Chapter 437. A Father and Some Stupid Horses: A Crash Course on Farming. (2/5)

“I’ve never met someone who’s never ridden a horse before…” Dawn looked at me like I was some sort of rare breed.

“I’m not the weird one here. I’m sure lots of people in the city have never ridden a horse before in their entire life.”

“Rosa, have yuh ridden a horse before?”

“Of course I have. I’ve traveled to countless countries all across the world growing up. I’ve naturally ridden a horse.”

“You’ve traveled to many countries across the world?” Dawn grabbed Rosa’s hand and held it up excitedly.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Really!”

“Yeah.”

“Tell me about them. I want to hear all about the countries you’ve been to.”

“Hehe,” Rosa giggled as she rubbed the back of her index finger under her nose. “Sure, I can tell you about them.”

Her soul was currently yellow signifying her happiness.

“We can talk about it on our way to your farm.”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

Without my input on the matter, it seemed our plans for the day had been decided. Honestly, I didn’t mind visiting her farm though. I might be able to learn a few things that might be useful in the future. The only times I’d ever been to farms were on field trips back in elementary and middle school.

We packed up the tent and our things and made our way out of the thicket of trees. Dawn’s truck was parked up on the side of a dirt road. I drove my motorcycle over to it and tied it down securely in the trunk of her pickup truck.

Dawn and Rosa took the seats inside while I stayed in the back with my motorcycle to ensure it didn’t slide around or somehow fall out.

...

After a half-hour drive, Dawn turned off the highway onto a dirt road. A short distance away a few grain storage bins could be seen.

After a little while longer a barn and modest house came into view. Not too far off from the house, there was a stable with four horses. Two white, one dark brown, and one black.

There looked to be four different sets of crops being grown across the fields I saw along the way. One was easy enough to figure out, wheat. I’d seen it more than enough to know that. I was pretty sure another field was filled with carrots as I noticed some orange bits sticking out from the ground. The third had tomatoes, the red was a dead giveaway plus they didn’t grow under the soil. As for the last one, I wasn’t too sure. It was all green from what I could see without any easily identifiable colors. I was a total amateur when it came to knowledge of crops.

Dawn pulled into the driveway in front of the house and parked up.

I hopped off the back and followed behind the two who were getting along quite well. Dawn was still attentively listening to Rosa’s stories about the countries she’d traveled to with her parents.

Right when Dawn reached out to open the front door, it suddenly opened up on its own.

“Oh? Yer back Dawn?” A deep voice came from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, dad.” 

So this was her father. 

He looked to only be in his forties but he had a head of gray hair. Was it genetics or was it from the stressful life he lived? He gave off wise old man vibes. Someone who’d seen shit and had a plethora of experience. 

“These two are?”

“The two I mentioned yesterday when I got back.”

“Oh? Then he’s that punk?”

“He’s not a punk. He’s been nothing but kind.”

“Hmm… I see. Are they just visiting for the day?”

“Uh… for now I guess.”

“Well, have fun.” Dawn’s father displayed a warm smile in front of his daughter and pat her on the head.

“Daaaad, not in front of other peopleeee... it’s embarrassing when yuh treat me like a kid in front of others. I’m 18 already…”

“Hahaha, that’s right, I always forget. Yer 18 now, aren’tcha? But, yuh’ll always be my little girl no matter how old yuh get.” He pulled his hand back.

“Ugh…” Dawn awkwardly scratched the side of her head.

“What’re the three of yuh up to?”

“Rosa wanted to take a shower to freshen up a bit before we go horse riding. They’ve been camping out for the last few days.”

“I see. Mind if I borrow this pun- kid a bit in that case?”

“Why?”

“I wanna have a little chat about what happened yesterday with him.”

“Dad, I already told yuh it turned out to be nothing. The doctor didn’t find anything wrong. Don’t cause trouble for hi-”

“It’s fine, Dawn, I don’t mind having a little chat with your father.”

“Huh? But-”

“I have some things I want to ask him about too. I actually have a bit of an interest in learning more about farming. It’s a good opportunity.”

“Oh? Kid, yuh interested in farmin?”

“Just a little. It’d be nice to get a better understanding.”

“Are yuh plannin to move outta the city and become a farmer in the future or somethin?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see. Don’t underestimate farming punk, if yuh think it’s something easy, yer gonna suffer.”

“I’m not underestimating it. It’s because I know it’s very difficult that I’d like to learn more about it from someone experienced in farming.”

Dawn’s father stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb as he sized me up interestedly, “I see, I see. In that case, follow me, kid.” 

“Wait-”

“Dawn, just have fun with yer new friend. Me and this kid are just gonna have a friendly chat.”

Dawn’s father walked out the front door, gripped my shoulder firmly, and pulled me along.

“But-”

“Come on Dawn, let’s go inside. Let them talk about farming or whatever.” This time Rosa was the one to cut her off. She dragged her inside the house preventing Dawn from protesting any further.

“...”

He led me over to the barn in silence. When we entered the barn there was a bunch of farming equipment stored away. There were also a few cows, pigs, and chickens in pens.

Somehow, a tense air descended as soon as we entered the barn. It felt like I was about to be handed down a can of whoop-ass by Dawn’s father.

The silence felt a bit too awkward so I tried to break the ice, “So, what was it you wanted to ask me about regarding what happened yesterday?”

“Nothin really.”

“Huh? Nothing? Didn’t you just say-”

“That was a lie of course. It’s nona my business whatever happened between yuh an’ my daughter yesterday. She’s old enough to decide thins for herself. I just didn’t want yuh inside the house tryna to take a peek at my daughter when she’s takin a shower.”

“Huh? But aren’t you worried about your daughter?”

“Worried? Of course I’m worried about that girl. She’s a spittin image of her mother. Airheaded and always spacin out. Can’t believe yuh really went and took her to a hospital though. I had a good laugh when I heard that one yesterday. I did the same thin for her mother too thinkin there was somethin wrong with her.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I did. They found nothin wrong with her.”

“You’re saying her mother spaces out to the point nothing snaps her out of it?”

“Well… she wasn’t as bad as Dawn in that regard, but she did space out a lot.”

“Uh… about her mother…”

“What?”

“Do you know where she is right now or what she’s doing?”

“She’s in the city, that’s about all I know. We haven’t talked once since she returned to the city. Why do yuh care though?”

“Well, I was just curious whether the woman I saw at the hospital I took her to was her mother.”

“What! She’s been admitted to a hospital!” DawnMs father spun around and yelled at the top of his lungs with wide eyes.

“No, calm down. I didn’t see a woman that resembled her as a patient, she was a surgeon. That woman reacted a bit strangely when she caught a glimpse of Dawn’s side profile entering the hospital room. I tried to catch up to her to ask her a few questions, but she immediately left the hospital together with a male doctor she seemed to be on pretty good terms with.”

“A male doctor? What did he… look like?”

“He looked pretty well off. He had light brown hair with blond highlights and green eyes.

Dawn’s father grit his teeth together and grimaced with a dark expression, “So that bastard’s still...” 

Still what?

“Do you… know him?”

“Know him? Of course I know that bastard. He’s the whole reason Aurelia...”

“Aurelia?”

“Dawn’s mother, my wife.”

“She left you to be with that man?”

“No. She left me because of what that bastard did.”

“What did he do?”

“Nothin, just forget I said that.” Dawn's father's eyes were filled with frustration as she shook his head.

“If you say so.”

I was naturally curious about what happened, but his love life wasn’t any of my business. That is… unless I could take advantage of it and get him to sell his soul to me.