A Vampire's Night : New Beginnings

Chapter 5 - To Market

The Festival usually marked the time in which it was almost planting season, so once Thad and I had finished cleaning our dishes, we went about saddling our two steeds, and hooking up two other stallions to my large buggy. Thad would lead my steed into town as I drove the buggy and then we'd both lead the buggy horses back on the way out of town. Thad always helped me go into town to get the seed that I needed for planting because we could always put his family's seed in my buggy along with mine... and since our fields were connected to each other anyway, we usually just considered the fields as one large space. Since I considered Thad's family as my extended family, it had become second nature to use my surplus to help them as I had over the years.

"So, what do you want to grow this year?" Thad asks me as I carefully drive the buggy around a dip in the dirt trail that led us into town.

"Let me take a look at the list I wrote up last night... I had to make sure that I didn't forget anything." I reply as I pull out a slip of paper from my pocket and unfolded it in order to read off of it.

Corn
Grains - Wheat, Barley, Oat
Green Beans
Lima Beans
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Carrots
Cabbage
Lettuce
Turnips
Beets
Cucumbers
Berry Bushes
Strawberry Plants
Herb Plants
Fruit Trees
Flower Seeds

"Guess the winter season helped some of your Berry Bushes to their graves." Thad asks me in a side manner and I nod my confirmation as I double check to make sure that I'm still on the road, "You forgot onions."

I shot Thad a glare as I pulled out the writing stick that I almost always had with me whenever I went into town to buy anything and quickly added it to the bottom of my list. I hated it when he reminded me of something I should have remembered myself, but I didn't hate him in general... quite the opposite in fact. Thad was the one that I considered my First Love, but I dreaded the day he would ever find out as well as prayed for it... because I wanted him with me, but not at the cost of him wanting his own First Love instead of me. I was happy with how things were between us now, and wouldn't dream of them getting any worse by speaking my mind or my heart. I was extremely curious about who his First Love was though. He had never made any indication of having an interest in any of the young ladies that were in our small town... but then again, I was not always around him when he came to town.

I shook myself a little as I shook away my thoughts, not liking any of the results that I was coming to with the train of thought I was on and was all to glad that Thad couldn't ask me what was on my mind because we were coming upon the edge of town with a few more feet to go before we would arrive at the town market. It had become a regular thing for me to come into town to buy the things that I needed for my farming season the day after the festival, mostly because I knew the store manager didn't take a day off and I didn't like taking a day off either. He had come to respect me for that, and praised me heavily for being able to get Thad to do the same... although I don't recall ever forcing Thad to come with me on my market days, he just always seemed to be available and willing to volunteer to help me before I ever had to think about asking for help.

"There's my favorite young couple, ready to put in a hard days work while everyone else is resting off the festival fatigue?" The store manager greets us merrily as I give him a big smile while waving at him and see that he's already started setting some of my usual supplies by the dock where we load up my buggy... until I had to pause because he had referred to Thad and I as a couple.

"Boss! I'm always ready to put in a hard days work!" I tell him happily as I feel my face turning a light shade of pink with the blush that I know is forming on my face at the couple remark, all the while feeling Thad's gaze on my face as if he's trying to see what my reaction to the comment is as I give a playful pout, "Besides, Thad's to good for me. He should be courting someone much more worthy than I. I could only dream of having someone as reliable and amazing as him ask to court me in the future."