"Are you sure this is a bus stop?" Kay asked the driver, hugging her trash bag of belongings to her chest.
"This is Pelican town and this is where I stop for pelican town. Look, there is a ticket stand over there. They just ain't going to build no big stand if no one gets off here. Occasionally youngsters get on this bus, but no one gets off here."
Kay did get off. The bus driver barely let her get clear of the door before he sped away. The air was cool and crisp, rather refreshing after being on a cramped stuffy bus in her long sleeve T-shirt and sunglasses. She took a deep breath of the clean air, lightly scented by earth, grass, and flowers. This was what fresh air smelled like? She could get used to this.
"You must be Kay." Kay spun around and saw a middle aged redhead standing in the shade of a nearby tree. She was tall and slender with a motherly smile, a faint look of concern entered her eyes when Kay turned to face her and Kay was quite sure it was because her bruises were discernable under the cheap dollar store makeup.
Trying to distract from the bruises and head off uncomfortable questions she quickly ran a hand through her violet locks. "Purple hair, weird, I know. Bet I'm the only person with purple hair for miles around." she forced a smile.
"Well that is a bet you'll lose, I think you are going to get along great with little Abbie. I am Robin, the local carpenter. Mayer Lewis sent me to fetch you. He's at your grandfather's cabin tidying up. It's just this way, please follow me."
She turned and led Kay down a flower lined dirt road through the forest. It opened up into, well, she supposed you could call it a clearing. Rocks, weeds, and fallen branches littered the ground around a little cabin that looked like it belonged on a Christmas card, minus the snow, of course. Smoke was even curling out of the chimney. "It is a bit overgrown but there is some good soil under all that mess. With a little dedication you could have this place cleaned up in no time."
An older man with a mustache came out an introduced himself as mayor Lewis. Kay was surprised that the mayor, whom she'd spoken to over the phone the day before, would actually come out to greet her himself, shocked that he would help tidy up her grandfather's cabin. Her cabin now. Lewis and Robin had a brief conversation about the cabin's rustic charm, or lack there of, and Lewis explained how to prepare her items for sale and place them in the bin for collection.
They left and she let herself into her new home. Lewis had mentioned someone named Marnie had washed her grandfather's linens so she had clean sheets and towels. Someone else named Gus had dropped off a basket of rolls before she arrived and they were still warm. Lewis himself had bought her first seeds, what even was a parsnip? She had always assumed small town hospitality was a myth. A feel good lie for the hallmark movies. It would seem she was mistaken.
She stayed up late looking up parsnips with her belly full of warm bread and a crackling fire casting a rosy glow over her new home. She put the phone on the charger after dropping it on her face. Suddenly her ex was standing over her screaming. He reached for her throat and she jerked upward screaming with tears in her eyes. The room was dark and silent except for her sobs.
Pulling herself together she added wood to the faintly glowing coals then washed her face in the bathroom. A glance out the window by the clawfoot tub showed the dark indigo sky was getting lighter. No point trying to go back to sleep.
She threw on a t-shirt, jeans, and a dark hoodie and ate a left over roll on the porch as she watched the sunrise. I need a rocking chair out here, she thought to herself. She found a small storage space on the backside of the house containing a few rusty tools. She pulled her hood up as she picked up the scythe and imagined herself to be a grim reaper to weeds.
It didn't take long to discard the hoodie. She'd expected reaping and hoeing to be a workout for the arms but she didn't expect it to engage her core, farming it turned out, was a full body workout. By midday she'd cleared and tilled a small patch just big enough for her 15 little parsnip seeds then lugged her watering can to the pond and back to give each one a good soaking
She smiled as she surveyed her little veggie patch, feeling proud of her accomplishment. Her muscles burned and her arms felt like jelly, but she'd made herself a little garden and planted her first crop. She was going to plant more crops. Maybe potatoes. And she could get chickens. And build fences to keep her chickens out of the garden. She knew jack shit bout fence building or chickens, but that was true of parsnips yesterday.
Then her belly reminded her all she had to eat that day was a couple of rolls. She'd found her grandfather's old Dutch oven in the same closet as her tools but it was caked in 20 years of dust and she had nothing to put in it.
She washed Away some of the days sweat in the sink and changed clothes. She had a washer in the bathroom, which seemed a strange choice but it was convenient. And a narrow wooden door opened feet from a clothes line outside. She supposed older houses were bound to have some kinks, a little character. She did the best she could do to hide her bruises and put on her sunglasses for the 20 minute walk into town.
She hadn't realized how small Pelican town was. There were maybe a dozen buildings, though it appeared there might be apartments above many of the businesses. Still, that was a small population. With so few people in town a new face stuck out like a sore thumb and many people stopped her to introduce themselves before she got to the saloon where she met Gus. After thanking him for the rolls, she had some of the best spaghetti she'd ever tasted.
After lunch she wandered over to Pierre's general store. Not having a refrigerator she filled her basket with canned goods, dry beans, and rice. As she turned to approach the register a young lady with purple hair just a shade darker than hers came around the corner with a crystal in her hand. When she'd mentioned her purple hair Robin had mentioned a 'Little Abbie', was this her?
She approached the girl and extended her hand "Hi, I'm Kay Flowers, I just moved to my Grandfather's farm."
"Abigail. That's right, I heard someone new moved to the old farm. It's kind of a shame really, I always enjoyed exploring those overgrown fields by myself."
"Well it's still mostly overgrown and I don't mind you poking around the forest so long as you don't trample my crops."
Abigail smiled at the invitation. "Hey have you met Sam and Sebastian yet? We all hand out in the saloon by the pool table on Fridays. Why don't you join us, I'll introduce you."
"I'll be honest, this farming thing is harder than I thought, I might not be up for going out Friday but I'll try to make it."
"Hope to see you there." Abigail stated turning to the door. Kay stared in shock, did she really just see Abigail put that crystal in her mouth?
Kay got a few seed potatoes and cauliflower and added them to her purchase. She spend the rest of the day expanding her garden and planting those then walked back to the saloon for dinner. Upon entering the saloon she saw mayor Lewis speaking with a chubby woman with messy brown hair and dark eyes in a kind face. She approached the bar and noticed a man in his late twenties glancing at her a couple of times so she decided to strike up a conversation.
"Hi, I'm Kay Flowers."
The man frowned into his beer and didn't look up as he muttered "Why are you talking to me, I don't know you."
"Shane don't be so rude." A soft voice scolded. It was mayor Lewis's pretty friend. "I am sorry about my nephew dear, he can be a little rough around the edges. I'm Marnie, this is my nephew, Shane, of course."
"I'm Kay." She replied shaking the woman's hand.
Marnie then turned to Shane and informed him she was going home, she'd settle with the baby sitter and see Jas was in bed.
"How many kids you got?" Kay asked, attempting once again to make conversation.
"Jas is my niece. And you can ditch the shades, we all know someone beat the hell out of you. You forgot to cover that handprint on your left arm."
Kay went white. She asked for her meal to go and hurried back to the farm.