Promises

[BorderWolf]

Chapter 4

Jack looked around, a thin layer of dust covered everything. He found some cleaning supplies, and dusted everywhere. The bed sheets and pillows he took out side, and shook the dust off them. He remade the bed for later tonight. Getting his towel out of his rucksack, he went to the stream at the Southside of the farm. He washed his face to get rid of the grim from the cleaning, as well as the tears from finding out his oldest friend was dead. He heard a faint yipping sound near the front gate. He went over and saw a puppy. The little dog started to growl at Jack.

“Hey there little guy. Are you lost?”

The puppy continued to growl.

“My you are fierce. But I’m not mean.”

Jack crouched and extended his left hand with the palm up.

“Come here and you’ll see that I’m not mean.”

The Puppy crept up and sniffed Jack’s hand. After a few minutes of sniffing, the puppy gave a yip and wagged his tail.

“There now, you see I’m not a bad guy.”

Jack slowly moved his hand and then scratched behind the puppy’s ears.

“Would you like to stay here?”

The puppy gave a yip while continuing wagging his tail.

“Well now, let’s find a name you will like. Hmmmmm, how about Hero?”

The puppy gave a yip.

“Ok then, welcome to my farm Hero.”

The puppy began to lick Jack’s hand. Jack glanced at his watch. There was still a few hours to go, until 6PM. He decided to look at the other buildings more closely. The barn was still in good shape, but it would need a new coat of paint. The stable had a few holes that needed to be patched up. The waterwheel attached to the chicken coop, needed major repairs.

“Well it looks like I have a lot of work to get this farm back in shape.”

Hero gave the curious noise that dogs make when puzzled by something. With an hour to go, Jack headed to Rose Plaza. Hero followed behind him. Since he was not in a rush, Jack looked at each house he passed.

*Blacksmith shop on the left, Saibara is the owner. A chicken ranch. I wonder who owns it. An empty lot?*

Farther down he saw another farm.

*Yodel Ranch?*

Jack saw a few cows and sheep.

Jack approached the plaza, at the south entrance was the Mayor.

“Welcome Jack. Do you know that you are being followed?”

Jack looked around and saw Hero.

“The little guy showed up at my farm. It looks like he doesn’t have an owner. So I’m going to keep him.”

“Well I’m not to fond of dogs, but keep him if you wish. What did you name him?”

“Hero.”

“Hero?”

“Yes, when he showed up he tried to be fierce, but it seems that he is more of a lover and not a fighter.”

Thomas gave a chuckle.

“Anyway, let me introduce you to the few people that are here, who are helping finish the setting up.”

“The elderly gentleman at the cooking pot is Saibara, he is the blacksmith for the town. Right now he is making the rice cakes. You most likely saw Zack, when you got off the ferry.”

Jack nodded.

“The other man is Gotz, the carpenter for the town. Saibara, Zack, Gotz, may I introduce you to Jack who is the one that Joe left his farm to.”

Zack and Gotz said with a wave of their hads, “ Welcome!”

Saibara just nodded his head.

A little voice spoke up, “Who is it that we are welcoming?”

Jack and Thomas turned around.

Thomas said, “Hello May. We are welcoming Jack who is the new owner of Joe’s farm.”

May looked up at Jack, “Hello.”

Jack crouched down, “Hello May, I’m glad to meet you.”

Hero came bounding over giving several yips, and then started sniffing and licking May.

May gave a giggle, “Is he your dog?”

“Yes, his name is Hero.”

“Hello Hero, you’re a good boy.”

From the north entrance, a young lady with brown hair came in with a little boy.

“Stu don’t run. Do you want to get hurt?”

“Awww sis. I want to go and play with May. Who is that with the Mayor and May?”

“I don’t know Stu. Let’s go see.”

Stu and the lady came over.

“Hello Elli, Stu. May I introduce Jack. He is the new owner of Joe’s farm.”

Stu asked, “Can I ride your cow?”

“What?”

“I want to ride your cow!”

“I just got to this town today, so I don’t have a cow on my farm.”

“Awwww, that’s not fair!!”

“Stu, cow are not meant for ridding,” said Elli.

“But I want to be a cowboy!”

“Stu, you do not ride a cow to be a cowboy. Now can I get to say hello to Jack?”

Stu sulked and said, “Fine.”

Elli extended her hand, “Hello, nice to meet you. Sorry if my brother was bothering you. I’m the nurse and midwife for the town.”

“Nice to meet you Elli.”

“How did you meet Joe?”

Before Jack could answer, three more people had showed up and wandered over.

Thomas said, “Jack, may I introduce Doug and his daughter Ann, they run the Inn. The other gentleman is Pastor Carter.”

After a round of “Hello’s”, Jack answered Elli’s question, “Twelve years ago, my parents took me to see the countryside. They felt that this town was the best choice. I wandered away and ended up at Joe’s farm. He was kind to reunite me with my parents. He asked if we could write to each other. We have been doing that over the years. After finishing the Grand Jury duty I was on, since I hadn’t heard from Joe I came here to see if he was ok.”

Elli softly said, “Then when you arrived you found out that he passed away.”

“Yes, had I been related to Joe, I would have been here sooner.”

Jack felt a tug on his shirt sleeve. He looked down and saw May looking up at him, “Mr. Jack, can Stu and I play with Hero?”

“You can just call me Jack, but yes you two can play with Hero.”

“Yippee! Thanks Jack. Stu he said it was ok. See I told you we should have asked.”

May ran over to where Stu and Hero were.

Jack that asked, “So what happens at this festival?”

With a grin on her face Ann said, “We talk and eat as many rice cakes until we are stuffed.”

“Don’t forget that we do take some to those that couldn’t make it,” added Elli.

Carter asked Elli, “Yes how is Ellen?”

Elli shrugged her shoulders, “The same. Tim and I are looking in all the medical books we have, to find out why her legs are getting weak so quickly then normal in aging.”

The conversation went onto other things. Two more people showed up that Jack and introduced to Manna and Duke. Duke was slightly rude to him.

As Jack was dishing up on rice cakes, he thought to himself, *With the exception of one townsfolk that I have met, I think I might just like it here. Thank you Joe.*

[Limegreen Queen]

Yeah! I like it!

[BorderWolf]

Chapter 5


As the festival was winding down, Elli came over to Jack and asked., “So Jack, do you think you might like it here? After all since you are from the city, it might be a bit slow paced around here.”

“I think that I will get to like it here.”

“From what I have seen of the field, you have a lot of work to get it cleaned up. So please don’t try to do it in one day.”

“Ok, I’ll pace myself until I can do much larger work.”

“Thank you Jack. Well I getter get Stu in bed, as well as give our Grandma these rice cakes.”

“Awww sis, I want to play some more!”

“No Stu, we need to go. I can see that May is very tired.”

Rubbing her eyes May said, “Please Stu, I’m very tired, We can play tomorrow.”

“Just five more minutes.”

“NO!! I’M TIRED!! I WANT TO GO TO BED!!”

Elli said, “May sweetie, go on home to bed. Jack you will be passing Yodel Ranch, so could you be kind and carry her?”

“Ok I’ll do that.”

May looked up at Jack, “But Hero is also tired, you need to carry him as well as me.”

Jack crouched down, “I think Hero can walk as far to Yodel Ranch, I will carry him from there back to my farm.”

“Thanks again Jack, I’ll take my bratty brother home now.”

“I’m not a brat!”

“Yes you are, you are being mean to May, now tell her goodnight.”

Stu mumbled, “Goodnight May.”

Elli dragged Stu off.

Thomas came over, “It looks like everyone has left, so here are the last few of the rice cakes that didn’t get taken. So if you could take them, and split them with Barley.”

“Thanks Thomas.”

“You’re welcome Jack. Oh what are you going to name your farm?”

“I’m going to leave it named Bauer Farm.”

Thomas widened his eyes, “In memory of Joe?”

Jack nodded.

Thomas grinned, “That is very nice of you Jack. I think Joe would be pleased, that you would want to remember him that way. Well good night Jack.”

“Good night Thomas. Ok May let’s go.”

Jack scooped May up and carried her. After a few minutes he arrived at Yodel Ranch, and knocked on the door. An elderly man answered.

“Yes? Who are you? Is May alright?”

“I’m Jack. Joe willed his farm to me. I got here today. The Mayor invited me to the festival. It just got over a little while ago. Elli asked me to carry May back here, since she and Stu played with Hero.”

“Hero?”

A very tired yip was heard.

The elderly man looked down, “Oh, Hero is your dog. I’m Barley.”

“Well Hero showed up at my farm a few hours after I did. It looks like he doesn’t have an owner, so I’m going to keep him.”

May stirred, “Why did you name him Hero?”

Jack smiled, “Well when I walked up to Hero, he started to growl at me. I think he wanted to show how fierce he was.”

Barley chuckled, “But he wasn’t that fierce was he.”

“Well I think that he is more of a lover and not a fighter. May I’m going to put you down now, and then take Hero home.”

“Thank you Jack, can I play with Hero again?”

“Of course you can, I think he will like that.”

Jack placed May down.

May rubbed her eyes again, “Good night Jack.” May then walk up the stairs.

Barley said, “That is nice of you to carry her here, thank you Jack.”

“You’re welcome, May is a sweet girl. Since my farm was in the same direction, it wasn’t that much of a problem. Even if my farm was in the opposite direction, I would have carried her here.”

Barley smiled, “I’m glad that Joe left his farm to someone nice. You do know we had to sell all of his livestock when he died?”

Jack nodded.

“Well the cows he had were bought by someone else, so when I get a few more in to sell, I will let you have two for the price of one.”

“That is very nice of you Barley, thank you.”

“You’re welcome Jack. Now I better get up and help May into bed. She might have fallen asleep while she is getting into her pajamas. Good night Jack.”

“Good night Barley.”

Scooping up Hero, Jack then headed to his new home.

[melody]

It's very good so far, Border.
I really like it.

[BorderWolf]

Thanks, this is my second fanfic. My first one is most likely burried farther on this board. It is called: You're Not Always Alone For The Holidays.

[melody]

Yes, I read that one!
And this one is even better than the first one, in my opinion.

[BorderWolf]

Yeah I forgot that you read the first one. I have written down on paper more of this story up to chapter 12. True that is more of a rough draft of the story, and the copy here is tweaked a bit to make it a bit better.

[Kikyou Saya Rin-Ren]

I like it! I csn't wait until you write more!

[BorderWolf]

Ok, like I said, I'll try and transfer the written drafts of chapters 6 through 12 to the computer.

[BorderWolf]

Chapter 6

Jack awoke to the sound of someone knocking at the door. Opening it he saw that it was Zack.

“Good morning Jack. I thought I should come by and show you your shipping bins.”

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jack replied, “Don’t you mean bin? It’s right over there.”

“There are two more on your farm. One is in the barn and the other is in your chicken coop.”

“Oh, I thought that those were extra food storage containers.”

“Yeah, I guess that they do look like them, but they are shipping bins. I’ll pick up around 5PM, except if it is a holiday as you saw yesterday.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

“You’re welcome Jack. Since it will be awhile before you have a decent amount of field cleared for crops, you should do some foraging up on Mother’s Hill, and down at the beach.”

“The beach? What for?”

“For the wild grasses that grow there. Also those bees in that tree over there make honey. Joe did ship a lot of it.”

As they were talking Barley came, leading a young horse, “Good morning Jack, Zack.”

“Good morning Barley. What brings you here?”

“Well it is because of this young fellow”, said Barley as he patted the horse, “I don’t know why, but he is unhappy at my ranch. So I thought that your farm isn’t all that crowed, so maybe he will be happy here. May felt that since you are nice, that you could maybe you could make him happy.”

“Oh, well that is nice of you two.”

“You can even name him if you wish.”

Jack thought for a minute, “I’ll name him Zephyr.”

“As in the North Wind?”

“Yes.”

Barley nodded, “That’s a good name.”

“Jack I need to get back down to the pier. A shipment is coming in today.”

“Ok, thanks again for telling me about the two other shipping bins.”

“You’re welcome Jack.”

Barley said, “I’ll put Zephyr in your stable, but you might want to get those holes patched.”

“Ok, I’ll do that. Do thank May for the kind gesture.”

“I will Jack. She will be happy, she might want to visit and see him.”

“She can visit, I don’t see any problem with that.”

Jack went back inside, and changed into some clean clothes. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 6:30AM.

“Well Hero, how about we eat breakfast then do an hour or two of work on that field?”

Hero gave a few yips as if to say, “Yes food! Food yes! Gimme now! Now gimme!”

Jack broke a rice cake in half and gave half to Hero. Jack opened the tool chest.

*Let’s see, I’ll chop some of the branches, and hack a few weeds.*

Going out with the tools he got to work. About two hours later, he was feeling tired.

*Elli was right, it will be a lot of work. I’d better stop before I pass out. But if I did pass out, would Elli nurse me back to health? Like the addition to the old saying, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but if the nurse is cute, forget the fruit.’ I think that I’ll save those small stone for fence material.*

After putting the tools away, Jack saw that it was almost 9AM.

*Well, I should go and introduce myself to the rest of the town.*

Leaving his farm he headed north. He saw a man about the same age as him walking towards the blacksmith’s shop.

“You’re new here.”

“Yes, I’m Jack,” said Jack as he extended his hand.

The man did not extend his hand, “I’m Gray. So what brings you out to the boonies?”

“I’m the one that Joe left the farm to.”

Gray gave a grunt, “Well good luck on getting it back in shape.” Gray then stepped into the shop, “I’m here gramps.”

*Well I guess that Gray doesn’t like strangers.*

Jack saw that the shop wouldn’t be open until later. He looked across the road to see that the chicken ranch would also open later.

*Great, just my luck. I wonder if all the other places here are open.*

Continuing north, he saw Manna watering the plants in the planter hanging from the windows.

“Good morning Jack, the winery doesn’t open until 10. I wish that my daughter Aja was here, I see that you are single. I’m sure that you two would like each other, she is vey sweet. But she might also like the other cute singles guys that are here.”

“Ok, I’ll take your word about your daughter. If you’ll excuse me, I want to go and meet the other people in town.”

“Alright Jack, do come by and buy some wine.”

Reaching the end of the road he was walking on, it turned to the right. The house in front of him had a tower to one side that was the library, and was closed today since it was Monday. Jack went up to the door and knocked. After no answer came, he then headed east to the next house.

[Herfefiny]

This is a great story Borderwolf! I really like it! I hope you write more soon! ;D

[BorderWolf]

I'll try to get chapter 7 up tomorow. I need to get it written to Word, from the notebook I wrote it in.

[BorderWolf]

Chapter 7

The next house looked like a duplex. As Jack approached the left side, the door opened and Stu ran out slamming the door behind him.

“Hi Jack.” Stu then ran off towards Mother’s Hill.

Jack knocked on the door and an elderly voice answered, “Come in.”

“Hello young man. Are you by any chance Jack?”

“Yes ma’am.”

The elderly woman chuckled, “You don’t need to be so formal. I’m Ellen, my granddaughter told me about the nice young man who Joe left his farm to. Joe was a very nice man.”

“I know. I wish I could have come here every summer, but my parents wanted me to see the world. So they took me to other places.”

Ellen nodded, “Yes, it is always a good idea to see other places. How is the work getting the farm back in shape?”

“Well it is a bit rough. I’m not used to farm work just yet. Elli suggested that I take my time getting the field back into shape. So I’m taking a break and going around town to introduce myself.”

“If you tried the house with the library. Basil, Anna, and Mary, they go up to Mother’s Hill every Monday mornings to examine the plants. Basil is a botanist, so he writes books about plants. His wife and daughter help him.”

“Does his wife run the library?”

“No, that would be Mary, his daughter.”

“I hope that Basil has written a book on farm crops.”

“I think he has. Mary would know, you should ask her.”

“Ok, I’ll do that. Well I think that I’ll continue on with my meeting more of the people here. It was nice meeting you Ellen.”

“It was nice meeting you as well. Take care Jack.”

Going to the right side of the duplex, Jack knocked on the door.

“Greetings Jack, what brings you here,” asked Thomas.

“I’m taking a break from clearing the field, so I thought that I should meet the rest of the townsfolk.”

“You should do that, there are a lot of nice people here. Oh let me get you Joe’s will so you can see it.”

Thomas rummaged around and found it. He then handed it to Jack. After looking it over Jack went to hand it back, but Thomas held up a hand, “Keep it Jack.”

“Thank you Thomas. Well I think I’ll continue around town.”

“Ok Jack. I’m sure we’ll see more of each other, this town isn’t all that big.”

The next building over was the supermarket. A man wearing a white coat was leaving, he gave Jack a brief nod of the head, and then walked to the building next door to the east.

Opening the door to the supermarket, Jack heard part of an argument.

“….get away without paying? You let him and Duke push you around. Look we’ll talk about this later. Just don’t let it happen again.” The older blonde haired woman then went into the back of the store.

The man who looked like a smaller version of Duke spoke up, “Hello, can I help you?”

“I just got the farm that Joe Bauer willed to me. I’m taking a break from some of the work that I did earlier, so I’m checking out the town. I’m Jack.”

“I’m Jeff, that was my wife Sasha. That counter there has some seeds for spring planting. Cooking ingredients are over on that counter. A few tools are over on that other counter.”

“Ok, I’ll look around.”

Looking at the tools, Jack saw that he couldn’t buy any of them, due to his small amount of money on hand. Looking at the seeds, he saw that he could buy a lot of the quick growing crops.

*Hmmmm, right now I don’t need grass seeds, since I don’t have use for animal fodder. I also want to have some money for emergency use.*

The door to the outside opened up, and Duke entered, “Hey little brother, Manna ran out of a few things for dinner, so I’m here to get them.”

“Ok Duke.”

Duke picked up a few things and then started to head back outside.

“You should pay for those, even if you are his brother.”

“Look city boy, just who do you think you are? You think that you can talk back to someone who is old enough to be your father?”

“Jeff just got chewed out for letting another person walk out without paying.”

“Sasha always complains when someone who isn’t family walks out without paying. Since I’m family, she doesn’t mind at all.”

A voice spoke up, “She does mind when family members walk out without paying.”

Jack turned to see an emerald eyed blonde girl, who has platinum highlights standing by the door to the back of the shop. She stood with her arms crossed, and was tapping one foot.

“So are you going to pay for those, or do I have to take them from you?”

[Herfefiny]

oooooooo! Kaern's gonna hurt Duke!
Great job Border! i can't wait for more!

[Deniz :]]]]

wow