Ranger Rising

Part 20.2: Late Night Conversations

I let Father guide me back home. Almost as quietly, we went about our chores and tasks on the farm. Father sent Andrew to take care of the hogs for the rest of afternoon while we exhausted ourselves with other tasks around the fields. And the entire day, I wasn't more than a few meters from Father's side. It was obvious that he was keeping me close.

The entire time, Father didn't speak. Normally, he'd sing or hum under his breath to pass time. Today the only thing that I heard come out of his mouth the entire afternoon was a muttered comment about how fast the weeds were growing. As if that was an unusual thing. His mind clearly hung caught on other things. The thing that I noticed almost instantly was that even after several hours, Father still hadn't looked or spoken to me in any significant manner.

It hurt. I tried asking him something a few times. His answers had been simple, monosyllabic, and straight to the point.

At some point, a messenger came round from the Inner Circle. Aust had gotten back but judging by the message, he'd been unsuccessful in getting rid of the beast. "Mayor Terrin has sent me to inform everyone on the outer circle farms that livestock must be kept inside past sun down. It's also requested that if you have space available in your barn that you offer it at a reasonable price for rent to neighbors who do not."

I ran down the roster of our neighbors who didn't have a barn quickly. Only a handful of them came to mind. The Fields family was one of them but they only had a few scrawny chickens and ducks.

Father simply nodded and told the messenger "very well" before sending him off on his way.

The day passed without much incident, or change, after that. After several hours in the sun beating down on my back with dirt caking up under my nails and Father barely acknowledging my presence beyond a a few guarded looks to make sure I hadn't vanished into the Edirk forest, I was utterly drained. Strange how I could start my morning with such an amazing high to only feel drained and thoroughly gutted by the end of it.

Andrew came to check in with Father before heading home for the night. "Tomorrow morning bring your poultry with you," Father told him.

"Merrik?" Andrew shook his head in confusion.

"You heard the messenger. No livestock out after sun down. Your family doesn't have a barn."

Andrew's face went red, just a shade lighter than his hair, as he stared intently at the ground. Father was being kind. The Fields's barn had collapsed in on itself years ago because their farm hadn't produced the finances needed to maintain it. And in the following years, hadn't produced enough to rebuild it.

"I doubt you and the rest of your family are keen on sharing your home with all the poultry. Not with eight of you living in the house."

Now Andrew's face turned as red as his hair. "Thank you Merrik. That's very kind of you. I'll pass it along to my father."

"Get on your way. I'm fairly sure that it's better for people to be indoors before night fall as well. I will see you in the morning."

Andrew mumbled one last 'thank you' to Father before leaving for the day. I guessed that tomorrow would be filled almost entirely of building chicken coops in the barn for the Fields's family poultry. With Andrew... most likely by myself.

That was not going to fun at all.

"Come along Lena. After the way this day has gone, I'm more than ready for dinner and to call it a night," Father said to me. It was the most he'd spoken to me since this morning. And it was about dinner. That sounded about right.

"I'm not really hungry," I mumbled under my breath. I hadn't even been hungry for midday meal.

"What was that?" Father asked, turning to look at me. I think that was also the first significant look that he'd given me since this morning as well.