Lacuna

Chapter 8

It took a few hours, but after popping a few pills and falling back asleep, Kahli was feeling a little better by the late morning. She managed to pull herself together enough to trudge up to the tree farm, but to her surprise, someone had already set up the waterwheel. All that was left was to connect the water to the sprinkler system in the farm.

She stared at the set up by the lake for a moment until Dawa approached her.

"Looks like you're almost done," he said happily.

Kahli turned to him. "Who did this?"

Dawa raised a brow. "Uh. You did?"

Kahli shook her head.

Dawa shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "I'm just getting up here, now. I thought you were working on it all morning."

Kahli turned back to the wheel, examining it. She couldn't think of anyone who would have the ability to get this much work done. And it looked to be in working order. All she had to do was connect the engine and get it started. She decided not to question it and chalked it up to little builder fairies that decided to give her a break, and she spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the job. By the evening, the irrigation system was complete and the sprinklers gave the trees much needed water.

The following day, Kahli found herself a rare moment to herself. But instead of sniffing around the Commerce Guild for more work, she decided to take advantage of the day, making her way to the ranch to visit Emily for a change. She was chasing after some baby chicks when Kahli walked over, and she blew her hair out of her face in exasperation. She put her hands on her hips and grinned.

"Look who made it to our neck of the woods."

"You look like you need a hand," Kahli said.

Emily's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. Kinda. Gotta gather up these little guys and bring 'em back into their coop."

Kahli watched one of the chicks hop over to her, and she bent down and picked it up carefully.

"That was hard," Kahli said with a smirk. She brought the chick up to her face and scratched it's little head with her finger. It chirped loudly until she brought it back to the cage with its friends.

"Oh, sure, you make it look so easy," Emily said. She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Chicken Lady, gimme a hand."

With Kahli's help, they had gathered the rest of the escaped chicks and brought them back to the coop where they pecked eagerly at the ground with the mother hens.

"And you thought you were getting a day off," Emily said.

"Ah, I don't mind," Kahli said. "They're pretty cute."

"So, how was yesterday? Were you as sick as I was?" Emily laughed.

"I didn't even remember coming home."

Emily nudged her with her elbow. "Did you wake up with a certain someone in bed?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Alright, alright," Emily said. "I'm done with the Arlo bit. I'll leave you alone. I think you got it bad enough the other night, anyway."

"I think you should go back to Antoine and Dr. Xu."

Emily nodded. "Oh, I'm sure we will." To Kahli's relief, she changed the subject. "So. You want a couple of chicks? I could spare a couple as payment for helping me, if you want."

"I don't know how to take care of chickens," Kahli said.

"They're easy," Emily explained. "Throw 'em some grain and make sure they have water. Wait for 'em to pop out some eggs, and voila, breakfast!"