Breaking the Moon

3: Kitten Huntin'

.^^ Turk and Tasha ^^

— Haven —

Herding hens and taking eggs was easy, after years of practice, much to the annoyance of Avery, who seemed to slowly cool off after several chores, and eventually apologized for being rude.

I waved it off. "Sorry, love, I'm a tease, I'm just sometimes hard to get along with. And I shouldn't joke about people's sex lives, in the first place."

She sighed, sitting down on the woodpile. "Mostly I'm just a bit worried you're right... we haven't-... well." She waved a hand vaguely.

I laughed, picking up the axe on the pile, and setting a log on it. "You haven't screwed him yet? And you're thinking of marrying him?" I chopped the log, then halved the two pieces.

She blushed. "Well... no. We've kissed, and all that, but like papa said, we're sometimes a little prude, here... at least in public. My family, that is. The older ones and the other family groups just don't give a damn. My entire beginning  sexual education came from Olly's innuendos and Thatch's lectures." She snorted, amused with herself.

"Thatch?" I asked, chopping another.

"Our doctor. His name is James Dürr, but he thatches all our scrapes and bites, so we call him Thatch. He likes it, says it makes his work seem simple, and non-threatening. Makes the kids less likely to avoid getting their cuts seen to." She hummed, kicking her feet lazily.

"You got time to kick your feet, you can fetch logs, girly." I snapped my fingers at her sarcastically.

She smiled and tossed me a log, leaning back easily as I chopped it. "So yeah. That's Thatch. Wears a lab coat, can't miss him. Lives in the back of the main house."

"If I end up punching someone, I'll know where to take them." I nodded, and chopped the next log.

"You Plan On it?"

"I plan for it, there's a difference. Everyone who keeps scaring me is going to get a nasty surprise, sooner or later." I shrugged.

She smiled. "Ahhh, right. What's the deal with that, anyway? Just get scared easy?"

"Nah... just jumpy about sudden noises or smells. My personal leftovers, I like to say. Everyone brings something home, when they're away for long enough." I shook my head.

She grinned, and tossed me a log, not prying, thankfully. "You'll get used to us. We're a pretty silent lot. Especially the Fårens. You'll never hear them coming; hell, I never do. Just remember that."

I smiled. "I'd love to see someone else jumping for once."

"Yeah, well. Anyways, that should be enough wood, we just needed to add a bit to the piles. Everyone chops wood, around here, so we pick up each other's slack." She nodded.

I stuck the axe into the log. "Alrighty then. What's next?"

"Well, I have to go check the vats, but you're welcome to do pretty much as you please." She shrugged.

"Cool... I'll go see some of the animals, see if they need anything!" I grinned at the thought of being around more animals. It had been too long, since papa lost the ranch, and moved us to Kent, just outside Seattle.

She smiled. "Go on, then, have fun!"

I trotted around the building, looking for the animal pens, and found a problem immediately, as a Fox was slipping into the hen-house.

It didn't expect me to grab its scruff and hind legs, and hoist it into the air, but it couldn't really do anything about it, as I dragged it out of the enclosure, and tossed it into the woods.