“Charlie, I can’t keep it.”
“Then I’ll go somewhere else.” He nods firmly.
I frown. “That’s crazy. Why not just split it?”
“That’s not what Agnes wanted. You know all the trouble she went through with them fellas all that time ago. We can’t go disrespecting her by splitting it now. It’d make all her hard work for nothing.”
Grannie was always having it out with someone, but no one worse than some guys from before I was born who were trying to take her land from her for their own use.
“No offense, but that was a long time ago, Charlie, and I don’t see any other option.”
“Look, if it comes down to it, Daisy, I’ll move. Please,” he says very seriously. “I beg of you. Do not break up the property.”
I don’t know why this is so important to him, but I agree. Because if he’s okay moving, it would be easier to sell as a whole, rather than figuring out how to split it up.
“Okay, Charlie. I won’t split the property.”
I finish my glass of lemonade, and we catch up on what I’ve been doing the last couple of months, and then I make the walk back to the house. Just in time for good ole’ Ellen Mathews from across the way to knock on the front door.
Chapter Three
Daisy
Myalarmgoesoffwhen the sun isn’t fully up yet. I groan as I shut it off, rolling onto my back to look up at the ceiling. I go over everything I need to do as I listen to the horses nickering in the distance.
Shower.
Eat.
Chickens.
Horses.
Cows.
Simple enough.
I drag myself out of bed, stopping in front of the window to look out of it. The sky is starting to brighten, a light mist hovering above the ground. A wave of peace washesover me, the same way it always did when I was here. There’s something about the quiet, the calm, nothing but animals, that is soothing. There are no city lights, no city sounds. Just… nature.
I take a quick shower, change into old clothes, and pull out the casserole that Ellen Mathews brought yesterday to show how sorry she was for Grannie’s passing. I’m certain she just wanted to get the gossip on the house, as that’s what she does. Always has. She’s the gossip queen of Bakersville. It’s a good thing she brought the food though, because there is nothing else here to eat. I’ll have to go into town today. Charlie said he would take me.
The wicker egg basket is hanging on a hook by the chicken coop—the same basket Grannie has had since I was a little girl.
I step into the pen and stop short when I see the chickens standing off to the side in a perfect line, watching me. Again.
“Okay, that’s unsettling. You guys always do synchronized cult stuff, or is today special?”
I go to the coop to grab the eggs and find one in each nest, resting perfectly in the center.
I put them in the basket, smiling that I didn’t have to fight the chickens off.
“Thank you for being good poultry,” I say with a smirk. “I remember when I was little, Grannie had this one chicken, I called her Satan. She’d always peck me when I took her eggs.”
Their beady eyes follow me as I walk to the exit. They didn’t move an inch as I went in there, and if their heads hadn’t turned to watch me, I’d think they were dead.
“Weird chickens,” I comment, as I bring the eggs inside.
Next up: horses.
