifted her head up for a few seconds. Her head wobbled about unsteadily, and Jason reached out and placed his hand underneath it so she wouldn't just come flopping back to the ground. A moment later, her head fell, and Jason flipped her over onto her back once again.

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't do that too much." Tess winced. "We'll start on tummy time in... Probably another month. She is still pretty little."

"Yeah, but did you see her hold up her head?" Jason pointed at her. "She's strong! She's going to be a warrior, just like her mama. Or maybe just a really good farmer. Would you like to be a horse? Would you like to be so strong you can pull something?" He leaned close and let his nose brush up against Fern's. "Your uncle sure likes to try! Yes, he does. Yes, he does."

After a moment, Jason sat up and took another bite of food. "Speaking of your brother, have you seen him in a few days?"

Tess shook her head. "I haven't really noticed anything from across the road since... Really since the cattle. You think they're okay?"

Jason climbed to his feet, gazing nosily across the road. The small house looked quiet, while their field was full of sorghum and about halfway ready for harvest. Jason shrugged after a moment and sat down.

"Beats me. The place doesn't look abandoned, but I don't see them at all."

"I'm sure they're all right. Mostly, it just makes me nervous." Tess chuckled. "If I can see them, I know what mischief Daniel is plotting."

Jason laughed at that, then finished up his food. He shared a bit more talk with Tess and Fern, then rose and made his way back into the field. Angus was looking a good deal more refreshed than he had been earlier, and with that, they started into the corn once more with a whirl.

The afternoon seemed to fly by, really. They continued to go up and down the rows, and while Tess and Fern went inside for about an hour after lunch, they soon came back out and stood by the fence, watching and pointing. Though Jason was admittedly a smidge biased, he was almost certain that Fern was unable to tear her eyes away from the machine. It didn't matter what Theresa said about a baby's vision only being able to focus on things less than three feet away, she was enthralled by the harvester, and that meant that she was going to be a farmer someday! There was simply no other logical conclusion.

Tess and Fern stayed outside for quite awhile, at least until Fern started to get fussy. Finally, as the sun was starting to set and the wind was blowing a bit cooler across the prairie, Tess took Fern back inside, and Jason saw a number of lights coming on. He smiled, and soon finished up the field. Angus was taken back to the corral and allowed to eat some more, and then all three horses were stabled. As they trotted inside, Jason took one more look at Alfred. The horse was almost as big as Lady now, standing only a

hair or two shorter, and Jason made up his mind to try and hitch him up to something by the end of fall, just to see how he would do. When all that was done, he started walking back up toward the house, and made it all the way to the front door before he heard someone call out behind him.

"Howdy, neighbor!"

Jason turned around to see Daniel and Richard riding up on their horses. They were coming from down the road, toward the Lazy-H, and both had dirt stains all across their clothing. Jason raised an eyebrow as they rode up, and he spoke to them from the porch as they paused in the yard.

"Howdy," Jason reciprocated. "Tess and I were just talking about you! What's been going on? Neither of us have seen you around in a while."

The two warriors looked at each other and turned slightly red. In the end, Richard was the one who answered.

"That's because we... well... that is..."

"The little rancher hired us!" Daniel beamed.

Richard coughed, then nodded. "That's actually... That's true."

Jason blinked in surprise. "Jeremiah hired the two of you? That's great! But... Why?"

"Something about the way that we handled things when the cattle got out." Richard shrugged. "He was impressed with the way that I rode my horse, and he was amazed that one man was able to cause so much chaos, in Daniel's case." Richard chuckled. "I'm one of his hired hands now, at least temporarily, and Daniel was placed on fence patrol. He just walks the perimeter, looking for breaks and chasing away any animals he sees that might be threats."

"I saw a dragon yesterday!" Daniel seemed far more excited than most people would be in his position, though he scowled after a moment. "I

threw a rock at it and killed it instantly. No fight, no glory, just a dead dragon."

"Oh, you got plenty of glory all right, just not the kind you were hoping for." Richard started to turn his horse away. "Sorry to bother you. We just haven't seen you in a while, and I wanted to say hi. How are Tess and Fern doing?"

"Splendid," Jason exuded. "Tess keeps taking Fern in for appointments, and..." He paused. "When's the next day you have off?"

Richard shrugged. "At the moment, the only day we have off per week is Sunday, but I reckon we could ask for more, and he'd be happy to give it to us. He's a pretty nice boss, really."

Jason nodded slowly. "Then let's see... I think next Sunday will be day 40. How would you two like to come over for dinner? We'll have a big lunch, and then maybe we can all go do something together? I'm sure Tess would love to see you, and Fern deserves to see her uncle and grandfather."

"We'd love that, and we'll be there," Richard confirmed. He turned his horse away and waved. "Until next time!"

With that, the two warriors rode off, and Jason strode up into the house. As the door clicked shut, he sighed in contentment. He had hosted dinners in the house before, but this was going to be something special. Their first hosting gig since Fern had come around, and that meant their first hosting gig as a new family. He was becoming a real, official adult!

Now he just had to figure out what exactly to do for that day.

Chapter Fifteen: Terrible Wind and a cry

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 40th day of Fall! 51 days until the Fall Festival! It's a Sunday, folks, so make sure to get some well-needed rest! The weather is finally taking a turn for the cooler end of things, and this time, it should stay that way for good. The extended forecast doesn't show anything over fifty degrees until next spring, so settle in, and settle in good. As far as weather goes, today should be clear, but we do have some nasty wind that'll be sweeping through here later this week, and the possibility of storms further on down the road from that.]

Jason's eyes blinked open to the sound of knocking. Tess groaned and shook her head as she sat up, and Fern began to cry.

"Did you specify what time dinner would be when you invited them over?" Tess asked as she picked up Fern to start nursing.

"Ahh... Not exactly." Jason muttered. "I just assumed that they would think it was around noon, you know?"

"Yeah, you really should never assume when it comes to my brother," Tess muttered. "You get dressed and get down there, and I'll be along in a bit."

Jason nodded, rose, and quickly changed into a more casual fall tunic. He jogged down the stairs two at a time, and came into the living room, where the noise was growing louder and louder. As he came up to the front

door, the knocking suddenly stopped, and he swung the door open to find Richard and Daniel arguing.

"...told you not to come over here before eleven-thirty!" Richard snapped. "You probably went and woke them all up!"

"Nope." Jason shook his head. "He was right on schedule for when we planned on getting up."

"My apologies." Richard bowed, then whacked Daniel upside the head (an action that seemed to hurt Richard far more than Daniel). "Come on, you lummox. We'll come back when things are good and ready."

Jason shrugged. "As long as you're here, we might as well just go eat now. We can share a breakfast instead of a dinner, and then go from there."

"Great!" Daniel pushed past Jason into the house. "Richard is terrible at cooking breakfast."

"And you're always welcome to cook instead, a fact that I have made abundantly clear to you." Richard rolled his eyes as the larger warrior stomped over and sat down on a large, reinforced chair. "Thank you, Jason, for being so understanding."

Jason chuckled. "Y'all are family. We're happy to have you, whatever that means." He paused. "You brought the rope, right?"

Richard nodded. "Two hundred feet of it, as requested. I still can't fathom why you want that much rope, but it's here nonetheless."

"Just trust me, it'll be great." Jason clapped him on the shoulder, then strode back into the house. They soon shut the door behind them, and Jason set about making a proper breakfast. He soon had a proper smorgasbord of pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, eggs, and a handful of other items. Tess came downstairs with baby Fern and smiled at her brother, who immediately rushed up and asked to hold Fern. After instructing him very carefully on the art of baby-holding, Daniel was allowed to cradle Fern for a few minutes, until Tess started to get nervous and took her back. All in all,

though, it was a quiet breakfast, and one that was spent with eagerness and joy.

When they finished eating, Jason rose and made his way outside, where he turned out the horses, fed Chance, and began getting the carriage ready. Richard came and helped, and once the horses were done eating, he hitched Angus to the carriage. Tess and Daniel came out as well, and Jason quickly helped her up onto the bench. Jason joined her, while Daniel and Richard both climbed onto the back, where they perched on top of the cargo chamber. With that, they started off, and Jason felt a grin splitting across his face.

"What exactly is this?" Richard asked as they rumbled along. "You're taking us out to the Far Eighty?"

"Something like that," Jason replied mischievously. "Just trust me!"

Daniel muttered something under his breath about how no one ever trusted him, and Jason laughed. In any event, everyone seemed to be enjoying things, and that was the important bit. Finally, they rumbled over the last hill and came up to the cabin, and Jason took a deep breath.

By that time, the fence stretched almost halfway around the field, but it was still a long way from being finished. As they rumbled up next to the cabin, everyone climbed down, and Jason unhitched the wagon from Lady, then hitched Lady up to the rail. He patted her down, then set off into the woods with the company of some of his favorite individuals.

Neither he nor Tess had been out to the dungeon since the summer, largely because of her pregnancy, and then the presence of Fern herself. Now, though, Jason felt his heart leaping with anticipation as they came up to the lip of the great pit. Daniel looked down into the gaping maw, and a grin spread across his face.

"Are we... Are we really..."

"We're going down inside!" Jason announced. "How's that sound for a fun afternoon together?"

"That sounds perfect! This is just like that dungeon where you had to jump down inside, and when you landed, there were all these skeletons that tried to eat you, and..." Daniel's grin nearly split his face. "This is going to be epic! Wa-hoooooooo!"

His voice trailed off at the end, largely because he leapt down into the pit, falling the nearly one hundred feet to the bottom. Jason blinked in surprise, then glanced at Richard, who shook his head.

"I'm not jumping it. This is why you wanted me to bring the rope."

"Yes." Jason nodded, chuckling. "And I'm sure you're better with knots than I am, if you wanted to tie one end to a strong-looking trunk of your choice."

Richard soon had one end of the long rope tied up, and he tossed the other end down into the pit. It was a long time before it hit the bottom, though Daniel's distant voice soon called up to tell them that it had landed. And, with that, the rest of them started going down.

Tess was first, with Fern. She swaddled the baby around her chest, putting her in a carrier of sorts that she had bought from Paulina. She went down the rope like a monkey, and Jason found himself more than a little surprised at her ability to keep Fern well away from the rope. When she hit the bottom, Jason came down. He had done a bit of rope-climbing here and there, and while he never really felt as though he were in danger, he was certainly far less elegant about it than the others. By the time he reached the bottom, his hands burned, but he was alive. Richard came last, descending nearly as quickly as Tess. By the time the four of them stood at the bottom, Daniel and Tess were exploring the large boss room, and Jason looked about in amazement.

The room was huge, taking up almost fully half of the distance down the pit. Enormous square columns rose along the walls, while in between the columns were carved depictions of a large, snake-like creature. The middle of the room, of course, held an enormous pile of bones. One of the skeletons belonged to a summoned Painted Dragon, which had failed to break free of its prison, while the other belonged to whatever boss had been

there when the dungeon had closed down. There was a large set of doors in one wall, but that was the only entrance or exit that Jason could see. Meanwhile, a large chest sat on the opposite wall, though it was still shut.

"All right, Dad." Tess walked over to the chest, holding Fern tightly. "We wanted to wait for you to open this up. We have absolutely no idea what we're going to find in here. The upper floors were all cleared out, but we also know that Jason's uncle had been through the dungeon dozens of times. As far as we know, no one has been inside this part of the dungeon since it closed down... How long ago did we determine that this was closed?"

"Something like a hundred years, maybe two," Jason tried to recollect. "I can't remember for sure."

Richard nodded wordlessly, and they all carefully approached the chest. Daniel grabbed hold of the latch and flipped it open, then tried to lift the lid. His arms strained with the effort, and he made a few grunting noises.

"I can't... I... Erg... Open!"

With a loud pop, rusty hinges squealed, and the lid of the chest came flying open. Light coming down from the entrance of the pit, high above, sparkled grandly upon a horde of loot that dazzled Jason's eyes. There were coins, gemstones, and more than a few items of jewelry. Daniel raked his hands through the stash, then looked up in amazement.

"This is incredible!"

Tess reached past him and picked up one of the coins, then flipped it up into the air with a sharp ping. When it came down, she passed it to Jason, who gazed down at a printed W across the golden surface.

"This is Winter Shandy Scrit," he mused as he flipped the coin through his fingers.

"What's that?" Richard asked, confused.

"There was an old town here, Winter Shandy," Tess explained. "It was a precursor to Summer Shandy, so to speak. They had their own currency... They had a lot of things, actually. Up in Jason's office, we have a full set of Winter Shandy armor, if you'd like to take a look at it."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Richard nodded, then pulled a small sack out of his inventory. "If you all agree, why don't we transfer everything we find into this bag. It's bottomless, so we can get back home and then divide everything up instead of trying to do it now? Unless we find anything unique, of course."

Jason shrugged, and everyone else agreed, as well. The contents were transferred, and they started walking toward the doors.

"What do you mean by unique?" Jason asked as they reached the doors and pushed them open.

Richard explained, "Unique items are things, usually weapons, that you can only get once. In the modern day, a lot of dungeons will have their own unique items, so completionists have to visit each and every dungeon in the world to truly have a complete collection. That said, uniques used to just spawn in randomly. Some chests would have a higher chance of producing a unique item than others, but in large part, you could find one just about anywhere."

Jason nodded slowly, trying to take it in. They soon pushed through the doors and into the rest of the dungeon, which, all things considered, looked a great deal like the upper portion of the dungeon. There were ancient candles set in small alcoves in the walls, while Daniel and Richard both produced torches to light the way. The walls were blocky and straight, and the tunnels formed a perfect grid with different rooms branching off. The group set off through the area, exploring anything and everything they could find.

Richard's sack may have been bottomless, but they did their best to find a limit, that was for sure. Each and every room they came to was littered with bones - usually goblin or wyrm bones - and had at least one chest that had been left unopened and untouched since the dungeon had been closed.

They were accumulating an untold amount of Winter Shandy Scrit, along with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and other things that simply left Jason's head spinning. They discovered the long cavern that would have led up to the fourth floor, but it was sealed by a thick layer of rock. They also found the portal that led down to the sixth floor, though they didn't yet venture down that far. It looked like another long drop, and it was taking them a long time just to explore that one floor.

They had been down there for hours when Fern started to fuss. Tess did her best to shush the baby, but she continued to whine, and Tess looked at her brother and father apologetically.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'm going to have to step away to nurse her."

"There are loads of rooms!" Richard waved his hand. "Just pick one!"

Tess nodded, then glanced at Jason. "Would you mind coming with me?"

Jason agreed, obviously, and they stepped up to a room that they hadn't yet explored. They quickly swung the door open and moved inside, and Jason let the door fall shut again with a crash. He then used a torch to light the candle sconces inside, while Tess took a seat on the floor next to the door and began to nurse their daughter.

"Thanks for coming." Tess apologized. "I just... I don't know why. These things used to not bother me, but now, even though I know there's nothing here, I'm still nervous for Fern's sake. These old dungeons were nothing to mess with, that's for sure."

Jason chuckled and nodded. "You're totally good."

He soon lit the last of the candles and revealed the rest of the room. It was a minor boss room, with a small pit similar to the bathroom where they had originally broken through into the fifth floor. This pit, though, had sloped edges that were marred by long scratch marks. Thick chains were attached to large rungs set in the stone, while they all ran to a metal collar

that now lay in the midst of a heap of bones in the center of the pit. A ogre skull stared out from the top of the pile, somehow still appearing angry even in death. "I'm not going to lie, I sometimes feel a little nervous down here, too."

"This place, though," Tess whispered softly. "How many warriors do you think passed through here? How many people fought for their lives and their livelihood right here in this very dungeon? And now we're just waltzing through and picking up the spoils?"

"In another hundred years, someone will be doing the same thing with the Summer Shandy dungeon, you know." Jason chuckled as he caught sight of a large chest near the back of the room. He strode over and began to work at the hinges, and to his surprise, it began to open. "They'll say: 'Did you know that at one point, there was this lady, Tess, who was so epic that she actually offered guided tours down into the dungeon? Back in those days, dungeons were intense, and she just'-"

His voice was cut off as the lid of the chest came fully open, but instead of finding gold, all he saw was a large number of tentacles. They lashed out instantly and wrapped around his body, and Tess screamed.

"It's a mimic!"

Almost instantly, Jason heard boots pounding on the ground outside, but judging from the teeth that he could see beneath the tentacles, he didn't have that much time. Desperately, he reached into his inventory and drew out his pistol, then his second pistol. One was shiny and new, a gift from Jeremiah, while the other was a good deal more rusty, a leftover relic from his uncle. He pointed both barrels into the gullet of the monster and squeezed both triggers.

Blam!

The pistol from Jeremiah went off with a flash of powder and a burst of smoke, and the tentacles all let go. Jason staggered backward, keeping the second pistol pointed at the monster as well. It went off a moment later, and was even louder. The smell of gunpowder filled the air, and with a sigh, the

mimic flopped over and vanished in a rather pixelated death sequence. In its place, there was a small, glowing orb left on the floor, and Jason shakily put his guns back into his inventory.

"I..."

"Grab that!" Tess pointed at the orb. "It's a unique item!"

Jason nodded and staggered toward the item, but he didn't even look at the item description as it entered his inventory. He had never been attacked by a monster like that before, and it was more than enough of a shock for him. He was alive... And as he looked down at the face of his daughter, and as Daniel and Richard burst into the room, he knew that he had seen enough of the dungeon to last him for a good, long time.

Chapter Sixteen: Blazing fireplace

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 45th day of Fall! 46 days until the Fall Festival! We're halfway to winter, folks, but you wouldn't know it from today! I know it wasn't in the forecast, but you'll be waking up to the first frost of the year! Expect bitterly cold temperatures for the next couple days, but it should be getting warmer again after that.]

Jason shivered as he rose from the bed, and he found a tired-looking Tess snuggling Fern under more than one blanket. He rose and nodded at her, then walked over to the wardrobe and dressed in a pair of insulated overalls and a thick flannel shirt.

"Give me five minutes, and I'll have a nice blaze going in the fireplace," Jason comforted her. "You can come down at that point, and probably be able to keep her a whole lot warmer."

Tess nodded through her weary eyelids. "The ever-stubborn Jason is going to break, and start burning wood before winter? I never thought I'd see that day."

Jason laughed as he walked out of the bedroom. It was true: In the past, he had always abhorred starting up the fireplace before winter came properly, but he also hadn't had a daughter to take care of in the past. He imagined that a lot of things would be changing about his life, at least those things that he hadn't already started to change.

As soon as he got downstairs, he tossed several logs into the fireplace and got a good blaze going, then strolled into the kitchen. The cookbook

flapped its pages at him, and he nodded and stroked his chin.

"All right, let's see..." He thought for a moment. "Make me a plate of eggs and sausage."

There was a flicker of light, and the dish appeared on the table.

"And... Make Tess an egg salad."

The cookbook paused, then flapped its pages as if saying no.

"What do you mean?" Jason protested. "She loves that breakfast!"

The cookbook flapped its pages again, then made up an omelet with peppers, onions, and a handful of other herbs and vegetables.

"She's going to hate it and be mad at me." Jason scowled down at the cookbook. "If I take the blame for it-"

"Jason! You read my mind." Tess walked into the kitchen, holding Fern tightly. She took the omelet and walked into the living room. Jason turned and stared, wide-eyed, at the cookbook, and it folded over two of its pages as if crossing its arms.

"I don't know how you did it, but I want to learn." Jason pointed a finger at it, then picked up his own plate and followed Tess into the living room. She was seated on the couch close to the fire, while she had laid out a blanket and placed Fern upon it. She was on her back and kicked up in the air. Chance raced around the baby, sniffing and licking, then settled down by the fire and didn't bother her any longer.

Jason sat down next to his wife, and they began to eat in silence, until she inquired, "What's your plan for the day?"

"I was thinking of heading into town to buy more fence for the Far Eighty, but..." Jason paused. "Ever since I came to Summer Shandy, I've struggled to find things to do in winter, and everyone always keeps telling me to build a greenhouse. What if I actually went and did that?"

Tess gently asked, "Can we afford a greenhouse? You've been spending a lot of money on the fence."

"I think so. I'm not going to say that I can buy the biggest or fanciest greenhouse in the world, but there was a model that Paulina was advertising the last time I was there. It connects to the house itself, so you don't have to buy as much material, and it cuts down on heating costs as well since one of the walls is already insulated. If we stuck it on the south side of the house... There's not really anything over there except a stretch of yard up until the prairie. It would give us room to expand in a few years, and would give me something to do over the winter."

Tess shrugged. "You're the one handling all the farm purchases. I do want to get more involved in all of that, but it'll have to wait until Fern is older. If you think that's the best course of action, go for it."

"I think I will," Jason replied after a few moments of thought. "Maybe it means we don't get the Far Eighty up quite as quick, but I already think it's not going to be ready by spring anyway, so we might as well get something online."

"Then I assume you're heading into town?" Tess asked. "You mind if I come along?"

"Go for it." Jason nodded. "Just make sure to bundle up nice and warm."

He rose and made his way to the front door, where he put on his boots and stepped out into the frigid air. The rays of the sun, peeking over the horizon, actually felt rather warm and pleasant in comparison with the air itself, which stung his face rather painfully. His breath could be seen in the air, and he shivered. Chance, though, seemed to love it, as he raced back and forth chomping on all the monsters that were moving too slowly to defend themselves. It was humorous to watch, and Jason chuckled as he turned the horses loose, gave them feed, and then started hitching Lady up to the carriage.

While he did so, he cast a few looks at his field of corn. He was trying the ornamental variety once again, though he had to admit that the frost had him a bit worried. It was advertised as being a fall crop, but not one that did terribly well in cold. That was part of why he was able to sell it for so much, since it was so finicky. The stalks at that moment were about three feet high, but already looked a bit sickly. If it really stayed cold for another few days, there was a very good chance that he could lose the whole crop. It wouldn't break him, certainly, but it was something to keep in mind when looking through things at Paulina's store.

Soon enough, he had Lady hitched up, and took the carriage around to the front of the house. Tess came out, wrapped up tightly in a shawl. Fern was covered in so many layers that only her little face peeked out, and she looked rather like just a bundle of cloth. She began to scream as her face hit the cold air, and Tess held her as close as possible as they all climbed up and rode off toward town.

They cantered along at a good pace, though the faster they went, the colder it seemed, what with the wind. Finally, they came up into the town square, and Jason took the carriage over to Paulina's store. As he climbed down and hitched up Lady, Tess took baby Fern over to the town well to show her off to Hank, Obadiah, and a handful of the women standing there drawing water. Jason chuckled a bit, then strode into Paulina's store.

The door jingled as he went inside, and Paulina looked up from the counter.

"Jason!" She beamed. "What brings you here? More fence? I saw you sold another shipment up to Illumitir last... Saturday, was it?"

"That sounds about right." Jason nodded. "The payment just came in yesterday, but I don't think I'm here to buy fence." He quickly explained about the greenhouse. "I have about three hundred thousand Shandy Scrit to spend, if that'll buy anything."

"It'll buy something." Paulina chuckled. She reached below the counter and pulled out a large catalog, which she spread out on the counter. "Now,

we have greenhouses starting at only a hundred shandys, you're just not going to get a lot."

She flipped open the first page, where Jason was greeted with a small, one-foot by one-foot greenhouse box. The top could come off for planting and harvesting, it seemed to be for city windows where you just didn't have the space for a full greenhouse. Seen in that light, it was actually quite marvelous, and he whistled softly.

"Not what I'm looking for, but I'll admit that I'm impressed." He started flipping through the pages, reviewing everything Paulina had to offer. The greenhouses slowly grew larger as he went up, moving from storage-shed-sized boxes all the way up to enormous, acre-wide structures that could hold tens of thousands of plants. Those, of course, were nearly a billion shandys, far outside of his price range. Plus, he wasn't sure what he would do with it all, anyway. Finally, after perusing the catalog for a while, he came down to two options.

The first was what he had described to Tess at breakfast. It was ten feet tall, ten feet wide, and thirty feet long, and slanted against the side of a house. The other one, which was almost the same price, was a fifteen-foot square, and was freestanding. Jason stroked his chin for a long while, trying to decide. The one that leaned against the house had more square footage, but the idea of having something freestanding was also a draw. Finally, though, he decided upon the greenhouse that leaned against the house.

"Perfect!" Paulina grinned as she folded the catalog and put it away. "I'll have it out to you within a few days. I presume you don't care about expedited shipping, which would cost extra?"

Jason shook his head. "As long as I get it by winter, or more specifically, with enough time to get it up by winter, I'm not going to complain."

"You'll have it by then." Paulina nodded. "Anything else I can-"

"Paulina!" Tess came running into the store, a broad smile across her face. "How have you been?"

"Tess! I've been wonderful!" Paulina smiled as Tess came running over, and she looked down at the baby in Tess's arms with joy and wonder. After a moment, she looked up at Tess and flashed a crooked sort of smile. "How's little Fern doing?"

"She's doing well." Tess bounced her slightly in her arms, which caused some of the blankets to peel away. Fern was asleep, but as she slumbered, her eyes and mouth twitched about. She gave a soft cry, followed by a hiccup, and both women cooed softly. "What about you?"

"Good as ever, just getting wedding plans together." Paulina shook her head. "I thought you were crazy when you started planning almost a year out, and now I understand! There's so much to do! The dressmaker from Illumitir just came out yesterday and took my measurements, and then I found out I would have to pay extra to have it ready in time for the wedding. Extra! It's over six months away, and I have to pay extra!" She shook her head, then shrugged. "It's going to be beautiful, though. And Obadiah is really doing everything in his power to make sure that everything's perfect."

"If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know." Tess offered.

"Oh, there will be, I'm just still trying to figure out exactly what that is." Paulina paused, then grimaced. "Also... So, on the subject of bridesmaids. I just assumed that you knew I would want you as my matron of honor, since... You know... But then I was talking with Theresa, and she pointed out that I haven't actually asked you about that, so... Will you be my matron of honor?"

"I'd love to!" Tess beamed. "Thank you! Has Obadiah picked his best man out, yet?"

"He actually has. I'm pretty sure he had them all lined up before he even proposed." Paulina rolled her eyes. "He's a planner, that one. Hank is going to be his best man, and-"

"Hank?" Tess exclaimed. "Hank?"

"They really do spend a lot of time together with their jobs." Paulina lowered her voice. "And it was a handy way to get him not to do the ceremony, since he's already in the wedding."

Tess snapped her fingers. "That's brilliant!"

"I know, right?" Paulina squealed. "We're getting a priest from Illumitir

to come down, someone Obadiah knows from his work on the farm, and-"

Jason chuckled as the two women continued to talk, as he increasingly felt as though he weren't really needed in the conversation. He waved at Tess, then turned and walked out into the town square. Obadiah and Hank were still sitting at the well, and he started to walk over to meet them. He didn't have a clue how long Tess would be in the store, but he imagined that it would be quite some time, and friendly conversation sounded like an ideal way to pass the time.

As he walked over, he chuckled. Once, he had considered Summer Shandy a good place to socialize because it held lots of young women, with many of whom he had fallen head-over-heels. Now, both he and Tess considered it a good place to socialize simply because it held their friends. For that matter, as he looked upon Obadiah, it struck him that he wasn't the last person to come into town anymore. That fact had been true for some time, now, of course, but... Obadiah, Daniel, and Richard were all newer to Summer Shandy than he was. No, Summer Shandy had well and truly become his home, and it was a home that he would not be willing to trade for anything.

Chapter Seventeen: Rippling grasses

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 70th day of Fall! 21 days until the Fall Festival! We've got another run of warm weather, at least relatively speaking. Lots of wind today, so hang onto your hats, if you wear them!]

Jason yawned and sat up, stretching as he did so. He glanced over at Tess and Fern, who were still fast asleep, and he quietly rose and made his way over to the window. As he looked down across the farm, he saw the gusting winds tearing across the prairie, making the grasses ripple wildly. His field of sorghum rippled as well, though the thick stalks of the plants made them a bit more resistant to the breeze than some of the thinner- stemmed grasses. Smuts oozed around the edge of the field, while a handful of histles and razorgrasses skittered back and forth. Overall, he'd hardly had to worry about monsters at all that year, and he was more than grateful for that fact.

After watching things for a short while, he turned and walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where he made himself a breakfast of pancakes and sausage, and he ate quietly while waiting for Tess. When she still failed to appear, he made up an omelet, which he carried back upstairs as quietly as possible and left on a chair right next to the bed. Whenever she woke up, she'd have something to eat.

That done, Jason crept back down the stairs, pulled on his boots, and strode out into the yard. Chance followed, and began his usual routine of chasing around small monsters and other such things. Jason laughed at the dog for a short while, then poured him some food, let the horses out, and

did other such chores. He was just finishing when he heard hooves on the drive, and he turned around to see Jeremiah riding up.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah swung down from his saddle. "Seems like we're meeting less and less these days."

Jason smiled and held out his hand, which Jeremiah shook. "You know how kids are. They keep you busy, and close to home."

"Indeed, and you love every moment of it." Jeremiah waxed nostalgic. "I remember when Obadiah was born. He was a colicky baby, no doubt about that. Delilah just about wore herself out staying up late at night with him, and then by the time day came around, she was so tired she could hardly see straight. I had to help with a good deal of the housework, believe it or not, for... Must have been about a season or so, that that went on." Jeremiah rubbed his jaw, then chuckled. "Believe it or not, that's actually when I hired Weatherhand. I needed the extra help on the ranch since I couldn't always get outside quickly enough to get chores done, and he's just stayed around ever since. If that hadn't happened, I don't think I'd have nearly the operation I have today."

Jason nodded, then glanced past Jeremiah at the house right across the road. "Speaking of hired help, you sure seem to be keeping those two busy."

Jeremiah rubbed his jaw and nodded. "That Richard, he's a hard worker. Just as strong as any of my men, and he won't give up for anything. Dungeon crawling breeds a resistance into you, I'll say that. Just yesterday, one of my bulls was trying to escape, and Richard stood in the gap and faced it down, even took a few hits from it, but he never backed away. I can't say the same for most of my men. If he'll have it, I'm hoping to just hire him permanently. And, from what I can tell, he likes it a heap better than trying to actually farm."

Jason laughed at that, as he gazed across the road at the rather pathetic, overgrown field that hadn't seen a great deal of use that fall. "Yeah... I really like the guy, don't get me wrong, but he's no farmer." Jason paused for a moment, then lowered his voice. "How's Daniel doing."

"I... Daniel." Jeremiah puffed out his cheeks for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know. I just have him patrolling the fences. Keeps him out of harm's way, and it really is a job that needs done every now and again, which I always forget about since it's such a random thing. That boy, though... That boy." Jeremiah shook his head and laughed. "I like him a lot, don't get me wrong, but he's no farmer, nor rancher,m or anything but a dungeon-diver. He's persistent, though. Wants Viola to marry him awful bad."

Jason nodded slowly, That description fit Daniel to a T. After a few moments of thought, Jason shrugged. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but is there anything I can help you with? You seem like you came here with a purpose."

"I did!" Jeremiah lit up, though a gust of wind at that moment lifted the hat from his head. He had to chase it down, coming back a moment later. "I did. I'm heading into town for some treatments for the cattle, but my two new workers happened to mention that you'd all gone down into the old dungeon up there and returned with a whole heap of cool stuff, one thing in particular."

Jason groaned. "They're talking about all that? I really, really don't want anyone else going up there to poke around."

"Don't worry." Jeremiah held up a hand. "I'm not saying that some of them won't come knocking on your door asking permission to go out and look around, but I personally vet each and every one of my hired men. They're good folks; they're not going to trespass without permission." He paused. "'Course, trespassing with permission isn't trespassing at all, so..."

"But you'd like to see what we got," Jason summarized after a moment.

"Yes! That," Jeremiah agreed. "If you don't mind. If you do, I know I'm being a bit nosey, but-"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. And like you said, one thing in particular is really cool." Jason took the reins from Jeremiah's hands and let the horse over to the corral, where he hitched up the strong animal. With that, the two

of them strode up into the house. "All right, it's up in my office. Honestly, it'll be easier if you come up there, but be quiet. Tess and Fern are both still asleep."

Jeremiah nodded to show his understanding, and the two of them slipped through the house. The stairs seemed to creak more than usual, though that may have just been Jason's imagination. Finally, they came up to the office, and Jason lit the gaslight as they slipped inside.

Jason's office was tiny. Near the exact center of the house, it had no external walls, and by extension, no windows. The walls were lined with bookshelves, enough to hold hundreds upon hundreds of books, though by and large, then shelves were all empty. Tess and Jason had cleaned out his uncle's old monster-care books some time earlier, though they had kept them in the farm's inventory, just to be on the safe side. His desk sat near the middle of the small room, perhaps a bit closer to the far end, and was covered in papers and quill pens and other such material. That, though, wasn't the interesting part.

For starters, the previous winter, Jason and Tess had dredged up four suits of armor from the basement, which were now mounted on proper armor display stands, one in each corner of the room. Jeremiah whistled as he looked at the four sets, and he turned slowly as he took in each one. One of the sets, perhaps the most elaborate one, had an engraved snowflake in the exact center of the breastplate. The second had a leaf, a third had a raindrop, and a fourth had a sun.

Jeremiah took it all in, then glanced at Jason, who began to elaborate.

"These are sets of armor from Autumn Shandy, Winter Shandy, Spring Shandy, and then Summer Shandy. I've got a file that explains some of the history around here somewhere, Hank gave it to me, from a historian in Illumitir."

"You know, I remember when they released that set of Summer Shandy armor." Jeremiah tapped his chin. "It would have been... Must have been pert near twenty years ago. There was a big event at the dungeon, I can't even begin to tell you what it was. I do remember your uncle being

powerful interested in it, though I never imagined he actually managed to get a full set."

Jason nodded, then walked to the back wall of the room. There were a few shelves that actually did hold books, consisting of a handful of classics, such as "A Tale of Two Shandys," "Poor Expectations," "Around the World in 526 Days," and "To Kill a Dragonbird." Jason reached out and took hold of one of the volumes, a thesaurus (which, he had learned, was not a dinosaur), and gave it a tug. There was a click in the wall as a mechanism attached to the back of the book was pulled, and with that, a small section of the shelves swung open, revealing the secret office just behind. Jeremiah's jaw dropped, and Jason chuckled.

"Now this is cool." Jeremiah strode forward and ducked inside. Jason followed, and lit the gaslight there as well. It was about the same size as the front office, though the ceiling was a bit shorter, and had exposed pipes on the walls and other such things. There were also loads of books and shelves and such back here, but Jason and Tess hadn't done nearly as much to clean it all away. "What is this place?"

"Honestly, we're not sure exactly," Jason confessed. "Something that my uncle used from time to time, apparently. The entrance was actually hidden in the basement. We were the ones who carved through the wall and added the bookshelf entrance in my own office. Anyway, what you're wanting to see is right... here."

Jason walked to a large chest sitting against the far wall, just beneath the trap door that led to the secret shaft which had been the original entrance. He flipped it open, revealing an enormous pile of coins, jewels, and jewelry. Jeremiah knelt down and ran his hands through the treasure, chuckling softly.

"There's actually..." Jason thought for a moment. "That was the share we took. In reality, Richard's bag across the road has probably a hundred times that much treasure, in a bottomless bag. We're going to try to do something with it, but we don't know what."

"I know this is in poor taste to ask, but how much is this all worth?" Jeremiah turned to look up at him.

Jason laughed. "I sent a message off to Illumitir to ask that same thing. We could sell one of the winter shandy coins to a museum for about fifty shandys, but after the first one, they don't really care about the rest. We did send it off, by the way; we figured other people should be able to see this, too. The jewels, though, are all outdated. Maybe if we found the right market, a collector or something, we could sell them, but they're not the right cuts or purity for anyone to care about them now. Same with the jewelry, it's all out of fashion, and even the metals can't really be smelted down. By and large, it's all worthless, but it is really cool."

"Indeed." Jeremiah whistled, then glanced at Jason. "And the... The other thing?"

A wide smile split Jason's face. "Over here."

He walked to a large storage box, flipped it open, and reached inside. Slowly, carefully, he pulled out the unique item that he had received from killing the mimic. Gun steel glinted in the light, and he held it out for Jeremiah to see.

It was a blunderbuss, and a nice one at that. Elaborate carvings ran down the side of the wooden barrel sheath, carved into the form of a serpentine dragon. A flared metal shaft formed the barrel itself, and was in perfect shape, not showing an ounce of rust from the years. Everything about it seemed to be in perfect working order, and Jeremiah whistled softly.

"Now this is cool."

"You're not kidding." Jason chuckled. "I bought some powder and shot

for it, but haven't had a chance to actually fire the thing yet."

A twinkle came to Jeremiah's eyes. "We could do it right now."

Jason nodded eagerly, forgetting entirely about the slumbering Tess and Fern. They quickly traipsed down out of the office and into the front yard, where it took them the better part of ten minutes to figure out exactly how to load it. Once they finished, though, Jason slowly lifted the weapon to his shoulder and aimed at a razorgrass that was dancing around near the edge of the prairie.

"All right, here we go." Jason checked the hammer and flint, then let out a long breath. "Three... Two... One..."

He squeezed the trigger, and the hammer came down with a flash. Now, he had fired loads of guns before, during his time on the farm. Prior to that, he admittedly hadn't done a lot of shooting, but he wasn't unfamiliar with firearms. That said, he had never before heard a gun that was quite so loud.

Ka-Blam!

The blast shook the farmyard, nearing the magnitude that a cannon would produce. The razorgrass was blasted into blue sparks instantly, though it was hard to see for the sheer volume of smoke that came pouring out the end of the barrel. A small cloud seemed to form around the two of them, and Jason coughed and hacked as he staggered backward. Jeremiah did the same, though he had a wide grin on his face.

"That was epic!" Jeremiah laughed. "Can I..." His voice trailed off, and his eyes went wide. "On the other hand, I do need to get going if I'm going to get home by lunchtime. Bye, Jason! Thanks for showing me all of that!"

He strode quickly over to his horse, mounted up, and soon rode away. Jason scratched his head, then had a sudden realization. He turned slowly toward the house, where he found Tess standing in the window, holding a flailing and screaming Fern. Her face was not particularly happy, and Jason winced.

She vanished a moment later, and he sighed. He hadn't meant to cause any harm. Still, though, Tess was going to be upset, and rightly so. He tucked the blunderbuss into his inventory, making a note to clean it later, and started walking up toward the house. He would face the music... And

desperately hope that the omelet he left was enough to keep him out of any permanent trouble.

Chapter Eighteen: Storm Coming

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 85th day of Fall! 6 days until the Fall Festival! It's looking like one final run of cold weather leading up to winter, folks! Bundle up if you're going outside, especially if you have little ones! Also, it's looking like a storm coming in just a few days. We're likely to get ice with that one, so I'd highly suggest getting any crops out of the field now.]

Jason yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he did so. Tess sat up as well, then leaned over and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, leaning her head against his body as she did so. Jason blinked in surprise, then glanced down at her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just tired." She yawned. "Fern was being fussy last night. Her schedule is kinda flipping, so she's awake at night and asleep during the day. It does let me get more done during the day, I suppose, but..." She chuckled. "I'm exhausted."

"I can take Fern today, if you want," Jason offered. "I can't harvest for a few more days, so I'd have just been doing odd jobs around the farm."

"No, that's okay." Tess pushed herself upright. "Fern has an appointment today, so we need to get going anyway. Now, if you wanted to come along to that appointment, I wouldn't complain one bit."

"Yeah, I'll go!" As he stood up, though, he worried, "Didn't she just have one, though?"

"Depends how you count it." Tess slid out of bed and walked up to the wardrobe, where she began changing into a thick town-going dress. Jason changed into a warm tunic, and Tess took up Fern as they started making their way downstairs. "She had one about three weeks ago, I think, and needed a final infant checkup around the turn of the season. I asked if we could move it up a bit, since you have the fall festival on the day that she technically needs the appointment, and then the day after that, you're usually running around wild trying to get things ready for the new season."

Jason felt relieved. "That makes sense. Here, you get some breakfast on the table, and I'll head out and get the carriage ready."

As Tess walked into the kitchen, Jason made his way into the living room, where Chance was sleeping next to the crackling fireplace. He threw a couple more logs on the fire, then pulled on his work boots and let Chance out into the air. Following the dog, he shivered as the blast of frigid weather hit him, and he began to long for spring.

In his opinion, cold weather in fall was worse than cold weather in winter. Strictly speaking, it was warmer than it would get in the middle of winter, but it didn't feel like it should be that cold, and so it felt as though it was nearing absolute zero. There was no wind that day, which was nice, but his breath stood out clearly in the frosty air. He quickly let the horses out and poured them some food, then leaned on a rail to watch the three of them.

There was no doubt about it, Alfred was just as tall as his mother now, and looked to still be growing. Contemplating how soon offspring can catch up to their parents, the new dad then turned around and walked up and into the house, where he shared a quick meal with the mother of his own child. They didn't really have any reason to hang around the house, so as soon as they were done, Jason walked back out into the freezing air, took Alfred out of the pen, and hitched him up to the carriage.

Alfred balked a little bit as Jason got him ready, but Jason patted him on the neck to calm him down. "Easy there, boy. We've practiced this. You've got this."

Alfred nickered, but the adolescent horse did seem to calm at least somewhat. Here and there, really since the start of fall, Jason had been putting a halter on the young stallion to get him used to things, and had hitched him up to things here and there. Now, up until that point, Jason had only ever hitched him to the farm equipment, since it was so big that he couldn't pull it anyway, just to get him used to standing with the straps and harness and other such things. Now, Alfred stamped his feet eagerly and nervously as Tess and Fern came out and climbed on up.

"All right, boy." Jason fed Alfred a sugar cube, then climbed up into the driver's seat. "Yaw!"

He snapped the reins, and Alfred took off down the road. He went faster than Jason would have liked, though he certainly wasn't running or stampeding. Here and there, a small monster would leap out of the grasses and make the young horse give a start, but he had seen enough of them around the farm that he didn't seem to react too badly. All things considered, when they came trotting up into town, everyone was in one piece, which was a positive sign.

The town square was lively, despite the freezing weather. Children raced back and forth, enjoying the last bit of fall before the snows and ice came. Hank and Obadiah sat at the town well, chatting here and there with the people who passed by. They both waved at Tess and Jason, then went back to their conversations. Jason pulled up outside Theresa's healing den, hitched Alfred to the rail, and the three of them climbed down. Fern had slept nearly the entire ride, and Jason walked up to hold the door open for Tess.

"Good morning!" Theresa beamed. "And how are you all doing today?"

"We're good." Tess nodded as the door closed behind them. Jason's nose wrinkled as he stepped fully inside the hospital. It was warm, well- heated from the fireplace in the entry area, but... The cauldron brewing over the flames held a bright-red liquid that was bubbling and producing an odor something like rotten eggs. Fern woke up and started crying, and Theresa rose and patted her on the head.

"Sorry there, little one. I'm just working on some horse medicine. I know, it was poor timing on my part, but I have to have it ready by this afternoon."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Horse medicine?"

Theresa turned almost as red as her dress. "Yeah... You remember Donald? The veterinarian?"

Jason smiled "Yeah, I remember him. He helped Lady give birth to Alfred, actually."

"Yeah," Theresa blushed. "I've been seeing him here and there, and he's been teaching me about animal health here and there. I still can't do much with animals, but he's got a few things that he can send me, when he has people up this way who need help."

Tess grinned widely as they went back to one of the rooms. "And when's the wedding?"

"Oh, stop it." Theresa turned beat-red once again. "We're not like... That serious. We just... He comes over for dinner about once every two weeks or so, and we talk about things, and... It's nice."

Jason already felt like a third wheel in the conversation, and hoped that things would change direction as they started the examination. As they went into the room and sat down, Theresa took Fern and stretched her out on the bed, then began to take all her ordinary measurements.

"And there we go... Everything looks good... Weight is fine.. Length is good..." She paused after a moment, then nodded. "As far as all her ordinary statistics go, Fern is plenty healthy. She's growing on schedule, and I don't see anything that would indicate that there's some sort of underlying problem. You two are doing a wonderful job as parents, I can tell that much."

From the table, baby Fern let out a scream, so Theresa picked her up and set her back in Tess's arms.

"Here you go. You're missing mommy, aren't you? Yes, I think you are." She cooed softly, then wrapped her up in a blanket again as Tess cradled her. "Now, if you two are okay with it, I'd like to do a few more examinations. Nothing terrible, mind you, but I'm not going to see her again for another three months. I just want to make sure that we're on top of everything, you know?"

Jason nodded and sat down in a nearby chair. "What sorts of things are you looking for?"

"Really, just the usual." Theresa shrugged and sat down on the bed while she talked. "Like I said, there's nothing I'm seeing that gives me any specific concerns, but there are a few odds and ends that can pop up fairly suddenly. Jaundice is a pretty common one that can kinda spring up on you, or chicken pox, or some other such things. Now, all those are fairly treatable, you'd realize that she was sick, and you'd bring her in to me, and I'd give her some medicine and we'd get her all patched up. That said, we're coming on into winter, so I'd like to just check and see what the likelihood is that we're going to have to deal with something like that."

Tess nodded. "You just want to see how susceptible to certain things she happens to be."

"Exactly." Theresa nodded. "And don't get me wrong here, this isn't going to be anything one-hundred-percent definitive. I have some children that show that they're going to be quite resilient who wind up coming in here every few weeks, and I have some children who would seem to be pretty vulnerable, whom I never see. Generally speaking, this test is pretty accurate, but there are always outliers."

Jason nodded and leaned back in the chair. "Go for it."

"Great." Theresa stepped over to a small cabinet and pulled open a drawer. "The first thing I'm going to do is a sweat test. It's pretty easy, and it should tell us a lot about the nature of her skin." She took out a cotton ball, then walked over to Fern, pulled back a corner of the blanket, and wiped the cotton ball across her skin. Fern screamed, and Theresa smiled as

she tucked the blanket back in place. "You're being brave, big girl. Now, let's just see how things shape up."

She took out a small vial of bluish liquid, then dropped in the cotton ball. There was a pause, and strands of green began to flow out through the blue.

"This is a fairly simple test. There are certain chemicals that react different ways with the stuff in her sweat. If everything's normal, it'll just turn green. If there are other chemicals present, it may be an indication that her skin is a bit weaker, and perhaps more vulnerable."

The green strands soon stretched throughout the whole vial, and Jason breathed a sigh of relief. Theresa picked it up and swirled it around for a moment, then set it up on a shelf.

"We'll just let that sit there for a few minutes, to be on the safe side. Next is the hard one. I need to do a blood draw."

Jason blinked. "Didn't you already do a blood draw, back when Tess was pregnant?"

"Yes, but at that point, things were so diluted that all I could check for were things that could impact the birth," Theresa explained. "Now that her blood has been pumping around her own body for a while, all of Tess's blood should be out of there, and we can really take a look at what little Fern holds. If it worries you, we don't have to do it, but I would strongly suggest it. The skin diseases... If one of those pops up randomly, it's no big deal, but there can be some fairly serious issues hiding inside a young baby."

Jason sighed, then nodded slowly. "I suppose-"

"You can do it." Tess nodded. "We'll be fine."

Theresa nodded, then took out another of the little square glass vials. When she poked Fern in the arm, Jason's heart just about broke. He had never heard her scream quite so loud, nor so long, even after Tess went back

to cradling her. Theresa, meanwhile, took the few drops of blood and began running a few tests on them on one of the tables.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to just do this one without really explaining it," Theresa murmured as she dripped a handful of chemicals onto the plate. "It has to be done pretty quickly... and..." Her voice trailed off as she looked down at the plate. After a few moments, she turned away, and nodded at the two parents.

"You'll be happy to know that everything looks good. I am seeing a slightly elevated concentration of... Oh, the medical term doesn't matter, but it looks to me like her lungs might be slightly more susceptible than on average."

"What does that mean?" Jason asked, instantly concerned.

"Most likely, nothing," Theresa assured him. "Basically, what I'm seeing means that her lungs aren't putting oxygen into her bloodstream at quite the right proportion. It doesn't mean much, really, but especially as a child in winter, she could easily get coughs, or hiccups, or other lung- related things a bit more readily than most children. Like I said, there's a good chance you won't see any effects at all from it, but I do want to let you know just to be on the safe side."

"We appreciate it, and we aren't going to freak out about it," Tess ordered Jason, who was fidgeting quietly with his hands.

The rest of the appointment didn't take long, and mostly consisted of Theresa giving them some instructions on how to take care of Fern through the winter, especially now that she was going to start becoming a bit more independent. Jason, though, didn't hear much of it. His mind was entirely consumed with the prospect of his tiny baby daughter struggling to breathe the harsh winter air. He would just have to keep the house extra-warm, and that meant buying more firewood, and more winter clothes for Fern, and... Paulina's store had loads of baby food that seemed to indicate that they had this or that nutrient to help babies stay healthy, and Fern was just about ready to start eating, so maybe he needed to buy some of that, too!

When they finally left, Jason prepared to go straight across to Paulina's store, but Tess just wanted to go home and get Fern out of the cold. Jason reluctantly agreed after a few minutes of persuasion, and they rode back off toward the distant farm.

He knew that Tess considered the appointment to be a success, but the what-ifs just kept swirling through his mind. He would do anything to make sure his daughter was safe... He only hoped he wouldn't miss the warning signs of danger when, and if, they came.

Chapter Nineteen: Chilly But not Frigid

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 90th day of Fall! 1 day until the Fall Festival! All right, folks, if you have to be outside today, do your best to find a way to stay inside. It's cold, it's rainy, and I'm pretty sure everything's just freezing into a layer of ice. Now, on the bright side, it's supposed to be a whole lot less terrible by tomorrow; but today, unless you absolutely have to go out, please don't risk it!]

Jason shivered as his eyes slowly flickered open. Rain battered against the windows, and he could hear the wind howling over the chimney. The air wasn't frigid, per se, but it was certainly quite chilly. He rose and slipped out of bed, and baby Fern started to cry from the bassinet.

"You think she's okay, right?" Jason asked as he changed into thick, winter overalls. "She'll be fine?"

Tess nodded as she picked up Fern and started to nurse her. "She'll be fine, Jason. I'm sorry I took you along to the appointment."

"Don't be sorry," Jason exclaimed. "It's important to know these things so we can prepare for-"

"Jason," Tess snapped. "Fern is fine. I am fine. I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't start freaking out every time she sneezes!" Jason blinked, and Tess sighed. "You're a really good dad, and a great husband. Just know that she's okay, and I'm okay, and you don't really need to stress about it more than that."

Jason nodded slowly, then strode up to the window. He could hardly see the farmyard for all the ice slicking over the window, and he shuddered.

"I'll head downstairs and get some more wood on the fire," he offered as he turned away. "Anything you want for breakfast?"

"I'll take some eggs," Tess suggested. "I'll be down as soon as I'm done feeding Fern. And... Ooh. Maybe make up some oatmeal. I don't think she'll eat any of it, but I'd like to introduce Fern to a bit of more solid food."

Jason flashed a thumbs-up, then made his way downstairs. He threw a few more logs on the fire, then opened the front door and let Chance out while he made breakfast. The dog never left the front porch, really, except for a few brief moments to do his business. When he came scampering back inside, he had icicles dangling from his fur, and he lay down in front of the fireplace to begin melting all over the floor there. Tess and Fern came down a few minutes later, and they all sat down at the table.

Jason ate his pancakes, while Tess ate her eggs. Fern was perched on Tess's lap, and looked at the table wide-eyed. She was at the point where she could sit up by herself, and her hands slapped at the table's edge.

"She's going to be crawling soon," Tess advised Jason. "Probably sometime this winter, and certainly by spring. Theresa told me to start making sure she gets some good tummy time each day."

Jason nodded as he finished up his pancakes, then slowly took a spoonful of oatmeal and pushed it toward Fern. His tiny daughter giggled, and when her toothless lips parted, he pushed a tiny bit of the oatmeal inside her mouth. Almost instantly, her nose screwed up, and she smacked her lips several times as she spat out every bit of it.

"And that's enough for now," Tess guffawed as she wiped the oatmeal off Fern's chin. "Good job, little one!"

Jason blinked, then shrugged. He didn't know a lot about babies, there was no doubt about that. He rose and cleaned up the table, then walked to

the front door and started pulling on his boots.

"Please don't tell me you're heading out in all of that!" Tess walked up to him.

"I just need to feed the horses," Jason explained. "They've got a right to eat, you know, and they'll need their straw shoveled."

Tess sighed and nodded, and she held Fern by the window as Jason finished dressing up warm. He stepped out into the frigid air, shivering. All around, the rain was pouring off the eves in waterfalls, and beyond that, the rain was simply pouring down so hard he could hardly see the stables. The ground was a slick sheet of ice, and he nearly slipped and fell as he started down the stairs.

Walking across the ground was a challenge, as his feet slid left and right. The ice was thick and growing thicker, and it wasn't helped by the layer of running water that hadn't yet frozen that was running across the top. When he reached the stable, he had to pull a hammer from his inventory to break open the ice around the latch. Ice was forming across his arms and body, and he stumbled inside in a flurry of ice and water.

Inside, the three horses were bedded down, breathing softly. It was a good deal warmer in the stable than outside, but nowhere near comfortable. Jason frowned, then pulled several eternal torches out of the farm's inventory and slotted them into sconces on the wall. The flickering light provided well-needed illumination on that gloomy day, and they began to warm the air a bit. He checked the rear door to make sure there was enough ventilation to support the three animals, then headed back out into the storm once again.

As he forced his way back across the driveway, he caught a glimpse of lights along the road. They looked like lanterns, held by someone on horseback. He frowned, then started walking in that direction. His clothes had been completely soaked through by that point, and he was already starting to shiver, but he knew that he had to check it out.

"Jason? That you?"

It was Richard's voice. He and Jeremiah came riding up into the driveway. Both were well-soaked as well, and icicles hung down from both themselves and the bridles of their horses. Their gloved hands seemed frozen to their lanterns, and Jason frowned.

"What's going on?"

"It's Daniel." Richard answered quickly. "He pulled late-night guard duty last night, on account of the storm. There were reports of yeti walking around, but nothing had been seen too close to Jeremiah's pastures. He was to stay in the guard tower, just keeping an eye on things, with a few other hired hands."

Jason nodded slowly. "And he was missing this morning?"

Jeremiah nodded, causing the ice dangling down from his hat to twinkle in the lantern light. "My other men changed out at midnight. He was still in the tower when the first crew left, but was gone when the second crew got there. For that matter, the second crew didn't even know he was supposed to be there, you know? Anyway, it wasn't noticed until Richard came by this morning."

"We came back this way, hoping he might be along the road somewhere, but no such luck." Richard sighed. "I know it's a lot to ask, but-"

"I'll be there just as quickly as I can be," Jason promised. "Let me get Tess."

"We'll wait for you," Jeremiah sighed. "This storm is powerful bad, and I don't want anyone else getting lost."

Jason turned and jogged up into the house, where he found Tess waiting anxiously by the door. She had seen the lanterns, and was holding Fern tightly.

"What's going on?" she asked breathlessly. "Is everyone okay?"

"Your brother is missing," Jason explained the situation quickly. When he finished, Tess began to fidget anxiously.

"Be safe," she whispered. "Bring him back. Oh, I wish I could be out there." She gazed longingly down at Fern, then up at the window, where the rain was continuing to pound.

"I can take Fern," Jason offered. "He's your brother, and you've probably got a far higher cold tolerance than I do."

"You mean it?" Tess glanced through the window at the waiting men with lanterns, who were very patiently standing still in the pouring rain.

"Yeah." Jason slipped off his wet coat, then took Fern carefully. "Go for it, but hurry."

Tess turned and bolted through the house. A moment later she came down in her standard armor, which Jason had once known her to wear almost every single day. She gave him a kiss, then pulled on the helmet and raced out into the cold. Jason watched her go, then looked down at baby Fern.

"Well, looks like you and me are going to have a day!"

Fern cooed up at him, and he slowly carried her upstairs. He laid her down in the bassinet while he changed out of his soaked and freezing clothes and into a warm tunic, then took her back downstairs to the living room. Chance was still warming himself by the fire, and Jason sat down on the couch, holding her in his arms. She kicked at the blanket, and he let her become unswaddled as she waved her arms about.

"You are just about the cutest thing I've ever seen." Jason leaned forward and booped her nose with his own. "Yes you are. And you're my daughter. That's so weird, but it's true." He kept his voice high, as all people do when speaking to a baby, and Fern giggled. She waved her arms again, and Jason blinked.

"Right. Let's see... Tess was talking to me about tummy time... I don't have a clue what that is, but I think I can infer it."

He stood and grabbed a throw from one of the couches, which he then spread across the floor. Carefully, he lay Fern down on her back, then knelt down next to her. She giggled and waved her arms and legs, and he carefully flipped her over onto her belly.

For a few moments, she lay there, face-down... And then, carefully, she lifted up her head while Jason lay down just in front of her. She giggled wildly, then let her head fall back down to the throw with a thunk. Jason yelped and slid forward, but by that time, she had lifted up her head again, and was grinning from ear to ear. He forced himself to relax, and she began to kick. A few moments later, she spun over onto her back, and burst out laughing.

"Now, were you supposed to do that?" He leaned forward and brushed his nose against hers. "I don't think so! It's called tummy time!"

He flipped her back over onto her front, and she quickly flipped herself onto her back yet again. They did this several times in a row, until she grew tired of it, and just allowed her head to rest on the ground. Jason decided that enough was enough, so he flipped her over onto her back, and just let her lay there kicking for awhile. She seemed to enjoy that, and Jason tickled her a bit and played with her hands and feet, until, after about an hour, she started to grow fussy.

Her cries began to pierce through the house, and Jason rose and walked into the kitchen. The moment he was gone, she burst out bawling, and he called back over his shoulder. "I'll be there soon!"

She didn't seem particularly comforted by this, and he quickly took some formula, mixed it with warm water, and went back to her with a bottle. She drank it quickly, then fell asleep in his arms as the fire crackled and the rain continued to thunder down in the background.

Lunchtime came and went. Jason got himself a small meal, but he found himself worrying more and more about Tess. Fern woke back up, and they

played together for a bit longer. Finally, as the afternoon wore on, Jason finally saw lights coming back into the driveway. He smiled broadly and rushed to the door with Fern in his arms, and flung the doors wide open as Tess, Richard, and Daniel all came stomping inside. They were covered in ice from head to toe, and all looked more than a little worn.

"Head up the stairs, first room on the left," Tess ordered her relatives. "You can change out of your armor there, and I'll bring warm robes to you just as quickly as I can. Jason, if you wouldn't mind getting some food together, we're all famished."

Jason nodded as they all processed past, and he quickly ran to the kitchen. They didn't have a lot of food around for guests, so he cooked up a few chickens and a handful of stewed vegetables, then set the dining room table. He then sat down at the head of the table with Fern in his lap, and soon, Tess, Richard, and Daniel all came stomping down. Tess was wearing one of her dresses, while Daniel and Richard were dressed in what amounted to bathrobes, though Jason could see that they had on clothes underneath. The robes were simply for warmth, and as he brushed up against Tess, he felt her ice-cold flesh, and knew that they needed it.

It was nigh-on half an hour before they managed to tell the story. First, they had to eat, and then they moved into the living room to continue to warm by the fire. Finally, though, as baby Fern rolled about on the throw on the floor, the story came out.

"So, I was up there," Daniel explained. "The first crew all went down, they were heading back to the barn, and you know what I saw? One of those yeti things! Puny little creatures, if you ask me, but it was heading straight for the workers, so I jumped down and punched it. It went running away, and I decided to follow it, just to be on the safe side. Anyway, it led me to a whole den of the creatures, so I killed them all, but by then I was lost, and it was raining, so I sat back to wait."

"He was almost five miles from the ranch," Tess marveled. "You can't say he wasn't dedicated, that's for sure."

"Jeremiah gave me a bonus for it, too!" Daniel grinned.

Jason could only smile and nod. Several minutes later, the two warriors both left for the comfort of their own home, and Jason leaned back on the couch and sighed. Down below, Fern giggled and waved her arms, and Tess snuggled into him.

"It seems like you did a good job with Fern today," she whispered softly. "She really loves you."

"I love her, too," Jason whispered, then leaned over and kissed Tess. "And I love you, a lot."

"I love you a lot, too." Tess sighed, then folded her hands. "You know something? Out there, today... There was a time when I would have loved that sort of thing. I mean, that was my job, doing random stuff like that, and... That's just not who I am anymore. Please don't get me wrong, I'd go out again and again and again to save anyone I loved, or really anyone who needed it, but... There was a time when I just enjoyed that sort of life, and now... That's just not my life anymore."

"I hope that's a good thing?" Jason whispered as he pulled Tess close.

"It is," Tess whispered, and she wrapped her still-cold arms around his body. "Believe me, it is.

Chapter Twenty: Last Day of Fall

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Fall! It's the day of the Fall Festival! The big day that we've been waiting for is finally here, folks! It'll be cold, so make sure you bundle up warm, but the rain passed during the night, so we're all good to par-tay!]

[Obadiah's Almanac: Update: I have been told to never use the word "par-tay" again. You may thank Paulina.]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and he slowly rose out of bed. Tess followed suit, with baby Fern still slumbering nearby in the bassinet. They dressed in warm clothes as quietly as they could, then slipped out and into the hall. As the door clicked shut, Jason winced, but Fern didn't wake up, and they tiptoed down to the kitchen as carefully as they could.

"I think that's the best she's ever slept through the night." Jason flipped through the cookbook and selected a large omelet. He added a bit of bacon when Tess wasn't looking, and with a flash, the dish appeared on the table. "Am I right?"

"I think so." Tess frowned as they sat down and started to eat. "I can only remember waking up... Twice, I think? Once about an hour after we went to bed, and then again about two hours ago?"

"She's really growing up," Jason beamed.

Tess agreed, then paused. "Actually... I think she's getting along well enough to put her in her own room now."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

Tess nodded. "She'll still need milk for a while longer, but she should start sleeping in longer and longer chunks. This winter, we'll start introducing her to some more solid foods, and then by spring she really should only be drinking milk supplementally. By the time she turns one year old, she should be on solids entirely. I mean, she'll be drinking milk from the store, but that's the same milk that we drink, you know?"

"Yeah." Jason shook his head in amazement. "They just seem to grow up so fast, you know?"

"Just wait until she starts school." Tess laughed. "Then you'll really feel old!"

"That can wait." Jason waved his hand dismissively, but he laughed even as he said it. "What do you want to do for school, for that matter? It's done so differently across the country. Up in Illumitir, they had public schools available if you wanted to use them. I went through one but only about half the kids I knew did; the rest were just taught by their parents."

Tess shrugged. "First off, that's a long way away. Second... There's not really a school in Summer Shandy, so that doesn't leave us with a lot of options. I've talked to some of the mothers from the village, and it really all depends on what sort of education they have. Some of them who want their kids to move off the farms will send them over to Nightford, there's a boarding school there, but that doesn't start until they get to be quite a bit older. Most of them just teach from home since there are no other real options."

"Huh!" Jason shrugged. "So, you'd probably just teach her here?"

Tess nodded. "I have a fairly good education from the dungeons, and you could probably fill in the rest if we buy some books from Illumitir. There are no laws stating that we have to educate our children, in any case, so I'm not too worried about it."

At that, Jason laughed. "Can you imagine, laws that make people send their kids off to school? What if they need help on the farm and can't afford to hire someone?"

"Exactly, or if they're moving around all over the place because they're warriors, or... There are loads of possibilities." Tess nodded, and they shared a chuckle. A moment later, Fern started crying from high above, and Tess rose to go upstairs and check on her. Jason yawned, then rose and took Chance outside while he got things ready.

Unsurprisingly, everything was covered in a thick layer of ice. In some places, it was only a few inches thick, but in some of the lower spots on the farm where the water had run, there was ice that looked to be almost a foot deep. Jason slipped several times as he was making his way out to the corral, and he had to take out a hammer and smash away at the ice for the better part of five minutes before he was able to get inside the stable.

Once inside, the horses all rose, though he was unable to get the door open to let them out into the corral (plus, with all the ice, he didn't really want them to slip and break a leg). He changed out their straw, gave them some more food, and then left them in peace while he slid back toward the house.

As he walked, he began to realize an unpleasant truth: They just weren't going to get into the festival this time. There was no way he could risk taking a horse out on the ice, that was for sure, not to mention the potential danger for Tess and Fern. As he slid toward the house, though, he saw Daniel and Richard come marching out of their own house across the road.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jason called out.

"Howdy!" Richard waved back at him. "You guys heading into the festival?"

"I don't know how we can!" Jason hollered back. "I mean... With all this ice..."

"Yeah, we're in the same boat," Richard admitted. "I don't want to risk having to put down my horse just because of a party."

"Agreed," Jason lamented.

"Puny horses," Daniel muttered. "I could do a whole lot better than them." He scowled at the ice, then slowly looked up as he noticed Richard and Jason staring at him. "What?"

About fifteen minutes later, having found a pair of boots equipped with large ice spikes on the bottom, Jason, Tess, Fern, and Richard all piled onto the carriage while Daniel went roaring down the road as fast as he could move. It was a good clip, and while the carriage did slew left and right as the wheels skittered across the ice, Daniel was strong enough to keep it steady. The air was blisteringly cold, but not unbearable as they came racing up into Summer Shandy.

Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to be having just as hard a time getting out, at least those who were out of town. A bonfire was roaring not far from the town well, which was melting at least some of the ice across the cobblestones, but there were no tables being brought out at all, and there was a distinct lack of cooked food being carried about.

"Good morning!" Obadiah poked his head out of the Guild Hall. "Glad to see you all here! Take your carriage around, your horse-" He gave a start as he noticed Daniel, then laughed. "Just park the carriage over in the field by the dungeon, and then come on in!"

Daniel nodded, and took them around, though he did pause long enough for Tess to climb down near the door. A few minutes later, the small group trooped into the Guild Hall for the first time in quite a long while.

Jason whistled as he took it in. He had seen it once, right about a year earlier, when Daniel took him inside to talk about how to convince Richard to come up to Summer Shandy. At that point, it had changed a great deal from Tess's time in the position, but now, it had changed even more.

The central floor had been lowered, so that there was a long "pit" of sorts that ran from one end to the other, ringed by about twenty feet of floorspace on either side. A table ran down the middle of this depression, which was covered in an ornate tablecloth that had certainly been made by Delilah. Centerpieces made from monster claws, teeth, skulls, and scales decorated it, along with a handful of wildflowers here and there. The hearth still burned hot, while over the top of the hearth hung the preserved head of the Painted Dragon. How exactly Obadiah had managed to convince anyone to allow him to do that after all the fallout from the event was anyone's guess, but he was his father's son. A large pig was on a spit over the flames of the hearth itself, which filled the building with smell of roasting meat.

Continuing from the hearth, a small ring of comfortable-looking chairs sat nearby, between the fire and the table, where people could relax in a semi-formal fashion. At the opposite end of the room, a long array of bookshelves had been set up, where a number of warriors were studying up on an assortment of things.

"This is... Wow." Tess breathed as she walked up next to Obadiah. "You've done a lot with the place."

"I hope you like it." Obadiah answered. "Oh! You can't really see it from here, but... Right over there, next to the bookshelves, you see that little stairwell? When I was digging out the pit for the table, I went ahead and had the workers just dredge out a proper basement, which I turned into a dormitory for the warriors. That way, people aren't just snoring around up here, getting mad while everyone else lumbers around and wakes them up, there's more privacy from the civilians..."

Tess nodded in amazement, and then her eyes narrowed. "Over there! Behind the bar! Is that what I think it is?"

"An award from the Warrior's Guild for the hall? Why yes, it is!" Obadiah beamed. "I got the renovations done in the spring, right before the annual check-in from the guild, and they were impressed. We're now listed in the top ten percent of Guild Halls in the Illumitir province, though we didn't make the cut for the worldwide list. I'm trying to figure out my angle for that, but I haven't come up with anything yet."

Tess scowled. "They didn't like my design that much, and I rebuilt this place from the ground up!"

"Yeah, and I couldn't have done any of this without the hard work you put in," Obadiah acknowledged. "As far as I'm concerned, that award is just as much yours as mine."

Tess relaxed a bit at that, though Jason didn't think she had actually been upset before. Baby Fern was wide-eyed, and Tess soon began following Obadiah around as he gave her a quick tour of the place. Jason watched them go, then sighed and turned to Richard and Daniel. They were both walking over to the chairs, where they sat down around the fire. Jason joined them, and soon, Tess did the same with baby Fern.

The rest of that day was a lovely one. They ate a small lunch around noontime, and then settled in to wait for the feast. With the Guild Hall hosting, there were almost no preparations to make, which was both extra relaxing, and made it rather boring. With about an hour before dinner, people began trickling inside. Tess found Theresa, Paulina, and Viola, and soon joined them over by the books with Fern, while the women oohed and ahhed over the progress that Fern was making. Eventually, Daniel rose and managed to pull Viola away, and the two of them sat down at the table by themselves. Daniel walked over and joined the women, who by that time had finished with their female talk, and he too watched as Fern performed for the crowd.

When the time came for the meal itself, it was a joyous occasion indeed. Obadiah pulled the hog from the flames and placed it on the bar and allowed people to just come up and carve away chunks of it as they desired. Jason helped himself to a larger portion than he originally intended, but he was able to give part of it away to Daniel (who, he declared, could eat half the pig by himself). Fern laughed and giggled at all the commotion, but as the night wore on, she began to get more and more cranky. When food was gone, the table was moved out of the way, and the lower pit was transformed into an elongated dance floor. There was no band, since none of the members had been able to make it out for the festival, so everyone just danced the way they felt was necessary. Jason thought it was rather

humorous to watch, but as Fern was growing more and more cranky, he knew it was time to go.

"Daniel?" Jason nodded at the warrior. "I hate to ask you to leave, but if you wouldn't mind pulling us back, we'd appreciate it."

"Sure thing, little farmer!" Daniel beamed, then paused. "Can I do one quick dance with Viola?"

Jason nodded, and Daniel quickly swept up his girlfriend and strode out onto the floor. Without ever letting her feet hit the ground, he twirled around, spun her back and forth, threw her up in the air and caught her again, and performed several other dance moves that were actually rather impressive, all things considered. He was breathing heavily when he came to a stop, and then bowed as Jason clapped for him.

About ten minutes later, the group was tearing back down the icy roads, aiming straight for the two farms. A wide smile split Jason's face, and he sighed deeply. It wasn't the festival that he had been planning for, but it had still been a wonderful experience. All the festivals were, really. It was just something marvelous that the town could come together, again and again, every single season without fail. Sure, it hadn't been the highest-attended festival in the history of the town, but it had still been something truly lovely, and it wasn't anything that Jason ever planned on giving up. There were few things in life that caused pure and utter joy, and the festivals were among them.

Now, as the sun set and the wind blew cold across the land, winter was coming to Summer Shandy. It was going to be a long three months until warmth came again... And Jason planned on not wasting a single minute of the time that he would be locked inside with his family.

Chapter Twenty-One: The 1st Day of Winter

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Winter! 90 days until the Winter Festival! As per usual, we got a nice, heavy snowfall to start off the winter, so when you wake up this morning, you'll have a good foot of powder on the ground to wade through, or to let your kids play in. As far as the future goes, it looks like temperatures are going to keep dropping for the next few weeks, with a potential blizzard on the horizon at the end of that. I'll keep you updated as I learn things!]

Jason's eyes slowly flickered open, and he found himself surrounded by warmth. They had put a thick fleece quilt over the bed the night before, to help combat the frigid winter air. Tess's arm was wrapped around his chest, and she was snuggled up against his back. Chance lay upon his feet, and the air was warm from the crackling hearth below. All things considered, it was the perfect way to start out the winter.

"Whaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Fern's broken cry echoed down the hall from her new bedroom, and Jason groaned softly.

"You want to go get her?" He whispered.

"I did it all night," Tess whispered back. "While, I should add, you stayed nice and toasty warm."

"I was asleep, so I didn't get to experience said warmth," Jason returned, with a grin on his face.

A moment later, the only part of Tess's body that he could feel was her feet, which shoved him out of bed. He fell onto the floor with a laugh, then rose and slowly walked up to the window, where he gazed out across the winterized farm.

It was true: For some reason, it nearly always snowed on the first day of winter. It didn't always happen, to be sure, but it was kind of nice when it did. The stable was all shut up to keep the horses warm, and the field was now barren and white, until the summer came around. Winter was a time for bookwork, housekeeping, and other such things... And that meant that Jason could spend a great deal more time with his family.

At that exact moment, though, the family who needed him was Fern. Jason changed quickly into a warm, winter tunic and dashed down the stairs. He quickly mixed up a bottle of milk, then came back up the stairs to Fern's room. It was located just down the hall from their own room, with only Jason's office standing in between. As he pushed the door open, baby Fern waved her arms and legs about and cried fiercely, and he ran to her bedside.

The crib was located near the door, since that was the warmest part of the room. Across the room, toward the window, was a wide carpet and a number of different toys that Tess had been collecting. There was also a rocking chair, a changing table, and an assortment of other such baby-esque things. Jason picked up Fern and held her close, then looked down at the remains of the swaddle lying across the bottom of the crib.

"Well, that's why you're crying." Jason took Fern over to the changing table, and quickly changed her out of her pajamas and into new ones, swapping out her diaper at the same time. That done, he swaddled her up once more, then tucked her into his arms and sat down in the rocking chair. Slowly, he began to rock back and forth while he held the bottle to her lips. She drank deeply and contently, and he sighed. The air was still warm, and as he sat there, Chance came bounding into the room to join the fun. He curled up next to Jason's feet, and Jason felt a smile creeping over his face.

He looked down into Fern's lovely eyes and found her staring back up at him with intensity.

"She really does love you." Tess appeared in the doorway, a smile on her face. She was in a thick, blue winter dress, and she strode over next to the two of them. "You have no idea how precious this moment is right now."

Jason just looked up at her and beamed, then back down at Fern. Tess turned to walk away after a moment, and the folds of her dress swirled in the air. "I'll get some food together. Bring her down when she's ready."

Jason nodded but said nothing. A few minutes passed while Fern drank, and then Jason put her over his shoulder and patted her on the back to burp her. It was becoming less and less necessary as she got older, but it was still kind of fun to do. She gave only one very small burp, and he rose and made his way out into the hall and down into the kitchen. He made only one detour, and that was to toss a handful of logs on the fire, to warm up the house once more. With that, the three of them sat down at the table, and Tess and Jason began to eat.

"What's your plan for today?" Tess asked as Jason cut apart the waffles that she had prepared.

Jason shrugged. "I think I'm going to head out to the greenhouse. I've been waiting until winter proper to plant anything, and I'm excited to see what sort of things I can grow."

"Have you bought any special seed?" Tess asked, a note of excitement in her voice.

"Nah." Jason shook his head. "I want to get the feel of things first. Once I'm satisfied that I can grow some basic garden crops, I'll start working on 'cooler' items."

Tess nodded. "Well, I'm going to help Fern explore her new room. I want her to know that it's her space, and she can do anything she wants with it."

"Except color on the walls." Jason held up a finger. "The paint you used on those walls was not cheap."

Tess shrugged and inclined her head. "Except color on the walls, but you know what I mean. That's her space, and if we put something in there for her to use, it means it's safe. That's in contrast with the rest of the house, where she'll have to ask."

Jason frowned but nodded. "Why the distinction?"

"Because I know we're not going to leave farming tools or daggers or other sorts of potentially harmful items in her room," Tess answered. "We can't say the same thing for the rest of the house. It wouldn't be intentional, of course, but if we can draw the distinction that this room is safe, as opposed to the other rooms, it will help ensure that she's a bit more wary about things in the rest of the house, which will help keep things safer in the event that one of us forgets something."

"That's fair." Jason agreed. "Well, you're the mom, so I'll let you do all that sort of fancy mothering stuff. If you want to bring her out to the greenhouse at all, just let me know!"

Jason passed Fern back over to Tess, then rose and went to the front door. Chance was eager to get out, and Jason cracked the door open to let him. The hound quickly bounded out into the snow, leaping through snowdrifts and pouncing on unseen targets. Jason laughed as he watched him, then pulled on winter boots, a heavy coat, and started out into the cold.

The air nipped at his face as he struggled through the snow toward the stable. He could hear the horses inside, and he pulled the door open to find them up and eager to get out. With a smile on his face, he opened the door that led out into the corral, and then leaned against a post to watch them as they frolicked through the fresh snow. Alfred flopped down in the snow and began to roll back and forth, sending puffs of it flying, and Jason laughed. He then turned toward their stalls and scooped out the manure, then went out to their trough, scooped out the snow, and then made his way around the house to the greenhouse. Chance followed him up to the door but didn't

want to go inside. Jason was just fine with that, and he quickly pulled open the door and slipped inside.

They had built the greenhouse over the previous week or so, which had been a fairly painless process. A light metal frame formed the shape, while a fancy, new plastic-like material formed the translucent panes. It wasn't as clear as glass, which gave some privacy to the greenhouse (and, according to the ad, would help prevent plants from cooking during the summer), but would still let in plenty of light. There was also something about the panes providing insulation, along with various other perks they provided, but Jason didn't really understand half of it. Instead, he pulled the door shut and turned his attention to the raised seedbeds that were waiting on him.

The greenhouse was quite small, ten feet from the siding of the house to the outer panes, and thirty feet long. A single, waist-high metal table had been set up in the middle, providing about three feet of clearance on any given side. Sitting on top of the table were about a dozen small, wooden boxes filled with soil. Jason let out a long breath, then started walking down the length of the boxes, looking at them all.

"All right," he murmured. "It's been a while since I did any gardening quite like this. What sort of seeds do we have on hand?"

He opened the inventory of the farm, looking at the list available. [Seed Inventory:

Tomato Seeds: 15

Potato Eyes: 5

Green Bean Seeds: 11 Watermelon Seeds: 6 Pumpkin Seeds: 21 Squash Seeds: 3

Carrot Seeds: 5

Eggplant Seeds: 8

Green Pepper Seeds: 23 Red Pepper Seeds: 14 Phantom Pepper Seeds: 2]

He retched a bit at the last entry on the list. He remembered all too well the saga of the phantom peppers, when he had mixed them into a chemical- esque spray to try and kill off an infestation of Juun Bugs. It wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat, and he nearly just threw the seeds out altogether, but something held him back. What if he happened to need them again sometime? He wasn't sure why he would ever need them again, but... He could, on occasion, be a bit of a hoarder, and with how powerful they were, it seemed a foolish thing to just get rid of them.

With that, he turned to the first seed box and took out a handful of tomato seeds. Carefully, he cast them across the ground.

[Action Used: Plant Seeds. Remaining Actions: 37]

He quickly moved along the seed boxes, sewing a handful of the seeds into each one. By the time he got to the end, he had planted at least one seed of everything except for the phantom peppers, watermelons, and pumpkins. He didn't particularly want swaths of vines taking over his greenhouse, so he left out anything with a great tendency to spread. With that done, he had 20 actions left, and he stroked his chin in thought.

The air inside the greenhouse was warm, much warmer than outside, but it also wasn't anything particularly balmy. The user's guide had mentioned that it still did need some sort of external heat, which Jason hadn't particularly worried about up until that moment since he hadn't been planting anything. Now, though, he was faced with the prospect. He suspected that it had been kept as warm as it was due to the proximity of the house, but it would need to get just a bit warmer if anything was going to

grow. So... How exactly was he going to accomplish that? Paulina had given him a handful of options, but he hadn't yet put any of them into use.

After a few moments, though, he made up his mind. He openedthe inventory of his farm, selected a handful of wooden planks, and took them out. They had once been part of his stable, and they hadn't been re-used during one of the various times he had rebuilt the thing. Now, it was the perfect time to put them to use. He knelt and placed one of them along the ground, running the length of the metal table. It stuck out at both ends, and he quickly took out a saw and cut it to the proper length.

[Remaining Actions: 19]

That done, he took another longer board and cut it to the same length, then placed it on the opposite side. When that was accomplished, he took a third board, cut it in half, and placed it along the two ends, making a small, six-inch-high box marked by the legs of the table. He then took out a hammer and some nails and set to work.

[Action Used: Construction. Remaining Actions: 15]

He quickly moved around to all four corners where the boards met, crudely and quickly hammering them into place. All that was accomplished quickly, and when he was done, he stood up and whistled softly.

"And there we go. Now... Now, I just need something I can let rot."

For a long moment, he wasn't sure what to use. In essence, he was creating a compost heap, as Paulina had explained to him that composting materials released an enormous amount of heat. It was called a hotbed, and while it certainly wouldn't keep the place warm enough for humans, it would be more than enough for the plants. After a short time in thought, he left the greenhouse and went to the stable, where he quickly scooped up several the horse droppings that he had cleaned up that morning. They would serve as a good starter, since they already held many of the bacteria that would do the job. After he tossed the manure into the hotbed, he openedhis farm's inventory and began to dig through the deep recesses that he hadn't looked through for years. To his surprise, he actually found a

decent amount of stuff that was, simply put... Old and rotting. There was a great deal of seed that had spoiled, and he dumped out a heap of rather sweet-smelling corn and soybean seed into the base of the box. He then followed it with some food from their pantry that had gone bad, such as some old sausages, and more than a few vegetables that had likely been sitting in there since he had first moved into the house. By the time he finished, the smell of decaying food began to fill the small room, but... It honestly wasn't as unpleasant as he might have thought, and the temperature was already starting to rise.

"And now, for the first time in five years, I have something to do during winter." Jason dusted off his hands, then turned and strode out of the greenhouse. It was just about lunchtime, and he was eager to see how Fern and Tess were doing. Once the seeds started to sprout, he was excited to take Fern out to show her, as she was growing more inquisitive and excited by the day.

All in all... He really just couldn't wait to see how the winter, and everything that came with it, would go.

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Child Alarm

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 9th day of Winter! 82 days until the Winter Festival! Looks like that storm will be getting here any time, folks! If you have anything to do outside, do it this morning, because you're not going to want to get stuck outside this afternoon!]

Jason yawned as he woke up, and for a moment, he snuggled into Tess's embrace. They both sighed deeply... And in the distance, Fern, on some unseen command, began to cry.

"You don't think she has an alarm clock too, do you?" Jason swung his legs out of bed and climbed to his feet.

"It's just her routine. You and I have them, too, just in different ways." Tess observed as she rolled out of bed as well. They quickly changed into warm clothes and walked out into the hall. Chance was scratching at Fern's door, trying to help her, and Jason petted his head and scratched his ears.

"Do you want to get breakfast ready, or go feed Fern?" Jason nodded at the door.

"I'll feed Fern," Tess answered. "You get outside and take care of the horses. I don't know when that storm's hitting, but I'd rather make sure we're all inside when it comes."

Jason nodded, then jogged down the stairs while Tess went into Fern's room. Chance glanced back and forth between the two of them, then followed Jason down the stairs to the living room. Jason quickly pulled on

his boots and a heavy coat and set out into the cold. Chance followed eagerly, leaping out across the frozen ground. A little bit of the snow remained, but by and large, most of it had faded away. Jason crunched across the yard to the horses, and quickly stepped inside.

The three horses looked up at him and nickered, and Jason smiled.

"Good morning. Sorry, but I can't let you out today. Big storm, and all that." He changed their straw, then poured them some feed in all their troughs. "Stay warm! I'll check in on you later!" Lady nickered in response, but Angus kicked irritably at the stall door. Jason apologized once more (he did know it wouldn't do much good, but still felt it to be the polite thing to do), and he made his way out into the cold.

Chance followed him as he made his way around the side of the house to the greenhouse, where he poked his head through the door. The plants were all coming along well, full and green and ready to put on crops. The nice thing about greenhouses was that they allowed you to grow crops out of season (which was otherwise impossible). On the downside, though, they took longer to produce, and usually didn't produce as much. Still, though, he was happy to see so much growth, and he pulled the door shut and made extra certain that it was locked before he made his way back into the house. He pulled the door shut after Chance, and with that, they were locked in for the storm.

The trio quickly sat down to eat breakfast as the sky began to darken. The chimney began to howl as the wind picked up, and Jason shivered despite the warmth of the house. When they finished with breakfast, they walked into the living room, where Jason tossed another log onto the fire. The blaze crackled up, and Tess tossed a blanket down onto the hardwood floor, where she set baby Fern.

"All right, little Fern." She lay down in front of her. "Ready to start crawling?"

Jason smiled as he sat down on the couch. Tess set Fern upright, so she was sitting, then moved a bit closer to the fireplace and lay down once more.

"Come to mommy! Come to mama!"

Fern giggled, then turned her head to look at Jason. Tess had dressed her in blue pajamas, which combined well with her eyes.

"She's in a happy mood" Jason chuckled.

"She's always like this in the morning." Tess smiled, then leaned forward and spoke in her baby-voice. "Are you going to be a morning person like mama? I think you are! I really think you are!"

At that, Jason laughed. "If I recall right, the first time we ever met, you just about chopped my head off because I came into the Guild Hall before noon."

"In due fairness, that was an abnormality, and I don't think I was really awake when that happened." Tess chuckled. "Let me think... There had been a really big party the night before, I remember that much. I don't remember exactly what had happened, but I think a raiding party had just gone up to the wilderness area north of here and hunted a rare elephant- monster or something. Anyway, everyone had kept me up until something like four in the morning, so I was only running on a few hours of sleep when you came walking in."

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, you sure made it sounds like you never woke up before noon."

"Keep in mind that I was trying to manhandle a whole bunch of adrenaline-fueled warriors who would have hung you up from the rafters for sport." Tess chuckled. "My apologies, though. I know it wasn't the best of impressions for either of us, but things do seem to have worked out in the end."

"Indeed." Jason looked down at baby Fern, who continued to giggle. Suddenly, she leaned forward and fell onto her hands, where she began to wobble back and forth. She giggled at that, too... And then slowly moved her knees forward.

"Did you see that?" Tess shrieked. "You just crawled! Baby Fern, you just crawled! Yes, you did!"

Fern laughed, then started crawling forward a bit faster. She came right up to Tess, and Tess gave her a great big hug. She then set her down, stood up, and moved to the other side of the rug, away from the fire.

"All right, Fern! Come back to me! Come to mama again! You can do it!"

Fern just sat there and laughed, then let her smile fade away. She stuck a finger in her mouth, blew a bunch of spit bubbles... And then turned and looked at the fire. An excited burbling came out of her mouth, and she started crawling toward it instead of Tess.

"No!"

The word emerged from the mouths of both Jason and Tess, and they dove toward their daughter rather desperately. Jason reached her first and scooped her up before she could reach the flickering coals. He set her down on the blanket, and Fern tilted her head back and screamed.

"I'm sorry, Fern, but that'll hurt you." Tess picked up Fern and tried to soothe her as Jason studied the fire. He had meant to put up a metal grill some time earlier, but he had gotten distracted when Daniel came over to see Tess. He studied the issue for a moment, then nodded.

"I think I saw something in the basement that might help. Hold right there."

Quickly, he turned and jogged into the kitchen, then down into the basement of the house. It was quite damp down there, and smelled of... Well... A damp basement. There was just no other smell that could quite describe it. As he climbed down, he found about half of the floorspace open, and the other half filled with old boxes that his uncle had left behind. The year earlier, he and Tess had made quite an effort to get them all cleaned out, and had taken a good chunk out of things, but there were simply a lot of boxes to get through. He made a mental note to try to clean

up some more of it as the winter wore on, but for the time being, had a slightly different mission. Moving quickly, he ran to one of the two rooms at the end of the basement (which, by the floor plan of the house, were located more or less underneath the front door and front part of the living room), and he ducked inside. There, he found a small fire grate, designed to go across the front of the fireplace. Why exactly his uncle had taken it down, he didn't know, though he imagined that it wasn't terribly important. In any case, it was a bit rusty, but nothing terrible. He bolted back up the stairs with the item, and carefully set it in place.

As soon as it was set, he took out some bolts from the farm's inventory, and attached the grate to several old holes that had been left when his uncle removed the grate some time earlier. That done, he sat back, and Tess let go of Fern. She scrambled up to the grate and grabbed hold, but she was unable to get through. Instead of upsetting her, she seemed to find the grate amusing, and she tried to pull herself up. Her little arms strained for a few minutes until she sank back to the ground, and she turned back toward Tess.

"How did you even know that was there?" Tess asked as little Fern scrambled about on the blanket. She had learned how to move, and she seemed determined to make use of the skill.

Jason shrugged. "I don't know for sure. It just... Stuck in my mind, I guess, from the last time we were cleaning down there."

Tess shrugged, then gasped. Fern had just scrambled underneath the couch, and Tess grabbed her by the legs and pulled her out. This time, Fern had a screwdriver clutched in her hands, which she waved about wildly before Jason managed to grab it away.

"I thought you cleaned under here!" Tess scowled at him.

"I did!" He protested. "I don't know how... I..." He paused and stroked his chin. "I mean, a few days ago, I was fiddling with some tools in here, I suppose I might have dropped them?"

"Why were you fiddling with tools?" Tess snapped.

Jason shrugged. "You were asleep because you'd been up all night with Fern, and Fern was asleep because she'd been up all night with you, so I started building little towers on the floor, and-"

Tess spun as Fern pulled a small bolt from underneath another couch, and she quickly yanked it from her chubby little hand. "Don't do that again! This is exactly why I wanted to have the house ready for when she started crawling!"

"In fairness, it was ready." Jason mumbled. "It's not my fault... I mean, I suppose it's sorta my fault... Things get dirty and cluttered, that's just life!"

"Well, now it's time to get it cleaned up!"

Jason quickly tucked the screwdriver and bolt back into the farm's inventory, then got down on his hands and knees. He quickly found a wrench, a hammer, and a few other odds and ends here and there that he scooped up and put away before Tess could glare at him. Meanwhile, Fern was skittering back and forth as she enjoyed her newfound freedom. Suddenly, something began to rattle in the kitchen, and Jason looked up sharply.

Tess was looking underneath one of the chairs, and she looked up as well. Both realized that neither were watching Fern, and they leapt to their feet and bolted into the kitchen. There, Fern had a fistful of dog food in her hand, while both of her cheeks were bulging out. Tess gasped and grabbed hold of her little fist, knocking all the dog food away, while Jason held his hand just below her mouth and began to work at her little cheeks. Within a few moments, a number of slobbery dog food pellets came tumbling out, which Jason threw away. He then stuck his finger into Fern's mouth and began to work it around and discovered one more hiding away in the back. As he dislodged it, Tess carried Fern back into the living room, and Jason let out a long breath.

All around the house, the storm began to pick up. Snow whipped by the windows, and the house rattled every now and again under the onslaught, but inside, they were nice and warm. Jason pulled a number of boards from

the farm's inventory and set up a small workshop in the corner of the living room, where he began to hammer together several small baby-doors, as he called them, that would help keep Fern contained in a safe part of the house. Tess kept Fern near the fire, where she could play on the blanket and stay out of harm's way, until lunchtime came around, and she drank a large amount of milk and fell fast asleep. Tess carried her up to her room, and Jason moved closer to the fire while he continued working on the doors.

"You think these are okay, don't you?" Tess came down and sat down next to him as Jason continued to work. "These aren't inhumane or anything, right?"

"They'll keep her safe." Jason slowly put down the frame. He had ten actions left, so he would likely have to finish up the next day, but he supposed that would be all right. "If we were in the city, we'd only have one or two rooms, anyway. Once summer comes around, we can just let her crawl around in the yard, but for the winter... It's just not practical to turn the whole house into a free-crawling area. What we can do is give her a large area to roam around in, and then keep everything dangerous in a few small areas where we don't let her wander free."

"Yeah." Tess nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it does." Jason flashed a small smile. "I mean, you're the one who wanted me to baby-proof the house, remember? This is just... The best way I can think to do that."

Tess sighed and leaned against him as he worked, then smiled. "Our baby is crawling. Our baby. It's still weird to me that we're parents, and weirder yet that our child is actually... I don't know."

"I get it." Jason reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. "We have a family now, and that's... That's incredible. We're going to stick with it, and we're going to have the best family ever. We may not get everything right on the first try, but..." He shrugged. "That's why we're planning on having more than one, right?"

"I guess so!" Tess grinned and lay her head on her shoulder. "I love you, Jason."

"I love you, too." Jason murmured, then leaned his own head against hers. The fire crackled, and the beat of his hammer laid out a staccato rhythm that filled the small house. It was perfect... And in so many ways, he couldn't imagine how it could get any better.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Bundle Up

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 18th day of Winter! 73 days until the Winter Festival! Remember how I said this would be a record cold spell this winter? Well, that's here. Seriously, it's dangerously cold outside. If you have to venture outside, make sure you bundle up!]

Jason awoke to Fern's cries and he yawned. After a moment, he shivered, and glanced over at the empty bed beside him. Tess was missing, and for a moment, he panicked. Then his brain caught up with him, and he sighed in relief.

"Hey, Chance." His hound bounded up onto the bed, and Jason gave him some pets before swinging out of bed and walking up to the window. He changed while he did so, not wanting to leave poor Fern alone. Down below, the land was white, as the temperatures simply hadn't risen enough since the previous snowstorm to melt any of it. It was a dirtier white now, but it was still snow. Tracks led out of the yard and up and down the road, showing the week's worth of traffic that had passed by. Jason looked down at the frozen landscape for a short time, then turned and walked out into the hall.

Fern was in her crib, kicking back and forth as she wailed for help. Jason jogged over to the bed, then reached down and picked her up. She kicked against his embrace and continued to wail, and Jason smiled down at her. He quickly carried her down the stairs to the kitchen, then set her in the living room by the fire. Over the previous week, he and Tess had gotten the small, two-foot-high doors up to prevent Fern from escaping, and had swept the floor of the living room repeatedly again to make sure that there was

nothing harmful there at all. Of course, at that moment, he had no genuine worries. Fern simply lay on her back and screamed, and he ran into the kitchen to prepare a bottle. When it was ready, he came back out, picked Fern up again, and sat down on the couch.

"Here you go." He placed the nipple in her mouth, and she drank eagerly. "There! That wasn't so bad. Don't worry, Mommy will be home soon. I hope."

He cast a longing look toward the door, but shrugged it away. Tess knew how to take care of herself, that was for sure. Most likely, she would just stay in Summer Shandy until the weather warmed up a bit, maybe that afternoon, and would ride back then. Even if she stayed for another day longer, Jason would make it work.

Tess's absence was nothing that hadn't been planned. Paulina had asked for some help converting the old warehouse back into a wedding chapel, after it had fallen back into a more daily grind of things following Tess and Jason's wedding. Tess had agreed and volunteered to help with a good deal of the other wedding preparations as well. There was apparently an enormous amount to get done, most of which Jason didn't understand (though, in due fairness, Tess had done most of the preparations without him as they prepared for their own wedding). Jason had assured Tess that he could take care of Fern by himself, and, the day earlier, she rode out to help her best friend get ready for her big day.

Since that time, Jason thought he had done a perfectly good job taking care of Fern, though he would be the first to admit that it was a much more time-consuming job than he had imagined. As Fern finished her bottle, Jason smiled and set it aside, then put her up on his shoulder to burp her. She screamed almost instantly, and he frowned as he patted her back carefully. No burp emerged, and after a few minutes of trying, he slowly pulled her back down and lay her in his arms.

"It's alright." He whispered softly. "Don't worry! Daddy's got you."

Fern didn't seem terribly comforted by these words, and she kicked against his grip. After a moment of thought, he slowly set her down on the

floor (after spreading a blanket across it, of course). She lay on her back and kicked, continued to cry loudly. It was no longer a scream, but it was certainly a sign of discomfort.

"Hmm..." Jason stroked his chin, then grinned. "Maybe you just want to be put on your belly!"

He leaned over and flipped her onto her stomach, then sat back to wait. Instead of crawling, Fern simply lifted all her arms and legs and cried some more, until she got tired and had to lower her head and limbs back to the floor. She continued to cry, though, and Jason frowned and leaned back against the couch.

"Are you still hungry?" He asked after a moment. "I bet you're still hungry! Give me just a moment."

Fern continued to cry as he ran into the kitchen and mixed up a second bottle of formula. When he returned, he sat down on the floor cross-legged and lay Fern across his lap, then inserted the bottle into her mouth. She took a single suck, then spat out the bottle and continued to cry. Jason sighed deeply, set the bottle aside, then picked up his daughter and cradled her in his arms.

She continued to scream, no matter what he did. He tried swaddling her, but she only thrashed against the confinement. He let her in his arms, without the swaddle, but she kicked against him and wanted freedom. When he set her down, she seemed to indicate that she wanted held. He just couldn't wrap his head around it at all, and it was just about to drive him up a wall.

"Please, Fern, just tell me what you want!" He pleaded. "I'll give you anything! Well, maybe not anything. Anything legal that won't cause you harm."

Fern, as usual, wasn't terribly comforted by these assurances, and Jason sighed deeply. He stayed on the ground, trying to comfort her, but nothing worked. Eventually, as the morning wore on, she tired. The cries came less and less, though her eyes were still teary, and when she gathered the

strength, she went back to crying. Jason changed her diaper half a dozen times, wondering if maybe some sort of diaper rash was causing her pain. He changed her pajamas, hoping that that would help her. Finally, though, as lunchtime came around and she fell asleep, she quit crying for good. Jason picked her up and gave her the second bottle (it had gotten a bit cold, but he held it up to the fireplace to warm it up for a few moments), then carried her upstairs to her room and placed her in her crib. She nodded off to sleep, though she continued to murmur, and Jason quietly walked back down the stairs to the kitchen.

As he walked into the kitchen, his stomach rumbled to remind him that he hadn't eaten any breakfast, and he sat down and nodded at the cookbooks.

"I think I want... Hamburgers." Jason nodded. "With lettuce, pickles, onions, and tomatoes from my greenhouse."

[Error: You have not created that recipe before.]

"I know that, but I've made hamburgers before. You can extrapolate the rest." Jason scowled at the cookbook. It folded its pages defiantly, and he sighed, rose, and made up the meal himself. When he finished, he sat down at the table and took a bite, but had hardly finished chewing it before Fern cried again from upstairs.

"Poor girl." He left his food at the table and jogged up the stairs. "I wish I knew how to help her."

He burst into the room and scooped her up, and she snuggled into his embrace. He sighed deeply, then sat down in the rocking chair. Her eyes soon closed, though she continued to burst out in small cries every few moments. She didn't wake up, though, as long as he was holding her. He tried to put her down a few times, but every time he walked away, she only started crying again. He was getting frustrated, not with Fern, but with himself.

"Why can't I figure this out?" He moaned to himself as he sat there, slowly rocking her back and forth. His stomach rumbled, reminding him

that he hadn't really eaten anything that day. Of course, the rumble of his stomach made Fern cry too, and it forced him to lay her down in her crib to allow her to scream as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Her wailing from above nearly broke his heart, but what else could he do? Until his stomach quit growling, even holding her wouldn't soothe her.

When he arrived in the kitchen, he found Chance had eaten his hamburger, and was hiding underneath the couch and whimpering. Jason rolled his eyes, though he didn't feel up to punishing the dog at all. He made himself up another hamburger, then dropped onto the couch just next to the fire. It was burning low, and he added another log.

"You know, I'd just take her to Theresa, but with it being so cold..." He let the thought trail off. If it was dangerous for an adult to be outside, he certainly wasn't going to risk taking Fern unless it was an absolute emergency, and he couldn't let her sit there by herself while he ran into town and back. He sighed deeply as he finished eating, then rose and went back upstairs.

This time, he took the rocking chair and brought it downstairs in front of the fire, then went back up and took Fern down. She snuggled into his shoulder, continuing to cry here and there until she finally fell asleep in his arms as he rocked there in the living room. It was a quiet, peaceful sort of place, and he exhaled in relief.

"There we go." He whispered softly. "That's the way we do it. You just snuggle in there, nice and quiet, and we rest. Do you think daddy could take a nap, too?" Fern stirred slightly in his grasp, and he sighed deeply. "No, I didn't think so either, but it was a nice thought. I couldn't risk dropping you, now could I?"

He was still rocking there, wondering what to do, when something rattled in the mail slot. Carefully, trying not to wake Fern, he rose and slipped over to the door, where he took out a letter from Tess.

"Sorry I'm late, Jason. It's just so cold. Paulina showed me a fun trick, though. She heated water to boiling, then threw it out the top story of her store. It turned into snow before it hit the ground. Wild what you can do if

you know how to do it. Anyway, my goal is to be back home before dark, but we'll have to see. At the temperature that the thermometer is reading, a person can start to suffer some pretty serious repercussions after even only about thirty minutes of exposure. We're looking through Paulina's supplies of cold-weather gear to see what we can find. Anyway, I love you, and I hope things are going well with Fern! Can't wait to see you!"

Jason smiled at the letter. He folded it and set it aside, then leaned back in the chair as he slowly rocked Fern. She slept for the better part of two hours, during which he couldn't put her down at all. Every time he tried, she simply woke up crying once again. Holding her under her swaddles and wraps, there in front of the warm fire, Jason himself felt quite tired, and it became quite a fight to keep himself away. He knew he didn't dare fall asleep for fear of dropping her, and resorted to biting his tongue and lips to keep himself alert.

Finally, when Fern woke up, he was able to set her down on the ground. At that point, a great wave of relief washed over him at having made it without dozing off, though, with that, he nearly just fell asleep right then and there. Perhaps the only thing that kept him from doing so was the fact that he... Well... Couldn't even think about sleeping with Fern crying.

She continued to cry, in one form or another, until that evening. Jason tried everything he could possibly think of, but nothing worked in the slightest. Finally, though, as the sun was setting, he heard hooves in the drive, and a few moments later, boots echoed upon the porch.

"It's mommy!" He picked up Fern and jogged to the front door. That proved to be a mistake, as the door popped open to allow a heavily-clothed Tess to come stumbling inside. A blast of cold air swept through the house, and Fern let out a piercing cry more pained than anything else she had made that day. Jason pulled her away from the door in realization, and Tess quickly tugged off her coats and cloaks, letting a proper whirlwind of clothing fall to the ground. As she stepped free, she rushed up to Fern and swept her up in her arms, cooing as she did so.

"Sorry about that! Did you miss mommy?"

Fern let out a few more screams, then snuggled into Tess's embrace. Jason's jaw dropped, and Tess turned to smile at him as Fern cooed and burbled.

"What?" She asked after a moment.

"Nothing." Jason sighed, then swallowed his pride and nodded. "I'm glad she's happy to see you. She's been... She must have been missing you a lot."

"I'm just glad you two are okay." Tess smiled as she walked over to a chair and sat down. "Now tell me everything! I hope she wasn't any trouble?"

A smile came to Jason's lips, and he shrugged and sat down on the couch across from her. "Trouble? It's never trouble taking care of my daughter.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Snow and more snow

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 30th day of Winter! 61 days until the Winter Festival! Believe it or not, we're a third of the way through the winter! Not that there's really that much for most folks to do around winter, but if you happen to have anything that needs doing, now's your chance! Don't wait until there's only a week left before spring! On the bright side, today should be a good bit warmer. The snow will be good for packing, so expect to see loads of snowmen around town. That said, packing snow also means melting snow, so expect the roads to be plenty sloppy if you try to go anywhere.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: Update: I've been informed that a cattle drive is happening today, so you'll likely want to build your snowmen off the road.]

"A cattle drive?" Jason blinked in surprise. "Been a little while since I've seen one of those."

Tess chuckled and slowly sat up. "That's because Obadiah petitioned the cattle guild, or whatever they're called, to move the buying point down to Darkwater. He kept having to repair the cobblestones after the cattle came through and got sick of it. Jeremiah petitioned back, though, and got his way."

"None of that really surprises me." Jason chuckled softly as he rose and went to the window. The first few cattle were just drifting down the road, and he glimpsed Richard on a horse near the front.

"We can go watch it." Tess shrugged. "I've been itching to get out of the house for the past few days, if I'm being honest, and I think Fern could stand to get some fresh air. There's only so much you can do around the house, even as a baby."

"Let's do it." Jason nodded. He dressed quickly in a warm tunic, then strode down the stairs to the kitchen. Tess went to tend to Fern, and Jason was soon outside, turning their horses loose into the corral while Chance ran about, barking and jumping into piles of snow.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah came trotting up on his horse. The lower legs of the great beast were already caked with mud, and from the glimpses Jason was getting of the road, the entire expanse was getting churned into a great pit. The snow along the sides of the road was certainly turning quite brown under all the splashing. "How goes it today?"

"It goes fine!" Jason called back. "If you don't mind, I think we're going to come along and watch the drive."

"Have at it." Jeremiah shrugged. "You'll probably want to wait until we're all past to take off, at least if you're using the carriage, but it's always fun to have company!"

He waved as he turned and headed back out with the herd. Their great hooves continued to churn up the mud and muck, and Jason shook his head in amazement. Cattle were truly incredible beasts, no matter how commonplace they may have seemed.

After feeding the horses, he came back up and into the house. Tess had already prepared breakfast, biscuits and gravy for Jason, and some salad for herself. She tried feeding baby Fern another bite of oatmeal, but it didn't go terribly well, as per usual. Soon enough, though, they finished eating, and the three of them were soon dressed and heading out the door.

As they went to their carriage, Jason could hardly take his eyes off of Fern. She was dressed in the cutest little snowsuit that Jason thought he had ever seen. Her little face peeked out from a thick hood that wrapped around her head, while the rest of her body was entirely covered. She stretched out

her arms toward the snow, and Tess sat her down in an area where the melting snow was only a few inches deep, but Fern soon decided (after shoveling a good bit of it into her mouth) that she did not like snow after all. Tess picked her back up and climbed up into the carriage as Jason finished hitching up Angus.

The moment that they were ready, they drove up to the edge of the driveway, but at that point, they had to stop. The cattle, though the end of the herd was coming close, were still coming along down the road. Jason leaned back and watched the incredible animals plodding along, simply following in a great, lumbering line. Each one weighed close to (or over) a ton, and somewhere around sixty percent of that weight was all meat. A single one would have fed himself and Tess for close to a full year, and Jeremiah was selling thousands of them. Jason had seen once how much each animal could sell for, and from that, knew that Jeremiah was raking in a truly extraordinary amount of profit. The fact that he still lived such a simple life, and was so willing to help anyone who needed it, was truly a testament to his character.

When the last of the herd came along, Jason was more than a little surprised to see Daniel following in their stead. He smiled and waved at Jason, and Jason waved back. Daniel wasn't even on a horse, though he was wearing his full set of plate armor. He simply stomped through the mud and muck, forging his way along despite the circumstances. Jason shrugged and started trotting along after him as the herd went by, and with that, they were off to town.

At least... Well... They were off to town. To imply that it was easy would have been a deception, for thousands of hooves had churned the road into a deep pit of muck. Angus's powerful muscles strained as he fought to pull the carriage along. Soon, the wheels were coated in the muck, and they often slid left or right as they hit bumps or came to slopes. Still, Angus pushed onward, and in front of him, so did Daniel. Finally, they came up to the town and rumbled onto the cobblestones. There, Daniel pulled to the side for a minute, while Tess and Fern climbed down and walked over to a group of townsfolk who were also watching the procession. They began oohing and awing over Fern's outfit, and Jason chuckled before driving the

carriage onward, through the town and around to the back of Paulina's store, where the great corrals had been set up.

The corrals, like everything else, were a muddy mess. The cattle were running through the pens, slipping and sliding this way and that. Jeremiah sat nearby on his horse, smoking his pipe as he watched the proceedings. Jason pulled the carriage to the side and hitched Angus to a post there, then climbed down and walked over next to Jeremiah.

"That's the last of them, little boss!" Daniel came walking back over to Jeremiah. "Not a single one wandered off the road. I'm sure of it!"

"Thank you, Daniel. If that proves true, you'll have a bonus waiting for you back at the ranch." Jeremiah smiled, then nodded down at Jason. "I always have a few of them that slip out of my herd on the way to market. It doesn't matter how close they put the corrals or how nice the weather is. A few weeks back, with the last herd we ran down to Darkwater, I had the idea to put Daniel on follow-up duty. He can straight-up lift some of those creatures, and wouldn't you know, that was the first herd in five years that didn't lose a single animal on the way to market. He's a powerful good worker, that one."

"I sure try!" Daniel beamed, then glanced at the town. "Now that they're in the pens-"

"I told you that you were free to take the afternoon off to go through the dungeon, and I stand by it." Jeremiah nodded, then glanced down at Jason. "He wants to try the cattle prod challenge, and go through the dungeon using nothing but a simple cattle prod."

"It's not the hardest challenge I've ever done, but it ought to be fun!" Daniel grinned, then ran off toward the dungeon. Jeremiah chuckled, then sighed as he watched the cattlemen working over his herds.

"How's the farm been going?" Jeremiah asked. "Seems like I've hardly seen you around these days."

"You're not kidding." Jason shrugged. "It's been going well. All that help you gave me sure paid off, and there have been no catastrophes that have really needed attention recently. It's just been smooth sailing, one end to the next."

"I saw you got your greenhouse up." Jeremiah chuckled and briefly took the pipe from his mouth. "You've been trying to get something like that built since the very first year you came around."

Jason nodded and laughed. "It's been a struggle, that's for sure."

"How's little Fern? She giving you much trouble?"

Jason shook his head. "She's been crying a lot, mostly when Tess isn't around, but otherwise, she's just as sweet as can be. She just started crawling, and that's been an adventure!"

"I bet. I remember back when my own kids started doing that, and it's quite an adventure." Jeremiah replaced the pipe and blew a few puffs of smoke from the bowl, then glanced down at Jason. "It's strange, you know that? Seeing you with a kid, now, and my son is getting married? You know, you came along not that long after the last of my kids left the house, and... Oh, I don't know. Just makes me feel old."

Jason shook his head. "You're not old."

"Yeah, I am." Jeremiah nodded. "I'm old, and at this point, I hardly know what I'm doing. You don't need help anymore. My kids are all grown up and starting their own families. What's the point of ranching, anyway, if you aren't doing it for someone? You know what I mean? Don't get me wrong. Delilah still needs me, and I need to make enough money to support myself, so I'm not giving up anytime soon."

Jason blinked. "This isn't exactly how I imagined this conversation going."

At that, Jeremiah burst out laughing. After a moment, he swung down from the horse, dumped the ashes out of his pipe, and tucked it away into

his pocket. "Sorry about that. I dunno. Having a late mid-life crisis, I guess. Maybe you'd call it a late-life crisis. We should do something together again, sometime. Blow something up, or spawn in a small monster to shoot, or something like that."

Jason shrugged. "I told you about the old dungeon, right? There's still a whole heap of treasure down there. Floors upon floors we haven't explored yet. Tess and I have been waiting for Daniel and Richard to get another day off so we could give it a whirl, but when they have had days off, the weather has just been awful."

"Then I'll give them a day off this very next week if you'll take me with you."

"Deal."

They shook hands rather jovially, then laughed. A few moments later, Tess came walking up with Fern in her arms, and Jeremiah leaned over and beamed down at her little face.

"Oh, those cheeks! I forgot just how adorable little ones can be. Don't worry, I won't go pinching her or anything. I know my boundaries, but wow, she's cute." He glanced up as Obadiah came walking up, and his grin became somewhat more ornery. "Now why couldn't you have been that cute of a baby? I could probably have wheedled a discount out of the general store. The lady who ran the store at the time was a sucker for a cute baby."

Obadiah laughed and clapped his hands. "I was working with your genetics, dad, so you'll have to tell me the answer to that question."

Jeremiah burst out laughing and Tess gave Obadiah a fist-bump. They stood there for a few moments, and Obadiah rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ahh... Dad?" "Yeah?"

"I... I don't mean to be rude, but do you remember what I told you about running your herd through Summer Shandy?"

Jeremiah held up his hands. "Hey, the guild put up their stables here, so I don't know-"

"I didn't tell you that you couldn't do it. All I said was that you'd have to face the consequences, and..." Obadiah licked his lips and held out a small piece of paper. "A fine from Hank for the cleanup that's going to have to be done."

Jeremiah took the paper and blinked at it several times. "If it's a fine from Hank, why doesn't he come deliver it himself?"

"Because he's scared of you, and because, more importantly, he's out there hiring someone to clean up the cobblestones."

"They don't need to be cleaned!"

"There's a foot of mud on there in some places!"

Jason took that as his cue to leave, and he and Tess backed away. Jeremiah and Obadiah both turned and waved at them with smiles on their faces, then turned back to each other and began arguing. Jason couldn't imagine that the fine was very much, but Jeremiah was a man of principles, and one of those was to never pay money willingly when it was being demanded of him (even though Jason suspected he had already set aside a sum of money to cover the clean-up).

Jason and Tess spent a good portion of the rest of the day in town. Jason walked over to the town well and talked with Hank for a while, while Tess went into Paulina's store to talk with the women. Around lunchtime, they went over to Viola's inn and ate (where they caught sight of Daniel and Viola at a table near the fire, laughing and talking), then prepared to head home. Jeremiah had slipped out of town somewhere in the middle of it, and the cattle were being put together to run up toward Illumitir. Soon, the carriage was bumping along back toward the distant farm, and Jason sighed deeply.

"That was a fun day." Jason smiled at Tess. "Sometimes, it's just fun to get out of the house, you know?"

"And it's been way too long since you and Jeremiah have gotten together." Tess paused. "You know, I really don't mind it when the two of you do things, as long as it doesn't involve explosions that wake up the baby or giant monsters that ravage the countryside."

"Yeah, but that's all we like to do," Jason joked. He sighed and leaned into Tess's shoulder, and gazed down at Fern before being yelled at to focus on the road. "No, it was nice to see him again, but I couldn't do this every day."

Tess glanced at him. "Really?"

"Yeah." Jason shrugged. "Runs to town are fun, but... My family is right here, and that's where I'd rather stay for the long run."

Tess let out a long breath, then leaned her own head against him. "Me, too.

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Warmer house

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 33rd day of Winter! 58 days until the Winter Festival! Today's supposed to be a quite lovely day, all things considered! The snow's all gone, and the ground should be dried up, which will provide firm footing just about anywhere you're going. The temperature should be just a hitch above freezing, so it won't be the least pleasant thing in the world to be outside! Now, I'll warn you, don't get too attached to that, folks. We've got another cold snap coming through in just a few days, and with it, another layer of snow that ought to last most of the way to the Winter Festival]

Jason slowly woke up, his eyelids fluttering as he sighed. The house was warm, almost uncomfortably so, but he would rather have that state of existence than freezing cold. Fern wasn't crying, which was a nice relief, and he glanced over at Tess, who smiled back at him.

"Good morning." She whispered.

"Morning right back to you." He gave her a kiss, then rolled out of bed and climbed to his feet. As he walked up to the window, he was greeted with the sight of Jeremiah rolling into his driveway on a wagon, with both Richard and Daniel sitting on the back. He smiled and waved at them, then strode back over to the wardrobe and got dressed. "We've got company, so you'll want to get yourself together pretty quickly."

"They're here already?" Tess groaned but nodded. Soon, the two of them were dressed and strode out into the hall. Tess went to check on Fern while Jason strode down the stairs and prepared a vast breakfast feast. He

ordered omelets, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, pancakes, waffles, and several other items. When he finished, he went over to the front door and swung it open, allowing the trio to come marching inside.

"Good morning, neighbor!" Jeremiah shook his hand grandly, then sniffed the air. "Did Delilah get over here before me? Smells wonderful."

Jason just laughed and waved them inside. "Everyone to the dining room. We'll get moving as soon as we're done eating."

"Now that's the sort of thing I like to hear." Jeremiah couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. "You know, it's been ages since I was last down in a dungeon."

"I didn't know you'd ever gone down into a dungeon before." Jason raised an eyebrow as they moved into the dining room and set out the food. Everyone took a seat, and Jason moved all the food from the kitchen onto the table there. Soon, Tess came down with baby Fern and they all tucked in.

"Back when I was a kid, I used to sneak into an old dungeon all the time." Jeremiah grinned. "I grew up near Illumitir, in a little town sorta similar to this. At the time, you didn't have all the restrictions on when you could or couldn't enter dungeons. There was no need to register with a guild or anything, so I'd sneak inside and throw rocks at the monsters. Got pretty good at killing some of the smaller ones just by slinging pebbles."

Jason suspected that Jeremiah was making up every last bit of the story as he went along, or at least the majority, but he sat back and listened as Jeremiah described a time when he had gone to the fourth level, gotten cornered by a jackal, and then killed it with his bare hands. Everyone finished eating as he finished recounting the tale, and they all rose and started getting things ready.

Chance bounded eagerly about the yard as preparations were made. Jason went and took care of his horses, letting them out into the corral and pouring them some feed, and then put some feed in the outside dog bowl for

Chance. He then went and checked on his greenhouse (which was doing well), and with that, they were all.

They all piled into Jeremiah's wagon, which rumbled out across the prairie toward the Far Eighty. There was no real need to tell him where to go, since he had been out there before, and soon enough, they came rumbling up to the small cabin. Jeremiah hopped down, unhitched the horse from the wagon and hitched it up to the rail there, and everyone else started getting things ready for the dive into the dungeon.

"Alright." Tess clapped her hands as they started walking out toward the dungeon. Fern was slung across her chest in a similar manner as the first time they entered a dungeon, though this time, Tess wore her armor. "We know from the last time we were here that it is possible for monsters to still be lurking on the premises. Never go wandering off without someone, and never open any doors that seem more elaborate than the others. If you find a hidden switch or something, make sure you have help with you. Is all that clear?"

"Crystal!" Jeremiah and Jason both nodded, since they had been the ones that the message had primarily been geared toward. They both looked at each other and grinned, and soon enough, they were going down the rope into the dungeon.

It was strange to hit the bottom of the rope and gaze around the dungeon, as always. The grand, sweeping features of the boss room were nothing to sniff at, and to think that it had been here for so long without anyone knowing it was here! To have something so great become so forgotten... It was humbling to think about.

Once the five of them were down the rope, they set off. Jason pulled out his blunderbuss (which he had convinced Tess to allow him to bring along), and kept it at the ready. He also kept his two pistols ready as well, though they weren't likely to be nearly as useful as the blunderbuss. Initially, the group slipped down the same corridors that they had walked during their first visit. They traced their steps into the room where Jason had killed the mimic, and found it still empty, which gave them hope. If things weren't respawning in the dungeon, then it was truly dead, and there were simply

things that had managed not to die in the century that had passed since the dungeon closed.

"How was that mimic still alive?" Jason asked as they started pressing toward the room that held the portal down to the sixth floor. They had located it on their previous trip, but had neglected to enter it.

Tess shrugged. "Mimics have looked different throughout the years, but... In essence, mimics take on the form of dungeon things. Usually chests, since warriors will walk right up to them, but strictly speaking, they can take on the form of just about anything. When they make that transformation, until someone touches them, they are that thing, under all but the most intense scans. A chest doesn't age, generally speaking, so a mimic that took on the form of a chest would only die if it caught fire, or got chewed up by a mouse, or rotted, or something like that."

Jason nodded slowly, taking it in. He certainly never looked at a chest the same way from then on, and soon fell into the practice of stabbing any chest that he walked up to before daring to touch it.

The group soon arrived at the room that led down to the sixth floor. Daniel pushed open the doors, and they all stepped into a vast, dark room. Richard quickly placed the flickering flames of his torch in a trough that ran around the edge, and flames roared to life all around the perimeter. Bones lay scattered across the whole expanse, bones and armor and weapons. Most of the bones had been chewed on, and Jason slowly walked forward in amazement. At the exact center was another vast pit, with a ladder that ran down one side.

"This was practically a boss room in and of itself." Richard kicked his way through the bones, then bent down and picked up a shield. It was dented, but had a recognizable lion's face emblazoned on the front. "Anyone recognize this symbol?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Richard shrugged and tucked it into his inventory. About that time, Fern kicked and squirmed, and her little cries echoed through the dungeon. With the stone walls and the long corridors,

they echoed again and again and again, and Tess looked around apologetically.

"I may need to nurse her again."

"Can it wait until we get down to the next level?" Daniel asked eagerly. Tess glanced around at the warriors and she shrugged. "I imagine so."

They dashed over to the shaft and climbrf down, and soon made it to the bottom. It was another long shaft, fifty feet or more, which made them all suspect that there was another boss chamber somewhere on the floor. As they came out, they found themselves in a small entry room, lit by a handful of candles and strewn with bones. Fern was really starting to kick and scream, her tiny little cries echoing up and down the corridors.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"I'm sorry, guys. You don't have to wait for me." Tess turned toward a small doorway. "Daniel? Would you be willing to clear this room out for me?"

"Sure thing!" Daniel marched forward and swung the door open, then went inside. After a few moments, he came back out. "Nothing to fear! Loads of gemstones, but I'll let the little farmer pick those up while he's keeping guard."

Jason and Tess both nodded, and they went inside. Jeremiah gave Jason a grin, then started off down the main hallway of the floor with Daniel and Richard. As Jason stepped inside the small side room, he lit the torches that hung there, then sat down. Tess shut the door, then sat down as well and nursed Fern. They sat there for a long while, and Jason indeed picked up the assorted jewels that lay strewn across the floor. There were Winter Shandy coins as well, but no weapons. When Fern finished eating, Tess set her down on the ground, and she started crawling eagerly through the strewn debris.

"What was this room?" Jason asked as Fern picked up a coin and started chewing on it. He plucked it from her mouth, and she cried for a moment, but then got distracted by a diamond the size of her fist. She didn't like it when Jason took that away, either.

"I think this was a minor treasure room." Tess shrugged. "In these old dungeons, you'd have some rooms that held nothing but treasure. You get those in newer dungeons, too, usually one or two per dungeon, but in the old ones, you'd really have quite a few. There would just be stuff strewn all over the floor, and in reality, it wouldn't actually net you that much profit, but they were fun to find."

Fern giggled as she picked up a ruby and an emerald and clacked them together. Tess opened up the door, and they allowed Fern to crawl out and into the main corridor. There, she happily scampered down the hall, climbing over old monster bones and past dropped armor. Further down the hall, Jeremiah poked his head out of one of the side rooms and flashed a grin, then stepped out into the hall and held out a blunderbuss much like Jason's. They both grinned at each other, sure of the fun that they could have with the weapons.

And then... Something rumbled.

It was a low rumble, a shaking that came through the dungeon, almost like an earthquake. After a moment, though, it raised in pitch, and the ground quit shaking, but it became more and more audible.

It was a growl.

Jason froze. Tess scooped up Fern, turned around, and ran. Daniel and Richard both appeared out of their own respective doorways and grinned broadly.

"Daniel, go with Tess." Jason ordered. If there really was something out there... Tess could defend herself, but with Fern, he wanted someone a lot better than himself at her side.

Daniel grumbled for a moment, but turned and raced after his sister. Jeremiah and Jason, then, raced after Richard as the much older warrior turned and ran through the dungeon.

Somehow, honed by years of experience, Richard was able to find his way through the winding corridors of the dungeon, straight to the source of the sound. It grew louder and louder until they came to a set of doors that was obviously something more. They were carved into the same sigil that appeared on the shield that Richard had picked up: A great lion. Richard slowly reached out and placed his hand on the door, and the growl came again, even louder. The walls and ceiling shook this time, and Jason shuddered.

"Any chance that's just some sort of ambient effect left over from the old days of the dungeon?"

Richard shook his head slowly, and he took a step back. "My friends, that there is an active boss room, with a very much living boss right behind it." A smile slowly cracked across his face, and he glanced at Jason and Jeremiah. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but lions have a tendency to eat cattle, right?"

A crooked sort of grin came across Jeremiah's face. "They do."

"And with this dungeon being somewhat dilapidated, there are no safeguards to prevent said lion from escaping and eating all your cattle."

"That seems right to me."

"Then..." Richard crossed his arms. "We're just going to have to fight this beast. Not right now, of course, but..." He turned and grinned broadly. "It would be denying our civic duty not to do so.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Earlier morning

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Jason's eyes blinked open, and for a long moment, he fought to get his bearings. The cracks in the ceiling overhead blurred in and out of focus, and then he groaned and sat up slowly as Fern continued to cry off in the distance. He glanced at the bed beside him, and Tess stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. Jason yawned and climbed out of bed, then glanced at the window. It was pitch black, and as he walked up to the window, he found nothing but stars overhead. The moon was visible as a tiny crescent hovering about Summer Shandy, but it was so thin he had to look two or three times before he could see it at all.

"What time is it?" He murmured.

[Alarm Clock: 12:05]

"Wonderful." He murmured, then wrapped his bedclothes around him tighter and trudged toward the door. As he pulled the door open, he found Chance in the dim hallway, sitting right outside Fern's own door and whimpering. Jason shushed the dog, then slowly walked into Fern's room and found his daughter wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Shhh, there." He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, bouncing her slightly. She didn't seem particularly calmed by this, and he slipped out into the hall and carried her down the stairs. "It's been a long time since you've woken up at this time of night. Are you okay?"

She didn't answer except to cry, and he hoped that he wasn't waking up Tess. She had been fighting off a cold for the previous several days, ever since going into the dungeon, and had gone to bed utterly exhausted. When

he reached the living room, he tossed a few more logs onto the fire and set Fern down on a blanket in front of the grill, then went into the kitchen to make her a bottle. She continued to cry, and when he came back, he found she had somehow wormed her way out of her swaddle.

"I suppose you're about old enough to be over that, anyway." Jason whispered softly, and picked her up and cradled her in his arms as he sat down on the couch. He placed the nipple in her mouth, and she drank for a few moments, then spat it out and just continued to cry. Jason blinked sleepily at her, then set the bottle aside and just held her.

"I didn't think you'd be hungry, but that was the only thing that really made sense to me." He tried to think out loud. "Let's see... Do you want mommy? That was what calmed you down the last time you spent loads of the day crying at me."

Fern didn't respond, except to cry more. Jason stood up and walked back and forth across the room, bouncing her softly as he went. He sat down in a chair and rocked her for a short while, then took her outside. Maybe she just needed some fresh air! It was a crisp night, but not a painful one, and as his own breath puffed up into the atmosphere and he gazed out at the myriad of stars, her little wails echoed across the open prairie. In response, he heard several wolves howling off in the distance, and took cover back in the house again.

Inside, though, he was as confused as ever. What did Fern want? He patted her down, changed her diaper, tried again to give her a bottle, and everything else he could think of. In desperation, he even took the jar of sugar out of the pantry, licked his finger, stuck it into the jar to get it good and coated, and then placed the finger in Fern's mouth to give her something sweet to soothe her. She didn't like the sugary finger any better than the milk, and simply continued to cry.

"You're going to wake up your mother if you keep doing that." Jason strode back and forth. "And we want mommy to sleep, now don't we?" He looked down at her, then frowned. "You're not sick, are you?"

He reached up and felt her little forehead and found it to be warm. His eyes blinked open in surprise, and he looked down at her in a new light.

"Mommy has been sick... I bet you're sick, too! Let's see... What do we do when you're sick?"

Fern responded by spitting up across his nightclothes. That, as far as Jason was concerned, was all that he needed to know. He cleaned himself and Fern up, then went to the front door and bundled Fern up in her little baby snowsuit. She didn't seem to care for it, but such was life. He then set Fern down on a chair for a moment (making extra certain that she wouldn't roll off), went to the writing desk, and scribbled Tess a short note in case she woke up. With that done, he put on a coat himself and struck out into the cold.

Lady was startled to be woken up, but she was a good horse, and when he led her out into the cold and hitched her up to the carriage (he left Fern in a nice, warm bed of straw in the stable while he did so, well away from the other two horses), she performed admirably. That done, Jason took Fern, climbed up into the wagon, and off he went.

All along the way, Fern continued to cry, and Jason continued to hold her close. The cold air woke him the rest of the way up, that was for sure, though he hoped that it wouldn't bother Fern too much. In the distance, over Summer Shandy, the moon slipped down below the horizon. The town grew closer and closer, and soon, Jason swept up onto the sparkling cobblestones.

In the dead of night, the town almost looked abandoned. Smoke curled from many chimneys, but not a crack of light could be seen, as the houses were all patched up tightly for the winter. A few warriors were just walking up to the Guild Hall, but they took no more notice of Jason than if he had been a houseplant. Most likely, they had been walking since morning the day before, and were plumb exhausted. The only store that really showed any signs of life at all was, in fact, Theresa's Healing Den, which had a torch flickering outside the door, just below a sign.

"Practice is Closed. For emergencies, please enter. For all other business, PLEASE wait until morning."

Jason drew up the reins and hopped down. Fern continued to wail loudly, and he held her in his arms, then glanced at the sign. He hadn't noticed it the previous time that he had come out to get Theresa, though he had admittedly been preoccupied at that point. Was this an emergency? Fern was certainly sick, and could use a doctor, but she would also most likely survive until morning, so...

Before Jason could finish working it out in his mind, the door swung open, and a bleary-looking Theresa appeared. Her eyes were hardly open, though as the cold air snipped at her face, she woke up a bit more. Instead of her standard red dress, she wore a red nightgown, and had her hair pinned up behind her head in a short bun.

"Jason? What are you... Oh, come inside, before Fern wakes anyone else up."

Jason nodded and stepped inside the door, and Theresa quickly shut it. The warm fire in the hearth kept the room at a lovely temperature, as always, and Theresa motioned for Jason to sit down in a chair right next to the flames. He did so, and quickly took Fern out of the clothes that would quickly prove altogether too hot for the warm room.

"What's the matter, Jason?" Theresa pulled up a chair and sat down. She reached over and grabbed a small bottle of liquid, squinted at it, and then set it aside and grabbed a different bottle. That one, after taking a long time to examine it, she drank deeply, and her eyes opened wider than before.

"It's Fern." Jason shrugged, bouncing her in his lap. "She's been... What time is it now?"

[Alarm Clock: 2:23]

"She's been crying for over two hours now." Jason shrugged, then held her out. "Tess has been sick, and Fern isn't eating, and..."

"And you're worried." Theresa stifled a yawn, then took Fern and held her in her arms. "Well, it's most likely nothing, but I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. She is a loud one. Gets her voice from her mother, it seems. Well, little one, let's take a look at you."

Theresa stood, cradling Fern in the crook of her elbow as she did so, and pulled over a rolling cart. She set Fern on a cushioned pad on the top, then peeled back the pajamas. Unlike other times, she didn't stop to explain what she was doing, and instead simply worked over Fern from head to toe. She took samples of sweat, did a few measurements, checked her eyes and mouth and ears, and asked Jason a handful of questions ranging from the food that Jason had fed her to any history of rashes. When it was all said and done, Theresa handed Fern back to Jason and pushed the cart back to the corner of the room.

"Fern looks just fine."

Jason blinked. "But... You can hear her! She doesn't seem fine to me!"

Theresa reached out and put a hand on Jason's arm. "Jason, I want you to know that I'm not upset. I've seen parents ignore their children's cries through much more serious matters than this. You're being a good dad, and I'd rather have that than the alternative any day of the week. That said, this is completely normal."

Theresa yawned deeply, then shook her head. "You said yourself that Fern hasn't been waking up to eat at night, so the fact that she didn't want a bottle isn't that surprising. She just isn't hungry. Maybe she caught a bit of a cold from Tess, but that's pretty normal. Babies usually get sick almost a dozen times in their first year of life. It's how they build up immunity to various things. Fern hasn't been sick nearly as much as most kids, so you're actually doing pretty good on that front."

Theresa paused for a moment, and Jason looked down at his crying daughter. "So how do I get her to stop crying?"

"You don't." Theresa shrugged. "It's called... Well, it goes by a lot of names. I think the Healers Guild wants me to call it Green Crying, where

the word 'green' is an acronym for something or another, but I can never keep it straight and neither can any of my parents. You've probably heard it by a different word: Colic."

Jason nodded slowly. "It sounds familiar."

Theresa agreed. "I don't know the etymology of the word, but colic basically just means that the baby is crying a lot for no apparent reason. She sounds like she's in pain, but if you look at her body, she's actually quite relaxed, and isn't showing any other symptoms. Her skin is normal, and she's still growing at a good rate. There's absolutely nothing to be concerned about. The best thing you can do is to keep her comfortable, and just let her cry it out. It's harder on you than it is on them."

Jason let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Theresa."

"Don't mention it." Theresa slowly rose and walked over to a rather comfy-looking chair by the door. She flopped down in it and pulled a lever on the side, and it leaned back to form a sort-of bed. "Now run along."

Jason smiled, then bundled Fern up once more, rose, and made his way out into the cold. The ride back home went much quicker (or seemed to) than the ride out. When he came rumbling back up into the yard, the first traces of light were just showing on the horizon, though it would be a good several hours before the sun itself came up. Jason stopped the carriage at the steps, then slipped inside and took Fern back up to her crib. As he unbuttoned her from her winter clothes and laid her back down, she finally grew tired enough to fall back asleep. Jason watched her for a moment, then walked back downstairs, out into the cold, and put away the carriage and Lady. All that done, he went back inside again, dressed in his nightgown, and went back upstairs to slip into bed.

[Obadiah's Almanac: 38th day of Winter! 53 days until the Winter Festival! It's looking to be a lovely day today, folks, at least until the afternoon. Like I mentioned, there's a cold snap coming through some time... Probably around three, and with that, it'll stay cold for a long time. Dress in layers if you go out, because you won't want to be caught in light clothing if that happens!]

[Obadiah's Almanac: Update: I heard a baby crying this morning right about the time a bunch of rather drunk warriors came stumbling in from the wilderness, so if they messed with anyone, let me know, and I'll make sure they're punished accordingly]

Jason blinked in surprise as the almanac came through. "What time is it?"

[Alarm Clock: 4:13]

"How early does that guy get up?" Jason murmured, then shrugged and rolled over. He was exhausted, and he was going to treasure every moment until he had to wake up.

"Watsdat?" Tess rolled over to look at him. Her eyes were open, but they were unfocused.

"Nothing." Jason soothed her. Her eyes flickered shut again, and he smiled. "Everything's just fine.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Life As They Know it

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 41st day of Winter! 50 days until the Winter Festival! Yup, it's still cold, and it's going to stay cold for quite a while. Please don't ask me if I can change the weather, because I can't. I wish I could send snow, and it does look like we're getting some soon, but for the moment, it's just cold. That's life. Also, I'll be out of town today on a totally non-dungeon-related issue, so if you have any questions, Hank is hiding in the back of Paulina's store hoping that no one will ask him to do anything.]

Hoofbeats echoed in the drive below the house, and Jason slowly rose to find the bed empty. Somewhere off in the distance, he heard Fern cry out, but it sounded as if it came from downstairs. He flopped back On the bed and then closed his eyes for a moment.

Today was the day that the warriors were going back to the dungeon to see about the mysterious boss room. The key word there, of course, was... Warriors. Tess, Daniel, Richard, and Obadiah were all riding out to take care of business while Jason would stay home and babysitting Fern. He didn't begrudge them that fact one bit, though he had to admit a small amount of occasional jealousy that he couldn't share the same kinship with them. He lay in bed for a few more long moments, then slowly rose, dressed in a warm tunic, and made his way downstairs.

The smell of a wonderful breakfast filled the air as he strode down into the living room, and he smiled. Tess, Obadiah, Richard, Daniel, and

Jeremiah were all finishing up eating, and Tess quickly nodded to a plate piled high with waffles and sausage on an end table. He sat down on the couch next to Tess and ate, then laughed as Fern scampered across the floor, crawling from Richard to Daniel, and back against, poking at the rivets on their metal boots.

"Alright." Tess rose, her armor clicking softly in the firelight. A few of the sun's rays were just beginning to peek through the window, but as it was the heart of winter, it certainly did take longer than usual. "Is everyone ready?"

Daniel, Richard, and Obadiah both stood, though Jeremiah stayed leaning back in his chair. Jason stroked his chin for a moment, then crossed his arms.

"Not that I'm complaining." He murmured around a mouthful of waffle. "Jeremiah, why exactly are you here? I saw how fast you climbed the rope when we went up and out of that dungeon."

Jeremiah scowled at Obadiah. "Well, when word started getting around that a posse was being formed to go liberate this dungeon, I offered my services-"

"Dad, I am not lowering a thousand-pound cannon down two dungeon shafts just so you can fire it off." Obadiah crossed his arms. "Do you have any concept of how loud that would be? We'd be lucky if we got out of there without permanent ear damage."

"First off, each cannon weighs seven-fifty, and not an ounce over, at least until you load the cannonballs inside." Jeremiah pointed a finger at his son. "Second, if we wound up with hearing damage, I'd have a better excuse for not hearing Delilah telling me what chores need done around the house, and you'd have a better excuse for not hearing half the stuff Hank tries to tell you. Third... What am I supposed to do? Build my own dungeon? How am I ever going to be able to fire a cannon in a dungeon if no one lets me?"

Obadiah rolled his eyes, then turned to Tess. "Let's get riding. I'd like to get through as much of the dungeon as possible, so we don't have to do this again for a while. It was almost impossible to clear my schedule for a day, though admittedly half of that was Hank's fault."

Tess laughed, and the four warriors all trooped out through the door. Hooves galloped away across the plains, and Jeremiah shrugged.

"Anyhow, I just thought you'd want help babysitting. And even if you didn't, like you said earlier, it's been a good, long while since the two of us did anything together."

Jason shrugged. "The more, the merrier."

He quickly finished up his breakfast, then took all the assorted plates into the kitchen. Jeremiah got down on his belly and let Fern crawl all around him. She reached out and touched his stubbly chin, which she seemed to think was rather funny. As she giggled and sat up, Jeremiah stuck out his chin and poked her on the cheek with it. She burst out laughing, then flopped back over onto all fours and started crawling away. Quick-as-you- blink, Jeremiah reached out and started tickling her feet, and her giggles filled the air as she ran behind a couch.

"You're a natural with her." Jason came back and sat down on the ground next to the fire. "Not that I really thought you were a bad father, but it's hard to picture you doing anything but riding a horse."

Jeremiah chuckled, then took off his hat and began to play peek-a-boo with Fern. She giggled almost nonstop, and Jason found himself leaning against the couch as Jeremiah amused himself.

"I'm not going to say I could do this all day even when I was younger, or that I'll be able to do it all day today." Jeremiah continued to flick the hat back and forth in front of his face, then flipped it around and set it down on her head. Fern threw it off almost immediately, then crawled forward and felt the smooth ridges. "I always liked playing with my kids, though. When you got in from the ranch, and everything you'd seen all day had been snorting at you, kicking you, and smashing you up against fences, it was

mighty fine to come home to someone who couldn't hardly do anything except love you."

Jason smiled softly, and he held out his hands. Fern scampered up to him, and he picked her up in his arms. She giggled as she looked at his face, then opened her mouth and bit down on his nose. It tickled more than anything, and both he and Jeremiah laughed as he pulled her away. Fern seemed more annoyed than anything that her chew toy had been denied to her, and she started crawling around looking for something else.

"You have any problems with her?" Jeremiah glanced at Jason. "I heard from Paulina that there was some sort of issue earlier, in the middle of the night?"

Jason laughed at that. "Just colic. Theresa gave me a short explanation on how to deal with it. Tess gave me a two-hour lecture a few days later when she went into town and found out the whole story."

"Those womenfolk." Jeremiah shook his head. "They'll talk your ear off if you let them, and always when you're trying to do the best for your family."

He was grinning even as he said it, and Jason rolled his eyes. He could only imagine the different lectures that Jeremiah had gotten over the years after he blew up one thing or another on the farm, or did this or that thing that annoyed Delilah. Jason shook his head, and after a few moments, Jeremiah reached into his pocket.

"That reminds me, I brought something along." He pulled out a small pair of earmuffs, pink fuzzy ones that were designed to look like little rabbits. "You put these on her, and she won't be able to hear a thing."

"What are you..."

Jeremiah reached into his inventory and drew out his blunderbuss, and Jason felt a grin growing across his face.

They tested out the earmuffs first, of course. Jason put them on Fern and then tested to make sure that she wouldn't want to just pull them off. To their delight, she seemed to love them, and though she took them off every now and again, it wasn't often. Second, once they were on, they dropped pots and pans in the kitchen. Normally, Fern started to cry anytime Jason accidentally knocked a pot off the stove. With the earmuffs on, she hardly batted an eye, and the two of them realized that they were in business.

It took them almost fifteen minutes to get both guns loaded. You had to pour in powder, and then put on some wadding, and then cloth, and then the musketball, and then take a rod and ram the projectile down the barrel, all the while hoping that the thing wouldn't just go off while you were doing it. When that was done, they dressed themselves up in warm clothes, bundled up Fern, and then strode out into the yard.

Jeremiah's wagon sat near the corral, while Lady and Alfred cantered back and forth. It was a frigid day, and while little Fern looked about eagerly in the cold air, Jason knew that she wouldn't be able to stand it for long. Jeremiah quickly went over to his wagon and grabbed out several clay targets, then glanced back and forth.

"Let's see... If we shoot north, we're aiming toward Summer Shandy, and even though it's a good few miles away, I'd hate to send something too close. If we shoot west, we're shooting toward the Far Eighty. South and we're getting down by my cattle herds... But east, there's nothing but prairie until you hit Sweet Springs, and that's a good ten-mile trek. Our bullets won't go near that far." Jeremiah paused for a moment. "You ever make it over to Sweet Springs? Cute little town. Anyhow..."

While Jason held Fern and sat down on the porch of the house, Jeremiah ran over to Richard and Daniel's place. He walked around to the south side of the house, and there set up several of the targets. Each was round, with concentric circles down to a small center. As he came jogging back up to the house, Jason picked up his blunderbuss and took aim.

"Alright." Jeremiah let out a long breath. "I've been doing some reading on these things, and you should probably aim high. The sights are good, but they're calibrated for-"

Jason quit listening to Jeremiah and glanced down at Fern. She was on the porch, having crawled up to the rails, where she pressed her face against the gaps between the slats that composed the railing. Importantly, her earmuffs were still in place, and Jason nodded. He sighted down the barrel of the gun, trained the sights on one target, and squeezed the trigger.

A blast of smoke so thick he could hardly see erupted from the end of the barrel, and the resounding explosion shook the porch. The noise and smoke faded away, and he glanced down at Fern to find her still smiling and giggling. He slowly set the blunderbuss down and picked her up, then glanced again at the targets. Sure enough, the one he had been aiming at lay in pieces, and Jeremiah nodded.

"Nicely done! Now, time to show you how a master does it!"

Jeremiah lifted his own weapon to his shoulder, sighted down the barrel, and gave the trigger a squeeze. From a vantage point not behind the barrel, it was an entirely different sight. Smoke belched out to a distance of almost three feet from the end of the weapon, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air. There were even a good deal of sparks that issued from the barrel as well, and Fern giggled. Jeremiah, though, was less enthused, as the bullet had apparently gone nowhere near the targets.

"I think mine must be defective. Come on, let's go again."

They reloaded as quickly as they could, which took them a mere five minutes now that they knew a little more about what they were doing. When they finished, they both fired the guns once more, with Jason hitting another of the targets while Jeremiah missed again. His scowl turned into a frown, and they went about it once more.

They fired four volleys before Fern got too cold, and the three of them went back inside. From there, they played on the floor for a bit longer, at least until lunchtime came around. At that point, Fern went down for a nap, and Jason and Jeremiah ate and then started playing a bit of chess while they waited.

The afternoon slowly wore on. Jason and Jeremiah talked over just about everything under the sun, from the price of grain to the weather, to their plans for the future. Jason's included a much larger greenhouse, a much larger family, and a few renovations to the house. Jeremiah was less clear, though he stroked his chin and him-hawed quite a bit. Jason could tell that something was eating away at the older man, but Jeremiah wasn't keen on giving it up, no more so than he had been on the day of the cattle drive.

When Fern woke up, all attention went back to her, and there it stayed until all the warriors came home. Jason heard hooves in the drive, and he rose and flung the door open with a wide grin.

"You're home!"

Tess nodded wearily as she trudged past him. Her armor was a great deal more dented than it had been before, and she was covered in a great deal of gore. Richard was next, looking in almost as sorry a shape as Tess. Obadiah was third and sported a large slash across his armor from his upper right-hand thigh to his left-hand shoulder. Blood seeped from the wound, and Jason shuddered. Daniel was the last to come in, and Jason found himself shocked to see even his armor dented and battered, and several teeth marks clearly marring his otherwise pristine face.

"What happened?" Jeremiah exclaimed. "Did you guys find a nest down there?"

"Something like that." Obadiah dropped into a chair and sighed deeply. "Bosses in old-timey dungeons are hard."

"I see scales." Jason pointed at Tess as she sat down on the couch. "Was there more than the lion?"

"Lots more." Tess sighed. "We took care of the lion, then went down to floor seven. There, we found two more active rooms, and then on floor eight... Floors eight and lower are where everything that didn't die wound up surviving. Blind snakes, cave fish that could spew fire..." She shuddered.

Jeremiah leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Obadiah, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're covered in gunk, so you're going to have to pay Jason a fine. I'm delivering it on behalf of him because-"

Obadiah laughed and tried to smack his father, but Jeremiah was too quick for him. Jason sighed deeply, then shrugged. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"We are." Tess nodded. "We fought down to Floor... Ten? We cleared floor ten, right? And then we used some blasting power to seal the corridor to Floor Eleven. There's still loads of loot we left, so you'll have plenty of time to go search through it all."

"Dibs!" Jeremiah called.

Jason laughed. "Let's get everyone healed first."

"How were you and Fern? And Jeremiah?" Tess asked as Fern crawled over to her and held up her hands. Tess stood up and began taking off her armor, revealing a brown tunic underneath. As soon as she had enough of her body free that she could hold Fern without getting gore on her, she picked up the baby and just stood there, cradling Fern and sighing softly.

"We were good." Jason glanced at Jeremiah. "It was a lot of fun, and we didn't make Fern cry over anything."

"Well, I'm glad to see that everyone got along well." Tess rubbed noses with Fern, then sighed. "I really am. We're going to make that dungeon safe for you yet, aren't we, little one? Yes, we are."

Jason sighed and leaned back in his chair. Everyone sitting around, laughing and talking after the battle... It was said that it took a village to raise a child, and, at least as far as he could tell, he had a pretty good one at his disposal.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Good Life

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 70th day of Winter! 21 days until the Winter Festival! Alright, folks! Less than a month left to go in winter! Enjoy these last few days of snow, because it's likely the last you'll see of the stuff before next winter! We'll get a thaw early next week, and from then on, it'll be steadily-increasing temperatures up until spring. There's only one more storm that's currently being predicted that might hit between now and spring, but it's anyone's guess whether or not it actually gets close to us.]

Jason smiled as he opened his eyes and slowly sat up. Once more, the house was warm, and Tess's arms were curled around him. She pulled back as he slowly climbed out of bed, and she rose on one elbow.

"You slept like a rock last night."

"In fairness, yesterday was exhausting." Jason blinked the last remnants of sleep out of his eyes and walked up to the window. He looked out across a lovely white blanket that covered the landscape. Their brand-new play set, though, stood out just next to the stable, between the horses and the field. Fern would likely still be too young for most of it come the next summer, but it had some stairs she could climb, and a slide, and some swings for when she got a tad older. There were a few other features as well, including a teeter-totter (which Jason had been informed had been banned pretty much everywhere in the world except in Illumitir). His muscles were sore, but it had been worth it. A few last flakes came drifting down from the previous night's storm, and he sighed in contentment.

"And I get that, but Fern woke up twice, and you may as well have just been a boulder." Tess rubbed sleep out of her own eyes.

"Let me guess. Nothing you could do could calm her down?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "I told you, she does that from time to time!"

"Yeah, but I didn't actually believe you." Tess murmured, then laughed tiredly. "Sorry, meant that as a joke, but I might just be too sleepy yet."

"Why don't you go ahead and sleep in?" Jason asked. "Lay back and get some good rest, at least for a few more hours. I can take care of Fern."

"Are you sure? You've done that quite a bit recently."

Jason shrugged. "And once spring comes, I'm not going to be able to do it nearly as much. Go ahead, get some rest, and I'll enjoy the time with my daughter."

Tess nodded wearily, then turned and stumbled back to bed. She flopped under the covers and was snoring softly before Jason even got out the door. As he pulled it shut, he heard movement inside Fern's room, and strode down the hall to pull her door open.

Inside, Fern was standing up in her crib. Her legs wobbled as she tried to hold herself up, and she fell on her backside as she saw Jason. She giggled a bit, then stretched out her hands. Jason walked up and picked her up, then turned and walked out of the room, bouncing her slightly in his arms as he did so. She giggled a bit, and they soon came down into the kitchen. There, the cookbook flapped its pages, and Jason set Fern in a high-chair that they had bought from Paulina. Fern slapped her palms against the tray and gurgled something, and Jason turned to the cookbook.

"Make me some pancakes and some oatmeal."

With a flash, the two dishes appeared before him. Fern just held out her hands and grinned, and Jason took up a spoonful of the oatmeal. Carefully, slowly, he pushed it toward Fern's mouth. He reached out and gave her a

little tickle, and she opened her mouth slightly in a grin, and he quickly poked the spoon inside her mouth.

Instantly, Fern's face became one of disgust, and she spat out the food. Jason sighed, then shrugged and went back to his pancakes. By the time he was finishing them up, Fern was growing fussy, and he quickly made her a bottle and fed her, then got her changed into proper work clothes for the day: A pink onesie that was embroidered with a crawling baby pulling a little plow. It was cute, something that Paulina had made herself, and it made Jason look forward to the day that he could really have Fern help him around the farm.

"You know, we probably wouldn't even have to wait long for that day." He grinned. "I haven't shown you my greenhouse in a while. You wanna come see my greenhouse? I think you do! I think you do!" He put his nose up to her own, and she laughed. Of course, a moment later she spit up all over him, and he sighed and wiped himself clean, then made a mental note not to put her mouth so close to him after eating. That done, he turned and strode toward the door.

It didn't take long to get Fern dressed, and only a moment longer to dress himself. Chance bounded past him as he pulled the door open, and leapt head first into a snowdrift. He vanished beneath the snow, with only his little red tail sticking up. The tail moved along through the snow, looking almost like a shark's fin, until Chance burst up from the snow further away. Jason, meanwhile, poured some food for Chance, then made his way over to the stable. He put Fern in a safe part of the stable, on some straw away from the horses, then turned them loose into the corral. That done, he poured them some feed, and then strode around the house to the greenhouse.

The greenhouse had changed quite a lot since the early part of winter. It took only a little attention to take care of, and all things considered, there had been enough other things happening that winter that he had really only poked his head in for a few minutes each day, if that. That said, he had still accomplished a pretty good deal over that time. Most of his original crops were gone, and had been replaced with much "cooler" things, like lettuce, star-fruits, pineapple plants, and even a large, fern-like plant that filled

almost five full feet of the greenhouse, on the opposite side from the door. It wasn't producing any fruit yet, but it was a fern, and since his daughter was named Fern... He thought it was kinda funny, and had impulse-bought it from Paulina. Now that it was growing so large, he was somewhat regretting that idea, but not fully. It was still really cool.

The air was far more balmy than outside, probably somewhere around sixty-five. He set Fern down by the door and pulled it shut, then started walking among the boxes. Fern let out a soft cooing noise, then started crawling along the edge of the panes. Jason looked down at her and smiled, then looked over the lettuce.

"Yum! Fern, look!"

Fern didn't look, but instead began studying several funny-looking bits of gravel on the ground. Jason picked her up before she could eat any of them, and held her up above the boxes.

"There! The lettuce is ready to be picked! Should we pick it?"

Fern waved her hands and feet, and Jason nodded.

"I thought so, too. Ready... Set... Go!"

Jason reached out and took hold of one of the heads, and it vanished in a burst of blue sparks.

[Action Used: Harvest Lettuce. Remaining Actions: 40]

"Do you want to give it a try?" Jason slowly stretched out Fern's hand, and she touched the next head of lettuce. "There we go! Pick it!"

[Error: Your companion is not registered as a farmer, and is under the age that Illumitir had deemed able to procure actions for work.]

Jason scowled. "Yeah, well Illumitir..." His voice trailed off, and he blinked a few times as he realized that those laws likely kept people from working young children too hard. "That actually doesn't sound half-bad. Fine. Alright, Fern, you'll just have to sit there and watch."

He set her down on the ground, but a few moments later, she stretched up her arms and wiggled her little fingers. Jason looked down at her and sighed, then caved. He bent down and picked her up, then hefted her into the air and set her down on the dirt next to the lettuce.

"There we go! How's that?"

Fern giggled, then turned toward the star-fruit. It was a spiky sort of plant, almost like a pineapple, with round, softly glowing fruits that hung from its small branches. They were apparently rather rare and hard to grow. Paulina had only had a handful of seeds in stock after a passing businessman from Illumitir happened to throw away some rinds, and she salvaged the seeds from the garbage. It was a gross sort of story, but now Paulina had one growing in her shop, too, and Jason had to admit that the rather dazzling nature of it was well worth rummaging through a bit of garbage.

"Yeah, you like that?" Jason walked over and pointed at the fruits. At that moment, they were all blue, and he grinned. "Pretty soon, they'll start to turn yellow, and then red. That's when we can pick them! Wait too long, though, and they'll shrivel up into hard little seed-things, and the whole plant will die! Is that crazy?"

Fern giggled, then reached out to grab one of the fruits. Jason watched her with amusement as she made several attempts, making one of the small fruits bobble back and forth. He smiled broadly... At least until she drew her hand back and looked down at it with astonishment.

Sitting on her palm was a small caterpillar, which had likely been munching away on the star-fruit. Jason smiled down at the small creature. Nature really was so wonderful, and he found it absolutely incredible that even a small child could see the beauty in such a humble-

Any romantic sorts of thoughts were cut off as Fern opened her mouth wide and popped the caterpillar inside. Jason yelped and reached out, prying her mouth open with one finger while he tried to dig the insect out with the other. Fern cried almost instantly, and he succeeded a moment later in pulling the caterpillar free. It was wet, but otherwise seemed no worse for

wear. He sighed with relief and nearly set it back on the star-fruit, but realized a moment later that doing so would only allow the worm to go back to work eating his hard-earned fruit. He sighed, then reached down and dropped it onto the compost below. There was plenty of food there. Hopefully it would find something that would satisfy its hunger that Jason wasn't also planning on eating.

Jason sighed in relief as it vanished into a pile of banana peels, and he stood up to find Fern grinning at him.

"No more eating bugs." He held up a finger, then paused. "I mean, I know caterpillars aren't bugs, specifically, they're just insects, but you know what I mean. No more eating anything except your oatmeal."

Fern's grin grew even wider, and a beetle leg poked out from between her lips. Jason screamed and opened her mouth once more, where he found a blue-shelled beetle squirming about as it tried to escape her lips. He tossed it off into the greenhouse, then lifted Fern and tucked her into his elbow.

"Maybe we'll just keep you away from insects until you're a bit older?"

Fern didn't agree with this advice, as she opened her mouth once more and stretched out both her hands toward the large fern. He turned to look in that direction, and found a large dragonfly sunning itself on the large fronds. He scowled at it, then at her, then shrugged. Keeping her well above the ground, he walked around the rest of the greenhouse, then strode out of the greenhouse and back into the house proper.

As he came into the living room, Tess was just coming down the stairs. She had a smile on her face, even though her eyes still looked bleary and tired. Jason set Fern down on the ground, and she crawled toward her mother as fast as she could go.

"Were you able to get some good sleep?" Jason asked as Tess bent down and scooped up Fern.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was." Tess nodded and yawned. "It was... Nice. Thank you, I really appreciate it. I know I didn't take a lot longer, but it was well- needed."

"Anytime." He walked up and tickled Fern's belly. "She's going to be a first-rate farmer when she's older, that's for sure. Already doing her part to thin out the pest population around the farm!"

Tess turned a bit green. "Do I even want to ask?"

"Probably not." Jason admitted. Tess took Fern over to the fire and set her down before the grate, and Jason kicked off his boots and went to join them. He sank back into the couch cushions, and Tess wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The winter was nice, but it was ending. In a way, it was strange... He had all this time with his family. That time would come again, come next winter, but by then, Fern would be talking, and... This was the very last time he would have this sort of experience with Fern at this age. More and more, time was seeming to be quite fleeting.

As the fire crackled and burned, though, he snuggled into Tess. Maybe it was... But that was alright by his count. He was doing everything he could to make it count, and he could only look forward to whatever was ahead.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Rain on a cold day

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 85th day of Winter! 6 days until the Winter Festival! Less than a week until spring, folks! There's a bit of a storm coming through today, but all things considered, it shouldn't be nearly as bad as some storms that have hit us over the last few months. Stay inside and stay warm, and get yourself ready for spring!]

Jason sighed as he opened his eyes. Tess rose beside him, giving him only a quick kiss before she hopped out of bed and walked over to the wardrobe to change. Jason swung his legs out of bed and rose, then slowly walked to the window to look out across the landscape.

It was a storm, alright, though as Obadiah had indicated, it was nothing horrid. Rain came pelting down, though the air was warm enough that it wasn't even turning to ice on the ground. The wind whipped across the dead prairie grasses, and Jason shivered looking at it. It reminded him of a fall storm just before winter, when it would just be wet and cold and miserable, instead of downright deadly.

"Almost wish we could reschedule Fern's appointment." Jason turned away from the window and walked over to the wardrobe, where he dressed in a warm tunic. "You don't think Theresa would be open to that, do you?"

Tess shook her head. "I asked her a couple of days ago, when Obadiah got a more exact date on the storm. She's heading out of town this afternoon

down to Darkwater, and won't be back until after the Spring Festival. Don't worry, we'll keep Fern safe and dry."

Jason sighed, but nodded. They had scheduled Fern's seasonal checkup for that very day, though Jason was now regretting that fact. Sure, they had made it almost three months earlier, but... Did it have to be when the weather was so bad?

Tess left the bedroom quickly and went down to Fern's room, while Jason went down the stairs, pulled on boots and a warm coat, and struck out into the cold. Chance followed him, and as they stepped out onto the porch, the blast of air hit him like a sledgehammer.

He decided, in that moment, that there was a very clear difference between dry cold air and humid cold air. In the middle of winter, when there was a thick layer of snow and ice across the ground, the air itself was dry, and even though it was cold, it wasn't tremendously uncomfortable, except for maybe your face. Now, as rain came lashing down... Strictly speaking, it was a good deal warmer than it had been for most of the winter, but the cold just seemed to seep into every pore of his body, drive its way down into his bone, and not budge from that location. Chance seemed to take this same opinion, and after doing his business, went back up onto the porch and didn't move from there.

Jason walked down to the stable and pulled the door open, and his horses all nickered happily to see him. He hurried into the far warmer building, changed out their straw and gave them some feed, then patted Angus on the neck.

"I'll be back for you in a minute, but get some breakfast first."

Angus munched away at his oat mixture, and Jason left the stable to walk around the side of the house to the greenhouse. As he poked his head in the door, he found several star-fruit red and ripe for the picking, along with some broccoli heads, some Brussels sprouts, and a handful of other things he had recently planted. He harvested them quickly, not really wanting to risk them rotting (he had seen that happen before, and was in no

hurry to repeat the experience), then made his way back to the front door of the house.

When he poked his head inside, he found Tess eating a quick breakfast with a small plate by the door for him. He picked it up and ate several biscuits quickly, then nodded at her as she began swaddling up Fern. Several minutes later, he had coaxed Angus out into the rain, hitched him up to the carriage, put up the carriage topper (which didn't actually do that much to stop the rain given that it was being blown by the wind), and then drove it up to the front of the house. Tess came bustling out, and he pulled her up and into the carriage. With that, they were off for town.

Jason kept the carriage moving quickly, while Tess did her best to shield Fern from the driving rain. Angus's hooves splashed through the puddles, while the carriage wheels flung mud and water back up into the sky to spite the rain. When they came rumbling up into the town square, both Jason and Tess were soaked, and little Fern was wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Here you go." Jason drove the carriage right up in front of Theresa's healing den, and Tess clambered down. "I'll come back to you as soon as I get Angus inside."

If the rain had been less intense, or if... Well, there were many other factors, he wouldn't have worried about getting Angus stabled for the short time they were going to be there, but it was miserably cold. Again, not dangerous, but downright miserable. The only problem, of course, was that there wasn't really a public stable anywhere in Summer Shandy. After thinking for a moment, Jason drove up to the Guild Hall, pulled Angus to a halt, and hopped down to walk around to the door of Obadiah's office.

It felt rather strange as he knocked on the door, knowing that Tess wasn't the one on the other side. Had he ever come to the guildhall in this manner since Obadiah had taken over? He couldn't remember for sure. A moment later, Obadiah opened the door and motioned Jason inside.

"Come in! What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I just need permission to use your stable." Jason quickly explained the situation. "I know it's for guild members only, but-"

"As I've repeatedly told Tess, her horses are always welcome here." Obadiah whistled sharply, and the inner door of his office cracked open. A page boy that Jason recognized from the village poked his head inside, and Obadiah took out a fountain pen and scribbled something on a sheet of paper and handed it to him. "There's a horse just outside. Get it out of the rain, and if it... I presume there's a carriage?" Jason nodded. "Put the carriage around with the other guild vehicles."

The boy nodded and vanished, and the door fell shut. Jason thanked Obadiah and started to turn away, though Obadiah stopped him.

"Jason? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure thing." Jason turned back. He finally shut the door all the way behind him, which he had been leaving open since he hadn't planned on staying long. "What's up?"

"Several things." Obadiah rubbed his jaw wearily. "Many of them don't concern you, but a handful do. Importantly... That dungeon out on your property?"

Jason nodded slowly. "What about it?"

"I've been doing some thinking about it." Obadiah shrugged. "You first started having trouble with it back when the Juun bugs hit, if I remember right?"

"Yeah." Jason agreed. "It was a micro-dungeon attached to the main dungeon that we think became active when I started messing around with the dungeon itself. Why?"

"Well..." Obadiah shrugged. "It wasn't long after the Juun Bug incident that I started having problems with the main dungeon here. Have you heard those stories?"

"Not much about it for a while." Jason tried to think. "Let's see... Last year, shortly after we were married, Tess came up here, and said you found a new boss room? And then I think there were more of them popping up?"

Obadiah nodded. "I've done my best to map them, but they just keep appearing. There are five floors in that dungeon, and right now there are nineteen new boss chambers that have opened up. Anyway, I'm wondering if they're somehow connected to the old dungeon out on your property. It's only crossed my mind since I went out to your place to help Tess clear it out. Some of the new bosses are remarkably similar to the ones in there, which explains why the Dungeon Guild doesn't even recognize some of the descriptions I've sent in."

"It's certainly possible." Jason shrugged. "I'll easily admit that I don't understand the thing, really. Is there anything I can do?"

"I don't know." Obadiah sighed. "And that's the honest truth. If there really is some sort of connection... It's putting lives at risk. I know it's not your fault or anything, but it lies on your property, and so the time may come when I need your help getting to the root of the problem."

"You've got my cooperation." Jason held out his hand, which Obadiah shook. "You can count on that."

"You're a good man, Jason." Obadiah flashed a small smile, then grimaced. "Oh, and one other thing before you go off to your daughter's appointment. I really don't want to hold you up, but I figured you'd want to know." He paused. "Hank might be looking to retire."

At that, Jason's eyebrows crawled up his forehead. "What?"

"He asked me not to mention it to anyone, since he isn't sure yet, but he's feeling worn-out by all the young folks around. That's why I've been doing more things in his name, handing out fines, and all that jazz. I mean... You two experienced firsthand how disorganized he'd become, and once it all got cleaned up and he had to actually start doing work, it's just been too much for him. He's not young anymore." Obadiah shrugged. "He

asked me to look into a replacement, but I'm at a loss, to be honest. Just thought I'd mention it, in case any names come to mind."

Jason sighed, then shook his head. "I've got nothing."

"I was afraid of that. I'm hoping he sticks around for a bit longer, but I suppose we'll see." Obadiah walked back to his desk and sat down. "Hope that didn't bum you out of the day. I'll catch you around!"

Jason waved, then strode back out into the rain. He slogged across the town square, then came into Theresa's Healing Den with a torrent of water. Inside, the air was almost oppressively hot in comparison, and he thought he saw steam rising from his clothes. Theresa poked her head out of one of the operating rooms a moment later and waved at him, and he quickly bustled into the room with Tess and Fern.

"How's our little girl doing?" He asked as he sat down on a chair. Fern was stretched out across the bed and was kicking her little feet up into the air like she was riding a bicycle.

"So far, she seems to be doing wonderful." Theresa beamed as she walked back over to the bedside. "Her weight and length are all well within standards. You seem to feed her well, and Tess tells me that she's been crawling?"

"For the better part of the winter." Jason agreed.

"She may be an early walker, then." Theresa stroked her chin. "How are her vocal skills seeming?"

Jason glanced at Tess, who shrugged. "She can make a lot of noises, but nothing resembling speech."

"Okay!" Theresa leaned over Fern and tickled her belly, then took out a handful of other tools. "I don't really expect babies to talk before they're a year old, but by now, their voices should make distinctly word-like sounds. Sometimes they'll mimic sentences, sometimes they'll just babble endlessly. If you haven't noticed that yet, I wouldn't be too concerned.

She's only six months old, but like I said, I'd expect to hear it before too much longer."

Jason nodded as Theresa began measuring different parts of Fern's body, like the width of her legs at various points, the distance between her elbows and wrist, and other such things.

"Right now, I'm essentially doing a screening for rare developmental issues that would crop up around the end of her first year." Theresa explained. "Babies have way more bones than adults, which fuse together as they grow. Sometimes, though, they don't fuse quite right, and that can lead to problems when they grow up. If we catch it early, we can prevent some of those issues."

"What sorts of things are we talking about?" Jason asked, instantly concerned.

"I'm not even going to tell you what things to worry about, because I don't want to be woken up in the middle of the night again." Theresa's voice was good-natured, but her tone told Jason that she wasn't joking around. Tess seemed to think that it was quite funny.

The rest of the appointment went quickly. Everything looked good to Theresa (or at least good enough that she didn't tell Jason about it), and they were soon ready to get on their way. They bade goodbye to Theresa, then slipped out into the rain. While Jason went back over to the Guild Hall to get Angus, Tess went over to talk to Paulina about wedding plans. By the time that Jason had the carriage pulled around, she was done, and they started heading back home.

Once again, the trip was cold, but Jason was satisfied with the knowledge that Fern was happy and healthy. When they got home, they would have a warm hearth and a pleasant lunch to look forward to, which kept him going even though the frigid temperatures. The thought of Fern talking to him filled him with anticipation, and he made it a goal to work with her on saying... Pretty much anything that he could get her to say. He certainly wouldn't mind if her first word was "daddy," but he also didn't want Tess to feel left out.

Besides, what did it matter? If he and Tess were lucky enough, they would eventually have a large enough family that both of them would have multiple first-words to claim. At least... That was his hope, as long as none of Theresa's worrisome "potential issues" didn't get them, first.

Chapter Thirty: Last Day of Winter

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Winter! It's the day of the Winter Festival! It's going to be a great day, folks! Still a bit of the chilly side, but hey, it is winter still. Come on out for a bonfire, and music, and dancing, and all the other things that go with the festival! Just make sure that you dress in layers if you plan on staying after midnight, since it's expected to jump about thirty degrees in warmth when that happens.]

"I am not staying until midnight." Jason murmured as he rolled out of bed and stood up. "At least, not by choice. Fern would lose her mind by then."

Tess nodded as she rose as well. "If she were younger, she might still just sleep in my arms, but..." She paused for a moment. "It's actually been quite a while since she's done that."

"Probably in part because of winter, and us staying in the house where it's easier to just put her in her crib." Jason shrugged. He puffed out his cheeks, then walked over to the wardrobe and started changing into a warm, town-going tunic. "Without a woman I'm trying desperately to impress, I don't have near the reason to stay up late anymore."

Tess walked up to him and whacked him on the back of his head. "You still have to impress me, bucko."

"We're married. You're stuck with me." Jason leaned over and gave her a playful kiss on the cheek. "And we have a kid, which just makes it even

better. I'm self-employed, married, have a family. I don't have to impress anyone."

Tess snorted. "Oh, yeah? That means I don't have to clean up around here anymore, since I don't have to 'impress you.'"

Jason started pulling on his clothes, and a playful smile played across his lips. "Clean up? I did that for years. It doesn't get that messy around here, anyway."

Tess raised an eyebrow, then spun around and punched him in the chest. It didn't hurt, per se, but she used a knockback skill from her time as a warrior, and it sent Jason flying backward across the bed, where he came crashing down onto a pile of blankets. He groaned and climbed back to his feet, where he found Tess laughing at him.

"Try insulting your wife one more time and see where it gets you."

One more line came across Jason's mind, and Tess raised her eyebrow before he even said it.

"Now I know why Jeremiah-"

Jason didn't even finish the sentence before Tess picked up a pillow and jumped at him, whacking him squarely across the face. He burst out laughing and pushed her back, then grabbed a pillow as well and whacked her back. He then raced for the door, trying to escape, but Tess was just a blink faster. She came crashing into him, and the two of them tumbled into the door with a loud crash. The noise echoed through the hall, and a moment later, Fern cried from somewhere off down the hall.

They both laughed. Then Jason went downstairs to get breakfast ready while Tess took care of Fern. A few minutes later, as Jason gazed upon a hearty breakfast with all the trappings, Tess and Fern came down the stairs and Jason smiled.

Tess was in a lush red dress that looked to be quite warm. Fern, meanwhile, was in a complementing blue dress, and Tess set her up in her

high chair, then sat down across from Jason. As they ate, Fern burbled and waved her arms about, and Jason smiled at his young daughter.

"Are we heading into the festival right away, or are we going to hang out here for a while?" Jason asked.

"I say let's mosey on into town." Tess shrugged. "I wouldn't mind seeing people, and I'd be willing to bet that turnout is pretty high, since the last festival was so poorly attended. People will be itching for it."

"That's fair enough." Jason nodded. He soon finished eating, then went outside. Chance followed him as he let the horses out and got things ready. As he was hitching up Angus to the carriage, he heard hooves on the road, and looked up to see Richard and Daniel riding alongside Jeremiah's carriage.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah waved grandly. "I'll catch you there!"

Jason waved back, then watched them go. He had to admit that it shocked him to see just how well the two warriors were working out with Jeremiah's crew. Their own farm was a sad state of affairs, that was for sure. A single glance across the road revealed a house that was sagging badly in several places, while the field itself was a mess of dead weeds surrounded by a fence that had largely collapsed. If they were taking care of Jeremiah's place, though, he supposed that was what mattered.

It wasn't long before Jason and Tess were heading in. They could see Jeremiah's wagon about a mile ahead, visible as a small dust trail that wound over the hills. Jason smiled as he snapped the reins and they moved along at a better clip, and he glanced at Tess. She had a wide smile across her face, and within short order, they came up into Summer Shandy proper.

As always, the town was a proper hubbub of activity. Men and women alike bustled about as preparations for that night were made. A bit of scattered music filtered through the air as musicians came out to practice, much to the delight of the townsfolk. Tess's guess seemed right on-point. Everyone was itching for a proper festival. The page boy that worked for Obadiah came running up as they drew into the town square, and took the

carriage from Jason around to the communal parking area, which was always set up for festival days. Jason caught sight of Hank, who sat at the well, and waved at him. Hank gave a lazy sort of wave back, but didn't really seem like he wanted to talk, so Jason simply followed Tess into Paulina's store.

Now there was a hive of activity. With the colder weather outside, anyone who wasn't actively setting anything up had come inside to talk. It was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, while the few people who actually seemed intent on buying things had to force their way between the crowds of people. Up at the register, Paulina was overwhelmed, trying to follow three different conversations while also trying to check people out. Jason waved at her, but neither he nor Tess really moved to approach. Instead, Tess slipped off to the side where there was a small clearing to set down Fern, and a small circle quickly formed where people looked down at the happily crawling baby. Jason laughed slightly, then found Jeremiah standing off to one side, an unlit pipe in his mouth, as he surveyed the crowd. Jason walked over to him, and Jeremiah nodded.

"Howdy!" Jason grinned. "You look intent on something."

"I'm trying to figure something out." Jeremiah murmured, then took the pipe out of his mouth and tucked it away. "The pipe keeps people away, at least mostly."

"What are you trying to figure out?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"The prices that Paulina's selling things at." Jeremiah nodded. "Let's take... Seed. It comes up to about two shandys per seed, give or take a little based on variety."

"Right." Jason nodded. "Your point?"

"You sell it to Illumitir for... I don't remember the exact conversion, but it's something like one shandy for every ten seeds, again depending on variety." Jeremiah pursed his lips for a moment. "Why the upsell? I've never really thought much about it, just figured it was part of things, but Obadiah tells me that Paulina makes next to no profit on any of the farming

stuff, she keeps prices just as low as possible so she can keep all of us in business. That means that someone is taking the grain that you produce, skimming a bit off the top, and then selling it back to her and to other places for absolutely ridiculous margins."

Jason shrugged. "Isn't that how commerce works? Seems to me like I heard something about... Supply and demand, and if someone offers a price, and it's no good, people can just refuse to pay it and it'll adjust."

"Nonsense, shoved at you to make you assume that it's people and not the government who runs things." Jeremiah muttered, then shrugged. "Anyway, I was just doing the figuring since I was waiting for you to get here. Howdy, neighbor!"

Jason grinned broadly. "Howdy! How are things going out at your place?"

"Couldn't be better." Jeremiah shrugged. After a moment, he chuckled. "Frankly, they've been downright boring this winter. That Richard, he knows his stuff. Works cattle harder than any five of my hired hands, with the exception of Weatherhand himself. Weatherhand has him as his primary man, which functionally makes him number-three on the ranch. A few of the other men who have been around for longer are jealous, but there's no denying that he's just downright good at the job."

"I'm glad to hear it!" Jason smiled. "It's good to know that those two have worked out. I was worried for them. I don't mind admitting it."

At that, Jeremiah sighed. "Well... Richard works out. There aren't nearly as many monsters in the winter, and Daniel's gone half-crazy trying to find things to do. I don't mind the boy, don't get me wrong, but he's just not cut out for this kind of work. He's bound and determined to do it for Viola, and I have to admire that, so I can hardly fire the boy with his father doing so well. That's my biggest dilemma currently, but that's not really your problem." He chuckled. "How's little Fern doing?'

Jason shrugged and began explaining how the winter had gone with her. When he told Jeremiah about her eating bugs, he burst out laughing.

"I always told Delilah it was good protein! She never believed me, but what are you going to do? As long as it's not poisonous or anything... I mean, you can't keep an eye on their mouths every single second of the day. It's just going to happen from time to time. Every little kid is going to eat a bug or two. That's just life."

He and Jeremiah continued to talk for the better part of several hours. They complained about government restrictions coming down over what they could and couldn't do. They talked about their plans for spring, and so on. The only real surprise came when Jeremiah announced he was going to run buffalo on his farm next to his cattle.

"Buffalo?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why in this wide world are you going to do buffalo?"

Jeremiah shrugged. "What else am I going to do?"

Jason couldn't argue with that logic, though he was a little concerned about where Jeremiah's late-life-crisis was going to lead. They didn't have time to pursue the matter further as they brought out a light lunch for everyone, and then the planning for that evening began in earnest.

From that point on, there was little time to talk. With the disappointment of the previous festival, no one was going to let this one be anything but spectacular. Banners were strung up across all the different buildings, more food than Jason had ever seen before for a festival was brought forth, and music never ceased. Fern took an early afternoon nap up in Paulina's apartment, but otherwise, was right there for all of it. Her smile never left her face, as she simply beamed out at anyone and everyone she came past. Even a few of the warriors from the guild joined in when they saw Obadiah was pitching in along with everyone else.

When dinnertime finally came around, tables were set up across the town square, a bonfire was lit in between the town well and the Guild Hall, and food was piled high upon the tables until they sagged with the weight. Jason dropped down next to Tess and Jeremiah, and Obadiah climbed up onto the town well and waved his hands.

"Hello, everyone!" Obadiah grinned. "Or should I say, hello, folks?" A ripple of laughter swept across the crowd, and Obadiah sighed. "We made it through another winter, and now we're faced with spring. The coming of new life, the coming of a new era. We've all seen it before, save for one member of our community, who I think I can say without anyone disagreeing, is the cutest member of our town."

The crowd cheered, and Tess took Fern's little hands and held them up in the air.

"Now, I have one announcement before we get going." Obadiah's voice became more solemn. "There was a desire to have this announcement wait for the Spring Festival, but since that date is going to be a wedding, the person in question decided, of his own accord, to speak up now. Or, at least, to have me speak up for him." Obadiah bit his lip, then nodded. "Constable Hank is formally announcing his resignation, effective at the first moment of summer. We will be holding interviews for his replacement. Strictly speaking, the position of Constable would ordinarily pass to a deputy who has served for longer than a year, but as Hank has never deputized anyone, it will pass to a vote of the townsfolk, pending approval of each candidate by a small board of town leaders. If you'd like to submit your name for consideration, now's your chance." When Obadiah finished talking, a stunned silence fell across the crowd. A moment later, Hank himself stood up.

"Oh, come on. It's not that important to interrupt the festivities. Get this party going again!"

The band immediately struck up again, and a gradual swell of conversation grew across the crowd. Jason had to admit that he was shocked. He hadn't expected such a declaration to come so quickly, but he supposed that maybe it just showed that Hank was more worn-out than he had realized. He wished the old man well and hoped that he would be able to get along with whatever else he did with his life.

The rest of that night, though, soon turned into a wonderful one. Music played, and after everyone had finished eating, the tables were all moved to the edge of the town square to make room for an immense dance square. As

that part of the party began, little Fern started to fuss, and Jason went around to get the carriage. By the time he came trotting back around, Fern was in a full-on meltdown, and he and Tess soon made their way back down toward the farm. He glanced over his shoulder once to see Jeremiah's carriage following not far behind, though they didn't stop to talk to one another.

Within half an hour, they had Fern tucked away, asleep in her crib, and the two of them started going to bed. As they did so, Jason looked out the window and sighed. When he woke up, spring would have come to Summer Shandy. With it, as always, came infinite potential... He only had to figure out how best to make use of it all.

Chapter Thirty-One: The 1st Day of Spring

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 1st day of Spring! 90 days until the Spring Festival! It's shaping up to be a lovely spring, folks! The birds are singing, and the forecast is clear for the next week! We should have a nice, soft shower in about a week's time, and while I would certainly expect a handful of really nasty spring storms before the season is out, I wouldn't count on seeing them for the time being!]

Jason smiled as his eyes flickered open. As was often the case with the first day of spring, the air inside the house was warm, almost unpleasantly so, because a fire had still been burning in the hearth when they went to bed. Jason swung out of bed and walked up to the window, and sighed contently as he looked down at the landscape. Crabgrasses swarmed across the yard. Fresh new prairie grasses were just poking up from the ground. The world was new once more, and he was more than ready to make use of it.

"What's your plan for today?" Tess asked as she stood up as well. She walked over and changed into a green work-dress, while Fern cried softly from off down the hall.

"I think I'm going to plant the field." Jason shrugged. "No reason not to, at least as far as I can tell."

"What are you putting into it this year?" Tess asked. "Anything fun and experimental, or just the same old winter wheat?"

"Oh! I thought I told you about that." Jason finished dressing in overalls, and the two of them made their way out into the hall. "Why don't you go get Fern, and I'll tell you about it at breakfast?"

Tess nodded, and Jason strode downstairs and into the kitchen. He made a small detour to let Chance out (who had been pressing his nose up against the window watching the monsters crawling around), then went and made up their standard working breakfast. He added oatmeal, as had become their standard, and Tess soon brought down Fern. They all tucked into their meal (though once again, Fern only took a single bite before spitting it out), and Jason nodded at Tess.

"The field! Right. I think I'm going to try sugar beets this spring, just to see how it all goes."

"Sugar beets?" Tess raised an eyebrow. "What are those, exactly?"

"They're an interesting sort of thing." Jason shrugged. "Most sugar in the Illumitir province comes from cane, which can really only be grown in regions south of here, but some of it comes from beets. They're sorta like... Well, you know what a beet is. They grow underground, and they swell up into these enormous things that are just chock-full of sugars. I think they boil them or something to get the sugars out. Beet sugar is supposed to be really good. At least that's what Jeremiah tells me."

"Well, more power to you." Tess shrugged. "If it works, keep a few back. I'd love to try making some homemade sugar."

"Will do!" Jason grinned. "From what I've heard, they can be a bit more labor-intensive than some crops, but we can sell them for a massive profit. Demand for pure beet sugar is really high among the high-ups of Illumitir."

"So we're growing crops to please the fat-cats who make a profit off the little guys of the world?" Tess raised an eyebrow.

Jason spluttered for a moment. "We're... Well..."

"I'm kidding." Tess waved her hand after a moment. "Your dad is one of those higher-ups, remember, and he's a solid guy. A lot of them are made out to be a lot worse than they really are. Go have fun. I'm going to do a bit of spring cleaning with Fern now that we can open up the house a bit, and then I'll be out. I'd like her to be able to crawl around in the yard a bit."

"Just make sure she stays away from the crabgrasses." Jason warned as he stood up. "They've nipped me with their pincers every now and again, and they hurt."

Tess waved his concern away. "I've dealt with monsters before, Jason. You worry about the field, and I'll worry about Fern."

Jason nodded and smiled, then walked out of the house. Chance had a histle in his mouth and was rapidly shaking it back and forth, and Jason laughed. He hurried across the yard and let the horses out into the corral, poured them some food, checked on the greenhouse, and then went to his equipment. His list of chores was growing longer and longer, and he suspected that he was going to struggle to grow his farm much more before he had to hire more help.

As he came up to his planter, he knelt down and took out a rag. The silvery-white metal gleamed in the morning sun, and he could work quickly over the machine with only a few actions used to tidy it up. The harvester was certainly a thing to behold, but in all reality, the planter was just as nice. It required almost no maintenance, which was nice, and it could cut through the soil like butter.

When Angus had finished eating, he took out the great horse and hitched him up to the planter, then filled the machine with seed. The sugar beet sprouts rattled about in the bins, and he smiled.

"Hi-yaw!"

Angus lumbered forward, and Jason smiled. Much like the harvester, the planter had a much wider platform to stand on, rubber handles to grip, and a few other amenities that made it much easier to work with. Crabgrasses scattered as Angus stomped forward, and he soon rumbled into the field. As

he did so, he pulled the lever to lower the seed disks, and with that, they were off.

Dust rose behind them as Angus pulled them forward, but very little of it got up into Jason's eyes because of several dust shields below and behind him. He grinned as he listened to the sugar beets rattling down the seed tubes and into the ground. As they started making passes back across the field, Jason looked down at the nice, neat lines that marked where the seeds would soon sprout. It was a lovely feeling. There was simply no other word for it.

Down and back they went, down and back. There was only one hiccup at all, and that was when they came to a patch of ground that had become un-tilled over the winter. It was a strange phenomenon, but one that happened every now and again. Some land, when exposed to intense weather without any crops being put regularly into it, would become hardened, and would require tillage before it could be used. Thankfully, though, Jason had an answer to that.

He noticed it as the planter slowed, and Angus went straight against the harness, which he rarely did. Concerned, Jason raised the seed disks, then turned Angus around, walking through the non-planted part of the field as he did so. There, he saw the stark difference in the ground, and he nodded slowly.

"Not what I'd like, but we can work with that." He slowly pulled Angus back into position, then started him forward again. While he was still in the good soil, he lowered the seed disks again (the slight overlap would hurt his yield somewhat, but not terribly), and then pulled a second lever a bit further forward.

In response, small plow wedges dropped and slammed into the soil, tilling up the soil just ibefore the disks themselves. Angus's muscles strained, though not nearly as much as he had been doing before. Within a few seconds, they had moved past the rough patch, and Jason raised the plow wedges once again. The wedges weren't sturdy enough to be used to plow the whole field; the advertisement had made extra certain that the buyer knew that fact well, but it was more than enough to cover those

small, annoying patches that would otherwise have required Jason to unhitch the planter, swing all the way back to his lean-to, hook up to the plow, drag it out for one small job... And so on. It was a great time-saver.

By the time noon came around, he had finished slightly over half of the field, and he waved as Tess carried out Fern alongside a large picnic basket. Angus was happily returned to the corral, and Jason slowly walked over to meet the two of them.

The blanket was a white-and-red checkered design, a classic picnic blanket if there ever was one, and Tess had brought out all the fixings. There were sandwiches, eggs, pickles, cookies, and a large bowl of carrots. She also had a bit more oatmeal and a smile on her face.

"What's going on?" Jason asked as he sat down and picked up a sandwich. "You look like you have something really cool to tell me, and I'd rather not wait to find out."

Tess turned and nodded down at Fern, who had a bowl of oatmeal in front of her. Curiously, the oatmeal was an odd blueish color, and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"It's blueberry." Tess picked up a small spoon and scooped up some of the soft food. "Here you go, Fern!"

Fern eagerly opened up her mouth, and stuck it inside. She gulped it down a moment later and opened her mouth for more. Tess fed her several more bites, then handed the spoon to Jason.

"Would you like to do it, daddy?"

"Daddy most certainly would!" Jason used his best baby-voice and crouched down, scooping up a bit of the oatmeal. Fern opened her mouth wide, and he stuck it inside. As she bit down, Jason grinned broadly at her, then made a funny face, rather for the fun of it. Fern laughed at that... Spraying Jason with slobbery blueberry oatmeal. He grimaced as he sat up and wiped off his face, and Tess laughed at him.

"She's still learning."

Fern grinned up at him and opened her mouth, and then, as he was apparently taking too long, looked down at her bowl and stuck her hand inside. She scooped up a couple handfuls, then just bent over to put her face directly into it. This caused her to slip, and she simply fell into the bowl, sending another splatter of oatmeal across the blanket. When Tess plucked her out, she was crying, and Jason quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe her off.

Jason and Tess ate slowly as they watched Fern. She ate a few more bites of oatmeal, then turned and started crawling away. Chance bounded around her, snarling at any monsters that got too close, and Jason sighed deeply.

"That'll be something good. Never thought of him as a guard dog, but if it keeps her safe, I'm all for it."

Tess smiled and nodded. "I completely agree." She took a bite of her own sandwich and leaned back on the blanket. "This is nice."

Jason nodded. The weather was warm, though not hot, and just having his family there around him was a wonderful feeling. "How was your morning?"

"It was good. We started getting some of the sweeping done, and I beat the dust out of some of the furniture." Tess flashed a small smile. "How are the sugar beets planting?"

"Just as well as you could imagine." A smile came across his face. "I even got to use the Emergency Tiller."

At that, Tess laughed. "You've been dying to use that ever since you bought the thing, but you take care of your fields too well."

Jason laughed as well, then shrugged. "It works plenty well, I can assure you of that!"

They continued to talk for a short time., Then, as the day wore on, Jason left the picnic and went back to the horses. He took Angus out once more and hitched him up, and soon they were tearing back across the field once again.

They were done planting with an hour to spare before dinner, which was nice. Tess had worked in the side garden, while Fern played around her, trying to catch grasshoppers and bees and other such creepy-crawlies. Jason joined them for a bit, then picked up Fern and carried her all around the farm, showing her everything. Finally, as the sun set, they all ambled back into the house for dinner, and Jason sighed deeply.

It was a good start to the spring, of that there could be no doubt. The only question he had was how things would progress from there. Somehow, though, he wasn't exactly sure why he thought this... He knew it was going to be a wild ride from one end to the next.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Family matters

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 10th day of Spring! 81 days until the Spring Festival! It's looking like scattered showers today, though I don't expect to see an overall accumulation higher than... Oh... Half an inch in any given place. The rain-deer spawn rate will likely be elevated, though, so if you've got anything that depends on fences, keep a close eye on them today.]

"You know, I'd never even heard of rain-deer before Jeremiah mentioned them earlier this year." Jason rolled out of bed. He stretched, then walked up to the window. Fern was keeping quiet, which was a nice change. "Have you ever seen one?"

"Only once, and that was on exhibit up at the Warriors Guild Headquarters up in Illumitir." Tess shrugged. She swung her legs out of bed and stood up. "They're kinda cute. Picture a huge deer, like... Eight feet tall, that has loads of water pouring down its body instead of hair. Their antlers are black, and can sometimes flash with lightning."

Jason chuckled softly. "Now that sounds like something to see."

"They're absolutely beautiful to watch, at least until they decide to turn and attack you." Tess shrugged. "At that point, they're terrifying, and that's coming from someone who's faced down dragons." She began changing into a red work dress, then smiled at him. "What's your plan for today? Anything exciting?"

Jason shrugged as he walked up to the window and looked out across the farm. As the sun's rays started peeking over the horizon, dark, patchy

clouds rolled here and there across the sky. "I was thinking about heading out to the Far Eighty. I haven't been able to buy any new fence, but there's a bit that I didn't get put up last fall, and I have a few other preparations I'd like to make. I really, really want to farm that ground by the end of the spring."

Tess smiled softly. "Well, maybe this is the year you can finally do that."

"I sure hope so." Jason dressed in overalls, then made his way down the stairs. "Fern's sure being awfully quiet this morning."

Tess slipped over to Fern's door and peeked inside, then came down to join Jason in the kitchen. "She had a pretty late night last night. I think she's coming down with a bit of a cold."

Jason grimaced. "Those are no fun. Hope she gets better."

"You and me, both." Tess quickly fixed up some breakfast, and they ate in relative silence. When they finished, Tess sighed and stood. "Well, if it's alright with you, I'm going to do a bit more cleaning this morning, and then this afternoon, I'll be running into town with Fern for some supplies."

"Go for it." Jason nodded. "What are you wanting to buy?"

"Cloth." Tess blushed slightly. "I was digging through the basement, doing a bit of cleaning down there during Fern's nap a couple of days ago, and I found an old sewing machine. It must have belonged to your aunt or something, but... It's got me thinking. What if I started sewing our clothes? I mean, yours have to be heavy-duty enough that I'd have to get pretty good before I could start making your overalls or anything, but I could make some town dresses."

"Go for it." Jason grinned. "That actually sounds really cool."

"Great! Then I might still be gone when you get back. I'll be here by dinner, though."

Jason nodded and stood, gave Tess a kiss, and then packed himself a small lunch before heading out into the yard. Chance came with him as he did all his morning chores, and then, feeling excitement welling up inside of him, he saddled Lady and struck off across the prairie.

He wasn't sure why exactly he was so excited, but he certainly was. It had been quite some time since he had been out to the Far Eighty... For that matter; it had probably been when they had discovered the active boss room in the dungeon, and that had only been to have fun. He hadn't done any work out there since the fall, and he was eager to get the place up and running again.

As he rode up and over the hills, an image sprang to life in his mind. He saw the softly rolling hills covered in fields, stretching from the road all the way out to the forest. Harvesters and plows, all run by hired men, rumbled this way and that through all the different rows. It seemed a lovely sort of image, of a day when his farm was just as grand as Jeremiah's ranch. He didn't know if it would ever actually get that far, and he didn't really care about it all that much, but it was fun to think about. He enjoyed farming, and wouldn't mind having a larger operation.

When he came trotting over the last rise, he gazed down at the Far Eighty and sighed. As before, he had a large portion of the fence completed, somewhere around half of it, but was still a long way from being complete. Lady nickered eagerly, and he rode up to the hitching rail, hopped down, and quickly tied her up with plenty of room to munch on the grass. He needed to get a proper stable and corral built out there, and he appreciated all the work that must have gone into Jeremiah's ranch.

As Lady bent down and munched on the grass, he walked around to the front of the cabin and poked his head inside. Everything still looked good. No wild animals had moved in, and he nodded firmly before striking off across the vast expanse. A soft ground cover was growing there, but nothing was nearly as great as the prairie grass surrounding the property. A smile came across Jason's face as he walked, and he whistled a tune. Soon, he came up to the end of the completed fence, and he crossed his arms.

"Alright... Transfer remaining fence material out to the ground."

There was a flash of light, and a small pile of fence posts and rails appeared. The metal was all sturdy, coated in anti-rusting material, and it showed. The very first links of the fence, which he had started planting almost a full year earlier, still looked just as new as if he had bought them the day before. He quickly took out a shovel, paced out the distance, and then placed the spade against the ground.

[Action Used: Dig Hole. Remaining Actions: 34]

The dirt was all teleported out to the ground nearby, and Jason set down the shovel and walked over to grab the metal post, which he had to lug all the way to the hole.

"So... Hard..." He groaned as he dropped the pole into the ground, then picked up the shovel and tapped it against the pile of dirt.

[Action Used: Refill Hole. Remaining Actions: 33]

The dirt was all teleported back into the pit, filling in the empty space around the pole and setting it firmly. Jason mopped his brow, then dropped the shovel once again.

"This. Is. Exhausting." Jason trudged back over to the pile of fence material and slowly pulled out one rail. "And there are some people who actually want to do this without actions! I'll never-"

Snip!

Something was heard as it sailed through the air, and it landed with a thump in the grass nearby. Jason blinked, then turned to see what had happened. Something had just flown past his head, that much he was certain of. But... What? Had it been a bird? It hadn't been large, that was for sure. He slowly walked over and bent down. Suddenly, his eyes fell on something that, at first glance, he had assumed was a simple brown strand of dead grass from the year before.

Except it wasn't grass. It was a stick, with all nubs and irregularities carved away, that was sticking up at a twenty-five-degree angle from the

ground. As Jason bent down and picked it up, his eyes fell on two small but important details about the stick in question. At one end, several small feathers had been tied with a rather sinewy piece of string. At the other end, there was a sharpened bit of flint that looked altogether like an arrowhead.

With a flicker, another arrow fell into the grass not far away. Both had come, seemingly, from the forest, and Jason leapt to his feet. He spun in that direction, and his eyes swept the tree row. In retrospect, that only made him a larger target, and Tess long chided him for the decision, but he had never been particularly schooled in the arts of combat. For a long moment, he saw nothing. Then, he caught a flash of movement in the part of the forest that had been knocked down by the dragon.

Several little men stood there, each only three or four feet tall. They had green skin and seemed to be hunched-over, wearing little more than loincloths. Jason scowled at them, recognizing them instantly. He had never actually seen one before, but from Tess's descriptions and innumerable drawings and carvings of the monsters that he had seen through his whole life, he knew them well.

"Goblins." He whispered softly. "You are not getting me on my own property."

The goblins didn't hear him, and likely wouldn't have understood him, anyway. It was his understanding that they weren't actually sentient beings, and didn't even have a proper language of their own, but like advanced apes, could make use of certain tools. Such as bows and arrows.

Jason watched them for a moment, then bolted for the cabin. He was near the far end of the Far Eighty, which left him with a lot of distance to cover. As his legs ate up the field, arrows fell more thickly around him. None came particularly close, but they were certainly close enough to worry him.

"I have a wife and daughter!" He muttered. "Back, ye fiends!"

The goblins did the exact opposite and swarmed out of the trees toward him. They were fast little creatures, and several of them dropped their bows

and hunched over onto all fours, which really let them come along. Jason looked frantically at the cabin. He couldn't judge things exactly, but he doubted that he was going to get there before they did. Thinking quickly, he drew out his shiny new pistol and pointed it at the closest goblin.

Ka-blam!

Smoke belched from the flintlock weapon, and a fiery blast of energy stabbed across the distance. It missed the goblin entirely, but as the report echoed across the landscape, the goblins dropped to the ground and covered their heads with their hands. A brief smile flickered across Jason's face. That gave him an idea. If only he could make it to the cabin.

He put on a burst of speed, and with the delay from the goblins freezing, he was crashed into the door. He cast a single glance at Lady, then at the goblins. They were only feet behind him, and he drew his sword and slashed it through her reins. He then burst through the door and inside, slamming the door shut behind him. Lady's hooves pounded on the ground as she ran away, and Jason prayed that she would make it back to the house. With that, he drew the bolt across the cabin door, then stepped back.

Long fingernails scratched across the door and walls, and through the lone window, he could see the creatures milling about, trying to get inside. They were ugly things, hardly resembling humans at all now that they were up close. Their eyes held not a shred of intelligence, only hard anger. Their faces were long and drawn, like grotesque masks that might be used in a play. Jason let out a long breath as more of them appeared. After a moment, he opened up the stove and got a small fire going, sending a thick plume of black smoke up into the atmosphere. That would, hopefully, tell the rescue squad that he was indeed hiding in the house. And, with that, he got to work.

First, he reloaded the flintlock pistol. His sword, given his poor skill with the weapon, wouldn't be much use against more than one of the creatures, and there seemed to be a lot of them. The pistol, though, would be more useful. When it was loaded, he took out his original flintlock pistol, the one from his uncle, and loaded it as well. As a rule, he kept it unloaded, for fear of it accidentally going off. It was far from the most reliable

weapon in the world, that was for sure, and he planned to use it only as a last resort.

With that done, he started working on his best weapon, his blunderbuss. The noise had scared the goblins earlier, which made it his best shot against them. They were trapped outside the cabin for the moment, but there was no telling how long it would be before they found a way in, and he wanted to be ready. Under the circumstances, it took him a mere two minutes to load, and he carefully set it on a table and let out a long breath.

Crash!

The window shattered into bits as one goblin threw a rock through it, and the stone clattered to a wall on the other side. Almost instantly, goblin fingers appeared on the sill, and a particularly large brute pulled himself up and through. Jason palmed his uncle's flintlock and pointed it at the monster, then squeezed the trigger. There was a long pause, then the trigger fell with a click.

Blam!

The blast was muffled, and the cloud of smoke that belched out of the weapon was enough to prevent him from seeing what had happened, but when the smoke cleared away, the goblin was gone. A glance through the window revealed several in retreat, while the rest were again lying on the ground. Jason nodded, then tucked that pistol into his inventory, took the blunderbuss in his right hand and the nicer flintlock in his left, and walked up to the door.

"Here we go." He let out a long breath as the goblins scuffled outside, signaling that they were getting up, and he drew the bolt and flung the door open. Before they could react, he fired the pistol outward from the hip, and saw two goblins screech and fall as he charged forward into their midst. There was a proper throng around the door, and as they all fled from his presence, he bowled several over in his haste to get away. In a moment, he was out the other side, tucked the flintlock into his inventory, and made all due haste to run away.

Behind him, the goblins paused for four to five long seconds, during which time he made it nearly to the top of the rise. He glanced back over his shoulders to see them overcoming their fear and charging in his direction again, and he spun the blunderbuss around and squeezed the trigger.

Never had he been more fond of the resounding blast that the weapon produced. He didn't see if he had hit anything, and, frankly; he didn't care. The noise rolled down the hillside, and the goblins fled as though they had seen a dragon. Jason did the exact same thing, racing the half-mile back to his house just as fast as his legs might carry him. In the distance, he saw horses appearing over the hills as a rescue came riding toward him, and he nodded in approval. That had been fast, and he was more than ready for it.

The only question was... Why were there goblins in the woods? Was that the end of his plans for the Far Eighty?

No. His eyes set into a scowl as he raced headlong across the prairie. No, he had put too much work into it. He had planted a swarm of monstertraps to eat a horde of monsters threatening the town, then had used an overly effective chemical to kill off the monstertraps, then waited a year for the prairie grass to regrow, and then... Well, he had certainly had his share of hardships with the land, and he wasn't about to cede it to a bunch of goblins.

That much, he was absolutely certain of.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Our Dungeon

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 11th day of Spring! 80 days until the Spring Festival! It's looking like a bright and sunny day today, though there will be loads of wind. Ahh... Yup, that's the report, folks! Maybe another storm blowing in at the end of the week, but at this point it's still moving around so erratically that I wouldn't count on either outcome.]

Jason groaned as he slowly sat up. Tess wasn't in the bed with him, though that fact didn't really surprise him. He crawled out of bed and nearly tripped right into the crib, which they had moved from Fern's room into the master bedroom. Fern was scrunched up, with her arms and legs drawn underneath of herself, and Jason sighed deeply. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and helpless. He kissed one of his fingers, then reached down and touched her nose. She squirmed a little bit, but didn't wake up, and he slowly turned away and walked up to the window.

There, as he looked down on the blustery prairie, he saw Tess and Daniel riding into the yard. Both of them had their backs straight-up, and both wore their finest battle armor. They went past the stables and started riding up to the house, and Jason quickly dressed and slipped quietly out of the room, then crept down the stairs to the living room. Tess and her brother walked inside just as he made it to the bottom of the stairs, and Jason nodded at her.

"What did you find?"

"I'll tell you at breakfast." Tess's voice was tight, but she seemed to try to relax. "Daniel? What do you want?"

"Meat!" Daniel grinned. He seemed far less concerned than Tess did about the goblins, but Jason would have been surprised if that hadn't been the case. "Pretty much anything with meat."

Jason nodded, then went into the kitchen to get things ready. He made up a large plate of sausage and bacon for Daniel, some biscuits and gravy for himself, an egg salad for Tess, and a bowl of star-fruit oatmeal for Fern. With that, he carried it all out into the living room, where they soon sat down. Daniel dropped into their large, reinforced chair without breaking a thing, and Daniel spread out a blanket on the floor for Fern and himself. When Tess came back downstairs wearing a dress and handed Fern to Daniel, she dropped wearily onto the couch and accepted her food.

Tess and Daniel both ate quickly, though Jason went slower as he spoon-fed Fern. When they finished eating, Tess relaxed into the cushions and began her report.

"We trailed the raiding bands of goblins all over the countryside. One group of them was only about a quarter-mile from Darkwater when we caught them, and the other one made it into Nightford. We rounded them up with only a single stray cat as a casualty, but that's still terrifying."

Jason just shook his head. "Wow. Did you guys ever figure out where they were coming from?"

Tess and Daniel glanced at one another, and Tess bit her lip.

"Jason... They're actually coming from our own dungeon."

Jason lowered his head. He had suspected as much, but had been hoping that it wouldn't be true. The previous day, as he had been rushing over the hills, a full squad of Jeremiah's men came charging up to rescue him. It had been just in time, too, as a whole herd of the goblins had recovered from the shock and wasn't far behind. Tess, Daniel, and Richard fought off that band, then went back to track them, only to notice tracks leading off into the wilderness in various directions. And, thus, Jason had been barricaded into the house with Fern, while Tess and her brother went off goblin-hunting.

"How can you tell?"

"Because the goblins built a wooden fortress over the top of it." Tess shrugged. "I just can't figure it out. We went down all the way to Floor 10, cleared it out, and then blew up the entrance to Floor 11. Unless there was a whole gang of them down on Floors 11 and 12 that we didn't know about, and they somehow dug their way out... I don't have a clue."

"Is it possible that there was just a roving band of goblins that found their way to the dungeon?" Jason asked.

Tess shrugged. "I suppose it's possible, but unlikely. It would have had to come from the wild country, way out west, and that's a lot of ground to cover without getting discovered. I mean... Just now, they almost attacked two cities. Goblins aren't exactly the sneakiest creatures in the world."

"That's fair." Jason sighed as he spooned another bit of oatmeal into Fern's mouth. "What do we do now?"

"We have to go tell Hank and Obadiah." Tess answered. "That's all we can do. Daniel is going to head back to the Lazy-H to monitor things there, just in case any more bands of the creatures head that way. I'm going to take a nap, because I've been awake for well over twenty-four hours at this point. You're going to take Fern and head on into town, file whatever paperwork needs to be filed, and we'll get a posse together."

Jason chuckled. "I'm surprised you two didn't just go attack the dungeon together."

"We nearly did." Tess admitted. "In a different circumstance, I might have done it, but if these goblins really are from floors 11 and 12, they're likely going to have some tricks up their sleeves, and I have a family to protect now. If anything happens to me, you and Fern will suffer, so I held off."

"I still say I could have taken them myself." Daniel grumbled.

"You can take them yourself once we get a group of people together to watch your back." Tess soothed, then rose. "I'm sorry to lay that on you, Jason, but my head is spinning, and I just need to go lay down."

Jason stood up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she stumbled up the stairs to the bedroom. Daniel stayed for a few moments longer, but soon enough, he, too, rose and made his way to the front door.

"See you later, little farmer!"

With that, he was gone, and Jason sighed deeply. He looked down at baby Fern, who giggled up at him and waved her around, then bent over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Well, that wasn't how I imagined this day would go, but I suppose that's all we can do." He picked her up and gave her a small toss into the air. She laughed wildly at that, and he started up the stairs while Chance eagerly ran up and started licking their plates clean. "Let's get you ready to go."

He carried her into her own bedroom and quickly changed her into a town outfit. As he got ready to leave, he poked his head into the master bedroom and glanced at Tess, who was already snoring softly. He smiled at her, then turned and left.

Out in the yard, he spent several minutes doing chores, during which he set Fern on the ground while Chance raced around her, keeping monsters away. When he finished, he quickly took out Lady and hitched her up to the carriage, then climbed up into the driver's seat. Throughout this whole process, he kept a close eye on the horizon. Thankfully, though, no goblins appeared, and soon enough, he was off to town.

It wasn't the easiest thing to drive the carriage while also trying to hold Fern, but it was a heap easier than trying to just ride a horse while holding her. He kept the carriage moving at a pretty decent clip, and soon enough drew up into the town square. It was strangely quiet, with only a few people out and about. Neither Hank nor Obadiah were at the town well, which made Jason suspect that they already knew, at least in some respect, what

had happened. He pulled up in front of Hank's office, then climbed down, hitched Lady to the rail there, and made his way inside.

Just as he had suspected, Obadiah was already inside, sitting on a corner of Hank's desk. Hank himself was sitting in his own chair, head in his hands. He looked up as Jason entered, and Obadiah flashed a weary sort of smile.

"Jason! I was hoping you'd be coming in here." After a moment, though, he corrected himself. "Actually, I was hoping you wouldn't be the one coming in here, but with all the evidence, I could only assume that you were involved, and hoped that you would clear things up."

Jason sighed and dropped into the chair across from Hank. He set Fern on the ground, and she immediately squealed and crawled around the desk. Jason scowled and bent down to pick her up, but she only squirmed until he set her down once again.

"What do you know?" Jason asked after a moment. "So I'm not repeating anything?"

Obadiah glanced at Hank, who merely shrugged. "I woke up this morning to find reports from both Nightford and Darkwater that something had attacked them. They found signs of goblins, as well as indications that at least two warriors had headed them off and then left. That's rather unusual for warriors, though it was obvious that the warriors were skilled, not just ruffians or private citizens."

"My dad also sent me a rather cryptic letter late yesterday that told me that something was amiss, but you know Jeremiah." Obadiah shrugged. "I couldn't make heads or tails of it.'

Jason grimaced. "Yeah." He quickly explained the situation as best he could. He was just finishing up when he heard a loud click from the back of the jail, and he rose to find that Fern had just climbed inside one cell and pulled the door shut.

"I'll get that." Hank rose and took out a ring of keys, which he quickly used to unlock the door. Jason walked back and picked Fern up, scolding her.

"Don't do that! Stay... Right here." He set her back on the ground next to his chair, sitting up, and then turned his attention back to Obadiah.

"So you're certain that they're coming from the dungeon? Thankfully, there were no casualties or injuries reported, so that makes things easier." Obadiah sighed.

"Is the situation that bad?" Jason asked. "Can't we just round up a posse and go destroy it? Surely Jeremiah's cannons wouldn't be so bad now?" He attempted a joke, then leapt out of his chair to grab Fern as she started trying to climb up a rack of confiscated swords behind Hank's desk.

"Since the goblins crossed over onto other townships, the situation gets a bit more tricky." Obadiah glanced at Hank, who merely shrugged. This was obviously Hank's wheelhouse, but he was struggling to get a handle on it all. "They were both required to file monster incursion reports with Illumitir. Since we know the origin point, and since that origin point is inside Summer Shandy's territory, we're also required to submit paperwork. If we don't, we can face fines up to-"

There was a crash as Fern knocked over a helmet in the room's corner, and Jason was once more forced to leap up to run and grab her. As he carried her back to his seat, Obadiah continued talking.

"Now, we have it on record that we've been trying to deal with this dungeon, so I'm not really expecting to face any major issues, but it's become something more than simply the matter of a private citizen." Obadiah explained. "I have to form an official posse, which means all the members need to be logged and obtain formal permission before we act. If there's a declared danger to life and limb, I can act straightaway, but if there's not, we have to go through procedural channels."

Jason nodded slowly. "What do I need to do?"

"Keep an eye on the thing." Obadiah shrugged. "Do not engage with it. If you go in and do any damage before the official posse is formed, there could be serious consequences. Don't ask me why. It's one of those laws that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You can fight them if they come toward your property, and what Tess and Daniel did last night was valiant, but unfortunately, anything more than that could be illegal. I'm writing to Nightford and Darkwater to increase their own guard, and so on."

Jason tried to wrap his head around it. "Could Daniel go fight them, since he's not the property owner?"

"As long as he's not trespassing, yes. Just keep it off the record. And, since it's off the record, he cannot have permission to enter your property." Obadiah nodded as he mulled it over. "In fact, I'd say it would be a wonderful idea to ask him. Goblins are dangerous. For that matter, I'll probably be doing a bit of vigilante work myself."

They spoke a bit more about the issue, but Fern continued to knock things over and get into things she wasn't supposed to touch, so they soon bade each other farewell, and Jason struck out for home once again. As he rumbled over the hills, he shuddered, and cast his eyes across the great, green expanse.

Once again, the town of Summer Shandy was in danger from monsters. It seemed like it had been ages since that had happened, but that was life, he supposed. This time, he wouldn't be the one able to help.

He could, though, babysit Fern while everyone else went off to fight, and that was plenty good enough for him.

Chapter Thirty-Four: A Day off

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 15th day of Spring! 76 days until the Spring Festival! Let's see... Bright and clear weather again! Now... Please, folks, stop coming to me to ask about the goblins. Yes, they exist. Yes, we're working on the problem. If you see any coming up to the town, feel free to attack them, but do not do so with long-range weapons. Goblins aren't that hard to fight with a sword, and I don't want any more reports of someone or another being shot at.]

Jason groaned and rolled out of bed, bumping into the crib as he did so. Fern woke up immediately and cried, and Jason bent down and picked her up. He placed her across his shoulder and bounced her softly, and Tess woke up with a start.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay." Jason walked up to the window and looked down across the farm. Monsters were skittering back and forth as usual, but only the normal monsters. There were no goblins, or dragons, or other creatures, and that was plenty fine by his count. "You didn't seem to sleep well last night."

"How could you tell?" Tess chuckled dryly as she walked around to the wardrobe and pulled the door open.

"For starters, you kept elbowing me." Jason chuckled as he continued to look out across the farmstead. He turned his eyes on the field, and a soft smile spread across his face. The sugar beets were ready to be picked. Leafy

tops protruded up from the dirt, while here and there, the top of a creamy- white beet could just be seen sticking up from the soil. "You also kept fidgeting with your sword."

"Sorry about that." Tess apologized, then sighed. "I really am sorry. This whole business just has me up on edge, you know?"

"Yeah." Jason grimaced and nodded. "Has Obadiah said anything more about when the posse will get together?"

Tess nodded as she finished dressing in a blue work dress. She took Fern from Jason so that he could get ready, and he started dressing in overalls. "Yeah! I got a letter late last night, after you'd already gone to bed. It should be in just a few days. Illumitir confirmed that he's been doing everything possible, and has authorized the creation of a unit intended to delve into the dungeon to root out the goblins. He's currently hiring a group of warriors and is putting out feelers to some of the other nearby towns to bring in even more warriors."

"Quite an operation." Jason whistled as he started walking down the stairs with Tess close behind. "I'm more than ready to get it all over and done with, that's for sure." He stretched, then chuckled. "I just hope nothing tries to eat me while I'm out working today."

They had just reached the kitchen when Tess blinked and shook her head. "I'm sorry. What did you just say?"

Jason turned around, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're not heading out there to work." Tess shook her head. "One of those goblins could crawl right up to the edge of the field and shoot you, and then you'd be dead."

"Goblins don't have that good of aim." Jason shook his head.

"If fifty of them all start shooting, the chances are pretty good that at least one of them will hit." Tess countered.

"And if I don't go out there to harvest today, those sugar beets are going to go bad. You do remember what happens when crops start to rot, right?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "You had to come save me my first year when that happened, remember?"

Tess scowled, but nodded. "I remember."

"Keep Fern in the house, and I'll keep an eye out for goblins." Jason promised. "I'll be okay, and I'll take the gun with me."

"Obadiah said not to use guns."

Jason shrugged. "I'm not going to shoot unless something is shooting at

me, and at that point, does it really matter if it's a goblin or not?"

Tess couldn't argue with that logic. They all sat down to eat breakfast, and to Jason's delight, baby Fern ate even more food than she had ever eaten before. She was going through a growth spurt; he was sure of it. She seemed particularly to like the star-fruit oatmeal, which kinda sparkled as she ate it. Jason actually didn't care a great deal for the star-fruit, but if Fern liked it, that was good enough for him.

Soon enough, he strode out onto the farm. Chance came along with him, both just to exercise, and to serve as an early-warning system. For the moment, the dog simply raced about, snapping at crabgrasses, and Jason chuckled as he made his way to the stable. He turned the horses loose into the corral, poured them some feed, and then got to work servicing the harvester. When it was ready, he took Angus out of the corral and hitched him up, and they got to work.

Now, harvesting sugar-beets was something that Jason had never rightly done before, though he had read up on it. There were all sorts of different ways to do it, with some being a good deal more effective than others. For starters, an ordinary harvester was more than enough to get the job done, though it would only harvest about ninety percent of the crop. More effective was a designated tuber-harvester, which actually dug down into the soil and pulled the beets up directly. They could also use it for harvesting potatoes, onions, and other such things. If the sugar-beets were

as profitable as Jason hoped they would be, it was on his wishlist to buy one of the machines, but he would need to extend the lean-to for that to be an option anyway, so until he was certain that he could grow them, he wasn't going to try too hard in that respect.

The blades whirred to life as they entered the field, and the sweet scent of sugar filled the air. Not warm sugar, not the smell of cinnamon or any of the hundred other things that could easily be mixed with sugar. Just pure sugar. As he looked behind him, he could see the empty holes in the ground where the beets had been, and suddenly realized that he would likely need to plow the field again before he could plant anything new. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was an aspect that he hadn't considered.

He roared down to the end of the field, then paused. Angus came to a halt, and he climbed up on top of the harvester and looked out across the waving prairie grasses. He couldn't see the Far Eighty, but he could just see the forest where the dungeon was located. Thankfully, as a soft wind blew waves across the grass, he couldn't see any sign of goblin activity. That was a relief!

He stayed and looked around for a few minutes longer, then climbed back down and started working once more. Angus strove down toward the house once again, and the day continued. Down and back they went, down and back. Jason kept an eye turned toward the prairie, but he didn't see much of anything.

Around noon, when he was preparing to head inside, he finally caught sight of something. At first, he froze and nearly drew his gun, but as he was in the middle of the field, he wanted to get a closer look. It was distant, a few hills over, and was moving fast. As it got closer, it became more clear as a horse and rider, and Jason smiled.

Soon, Daniel came riding up to the fence at the far end of the field, where he waited until Jason had driven up. Jason came to a stop, and Daniel nodded gravely down at him.

"What have you seen?" Jason asked. "You're a long way off the ranch."

"I know." Daniel grimaced. "Last night, a bunch of the little pickpockets went and broke down a gate and let out about fifty head of cattle. We found one of them half-eaten in the ditch just down the road, but the rest are still missing. They sent me out to find them, and I figured I'd patrol for goblins while I was at it. Have you seen anything?"

Jason shook his head. "Not a thing, and I have to say I'm grateful for it."

"I was afraid of that. We lost the tracks in a dry gully. They either came up this way, or they went into the trees." Daniel wheeled his horse around. It was incredible how serious he could be when monster-hunting was involved. "I'll catch you around, little farmer!"

Jason smiled and waved back, then spun Angus around again and took him back to the entrance. They had been moving slower than Jason anticipated, and had gotten a little less than half done. He soon put Angus back in the corral and went up into the house, where Tess had prepared a proper noontime meal.

"You're still in one piece." She murmured as she set Fern in a high chair, and they all took their seats. "Any signs of goblins?"

"Nothing to speak of." Jason smiled down at a plate of ham, which was easily one of his favorite meals. He poured a bit of gravy onto it, then added a small heap of mashed potatoes. "Any reason we're having this fancy of a meal for lunch?"

"I don't know." Tess sighed, then forced a small smile. "I like being the one out with the monsters. It makes me nervous when it's someone else."

Jason laughed at that. "I'll be fine, Tess."

"I know, I know." Tess waved her hand at him. "You can be a real worrier, too. Let me have my moment!"

They both shared a chuckle, though it was a bit of a nervous one for both of them. Jason had to admit that he was worried about the goblins as

well. Just having them in the area was a liability for both himself and his family, and he was eager to be rid of them.

When lunch was over, he headed back out to the field, hooked up Angus, and the work began. It forced him to move slower than he would have liked once again, on account of how the sugar beets were harvested. Any time he tried to speed up, he started getting messages that he was dropping a larger and larger percentage of the crop, and goblins or no, he still had to turn a profit.

The afternoon wore on as he went down and back through the field. He still had several passes left when Tess came out to see about dinner, and he pulled to a stop as she came walking up to the fence.

"Don't worry." He assured her. "I won't be long. I'm really sorry, this is just taking longer than I-"

"Look out!" Tess shrieked.

Jason spun around to see several goblins emerging from the grasses on the far side of the field. Neither had bows nor arrows, and Jason sighed. Tess turned and ran back to the house, while Jason snapped the reins and sent Angus clopping on forward. The goblins screamed and raced around the field, but as with all proper monsters, were unable to climb up and over the fence to get at him.

Jason grinned broadly at the little creatures. They paced him along the edge of the fence until he got to the very end. One more pass down to the end was all he needed, and he quickly sent Angus trodding back along.

"Jason!" Tess shrieked from the upstairs window. "Jason, you get out of there right now!"

"It's alright!" Jason waved her fears away. "There are only two of them! They're so cute!"

He reached into his inventory and took out a few rocks that he had picked up some time earlier while out exploring, and lobbed them at the

goblins. One of them struck one goblin squarely in the face, and it nearly exploded in anger. Jason laughed heartily as the little monster threw itself at the fence, desperately trying to get through to Jason.

That, of course, was about when Tess's fears became more realized. She, of course, could see a much greater area than he could... And the main goblin herd came tearing out of the grasses to surround the field. There were hundreds of them, and they soon clustered around the fence as he continued to plod along. Several of them fired arrows, but their aim was so bad that Jason suspected he would be in greater danger if they weren't aiming at him. By the time Jason reached the end of the row, Tess had just appeared on the front porch in full battle armor, and Jason casually climbed down from the harvester. Angus came to a stop, and Jason began methodically undoing the straps that kept him harnessed to the machine.

"Alright, boy." Jason finished undoing the straps, then pulled himself up onto the great steed. An arrow flashed by his ear, and he scowled at the rascal that did it. "How good are you at jumping?"

Angus snorted and stamped his feet. He was a war horse, and the goblins seemed to annoy him. Jason drew out the blunderbuss, then cantered Angus over to a spot about thirty feet from the main gate. Tess had paused on the front door, and Jason grinned wildly.

"Charge, Angus!"

That command, Angus knew well. The great warhorse shot forward, and Jason fired the blunderbuss into the crowd of goblins. They screamed and fell backward, and Angus leapt over the fence and sailed into their midst. Several were launched through the air, ragdolling as the horse's immense strength strucl them. A moment later, Jason drew up to the corral. He prepared to swing down and unlatch the gate before the goblins could recover, but Angus simply proved himself by leaping over that fence as well. He landed firmly in safety with Lady and Alfred, and Jason turned and flashed a thumbs-up to Tess. She rolled her eyes and went back in the house, and Jason soon led the horses back into the stable.

When he finished locking the stable down, he went back out into the corral, then climbed up onto the fence. From the very top, he drew out his two pistols, and fired them both to scare the goblins. They reacted predictably, opening up just enough room for him to run up and onto the porch. Tess flung the door open, and he raced into the house.

"You looked just like Jeremiah up there." Tess scolded him. "For how dangerous that was, you were having entirely too much fun!"

Jason laughed, not denying it at all. Tess continued to scold him as they moved into the kitchen to eat dinner, though Jason did pause for a moment to write a letter to both Jeremiah and Obadiah, letting them know about the herd. It wasn't long before they heard hoofbeats in their yard as the goblins were all chased away, and Jason sighed.

Indeed, it had been fun, but that didn't mean that he was eager to do it again. In fact, quite the opposite was true. The goblins were a danger, and he was more than ready to see them sent packing.

He only hoped that Tess wouldn't kill him before the goblins did.

Chapter Thirty-Five: An Adventurer still

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 18th day of Spring! 73 days until the Spring Festival! Today's the day we'll take care of the goblins, folks! That's... That's really all the news I think anyone will care about, all things considered.]

Tess's hands shook Jason awake, and he slowly rose and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. She smiled down at him, already almost fully clad in battle armor.

"They'll be here soon, maybe an hour at most." She nodded down at the kitchen. "You want to start getting ready?"

"Yeah." Jason murmured. "Just a minute." He rolled out of bed and dressed quickly in a tunic, then strode down the stairs. Fern was already in the living room as he entered, and she crawled rapidly over to him.

"Oh, how's my little girl?" He bent down and scooped her up, bouncing her softly in his arms. "You're extra cute today? Did Tess do that? Did mommy do something different with you? Your cheeks are just the..." He gave them a soft pinch, then kissed her on the nose. "Are we going to have loads of fun today? I think we will!"

Fern continued to smile, and Jason carried her over to the baby-door and into the kitchen. There, he began flipping through the cookbook, and started ordering up just about as much food as he could manage. Hoofbeats echoed

in the drive as he worked, and within a few moments, Jeremiah came stomping up into the living room.

"Howdy, neighbor!"

"Howdy!" Jason turned slightly. "You brought the tables?"

"They're all set out and ready." Jeremiah nodded. "We just need the food!"

Jason gestured at the countertops and table, which were rapidly filling up. "If you want to carry things, that would be incredibly helpful."

Jeremiah nodded, and he quickly grabbed food and carried it out. Jason spent the next fifteen minutes ordering up many different types of food, then strode out with Jeremiah to see how things were progressing in the yard.

It was a bit of a whirlwind of a morning, but that was the way things went, he supposed. Long tables had been set out through the yard, upon which had been piled a breakfast that would serve the twenty warriors that would go down into the dungeon. As the sun rose slowly, Jason could see puffs of dust on the road, signaling that they would soon enough be coming. He held Fern close as the warriors arrived, and Tess emerged from the house in full battle gear.

For the next hour, there were really no words to describe the chaos. Obadiah, Daniel, Richard, Tess, and sixteen warriors who had been passing through the area were all riding out to challenge the dungeon, and wouldn't return until they had made it all the way to the bottom of Floor 12 and ensured that everything inside was good and dead. As they arrived, the warriors from out-of-town were all surprised to find the breakfast. Normally, helpless farmers only gave them money, not food, though Jason had found the latter to be particularly effective in securing their support.

When they all finished eating, Obadiah and Tess rallied them, and the posse rode off toward the dungeon. Jason watched them go, then sighed

deeply while holding Fern. Jeremiah stepped up right next to him and shook his head.

"You ever wish you were going off with them?" Jeremiah glanced at Jason.

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes, I think so, and then other times, I'm glad I don't have anything to do with it." He puffed out his cheeks. "Do you think they'll be back soon?"

"I doubt if they're even back by tonight." Jeremiah shook his head. "Obadiah was telling me that they're going to go through the whole thing, room by room, even the four floors that were wrecked by the dragon. They want to make sure that nothing is alive in there when they leave, and that's going to take time."

Jason nodded slowly, then looked down at Fern. "Well, that means we'll have lots of time together!"

"I'll help you clean upt." Jeremiah offered.

Jason quickly agreed, and they set Fern down in the grass while they cleaned off plates and folded up the tables into Jeremiah's wagon. Chance protected Fern as usual, though he also spent a decent amount of time racing about eating the bits of sausage and egg that the warriors had dropped. When they finished getting the yard cleaned, the two of them took Fern back inside and dropped wearily into chairs in the living room. Jeremiah put his pipe in his mouth, though he didn't smoke it, and Jason just leaned back and sighed.

Things had just gone by so fast that morning that he'd hardly had any time to think about things. He hadn't talked much to anyone, hadn't really had time to breathe, but that was just how some days were. He relaxed into the chair and closed his eyes, and Jeremiah chuckled.

"You look like a man with a lot on his mind."

Jason's eyes flickered open once more, and he sat up slightly. "Do I?"

"Yeah." Jeremiah shrugged. "Tess will be fine."

"Oh, I know." Jason sighed. "I just keep thinking... What if this doesn't actually end the threat from the dungeon? What if there's something in there that's actually spawning the monsters in, you know? Will we get in trouble with Illumitir?"

Jeremiah simply clucked his tongue. "It's possible, I suppose, but I reckon Obadiah would shield you as best he could. It's not your fault. Don't have a clue whose fault it is, but I reckon it isn't yours."

"If anyone's to blame, it's you, for spawning in that Painted Dragon." Jason pointed a finger at Jeremiah.

"Me?" Jeremiah balked, though Jason could tell that he wasn't serious. "Me? You would throw me to the bureaucratic wolves of Ill-"

Something crashed in the kitchen, and Jason spun. With a click, the baby-door swung back into place, and his blood froze. He leapt to his feet and looked across the floor, and could quickly confirm that Fern wasn't there. She wasn't crying, so that was a plus, but that didn't stop him from bolting forward and into the kitchen as fast as his legs could carry him.

The only problem was that Fern also wasn't in the kitchen. Several pots and pans lay on the floor where they had fallen, but Fern herself was missing. Jeremiah came up behind him and whistled.

"You check the basement. I'll check the dining room." Jason bolted through the kitchen and into the small dining area. It took only a moment to realize that she wasn't there, and he even checked the small closet to make sure. With that, he bolted to the basement, but Jeremiah just came up shaking his head.

"Where did she go?" Jason was panicking. He ran back into the kitchen and into the living room, and there was little Fern, crawling out from underneath the couch. Jason breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the fireplace.

"Whew!" Jeremiah doffed his hat to the little girl. "You gave us a scare! You were here the whole..." His voice trailed off, and Jason finished his sentence.

"Time." Jason murmured. "But then... What happened in the kitchen?"

In response, Fern held up something in her right hand. It was an eggshell, though not an egg from any sort of bird that Jason knew. No... It was leathery, and seemed to be covered in scales. And, of course, it was broken open.

Quite suddenly, teeth latched down on Jason's shoulder. He screamed in pain and leapt to his feet. Fern laughed and clapped as he reached around behind his back, trying to grab something that had latched itself onto his body. It felt like needles burning through his skin, needles that were white- hot and more than a little painful.

"Now, if that ain't the ugliest little thing I've ever seen..." Jeremiah leapt to his feet and rushed forward. "Hold still, Jason!"

Jason took a deep breath and braced himself, but whatever it was suddenly drove a great number of claws into his back. His tunic was ripped to shreds, and he fell forward to land on his hands and knees. Jeremiah grabbed onto the thing, and a moment later, it let go.

Jason leapt back to his feet as he watched Jeremiah holding onto a... Thing. It looked rather like a snake, about two feet long and as thick as his wrist, except that it had four small legs, was covered in fur, and had a face that looked rather like a dragon with rat whiskers. Jeremiah's hands were wrapped around its middle portion, while its legs were lashing out, landing long cuts up his arm.

"Shoot it, Jason!" Jeremiah ordered. He winced in pain as it lashed its head around and bit him on the wrist. "Shoot it now!"

"I might shoot you!" Jason exclaimed. Nevertheless, he drew his nicer flintlock pistol and cocked the trigger back. Jeremiah held the monster out

urther, but before Jason could get off a shot, the creature gave one last thrash and leapt out of his grip.

"No!" Jeremiah scowled as it hit the ground and scurried away up the stairs. "After it!"

He reached into his own inventory and drew out a shovel, and Jason scooped up Fern.

"Leave her down here!" Jeremiah exclaimed.

"No! If it gets past us and comes down here..." Jason let his voice trail off, and Jeremiah sighed.

"Fair point."

They charged back up the stairs. Jason still had his pistol in one hand, and Fern in the other. Up the stairs, Jason saw the monster's tail flicker and vanish into his bedroom, and he charged forward and kicked the door open. It was standing just before his bed, and let out a hiss. Jason pointed the pistol and fired, though he missed in his haste. A small hole opened up in the floorboards, and the monster flashed back toward him, leaping over his feet. Jeremiah swung his shovel at it, but only whacked the wall. With that, the monster darted into Jason's office, and he snarled.

"Oh no, you don't." He tucked away his pistol, then drew out his sword. By now, Fern had started to cry from all the noise and chaos, and he frankly couldn't blame her one bit. He also didn't dare set her down, though, for fear of the monster. Instead, holding her awkwardly, he burst into the office and turned on the light.

The monster was near the rear of the room, scampering around the bookshelf. Jeremiah and Jason both stepped inside, and Jason closed the door behind them. The rat-dragon turned and hissed at them, and Jeremiah gripped the shovel tightly.

"Alright. We've got him trapped. We walk out of this alive, or he does."

Jason thought Jeremiah was being a little melodramatic, but he agreed with the sentiment. There was a long pause, and then a great number of things happened. Jeremiah raced forward, lashing out with the shovel. The monster, anticipating the blow, ran back toward Jason. Finally, Fern stretched out her arms and grabbed hold of the suit of Autumn Shandy Armor that Jason had stood up in the room's corner.

With a mighty crash, the armor display came tumbling over. The rat- dragon tried to avoid the blast, but couldn't move quick enough, and it vanished under the collapsing armor. There was a single squeak from it, and the tail (which stuck out from underneath a gauntlet) gave a few twitches and went still. Jason blinked in surprise, and Jeremiah slowly moved forward to peel the armor aside.

The dragon-thing lay there, dead as a doornail, and Jeremiah chuckled.

"Neither of us landed a hit on it, and that daughter of yours just scored her first monster-kill."

"Tess is going to be so mad she missed that particular milestone." Jason chuckled, then bent down and pulled out a large knife.

"What are you doing?" Jeremiah asked as Jason cut off the head and tucked the trophy into his inventory.

"Two things. First, we need to check with Obadiah to make sure that this thing isn't a major carrier of disease or something." Jason shrugged. "Second, I'm mounting this over her crib. That sort of memento deserves to be commemorated!"

The two of them went back downstairs, where they spent a much more relaxing rest of the day. Dinnertime came around, and they ate a small meal before Jeremiah bade Jason goodbye. He rode off toward the Lazy-H, and Jason put Fern to bed. He then went into the living room and sat by the fire, waiting for Tess to show back up.

His daughter had made her first monster-kill, and at an age even younger than Tess. Jason smiled at the milestone. Sure, she hadn't meant to

do so, but that hardly mattered. He was a parent, and he could be excited for his daughter, even if it didn't necessarily make sense. The only thing that worried him, which he hadn't even voiced to Jeremiah, was where the monster had come from.

He recognized a monster-spawn egg. He and Tess had found several others in a hidden compartment on the second floor of the house. They had hoped to have found them all, but now it appeared that wasn't the case. Out of caution, Jason crouched and peered under the couch, and sure enough, there was a tiny door that had opened up in the, which Fern had likely accidentally tripped. How many more hidden "gems" did the house contain? Would it even be possible to find them all, or would they just have to live in constant fear of such a thing happening again?

Jason didn't have a good answer. All he could do was hope that Fern's luck in this attack would hold out through any future attacks as well.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Just dad things

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 21st day of Spring! 70 days until the Spring Festival! The weather looks nice and balmy today. It's nearly full-on summer weather! Get outside and get stuff done!]

Jason smiled as he awoke. Tess's arm was wrapped around him, and he snuggled into her embrace. She hugged him back, then slowly rose. He did as well, and together, they walked up to look out at the farm.

"It's good to have you back." Jason whispered softly. "That must have been... Awful."

Tess could only nod. She had been gone since the 18th day of spring, only returning late on the night of the 20th. At least one warrior had come up every morning to give progress updates, so Jason hadn't been worried sick about her, but it was nice to have her again. He hugged her tightly, then looked down upon the farm.

The farm looked pretty normal, save for the rows of holes that now pock-marked his field. He scowled at that. He was going to have to till up the whole thing before he could do a thing with it, though he supposed that doing so would give him a chance to test out his shiny new plow, which still hadn't seen any real use. That would be that day's work, assuming that Tess was up to watching Fern.

Neither of them really talked while they dressed. Tess went to get Fern, though she let out a cry of alarm at the stuffed and mounted head that now hung over Fern's crib. Jason was grinning from ear to ear when Tess came

downstairs. By that point, Jason already had breakfast on the table, and he started feeding Fern some oatmeal.

"Why do you have a rat snake hanging over my daughter's crib?" Tess demanded. "Please tell me that there wasn't one of those things in the house?"

Jason chuckled. "Fern was the one who killed it, if that helps."

"She-" Tess burst out, then calmed. She turned and looked at Fern with a loving smile, and reached out and ruffled Fern's head. "She did? And I missed it? Tell me all about it!"

Jason quickly explained, then nodded at his wife. "Now, I need the story on the dungeon. Go!"

Tess sighed, but nodded. "It was just... A mess. The goblins had infested every single part of it, so it just took forever. We'd sweep out a floor, and then some of them would slip past us, and we'd have to go hunt them again, and none of the [Detect Life] skills were working properly..." She sighed. "On the bright side, I think we figured out what happened. The goblins were living on the lower two levels of the dungeon. Above that, floors 8-10 were infested with the really nasty ones that we cleaned out a few months back. We think the larger monsters were keeping the goblins contained. Had they been anything else, they wouldn't have been able to dig through the rubble when we collapsed the shaft, but... Goblins are resourceful, if nothing else."

Jason nodded slowly. "So you're sure the dungeon is good and closed?"

"Yes." Tess's voice was firm. "We were really hoping to find the old Dungeon Core. All dungeons, going back to the earliest days on record, would have these things called cores that were what would cause monsters to spawn, things like that. If we could have found it, we could have confirmed that it was inactive now. We couldn't actually locate it, and that hopefully means that it was removed, but they did an improper job cleaning out the dungeon after the fact, so some things have just survived since then."

Jason nodded slowly, then shrugged. "Well, I'm glad it's all over."

"Me, too!" Tess reached out and pinched Fern's cheeks again, then glanced at Jason. "Neither of you got bitten by the rat snake, did you?"

"We both did." Jason admitted. "We saw Theresa, and she put something on it to suck out the venom. Yesterday I could hardly move my left arm, but today it seems to be doing alright. Richard said that Jeremiah is doing a heap better too."

"That's good to hear." Tess sighed, then stood. "Well, whatever your plan is today, I'm going to be sweeping this house from top to bottom, looking for hidden panels. Again." She rolled her eyes as they stood up from breakfast. "What was your uncle doing with all these hidden monsters, anyway?"

Jason had no real answers to that, but he chuckled as well as he stood. Glad that his wife was home, and all was well, he made his way to the front door, pulled on his work boots, and strode out into the open. Chance followed him, and he sighed contently.

The sun was already rising through the sky, and Jason had to admit that Obadiah was right: It was hot. He didn't have a thermometer to know for sure, but it seemed like it must have been at least ninety degrees, if not pushing triple digits. With how cool it had been for the previous part of spring, it was almost jarring, and he sweated as he let out the horses, poured them some feed, and walked into the lean-to to service the plow.

He hadn't used the plow since he had purchased it, and several times had even wondered if it had been worth it. There were ten rows of blades, covering about twenty feet altogether. Like the other pieces of equipment, he would stand on a small platform on the backside, with a metal shield to prevent him from falling into the blades if he were to slip. It was a wonderful safety feature that he was more than pleased with. As he bent down and inspected things, he found it all still gleaming, as if he had just purchased it the day before.

[Harvest Reaper Plow: Condition will remain in pristine condition until first use, or until three years from purchase, whichever comes first]

Jason whistled softly, then shrugged. With nothing to maintain, he walked back over to the corral and leaned against the fence while he waited for Angus to finish eating. When the massive horse was done, Jason walked over and let him out, and soon had him hitched up.

"Alright, boy." Jason climbed aboard the blow and took hold of the handles. "Let's go! Haw!"

Angus lumbered forward, and they soon moved into the field. The rows of holes looked up at him, and Jason reached up and pulled the handle to lower the blades into the ground. They slid into the soil with ease, and Angus lumbered forward quickly.

With his old equipment, plowing had been the job that Jason hated far more than any of the others. The blades, being drug through the ground to break it up, made the machine rumble back and forth so violently that it was almost impossible to keep from falling. Jason was certain that he had bucked from the plow more often than any of the others, even with how little he used it. Now, though, he sailed through the field as if he were on a boat set upon calm seas. It was a lovely feeling, and he soon came to the end of the field without hardly a worry at all. The ground behind him had been tilled up perfectly, and he looped Angus around and started back just as quickly.

Hardly an ounce of dust plumbed up at him, and what little was released from the ground was all directed back across the field itself. When he came to underground rocks and roots and things, the plow was so hard that it just smashed straight through them instead of being thrown back and forth. Several long standing ridges and ruts through the field seemed to be a good deal more level after he passed over them, which he found himself quite fond of.

Where his harvesting had been forced to go quite slowly, he was actually close to two-thirds of the way done by the time that lunchtime came around. Angus was exhausted, and Jason resigned himself to a long

lunch break. He put Angus away, then came tromping up into the house, where a meal was already waiting and on the table.

"How's my husband? Tess gave him a kiss as he sat down, and he grinned at Fern, who just grinned right back at him.

"I'm doing just fine." He grinned. "I love having new equipment."

"You seemed like it! Anytime I looked out the window, you had a grin across your face that could have been seen from Summer Shandy." Tess laughed. She sat down across the table from Jason, and they tucked into a hearty meal of roast beef, carrots, and potatoes.

"And how have things been going in here?" Jason asked. "Find anything?"

"Yes." Tess's cheery demeanor vanished, and she scowled at him. "I started going around and poking the baseboards, like Fern might do, and I found that."

She pointed to a box in the kitchen's corner, and Jason glanced inside. His eyes snapped open wide as he registered somewhere between twenty and thirty more eggs. Some of them looked like the rat snake egg Fern had found, while others looked more like bird eggs, some looked a lot more like dragon eggs, and others he couldn't quite tell what they looked like.

"Whew." Jason whistled. "How many of those things do you think are in this house?"

"I don't have a clue." Tess shook her head. "I just... What was your uncle thinking? The hidden passageways, the monster-care books, all the different spawn eggs we keep finding... Did he want this house to become a dungeon or something?"

"It's always possible." Jason shrugged. "No one really knew what he was thinking, as I recall, and he did just sorta vanished. Whatever he was doing here, it was nothing good."

"Yeah." Tess shuddered. "I'll be taking this box into town at the end of the day. So far, I've made it through the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room. I'll keep at it this afternoon. I just hope I get them all."

Jason grimaced and nodded. "You and me, both."

They said little more for a few minutes until Fern started waving her spoon around and clacking it against the bowl. Jason laughed and fed her a bit more oatmeal, then. Out of curiosity, he grabbed a banana from the pantry and tried to feed that to her. Her eyes opened wide, and he poked it into her mouth, and she started to eagerly munch away at the treat.

Jason stayed in the house for a bit longer, then rose and went back outside. Angus was feeling more rested, and they soon moved out and back into the field. It only took them a few more hours to finish tilling up the rest, and Jason put both the horse and the plow away, with several hours left in the day. He made his way up and into the house, where he helped Tess continue to search along the baseboards for more monster eggs. By the time that dinner came along, they had nearly filled the box. It was a strange turn of events, but with the other things they had already found in the house, all things considered, Jason wasn't all that surprised. He was, however, annoyed, as he desperately wanted to make sure that things were safe for Fern.

Later that evening, Fern went to bed and Tess loaded the box of eggs into the carriage to take off to town. Jason climbed up onto the steps and gave her a kiss, and she sighed in pleasure.

"You know, I never thought I'd be dealing this much with monsters after I moved away from the guild." Tess looked down at him.

Jason shrugged. "Did you ever imagine you'd be living across the road from your father and brother, or that they would both be living on a ranch?"

At that, Tess laughed. "Not in the slightest!"

"Things often happen that we don't plan for." Jason shrugged. "That's part of life."

"Oh, I know." Tess shrugged. She sighed and looked down at the ground. "I'm just worried about Fern. With my childhood, the way I grew up, I didn't want to have any contact with the world of monsters when I became a parent. Now, it feels like it's just following me around, that I'll never be rid of it, and my children will never be safe."

"That isn't true." Jason shook his head. "I mean, some of the first interactions we ever had were over monsters. They come with farming just as much as they do with dungeons. Admittedly, you rarely have dungeons on farm property..." They both laughed. "But we'll be alright. You wanted to turn the dungeon into a playhouse for the kids, and I wanted to use it for storage, and now it's good and cleaned out. I'll put together the funds, and by fall, we'll start building over it. Turn it into something good and proper."

Tess flashed a small smile, then leaned down and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Tess soon clicked the reins and drove off into the darkness while Jason turned to walk back up onto the front porch. He sighed as he watched her drive away, hardly able to wait until she got back. It had been a long several days while she had been away in the dungeon, and he was more than ready to spend some quality time with her.

The issue had been dealt with, and he supposed that was the important part. They could move forward, put the entire business behind them... And finally get the Far Eighty turned into proper farmland.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: soggy mess

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 30th day of Spring! 61 days until the Spring Festival! It's looking like a wet one today, folks! Nothing horrid yet, just loads of rain. That said, we are likely to see a storm capable of producing tornadoes inside of a week, so don't think we're out of the woods just yet!]

Jason's eyes flickered open to the sound of steady rain beating against the window. He slowly rose and walked over to look out across the farm, where he found everything muddled together in a quite soggy mess. Mats of crabgrasses huddled together to escape the moisture, while a few lone histles wriggled around the stable, looking for a way in. He even saw a shrump hopping through a mud puddle, which made him raise his eyebrows.

"Good morning." Tess walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "How's it going?"

"Well." He took a deep breath. "I slept like a rock last night, and I don't remember Fern waking up at all."

"If she did, she stayed quiet." Tess nodded, then smiled. "She's moving out of the infant stage."

"It's incredible." Jason shook his head. "You know, sometimes I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that we're parents. I mean, sometimes I can't really wrap my head around the fact that I'm married, or here in Summer Shandy running a somewhat successful farm, but... You know what I mean."

"Yeah." Tess chuckled. She leaned her head against his shoulder and started rubbing his back. "What's your plan for today?"

Jason shrugged. "Head into town, I think. It's too wet to do anything, and all those shandys I got from the two sugar beet harvests we've made so far this spring are burning a hole in my pocket."

Tess laughed at that, and they turned around to go get dressed. Laugh as they might, it was a true enough statement. The sugar beets had sold far and away better than he had hoped, which left him with what felt like a small fortune on his hands. He could afford to purchase the rest of the fence needed for the Far Eighty, and still have a bit left over. Come the next harvest, they would really be able to start looking into some farm improvements. His freshly planted beets were poking the very tips of their leaves out of the soil, so it would be another few weeks before that time came, but it was something he was eagerly looking forward to.

He and Tess were soon dressed in their town clothes and made their way downstairs for breakfast. Tess went to get Fern, and they soon ate and got ready. Jason went outside to do chores while Tess kept Fern dry, and then, when all was ready, they loaded themselves up into the carriage and headed off for Summer Shandy.

As per usual, Tess kept Fern held close to her body. With the roof put up, they actually stayed a good bit drier than normal, since there wasn't a lot of wind, and the rain was pretty light to begin with. Soon enough, they came trotting up into town, where people were more or less going about their daily business despite the rain. A handful of boys came running through, rolling a spinning wheel along the cobblestones with sticks, while one of their mothers chased after them with a rolling pin. Jason had to laugh, and they soon pulled up in front of Paulina's store.

The door jingled as they walked inside, and Paulina waved at them.

"Tess! Jason! I was hoping you two were going to come by today!"

"Something important happen?" Tess asked as they walked up to the counter.

"That depends on how you define it." Paulina lowered her voice. "I haven't told Obadiah yet, but I just got all the decorations from the wedding place up in Illumitir."

"That's so exciting!" Tess beamed.

"Yeah..." Paulina bent down and pulled open a box just behind the counter, then stood up. In her hands were a number of streamers, some of them red, and some of them orange. Tess blinked at them for a few moments, then scowled.

"They got your colors wrong."

"I know." Paulina winced. "I double-checked the order form. Red and

blue, I said, not red and orange."

"Are you going to send it back? Demand a refund?"

Paulina shrugged. "Truth be told, we haven't really gotten any of the rest of the wedding decorations together yet. That's my goal over the next two months, and that's largely been because we've been waiting on these. They weren't cheap, and it took them almost three months to deliver. If I send it back, there's no way we can get decorations in time. Thus, we have two options. One: we send it back, and just make do without the streamers. Two: We keep them, and change our wedding colors."

"Send it back with a stern warning informing them we'll besiege their store if they don't send us a replacement immediately." Tess thumped her hand on the counter.

"And now, who's sounding like Jeremiah?" Jason leaned forward and whispered in her ear. She turned around and whacked him upside the head good-naturedly, which he supposed he deserved.

"I just... I kinda like these two colors together." Paulina shrugged as she held the two ribbons up to each other. "I'm not going to say that I would have chosen them, and it almost makes the whole thing feel more like fall than spring, but otherwise... They're kinda pretty, don't you think? I don't

know. And we can talk about it later, but I'm really leaning toward just keeping them."

"Then do it! Pending Obadiah's approval, of course." Tess nodded.

"Good! Then that's settled." Paulina turned toward Jason. "I assume you have something you'd like to buy?"

Jason smiled and nodded, and within a few moments, had purchased the rest of his fence. Paulina whistled softly as he completed the transaction.

"Those sugar beets must really be going for a profit. You made more in two harvests than you made since..."

"Since the start of last summer." Jason nodded. "You're right about that. I had no idea they were in such demand, but I'm also not complaining."

"No, you wouldn't!" Paulina laughed. "Can I get you anything else?"

"I have a few things I'd like to slip into whatever little bit of our budget is left." Tess nodded and stepped forward. "Not much, just a handful of household supplies."

"Then I'll get you fixed up." Paulina nodded. After a moment, she glanced at Jason. "Oh! Obadiah told me to ask you to come over to Hank's office if you wound up coming into town today. Something about some paperwork, though I don't have a clue what paperwork."

"On it." Jason waved to Tess and Fern, then strode out of the door. As he walked across the town square, he found Obadiah's page boy leading Angus away to the stables, which he had to admit that he appreciated. Soon, he came walking up to Hank's office and strolled inside.

One farmer from the village sat in front of the desk, sitting up straight, looking altogether too serious. Hank and Obadiah both sat on the other side and looked quite solemn. They looked at each other and nodded as Jason appeared, and Jason took a step back.

"Sorry, I can come at another time."

"No, Jason, this is perfect." Hank groaned and rose, then held out his hand. The farmer rose and shook it, then strode past Jason, quick-stepping away. Jason frowned at him, then shrugged and let the door fall shut.

"We're interviewing people for Hank's job." Obadiah explained as Jason took a seat where the man had just been sitting. Obadiah sat down on the edge of Hank's desk, while Hank himself started filing away some paperwork. "Obviously, it all goes to a ballot, but... Honestly, I haven't really found anyone yet who I think is good enough to go on the ballot."

"You need to be less picky." Hank muttered.

"You've rejected every single applicant, just like I have." Obadiah shook his head. "Don't pretend to play high-and-mighty."

Hank chuckled at that, but shrugged. "Alright, Jason, let's get all this dungeon business squared away."

"I hope everything's okay?" Jason asked, worried. "I really haven't meant to cause all this trouble."

"I know, I know, and you're fine." Obadiah shook his head. "Strictly speaking, Illumitir handed down some fines for an assortment of things, but that's just because they want money, not because you actually did anything wrong. The town paid them for you. We both made sure of that. We just need your signature on a handful of things, and you'll be all set."

Jason nodded slowly as Hank took out a folder and passed over the first document.

"This here is a waiver stating that you knew nothing about the active or semi-active nature of the dungeon prior to your purchase of the land."

Jason nodded and quickly signed. "Done."

"And here's another waiver stating that you performed all due diligence to cooperate with the law when the threat was discovered."

"You know I did." Jason rolled his eyes as he signed the second document.

"And..." Hank flipped through a few pages, then passed over the next one. "This document states that you've turned over any and all loot that may have been taken from the dungeon."

Jason blinked. "No. I absolutely have not turned over any and all loot."

Hank scowled. "I really wish you hadn't told me that."

"It's my dungeon! I bought it!" Jason crossed his arms. "Why would I have to turn over the loot?"

Obadiah sighed. "Strictly speaking, dungeons belong to the state. There are other places in the world where, believe it or not, dungeons aren't the main facets of the economy. There, there are things called... Oh, I can't remember what they're called, but there are places that actually print money to put into the economy. Our dungeons function like that here, and with that powerful of a function, they're all owned by the local powers. That's why warriors have to register in order to enter them, since they're serving as the agents to harvest newly minted wealth to distribute to the populace."

"But the government that was around when this dungeon was made was long ago defunct." Jason argued. "Winter Shandy was around when this was still the province of Southern Illis, not Illumitir. You can't steal from an entity that doesn't exist anymore. Besides, everything I took out of there was before the goblins started threatening people."

Hank and Obadiah looked at each other rather uncomfortably. Hank was the one who finally spoke up, though. "Could you just sign the document? No one will ever look at this again."

"No!" Jason thundered. "I'm not going to lie, but I'm also not giving back the things I got out of there. I mean... Tess's wedding ring is made from materials pulled from that dungeon. You can't honestly expect me to give her wedding ring to the government, can you?"

There was a long and uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, though, the door burst open, and Jeremiah came walking in.

"Sorry to bother y'all. I was just walking by and I overheard the argument, and I can't say that I really favor the idea of giving up my new blunderbuss, either." He chuckled softly, then nodded at Hank. "Do you remember a few years back when I found that old suit of armor out on my property?"

Hank stroked his chin as he leaned back in his chair. "Somewhat. Why?"

"I wanted to keep it, and put it up in my office, but since it had some sort of historical connotation to it, the government required me to turn it in." Jeremiah shrugged. "Do you remember how we got around that?"

Hank shook his head, and Jeremiah continued.

"We registered me as a temporary scavenger. I got a shiny new badge and everything, and that allowed me to pilfer historical sites for a short time. I got the suit of armor, Delilah banned me from ever displaying it in the house, and it's been tucked away safely and legally in my attic ever since." Jeremiah grinned. "That's what you should do with Jason."

Obadiah frowned. "But that will only grant him a scavenger's license now, not when he took the stuff out of the dungeon."

"Use a backdate form." Jeremiah shrugged. "Don't look at me like that! There's an actual backdate form. Hank, you've used it for me dozens of times! Well... Okay, twice, even so, you should know what I'm talking about. Let me..."

Jeremiah stepped around the desk and started pulling open filing cabinet drawers, much to Hank's annoyance. Jeremiah's fingers flashed across the pages and documents, and a moment later, he had produced a thick pile of papers.

"Here." He dropped one document down in front of Jason. "Scavenger Form, and here's the Backdate Form, and here's a temporary Banker form, which will allow you to hold all that money you took out, and another backdate form, and... Ooh! If you file this one, you can dodge any further investigations about why there were goblins on your property. It's not likely that you would ever get any inquiries, but having a semi-active dungeon on your property isn't exactly normal, so it's always possible that this all gets flagged for follow-up once these two send it off to Illumitir."

Jason slowly picked up the last form and blinked at it. "A monster- trainer form?"

"Yup! And another backdate form, and a form that allows you to temporarily take up a class that's no longer available to the general public." Jeremiah finished with a flourish. "I can even throw in a Currency Conversion form that will allow you to change as much of the Winter Shandy money into Shandy Scrit."

Jason blinked at the enormous pile of papers on the desk in front of him. Already, it was going to take him the better part of a day to work through it all. "No, that's okay."

"How did you know where all those documents were?" Obadiah asked as Jeremiah walked toward the front door.

Jeremiah just shrugged. "Hank got it all organized, so I just went alphabetically. I've spent some time studying all the different forms he's got available."

"Why?" Obadiah blinked.

"To try to get Illumitir off my back about how I treat my own cattle." Jeremiah's face darkened a bit. "Have you heard that they just banned using lightning-stones on cattle? Apparently it's inhumane. I'll tell you what's inhumane, letting my workers get stampeded because they can't get the cattle to move in the right direction!"

Jeremiah spent the next several minutes complaining about all the different government regulations he had issues with, which the three other people in the building found quite entertaining. He then left, and Jason went about signing and filling out the mountains of paperwork that had been left for him. By the time he finished, it filled a small crate, but he supposed that it had been worth it. Obadiah packed it all away, and Jason left to go find Tess, who was still in Paulina's store, still discussing wedding plans.

Jason smiled as he walked back inside to find them comparing different shades of orange, and discussing what flowers would go with the new color scheme, what colors the dresses should be, and so on. Life sometimes threw curves at people, but if you were a little resourceful, those curves could be handled with ease.

That said, of course, they were still frustrating at the moment, and he could only hope that there wouldn't be any more curves tossed at him for the foreseeable future.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Taking cover

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 45th day of Spring! 46 days until the Spring Festival! We're halfway there, folks! It's looking like a nasty storm today, which seems like a fine way to invite in the mid-point of spring! Keep your heads down, and stay underground if you've got a basement. I'm going to be on tornado duty along with as many warriors as I can recruit, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.]

Jason yawned and sat up, then rose and walked up to the window. Clouds were already rolling across the sky, dark ones, and flashes of lightning lit up their underside. They were coming from the west, and for a brief moment, as the sun rose over the eastern horizon, beams of sunlight actually shone up underneath the clouds, creating a spectacle that Jason had never seen before. It passed within a few minutes, though, and it left them with little more than the oppressive, rolling blanket of darkness.

"What do you think?" Jason asked as Tess walked up and joined him. "Tornado weather?"

"Possibly." Tess nodded slowly. "It's hard to tell for sure. Sometimes, you'll be convinced that a storm will spawn a tornado, and nothing will happen. Other times, you'll be convinced that all is safe, and a tornado will appear. I'd definitely lean more on the side of some of them appearing, but it's so hit-and-miss that I wouldn't bank either way."

[Obadiah's Almanac: Update: We have sighted a tornado near Redriver Banks, which is... About thirty miles due west of us. Their own warriors

are fighting it off, but it's likely enough to head our way anytime now. Get down and stay down.]

"I'd say there's a pretty good likelihood we will see a tornado today." Tess nodded. She yawned and looked out at the sky. "Now, that's still a good ten or fifteen minutes away, even by cloud travel, and there are going to be warriors bouncing it all over the place."

"Do you think we should get down to the basement?"

Tess thought for a moment, then nodded. "Probably. You go make some breakfast, then head out and take care of the animals. I'll grab whatever you make and take it down with Fern, and we'll be waiting for you when you get back."

Jason nodded, then trotted down the stairs. He wasn't altogether too worried, but tornadoes were still nothing to mess around with. As he walked through the kitchen, he ordered up a few pancakes for himself, an egg salad for Tess, and a bit of strawberry oatmeal for Fern. He added a banana to the pile as well, then strode out and into the yard. Chance followed him, and he cast a long look up at the skies.

Dark clouds rippled as they shot overhead, moving rapidly. Lightning flickered and boomed, and Jason quickly walked toward the stable. As he did so, he heard hoofbeats, and looked up to see Jeremiah trotting into the driveway.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah waved.

"Howdy!" Jason called back. "What's up?"

A gust of wind nearly ripped Jeremiah's hat from his head, and likely would have succeeded had Jeremiah not reached up and snatched it quick- as-you-blink. He set the hat a bit more firmly on his head, then rode a little closer.

"This storm's looking like a bad one, no matter how Obadiah tries to downplay it." Jeremiah shrugged as he drew up within easy talking

distance. "I've offered in the past, and just wanted to offer again the use of my underground stables. Let me take your horses back to my place. They'll be safer there than out here."

Jason shrugged. "That'd be appreciated, thank you." He started walking toward the stable again, and Jeremiah hopped down and hitched his own horse up to the corral fence. They both walked into the stable, where the collection of horses was nickering uneasily. "What made you come by today? How do you know it's going to be a bad one?"

"Your bones just sorta know these things." Jeremiah shrugged. "I can't explain it any better than that. Last time a major tornado storm came through, I felt like this. Since then, anytime things have come through, I haven't felt the same way. This is going to be a bad one, I can tell you that."

"Well, I'm thankful for whatever help you can give." Jason walked down the row of horses, patting their necks. He put on their halters and opened up the doors and soon led them all out. "What do you need from me?"

"Nothing." Jeremiah shook his head. He took the reins from Jason's hand, then walked back to his own horse. "You've got good animals. I've little doubt that they'll follow me well enough. You just get inside and stay safe, and I'll bring them back at the end of the storm, if you've still got a place to put them."

He chuckled a bit at his dark joke, though Jason didn't really have the same response. Soon, Jeremiah had mounted up and was riding out of the yard, and Jason strode quickly back into the house. There, the breakfast things had already been taken downstairs, and he made his way down into the basement as well.

Tess had done a nice job getting things set up down there. She had spread several layers of blanket over the hard, damp floor, and made up a proper picnic from it. Fern was sitting up and grinning, and Jason stooped over to pinch her cheek as he sat down next to Tess.

"You're just the happiest little one I think I have ever seen. Yes, you are! You don't have a clue what's going on, and you are plenty happy about that fact."

Fern only giggled and took a bite of her banana, and Jason started in on his pancakes. The basement was dim, lit only by a few dusty gaslights. There were no windows, not even window wells, which... In all reality, it was probably a good bit safer for tornado weather, but it made it a bit dismal when they had to spend much time down there. Jason leaned against Tess as he finished eating, while they heard the wind picking up in the distance.

"Jeremiah seems to think this is going to be quite the storm." Jason murmured as they watched Fern playing with her empty bowl. She lifted it up, then brought it crashing down several times in a row, giggling wildly each time.

"I'd probably believe him." Tess shrugged. After a moment, she chuckled. "He used to write me letters every now and then when he disagreed with my almanac. He was usually right, too. Actually..." She laughed. "It would have been the spring right before you came. It was blue skies, blue for miles around. No other town or province for a hundred miles in any direction was reporting anything, and I said so in my report. He sent in a letter telling me it was going to rain. I wrote back and told him to mind his own business, and... Wouldn't you know, by noon, there was such a fierce storm blowing up that I lost half the shingles on the Guild Hall."

Jason laughed and shook his head, then paused. "That may mean that we're in for a wild ride this afternoon."

"Maybe, but I think we're pretty safe here." Tess nodded at the ceiling above them. "That floor is nice and sturdy. It's going to take a pretty good gust of wind to rip it away, so we should be covered down here. Plus, we can always go into one of the two smaller rooms if we absolutely have to."

"That's true." Jason sighed. "I just don't want to build this farm from the ground-up again, you know?"

"Yeah." Tess chuckled. "That's a fair point."

They leaned against each other for a long moment. Overhead, a sharp whine echoed from the chimney, and they heard thunder booming louder. Still, there was no indication of a tornado proper, and for that, Jason was thankful.

"Want to go through boxes?" Jason asked after a moment. He stood up and walked over to the remaining boxes, which had all been pushed into a corner of the room. They had beaten the mess back to a small fraction of what it had once been, though they had a lot further to go before they were really free of it all.

Tess shrugged. "Sure. Just make sure that Fern doesn't get into anything moldy."

Jason nodded, and he walked over to open up the box on the top of the closest pile. He pulled back the cardboard and looked inside, finding... Clothes. Lots of clothes. In annoyance, he dumped out the box to see if anything had been hidden inside, but he didn't find a single thing. Just old, half-eaten clothes mixed with mice droppings. He threw the box and its contents in the far corner, as a note to get rid of it. He then moved on to the next box while Tess joined him.

As they worked, baby Fern crawled here and there around the basement. She largely stayed on the blanket, since the concrete was cold, and she didn't really seem to like it, but every now and again she would brave the wet floor for the sake of adventure. Jason kept an eye turned toward her, but mostly just to make sure that she didn't head anywhere near the growing pile of moldy stuff in the corner.

All the boxes that he and Tess went through contained junk. Most of it was clothing, a broad assortment of clothing ranging from men's to women's to even a few constable uniforms. Jason didn't have the slightest idea what his uncle had been planning to do with it all, and he frankly didn't care. Suddenly, though, from behind him, Jason heard a loud click, and he and Tess both spun around to see Fern standing right next to a slowly opening door.

Fern's right pointer finger had slid into a small crack in the wall, and she grinned broadly as she pulled it out. Meanwhile, a low door, about three feet tall, was slowly swinging outward, into what should have been the dirt of the farmyard. Fern started to crawl into the darkness, but Jason leapt forward and grabbed hold of her before she could.

"What did you find, little one?" Jason breathed softly. "You're just bound and determined to unveil all the secrets of this house, aren't you?"

Tess took a lantern out of the farm's inventory and lit it, and she held it up to the shaft. Beyond the small door, there was a sharp drop of several feet into a passage that seemed to be about six feet high. It went out into the farmyard, carving straight through the bedrock and a bit of the lower levels of soil. Jason shook his head as he crept forward, sliding into the tunnel with Fern tightly in his grasp.

"You're really going in there?" Tess gasped.

Jason shrugged. "Neither of us are going to be able to rest until we've explored this, and... It's not like we have that much else to do today."

Tess couldn't argue with that, and they both slid inside. The tunnel was about five feet wide, with more than enough space for both of them, and they started forward. It went out for about thirty feet, then spun to the left. As they made the corner, Jason found himself looking at a long, seemingly endless tunnel that just stretched off into the distance.

"How deep would you say we are?" Tess asked as they started walking down the tunnel.

Jason shrugged and ran his hand along the wall. "Most of this is limestone. When I've been digging, I don't usually hit limestone until..." He pointed at the spot on the wall next to their heads where the limestone gave way to a thick, brownish clay. "This is probably about seven feet deep, right here."

"And he must have carved this out himself. Through almost solid rock." Tess breathed as they walked along. "What... What is this place?"

To that, Jason had no answer. Distantly, they could hear booming and thundering above their heads, but it was muffled. Suddenly, something flickered in the light ahead, and Jason and Tess both froze. Tess drew a sword from her inventory and Jason took out his flintlock pistol. They crept forward... At least until the flickering was revealed as nothing more than the end of the tunnel, dancing in the flickering light of the lantern. Jason let out a sigh of relief, and he and Tess both put their weapons away. They came up to the end, where Jason examined the strange sight.

A pickaxe was lodged in the limestone there, just above a small bucket half-filled with stone. A miner's coat hung over the pickaxe's handle, along with an old-time miner's helmet. Jason frowned and picked up the coat, feeling through its pockets. There was nothing of any substance, merely a few matches for lighting the candle on top of the helmet. They poked and prodded the end of the tunnel, looking for any sort of sign that it was actually another secret door, but found nothing of the sort. Finally, they slowly turned back and started making their way along to the main house again.

"I bet he was trying to dig all the way to the dungeon." Jason offered after a moment. "We know he'd gone into the place before. If he realized that he wasn't able to get past the fourth floor, but wanted to try to burrow down to floors five and lower, this may have been how he hoped to do that."

Tess snorted. "We're almost a mile away from the dungeon. Why not just go dig over there?"

"Because he was super secretive, and that was off his own property. Highly illegal if he were to get caught, and he couldn't very well go buy the land without raising a few eyebrows." Jason shrugged. "Plus, you've seen what his farm looked like. He probably didn't have the money to buy the land anyhow."

Tess couldn't argue with that. They continued to stride along as they came back to the basement, and they climbed back up and out of the tunnel. Jason closed it, then put a piece of tape over the latch to prevent little Fern from sticking her fingers into it again, and... That was that.

They spent the rest of the day doing little more than hanging out. Fern took a nap eventually, and Jason and Tess played a few board games before getting back to work on the boxes. Overhead, the storm continued to howl, and they would hear the roar of a tornado. Throughout it all, though, Jason's mind continued to turn back to the distant tunnel. The mystery of his uncle was one that was growing ever-more in his mind.

What had he been doing? Was it even possible for them to get the house safe enough for a young, inquisitive child?

And, more importantly... Would there ever wind up being consequences stemming from his uncle's actions? If so, what would they be... And how much did Jason need to be worrying about

Chapter Thirty-Nine: This is the life

[The alarm went off. It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 89th day of Spring! 2 days until the Spring Festival! Wow, the second half of Spring really flew by! Just two more days until I'm married. That's crazy to think about. Anyhow, you guys don't want to hear about my personal life, you just want to hear about the weather. The report is good! Clear skies until summer, and good temperatures. I'd say we're really in for a treat!]

[Obadiah's Almanac: Update: We've been announcing this for a week now, but... Paulina's store will be CLOSING today at noon, and will not reopen until summer. Please get all your shopping done before then.]

Jason took a deep breath as he sat up and stretched. Beside him, Tess did the same. His stomach was filled with nervous butterflies, not for himself, but for Obadiah. Getting married was an incredible thing, and he was excited for their new life.

"Good morning." Tess leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then rose quickly. "You're sure you two will be good without me?"

"We'll be fine." Jason nodded as he swung out of bed and walked over to the wardrobe. Tess was hurrying, and she'd soon changed into an orange town dress. A large suitcase stood nearby, which she had packed the night before. "Go have loads of fun helping Paulina get things ready, and we'll see you at the wedding itself."

"Thanks, Jason. You're the best." Tess leaned over and gave him a kiss, then grabbed the suitcase and bolted down the stairs. Jason chuckled softly

as he watched her go. When he and Tess had been getting married, Tess had devoted every moment of her spare time for the entire season leading up to the marriage to get the venue ready. Paulina, with a much less flexible schedule, had been utterly unable to do that, and had set up a two-day "crash course," so to speak, to get everything prepared. Tess had shown Jason the list of things they had to do, and while he thought some of them were a bit unnecessary, he was totally fine with Tess helping out her friend.

By the time Jason got Fern up and made it downstairs, Tess was already leading Angus out of the stable. She hitched him up to the porch rail while she came inside to kiss Jason and Fern goodbye, and then she rode off for town. Jason watched her go, then sighed contently.

"It's just you and me, Fern."

"Hi, little farmer!"

Daniel's voice echoed from across the road, and Jason looked up to see Daniel and Richard both riding out of their little farmstead, off toward the Lazy-H.

"Hi!" Jason waved back, then reached down and took Fern's little hand and moved it around in a wave as well. "What are you two up to?"

"Same old, same old." Richard shrugged. "Back to work on the ranch, but you know how that goes."

Daniel scowled. "It's been boring since we killed all the goblins. Jeremiah wouldn't even let me fight a tornado."

The warrior was still grumbling as he rode off down the road, and Jason laughed softly. Fern fussed in his arms, and he made his way back inside, leaving Chance outside to chase monsters. The two of them sat down and had a small breakfast, and Jason sighed.

"Well, Fern, what do you want to do? We've got two days of freedom! What should we fill it with? Should we go... Shoot guns?"

Fern giggled and slapped at her bowl of oatmeal.

"Should we... See if we can find another monster to hunt and kill?"

Fern looked over the side of her high chair at the ground and seemed to ponder how to get down.

"Should we just go outside and play lots?"

After a moment, Fern started wriggling and trying to pull herself free, and Jason laughed. He quickly scooped her up, and a moment later, they were heading out into the yard. Chance came bounding over and stood guard over Fern as Jason set her down, and Jason stepped back to watch. It truly was a joy to behold, that was for certain. Fern crawled through the grass, feeling each and every blade, while the crabgrasses snapped and skittered toward her. Chance bounded forward and munched every single one, sometimes eating them on the spot, and sometimes just throwing them against the house. He was a good dog. There was simply no denying that fact.

When Jason was convinced that she was being protected, he strode over to the stable and poked his head inside. Lady and Alfred looked up at him, and he turned them out into the corral and poured them some feet. He cast a single glance at his field, which was fresh and ready for summer, and grinned. The sugar beet experiment had gone wonderfully, and at the end of the spring, he was sitting on more money than he had ever had before. He had dozens of ideas for how to use it, but Tess had wanted to wait until after the wedding to decide for sure when she could focus more of her attention on the prospect. He had agreed, and that had been that.

Now, all that was left was to enjoy the last few days of spring until summer came around. He walked back over to Fern and sat down next to her, and picked blades of grass to tickle her nose. She laughed and waved her arms through the air, then crawled over to him and pulled herself up. Her knees wobbled as she stood there, gripping his shirt tightly, and Jason gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright..." Jason let out a long breath. "And... Stand on your own!"

He backed up, and Fern fell flat on her rear end. She laughed at it, then crawled over to Jason once more. He just laughed and stood up, and they started playing a game of chase through the yard.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah came riding up slowly.

"Howdy!" Jason turned and waved. "You heading into town for the wedding preparations, too?"

"Aye." Jeremiah chuckled. "Delilah went in last night to start on the baking. They wanted me there this morning for... I think they said so that they have someone tall to hang things up."

Jason laughed. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks." Jeremiah snorted. "Just how I want to spend the last days of spring, standing in the middle of wedding preparations while a bunch of women argue about whether they should set the bouquets at this angle, or that angle."

Jason laughed. He knew Tess would kick him over the moon if she saw him laughing, and he was sure that the distinctions really would be important, but from a guy's perspective, some of it seemed a bit excessive sometimes. Jeremiah started to ride off, then suddenly froze.

"What?" Jason frowned.

"Behind you." Jeremiah nodded.

Jason slowly turned around and felt his blood turn to ice. Peering out of the prairie grass, just to the south of his house, was a goblin. It wasn't attacking; it was just watching, and when Jeremiah made a sudden move toward it, the goblin turned and fled.

"After it, now!" Jeremiah burst forward, suddenly all business. Jason grabbed Fern and ran to the corral. He pulled a baby-carrier out of his inventory and threw it on, then tucked Fern firmly against his chest before quickly throwing a saddle on Lady and mounting up.

By the time he got out onto the prairie, Jeremiah was visible only as a distant speck, off to the south-west. Jason spurred Lady on and tore across the prairie, desperately riding toward his friend. Jeremiah saw him coming and pulled back, and soon, Jason came riding up abreast of him.

"Where is he?" Jason demanded. "Did you lose him?"

Jeremiah nodded and pointed down a low ridge. Near the bottom, there was a large chunk of limestone that had been exposed by running water at some point in the past.

"There's a small burrow down there. I took a glimpse in, but I didn't want to scare the thing out. We need to take care of this now, or you'll risk a whole heap of paperwork."

Jason chuckled. "Tess will kill me, but... I think I'd rather risk being mauled by a goblin than risk paperwork."

He reached into his inventory and pulled out Fern's earmuffs, which he tucked down over her little ears. "There you go, little one. That ought to keep you nice and safe."

"Fighting monsters with kids. That ain't something you see every day." Jeremiah shook his head.

They both rode forward, and Jason drew out his flintlock pistol. They slowly cantered up to the large rock and came around the other side, where a small burrow had been hollowed out. It was tiny, and the goblin was huddled up inside like a little grub-worm, curled up in a ball. Jason sighted down the barrel at the thing, then paused.

"Can we really shoot something like that?"

"He looks mighty pitiful." Jeremiah scowled. "Goblins are social monsters. I've heard that they do mighty bad when they're separated from their herds. This one must have escaped the purge of the dungeon and found its way up here."

Jason hopped down from the horse and started walking toward it. The goblin hissed at him, and Jeremiah called down.

"Keep in mind, these things are basically just monkeys that can use swords. You let it go, and it'll just go kill someone else."

Jason nodded, then brightened. "What if we capture it?"

"Capture a goblin? Why would we ever..." Jeremiah's voice trailed off, and he brightened. "Capture a goblin? That's the best idea I've ever heard! Shoot at that rock and scare it out, and I'll rope it."

Jason double-checked to see that Fern's earmuffs were in place, and he fired the gun into the limestone above the monster. The goblin screamed and leapt from the burrow, and a rope fell squarely over its body. Jeremiah yanked it tight, and the goblin fell to the ground with a scream. Its arms were pinned to its torso, and Jeremiah leapt from the horse to tie it down. His hands moved like lightning, and within seconds, the goblin had been immobilized.

"And that's how you get 'er done." Jeremiah smiled as he hefted the goblin over his shoulder and tossed it onto his horse. "Surely the girls won't mind that I'm a few minutes late. It was all for a noble cause."

Jason just shook his head and laughed. He turned away, but something caught his eye from down inside the burrow. He turned back, and his eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" Jeremiah asked as he mounted up on his horse.

"I dunno. A ruby or something." Jason walked over to the burrow, then slid down inside. There, at the bottom, lay a little crystal. It was bright-red, about six inches long and two wide, and sharpened to a point at both ends. When he picked it up, the whole thing seemed to hum.

[Dungeon Core Located]

At that, Jason blinked. So that was why they hadn't been able to find the dungeon core. One goblin had stolen it and ran away.

"You know anything about dungeon cores?" Jason asked as he walked back over to Lady.

"They're crazy powerful and worth a king's ransom." Jeremiah shrugged. "Why, did- No! Jason, you scoundrel! I just got a goblin, but you found a whole dungeon core?"

"I'll trade you, if you think Delilah will be more accepting of you having a dungeon in the basement as opposed to a goblin."

Jeremiah scowled, then turned his horse away. "Fine. Keep your lousy dungeon core. I never wanted one anyway."

Jeremiah rode away grumbling, and Jason laughed. Jason climbed back up onto Lady and rode back to the house, where he tucked away the crystal into the farm's inventory. Once the weeding was over, he would show it to Tess. He certainly wouldn't mention it to Obadiah. He couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of paperwork that he would have to fill out in order to keep that kind of artifact.

When it was all stashed away, he put Fern out in the front yard once more, and they began playing once again. Fern laughed and giggled, Chance barked and raced about, and soon, Jeremiah rode by a second time as he actually made his way into Summer Shandy.

As he lay there in the warm grass, his daughter playing around him, he sighed deeply. It just... It felt as though the world was ripe and new, preparing for an influx of new life and adventures.

And he was simply happy to be allowed to come along for the ride.

Chapter Forty: The Last Day of Srping

[The alarm went off., It was 6 AM. Jason and Tess were ready to get to work around the farm. They had 41 starting actions.]

[Obadiah's Almanac: 91st day of Spring! It's the day of the Spring Festival! The weather should be bright and clear, folks, so come on out! We invite everyone in the town to come to the wedding, which will happen at ten o'clock. The reception will follow for lunch, and then, of course, the festival after that!]

Jason smiled as he woke up. Festival days were always fun, and this one would have just loads of stuff rolled into it. He would get to see Tess again for the first time in two days, and he would get to go to the wedding... A wide grin split across his face as he dressed in a nicer tunic, then made his way out to Fern's room. She was already standing in her crib when he walked in, and began burbling at him as soon as he picked her up.

"I don't know what you're saying, but I acknowledge that it means something." Jason carried Fern down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Are you ready to see Mommy again?"

Fern grinned and waved her arms eagerly. They soon came into the kitchen and sat down to eat. Jason tried feeding her some applesauce, which Fern ate eagerly. When they had finished, Jason strode out into the yard and set her down to play while Chance dutifully protected her.

"Hey, Lady." Jason smiled as he walked into the stable. She nickered at him while Alfred kicked at his stable. "Hey, Alfred. Which one of you should I take into the festival?" He wasn't keen to leave Alfred alone by himself, with him still being so young, but he also wasn't fond of the idea of riding into town with Alfred and Fern without Tess to assist. In the end,

he took Lady and leave Alfred behind, and with the wind blowing past them softly, he hitched Lady to the carriage and set off toward town.

Fern rode on his lap and bounced softly on his knees as they went along. Jason grinned broadly as the countryside rolled by, and he took a deep breath. This was Summer Shandy at its finest. The last wildflowers of spring were in full bloom, while birds darted around snapping up seeds and insects. Soon enough, they came rumbling up into town, where things were in a proper state of chaos. He glimpsed Paulina flying out of her store in a white dress, waving her hands and asking people not to let Obadiah anywhere near her. Obadiah, meanwhile, seemed to be up on the roof of the Guild Hall, patching up a large hole. Daniel was up there with him, holding a large fistful of nails in one hand and hammer in the other, and Jason chuckled. Obadiah's page boy came out to take the carriage away, and Jason hopped down, with Fern cradled tightly in his arms.

"Jason! Fern!"

Tess strode out of Paulina's store with her arms spread wide. Fern lit up like a bonfire, and Jason set her down on the ground. She began to eagerly crawl across the cobblestones, and Tess rushed forward to scoop her up.

"Oh, I've missed you two." Tess hugged Fern, then gave Jason a hug as well. They kissed, and Jason sighed.

"How are things going?"

"They're going wonderfully." Tess beamed. "Paulina is stressed, of course, but so was I on our wedding day. I've got to run, be sitting down at ten, and I'll talk to you afterwards." She paused. "You might go talk with Jeremiah. I think he's about to bust a vein."

Jason laughed, then watched Tess running away across the town. He ambled along, holding Fern tightly and waving to different people, and soon came up to the large warehouse/wedding venue.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jason called as he stepped inside. Obadiah, who was standing in the middle of all the chairs, spun and grinned.

"Howdy!" He was dressed in a dapper coybow-esque suit, and had a white cowboy hat on. There was a red flower tucked into his pocket, and he folded his hands in front of his body. "How do I look?"

"Like someone put a suit on a monkey and made it do tricks." Jason chuckled as he walked forward. "I've rarely seen anyone look like they were so ready to get out of something."

Jeremiah reached up and tugged at his neck. "This thing is so tight! What's the point of that? All my stubble's just pricking me, and I'm about to choke. I'm no good to anyone if I just pass out from lack of oxygen."

Jason laughed, then looked around the room. It was decorated wonderfully, strung up with banners and flowers and more. "It looks like you did your job well."

"I did somethin' well." Jeremiah grumbled, then sighed. "I shouldn't complain. I'm getting my son married off, and that's something any parent can be proud of."

"Do you have any part in the wedding?" Jason asked.

"Nah. Father of the groom is just here to make bad jokes." Jeremiah snorted. "And I'm not even allowed to do that. I feel like Hank, what with all my restrictions."

"Well, you can sit with me." Jason laughed. "I'm just here to watch, too."

"I wish I was just here to watch, but you know the moment something goes wrong, it'll be me to blame and me they ask to fix it." Jeremiah muttered.

Jason paused. "You seem... Nervous."

"Of course I'm nervous." Jeremiah shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? This is Obadiah! I mean, last I saw of him before he left town, he was strong

enough to knock over a bull and dumb enough not to know to get away from it before it could realize what had happened."

"He's been back here for... Two years, now." Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I know, but he's the last one to get married off, and... I dunno." Jeremiah puffed out his cheeks. "With that milestone, I just feel like I'm turning another chapter in my book."

"And I'm sure you'll do great with whatever comes next." Jason smiled. "I mean, your ranch is huge. That place isn't going anywhere."

Jeremiah turned slightly red. "About that-"

Before he could finish, the doors burst open, and Delilah rushed inside.

"Jeremiah! What are you doing hiding out in here? I need you supervising the cooks. Get, get!"

Jeremiah scowled, but turned to amble away. "Catch you later, Jason!"

Jason watched him go, then sighed. He spent the next several hours until ten o'clock, mostly just walking around the town, chatting with people here and there. Most of the people he knew, though, were busy with one thing or another, and it forced him to mostly just be bored until it was time to start. When the wedding came, though... He certainly had to admit that it was beautiful.

He wound up sitting with Jeremiah and Delilah, along with Richard. One of Obadiah's brothers marched in first, with Viola arm-in-arm. Daniel came next, bending over to hold on to Theresa's elbow while he scowled at Obadiah's brother over the privilege of getting to walk with Viola. Tess and Hank came last, and Jason had to admit that they looked quite the pairing. They had been good friends with each other for quite some time before Jason had come around, and both had remained close friends with the bride and the groom. Everyone stood as Paulina came last, led up the aisle by a woman that Jason didn't recognize, but assumed was her mother. Paulina, with access to the full catalog of supplies from her store, certainly hadn't

skimped on the dress. A long train twenty feet long came across the ground after her, while the dress itself was covered in glittering sequins and jewels.

From there, the wedding progressed as one might have expected. Obadiah was in full ceremonial armor and looked down at his white- gowned bride with a mixture of pride and love and expectation. The priest was a simple sort of man that Jason didn't recognize, and he performed the wedding quickly and efficiently. When it was over, the wedding party surged out through the doors, and everyone rose to make their way out into the town square.

Tess found Jason as soon as she was allowed to leave. Her orange dress swirled in the air, and she hugged both Jason and Fern tightly.

"You did wonderfully." Jason beamed at her.

"I stood up there and handed Paulina the ring." Tess raised an eyebrow. "That's not really anything terribly spectacular."

"Yeah, but..." Jason shrugged. "It's still cool."

Tess smiled, then turned as a band struck up a tune. While the wedding had been going on, someone had strung up long streamers with flags over the top of the courtyard, making an open-air roof, so to speak. Almost instantly, the town square turned into a dance floor, with Obadiah and Paulina rushing out to take the first dance. As soon as they finished, everyone else ran out onto the cobblestones as well, and even while food was being prepared out behind the Guild Hall, a lively party surged.

In his arms, Fern began to wiggle along to the music, and Tess turned to her and smiled. "Do you want to dance?"

Fern simply grinned widely, and Jason slowly set her down on the ground. She clung onto his pant leg for a long moment, and Tess bent down to take her hands. Jason wasn't sure what exactly Tess was going to do, but before she could make contact, Fern took two tiny steps forward into her grasp.

"She walked!" Tess shrieked. "She took her first two steps!"

Fern's grin split her face, and she sat flat on her backside as a crowd gathered around her. Tess pulled her up and tried to get her to do it again, but she just sat down and refused. Jason and Tess looked at each other, and they shrugged. They had seen it, and that was enough. Jason bent down and picked Fern up after a short time to prevent her from being stomped on, and they set about enjoying the party as best they could.

It was a lively time, that was for sure. About the time that the food was made ready, Obadiah climbed up onto the town well, and the band fell silent. He cleared his throat, and a hush fell over the crowd.

"I know you're used to me making a speech at each festival, so I'm just going to do it all right now, instead of later." Obadiah took a deep breath. "First off, thank you all so much for coming out to this wedding and the party afterward. It means a lot to both Paulina and I, and we're excited to start our lives together, right here amidst you. We're a kid behind you, Jason, but we'll catch you before you know it!"

Jason grinned and crossed his arms. "You're on!"

Beside him, Tess muttered. "Coming from the person who doesn't have to give birth." Even as she said it, though, she had a wide smile across her face. They both wanted a large family, and were eagerly hoping to see another pregnancy soon. Jason didn't really want to turn it into a competition with Obadiah... But he also wasn't going to turn one down, either. In any case, up on the town well, Obadiah continued.

"Now, there's one more order of business we need to take care of before we go any further." Obadiah grimaced. "Hank's replacement. We've been interviewing different candidates, and... After all was said and done, we found that it didn't need to go to a vote after all. One person stood leagues above everyone else, both for his..." Obadiah choked. "His impeccable knowledge of Illumitir paperwork and loopholes, and for his skill with different forms of ordinance. I give you..." He sighed deeply. "Constable Jeremiah."

The crowd let out a cheer, and Jeremiah came striding forward. He climbed up onto the town well with Obadiah, and Jason felt a grin rising to his face. Now that was going to be a change! Jeremiah clapped his son on the shoulder and smiled widely. He now had a constable's badge pinned on his coat, and Jason had to admit that it looked quite fitting.

"Thank you all, thank you all!" Jeremiah waved his hands and the crowd quieted down. "Don't you worry your heads at all. I'm not going to go running through here changing everything, though I do favor the fact that I seem to be building my own dynasty here. Obadiah, if one of your kids can marry Fern, I do believe-" Obadiah whacked him upside the head, and Jeremiah chuckled. He quieted after a moment, though, and sighed. "Seriously, though, I've been a part of this community for longer than I care to admit. I love it here, and I'll not do anything to harm it. With that... Hank? Would you be my deputy? All the perks of the job from before, but none of the paperwork?"

From below, Hank let out a whoop of approval, and Jeremiah clapped his hands. "Perfect! Now, in the interest of law and order around here, I'd also like to announce that I'll soon be bringing in another deputy. His name is Gob, and he's a little uncouth, but he's-"

"Jeremiah!" Delilah called out. "You had better not be talking about that thing I found in my basement when I went home last night."

Jeremiah leapt down from the town well, and Obadiah waved his hands. He climbed down as well, and people began filing over to the tables. Jason just shook his head in amazement, and Jeremiah soon found his way over to the two of them.

"You. The constable." Jason shook his head.

Jeremiah shrugged. "Like I said, the ranch was getting awfully lonely, and with Obadiah married and such... I dunno. It seemed like the right opportunity, so I took it."

"Will you stay out on the ranch?" Tess asked.

"No, actually." Jeremiah shook his head. "Delilah and I are moving right here into town. We'll stay in Paulina's store until we get a house built. I'm leaving the ranch, the whole kit and caboodle, to Weatherhand. He's been with me for nigh on twenty years now, and he's certainly earned his fill of it. Richard will move into the number-two position."

Jason nodded slowly. "Then... What about Daniel?"

His question was answered almost instantly as Daniel came elbowing through the crowd to Jason, Tess, and Jeremiah. Richard was right behind him, and Jason frowned as he realized that the warrior's face was white as a sheet.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"No." Daniel shook his head. "I'm going to ask Viola to marry me again. She said to wait, and I've waited, and I've tried, but... What if it isn't enough? What if she says no? What if I haven't done enough?"

"Breathe, Daniel." Tess reached out and put a hand on his arm. "It's all okay. Take a deep breath." She glanced around him, then flashed a small smile. "Now turn around."

Daniel took a deep breath, so deep that Jason thought he felt the wind from it, and then turned around. Subsequently, he shrieked and jumped up into the air as he found Viola standing right behind him.

"Viola! I didn't smell you... Didn't see me... Didn't..." Daniel was shaking so badly that Jason could hear his armor rattling, and Viola reached out and took his hands.

"Yes." She whispered. "You've gone above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined this year. Yes, you can absolutely marry me."

Daniel's whoop of joy just about shattered Jason's eardrums, though Viola just grinned. Daniel knelt down and pulled a ring out of his inventory, dropped it, picked it up, dropped it again, then finally slipped it onto Viola's

finger. It was a lovely thing, set with what looked like a dozen diamonds. Daniel stood up and blushed red.

"Each one of those diamonds comes from one of the mega-dungeons I've completed. You get these crown-things if you make it all the way through, so I took one from each of them, and-"

Viola reached up and put a finger on his lips. "Here's the deal if we get married." Daniel froze and nodded, and Viola smiled. "You're going to have to become a warrior again. Yes, you've done an admirable job hanging around here for the last few years, but you're no farmer. We'll go on the road, I'll watch the children and be home for you when you get out of the dungeons, and-"

Whatever else she was about to say was cut off by Daniel sweeping her up into his arms. "When do we get married?"

"That priest just left for Illumitir." Viola shrugged. "We can probably catch him if you run really fast."

"You'll need witnesses." Jeremiah held up a finger.

"Then we'll need a carriage." Daniel's face set. "Tess, will you be my best man? Best sister... Umm..."

"Theresa! I need you!" Viola called out.

Once more, Jason was left standing alone as Daniel and the impromptu wedding party flashed out of town. He just shook his head and meandered over to the food with Jeremiah, and he and Fern tucked in.

The rest of the evening was a joyous one, by any stretch of the imagination. Daniel and Viola (and Tess and Theresa) soon returned, and the party really got going. They danced all that afternoon, and when the large banquet tables came out that evening, they were all so hungry that it seemed no amount of food was enough. Tess was holding Fern on her lap, and began pouring herself some wine from a pitcher that was being passed around.

Fern stretched out her hand toward the glass as Tess took a sip, and when Tess set the cup back down without giving it to her, Fern banged her hands on the table.

"Milkies!"

Jason and Tess both gave a start, and they look down at Fern as she reached toward the cup.

"That is most assuredly not milk, but we can get you some!" Tess laughed. She waved her hand, and soon, Fern had been given a sippy cup filled with milk. The budding toddler seemed to love it, and Jason sighed deeply.

It had been a lovely year, full of its own twists and turns, and they had come through it just fine. Now, there were two more married couples in Summer Shandy, a new constable, possibly a new goblin deputy... Oh, and he had a dungeon core in his farm's inventory that he hadn't had a chance to tell Tess about.

It was a good life full of adventure, happiness, and family and Jason was grateful for it. As for the dungeon core, what could possibly go wrong?