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“Let me be clear,” Alana whispered back. “I have a good everything to look at.”

Tess groaned. “I want every single dirty detail.”

“Not right now.” Alana laughed. “Maybe later.”

“Promise?”

Alana threw her arm around Tess’s neck and kissed her hair. “Promise.”

The distant tapping of a microphone hushed the crowd. Alana and Tess remained glued at the hip as they stepped out of the tent and faced the amphitheater where Freya was getting everyone’s attention.

“I’m not even sure how to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you tonight,” she started. “With your support, both financially and emotionally, we are proving to ourselves and the rest of the world that small businesses matter. Family businesses matter. Even if we’re small and our profits aren’t gargantuan, we are still valued in a community such as this. It means so much to me, my father, and the rest of my family.”

Alana and Tess whooped and hollered as the crowd cheered.

Sophie stood by with the camera facing her sister, smiling with tears in her eyes.

“As you are aware, we are in the process of trying to raise seventy-five thousand dollars to save our family farm. At the moment, we are sitting at seventy.”

More cheers, holy craps, and we’re so closes were whispered amongst the crowd.

Alana craned her neck and peered up at the stars. Please, she prayed. Please save us.

“When my family and I were discussing how we were going to pull this off, my brilliant sister Sophie made a comparison to the story of David and Goliath. So I thought…why not share the story with all of you as one of our acts for tonight?”

The crowd roared as Freya flipped a piece of paper from her clipboard.

“Once upon a time, there was a giant named Goliath. Goliath believed himself to be the biggest and baddest in the land. He thought the land was his, and he could own it.”

Alana tilted her head toward Tess. “I don’t think that’s how the story goes.”

“Your sister has never thrived at creativity. Let her have it.”

They chuckled until Karol swiftly turned around and whisper-screamed at them to be quiet.

“Goliath also had the best tools and weapons, and he thought he could defeat anyone that would come in his path. When he was faced with David, a scrawny boy who would seemingly never win the battle, he laughed in his face. He told him that his attempt were useless.” Her face grew red, and she blew out a breath.

“Is she okay?” Tess asked.

“She hasn’t been okay for a while,” Alana answered truthfully.

Tess squeezed Alana’s side.

“But David was persistent. He showed up to the fight with his slingshot and rocks, ready for battle. And while it didn’t seem like much, David was confident in his fight against Goliath. Does anyone know why?”

“Because he had God on his side!” someone shouted.

Freya smiled, then her face went serious. “Listen. After everything my family has been through, I’m not sure how I feel about religion or God. But, I do know this.” She placed her clipboard on the ground then fully faced the crowd. “Nights like this, experiencing all of your love and support for our farm, it is the closest thing I have ever felt to the divine. Here at Marien, we talk a lot about Mother Nature.” Freya glanced over at Otto at the side of the stage, who winked at her. “Maybe Mother Nature is God in a different way, maybe God is being able to experience all of you. All I know is that, after tonight, whatever happens, I am so grateful that we have one another. I am grateful that we grew up in a community that cares deeply about our family and our success. Even through the hard times.” Freya’s eyes locked with Alana’s across the crowd. “Even when it felt like we weren’t going to make it through.”

The crowd was hushed to silence from that.

Cal cleared his throat. “What happened to David and Goliath?”

Freya shook herself out of the somber moment. “Right! Well, as you know, David was able to defeat Goliath with the few stones he had. He defied the odds, and he took down the giant. Then he cut off his head.”

Everyone cheered.

Sophie scrambled up to the stage and held up her phone. “We’re at seventy-three!”