The villagers worked until the late afternoon and then, they all went home. Waterways were bypassing the village and going into the forest. Alklair watched as the water ran merrily along them.

But he knew that if he needed a forest to thrive, he needed something more than water and trees. So, he went to the kind old lady that had whipped the villagers into action.

“Ma’am, how can I make this forest thrive? The trees look starved,” Annie considered his question. She was a rice chef, not a botanist. But she prided herself on having wonderful flowers and Tony, her lemon tree bonsai, thrived under her care.

“You require fertilizer and a cover crop. Maybe clovers? Once the clovers wilt, they will become compost, and they will feed the soil with minerals. They can grow almost anywhere,” Alklair nodded. But there was one problem.

“I don’t have seeds, ma’am. And my budget is tight,” Annie worried her bottom lip. She had some savings, but those were not enough to make sure this forest was saved.

“We can help with that,” said Zachary as he pulled out a rolled parchment. “There is a bounty on a pack of wolves that has been plaguing a village a little to the south. If we take care of it, we will be paid. We can give you the winnings.”

Annie smiled with pride at Zachary. Yes, that would do nicely.

“We have one condition,” said Zachary with a smile. “Take care of our granny while we are off. She can’t fight, and she is dear to us.”

“I will take care of her as if she were my mother,” promised the water mage, and the adventurers all nodded. They turned and left, and Alklair pointed his house to Annie.

“You must be tired, ma’am. I can whip you something to eat,” suggested Alklair, and Annie waved a finger at him.

“Like his mother, he says, yet expects me to wait on him for food! Grannies love to feed young people like you. Do you have rice, Alklair?” Alklair nodded, looking perplexed.

“I can make you a veggie wrap, ma’am, it is no problem,” tried to argue Alklair, but Annie poked him on the nose and furrowed her eyebrows.

“None of that. A good old-fashioned risotto would serve well enough. We will make a clean a cupboard risotto. My specialty,” Annie marched to the house and waited at the door. Shaking his head at the stubbornness of the old woman, Alklair followed.

He unlocked the door and they went inside. Annie noted how everything was clean and well-ordered. This young man would be a fine husband, one day.

“Where is your kitchen?” Asked Annie and Alklair led her to a room that was painted in a strawberry color. The entire house was in red nuances, now that Annie was looking, she could see it.

“Is red your favorite color?” Asked Annie offhandedly as she began to rummage in the pantries. She found a sack of rice, some onions, smoked chicken and mushrooms. Perfect for a cupboard cleaning risotto.

“Yes, ma’am…” Annie huffed.

“Granny, dear. I’ll have you know I have three granddaughters. So, the title is well-deserved,” Alklair smiled, his face softening.

“Granny, then. Yes, it is. Holly’s, the nymph that I am trying to help, hair is red. We have known each other since I was a child. She has always looked after me,” Annie measured a bowl of rice and went to clean it.

“Have you always lived in the forest?” Annie liked speaking with others as she cooked. She used her Rice Master power to sort all the trash from the rice and then placed the rice in a bigger bowl so that she could clean it with water.

“This house belonged to my grandfather. He owned the forest. But, my father sold it to the village. And the villagers chopped it down,” there was regret in Alklair’s voice and Annie was quick to speak.

“It wasn’t your fault, Alklair. You couldn’t have done a thing to stop it from happening,” Alklair didn’t speak for a whole minute, and then he sat on the chair that was behind the kitchen table, looking forward.

“But it was my fault. It was because of my mage training that father had to sell the forest. I got it back cheaply from the villagers after a couple of years of adventuring, but that was because the trees were gone. Now, only moss sustains Holly,” Annie was just chopping the onions when she got an idea.

“If moss can keep her alive, why don’t you make sure that it spreads around the forest? She will feel better in the short term, until the trees recover and grow,” in Annie’s mind, there was already a plan. She would help this man spread the moss all around the forest. After all, moss needed moisture, and now the entire forest had waterways running through it.

“Would there be enough moss from the house for the entire forest?” Annie thought not, but Alklair surprised her.

“My entire basement is full of moss. I keep it there so that Holly can survive. I thought that it couldn’t live in the forest, what with how brittle the soil was. But, if it can be done, then I will do it,” Annie nodded, and she began to chop the onions.

Yes, they could give Holly a second chance and Alklair will make sure that the villagers wouldn’t be able to chop down the new forest. Everything would be fine.

When Annie finished making the clean cupboard risotto, they had a plan. They will take all the moss from the basement and leave the one on the roof so that Holly would be fine.

Then, they will rope the villagers into planting it. They had caused this, after all. Annie wondered if she shouldn’t threaten to curse them again, when Alklair came with a better alternative.

Alklair would make sure that the banks of the river were good for rice paddies, which would have the added benefit of sustaining Holly, and he would give them to the villagers free of charge. Annie liked it when things began to look up.