Chapter Text
Danny rubbed his foot around in the dirt, watching the small dust cloud billow up and hang there.
“Well come on, I’ll show you where you’re staying for the next few months.” Alicia turned around and
started walking off.
“Wait!” Danny bent to pick up his bags and rushed to catch up to his aunt, “I thought that you lived in the cabin?” He looked over at the cabin he spotted through the trees.
Alicia glanced back at Danny. She sighed, “I do. You don’t.”
Danny frowned. “I won’t? Then where will I be staying?”
Side stepping a bush, Alicia grumbled, “you’ll see.”
They moved through the brush, dodging branches and stepping around roots and detritus on the ground. It was hot and humid and Danny was starting to feel sticky, carrying his bags with him through it all. The birds around them quieted as they approached and then started up again once they left. A gentle slope turned into a steeper incline and Danny quietly wondered how much longer they were going to take. He really hoped Alicia wasn’t just taking him in a circle in some sadistic test to see how long he’d last before complaining. Or murder him. It wasn’t likely, but Danny didn’t know his grumpy aunt well enough to rule it out either. Probably not though. Maybe.
As they made their way up, Danny smelled a change in the air. He arched his neck around Alicia to try to see what the cause was, but quickly moved his head back and away from a sudden branch flying in his face. Just as Danny was weighing the benefits of asking for a break, the ground leveled out, and Danny got his first glimpse of the farm.
Golden strands of wheat waved in the slight breeze, stretching farther than Danny thought he’d see. In the distance, taller stalks formed a different swath. Alicia stepped out of the trees and onto a path that edged the fields. Following Alicia, Danny realized the smell had gotten stronger. “Huh,” Danny thought. He leaned over, closer to the stalks. Yep, the fields were definitely the source of the smell. Turning back to Alicia, he looked down the path and stepped next to his aunt to walk side by side. They seemed to be close to the edge and Danny could see a couple of structures in the distance.
“These are the wheat fields,” Alicia said. “My farm grows two kinds, spring and winter wheat. This here is the spring wheat; it’ll be part of what you’ll be helping to take care of on the farm.”
“Oh. What else will I be doing?”
Alicia looked down at him, “We’ll see.”
Danny winced and looked ahead again. “Am I staying in one of those cabins ahead of us?”
Alicia huffed, “Sure will. I’ve got a farmhand that helps out - sometimes stays in one of the cabins, sometimes travels back and forth from here to town. You’ll be meeting him later.”
“I didn’t realize there would be anyone else here.”
“Well sure, ya think I can take care of a farm like this all by myself? It’s a lot of work. Course, if one of my hands didn’t leave me in the middle of the season, I wouldn’t have let Maddie send you here at all.” Alicia looked down at him, “My farm’s no place to goof around. We all have jobs around here and we all have to do them.” She leveled a sharp look at Danny, “Understand? Just because you’re my sister’s kid doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for pulling your own weight.”
Danny looked away, “Yeah. I get it. Don’t worry, Mom already told me.” More like lectured me to behave, Danny thought.
Alicia huffed. “Well, just keep that in mind.” They walked the rest of the way down the path in silence.
As they neared the first cabin they could hear a bark, “That’s Skip. He usually follows me around or hangs around the animals. Good for keeping most unwelcome visitors away.”
Danny looked out and around excitedly, “you have a dog?”
Climbing up the cabin steps to pull open the door, Alicia said “yeah, but he’s a working dog, so don’t go bothering him.”
Once Danny stepped in, Alicia followed, closing the door behind him. Sunlight streamed in through high set windows, illuminating the space. At one end there was a bed on a simple frame, a dresser next to it, and enough space for a chair and small table.
“This is where you’ll be staying. Got the place to yourself, though there isn’t much to begin with. The toilet is the outhouse in between these two cabins, unless you really want to head down to bother me for mine.”
Danny gulped, feeling a little intimated. “Got it – outhouse.”
“Yeah well, I’ll leave you to get settled in here and then I’ll come grab you for dinner. Most meals will be down in my cabin, since it has the kitchen. That said, you can bring food up here, but I don’t recommend it. Racoons and the like will try to break in if they smell it up here.”
Danny nodded, looking around. “Anything else?”
“You’d be best to wear boots if you’ve got them starting tomorrow, but for now? Make sure the cabin door latches correctly when you leave or it’ll swing open. That’s a great way to invite little rodents to make their home in here or to take a shit on the floor at the least.” Alicia looked over the cabin once, “Fer now, settle in and I’ll come get you when it’s time.” Alicia opened the cabin door and left Danny alone with his thoughts.
Stepping over to the bed, he set his suitcases down and sat between them. The bed let out a soft wheeze, but otherwise stayed firm. It was more of a cot than a proper mattress, but that didn’t faze Danny. He was looking to get shipped back to Amity Park as soon as he could anyway. Dust motes danced around him. The cabin was quite small. But at least Danny didn’t see any spiderwebs or droppings. ‘Small mercies’ Danny thought. Pulling out the older PDA gifted to him by Tucker, Danny tried to see if he could pick up a signal to send back to his friends. Waving his arm in the air didn’t do much. No signal. Sighing, Danny put the PDA down behind the suitcases and leaned back on his hands.
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he could smell the dust in the air, hear the rustling of leaves on the trees, and the faint sounds of animals. He didn’t know why his parents thought he needed to get away from Amity Park for the second half of the summer, but Danny was annoyed. He spent the first half of the summer trapped in summer school, and no sooner did he have the freedom to spend time with Tucker and Sam, than his parents and Jazz decided to send him off. Between more ghosts showing up and causing problems, and his parents paying more attention to him now that Jazz was off at college, Danny had felt like he hadn’t had a moment to himself during the school year. Any extra time he used to have was taken up by his parents dragging him into the GAV to hunt down ghosts and talk about what he planned to do after high school. Danny had been looking forward to vegging out on the couch and running around the mall with Sam and Tucker instead of what? Shoveling dirt? Or watering plants? Or whatever. Danny wasn’t sure what would be expected from him this summer, but his mom made it clear that he was supposed to help his aunt with minimal complaint. Danny let his arms give out so he could fall back onto the bed.
He didn’t know what to expect here, but he knew that back in Amity the ghosts would be having a great time wreaking havoc with one less capable ghost hunter there to kick them back into the Ghost Zone. At least Valerie had enough of a truce with Phantom now to be convinced to empty the ghosts back into the portal instead of handing them over to be subjected to the latest experiment his parents cooked up. Danny closed his eyes. Even thinking about what he would be returning to at the end of summer back in Amity Park was enough to exhaust him and before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.
A short rap on the door woke Danny up, and he got up, threw a glance at his still unopened suitcases, and walked to the cabin door, pulling it open. “Oh,” Danny said. It wasn’t Alicia at the door like he was expecting.
“Hey, you must Alicia’s nephew?” the mystery man asked.
“Uuuh yeah,” Danny rubbed the back of his neck trying to work out the crick that he put there by falling asleep cockeyed on the bed. “And you are- ?”
The man laughed, “Aaah, figures that Alicia wouldn’t have told ya. I’m here to take you to dinner, I’ll tell ya about myself on the way.”
Danny eyed the man, dressed in a button down shirt, blue jeans, boots, and a hat - he certainly looked like he worked on a farm. Stepping out of the cabin, and making sure that the latch took, Danny walked after the guy as he led Danny to a dirt path off to the side of the cabins. “I’m Will, no it ain’t short for nuthin. Down this path,” he gestured, “takes you straight to tha boss’ place – and coincidentally dinner.” Will let out a barking laugh and continued. “I’ve been working here for a few years now. Actually, for most of my life. Worked here during the summers in between school for Tish and Dick back when they ran the place. Later, when I realized city life didn’t agree with me, I came back and started working here full-time. Alicia took over when they passed and she’s a bit gruff, but just as smart as her ma in running the place.”
“Oh, last time I was here, Alicia mentioned the women in the family being smart,” Danny said offhandedly as he looked around the woods.
Will hummed, “darn right they are, never met a smarter bunch. The town was real glad when Alicia moved back, and I think they’re still a bit sad her sister – yer ma – never came back.” Danny could feel Will’s gaze on him, “when were ya here last, by the way?”
“Uh,” Danny said, looking over at Will, “uuh must’ve been a year and half ago? Roughly? It was only a short trip. My mom came down for Aunt Alicia’s divorce party and my sister and I dropped in to make sure my dad had my mom’s anniversary present. That’s a bit of a long story, but we were only here for a day.”
“Aaah,” said Will, “makes sense. I usually take a trip to the next town over to see my brother’s kids around that time. Wouldn’t have seen ya and Alicia ain’t a big blabber if it’s not about the farm.”
Danny didn’t have much to say to that, so he looked ahead to the path, which had started curving away. Coming around the bend, Danny could see Alicia’s cabin through the trees and realized that Alicia could have chosen to take this path up when Danny was carrying his suitcases. His mood soured as they kept walking. Getting to the end of the path, and out of the trees, Danny noticed a small building behind the cabin. Maybe he could ask Alicia what it was for?
Will walked up to the cabin door and knocked, before opening and sticking his head in, “Heya Boss, got the kid. Anythin’ ya need help with?”
“You two better wash your hands ‘fore ya even think about touching food.” Without turning around, she kept stirring the pot on the stove.
“Yes ma’am,” Will said, before turning around to Danny behind him, “Follow me.” And he walked into the cabin, heading around a wall to another door inside.
Danny glanced around the cabin as he stepped in. Nothing much had changed since the last time he was here. He heard water running and looked back around to Will, who was washing his hands in the small bathroom sink. Waiting for his turn, he looked around. There was a picture or two on a table along with a radio, a small couch and chair, and a little fireplace. But no TV. Danny frowned, resigning himself to a very boring summer.
“Alrighty,” Will said, hanging up the towel, “your turn kid,” and he walked off around the corner to the kitchen.
Danny stepped in, noting the indoor toilet and shower that wasn’t in his cabin, and washed his hands. By the time he got back out, Alicia and Will were outside setting down the final dishes on the wooden picnic table.
“Ah there you are Danny, we’ve got everything out here, come join us,” Alicia called him over.
Jumping down the stairs, Danny walked over to the table and took a seat next to Will. Alicia may be his aunt, but he felt more comfortable with Will from the short walk over than he did with her. A stack of bowls, a pot, and some bread on a plate got his attention.
Watching Alicia and Will grab bowls and dish out stew, Danny grabbed the last bowl and did so himself once the ladle was free. Grabbing a piece of bread, he started dunking it in. Watching Alicia and Will eat, he took a bite. Danny made a surprised noise.
Alicia looked over to him, “Surprised?”
Danny nodded and swallowed his bite, “a lot better than I was expecting.”
Alicia laughed, “I’ll take it that my sister still ain’t much of a cook if you think that.”
Danny sheepishly laughed, “Mom’s cooking is alright.” How could Danny explain that most of the stuff in their fridge sat next to ectoplasm and that no matter how well the containers were sealed, most of the time, the food tasted slightly off from spending time in there? He elected to stay silent.
Alicia hummed in response as she ate another bite of stew. The rest of dinner passed quietly, and soon the sounds of bowls being scrapped clean echoed in the little clearing.
Alicia leaned back, waiting for Danny to finish. Will took out a little pipe, tapping down the tobacco and lighting it. Danny wrinkled his nose at the smell as he finished his bowl and straightened. “That was really good Aunt Alicia,” Danny said.
Alicia grinned, sharp and wide, “glad you thought so. Will, you can head back up, Danny here is going to help me with the dishes tonight.”
“Are ya sure?” Will asked.
“Yea, we’ve got some things to talk about anyway,” Alicia narrowed her eyes at her nephew.
Danny felt a chill run down his spine, unrelated to the waning light.
“Alright,” Will said, standing, “I guess I’ll be going then. Night Alicia, night Danny.”
“Night Will,” Alicia said.
“Goodnight Will,” Danny called out as Will walked back to the path they came down.
“Well,” Alicia started, “Grab the dishes and follow me in.” She stood up and grabbed the pot, heading back to her cabin.
Danny stood up, piled the bowls and spoons together in a neat pile, and walked in after Alicia.
“There ain’t no dishwasher in this old cabin, so we’ll be doing everything by hand.” Alicia plugged half the sink and started the tap. “I’ll let you rinse and dry the dishes.” Danny set the bowls off to the side of the sink and walked around her.
After filling up the sink sides, Alicia took the pan and started soaping it up. “So, Danny,” Alicia started. “Um, well, Maddie,” she cleared her throat. “Yer ma seemed worried about you. Anything I should know about? Since you’ll be working on my farm and all.”
Danny shoulders inched towards his ears. “No, nothing. I didn’t need to get out of Amity.” He scowled at the pot Alicia was cleaning.
“Hmmm,” Alicia replied, methodically working around the inside. “I never knew my sister to be a worrier, but I won’t pry. So long as you don’t bring any strangers or trouble around it’s not really my business.”
Danny’s shoulders relaxed some as he took the pot from Alicia and rinsed it off before setting it in the dish rack to start drip drying. The rest of the dishes passed quickly in the silence and as Danny was drying the last bowl, Alicia walked off around the corner.
Danny closed the last cupboard as Alicia came back around with a large fabric bag. “I don’t want to keep you up for much longer, but we’ve got some housekeeping to deal with first.” She held out the bag towards Danny. He took it. “First off, my cabin has the only shower. The only rules are to not use it when I’m sleeping and to clean up after yourself. I mean pick up your towels and hang them to dry over your cabin porch railing. I’ve got a standing unit in the back.” At Danny’s scrunched eyebrows, she sighed. “A washing machine,” she strode to the cabin door. Heading down the steps, she called back, “You saw the structure behind the cabin?”
“Uuuh, yeah,” Danny said, walking behind her.
“Well, the machine’s in there. We don’t got a dryer, instead,” Alicia pointed up at a line stretching from her cabin to a tree. “There’s a bag inside with clothespins. You’ll hang up your clothes after the washer gets done. I recommend getting up in the mornings and starting them so that they have the whole day to dry on the line. But that’s just me.” Turning back around she said, “well, I think that’s most everything. I’ve got a bell I’ll ring to let y’all know when food’s ready. I expect you to finish whatever you’re up to and to get down here when you hear that bell. Either you’re on time or you don’t eat. There’s too much to do around here to wait around.” She looked down at him as the sun finished setting, the orange glow around them the last remnant of the day. Her face softened some, “before I send you back to get some sleep, any questions?”
Danny shook his head, “Naw, laundry out back, shower inside, don’t bother you with either. I think I’ve got it all.”
“Good.” Alicia and Danny stood there for a moment. “Well,” Alicia cleared her throat, “I’ll uh, see you tomorrow mornin then. Night kid,” and turned to walk back to her cabin.
Danny stood there for a moment before sighing and making his way back to the path.
_______
Danny woke up to knocking on the door and sunlight on his face.
Knock knock knock echoed through the cabin and Danny squished his eyelids together even tighter. “Come on, get up boy, you don’t have time to lay around.”
Danny turned his head into his pillow and groaned. He spent long enough last night putting away his clothes and getting used to the small cabin that he fell asleep at a time that, had he been back in Amity, would have been early and yet here was late, based on how groggy he felt. Unrested.
Knock knock bang, “don’t think I won’t come in there kid,” Alicia warned.
Danny let out another groan before turning his head and calling out, “Alright, I’ll be out in a minute.”
Something that sounded like “too long” came from the door before footsteps started walking down the cabin steps. Quickly getting ready – jeans, shirt, and unfortunately, FentonWorks patented hazmat boots, Danny pushed open the door, hopping a little to finish getting the second boot on. He jumped down the stairs, making his way to Aunt Alicia, who was leaning against a tree.
“Well, 56 seconds ain’t bad kid, but come on. You’re following me around for the day.” She pushed off and started walking, “I assume you don’t have any experience working a farm?”
Danny shook his head, “no ma’am.”
Alicia snorted, “none of that ma’am business, call me Alice.”
“I thought your name was Alicia though?”
Opening a little gate, Alicia whistled and then beckoned Danny through before latching it, “Sure is, but yer ma and me had our Grandma Alicia, so family started calling me by Alice.” Walking off to a small building further back, she continued, “But enough of that, we’ve got a long day. You can ask if you have questions, but do your best to pay attention.” With that, she opened the door to a cacophony of clucking that quickly died down. Danny stepped in after her, and as his eyes adjusted he saw the inside of a coop. Two rows of chicken nests on either wall, with hens either standing around Alicia or sitting. Once they spied Danny hiding behind her though, they started squawking again and rushed forward, wings flapping and feathers fluffed. Danny started backing away before a hand pushed on his back and a bucket was shoved into his chest. Quickly grabbing it, Danny looked down at a bunch of seed and –
“OW!” Danny yelped as he started hopping from one foot to another, hens trying to peck away at the new intruder.
“Walk out, they’re just not used to you is all,” and Alicia shooed him out of the coop.
‘Fuck’ Danny frowned, not quite running away from the coop and wishing he could’ve used his intangibility to get away from the chickens. Alicia laughed at him as the hens kept pace around Danny’s ankles, lunging forward to peck at him. “How do I get them to stop?” Danny yelled.
“Jump the fence!”
Danny ran back to the gate and hopped over it with a little help from his ghost side to land a few steps away from the chickens.
Bwaack Squak Sqwauk!!
Danny looked up at Alicia who offered an unapologetic, “Sorry. I forgot.”
Squinting at the slightly amused look on his aunt’s face, Danny scowled, “Did you do that on purpose?”
“No idea what ya mean kid. Anyway, for now you can toss some feed in, but otherwise wait out there. I’ll explain what I did when I get back out to you.” Alicia grabbed a basket hanging outside the coop door and walked back inside.
Danny glared down at the chickens who were still protesting his presence. “What.”
“Squuuuawk!” was the response back.
Danny sighed and looked down at the bucket in his hands. It had some seeds and other things mixed in. Looking back up at the chickens staring at him, Danny slowly raised a hand, “I’m going to throw some seeds in. Please don’t scream at me for it,” and he reached a hand in. No sooner did Danny close his hand around some feed, then one of the hens decided to start flapping its wings again to cause a fuss. Danny jumped and glared at the chicken. Out of spite, Danny reached back in and with a handful of feed, overhand chucked it into the coop yard. Sticking his tongue out at the chickens that refused to let him out of their sight, Danny took another step back. He couldn’t wait till his parents’ summer banishment was over and he could go back to Amity Park.
Alicia stepped out of the coop with the basket and walked over to a trough sitting in the yard. After looking down, she gave a quick nod, and then started heading to the gate. Where the chickens were still standing. Glaring at Danny.
“Uuuh,” Danny said, “Do you have a plan on getting close enough to take this bucket back?”
“Sure do,” Alicia said, coming up to the gate, “step closer and hand it over.”
Eyes never leaving the chickens, Danny inched his way closer to Alicia and when he was close enough, thrust out the bucket towards her. “Do they hate everyone?” He asked.
Alicia took the bucket, “Nope. Not me,” and laughing, walked back to the coop.
“Great, real reassuring,” Danny grumbled to her back.
Once Alicia finished up inside the coop, and with a basket of eggs in hand, she walked back out of the enclosure to Danny. “Noticed how I whistled before?” Danny nodded. “I was warning the chickens that I was coming in. It’s how I let them know it’s me and not a stranger.” She grinned. “Not that it helped you any.”
Danny looking away, glaring.
Alicia paused for a moment, “Well, no matter.” She started walking to another log structure. “I want you to figure out what signal you’re gonna give the chickens and start visiting them in the mornings. Just so they get used to you. We don’t want to upset them too much, so they need to start recognizing you.” Walking up to the much larger barn, she opened the doors. Danny was hit with the smell of animals and he scrunched up his nose, coughing.
Alice looked back at him and laughed, “Well, you’ll get used to the smell soon enough. Anyway, this is where we’ve got the rest of the animals. Some pigs, cows, sheep - used to have a horse, but once we switched to using the tractor and truck full time, and old age killed her off, it didn’t make sense to get another. But that was a number of years ago at this point. I think ya mom and me were still kids then.”
Danny’s eyes finished adjusting to the inside and he saw the animals in their stalls. The cows looked over at him, but it was one brave pig that snuffled up to Danny. “Oh,” Danny said, crouching down. “Cute.” Reaching out a hand, Danny tried to pet the pig, which quickly moved away and waddled back to its stall area.
Danny caught Alicia’s smile as he stood back up. “Pat’s rather friendly, but I wouldn’t recommend getting too attached.” She gestured over to the far wall, “I usually open up the barn during the day, let the animals wander around. Before that though,” she bent down to grab a stool. “There’s some tasks to get done.”
Alicia made her way to one of the cows and picked up a stool and a steel bucket hanging up on the post. She turned back around to Danny, “Yer gonna learn how to milk the cows here. We usually fill up the pail and then transfer them to bottles. We get too much milk to use ourselves, so neighbors will come and pick up some bottles from time to time.” She set the stool down with the pail on top, then moved to the larger cow. Going around to the back of the stall, she unlooped a short rope and tied it around the cow’s neck. “This old gal here is Gully.” Alice jerked her chin to other stall, “and our younger one is Lass.” Alicia walked back out of the stall to move the stool and bucket closer.
“What’s the rope for Aunt Alice?” Danny asked.
“Oh,” Alice said, setting down the stool and pail at Gully’s side. Sitting down, she said, “just to keep her in place. Gully doesn’t move as much as Lass will, but she’s used to the rope. Either way, it lets her know it’s her turn. Here,” Alice beckoned Danny over. "Now here’s how you milk a cow.”
After the early morning of getting food to the animals, collecting the eggs, and milking the cows, Alice led Danny back down to her cabin. Going inside for a minute, Alice came out with a cup of water for Danny. “I’m gonna check on the oatmeal and cook up a few eggs for us. I want you to walk around the woods down here while I finish up breakfast.”
“Alright,” Danny said. “And uuuh, I’ll hear the bell when it’s time to come back?”
Alice chuckled, “Ha - yeah, you’ll hear it. Remember – don’t dawdle when you hear it, come straight back.”
Danny downed the cup of water in one go and nodded, setting down the now empty glass on the table. “Will do.” Danny started walking off and he heard the creak of the cabin door. Just as he was about to exit the clearing, Alicia yelled back, “And don’t step on my rhubarb!”
Danny walked around a bush, ducking underneath a tree limb, “Ok!” and almost ran into a large leafed plant. He tilted his head. Squinted.
‘I don’t actually know what rhubarb looks like,’ he thought. Danny shrugged and moved around it anyway. Walking further into the woods he felt the temperature drop some as shade took over. Standing still, Danny realized how quiet it was. No cars, no honking, no rushing of traffic in the distance. Instead, there was the rustle of leaves and the occasional bird call. He breathed in and out. Quiet, and it smelled like the earth. He looked around. A chipmunk scampered up a far off tree. Danny started picking his way through the bushes, tree roots, and other obstacles as he walked further in.
Danny looked back, and not seeing anyone, did his best to walk in a circle with Alicia’s cabin in the center. He almost tripped a few times, before remembering that he could use his intangibility to easily get through the plants without crushing any. ‘Problem solved. I can’t step on anything if I do this.’ Without having to pick his way in between and around foliage, Danny’s pace picked up as he walked the area. Coming up to what he assumed was near the back side of the cabin, Danny heard a sharp piercing bell echo around. Danny jumped. It was much louder than he thought it would be, especially through the trees. He started walking back, and spied Will coming in and out of view. Danny had gone farther than he thought and hurried up. Just before he popped out of the trees, he dropped his intangibility and walked out behind Will onto the dirt path. “Hey Will!” Danny greeted.
Will whipped his head around, “Oh! Geee-zuuus kid. Where’d you come from?”
Danny came up alongside Will, “the woods. Alice showed me around the animals this morning, then had me walk around for a bit.”
Will nodded. “Makes sense. You see her rhubarb patch?”
Danny grimaced, “Uuuh maybe?”
“You don’t know what they look like, do ya?”
Danny shook his head, “Not really.” After a moment of hesitation, Danny asked, “what do they look like?”
“Oh well, you’ll know it when you see it. Got these big leafs on them. Actually, she’s started a new patch of them in her actual garden. Not hard to spot, there’s about 6 of them? Started a year or two back to grow them in a different spot. Real finicky things, they don’t like it down here, but I suppose Alicia likes ‘em well enough that she takes the time to baby the things. Me personally, I don’t like ‘em all that much, wouldn’t bother putting in tha’ much effort.” Popping out of the trees, Will waved over to Alicia, getting her attention to let them know they had arrived.
Alicia looked over, “Good – kid came back with ya. I’ll finish hanging this line and then I’ll get food out.” She turned back to the laundry.
Will nodded, “understood ma’am.” He looked over and down at Danny, “We best wash our hands and start setting out dishes then.”
Getting the table set up with a small plate, bowl, and spoon for each of them, Danny grabbed the pot of oatmeal, while Will grabbed the scrambled eggs. They got them set down in time for Alicia to round the corner from the back. “Aah, thank you kindly boys. Wasn’t expecting ya both to set up, but I’m grateful.” Sitting down, she started dishing out a ladle of oatmeal for everyone and Will pushed off some eggs on each plate. Danny waited a moment for Will and Alicia to settle down and then started eating.
After breakfast, Alice once again shooed Will off to work and had Danny help her wash and put away the dishes. Putting the towel back on the oven handle, Alice turned to her nephew. “Well. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.” She glanced around. “Ya bring a water bottle with ya or anything?”
Danny furrowed his eyebrows, “Uh no.” He flushed, “I forgot to grab one when packing.”
Alicia huffed, bending down to open a lower cabinet, and rummaged around before pulling out a spare canteen. Standing up, she unscrewed the lid and looked down into it with one eye closed. “Don’t think there’s dust or nothing in there. Should work fine for ya.” She passed it off to Danny and started walking out the door. “Get it filled and I’ll see ya outside. If you need to pee, now’s the time to do it.” She walked out and left Danny in the cabin. Looking around, he didn’t see anywhere other than the sink to fill up the water. Shrugging, he got it filled up from the sink, then quickly went to the bathroom. Looping the water bottle strap around himself, he left the cabin. Making sure to latch it closed, he walked towards Alicia who had put on a wide brimmed hat and they started up the slope together.
“Soooo,” Danny said. “What’re we doing today?”
Alicia chuckled, “you’ll see. I always found it easier myself to see what someone was talking about than to just listen to someone blabber on.”
They headed back up to the animals. Walking towards the barn, Danny squinted his eyes at the change in light as they reentered. He put a hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle a cough. Alice looked over at him, eyes crinkling. “First order of business, mucking out the stalls. I’ll do the first one, then you’ll take over, so make sure you’re watching closely.” Danny wrinkled his nose as he took his hand away and watched Alicia roll up a wheel barrow from the side. She picked up a pitchfork, and as she speared the poop, started talking.
“You’re probably familiar with the poop part of this. You want to get out all the large patties, and then go back and clean up the pissed sections.” Alicia grunted as she lifted a large chunk into the wheelbarrow. “It ain’t tricky, but sometimes the animals like to cover the patches, so you gotta make sure that you get all the spots. We want them to have clean stalls when we bring them back in this evening. Specially the cows, don’t want them to get infections or nothing.” Alicia looked over at Danny who was looking up into the loft.
“Hey!” she called, and Danny dropped his head down to look at her. “You got that?”
“Yes, Aunt Alice,” Danny rubbed the back of his neck.
Alicia narrowed her eyes at him, then continued mucking out the stall. When she finished, she handed the necessary tools over. “Your turn kid.”
Danny flushed as he grabbed at the pitchfork, “Uh yes.” He looked around before facing his aunt. “What am I doing?”
Alicia stared him down. “The next stall, boy. Get to it.”
Danny gulped and walked to the stall next to the one Alice finished. “So I just-“ and he mimed stabbing a poop patty.
Alicia raised an eyebrow and stared Danny down.
Turning back around, he prodded the pile. Standing there a moment, he shifted his stance and jerked the tines into the pile. He wiggled it in a little further. Glancing over at the wheelbarrow, he started to crouch a little, bracing against his leg, and tried to leverage the pile up. The pitchfork shook a little and Danny shifted a foot back to steady himself. He shuffled around and clumsily wiggleded the poop off and into the wheelbarrow. He looked up at Alicia. Alicia looked back into the stall then back at Danny. Figuring that was as good of a “go ahead” as he was going to get, he turned back into the stall and continued. Alicia came to stand by the stall entrance and give the occasional tip as Danny rooted around looking around for spots to clean up. Danny groaned as he finished the last spot. Rubbing his arm, he turned toward Alicia.
As he opened his mouth, Alicia cut him off, “On to the next.”
Danny shut his mouth, glowering a little, and stepped over to the next stall in line. By the time he finished with that one, Alicia had come back with additional stall bedding, spreading it out and filling in the bare spots. Danny leaned against the stall divider and opened up his bottle, taking a gulp of water. It dribbled down his chin and he wiped it off. He hung his arms over the divider as he watched Alicia. Her movements were smooth and practiced, and she was methodical, poking around and moving material, building it up in spots and thinning it out in others. Alicia stepped back, shovel planted by her side. She glanced over at Danny, not surprised to see him watching.
“Any questions?”
Danny shook his head.
“No? Well, I’ll leave you to the rest then,” and grinned at him, before leaning the shovel to the side and walking out of the barn.
Danny sighed and dropped his head for a moment. It wasn’t hard to get the gist of what he had to do, but all of them? It felt like he spent an hour just cleaning out the two he did already. Not looking forward to the rest of the day, Danny pushed off the wall to continue.
At some point, Danny noticed something watching him from the barn door. His shoulders tensed as he turned around. The shape was grounded, solid in a way that most ghosts couldn’t replicate, and Danny felt his shoulders relax some. Squinting against the bright light pouring in, he made out a fuzziness to whatever it was. As his eyes adjusted enough to see more, Danny smiled. It was a large dog, light in color except for the face and ears where the fur darkened. Just as he was about to take a step to walk over, a low bark echoed throughout the barn. Danny stopped. The dog stood up but otherwise didn’t move, keeping eyes on him.
“Hey,” Danny said. “Aunt Alice said your name was Skip?”
The dog lowered its head down, staring down Danny.
Hearing footsteps coming from outside, Danny looked up. Alice came to the entrance by Skip’s side. “Sit,” she said. Turning to Danny, “can you turn away from Skip a little?”
Crouching down, she talked to Skip for a moment, before standing up and walking towards Danny. “Alright, this is Danny.” Coming to a stop near Danny, she clapped a hand on his shoulder. “He’s going to be staying with us a while Skip.”
Skip stood up, turned away, and walked off. Alice faced Danny. “Well, that was Skip. He isn’t the most friendly to strangers, but he’ll get used to you being around eventually. Not that he hangs around us all that often. Skip spends a lot of time with the chickens, sometimes the cows or pigs depending. And you,” Alicia shook a finger at him, “will be out with the crops. Shouldn’t run into any problems with Skip, just don’t startle him.”
Danny’s face fell, “Got it.”
Alice looked around. “So, you about finished in here?”
Danny ducked his head, “eeh about that.”
Alicia sighed, “Ok. Well, once you get done with this, come find me. I’ll be around, but if you can’t find me, just give a shout.” She walked back out of the barn.
Danny sighed, hopes of having a dog crushed once again, and got back to work.