Where the Moon Lies

Title: Where the Moon Lies
Author: Azalea J.
Warnings: Mention of Masturbation, Copious Tomfoolery, and a bit of WAFF.
Disclaimer: This is a work of Original Fiction. All characters and settings belong to the author Azalea J.
Word Count: Approx. 9 600

- Chapter Five -
Alden hefted the scythe behind his back and brought it down through the waist-high grasses. Sweat soaked his trousers, and his feet were uncomfortably warm in his boots. His naked back gleamed in the harsh sunlight. His sun-bleached hair was matted against his face and neck. His hands were calloused, his body firm. His breathing, though labored, was strong. Again he swung and again grass flopped off their stalks and lay in clumps on the summer-dried soil. He'd have enough to bundle again soon.

Suddenly he was slammed into from behind by something large and light. The air whooshed out of him and he dropped his scythe on the way to his knees.

Sharp, glorified laughter rang out from behind and he turned to see his brother bent double, clutching his chest, almost on the ground with mirth.

Alden growled and dug the nose of his left boot into the soil. "Lex!"

"Alden… your face!" Lex was gasping for air in between laughs.

Alden sprang, reaching to grab Lex around the middle and drag him down. But Lex stopped laughing at once and ran, his feet slipping in the cut grasses and loose soil. They ran across the field and past their father, who shouted after them but they just kept running.

Jumping out of the grass, Lex switched directions and ran straight for the house. Not anticipating his brother's move, Alden skidded and slipped, landed on his side, scampered to get his hands off the ground, and tore on after.

The problem with being twins was they were the exact same size, and the exact same speed. Lex had the lead, and unless something happened, he'd keep it.

Laughing so hard his side hurt, Lex tore on around the house and- "Ga-ack!" Something caught his arm and stopped him mid-stride. His legs slipped out from under him, and he landed with a heavy thud on the ground.

A similar "Ga-ack!" sounded before Lex could get his bearings, and Alden thudded right down next to him, their heads knocking together dizzily.

"Ooo…ow." The two of them clutched at their skulls and glared up at the interloper.

"Fuck, Allan." Lex whined, pushing himself up on his elbow.

"You didn't have to yank my arm near out of socket!" Alden stayed on the ground, rubbing his head.

Their elder brother bent down over them with a wicked grin, and dropped Lex's scythe across their laps. "Fuck!" They chorused—the thing was heavy! Then Allan walked away, calling to them over his shoulder, "I'll be damned if pa an' I get stuck with all the work. You two better be back in that field in five minutes."

Still rubbing his skull, Alden glared up at his twin, "This is all your fault, you know."

Lex grinned and ground the scythe's handle deeper into Alden's pelvis. Alden yelped and swung at his brother clumsily.

"Boys."

"Uh…"

"Crud."

Sarah walked up to them, holding forth an apron full of juneberries, the mirth upon her face carefully concealed behind stern disapproval. "Into the fields with you now, or it'll be your father and brother taking the stock into Town tomorrow and not you."

"Right ma!" Alden pushed Lex off him and ran for the fields.

"Love you, ma!" Lex scrambled after his brother, grabbing his scythe as an afterthought.

Brier, barely half a year old, swaddled and tied to his mother's back, blew bubbles in his sleep and murmured, as if agreeing with her that his brothers could be awfully silly. Sarah turned with a smile and walked back to the juneberry trees, holding her apron carefully bowed.

A shrill, seven-year-old voice rang out from ahead, "Mari! You can't toss them that far! They're falling everywhere! You have to come down here and give them to me! Mar-i!"

"I told you to come up here!"

"You know I can't climb as good as you! Come down here—now! No! Stop! Stop throwing them!"

Sarah sighed and looked to her daughter, clinging to the boughs of one of their bigger trees. "Mari?"

"Yes, mama?"

"Why don't you take a basket up with you? Then you can fill it and come down when it's full, and Posa can do her picking down here; just like you did last year. You'll both pick twice as fast."

Mari stared down at her mother with suspicious eyes, thinking it over carefully. Her brown harvest dress was already covered in leaves and dirt and squashed berries—but then, so was her sister's and her mother's. Her brown hair, once braided neatly, was coming undone in swirls; her cheeks were rosy from the sun and from climbing. "Alright, then."

Sarah knelt and forced the berries in her apron to tumble out into Mari's half-full basket, then stood and passed the basket on up to her daughter. Mari took it, threaded it through her arm, and went back to picking. Posa had already returned to plucking the berries from the lower branches; stretching high on her toes to reach even the closest ones.

"I'll be in the garden if you two need me. Make sure you're watching for birds."

"Yes, mama." Posa gasped, dropping back to her heels and letting a handful of berries plop into her basket.

"Marigold?"

"Yes mama." Came Mari's muffled voice from above.

Brier still slumbering away at her back, Sarah made her way behind the house to the little plot of earth the family still kept for themselves. Dragging her own basket behind her as she went, she folded her dress beneath her knees and made her way through the furrows, picking vegetables and herbs, brushing the soil off and placing them neatly in her basket.

While the women tended to the berry trees, the men went on with harvesting the grass. Row after row of tall green was sliced and left to lie. When there was enough, the grass was bundled, tied off with twine, and hauled into the barn. There it was slung up into the net that served as their loft. When the net was full (and it could hold a lot) the leftover grass was piled at the back of the barn, to wait until the last trip to Town where it would be sold to the prairie farmers as supplement to their own winter feed.

It was early morning still, but the family was well into the harvest.

The horses grazed the scrubland behind the house, unneeded for the moment. The grass fields and garden were cleared methodically and the juneberry trees were plucked until Marigold and Mariposa had finally run out of energy. By night the family was all satisfyingly exhausted, and set down to supper with hearty appetites.

After supper the girls helped their mother prepare the baskets of berries. Each basket was covered with a thin blanket of dough—baked just that morning, to keep the fruit from spoiling—then basket upon basket was packed away, half in the cellar beneath the house, and half tucked into the cart; grass layered all around to keep them from shifting too badly.

In the morning Lex kicked his twin awake and both of them tore through breakfast before racing out the door. They brought Yampah out of the barn and hitched him to the cart, and were off towards Town before their father and elder brother had even managed to rise.

Lex and Alden always drove the harvest to town; it meant they got out of the more tedious bits of the harvest.

Yampah was a complacent horse, and he pulled the cart filled with berries and dough and grass down the mountain while the brothers lounged against the backboard, enjoying the lazy fall morning. It took nearly two hours to get to Town, and by the time they drove Yampah up to the grocery Corrine was already opening her door for business. "Well good morning!" She called, waving at them with a tomato clutched in her fist.

"Mornin' Corrine." Lex hopped down from the bench and went to lower the wooden trestle at the back of the cart. Alden hopped down off the other side and went to unhitch Yampah, feeding him an apple from his pocket and scratching him behind the ears. Yampah just snorted.

"Guess it's that time of year," Corrine said, coming around the cart to peer inside. "Cal's started bringin' in his spuds, Hazel's tappin' the last of the sap—how many shipments should I be expecting from the Kellenwoods this season?"

"Three, I reckon. Alden!?" Lex asked, jumping up into the cart to begin passing baskets down to Corrine.

Alden left Yampah where he was and the horse ambled off down the street, snuffling at the dirt; he'd be back by the time they were ready to leave. "Three's about right, I should think. May-be four." Alden said as he hopped over the bench and clambered into the back of the cart with his brother, careful to nudge aside a basket to step behind it and not on it. "It's a big one, this year."

"Marvelous!" Corrine cried and took the first baskets offered to her by the twins. As she carried them inside she called back to them, "Seems to have been a good year for everyone; bodes well for winter, I should think."

The boys helped Corrine unload the cart and pack all the baskets into the grocery's stock room and cellar, respectively. The empty baskets would be collected in the spring. Then Alden accompanied Corrine to the counter while Lex swept the debris out of the cart. "So that was twenty baskets, at fifty cents a basket..." Corrine wrote up the numbers on her register, doing her calculations swiftly. Then she unlocked the money drawer and pronounced, "Here you are, Alden, ten dollars, and two for the dough." Then she swept a block of treacle fudge from a pile stacked neatly on a soft white cloth and passed it to him with a smile. "For the trip home; break it in half to share with Lex."

"This is why we love you, Corrine." Alden grinned, swung his arms over the counter, and wrapped her up in the tightest hug he could manage—careful not to get fudge in her hair. Corrine was blushing when he stepped back. "See you tomorrow!" He tossed over his shoulder as he pranced from the shop.

By midmorning Yampah had ambled back up the mountain and onto the homestead, the cart rumbling merrily on behind; the twins taking turns sleeping in the back. By this time their father and elder brother had systematically chopped two aging spruce trees into the logs that would last them all winter. Each tree nearly twenty feet tall, it had taken both mare's, Clover and Thistle, working together, to pull them out onto clear ground. Allan was pilling the wood at the side of the house by the time they led Yampah back to the barn to unhitch the cart. He wiped his brow as they came up, and hailed them. "Corrine happy to see you?"

"I'm fairly sure she was more happy to see the baskets than she was to see us. She sent a present, though. Here." Alden chucked a quarter square of the fudge at him, and Allan caught it, surprised.

After the cart was stored neatly against the west-facing side of the barn, the boys hurried towards the juneberry tree's, eagerly stripping off their shirts as they went. With the grass fields cleared, they had two choices: help the men, or help their sisters. Cutting wood meant back-breaking labor beneath the hot sun, and they got enough of that in the fields. Enough wood was cut before winter to make piles six feet high beside the house, in the barn, and in the woods between two old cedar trees.

Helping their sisters meant working in the shade.

And they loved their sisters.

"Mari!" Posa called when they drew near, "Lex an' Alden are back!"

"Really?" A golden head poked out from the leaves above. It was followed swiftly by a radiant smile and a slim arm that waved to them energetically.

Posa set down her basket and ran to them, arms outstretched. Lex swooped her up and spun her around, her laughter like a Jay's sweet call. "Have you come to help us?"

"Of course!" Alden kissed his sister on her rosy cheek and Lex set her down. "This is for you."

With a gasp of delight, Posa took the fudge from her brother's hand and stuffed it into her mouth. She sucked and chewed the gummy fudge with a cry of delight, and when she swallowed her eyes were shining with gratitude. Mari devoured her cube of fudge much the same way, then Alden and Lex each grabbed a basket from the pile stacked amongst the thicket, and set to work. The day was hot but it was cool among the berry trees. Lex and Mari were high in the upper boughs, baskets strung over branches and arms, picking berries and tickling each other. Alden and Posa picked more studiously on the ground, chatting animatedly about the critters they saw crawling and buzzing everywhere; the birds singing and working just as they were, and what their mother would be making for them tonight. Amongst laughter and some very playful shrieks, by early evening they'd managed to fill eighteen baskets. They carried them all into the house, kicked their shoes off in the boot hole, and set everything down as out-of-the-way as they could manage—still laughing.

"I suppose the birds weren't a problem today—your voices were loud enough to scare off a coyote." Sarah remarked good naturedly, already bending to lay out fresh dough over the baskets. The girls hurried to help her.

The house smelled of freshly cut greens and baking. Sarah had finished tying the herbs to the rafters to dry; other herbs had been squashed or stored away in bowls and jars—some, they knew, were already in the cellar. Loaves of bread were cooling on the counter. Both sets of twins found themselves closing their eyes and inhaling deeply; inundating their lungs with the pleasurable mix of smells.

It was the same every harvest.

After supper Alden and Lex helped their father secure the line from the house to the wood pile between the cedar trees. The line was tied and double tied; checked and double checked, and would be checked and double checked again before the snow came. They then loaded the newest baskets of berries into the cart, tucked everything in with grass, and fell into bed already snoring.

The next day went much the same: Alden and Lex forced themselves awake before the sun, and after voraciously devouring their breakfast, commandeered the cart and drove to meet Corrine in Town. They returned with nine dollars plus two for the dough, and immediately joined their sisters, and Allan this time, amongst the trees; while their father helped their mother clean the house from the inside out.

When they returned the next afternoon with four dollars plus two for the dough, and five jars of Corrine's prized raspberry jam, they set immediately to finishing the harvest chores as fast as possible: the horses were let out to pasture, and the barn and house were checked over thoroughly for cracks and weathered wood, and fixed ruthlessly where found; all of Sarah's baking and all of their stock and produce from the fields and the garden were stocked neatly into the cellar; the garden was hoed down and covered with dry leaves from the juneberry trees, and the birds were finally allowed to pick freely at the few berries the Kellenwood's had left for them.

"Faster, Alden!" Mari screamed and bounced on Thistle's back. The horse snorted in irritation but Alden stroked her soft nose and murmured to her soothingly, and she calmed down. Lex trotted around them with Clover, Posa clinging to the mare's gray mane and crying for him to slow down. They led the horses into the barn, Yampah following sedately behind, and lifted the girls down amidst gales of giggles.

"Supper's not quite ready." Sarah told them as they came inside, "Would you mind watching Brier while I finish up?"

"Of course, ma." Lex took the offered bundle and tickled his baby brother's nose. Brier snuffled in his sleep and a little hand rose to bat away the nuisance. Lex turned to Mari as Alden took the baby away from him. "Hey, Mari, go get the board."

Mari's face brightened instantly and she dashed into the tiny room she shared with her sister, rushing back excitedly with a thin wood board, with blue and white squares painted on it like a checkerboard. It used to be a checkerboard, in fact, until Mari and Posa had grown old enough to want to play, and the boys had to change the thing a bit because one-on-one was far too boring for the girls. Sliding to her knees and tucking her dress neatly beneath her, Mari placed the board on the floor and upended a deerskin bag so thirty or so red- and black-painted disks tumbled out.

Posa settled down across from her sister and Lex and Alden joined them, Brier slumbering away in the crook of Alden's arm. Sorting the pieces among them, Alden and Lex took the blue squares with black pieces, and Posa and Mari took the white squares with red pieces. And the game began. About halfway through, with Lex and Alden winning, the door swung open and Allan and Jacob came in; noisily shucking boots and coats. Brier woke up with a burble and Alden set him down between his legs where the youngest Kellenwood could sit and observe his family.

"How's the fence looking, pa?" Lex asked, taking another of their sister's pieces.

Brier burped and clapped, and Alden gave him a red piece to chew on.

"Better. Had to replace a whole four yards and three other beams, but it'll hold. Snow would've snapped it clean." Jacob smiled at the five of them on the floor, then walked over to give Sarah a kiss.

Allan hung his coat up and made his way across the small sitting room. "Who's winning?"

"Alden and Lex." Mari huffed, busy scouring the board for her next move. Allan ruffled his sister's hair and moved past them, heading for the soft-backed chair. He sat down with a groan and settled in to watch the rest of the game before supper.

“How bad do you think it’ll be this year, pa?” Alden asked, watching with a frown as Mari took three of his pieces. She grinned cheekily at him and he gently flicked her nose.

“Same,” Jacob came over and scooped Brier—who was now chewing avidly on the piece Alden had given him—up into his arms, and carried him back over to Sarah. Brier dropped the piece, startled, and stared at it over his father's shoulder where it lay on the floor. “Long and cold. Should be a bit more tempered than last year, though, if the weather's any indication. It’s been a warm fall.”

“Mmm.” Allan agreed, already half asleep in the chair.

"Five pieces!" Posa suddenly exclaimed. Alden, Lex and Mari all looked at her with varying degrees of confusion. With a grin she jumped five of her brothers' pieces and took them off the board. There was silence for a moment, and then Mari jumped across the board and flattened her sister to the floor we a hug, screaming, "We won! We won!"

"Whaaaaat? No way!" Lex attempted to verify the win with glances at the board in between Mari's kicking feet. Then Posa accidentally kicked the board and pieces flew everywhere, and that was the end to the game.

"Supper's ready." Sarah called with a smile.

"No way..." Lex groaned.

"They won fair and square, Lex." Alden got to his feet, grinning, and scooped Mari—still squealing, "We won!"—off of Posa. Allan got up with a groan and picked Posa up likewise, and, finally, Lex got up and slouched on after them to the table. "Rematch after we eat." He grumbled.

---

"We getta be black this time!" Mari called as she and Posa scrambled after the scattered black pieces. Alden and Lex dutifully gathered up the red and they all helped set up for the next round. Sarah and Jacob watched from the chairs in the corner, Sarah on the soft-backed chair, silently breast-feeding Brier while sipping at her tea. They talked quietly as their children played, occasionally offering helpful pointers to one team or the other.

"Did you want to go to Town tomorrow?" Sarah asked, patting Brier's back when he burped around her nipple.

"Don't see no sense in putting it off." Jacob leaned forward, his chair creaking ominously, and scooped summer-dried juniper berries into his tea. "Besides, them clouds don't look favorable. Snow's gonna come fast this year. Damn fast."

"Alright then, I'll make the list tonight."

Jacob nodded; he lifted his voice, "Y'hear that, girls?"

"We get to sleep in tomorrow?" Posa asked, not looking up, watching Lex suspiciously as he jumped two of her pieces.

"Not too late, mind." Sarah added.

"We really get to sleep in tomorrow?" Mari looked around at her mother like an owl, her eyes wide. "Why? We never go to Town so early."

Brier burbled and Sarah pulled him off her breast, wiping away the milk that dribbled down his chin. "Your father and I believe the snow's going to come much faster this year. We'd feel safer if we got stock early."

"Alright then." Mari turned back to the game and promptly took a red piece.

Alden scrutinized the board, looking for his next play.

"Left corner." Lex hissed at him.

Posa poked Lex in the ribs. "No helping," she scolded. Lex tickled her, and she fell over in a fit of giggles.

Alden's face suddenly brightened, and he reached across the board and jumped three pieces.

"No fair!" Mari jumped to her feet and pointed at the board. "You can't jump two squares like that!"

"I didn't, Mari, look." Alden re-did his play so she could watch.

"Oh." Mari sat down. "Okay then."

Gasping for breath, Posa sat up and looked at the board. She made her move and sat back on her heels.

Lex was grinning. He reached forward, grabbed his piece, and jumped five of his sisters' pieces. He looked across the board at Alden. "I told you left corner."

The game erupted into chaos.

"You can't do that!"

Alden stared, perplexed, at the board. "How did I not see that?"

"You cheated! You're a cheater! Ma, he cheated!"

Lex was still grinning. "You're just not as good as I am. It was there for the last three turns—right there."

"You can't do that!" Posa poked Lex in the side. "You can't do that! ... How did you do that?"

"Alright, alright, I think it's time for bed. Mari, Posa, off with you now."

"But he cheated! Do over! Do over!"

"Okay, squirt." Lex stood and lifted Mari onto his back. "We'll have a re-rematch tomorrow, okay?"

Mari pinched his shoulder. "Do over! Do over!"

"Ow, no." Lex swung her around, set her down, and startled tickling her.

"Oh! Hahaha, Lex, stop!" Mari squirmed and pushed at his hands, trying to get away. "Oh! Lex! Stoppit—okay! Okay, re-rematch tomorrow. Tomorrow!"

Posa was yawning. "Tired, Mariposa?" Alden asked. The seven-year-old smiled up at him sleepily and lifted her arms for him to pick her up.

---

Whump!

Alden flailed and shoved the pillow out of his face. "Lex!"

Lex stepped to the door, his face a giant grin. "Can't chase me with that, brother mine." He opened the door and stepped out. "Better hurry, though, Pa wants us to help load the extra grass before the girls wake up." Then he ducked out and shut the door behind him.

Allan was chuckling mildly. "I'll let pa know you were really tired this morning." He dropped Alden's trowsers on him as he followed Lex out.

Alden rolled to put his back to the door, blushing madly. The sheets of his and Lex's sleeping mat were tangled around his legs and his sleep pants. He'd managed to shimmy half out of his pants in the night, and now his morning interest was peeking out. Cupping it gently, he flexed his palms and groaned.

He'd get Lex back later.

He wolfed down his breakfast not three minutes later, and was outside before Allan had had to give his father any excuse whatsoever for his tardiness.

Together they hefted the last of the grass into the cart; Alden and Lex stood in the back while Allan and Jacob tossed bale after bale up to them, until the grass was threatening to spill over the sides. They tied the bales down with rope and washed up at the stream before heading inside. Mari and Posa were still asleep, so Allan went in to wake them.

"Pass the syrup, Alden." Alden passed the jar over and Lex upended the last of the sticky candy onto his flapjacks.

"Make sure you clean it all out boys." Sarah said. "I don't want Hazel to have reason to short me any."

They knew she was kidding about Hazle; the old syrup tapper wouldn't short a rich man, let alone Sarah Kellenwood. "Sure thing, ma." Alden said as he swiped the jar back from his brother and stuck his last flapjack right inside to mop up all the syrup that was left.

Two tiny yawns came from across the room as Posa and Mari emerged; bright-eyed and fresh from sleep.

"C'mon girls, before your brothers eat it all."

"They've already finished the syrup, haven't they?" Mari frowned at the swabbed jar as she slid into her seat. She stabbed listlessly with her fork at a flavorless flapjack.

"Yup." Lex stuffed his last syrup-soaked flapjack into his mouth and swallowed it whole. And he licked the last lingering drops of syrup from his lips with aplomb.

Mari scrunched up her nose and stared down at her flavorless flapjack.

Posa was already eating, humming happily.

"I added berries to the batter, Mari." Sarah told her daughter quietly. Mari's face lit up and she began eating immediately.

"Mama, I don't taste any berries."

"Hush, Posa."

Mari was too busy eating to hear.

Jacob and Allan pushed out their chairs just then and put their dishes in the washing water bubbling away in the cauldron. Lex and Alden followed swiftly, and followed their brother and father out to finish getting the cart ready.

"Hurry up now." Sarah prodded gently as she added her plate to the water, removed the cauldron from the fire with a cloth to protect her hand, and began washing up.

"But it's not even noon yet." Mari whined, even as she stuffed more food into her mouth.

"You got two hours extra sleep, Marigold, and that's plenty. Now, hup hup." Posa swallowed with a glass of water and added her plate to the cauldron, then started to clear the table. Huffing, Mari finished eating and began to tidy the counter.

By the time the girls were dressed and clean and outside ready-to-go, the boys had finished saddling Yampah and hitching Clover and Thistle to the cart. "Everybody ready?" Jacob called from the driver's seat.

Allan stepped around the cart to help the girls up. "Into the cart now, c'mon." They laughed as he lifted and tossed them one at a time into the cart, where they bounced on the grass. Lex and Alden climbed up with them, Sarah—Brier bundled in her arms—climbed onto the bench with her husband, and Allan mounted Yampah. Jacob clicked his tongue and flicked the reins and they were off.

The ride to town was slow but cheery. The twins in the cart fooled around in the grass and poked each other until they were all laughing so hard they could barely breathe. Jacob and Sarah talked up front of this and that and how big Brier was getting, and Allan followed behind on Yampah, smiling at his siblings' antics. He even barked out a laugh when Alden stuffed the scratchy grass down Lex's pants and held his brother face-down until Lex was screaming apologies and laughing and trying to kick his brother from behind. All the while Mari and Posa were laughing and tickling his ears with grass.

The sun was high and pale by the time the family rolled down the dusty Town road, but there was a crisp breeze rushing in from the West and the fall air was still crisp from the morning. They pulled up outside Corrine's Shoppe, unhitched Thistle and Clover, and tied them to the hitching post. Immediately the horses bent their heads over the bar and began to lap at the clear water in the trough. Jumping down from Yampah, Allan hooked his reins to his saddle, and let him wander over on his own to join the mares.

"Ah, Sarah. It feels like it were just yesterday your boys were down here taking that extra jelly off my hands." Corrine came out of her Shoppe, her arms held wide. Sarah embraced her with a chuckle. As they parted, Corrine took a little paper slip right out of Sarah's pocket, and waved it in the air triumphantly before turning to Jacob. "And how've you been?"

"Oh, same as always." Jacob smiled widely at the young shopkeep and hugged her briefly. "How's the store?"

"Oh, same as always." Corrine winked at him and turned to go back inside, tucking Sarah's list into her apron as she went. "Y'all come right on in once you've finished your errands, I'll have everything ready."

"Thank you, Corrine." Sarah called after her.

Jacob, still smiling, turned to his eldest. "Feel like riddin' out?"

"Sure, pa."

"We can do it." Lex jumped out of the cart and landed with a crunch beside his father. "I mean, unless Lan's got his heart bent on it."

Jacob's forehead creased. "You can't both ride Yampah..."

"We'll take the girls."

Now Jacob's forehead was pushed out of the way by his surprised brows. "Bareback?"

"Sure. We'll be faster on them, anyway."

Alden stepped down from the cart and joined his brother. "We were kind of hopping to really ride before the end of the season. Clover and Thistle could use it. But if Lan really wants to go..."

"No." All eyes turned to Allan. "I hardly mind, pa. There're things I wanted to do 'round here, anyways."

Jacob blinked. "Well alright then." He turned to Lex and Alden. "You two know the way...?"

"Yup."

"Just ride south 'til we hit a farm or two."

Jacob laughed. "Alright, your point's been proven. Of you go." He made shooing motions with his hands.

"Yes!" Lex and Alden slapped hands.

Before they could move toward the horses, Sarah called for them. "You two are riding into the parries this year?"

"Yes ma."

"Just don't get lost." She waggled her finger at them. "And here, before I forget." She fished around in her dress for her purse. Taking out six dollars, she handed one each to Alden, Lex, Mari, and Posa, and two to Allan.

"How come Lan gets two this year!?" Lex was indignant.

"Cuz I do more work, little bro." Allan ruffled Lex's hair, then strode off down the road.

Lex was still smoking as Alden dragged him towards the trough and their horses.

Mari and Posa took their dollars with eager fingers, their eyes shining. "Don't spend it all on sweets this year." Sarah told them sternly.

"Should we tell them now, Sarah?" Jacob asked, coming up behind his daughters on silent feet.

Both girls spun to face their father with wide eyes, their skirts twirling with the motion, picking up on his secret tone and sensing a surprise. Their shinny dollars were still clutched before them, but were now forgotten. They gasped together, "Tell us what?"

"Oh, I don't know. I thought we were going to wait until everything else was done." Sarah hemmed, putting her hand to her chin as if thinking it over very carefully.

"Tell us what?"

"We've got the time, and they might be distracted from sweets if we go now."

"That's true..."

"Ma!"

Sarah held out her hands and both girls grabbed them eagerly. "How would you girls like to go visit Felecia's?"

Two sets of eyes grew impossibly large, two mouths opened wide, and two little girls allowed their mother to lead them down the street and into a tiny shoppe with Felecia's painted in a neat scrawl over the door. A tiny silver bell tinkled as they walked in, and a slim lady with rosy red cheeks greeted them from over the counter. "Well hello, Sarah—and Jacob! What a surprise." Felecia bustled out from behind the counter, stuffing a pin into her hair, which was swept back in a messy bun already filled with needles and ribbons and strips of cloth. "And-" she gasped, "Why, Marigold and Mariposa. How nice to see you again! It's been so long."

"Hello Felecia." Jacob grinned. "I'll just seat myself over here, shall I?"

"Oh, you do as you like, Jacob. Would you like some tea?"

"No. I'm quite fine, thank you." Jacob groaned luxuriously as he eased himself down into Felecia's cushioned chair. Felecia had sewn the cushions herself and stuffed them with real sheep's wool. Luxury. Pure luxury.

"Hello Felecia." Sarah said, and she and the seamstress embraced. As they drew back Sarah added, "Thank you again for re-hemming both my dresses last year. You didn't have to go to the trouble."

"Oh pish. You know I love hem work. And now," Felecia turned back to the girls and knelt before them, "What can I do for you ladies today?" At this Mari broke into a blush so violent, she had to avert her entire head. Posa turned watery eyes up to her mother. Felecia smiled humorously.

"New summer dresses." Sarah told her promptly. "Something with bright fabric—I was thinking perhaps lilac or canary."

"The father votes for blue." Jacob put in from his chair by the wall.

"Hmm, new summer dresses. These old brown one's are getting a bit small, I gather?" Felecia smiled again at the girls and thumbed the hem of Posa's dress, which was already five inches shorter than it should have been. It was almost brushing her knees.

"Much too small." Sarah agreed.

"What lucky girls, they got new winter wear not two years ago."

"Mmm, very lucky."

"Well, girls, we'd best get started then. Do you have a color in mind, or shall I let your parents decide?" Felecia took a tape measure from her apron as she spoke, and added, "Arm up, miss Posa." Posa lifted her arm obediently and Felecia began to measure her.

"I think blue is lovely..." Mari said quietly. Felecia nodded encouragingly, and Mari added hastily, "A light blue, like the sky, with shorter sleeves and flowers around the hem."

"Embroidery is quiet expensive, Mari." Sarah said quietly. "We'll see."

"Alright."

"And you, Posa?"

"Green?"

"Green?"

"With yellow sleeves?"

"Well, what a lovely combination. Green with yellow sleeves it is."

Posa's smile lit the entire store.

---

"You're too slow, Alden! All that jerking off's made you sluggish!"

"Keep it up, Lex, I'll stuff worse down your pants than just grass!" Alden clicked his tongue and urged Thistle on faster. Her flanks heaved and her coarse hide rubbed at his legs through his trousers. He couldn't be all that irritated with his twin at the moment—the sun was bright, the air was fresh and they had nothing before them but the flat road and fields and fields of wheat and potatoes.

Lex laughed and gripped Clover's sides with his thighs, bending along her neck so he could move with her and move faster.

The brothers raced along the lane, the sound of hoof-beats filling their ears, the wind whipping their skin, the pounding rhythm of the gallop thrumming in their chests.

Two miles out of town Alden finally let Thistle ease back. As she slowed to a trot Lex came pounding up beside him and Clover slowed as well, her breaths coming short and fast. She nickered and Lex rubbed her sweaty neck. They trotted on down the lane for another mile, enjoying the day, until the first farm came into sight. With a shout Lex nudged Clover and tore off again down the road. "Last one there has to kiss his horse!"

"Aaarg!" Alden pushed Thistle into a gallop, tearing after.

Clover skidded to a stop and Lex leaped from her back. Alden stopped not three seconds behind him, and leaped off his horse right onto his brother's back. With a yelp Lex grabbed Alden's legs and fought to stay on his feet beneath the suddenly added weight, "I still win, dammit! You have to kiss your horse!" Then he lost his balance and they both crashed to the ground.

"You cheated! I am not kissing my horse!"

"Are too!" Lex pushed Alden off him and shoved away his arms.

Alden pushed back, rolled over and got Lex in a head-lock. "Am not!"

"Are... too..." Lex choked, clawing at Alden's arm.

"Eh hem." Alden let go of Lex at once and they both scrambled to their feet. Roy Landon, a friend of the family for many years, was coming around the house with a bemused expression on his face. "What's all this then? Who might you ruffians be?" Alden opened his mouth indignantly but Landon held up his hand. "Wait, wait. I know you—" Landon's stern face suddenly broke into a wide, friendly smile. "You're Kellenwood boys." They rolled their eyes and Landon laughed, easing himself down to sit on the porch. "Alden wanted out this year?"

"We wanted in." Lex corrected.

"Oh?"

"We wanted a last ride."

"Ah, yes, that would be tempting." Landon shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun and looked up at them expectantly, "Go on: Ask away."

Alden couldn't help his grin as he recited, "Mister Landon, we've got forty bales of extra grass this year-"

"Real sweet grass, too." Lex interjected.

"-And we were wondering if you might like to put your name down for a couple bales."

"Well..." Landon scratched his shoulder. "I suppose I've got the money fer it this year, and Jacob has always grown damn good grass... Put me down fer ten bales."

"Ten!?"

"Ten."

"Holy heifer of a cow's teat."

"Lex!"

---

At approximately two in the afternoon, Mari and Posa darted out of Felecia's with two paper bundles clutched in their arms. Jacob and Sarah—fifteen dollars lighter—followed them out, Sarah thanking Felecia one last time as the bell chimed and the door swung closed behind them.

Then Sarah kissed Jacob goodbye, took Mari and Posa by the hand once more, and led them off down the street. Jacob turned and walked the other way, looking for Eliad's smithy where he was hoping to get nails and perhaps tack for Clover and Thistle—if it was offered at a reasonable price. His family was getting older now, and Mari and Posa couldn't ride bareback forever like the boys could. And, if their self-respecting father had any say in the matter, they wouldn't.

Sarah and her daughters passed by Corrine's again, and Yampah, who was wandering listlessly through the street. They passed many people who waved and called and many who stopped Sarah to chat. Eventually, though, they came to a tiny house at the end of a lane just outside Town, right next to the glacial river where the trees started to get bigger. Her daughter's hands in hers, Sarah walked up the rickety wooden steps onto the porch and up to the door, and knocked. There came a cough from inside, and a loud, "One minute, there, jus' gimme a minute. I'mma comin'." They waited patiently, and the door was opened by a middle-aged man, broad and healthy from outdoor living. "Why, Sarah, yer late!—The Englemann's came through not three days ago; cleaned me out, I tell you." He chuckled and held the door wider, winking at Sarah as he beckoned them on in.

"Cleaned you out, Hazle? No!" Sarah feigned surprise as she led her daughters inside.

"Oh yes! Came in the dead of night, they did. Stole all me good stock. Especially the little one; crafty little shrew, that. Small and spry. What was his name? Wyatt? Willard?"

"Willet?" Mari asked anxiously.

"That's the one. Took everything faster 'n I could blink!"

Mari and Posa gasped.

"Willet wouldn't do something like that!" Posa cried.

"He'd never steal!"

Hazle and Sarah laughed. Sarah sat down in an old rocking chair and said, "Hazle's just pulling one over on you girls, it's his way of saying hello. Neither Willet nor any of the Englemanns stole anything."

Mari blinked suspiciously up at Hazle, who smiled down at her with glittering, mirthful eyes. "Truly?"

Hazle bent on one knee, ignoring the angry pops his old bones made as he did, and held out his hand to Posa. "Truly. You must be Posa. Your ma and pa have told me many lovely things about you over the years." Posa took his hand and shook it quickly, blushing. Hazle turned to Mari. "And you must be Mari." He held out his hand.

Mari's forehead crinkled and she took a step back from him. "Even pa can't always tell us apart." She muttered.

Hazle barked out a laugh so loud and so sudden it made Mari take another step back and made Posa scuttle off to hide behind their mother. "Definitely Mari." He said. He stood up slowly, pushing on his knee caps with his hands for leverage, and looked to Sarah. "Alright then, I s'pect you've other chores to do today. You've got my jars?"

"Oh, we can spare you an hour or two, Hazle." Sarah smiled, reached into the deep pockets sewn to her dress, and withdrew two clean jars. "Posa?" Posa peeked around the ribbed back of the chair, then ducked behind it again when she caught Hazle smiling at her from behind his scraggly beard. "Posa." Sarah said again, and a little hand popped out from behind the chair with another jar. Sarah took it and handed all three to Hazle.

Hazle examined the jars critically; looking for cracks and residue. He grunted finally, and walked to the back of his little cottage, where four massive barrels were stacked on a bench against the furthest wall. Each barrel had a tap at its base, and each tap had a tag on it, with notes scrawled on it in black ink in an incomprehensible hand. Hazle reached the barrels, then stopped suddenly and turned. "Would either of you fine ladies like to help me out? Only these old hands aren't as steady as they once were, and I'd be mighty appreciative." He stood there smiling at Mari, waiting patiently, as Mari scowled and took a further step back, so that she was now close enough to grab a fist-full of her mother's dress.

Slowly, Posa emerged from behind the chair, and walked with tiny clops over to the barrels.

"Right then." Hazle set down two of the jars, and handed the third to Posa. "Hold it under the spout. Nice and steady." Hazle reached down and adjusted the jar's position beneath the tap, then he reached up and twisted the leaver above the tap. With a squelch and a sudden intake of air, the barrel began to drizzle syrup into Posa's jar. She gave a startled laugh and clutched the jar tighter, watching as the syrup slowly filled it up.

Just when the syrup was going to overflow, Hazle twisted down on the lever and the flow stopped. Sarah beckoned Posa over, and when Posa reached her, carefully balancing the jar to keep any of the precious syrup from spilling, she put the jar's lid in place and twisted it shut.

Then Posa ran back to help Hazle with the second jar.

Mari watched with growing facination as Posa ran back to their mother and Sarah twisted the lid of the second jar tight. Before her sister could run back to help with the third jar, she stepped forward and held out her hands to help. Hazle smiled at her and handed her the last jar, instructed her to hold it steady, then twisted the lever up for a third time. She noticed the tag, hanging below Hazle's gnarled hand, was covered in numbers. Then she noticed the syrup. Mari watched with awe as it ran out of the tap; it was so thick and yet it flowed like water. She licked her lips unconsciously and Hazle, unbeknownst to her, smiled.

With a flounce, Mari ran over to Sarah with the full jar, and watched breathlessly as her mother twisted on the lid. The other two jars were already safely in Sarah's pockets. She handed this last once back to Mari, and Mari reverently slid it into her own pocket. The weight of it pulled at her dress.

"Six dollars per jar, Hazle?" Sarah asked, pulling out her purse and counting out eighteen dollars.

"That'd be corrent, m'dear. Best batch I've ever tapped, too—should charge you seven."

Sarah smiled at him and placed the money in his hand, bent and kissed him by his eye. "You say that every year."

"And it's true. Keep outdoing meself—every year!" Hazle walked them to his door and held it for them. Mari and Posa filed out first, Mari with one hand in her pocket, caressing her jar with an almost permanent look of awe on her face. "It was nice meetin' you ladies. Do come and visit ol' Hazle again." He winked at them both. As they blushed and waited for their mother on the porch, Hazle turned to Sarah and said seriously, "I'll be seein' you next fall, Sarah."

"Oh, before then, Hazle. Mid-summer at the latest."

Hazle nodded, his smile gone. "You have a good winter." And he shut the door. They could hear it being latched from the inside.

As they walked down the quiet lane back to the Town, Mari spoke up softly, "He's a bit strange, mama."

"Hush, dear, not strange; Hazle's just old. He used to live on the mountain, you know, just like us."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. He farmed, just like us, and he had a wife and a beautiful baby and two farm hands."

"What happened?" "Posa asked from Sarah's other side. "Why does he live down here now and farm syrup?"

"Tap, Posa, not farm. And well, he's all alone now, you see, and it's bad enough behind snow-bound all winter when you have people there with you to keep the loneliness at bay." Sarah smiled and thumbed Posa's cheek, making her daughter smile back. Then she faced the lane once again and her face grew somber. "Hazle couldn't face that long loneliness all alone. So he came down here, where he can visit the Town and everyone in it whenever he wishes to."

"Why is he alone?"

"What happened to his family?"

The lane wound among thick, ancient maple trees; their leaves were all golden-brown and many shades of red and they fluttered in the breeze. The wind picked up suddenly and threw their dresses around their ankles and Sarah said quietly, so quietly Mari and Posa had to strain to hear her over the noise the trees made in the wake of the wind, "They thought it was spring but it wasn't. They were too far from the house... and they died."

---

Corrine looked up from the bag of flour she was lifting onto the counter as her bells tinkled and Jacob came in. He had a scowl on his face. "Uh oh." Corrine teased, hefting the two-pound bag onto the counter where three others already sat. "Eliad won't lower his prices?"

"Damn man just won't see sense." Jacob smiled at her, though, and she knew he meant nothing mean by what he'd said; Eliad and him went way back. He plunked a little brown bag down on the counter next to the flour. It clinked. "What've we got?"

"Just about the same as last year." Corrine held up Sarah's list and read to him as she checked off items, "Eight pounds of flour, three pounds of oats, three pounds of grits, four baskets of apples, four baskets of potatoes, two baskets of carrots, two baskets of eggs, three chickens, a basket of corn, various baking powders, spices and herbs, an entire barrel of Cal's finest milk, and 6 fudge bars on the house."

"If you keep giving them kids fudge they're gonna become 'customed to it, Corrine."

Corrine only smiled, and handed over a little bag full of the treats. "Speaking of them kids, why aren't they all back yet? It's near late already."

"Well, it takes an hour to ride out to the closest farm. Another hour to stop at each one and chat for a time. Then an hour and a bit to ride all the way back... Lex and Alden really should be back any time now." Jacob turned around to face the door, as if expecting his boys to come in right that moment. He turned back when they didn't. "After Hazle's, Sarah wanted to give the girls a chance to flounce around town; probably bought up as much candy as they could stuff in their pockets, by now..."

As if mentioning someone could somehow conjure them, the bells behind Corrine's door jangled wildly and heralded the entrance of the female Kellenwoods. Mari and Posa came bounding over to Jacob and threw their arms around his legs. "Pa! Pa! Look what I got!"

"No! Look what I got!"

"Me first!"

"One at a time." Jacob laughed, unobtrusively tucking the parcel of fudge behind the large bags of flour.

Mari held up a blue ribbon, easily as long as her arm, for him to see. "It's silk, pa. real silk!"

"Is it?" Jacob took the ribbon from her and thumbed the watery fabric. "For your hair?" Mari nodded and reverently accepted the ribbon back. "And you, Posa?" Posa shyly held out her palm. In it was a seed. She wouldn't let her father touch it; quickly, she stuffed it back in her pocket when he tried. Jacob laughed. "Alright, it's safe from me. What will it grow into?"

"Sophie said it was a scarlet mallow seed."

"Oh?" Jacob raised an eyebrow. "That is a lovely flower. But those don't grow very well on mountains..."

"That's why I wanted it. To practice." Posa beamed up at her father and he returned her smile with spades.

There was a sudden flurry of horse-hooves from outside, followed by a whinny, a thud, and then loud, cackling laughter.

Mari cried, "Alden and Lex're back!" and raced out the door with her sister hot on her heels just as Sarah came inside.

Sarah let the door close on her children and walked up to the counter, smiling. "How are things here, Corrine."

"Everything's ready. Just need to know who's coming for grass this year so I can tally it all up."

Jacob sighed and moved to go and ask his boys about that, when Alden pushed open the door. His pants and shirt and arms and face were smudged with dirt, and he strode up to them all breathing hard and grinning and held out a list to Corrine. "Seven buyers this year; all forty bales sold."

Corrine took the list and read through the names. "Roy bought ten bales?"

"He must have had a good year." Sarah said, going over the items on the counter; making sure everything was there.

"Everyone had a damn good year—but ten bales? His cows're gonna want to bear his children!" Sarah and Jacob both chuckled.

"Alright then." Corrine set down the list of names, picked up her register, and began to write furiously, scribbling down everything that was on the counter and calculating prices as she went. "So that comes to thirty-nine dollars... forty bales at thirty cents a bale is twelve dollars. Thirty-nine minus the twelve is... twenty-six—no, twenty-seven. That'll be twenty-seven dollars, Mister and Missus Kellenwood."

Sarah reached into her purse and began counting out the money, and Jacob left to find out what their helpers were up to. Alden had somehow slinked back outside without them noticing, and he and Lex were seated in the cart with their sisters in their laps, listening as the girls told them all about their day and showed them the magnificent things they'd bought.

"Well if you can make ma's tomatoes swell like a pregnant hog," Lex was saying, "I'm sure you can make this thing grow, too."

Posa's eyes were watery with thanks as she aimed them up at Lex, and Lex coughed and ruffled her hair.

"Why is it all you can think of lately are pregnant animals?" Alden jabbed at his twin.

"A heifer's not pregnant—a heifer's a virgin."

"What's a virgin?" Posa asked.

"My point stands."

"How come Posa c'n make thinks grow and I can't yet?" Mari demanded from Alden's lap.

"I'm sure you will, Marigold. You just need to give it some time."

Mari harrumphed and stared gloomily down at her ribbon. Alden tickled her. Within seconds she was so busy gasping for breath she forgot to be moody.

"Alright. Rest time's up." Jacob announced loudly from Corrine's doorway. "Get yer butts inside and help me with the loading." Lex and Alden snapped to attention at once. Mari and Posa let their father lift them down, and they raced into Corrine's alongside their brother's to help lift the lighter things.

Sarah and Corrine chatted away as Alden and Lex, and Mari and Posa, came and went with bags and baskets and barrels and burlap sacks. It took both boys heaving to get the barrel of milk up to their father, and with a grunt Jacob shoved it into place. Mari passed him up his bag of nails and Posa passed up the bag of fudge without—thank the land—first looking inside. More baskets were carried outside, and, finally, Alden swung the last bag of flour up into Jacob's ready arms, and slumped back against the cart, his breathing labored. Lex sagged next to him. "Is it just us, or has Corrine started mixing rocks in with her flour?"

"I heard that, Lex!"

Lex yipped and ran to help his father hitch up Thistle and Clover as Corrine and Sarah came out of the Shoppe with the two baskets of eggs. Alden laughed quietly and acquiesced to Mari when she raised her arms to him, asking tacitly to be lifted.

At that moment, Allan came walking up the road leading Yampah behind him. He waved at Alden when he spotted him. "What have you been up to all day?" Alden asked as his brother came near.

"This and that." Allan winked at him and led Yampah on towards the front of the cart.

Lex ducked under Thistle's check line and brought his brother up short. "Whatcha buy with your two-whole-dollars, brother mine?"

"None of your beeswax, brother mine." Allan snapped his fingers right next to Lex's ear.

"La-an! Fuck." Lex covered his ear and winced; the loud pop that had echoed in his ear cannel only moments before felt as though Allan had hit his ear with something hard and blunt. It was a technique all three boys had learned from their father, and continued to use to great effect on each other.

"Language, Lex." Jacob admonished, busy fiddling with a stubborn clasp on Thistle's other side.

Allan chuckled and moved on.

"All ready to go?" Sarah asked, Passing her basket of eggs to Mari as Corrine passed the other to Posa; both girls already seated amongst the stock with Alden.

"Ready to go." They chimed.

"Ready, ma. Thanks again, Corrine."

"Fuck, my ear."

"Lex!"

"Sorry, ma." Lex used one hand to push himself into the cart, and scooted back until he was tucked in-between Posa and a basket of potatoes. "Ready."

Allan mounted Yampah, turned him abrest, and nodded to their mother.

Sarah kissed Corrine on the cheek goodbuy, thanked her again, climbed up onto the bench with Jacob, made sure Brier was settled and cradled safely in her lap, then leaned back to make sure everything and everyone else was settled just as safely.

Corrine and a few townsfolk waved them off, and they rumbled on out of Town, heading for the mountain trail.

The late afternoon sun bleached the trailhead and sent blinding light into Sarah, Jacob, and Allan's faces so they had to shield their eyes, but in the back of the cart the twins' were spared the blinding aspect of the setting light and were able to watch it instead with wonder as it danced like white lightning on leaves still attached to their trees.

A shrike called from somewhere off the trail, its shrill song serenading the end of the day. A mountain jay replied. The horses' hooves on the road made soft, echoing clops, and the girls cuddled into their brothers; reaching around waists with weary arms to settle in more comfortably. Though it was only late afternoon, all of them were tired out and quite ready to fall into their well-known beds back at home.


-TBC...


A/N: There was quite a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter. Any guesses on what Mari and Posa might be? ~_^

Notes: June Berries (more commonly known as Saskatoon's) are actually harvested at mid-summer—usually at the end of June, as the name suggests. I changed that for my own purposes.

A lot of the misspellings in this story are deliberate, they are either archaic forms of words, such as "quaint" words like "shoppe"; slang, or changes made to words that I made simply because I liked them better. However, there are also probably a few mistakes that weren't deliberate, and I apologize for those.

Thank you: Kylee, Angelkitty7888, Leicee, Anon, B., HideAndGoSeek, Kei-Chan, Amanda, K.S.T.M, Eletigalo, and NarutoVixin. --- Also thank you to distortedreflection, Tundra15, inkweaver9185, tHeMoNsTeRiNyOuRnIgHtMaReS, Shadesparrow and Marrs for your silent support! :D Y'all rock my socks!

I post progress reports at my ElJay whenever I have something worth posting.
-Azalea J.