EIGHT
The following day, Saturday, I reported for work in the blueberry fields around nine in the morning. Not only was I going to be staffing the “pick-your-own” payment desk when customers arrived, but I was also going to be picking blueberries for use in the creamery’s famous homemade blueberry ice cream and blueberry pies. If there was enough surplus, one of the women working in the creamery that weekend also wanted to try her hand at making preserves to sell, so I knew I had my work cut out for me, especially since my Saturday shift was on the shorter side.
Keeping an eye on the payment desk, I picked blueberries rapidly and helped customers until about noon, when I decided to take a short break to have lunch. Having a seat on one of two folding chairs beneath a large umbrella at the payment desk, I pulled out a sandwich from a brown-bag lunch I’d brought; and very soon, I was kind of in my own little world, watching small groups of customers happily picking berries in the distance.
When Paul slid into the chair beside me, after having come up behind me, he startled me nearly to death.
“Tattletale. Tried to get me in trouble with your dad.”
Having to use every ounce of my mental strength not to throw my turkey sandwich at his face, I just looked at him for a moment, sure I was glaring. “Yes, I did ‘tattle’ on you…and I’ll do it again. This time, I’ll tell my dad that you called me a tattletale.”
“Or, you could not act like a five-year-old.”
In order not to throw my sandwich at Paul’s face, I now had to force myself to set it on the payment counter before looking at him again.
“Don’t you have somewhere on this farm you’re supposed to be? After all, I think you’re supposed to be training to become a Watcher, right? Or did you just come here to annoy everyone?”
“How old are you, anyway? No matter how you act, I know you can’t literally be five.”
Seemingly of its own volition, my hand began creeping up toward my sandwich. I really wanted to throw it at Paul’s face, which, to my extreme irritation, was just as maddeningly handsome as it had been the day before.
Apparently noticing the movement of my hand, Paul told me to go ahead and pick up my sandwich. “I don’t mind if you eat while we talk. I know you must get really hungry working out here in the fields.”
I realized that this was maybe the first non-jerky thing he’d ever said to me; however, when I responded, it was still with words spoken practically through gritted teeth.
“I’m not so much hungry right now as I am angry…and my hand seems to want to throw my sandwich right at your face.”
I expected Paul to come back with something rude and infuriating, maybe something how he wouldn’t expect anything less than sandwich-throwing from a five-year-old. However, he surprised me by simply shrugging, then getting up from his chair.
“I’ll go, then. I didn’t come over here to bother you; I just wanted to say hello.”
Immediately, he began striding away, and I called out for him to wait. I didn’t even know why. I’d called out to him before really even thinking about it. And now Paul had turned to look at me, and I had no idea what to say.
When I didn’t say anything after a long moment or two, he began turning to stride away again, but just then, I finally blurted something out.
“I’m nine, to be technical about it. I mean…I was born nine years ago, but I have some sort of a weird, fast-growing gene because my dad’s a vampire, and my maternal grandmother had some kind of supernatural powers. So, I got some sort of a weird gene. It’s made me mature physically and mentally in something like ‘double time’…so, really, for all practical purposes, I’m eighteen. My parents consider me to be eighteen, anyway, and I consider myself to be eighteen. I even have a driver’s license that says I am.”
With his expression unreadable, Paul just looked at me for a long moment, squinting against the sun. “Well, that’s about how old I guessed you were.” Pausing again, he developed a little twinkle in his eyes that I didn’t think was from the sun. “I didn’t really think you were five. Picking berries so quickly how you were doing while I was heading over here, you seemed far too coordinated to be a kindergartener.”
I couldn’t help but crack a little smile. Smiling a little himself, he began turning as if to leave again, but again, I called out for him to wait, still not even really knowing why.
“You can sit with me while I eat my lunch if you want to. I guess I don’t care as long as you don’t call me a bookworm again or anything.”
Paul looked at me with his smile getting even a bit bigger. “All right. Deal.”
Just then, I heard my name being called from somewhere not too far away. I turned to look in the direction the sound had come from and saw Jake coming up the dirt lane to the fields.
“Have you eaten yet?” In one hand, he held up an orange-and-white-striped cardboard boxed lunch from my favorite sandwich shop in Sweetwater. “Your dad sent me into town on an errand, so I figured I’d grab you some lunch just in case you didn’t have time to pack your own. Your dad said you love sandwiches from this place.”
Jake had reached me at the payment table by this point; however, I was prevented from answering him. This was because the sound of some kind of a strangled screech had caught our attention and made us both look up the dirt lane behind him, where Jen was running full-out with an orange-and-white-striped cardboard boxed lunch under one arm. Sean was trailing just behind her, not having to run nearly as hard as she was because he was so much taller.
Within seconds, Jen reached the payment table, where she slammed down the boxed lunch in front of me, panting, before fixing Jake with a look that could only be described as a “death glare.”
“What did I tell you, Jake? What were my exact words? I believe I said, ‘If you dare bring her lunch before Sean and I have the chance to, I will literally kill you with my bare hands.’”
Lifting his own hands, palms toward her, Jake said he didn’t want any trouble.
Pulling out one of her silver hoop earrings and slamming it on the payment table, Jen snorted. “Well, then, maybe you should’ve listened to me, bro.”
Taking a few steps back, Jake said he didn’t mean to make her mad. “I just thought that if I beat you guys here, it’d be okay, because the most important thing was that Chrissy got some lunch on time, right? Remember how I even said that when I ran into you guys in the sandwich shop? I said, ‘It probably doesn’t even matter who gets lunch to Chrissy first, because the most important thing is just that she gets some food and doesn’t have to go hungry for long. Doesn’t matter who brings it to her.’”
Glaring at Jake, Jen slammed her other earring down on the payment table. “I remember that. But then I remember grabbing you by the scruff of your shirt collar and threatening you with murder if you even dared to bring Chrissy lunch before Sean and I could get ours to her. Do you remember that?”
Standing up from the table, I asked for everyone to just please calm down, with “everyone” really meaning Jen. “I think if we can all just take a deep breath—”
“You ready, bro?” Jen had raised her fists to Jake and was now kind of dancing on the balls of her feet, like a boxer. “Just let me know whenever you’re ready for me.”
Beside her, Sean spoke in a low voice just loud enough for everyone to hear. “Jen, he’s a vampire. He could probably kill you with just one really good punch.”
Jen shook her head. “Not if I knock his ass out first.”
“Okay.” Putting an arm around Jen’s shoulders, I began trying to pull her over to sit in a chair. “I think this has gone far enough.”
Looking more than a bit alarmed, David had arrived on the scene, and he now echoed my sentiments, asking Jen to please just have a seat. “You can’t eat the gummy bears I bought you if you’re fighting, you know.” Offering her a tentative sort of smile, he held out a package of gummy bears to her. “I’ve heard that eating the clear ones can be calming. Remember how you told me that? ‘Clear gummy bears soothe the soul,’ I think you said. ‘Eighty-four percent of scientists have proven that to be a hundred and fourteen percent true.’ Remember that?”
Lowering her fists, Jen cracked a tiny smile, then took the package of gummy bears, ripped it open, and had a seat. “I guess I’ll have a few.”
Clearly relieved, David gave her a smile. Relieved myself, I had a seat beside her, giving Jake what I hoped was an apologetic sort of smile. He gave me a little smile back, with an expression that I could tell he meant to be comforting. Standing between David and Jake, Sean just stared off into the blueberry fields, pushing his thick-rimmed glasses up a little higher on his nose.
Not really knowing what else to do, I began opening one of the boxed lunches. “Thank you, all parties involved, for bringing me lunch.”
Popping a handful of clear gummy bears into her mouth, Jen glanced over at me. “You’re welcome. The one you’re opening was from me and Sean, and really, specifically Sean. We got you chicken teriyaki on wheat, with lettuce, bell pepper, and just a couple of pickles, just how you like it.”
In a low voice, Jake asserted that he’d gotten me the same.
Whipping her face toward him, Jen gave him a death glare for the ages before slowly returning her gaze to me with her expression softening. “This dumb-head almost got me kicked out of the sandwich shop today. The only way I avoided that was by putting a hundred-dollar bill in the employee lady’s tip cup. After that, she took my side in the fight and even put an extra cookie in your boxed lunch. I think it was a white chocolate chip.”
I’d just taken that cookie out of the box, and I now took a little bite. “Mm. It’s delicious.”
While I awkwardly began eating my lunch, we all fell silent briefly until Jen suddenly looked down at her feet, snorting.
“Lost one of my damn shoes on the way here. One of the ducks probably got it by now.”
Confused, I glanced over at her. “Ducks?”
“Yeah. Me, David, and Sean picked some up from the Amish farm this morning when I got the idea that I want to raise some ducks here on the farm. Me and David are even gonna install a little pond thingy for them.” Becoming noticeably calmer by the minute, Jen paused to pop another clear gummy bear in her mouth. “It’s gonna be really awesome…and even all the Amish people thought my idea to have a duck pond sounds really cool. Too bad they didn’t tell me that the ducks would have such out-of-control appetites. They were all trying to bite on the upholstery in David’s car on the way here, which…honestly, I could relate to. I’ve been that hungry before. If they gobble my shoe up before I can get back to it, I won’t yell at them.”
Looking uncomfortable, David suddenly cleared his throat. “That’s actually part of the reason that I followed you down here, Jen. I just wanted to let you know that Wanted just chased one of the ducks into the woods by the house. Somehow, at the same time, three of the other ducks entered the house and scared Carol. The fifth duck got up on the roof of your car and was defecating all over when I last saw it.”
After tossing her package of gummy bears on the table, Jen leaned over with her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands with a deep sigh. She sighed once more, adding a faint groan to the tail end of this one, before finally uncovering her face to look up at David. “If you wouldn’t mind, please go back into Sweetwater and buy five playpens. They’ll have to work until we can install the pond and some kind of a fence around it.”
David nodded. “Gotcha.” He turned and took two sprinting steps back up the path but then stopped suddenly and turned. “Oh, Jen? I just realized that most ducks are able to fly…so, I don’t think the playpen idea is going to work.”
Jen groaned, throwing her head back. “God dammit. Well, until we get the pond installed with some kind of a special retaining dome above it, can we just have the ducks live in tents or something in the meantime? Like, what about those huge tents that people get to have graduation parties in their backyards? What if we get one of those and install some kind of netting around it or something…or maybe even drywall. We could put air conditioning in the tent then. The ducks might really appreciate that on these hot August days.”
While Jen had been speaking, David had developed something like an expression of faint amusement, maybe faint amusement that he was trying to hide. However, coming over to kneel down by her chair now, he took on an expression more serious before speaking to her in a low voice.
“Remember what that Amish couple said, about the ducks being more wild creatures than pets? And remember how they said that if we put a little pool out, the ducks will probably stay near for at least a little while, and then when we build the pond, probably even more ducks will join them?”
Frowning, Jen sighed. “I know all that, but we can’t count on a little kiddie pool to keep the ducks by the house until we get the pond built, and I just don’t want to lose all the ducks we have now. Especially not Johnathan. Was he one of the ducks that got into the house, by the way? I only ask because before she got turned into a vampire, Carol used to love a dish called duck a l’orange whenever we went to this one fancy restaurant in Sweetwater; and I think she still craves it sometimes, even though it doesn’t taste the same to her anymore. What I’m trying to say with all this is that if she even dares to think about doing any home cooking with one of my ducks, so help me God, David….”
Once again looking faintly amused, but also looking like he was trying to fight it, David told Jen not to worry. “About Carol doing any ‘home cooking,’ anyway. I’d be more worried about all the other vampires living on this farm…because most Watcher vampires feed on animals, you know.”
With her hands flying to her face, Jen gasped. “David, I swear to God, if you or anyone else so much as brushes a single fang against one of Johnathan’s feathers….”
David had begun laughing, but he now stopped, clearly trying to become sober-faced. “I promise you, Johnathan and all the others will be kept safe. From what I’ve heard, vampires around here take hunting trips to feed on big game, instead of feeding on animals that are more domesticated…and this is what Sean and I have been doing anyway. For the past month, we’ve only fed on bears in the northern wilds of the state. We’d never be tempted to feed on a duck…especially not one as friendly and as bright-eyed as Johnathan.”
Seeming to be trying to fight a smile, without much success, Jen gave David a pretty forceful punch to the arm. “You’re the worst. In fact, just for teasing me about vampires feeding on my ducks, I’m gonna whup you at mini golf today.”
David laughed. “Let’s make it interesting. Winner gets to decide when and if we have a second date.”
Jen scoffed. “We’re now the proud parents of five ducks together. Is there really any doubt that we’ll be having a second date?”
Teasing each other, joking with each other, and laughing, David and Jen soon headed back up the dirt path toward the house. Watching them go, I had the feeling that I was watching an old married couple who’d been together for several decades. Sean might have had this feeling, too, because he followed ten paces or so behind them, as if he knew that by walking alongside them, he’d only be a third wheel.
Now alone with Jake, I told him I was really sorry about all the drama with Jen. “She just gets very…passionate about things sometimes.”
Cracking a smile with his thumbs in the pockets of his battered jeans, Jake said for me to not even worry about it. “It was all worth it just to get to bring you lunch.”
Glancing down at the three lunches in front of me, two boxed and one I’d brought from home, I returned his smile. “Which one should I eat first?”
He grinned, and just then, his phone dinged with a text alert.
Apologizing, he pulled his phone from his pocket, looked at the screen, and then quickly tapped out a reply before pocketing his phone with his gaze on me. “Your dad’s wondering where I am.”
Feeling bad that he’d gone through so much to bring me lunch and then we hadn’t been able to spend any time together, I told him that my dad could probably wait a little while.
However, Jake just shook his head. “Just going to be honest, Chrissy…your dad is not a vampire that I want to anger.”
A little reluctantly, I told him that I understood. Saying that he’d try to bring me lunch again sometime in the next few days, he soon left. It was only then that I remembered Paul, realizing that he had to have left at some point during the Jen debacle. To my surprise, I found that I was disappointed that we hadn’t gotten to talk more than we had.