Farrington Farms: Slice of Life LitRPG Novel, page 6
“Okay, I’m too curious now,” he groaned and spent all five points on Mrs. Farrington. Her number went up to twenty-two, but the status still said ‘neutral.’ “Well, maybe it’s twenty-five then?”
He was about to head to dinner when he decided to check on the quest log. There was a new quest available, one that made perfect sense. He had to water the crops now, which offered the recovery attribute, one attribute point, and a new set of work clothes. He hoped that would include a new pair of boots, so he turned off the computer and went down to the barn to see if there was any watering equipment. Sadly, all he found were some containers that could hold water, but the buckets he used to flush the toilet would work just as well. He felt deflated, but he knew all along that there wouldn’t be any fancy farm equipment in the barn, because that would be too easy.
There was no point in checking the progress bar on the upgrade. While he didn’t think he was a farmer before coming here, he was smart enough to know that the seeds wouldn’t sprout without water. With a groan, he pushed off the chair, stuffed his feet into the tight boots, and went to dinner.
Something was wrong when he went into the kitchen. Mrs. Farrington was leaning against the counter with her arms folded over her chest, staring at him from the second the door closed behind him. For a moment, he thought he did something wrong, but couldn’t figure out what.
“Is there a problem?” he asked while trying to remember if he’d said something wrong. She hadn’t brought him lunch, after all, so maybe the mother was mad at him.
“I’ll say,” she groaned and waved at his feet. “Take them off. Let’s see how bad they are.”
“Oh,” he groaned, realizing that Whinny had ratted him out about his bleeding feet. He didn’t want to have a fuss made, but he could tell straight away that Mrs. Farrington wasn’t the type of person to ignore. With a sigh, he ripped off the boots, which was easy since he hadn’t bothered tying them.
“Oh, good God,” she cried out while kneeling down to take a closer look. “Alright, mister, go have a seat at the table while I run some water.”
“Water?”
“Those feet need to soak, and you may as well throw those boots out,” she growled, stood up, and grabbed him by the arm. “Go on, get you some supper. I’ll be in shortly.”
He didn’t see a point in arguing, so he went into the dining room. Of the three, only Cassidy looked at him when he entered. Joanie made sense, because her nose was buried in her book. Whinny, however, had her arms folded over her chest, staring out the window opposite the door. The look on her pleasant face screamed ‘guilt’, and her cheeks were nearly as red as her mother’s hair. He said nothing as he sat down and pulled his plate closer, even though it was just a baked potato and some green beans. It was proof that they were nearly out of money, and he was half-tempted to stay up all night to water the field, even if it meant doing it barefoot.
“I’m sorry,” Whinny muttered with her chin against her chest. “I had to say something.”
“I’m sure you felt like you had to,” he replied, but was mindful about his tone. She looked like she felt bad enough, so he saw no reason to lay a guilt trip on her.
“You’re not mad?”
“I wish I had some bigger boots, but, no, I’m not mad,” he sighed and set to work cutting up the potato. “You’re just looking out for me.”
“Are you sure?”
“He said it’s fine,” Cassidy snapped, rolled her eyes, and mashed her potato with her fork. “So you can quit fretting and eat your food while it’s hot.”
“Okay, I just. . .”
“God, will you move on,” Joanie groaned and forked her potato without looking away from her book. “It’s not like he’s going to break up with you, or something.”
“Hey!”
The room fell silent a second later, because the mother had just arrived, carrying the two buckets he’d used to fill the toilet tank. It looked like there was more in them than water though, because the top was foaming a bit.
“Get up for a second,” she sighed and plopped the heavy buckets down on the floor to wipe her brow. “Then stick these under the table and shove your feet in them.”
“What’s in there besides water?” he asked while moving his chair, as well as the buckets since her face was glowing red.
“You’re better off not knowing. Now, when Whinny told me about your problem, I went through some of Grandpa’s old things. There’s a pair of boots about the same size, but they’re pretty worn, so the leather might have stretched. If they don’t fit, well. . .”
He was about to sit down when he realized she wasn’t going to finish her sentence, because he knew exactly why. There were tears forming in her eyes, and she hurried off into the kitchen before he could say anything.
“Don’t,” Cassidy warned him. “Just sit down and do as she says. When she’s upset like that, it’s best to just leave her be.”
“Shouldn’t somebody talk to her though?” he asked while slowly letting a foot sink into the bucket. The water was freezing, and the wounds stung when the water hit them. He nearly ripped his feet back out, but thought better of it.
“She’s just worried about money again,” Cassidy sighed and forced a bit of potato into her mouth like it was medicine she needed to take. “She’s always worried about it, but, well, knowing that she can’t afford to get you some proper boots just makes her feel guilty.”
“Like the lack of meat with the meals?” he added while dipping the other foot into the other bucket. It was too small to put his foot at the bottom, which forced him to press his toes down and keep his heel lifted. The bad angle made his hamstrings ache, which proved that he should do some stretching exercises before heading out into the field. “I was worried about that too. I got the seeds planted, but now they need watered.”
“I’ll help you with that,” Cassidy replied, then leaned to one side to nudge Joanie’s arm.
“What?” she growled and put her book down long enough to give her sister a scowl.
“We’re all going to help,” the oldest sister stated before giving Whinny a stern look as well. “We can sell grapes at the end of the lane while we wait for the wine to ferment, but that won’t happen if all of us mope around the house like a bump on a log.”
When he focused, he realized that was a slight drawl to her words, like her southern roots were starting to show. He hadn’t noticed it before, so he decided that the change was new. In truth, he liked it, even if he didn’t understand why.
“Look at my arms,” Joanie grumbled and held out a thin limb toward her sister. “Do I look like I can carry buckets of water all day?”
“Not until you start lifting something heavier than a book,” Cassidy challenged her with a raised brow. “It’ll do us some good. Jeric is one guy, so we can’t keep expecting him to do it all by himself. Tomorrow, before breakfast, we gather up all the buckets we can find. Joanie, since you’re so dang smart and all, you can figure out a better way of watering the fields. It’ll have to be done every morning, so we better figure out a smart way of doing it.”
One by one, the girls finished their dinner, then took their plates to the kitchen. Jeric tried to get up as well, but Cassidy came back and pushed his shoulders down until he sat.
“You need to soak those for another thirty minutes,” she sighed and took Whinny’s seat next to him. “Guess I can keep you company until then though.”
7
His conversation with Cassidy haunted him as he waited for sleep to come. While he appreciated that she didn’t leave him alone to wait for his feet to finish soaking, the fact that she never spoke of anything other than small talk left his chest aching. In his opinion, they were becoming friends, and should have been able to talk about something other than the lack of rain, or how long it would take to bucket-feed the field. There was nothing he could do about it though, so he counted buckets of water in his sleep, then drifted off.
The next morning, he awoke to a new desk and chair at the computer. Neither was too fancy, but the chair was more comfortable, and the desk actually had some drawers in it. They were empty though, so he checked the program before heading out.
He still had an attribute point to spend, but persona was the only thing getting close to a new ranking. Since ten points were required per ranking, gaining one point seemed kind of pathetic, so he left it alone and clicked through the other pages. His conversation with Cassidy helped their status, but she was still at an eight, with a long way to go to reach whatever the next ranking was. The production upgrade was completed, but, without any water, he doubted the seeds had sprouted, especially overnight.
True to her word, Cassidy was outside, piling up buckets and other containers by the water pump. Whinny was sitting on the grass, plucking dandelions, showing no care that her older sister was the one doing all the work.
“Good morning,” he called out and waved to the girls.
“I don’t know about that,” Cassidy groaned and dumped a heavy bucket on the ground. Without another word, she pointed to the grass next to Whinny, where a pair of old, broken boots awaited him. He hurried over and tried them on, only to discover that the soles were thinner than his old ones, but were stretched out enough that he could get his feet in without hurting too much. It would have to do until he finished watering the crops, so he sprang to his feet, took Whinny by the arm, and pulled her up as well.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?”
“You can pump the water,” he said with a wink to Cassidy. “If you’re not strong enough to carry the full buckets, then you can help fill them.”
“Really?” she groaned and looked over at the pump like it was an execution chamber. “That pump is old. I can barely fill a water bottle from it.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Cassidy replied and winked back at him. “We all have to help, remember?”
“Why doesn’t Joanie have to help? She isn’t even out here.”
“She’s in the outbuilding, trying to come up with something smarter,” Cassidy sighed and placed a bucket beneath the pump for Whinny to fill. She stepped aside though to get closer to Jeric, then leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper. “At least I think she is. She might be taking a nap, or reading those darned books, for all I know.”
“She can spell Whinny later then,” he replied and carried a few buckets over as well. “Come on, let’s get started.”
Whinny could barely move the pump at first, so Jeric jumped in to get the first round underway. As soon as four of them were filled, Cassidy and Jeric picked them up and headed off to the field, leaving the other four buckets for the other sister to fill. As they walked, he could hear the poor girl grunting, which made him feel a little guilty. He doubted she had an attribute page, which meant she would have to build muscle the old-fashioned way. It was good for her though, so he ignored her whimpers and made for the field.
To his relief, Cassidy had done her homework, and knew exactly how much to water each seed. Each bucket could water four mounds, which meant they had sixteen done before they headed back with their empties. Whinny was hard at work when they returned, and had two of the buckets filled before they dumped the empties in front of her. He was satisfied with her effort, so he filled the other two to give her a break. They had half the field watered by breakfast, so they headed in for a quick meal. There were fewer eggs and toast to go around, so he took just enough to keep his stomach from grumbling, especially since Joanie hadn’t come in.
“She probably fell asleep with a book on her face,” Cassidy sighed as they went back to the water pump. “I’m betting she’s. . .”
The tree had been blocking their view of the pump, but, since he was the first to step around it, he saw the scene first. The buckets were gone, and there was a hose connected to the opening of the pump. He nudged Cassidy and pointed at the pump, then altered his path to head toward the field. Joanie must have found more than one hose, because he noted where a red hose had been connected to a green one, then another red one on the other side of the lane. On the other side, they found Joanie sitting by the end of the hose, which was stuck in one of the buckets.
“Sorry if I came up a bit short,” she sighed, closed the book, and nodded at the bucket. “That one is almost filled. You’ll need someone at the pump, and someone here to call out when to stop. I’ve discovered that you need to stop pumping when you’re down to your last bucket.”
“Thanks,” he offered with a quick bow of his head. “This will really speed things up.”
Joanie gave him a nod, then walked back to the house, likely to get her breakfast. From the looks of it, she’d filled all of the buckets, so he picked two up and carried them the remaining thirty feet to the field. He’d just finished with the last bucket when he turned to find that Cassidy hadn’t budged from her spot at the end of the hose.
“You need to call it a day?” he asked as he brought the empties back.
“What?” she gasped, shook her head, and looked over at him. “Oh, no, just. . .sorry. Joanie just surprised me is all. I mean, sure, she figured out a way to make watering easier, but. . .”
“But, she also pumped a lot of water?”
“Yeah. I never seen that girl lift a finger before. I’m shocked.”
“Make sure you thank her later then,” he groaned and picked up two more buckets. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
The hoses had cut the trip down by three-quarters, and they finished watering the field well before lunch. Whinny came out and helped carry back the empties, while their mother set to work disconnecting the hoses and rolling them up. Jeric was going to leave them there for tomorrow, but the mother insisted that the hot sun would ruin them before long. She had a point, so he helped her out since the hoses were so heavy.
When everyone headed back to the house, Jeric hurried to the barn to check on the computer. The quest was complete, and a new work outfit was waiting for him in the box. The boots fit perfectly, as did the new, dark brown overalls, and the new shirt and underpants that seemed to breathe better than the old. He also had socks, and, thankfully, a straw hat to block out the sun. Everything but the hat was put on, then he went back to the computer to check the other rewards. Recovery was now unlocked as an attribute, and now he had two attribute points to spend. For a second, he thought about putting them into persona, but his aching muscles said to hold off.
There were no new quests, so he checked the remaining quests he had, then went out to look at that front door. After looking at it for a minute, he realized that the hinges were bent out of shape, likely from too many years of dealing with the weight of the heavy door. He couldn’t explain how he knew that, or how he knew how to fix it, but he hurried off to the barn to find some tools. After finding a hammer and a rod that looked narrower than the pins in the hinges, he hurried back and went to work. With the door closed, he knocked out the pins, then beat the hinges with the hammer until they lined up again. With that done, he slid the pins back into place, then tested the door.
“It works!” Mrs. Farrington cried out from the other side of the living room.
“Were you watching me?” he chuckled and shoved the tools into his pockets.
“Bit hard not to notice with all that banging,” she replied and walked over to test the door a few more times. “This is nice. I won’t have to use the kitchen now to get to the porch.”
“Speaking of which, do you know if there’s any wood around here?” he asked as the other quest came to mind. “I was thinking about rebuilding the porch while we wait for the crops to grow.”
“Uhm, there might be some wood in the outbuilding, but you’d have to ask Cassie. In fact, I highly suggest you speak with her first. She’s claimed everything in that old building for herself, and tends to get a bit uppity with anyone who goes in there.”
“You know where she’s at?”
“Where else? In the outbuilding,” she chuckled and gave his arm a squeeze. “Thanks for fixing the door though. You’re really pulling your weight around here.”
The celebration was short, and Mrs. Farrington was back in the house without another word. He was starting to suspect that the mother never left the kitchen, but that sounded crazy, the more he thought about it. With a sigh, he went outside and stared at the outbuilding, pondering if he should go pay Cassidy, or Cassie, according to her mother, a visit. He was tired though, and it was nearly lunchtime, so he headed back to his room instead.
