There was a slight problem with the harvest of most of the vegetables. After them, a cover crop had to be planted. So far, Theanore thought that clovers would do just fine. There were two concerns.

There were no clover seeds in the seed sack that Crassus had bought for her with the gold Theanore gave him. And there were numerous clover types that did different things.

Yellow clovers were perfect for bee pasture, but they were planted in the early spring to late summer. Crimson clovers were good for soil enrichment and could be planted during the autumn, but Theanore wanted something that could attract bees. White clovers were good against weeds, and they were easy to rake.

Theanore wrote down these pros and thought of the cons. She didn’t know them, and Tania told her that she no longer had access to Grandpa Thinker’s encyclopedia Plantanica.

That lead Theanore to an elimination process based on the pros that the seed vendor had told her alone. Yellow clover was out. She could plant some come spring, but not now. That left Crimson clover and white clover. Both made excellent pathways in the soil. Both were used for manure enrichment of the flower beds.

When was the white clover planted again? The vendor hadn’t said.

“Excuse me, Mr. Graham. When is the white clover planted?” Asked Theanore, and the merchant’s face fell.

“Well, little miss, it is planted in the spring. But you can invest in seeds from now and have them on hand for the spring. Do I wrap you all three types of clover?” Mr. Graham looked hopeful. He knew that the girl’s father had struck gold and had a pearl oyster farm. But he hadn’t raised the prices. The day he robs a little girl would be the day he gives up his stall.

“I’ll buy the spring clovers during the spring. I want three bags of crimson clover. What other cover crops can you offer me?”

The merchant filled three coin purses with crimson clover seeds, and he began to think.

“Well, the winter rye is good too. You can feed the grains to your livestock. You said you have chickens, yes? They love it!”

Theanore smiled at the thought that she wouldn’t have to compete with her Colorful Egg specters for grain.

“One bag of winter rye, then. What else?”

“Field peas, little lady. They are good weed control and once they go through a couple of frosts they become very sweet. But don’t you want some vegetables to plant this autumn too?”

“A bag of peas too, then. And what vegetables can I plant? Isn’t winter coming?” Asked Theanore. The reason she even wanted a cover crop for her grotto was that nothing could grow in the snow.

“You sow your spinach now, and it will be sweet and ready to eat come spring. The same goes for salads and lettuces. Do you want to eat something soon? Get some radishes, little lady. They are fully grown in a couple of weeks. They will be done before the frost even sets in! Six weeks from now and you will have turnips for your salad. Or as feed for your chickens. And no meal is good without onions or garlic, let me tell you. So get some now and plant them, and come spring you will have tastier food!”

Theanore wrote all this down. She couldn’t expect to be given access to Grandpa Thinker’s encyclopedia Plantanica any time soon. She was going to make her own encyclopedia, and she was going to make it available to everyone!

“A bag of everything you listed!” Exclaimed the little nymph happily. The merchant gave her the seeds and even gave her a bag of yellow clover as a present. With all of her purchases, Theanore returned to the former home of Crassus.

He said he was not going to sell it so that they could have a place to stay when they came to the village. The house was cluttered with purchases. Books, both on magic and gardening. Toys for the murder muffins. Fabrics for more capes.

The enchanted capes sold like warm bread. When the villagers asked Crassus who enchanted them, he proudly placed a hand on each of his children. So far, they only had the fireproof enchantment, and it was level 10 on the wizard Odious’ scale.

The blacksmith got one as well as the baker. The housewives of the village wanted aprons and mittens made with the enchantment, and they already paid half of the price. An adventurer group bought up most of the capes to give them to the people back at the guildhall as a present.

Theanore has begun to learn how to knit, although her fingers were small and so it was a slow process. The very first thing she knitted was a pair of socks. One was bigger than the other, and they didn’t have anything fancy on them.

When she gave them to her father, he hugged her and twirled her around. The socks were too small for him, but he said he would keep them to remember where his daughter started once noble ladies come and buy knitted clothes from them.

Marinus has taken to masonry. He liked making stone figurines and painting them. He had a tiny one of Theanore he kept hidden in a coin purse around his neck. The rest of his figurines depicted various marine animals and were very sought after.

Today Marinus was peddling his figurines with Crassus. He had received more than one commission for a hardiness enchantment on one of them, but he had to decline. He simply didn’t know that enchantment.

“We’ll get you more enchantments,” said Crassus, a hand over the boy’s shoulder. They didn’t have an easy start, but they had bonded because of their love for Theanore.

“There must be a merchant selling them. Uncle Crassus, is there one in the village?” Asked Marinus. He hadn’t seen one, but surely the human would know better.

“No, my boy. I daresay that the capes are a novelty. But there is an adventurer’s guild in the nearby town. There have to be some enchanted items lying around there.”

With renewed vigor, Marinus began to yell at the passersby to come and look at their wares. They needed to save money for a trip to the town!