You rush out of the chicken coop, the evil chickens pecking on your ankles. You slam the door shut behind you and lean wearily against it. "Stupid chickens." You mutter, clutching the basket full of eggs. Your eyes roam over Joshua Poldark's land, now Ross Poldark's, and you sigh. "How long must I keep doing these chores?" You grumble, pushing yourself off the door. You trudge back up to the house. "Jud! Prudie!" You shout, standing outside of the house. You set the basket on the ground and cross your arms as the lazy couple walk out of the house. "What you be wantin', Miss Y/N?" Jud asks, squinting at you. "I'm not doing this anymore." You state. "What?" Prudie asks, scratching her head. "You have me come over here every day to do the chores, right? And when I gather the eggs, I keep them, and when I take the calf to the butcher, I keep the meat." You explain. "Seems fair enough to me." Jud pouts. "But I also do other chores that I get no reward for. Need I remind you that I also have a home to take care of?" You ask. Jud and Prudie glance at each other. "I understand the Poldark house is a lot to take care of now that Joshua Poldark is dead." You say. Prudie crosses herself. "But I am not going to keep working on this farm hoping that his son, Ross, might be alive and that he might come home." You continue. "So I'd just like to let you know that today is my final day working here. From now on, you're going to be doing the chores yourself." You say. Prudie gasps. "You can't do that!" She exclaims. "Yeah!" Jud chimes in. "Actually I can. You aren't paying me anything and you treat me awfully. There's nothing holding me here at the Poldark farm." You say. You bend to pick up your basket. "Goodbye." You state. As you turn to leave, you see a horse coming up the long drive. Jud whistles. "Well I'll be..." He says. You squint at the man wearing a bright red jacket. "Who is that?" You ask. "I think that's Ross Poldark." Prudie answers. Your eyes widen and you take a step back.
"Mr. Poldark." Jud says, scurrying over to the handsome Ross Poldark. "Jud, where's my father?" Ross asks, jumping off of his horse. He hands the reins to Jud. An awkward silence settles down around you. "Well? Where is he?" Ross asks looking around at Jud, Prudie, and you. Jud and Prudie don't say anything. You sigh and step forward. "Mr. Poldark, it's my regret to inform you that your father passed away." You say without flinching. Ross's eyebrows draw. "Dead?" He asks quietly. "Yes, sir, he died." You state. "He left you everything. The farm, the mine, livestock..." You count off. "Okay, okay." Ross says. He sighs and walks to the house. "Come, bring me some dinner, miss." He says. You figure he's talking to Prudie so you start walking off towards home. "Hey! You! I was talking to you!" Ross exclaims. You turn to look at him, your eyebrows drawing in confusion. "I said bring me some dinner." He states. You throw your head back and laugh. "Yeah, I don't think so, Mr. Poldark. I'm your neighbor, not your maid." You say, turning back to the direction of your home. "Well then what were you doing here?" Ross asks. You sigh and turn around. "Ever since your father died I was doing all the chores around here because Prudie and Jud were too lazy. I just quit today." You explain. "Oh." He says, his eyebrows drawing. "Goodbye." You say, walking away. "Well what's your name?" He asks. You don't stop, just continue walking. "Y/N." You answer. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" Ross asks. You laugh and shake your head. You keep walking but turn your head to look back at him. "I'd wager there's about enough food in the pantry to feed a baby, Mr. Poldark." You state loudly. "Maybe-maybe some other time then." Ross says. "Maybe." You say, smiling.~
"Miss Y/N! Miss Y/N!" Prudie screams. You step out of the barn, the milk pail in your hand. Your eyebrows draw as she comes racing towards you. "Mr. Poldark! He's hurt somethin' awful!" She yells. Your eyes widen and you set down the milk pail. "What happened?" You ask worriedly. "He was a choppin' wood and got himself embedded with one of them ax things." Prudie says, her eyes bulging. She breathes heavily and shakes her head. "Blood everywhere. I was gonna go fetch the doc but Ross himself said you'd be best." She says. "We have to go!" You exclaim, picking up your skirts and running to Poldark land. "I'll catch up; I need a breather." Prudie huffs loudly. You race across the fields, your hair and skirts flying behind you. When you come up to the house you see Jud standing by Ross. You glance at Ross. "Prudie said you needed me." You breathe. "Yes, yes." Ross says. "This is a woman's work. I've stuff I need to get done." Jud grumbles, walking off. "Yes, yes. Though it's not that bad." Ross says. You walk up to him and he shows you his leg. Your eyebrows draw and you kneel. You rest his boot in your lap and pull up his pant leg to his knee. You bite your lip and look up at him. "Do you have some medicines in the house?" You ask. "Yes, I bought some when I went into town last month." He says. You nod. "I'll be right back, stay here." You say, standing. You walk into the house and go to the kitchen. You come back outside minutes later and set the medicines on the ground. You go to the pump and fill a bucket up with water. You walk back to Ross and then kneel. You clean his wound. "This isn't very deep. Prudie made it seem like you had an ax head in your calf." You say, smiling. Ross grins and shakes his head. "No, no. I wouldn't of gotten you if it was like that." He says. You roll your eyes. "Thanks." You say. "No, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that the doctor is so busy. I wouldn't want to bother him with something so...petty." Ross rushes to explain. "Well, I wouldn't consider this petty. If infection sets in..." You trail off, frowning.
"But, of course, I know you wouldn't let that happen." You say, looking up at Ross. "Of course." Ross says, nodding. You smile and dab some medicine on the wound. You take some cloth and put your hand on the back of his knee. Your face heats but you focus on your task. Ross looks the other way, embarrassed. You quickly wrap up the wound, your heart pounding. "There we go." You say, pulling his pant leg down. "All better." You say, quickly standing. Your legs falter and you stumble. Ross quickly catches you and steadies you. You blush and look away. "I-I guess I stood up too fast." You say quietly. "Thank you, Y/N. I've been here for a month and you've been the kindest to me." Ross declares. You look at him and smile. "You're welcome." You reply, a long moment later. "You're still welcome for that dinner invitation, you know." He says, grinning. You laugh. "Not today." You say. "You need to rest that leg." You say. Ross chuckles softly and glances down at his leg. "Yeah." He says. You take a step away. "I'll just put these things in the house and then I'll head back." You say. You gather the medicine and head into the house.~
"Y/N?" Ross asks. Your eyebrows draw and you walk out of your house. "Ross." You say confused. "What are you doing here?" You ask. "I thought maybe you needed some help on your farm. Jud told me that you're the only one that lives here. It must be a lot of work for you. Plus you were holding my land together for a long time, so it's the least I could do." He says. You bite your lip. "I-I don't know..." You say. Ross stares at you. "Please, Y/N?" He asks softly. You sigh. "I guess if you want to." You say. He grins. "Thank you." He says. "So what do you want me to do?" He asks. "Well I was going to go weed the gardens today to start off with." You state. "Okay, well I'll get to work on that." Ross says. He looks around. "Where are the gardens?" He asks. You smile and step off the porch. "Follow me." You laugh.~
Ross and you work in the gardens for a few hours. You push the sweat off of your forehead with your sleeve. "I can't thank you enough, Ross." You say, looking at him. You shield the sun with your hand. "Not a problem." He answers. You stand and waver sligthly, your vision swirling. You put a hand on your suddenly pounding head and Ross grabs you around the waist. "What's wrong?" He asks worriedly. "I-I think I've been out in the heat too long. I-I just need some water and a break." You say, squeezing your eyes shut. Ross helps you back up to the house and he gently sets you down. He hands you a cup of water and you drink it greedily. You fan yourself and sigh. "Thank you." You say. Ross sits down on the chair next to yours and cradles a cup filled with water. "We just needed a break." He amends. You nod and take another sip of water. "Would you like something to eat?" You ask. "That would be wonderful." Ross answers. "Here, let me-" You start. "No, no, no, no, no. You stay right where you are. I'll get the food." He states. "Bossy, bossy." You mutter into your cup, grinning. He laughs. "Well, you don't look like you should be making us anything. You need to rest." Ross says. "Well, there's some bread, fruit, and milk in the kitchen." You inform. He smiles. "Okay, I'll be right back." He says. Ross comes back minutes later with plates filled with bread and fruit. He places a jug of milk on to the table. "Eat up." He says. You smile and reach for an apple. Ross watches you while you eat. Your eyebrows draw. "What." You say. He looks away and tears off a piece of bread. "No, nothing." He mutters. You raise your eyebrows and look at him, waiting for him to explain. When he doesn't you go back to eating.~
It starts raining, making it so that Ross and you can't continue your work outside. "I think I should head home, Y/N." Ross says. "That's fine." You say. "Thank you so much for everything." He says. "No, thank you." You say, walking him to the door. You pull it open and the wind blows at you. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Ross asks. "Yeah, probably." You say, smiling. "Okay, great." He says. He walks off into the rain. You watch as he walks up the hill that separates your land from Poldark land. He stops walking. Your eyebrows draw and you step on onto your porch. "What's wrong?" You ask loudly. He doesn't answer. You walk off the porch and the rain starts to drench you. "Ross?" You ask. He turns around and you stare at each other. He walks back down the hill and walks right up to you. He take your face in his hands and kisses you deeply. You close your eyes and cover his hands with yours. A moment later you pull away. "Ross." You squeak, breathless.
"What-what was that for?" You ask. "I love you, Y/N." He says. "What?" You ask. "I love you so much." Ross says, taking a step toward you and picking up your hands. "I-I-I-" You sputter, blinking the rain out of your eyes.
"From the first day I saw you on my farm I knew our lives were going to be entwined. I knew we were destined to be together." Ross explains. He stares at you, the love in his eyes burning like a flame. "Could you possibly love me?" He asks, shaking his head. "I do, Ross. I love you very much." You say, touching his chin with your fingers. He smiles and pulls you into his arms. "You know what?" You ask. "I think I'll accept that dinner invitation tonight." You laugh, burying your face in his neck. Ross laughs and puts his hand on the back of your head. You pull back slightly and he kisses you. "Come on, let's go then." Ross says, smiling. You smile and you both walk back to his home.
[THE END] I hope you liked it!
