Chapter Text
Spring 12 Year 1
“Tambora Renn.” I confirm to the driver on the Zuzu-Pelican Town-Calico Desert bus. The squat man in his mid-fifties looks at my ID, and then at me, then at the ID, and hands it over without a word. I look back, there are two other people on this bus, and they’re sitting a few aisles apart. I tuck my backpack into the overhead compartment and sit a few rows behind them before taking my laptop out of its bag.
Tambora,
I finished going over your application, and everything looks great! I don’t need the whole deposit immediately, especially since the only photos we had were of a model and not the actual cabin. Just send over half, and you can do the rest when you get here! I hope you like it, I did a little decoration just so it’s not bland furniture that smells like sawdust and loneliness. Shoot me a text when the bus gets close and the Professor and I will come walk you to the farm! (And help with bags, it’s a bit of a trek!)
See you soon!
-Sylvie Baudelaire
I don’t really care either way how the cabin smells, it’ll smell like me and my stuff eventually anyway, but it’s nice of her to care. I really wish this bus didn’t smell like stale corn chips, but it’s only an hour or so into the Valley.
The hour passes by quickly, and I realize I’m getting close, so I send Sylvie a text. Hey, just passed a sign that said Pelican Town, 5 miles.
Cool! See you soon! There’s also an emoji of a little grey cat flapping its paws.
I have a couple of minutes, so I brush through my bright red hair with my fingers before tying it in a simple top knot, so it doesn’t stick to my neck. Spring fair weather aside, I’m fair and freckled and overheat easily. I straighten my clothes, an indigo tee with a small plesiosaur track embroidered just below the collar, and some faded jeans tucked into a sturdy and well-loved pair of hiking boots. I feel as though I’m dressed appropriately for what Sylvie called a “trek” and that the locals won’t think I’m slovenly at the same time.
I’m probably reading too much into things. I’m good at that. The bus slows to a crawl and then the brakes hiss. Out my window I see a sleek black car and another, rusty bus. Neither of the other two passengers even look up, so I guess they’re going on to Calico Desert. One of them is wearing a weird purple hat with a feather in it. I giggle to myself, thinking about a hat filled with macaroni as I grab my backpack and head down the narrow aisle, out the windows I see who I assume must be my new landlords.
Sylvie must be the woman, and for a second, I think she’s old simply due to the shimmering silver hair. But no, her face is youthful and slightly round despite her slim frame, feline ears sit at the top of her head with a bun similar to mine between them, a delicate ribbon choker covers most of her neck and is tied at one side, she wears knee-high socks that go into black hiking boots that seem to have a bit of wear to them, though nowhere near as much as my own. Her left arm is in a black cast with a few signatures on it in silver marker, and a stunning kite-cut engagement ring is on her left ring finger, the stone is either salt and pepper diamond, or rutilated quartz, I can’t tell from this distance and make a mental note to ask her later.
Beside her is a strikingly handsome man with black hair and bright red eyes who can’t be older than thirty five, but when I looked him up at the time of my application all I found under the name Raziel Uldolfo all I found was some stuffy university article about a tenured professor in some far off country a year and some change ago. This guy, even if she calls him the Professor, isn’t old enough for tenure, so he can’t be the same professor from that article.
I step down from the bus and Sylvie bounces over to me, and her energy is infectious. I grin back at her and she hugs me, she’s so tiny up close, and this Professor Uldolfo is super tall. Sylvie’s eyes are grey like her hair, but darker and not quite blue.
“I’m so happy you’re here! It’s just way too much land, and you’ll love the little quarry out front! I think I saw a couple geodes mixed in with the rocks!” She claps and the bus driver unlocks the luggage storage zone behind the tires, and I reach for my bags, but as soon as I touch them the professor takes them, one in each hand and while I’d like to protest, they’re heavy, and I didn’t see any sidewalks past the two parked vehicles, which means I can’t exactly roll the things. I’m surprised with how easily he lifts them since one is full of my digging equipment and the other is half books half clothes.
“I’m happy to be here!! You had me at quarry.” I mock seriousness in my expression and Sylvie giggles, causing me to giggle in return, and the professor starts heading toward the dirt path that splits off East and West, and Sylvie and I jog to catch up.
She’s right, it’s probably a half mile to the entrance to the farm, an old sign is in the bushes to one side, I think I make out “Peepo’s” on the top line, but the rest is worn away. I don’t want to know what Peepo was doing out here.
The farm itself seems to be in pretty good shape, especially considering the pictures of an overgrown wilderness I saw when I looked the place up. The first area we walk into is a wide open pasture, with some little areas fenced off.
“We’re thinking about putting a few little stalls there, in case people come through and want to buy stuff, but really all we have to sell right now is flowers…” Sylvie says, and as we duck to the south past an old broken down greenhouse, the wind picks up and I smell the other side of the rocky outcropping before I see it. Hundreds of flowers, some in pots, some directly in the ground, so many types I can’t even keep track of them all, so many colors it’s overwhelming. It’s like a tide of color and the sweet scent of them all wash over us.
“Wow, Professor, your fiancé has quite the green thumb.” I grin at him.
“Please, call me Raziel. But yes, she does. It’s very impressive.” He leans over and my heart squeezes as he kisses the top of her head. I spot a few cannabis plants behind a big bundle of hyacinths, and remember the listing that said something about them growing and processing it for medicinal and recreational use and sale, I guess it would be pretty profitable, especially if you can grow things like she apparently can. In a small raised bed I see a few other plants, I think they’re mostly vegetables.
“Oh hush, I just read some books on it and the soil is doing all the work. This way to your cabin!” Sylvie heads South and then back to the East and I see the cabin, a deep forest green roof and soft cool brown walls, the door is painted to match the roof and has a small flower carved up around the peep hole. She unlocks the door and pushes it open, stepping aside so I can head in first.
It’s small, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To the left there’s a mini fridge with a microwave on top, a little counter with a sink and an outlet for a hot plate or something similar. Off to the right is the fireplace from the model photos, and a cute little bed with a brand new pair of pillows and a forest themed quilt. Built into the wall over the bed are some shelves, which will come in handy, and a nice looking dresser. There’s a table and a chair in the “kitchen” area with a vase of freshly cut tulips in an array of warm colors, and a small door past the bed. I open that and inside is a small bathroom with a shower. It’s not a luxurious mansion in the countryside, but it’s bigger than my apartment back in the city, and I don’t have to hear my neighbors screaming and then f*cking every. Single. Night.
“I love it. The rest of the deposit is 600g, right?”
“Don’t even worry about that, get settled, maybe to into town and get some essentials. Honestly, it’ll just be nice to see some more of the land getting used.” Sylvie smiles at me and I’m touched, if a little apprehensive at her generosity.
“Well thank you…” I trail off as my eyes fall onto the absolute goldmine of potential specimens just to the south, through a few trees.
“We’ll leave you to get settled.” Raziel says with a smile, setting my bags down just inside the door.
“Here you go!” Sylvie is holding out a key with a green keychain in the shape of a leaf, carved out of hardwood.
“This is really nice, did you make this?”
“Oh, no! Rose, she’s Harvey’s girlfriend, made it. You don’t know who Harvey is either. He’s the town doctor, and you’ll like them both! Rose has a mouth on her, though, fair warning.”
“Oh, that’s fine, I have one too.”
“Oh good that makes three of you.” Raziel chuckles and shakes his head as he heads back toward their larger farmhouse. It’s not big but it’s definitely bigger than mine, and the other cabin to the West I’m just noticing, with a blue roof.
“Who lives there?” I tilt my head and Sylvie smiles at me.
“Nobody yet, haven’t had any bites. Or at least, none that weren’t just actually trying to bite me.”
“Ew.”
“Yeah. Anyway, once you get all settled in, I’m making dinner, I hope you like Moqueca Baiana!” The mental image of hearty, funky fish stew almost makes my mouth water.
“f*ck yeah I do.” I grin and Sylvie claps excitedly before jogging lightly after Raziel.
A few hours later I’ve put away my clothes in the dresser, and my books on the shelf. I realize I didn’t pack any dishes and brave the counter. To my surprise and delight, there’s service for four in simple sage green, plates, bowls, glasses and mugs, and in a drawer is silverware. Sylvie was very thorough when I said I was leaving almost everything behind.
Obviously, the fridge is empty, and I don’t have a pantry, so I guess it’s time to go buy those essentials. I step outside and lock the door behind myself and realize that this is my only key. I don’t have a car. I don’t have a mailbox that locks like I did in the apartments back in the city. I smile at the simplicity and tuck it into the pocket of my jeans, my wallet in the back pocket, and head North and then East off the property after waving to Raziel who was sitting on the porch of their farmhouse, smoking a pipe. Farm life seems to agree with the professor.
The walk into town is pleasant enough, not particularly eventful, but I do spot some worms having a rave and decide to see what the big deal is, and find what appears to be a hand ax of some kind, which I excitedly tuck into my pocket. With a renewed pep in my step, I decide I’ll head to the museum first, and see if they have anything like this in their exhibit.
I enter the museum and see a man in blue with his head in his hands sitting behind the counter.
“Oh, oh no. This is a disaster.” He shakes his head and slumps in his chair.
“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” I rush closer, scanning him for injury.
“I’m afraid there’s nothing here to see, if that’s what brings you by. The head curator, or I suppose ex-curator, made off with the entire collection. Might as well board up the doors. We’ve nary a page or mineral to view. Could turn it into a joja café, I guess.” We both shudder and I hold my hands up placatingly.
“Well, I did find this hand ax, I’m not as familiar with the paleoanthropology of this region, but I’m pretty sure it’s at least two thousand years old, judging by the sharpening markings on the front and lack of handle…” He practically leaps over the counter to view the stone tool in my hand.
“You’re absolutely correct. The grooves on this side indicate it was either a rough draft, or belonged to someone inexperienced, like a child or adolescent.” He turns it over to show me the uneven grooves, where it was struck with a sharpener in a hectic pattern.
“I’m not as young as I once was, or I’d go out and look for more specimens myself…” He hangs his head again.
“I could do it. I have degrees in paleontology and archeology.” And a CPA, but that feels less relevant.
“I…could pay you from the library budget. It wouldn’t be a generous salary, but it’s not nothing.” He looks hopeful. While not nothing isn’t exactly what I was hoping for, this isn’t going to be soul sucking tedium so I’m thrilled.
“I’ll take not nothing.” I grin at him and he grins back, extending a hand which I shake once.
“Wonderful! I’ll pay you hourly per diem, and a bonus for every mineral or artifact you bring me.” He reaches into a drawer and punches a code into a safe, and pulls out a dusty POS machine, entering 5000G into one end and sticking a card with an image of the town square on the front into one end. “If you’ll insert your bank card into this side, I’ll complete the transfer for your first acquisition.”
I do as instructed and thank him for his time, and head out the front door, my digital pockets a little heavier. The general store closes in two hours, so I have plenty of time to shop, after wrinkling my nose in distaste at the local blacksmith shop, I can smell the uneven burn of whatever cheap fuel is being used, and hope to Yoba he doesn’t sell weaponry.
“Welcome to Pierre’s! I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you passing through the valley? We have only the finest quality products here at Pierre’s! Can I help you find anything specific?”
“I actually just moved onto the farm, with Sylvie and Raziel?” I grab a basket and feel my phone vibrate, I see the notification panel has a message from Sylvie.
Don’t buy animal products from Pierre’s! We have an arrangement with Marnie, the rancher that lives south of us, we get a better deal and it’s much better quality.
I smirk and put the egg carton back, and I think I see Pierre scowl.
“I see, well don’t forget to stock up on dry pantry goods. Rice is 5% off, and flour is buy one get one 10% off!” I give him a polite smile, though I’m screaming behind my eyes at the exuberance he uses to express the saddest discount I’ve ever heard.
“Thanks.” I bite down a laugh and grab a small bag of rice, and hear the door whoosh open, turning to look.
A young woman with ginger hair in a braid over her shoulder comes, giving me a smile. “Hi, new in town or just passing through?” She asks.
“New in town.” I smile. “Tambora.” I offer a hand.
“Nice, lots of new people lately. I’m Leah.” She shakes my hand and puts some oil and vinegar in the basket she grabbed by the door. “Nice to meet you. I haven’t run into the couple that moved onto the farm yet, they must be super busy.”
“I would say so, there’s a lot going on over there.” I grab a bottle of dish soap and add it to my growing collection of crap I’m going to have to lug home.
“Well I hope they grow some fresh vegetables. Farm to table salads. Ugh.” She puts a hand over her heart and I laugh.
“I’ll mention it to Sylvie.” I smile and she bows dramatically before heading up to the counter and paying for her items. I wait behind her and pay when it’s my turn.
Pierre graciously provides me with a crate to carry all my acquisitions home in for the nominal fee of 250G, and I peek around it occasionally as I start walking home.
I manage to get home without snapping my ankle, and put away my groceries. I’m most of the way done when there’s a soft knock at my door.
“Helloooooo!” Sylvie calls out from the other side.
“It’s unlocked!” I call back and she steps in, a linen bag over her uninjured right forearm.
“Hey there! I brought a small thing of milk, some eggs, et cetera.” She sets the bag on the counter and takes out a wooden carton covered in glitter and butterfly stickers and I smile.
“Craft project?”
“Hmm? Oh, haha, no, our local artisans have been doing some decorating for us. Marnie’s nephew Shane’s goddaughter Jas did this. Hoo, that was a mouthful. Anyway she and Vince are real cuties. Josie’s kids, Leo and Luna, are little angels too. Heh. Angels.” She chuckles to herself and hands me a glass bottle of milk and a couple wedges of cheese which I put in my mini fridge. “Sorry the fridge is so small, we thought it would be better to do a smaller setup and we could work toward an upgrade if you wanted one later. If you gather the materials for Robin, she’s the local carpenter, we’ll put up the money to pay for her time to expand this place.”
“Oh wow, that would be nice. I just got a job at the museum, so hopefully I’ll be able to find the time when I’m not digging for cool rocks and bones.” I smile.
“Oooh! I collect taxidermy and weird bones, we’ll have to look at my collection sometime and you can tell me what I have! I found this weird chicken statue when I was tearing up the soil for my milkweed bed, maybe you can bring that to work and it’ll get put in the museum!”
“Absolutely. I get a stipend for every item I bring, we could split it!”
“Oh cool! Oooh, we should go to the mines!”
“The whatnow?”
“The mines! There’s this old semi abandoned cavern North of town, the local adventurer guy gave me a sword, but I’m more arcane inclined, so I’m not using it.”
“Oh, I’ve got a trusty ax that’ll get me through.”
“Sick! We should go the next time it rains and I don’t have to water stuff. Anyway I’ll get out of your hair, dinner should be done in about an hour!” She waves and heads out, and I finish putting stuff away before going out into the small collection of stones out front. I smack a few rocks with my iron pickaxe and some ore is embedded in the stone, so I set those aside to extract with more precision. I’ll make a furnace and smelt them down later, make some ingots. I see another set of worms having a party just past a rock I can see a geode sticking out of and collect them and set them aside, before starting to dig around with my hand trowel. It hits something hard, but it almost feels like its about togive an I don’t want that, so I start gently scraping the dirt around it and see something with green specks on a round surface.
A fossilized egg??? No way! Even if it is, there’s no way its intact… It’s probably just a shell filled with dirt. Maybe clay. But as I dig around it, there’s just more shell, no cracks, nothing. As I dig out a little further, I find fossilized plant matter. Was this a nest? Is this an intact fossilized egg? The shape and size and colorings lead me to believe it’s a pepper rex egg, but this close to the surface would mean they were alive much more recently than previously thought…
I manage to excavate it without damaging it and lift it. It’s full of mud, I can feel it swishing around, and begin rotating it to find where the hole is, even if its plugged with clay, but I don’t find one. I. Don’t. Find. One.
Holding it close to my chest despite the dirt, I stand and rush inside my cabin before I set it gently on the table and bring out my holo light, and candle the egg from behind.
My gut clenches with excitement and a little terror, but so much excitement that the fear is drowned in seconds. I can’t believe what I’m looking at. There’s an embryo inside this egg. And it’s moving. I bite down a squeal and set it in my bed, still ignorant of the dirt it smears on my sheets and wash up for dinner. How to casually inquire after an incubator…I’ll figure it out.
Cleaned and dressed in fresh clothes, a nice grass green dress and flats, I walk up to the farm house. The scent of flowers eventually gives way to the fragrant fumes of stew I see Sylvie through their open door stirring in a cast iron cauldron hanging over the fire on a hook. A black and grey cat stretches on the porch as I walk past and rubs against my leg.
“Sorry about Meat Loaf, he doesn’t understand the concept of strangers.” Sylvie smiles and Raziel stands from his place at the table, coming over and taking the cauldron off the fire and setting it on a stand on the counter.
“That’s fine, he’s cute.” I reach down and scratch him behind the ears, and he wiggles against my hand for a moment before moving on to throw himself on Sylvie’s feet and squirm against her while chirping.
“Oh bugger off you little monster.” She nudges him with her foot and he prances off into their slightly ajar bedroom door. “I hope you’re hungry.” She gets down what look like hand-thrown clay bowls with some sort of writing on them, and begins ladling the thick, creamy fish stew into them.
“Even if I wasn’t, smelling that would’ve done the trick.” I grin and Raziel gestures to one of the four chairs at the table, pulling it out. I sit and smile at him, and Sylvie sets bowls down on the table with spoons in them.
“Drink? We have water, milk, I have some melon soda, and I have wine.”
“Melon soda? That sounds amazing.” I grin as she pulls three glass bottles of electric green liquid out of her fridge and set them down on the table.
Raziel opens both of theirs and gestures toward mine. “Want me to get that? They’re kind of tricky even when you don’t have a cast.”
I nod. “Thanks.” He cracks the top and hands it over, and I sip, refreshing green melon coating my tongue. Sylvie starts eating and I take that as the cue it’s okay to begin. It’s so delicious and hearty I almost groan. “I can’t remember the last time I had a meal this good. I’m not much of a cook, and one can only eat so much takeout.”
“Thank you! And tell me about it. I do not miss the university’s cafeteria. I’m so glad I got my mundane degree while I was still in secondary school, I don’t know if I could have done eight years of that gruel.”
“You only had to eat cafeteria food for like two months before you moved in with me.” Raziel smirks at her.
“So you mean we only had to eat cafeteria food for two months? You hated that sludge just as much as me.”
“That’s fair.” He chuckles and takes another bite of his food.
“So, you two met at a university?” I ask.
“Yeah, it wasn’t exactly above-board, but it is what it is.” Raziel waves a hand dismissively and sips a glass of ice water.
“I mean, as long as everyone is consenting adults, who cares.” I shrug.
“THANK YOU!” Sylvie almost shouts. “Sorry. Yeah, I was his student and was in a…less than fair pact with a less than pleasant being, and he got me out of it. I had a crush on him but that did me in.”
“I’m not proud to say I had a crush on her too, it felt kind of dirty perving out on my barely 18 year old student.” He rubs the back of his neck and takes another bite.
“I mean, you didn’t like hold grades above her head or anything right?”
“Oh gods no, she was my best student, far and away. She would have made a promising wizard, but witchcraft somehow suits her better.” He beams, proud of his fiancée and it warms my heart to hear it.”
“So, she was your student…” I lean forward, sipping my drink and eager for juicy details.
“Oh boy.” He laughs and Sylvie giggles.
“He was my professor, and he was a dick to me on the first day. I was late because I got held up by my RA, and he called me out in front of the class and made me cry.”
“Raziel. You bitch.” I scold him.
“I know! I know!” He holds his hands up in surrender.
“Anyway, I had a really severe asthma attack a week later, and this like, pathetic peaked-in-high-school girl had stolen my bag, which had my inhaler in it. The Professor puts two and two together with how snide she’d been to me all week and carries me like a princess to her dorm, gets my stuff back and drops me off at the nurse. Now, to me, he went from sh*tty teacher who’s class I just have to deal with for the semester, to a knight in shining armor.”
“More like an exhausted old man who hates bullies.”
“Hush, I tell it better.”
“Yes ma’am.” He smirks and refills his water.
“Anyway the dean comes and asks me what happened, and mentions that I should send the Professor a thank you email, even if he doesn’t answer because he’s apartment hunting that day. I’ve been in town a few years and know my way around pretty well, so I dig his faculty cell number out of the syllabus and send him a thank you, and offer to help him look for apartments as payment for not letting me suffocate.”
“And here is where I made quite the lapse in judgment.” Raziel buts in and Sylvie grins at him like a shark.
“He accepted my offer, with the caveat that I let him buy me lunch. We danced around each other for a few months, but I could feel…Well let’s just say a not very nice…person was after me, and he was really only interested in my virginity. The only guy I knew that was mature and saw me as a person and not a potential conquest was the Professor, so…”
“She decided to ruin me.”
“I did not! I got dressed up and came to his house, and told him what was going on.”
Raziel sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “As horrible and p*rny as it sounds, I couldn’t let that happen to her, to anyone, and I was the only person I knew, and still know, that stands a chance against that bastard, so I took her for myself.”
“And he took me.” Sylvie giggles and Raziel groans, rubbing his hand down his face.
“It felt so wrong, agreeing to do it. But I would be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted you for months before that.”
“You make it sound like I seduced you like some evil succubus.”
“It felt more like taking advantage of a vulnerable young girl.”
“I knew what I was doing when I asked you.” She looks at him, gaze full of adoration, and the look he gives her only surpasses it. It’s clear in the way he gently touches her arm when he walks past, and kisses her head and cheeks and hands whenever he can that he’s besotted, and she’s thriving. I’m happy for them, even if they’ve intentionally left some gaps in this story. I wonder if that’s for their sake, or mine. Either way, it’s good they found each other.
“It sounds like Sylvie could have been in a very bad situation if it wasn’t for you, Raziel.” I finish my drink and Sylvie hands me another without missing a beat.
“She could have. And that’s why I had no real choice left. If she’d gone to a classmate, there’s no way any of them could protect her. Now she’s my ward, and I her patron. She draws her magical energies from my own, and she’s incredibly gifted.” I open my mouth to ask Sylvie about her own practice, but she cuts me off.
“But tell us about you!! So young to have two degrees!”
“You have more than one degree too!”
“Magic helps with that kind of thing, it barely counts. Plus it’s art and literature, not science!”
“Fair enough. But um…I like rocks. And dinosaurs. Especially dinosaurs.” Ugh. I love dinosaurs so f*cking much.
“I like bones! And rocks!” Sylvie claps and takes another bite.
“We should look over our collections together.” I lean forward and she leans too, matching my energy.
We spend at least two hours talking about the struggles of preserving bones and other specimens before Sylvie lets out a substantial yawn and Raziel ruffles her hair.
“You need to get some sleep, darling, especially if you’re going to show that girl who’s boss at the egg hunt.”
I tilt my head, waiting for context.
“There’s an egg festival in town tomorrow. We’re going to finish meeting the locals, and I’ve been informed there’s a young woman that keeps doing the egg hunt and not letting the little kids have fun, so I’m going to destroy her and distribute my eggs amongst the children.” Sylvie looks a little irate that someone wouldn’t let kids win, and honestly I agree. Egg hunts are meant for kids, why wouldn’t you let them enjoy it. Sounds like someone needs to grow up.
“Sounds fun! Mind if I tag along?”
“Not at all! I’ll need to water my plants in the morning, and by then it’ll be open and you can walk with us!” She smiles and I stand, Raziel collects the dishes and starts washing them.
“See you guys in the morning then! Thank you for the delicious meal!” I head out the door with the rest of my drink in hand, and Raziel turns off the sink.
“I’ll walk you over, we don’t have lighting installed yet.” He puts down the towel he was using to dry his hands and follows me out, closing the door.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“Humor me, the world can be a horrible place for a woman walking home alone.” He pulls out a pipe and lights it, exhaling away from me, and I think for a second the smoke is in the shape of a skull, but it must be a trick of the light. We walk in relative quiet until I get to my door.
“Thanks again.” I wave, and he nods, heading back as I close the door and return to my previous acquisition. What better place to ask around about an incubator than an egg festival? I sigh, looking at my now dirty sheets and throw the blanket over the top, change into an old t shirt and lay down to get some sleep.
Spring 13, Year 1
I stretch with a groan and sit up, looking around and getting my bearings in this new place. I see the egg on the counter and grin, excited to learn what the locals can tell me about getting an incubator set up. I’ll see if Sylvie knows anything, but seeing as she’s pretty focused on plants I don’t know if she will.
I get dressed, a dark green skirt and a sage blouse, trusty boots, and brush out my hair. It’s a farming community, I doubt anyone will have a problem with comfortable footwear, but maybe a bright red rat’s nest isn’t the best way to make a good first impression on the good people of Pelican Town.
Once outside I see a bit of rain fell last night, and a few of those ore chunks are free of debris. Maybe I’ll just need to wash them off instead of chiseling the metal free from the rock. I shrug and head North and Sylvie waves from her ocean of flowers, black lace forms her sleeves coming down to her wrists, and covers her decolletage with delicate floral patterning as well. Her good arm holds a copper watering can and sprinkles clear, crisp looking water over a bed of pink and red tulips, hanging off her left elbow above the cast is a basket of blue and purple tulips, seemingly cut from the bed behind her that still looks just as voluminous with blooms as the one in front.
“Good morning! Would you like a flower for your hair? I could tuck it behind that clip!” She sets down her watering can and plucks a blue tulip from her basket.
“Oh, um, okay.” I tilt my head down and to the side so she can reach, and to my relief she is careful as she tucks the stem in behind my Compsognathus rib hair clip, holding the stem snug to my scalp.
“It looks so cute!” She claps, it’s muffled by the cast, and shakes her head side to side. I see two black tulips tucked into the top of a braid that starts behind each of her ears.
“So do yours!” I pick up her watering can and she gives me a grateful smile as we head up to drop it off on the porch. Raziel emerges, khakis, boots, a pale grey button down and vest.
“Hello ladies, you both look lovely.” He steps down and offers us each and arm, and Sylvie giggles as she takes his right with her casted hand, basket in the other, I shrug and take his left with a laugh and we start walking toward town.
We walk into Pelican town and it’s adorable everything is set up for an egg hunt, certain areas blocked off. I see…an overwhelming number of people, and decide to stick close to Raziel and Sylvie. A little girl with purple hair and light brown skin and a little ginger boy run over to us, the little girl is holding what I think is more glitter than basket and she holds it up to Sylvie, nearly smacking her with it.
“I made you a basket, Sylvie!! So you can hunt eggs with us!”
“Oh my gods that is the most beautiful basket I’ve ever seen!”
“Yaaaaaay! Vince said it has too much glitter.”
“Well then Vince clearly never heard RuPaul’s Law of Glitter.”
The boy tilts his head. “What’s that?”
“You can never have too much glitter.” She boops his nose and he swats at her hand, but she’s too fast for him, he giggles.
“Vince! Jas!” A young woman in a bright yellow blouse comes over and tries to pull the kids back, but they’re so hyper that she fails pretty quickly. “Hi, you must be new, I’m Penny. I’m their teacher.”
“Oh? That’s nice. What’s your degree in?” I ask her conversationally.
“Oh, um, I don’t have one.” She gives me a dirty look for just a split second before slumping her shoulders.
“Well I’m sure you’re providing them with valuable tools either way.” I smile, and Sylvie glances between us.”
“Come meet the ASS trio, Tambora.”
“I’m sorry the what now?”
“Abigail, Sam, and Sebastian. They’re a little older than us, but they’re cool. Well. The guys are.” She waves, and a group of young people start walking over before she can extrapolate.
The woman has bright purple hair, and she’s looking all around for…something. Maybe she’s the person that ruins the egg hunt for the kids. Beside her is a guy with super dark black hair and a hoodie, and behind them both is a blonde guy with supersaiyan hair. He shimmies between his two friends to reach us first.
“Hey Sylvie! Who’s your cute new friend?” The taller of the two guys, and honestly maybe one of the tallest people here especially if I include his ridiculous hair, tilts his head and smirks down at us, and when his eyes settle on me I feel some color rise to my cheeks.
“This is Tambora, she’s an archeologist and she’s renting one of the cabins!” Sylvie grins and hugs my arm.
“Well it’s nice to meet you Tambora, I’m Sam. I’m pretty stupid so if you want to talk about archeologism, you’ll have to dumb it way down for me.” He rubs the back of his head with a grin. He’s almost a walking example of the word punk, a denim jacket loaded with patches, ripped up jeans and combat boots, and a band tee so worn by time I can’t even begin to read what it used to say. I wouldn’t be surprised if his face jingled when he walks, he has so many piercings. The ones in his lower lip gleam a little in the sunlight as he grins at me.
I laugh “It’s Archeology, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hi Professor Raziel, you look really handsome today. Are you going to wear that to the Flower Dance?” Abigail I’m assuming, bats her eyelashes up at Raziel and I watch Sylvie’s eye twitch. Raziel doesn’t respond. “Uh, Professor?”
“Huh? Oh, did you say something?” He looks down at her with a brow raised and I hear a choked sound come from Sylvie who leans down and tucks a pink tulip into the hair of a running-past Jas.
“I said you look really handsome today, are you going to wear that to—”
“That’s nice. Do we know that guy over there, my darling?” Raziel stoops to kiss the top of Sylvie’s head and gestures to a group of older gentlemen.
“Oh, yeah! That’s Marlon, he gave me the sword? The other guy is Linus, he’s the drui—Nature enthusiast, and I don’t know who the other guy is.”
“Cool, I’m going to go say hello.” He kisses her hand and gives her a heated look that makes me feel like I should look elsewhere, and I do.
My eyes land on Sam, who is staring at me. He quickly looks away and I furrow my brow in confusion, scanning the crowd. I see a short guy in a ratty hoodie putting a bunch of eggs into the shape of a pyramid. He seems like he’d know about incubators. I head over.
“Hi! I’m Tambora, what’s your name?” I extend a hand.
“What do you want? I’m trying to make this display look nice. The ladies worked hard on them.” Kinda rude, but I’ll take it I guess.
“Well I was hoping you could tell me the best way to go about getting an incubator.”
“Talk to Robin.” He turns his back. Dick. Fine. Sylvie mentioned a Robin, said she was a carpenter.
I look around again and see Raziel talking with the trio of older gentlemen, they’re all amused about something. I see a few middle aged women in a circle chatting, and decide to try my luck with them.
“Hello ladies, is one of you Robin by any chance?”
A redhead woman smiles at me. Now that I think about it there are a lot of redheads in such a small town. I shake off the thought and listen. “That would be me! How can I help you?”
“I was told you know where I could find an incubator.”
“Ah! Yes, I build things, and among them is a deluxe coop that comes with an auto-feeder for your animals and an incubator. Why, are you interested in raising some animals? That would be in Marnie here’s wheelhouse.” She gestures to a kind looking woman with mousy brown hair.
“Oh, um, yeah, I was thinking about it. But I don’t think we need anyone else with egg production in this town!” I laugh and they join me.
“Well I have rabbits, and there’s always duck eggs. Ducks just don’t seem to like me very much. Regardless you’ll need that coop first.” Marnie smiles at me and sips from a mug.
“Alright then, I’ll have to come by your store later in the week, Robin.” I notice the other two women are staring. One of them has green hair. She must be Abigail’s mother. “I’m so sorry, I’m Tambora.”
“Caroline.” The green haired one gives me a saccharine smile.
“Jodi, a pleasure. I saw you talking with Sam. I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble.”
“Oh not at all, he asked about my area of study.”
“Oh, so he probably thinks you’re cute. That boy’s never studied a second in his life.” She sighs wistfully and sips her own mug. I mentally file that comment away for later and laugh nervously.
“He was just being polite, I’m sure. Anyway, thanks ladies I will see you around.”
I notice that I don’t see Gunther anywhere, and also notice a new group of people arriving from the south. The prettiest man I’ve ever seen is arm in arm with a beautiful woman with soft brown hair, and two gorgeous children hold each of their free hands. Those must be Leo and Luna, making the woman Josie. She pats each of the kids in turn and walks over to me.
“Hello, you must be Tambora. Sylvie told me you were coming and I was so excited I baked you a pie.” Her voice sounds like a warm hug, and she hands me a pie plate covered in foil. It smells like heaven.
“You didn’t have to do that!” I smile. “But I’m definitely going to eat it. You must be Josie.”
“I am! This is my husband Elliott, and our little ones are Leo and Luna. Besides, I’m sure my children will ask you enough questions about dinosaurs to more than make us even for one little pie.” She smiles at me and sits at an empty end of a table. I sit down as well and watch as Elliott kisses her cheek and then heads over to where Raziel has gathered a portlier man with a mustache and Sebastian as well, the men are all chatting.
“Your kids are adorable.”
“Thank you. They’re a handful. Sylvie offered to teach them on the farm once she gets established, but I wouldn’t wish that on her. Though I do like the idea of an educated educator…” She glances at Penny and then smiles at me. “Bless her heart, but I think she’s in just a bit over her head, so I’ve been homeschooling mine.”
“Sylvie doesn’t strike me as the type to make an offer she can’t uphold, if she said she’d teach them, I’m sure she intends to.”
“Of course, they’re just such spirited little dears.” She smiles at her children and I can see the contentment settle over her for a moment before a grating voice calls out from the center of the festivities.
“Excuse me everyone! It’s about time to start the annual egg hunt! If you’re participating, please gather over here!” Everyone stands up and gathers around the self important little man, and the kids and Abigail and Sylvie stand to one side. Abigail is glaring absolute daggers at Sylvie, who is kneeling and helping Luna fasten her shoe a little better, and then giving Vince some sort of pep talk.
“Are you ready everyone?”
Sylvie pats Luna on the head and stands up, and the kids are vibrating with excitement.
“Go!”
The kids take off running, and so does Abigail. Sylvie casually walks over to the East and begins collecting eggs. Despite her scrambling, Abigail is collecting maybe 1 egg to Sylvie’s every 2 or 3, and within a few more minutes, the balding man in the center blows a whistle, and everyone starts heading back. They hand over their baskets and the man who must be the mayor or something starts counting them.
“If only we could get you kids to pick up litter with this much enthusiasm, we’d have the prettiest town in the valley!”
“Maybe you should incentivize it.” Sylvie gives him a sweet smile and he coughs.
“Anyway…The winner of this year’s egg hunt is… Sylvia!” He holds her basket out, and when she takes it he also hands her a straw hat. “Your prize.”
Abigail actually stomps her foot before walking over to Sebastian who looks like he’s going to turn purple from holding back laughter, and Leo, Josie’s little boy, starts crying.
“I found so many this year though…!” he sniffles and Josie pets his hair out of his face.
“You did a good job sweetheart.”
“Hey Leo, do you want this hat? It won’t fit because of my ears and I think it would look super cool on you!” She crouches and puts the hat on him.
“R-Really?” He sniffles and she nods, wiggling her ears and coaxing a giggle out of him.
“What about me…?” Luna’s lip quivers, and Sylvie holds up a finger.
“Well I have this basket full of SO MANY flowers, I thought maybe we could make flower crowns while your mommy and daddy talk to the other boring grown ups! Jas, Vince, would you like to help?”
“Okay!” They cry out in unison and my heart squeezes a little when Vince looks up at me.
“Can you come make flower crowns too? And tell us about dinosaurs?” My heart soars and I nod enthusiastically, and we all gather in a little patch of grass, sitting down and starting our crowns. Out of the clinic emerges a couple, the man tall and dorky looking with a moustache, and beside him a tomboyish young woman with short brown hair. She spots us and heads over, sitting between me and Sylvie.
“Hiya! I’m Rose, resident loud mouth. You must be Tambora. Sylvie said you were coming and I’ve been psyched ever since. Sick bone clip. Is that like a rib or something?” She tilts her head.
“Uh, yeah, it’s a compy rib.”
“Oh like the little evil raptor things?”
“I mean, the media gives them a bad rap, but they were just carnivores.”
“Sick. Is it real?”
“Yes, actually.”
“That’s so cool!” she leans closer and observes it for a moment. “Man I’m starving. Gonna go steal one of those charcuterie trays.”
“Yaaaay! I love you!” Sylvie calls after her as she heads to a table. She returns and Sylvie immediately grabs some salami, chewing it while she measures Luna’s head against the current blue and pink flower crown she’s working on.
The day goes by incredibly fast, Sylvie, Raziel and I meet the rest of the townsfolk that are actually in town, apparently there are a few that are out, like Sam’s dad Kent is overseas with the army, scheduled to ship home at the start of summer, and Shane (The guy who was rude about the eggs)’s girlfriend Nashani is away at vet school, but she’ll be back next month too, Even Sam comes and joins us, surprising everyone with how beautiful his flower crown ends up.
“I think Ms. Tambora should have it, what do you guys think? With her long hair she looks like a princess, right?” He sets the rainbow colored crown gently on my head, careful of the clip.
The kids all express agreement and I smile, my cheeks burning. “Thank you, Sam.”
“Of course. I hope you like it.” He smiles, his own cheeks getting a little rosy. We look at each other for just a beat too long, and then he sneezes very loudly, and everyone jumps.
“Oh man…my doze… I hate allergies…” He pulls a packet of tissues out of the inside pocket of his denim jacket and everyone laughs.
The three of us get back to the farm late, all three of us wearing flower crowns, and it feels weird to admit it even to myself, but mine’s the prettiest. Sylvie and Raziel walk me back to my cabin, and then head home. I lay in bed thinking about dinosaur eggs.
That egg is intact. I could incubate a real pepper rex. I COULD HAVE A PET DINOSAUR.
That does it. I have far too much energy. I get up and get dressed again, grab a lantern, and my pick and other digging tools, and head out to the quarry in front of my house. First I just go through the motions of breaking up the larger stones into more easy to transport pieces, knowing I’ll need them to have that coop constructed later, and maybe upgrading my house. Who am I kidding? I want a bigger house too. I end up with a good amount of stone by the time I’m done, though nowhere near as much as I’d need. I’ll definitely be going into the mines soon. I also dig up a few more worm raves and find an old rusted spur which I tuck away into a cloth and put in my bag, some good clay deposits which will be useful if I decide to have a silo built, and even a few lumps of clay which will I can use to smelt that ore.
I’m almost ready to head inside, my tools put away, when I look behind a rock and see a worm party. Except they’re sleeping. No, worse, they’re dead. And there are more of them than normal. Like the worms found this, and then stayed and died, and more worms came and continued the cycle, on and on.
I couch and scrape them away with my hand trowel, and start slowly digging. I displace layer after layer of dirt and gently scrape at clay, trying to be careful in case I find another dinosaur egg, or some other goodie, but to be honest, there’s a deep hollow pit in my stomach as I keep digging. I almost feel like I should stop, but something tells me to keep digging. The hole is nearly up to my shoulder by the time I feel something bumpy, yet smooth, like lizard scales. But it’s small. I wrap my fingers around it and pull, and realize that there’s something hanging off it. Once I pull it out and into the light, I stare, mouth agape.
It's an amulet. I study it closely, it’s an oblong shape, one side is green scales, as if it were carved from peridot, and carved into the metal on the back is a reptilian hand reaching upward. A cord dangles from it and as soon as I touch the cord it practically disintegrates. I look closer at the amulet, and decide that it’s not going to the museum with the spur and the chicken statue. It’s staying right here with me, and that sick ass dinosaur egg. I stand, tucking it into my pocket, and look up at the moon before my vision goes black.
I wake up in bed, and look around, confused.
“Oh thank gods you’re awake. I found you in the yard at 6 AM. What were you doing out that late? The professor had to carry you to bed. I didn’t want to undress you so I’ll just wash your bedding later. Are you okay?? He went to get Doctor Harvey.”
“Oh, I’m okay! I think I just got carried away digging…” I put my hand over my pocket, and relief washes over me as I realize the amulet is still there. I don’t know why, but I don’t want her to know I have it.
“Okay, well Harvey should still take a look at you. You can come sit on the porch and drink lemonade today.” She doesn’t leave much room to protest, so I say nothing. “I’ll make you some breakfast. Fey toast okay? Ah, what do they call it here, French toast.”
I nod and watch as she gets to work and within a few minutes my little cabin smells delicious. I sit up and stretch, and she watches me get up and walk to the chair before setting a mug of coffee down for me. I don’t even have a coffee maker. I see a fancy one on the counter and look at her, confused.
“It’s our old one. I really like the stovetop one we have, so you can keep this. How do you feel?” she puts a plate in front of me and drizzles some maple syrup over the two slices of egg-battered and buttered toast. My stomach growls and I sip the coffee, and immediately dig in to the food.
A knock on the door heralds the arrival of the good doctor, and Sylvie opens the door for him and the professor.
“Well you feel well enough to eat, which is a good sign. Do you mind if I take your vitals?” He sets his bag down and waits, when I nod he starts with my blood pressure, low to normal, then my heart rate, also normal, temperature, normal. “Seems to be good there. Just try to stay hydrated, okay? And if you feel dizzy again, send someone to get me and I’ll take another look at you.” Harvey takes a sip of coffee, and the door creeks open. Rose pokes her head in, holding Meat Loaf.
“He’s so friendly!” She pets him and he preens at being the center of attention.
“I don’t think he knows how to be anything else.” Sylvie smiles and ruffles her cat between the ears.
“Well we won’t overstay our welcome, plus I have to open the clinic. Nice seeing you again.” Rose sets Meat Loaf down, and he makes himself at home on my counter. Sylvie shoos him down but not before he makes off with a slice of toast and books it out the door.
“Byyyeee!” Rose heads out with Harvey, and Sylvie strips my bed to wash my sheets.
“You really don’t need to do that.” I tell her, taking another piece of toast from the pile.
“It’s fine, I’m doing ours, might as well do them all, and hang them out to dry. It’s supposed to rain the next couple days. Rest up, maybe we can sneak off to the mines!”
The thought excites me, so I sit down with my toast and grin at her.
“Oh, by the way, I got another application last night, and it looks good, so I approved it. We’ll have a new neighbor once summer starts up.” She takes a bite of toast and washes it down with coffee.”
“Oh sweet!”
“Yeah, I’m hoping her arrival will help Shane stop being such a bitch.” She sips her coffee. “His girlfriend Nashani’s coming home.”
