Chapter 2
I guess when he called it a 'big old terrain', he put the emphasis on the 'old'.
I stare dumbfounded at the wooden house in front of me. If I was beaten down before, I am even more so now.
"This is it!" the mayor spins on his feet to look at me, though my eyes don't budge from the farmhouse.
He seems to notice my reaction and purses his chapped lips momentarily. The man takes a hand to cover his mouth, and I think he just held back laughter.
"It's a bit dusty and..." he waves his hand in front of his face. "... oh well, I'm sure it'll look as good as new when you put some effort into it."
I swallow my pride and close my eyes to gather my thoughts before managing to stretch a smile on my lips that seems to be a little too forced, considering the face Lewis makes. I'm still getting used to this.
The mayor starts turning towards the path that leads out of the terrain before suddenly turning back to me.
"Oh, I almost forgot." He adjusts the collar of his sweater. "If you need anything built for you, Robin is the name of the local carpenter. Her store is just up the mountain, that way."
The man points towards a small opening that gives way to a bigger path on the west end of the farmhouse. It is a bit hidden by all the tall grass and tricky bushes, but I can see it.
"I better get going now. Visit the townsquare anytime you want! We won't be going anywhere."
Lewis chuckles charismatically and waves me goodbye as he disappears between the tall grass that mostly covers the ground.
As he walks away, my grin quickly turns to a frown, and I can't help my grumpy side from taking over.
I stump up the brief stairs that lead to the entrance and let my stuff fall down on the wooden flooring. I knock my feet on the ground a few more times, trying to get rid of the mud on my boots as if they weren't about to get dirty again.
"What the hell was I thinking?... Look at this mess!" I gesticulate with my arms forwards, and I can feel the tiredness invading my body just by thinking of all the hard work I need to do.
"This place's probably been sitting around with no one to care for it for decades..."
I sit heavily on the step with a light 'thump', and I hear some noise next to me. I look over and notice a few tools laying around: a scythe, a hoe, an axe for cutting wood - I hope - and a pickaxe.
My eyebrows furrow as I examine them. My hand reaches towards the axe and I hold it firmly with both hands, setting a grip to it. I slide my thumb along the tool until I find a slight indentation at the end of the wooden handle. I bring it closer to my eyes and manage to make out two letters, carved manually: K. B. The first two letters of my family's last names.
I can feel my expression softening considerably when I recognize it. Now that I think about it... I can't believe all this was grandpa's.
A weird warmth spreads through my chest, and my grasp around the tool tightens ever so slightly. I take a deep breath and look around, letting my pupils rake over the disheveled horizon in front of me.
My teeth sink into the inside of my cheek, and I run a hand over my face.
"Okay, Agatha... stop lazing around and let's get some shit done."
My whole body aches in pain. Well, it already does naturally, but more than usual, I mean.
One of my hands goes to my lower back as I lean my head back, panting from all the hardwork I've been doing non-stop for the past 3 hours.
I open my eyelids to look at the sky. It's certainly darker than when I arrived, though there are a few sunbeams painting the purple-ish canvas still.
I'm satisfied with what I managed to do in such little time. Of course, I'll probably have to do way more hand-work tomorrow, but I already set up a spot to plant my seeds and got rid of the bushes that made entering the farm so annoying. I can even see a little bit of the sun if I stand on tip-toes.
I drag myself towards what I ought to call 'my house' from now own and lean the scythe I was holding against the wall next to the doorway.
My hand goes deep into my pocket and reaches for a single rusty key that I definitely, most surely, absolutely will clean up, and, of course, it opens the door.
The creak that echoes through the room makes my ears hurt, but I'll get used to it.
There's a fireplace, a cable TV, a door that I hope leads to a washroom and a bed on the right corner of the house. I don't know exactly what I was expecting. Maybe an empty room taken over by some weird species. So I guess this is good enough.
I grab my bags and drop them next to the TV, taking from them some snacks and absolutely demolishing them.
After I'm done dining - if I can call it that - I head to the fireplace. There's already some firewood prepared, so I just use my lighter to help start the embers.
I rub my hands as I get up. My shoulders roll automatically, and I hear light cracks from the movement, though it's nothing I'm not used to.
I start taking off my dirty clothes and throw them on my new bed, rushing to the bathroom. When I turn on the shower, the water droplets feel more refreshing than usual.
I clothe myself in a new outfit as soon as I'm done showering and dip my old clothes under the still open shower in hope to clean it up at least a little.
As I wait, I look out the window and look to the dirt road. In the distance, I can make out blurred buildings and yellow lamps. The mayor's words echoe inside my head. We won't be going anywhere. Maybe I won't either.