The group talked a bit more over breakfast, avoiding the elephant in the room.  Bob and Fufi only spent half a day looking through the woods because Martha couldn't handle staying on top of the farm tasks without her husband's help. Like the previous day, Alex kept busy with the spinning wheel, loom and other clothcraft implements. Alex's coping mechanism like usual was to keep busy.

The first project was a new outfit for Bob. No dyes were available so creating a plaid flannel and jeans wasn't an option. "Does making denim need something special? I think it is mostly cotton. I don't think there are any cotton plants growing on the farm." Alex addressed the spinning wheel.  The nymph crafted a bolt of wool cloth using the workshop's implements.  Next, Alex used scissors, needles and thread to make some Bob-sized overalls and a plain wool button down flannel. To go with the outfit some boxers with a drawstring around the waste were sewn. The look was completed with a wide-brimmed straw hat.

Donning the outfit, Alex looked like someone's teenage daughter wearing her dad's clothes. The legs bunched on the ground and the sleeves were much longer than the nymph's little arms.  There was a reason to wear the outfit though.  Alex's phone revealed that the outfit gave a +1 bonus to farming. Alex switched back to the crafting outfit with the corset and skirt.  The nymph neatly folded the new farmer outfit in a bundle and placed the straw hat on top. Not being hungry for lunch, Alex decided to give it to Bob at dinner. One of the nice features of the workshop were the holes in the roof.  They functioned like skylights. Alex felt nice basking in a ray of light while working. Maybe it was a nymph thing but being in direct sunlight was energizing.

After lunch Martha showed up and asked, "How are you doing Alex?  You skipped lunch again today." Martha's face was hard but Alex didn't feel any animosity towards her. Martha was just doing what she thought needed to be done.

"Oh, now that you are here do you think you could help me with something?" Alex deflected the question. However there was a good reason to request Martha's help.

"What do you need help with?" Martha asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you see, Fufi told me once that a magical girl is supposed to be cute.  She said cuteness is the most important thing. I really only have a little bit of magic and I have to dance to use it. If I asked your husband for help it would be the same as inviting a married man to a private dance." Alex fitfully replied.

"I see..." Martha replied, her face softening some as she looked at Alex. "Well, I think you are pretty cute yourself so let's see what you can do.  How can I help?"

"I appreciate that. What I need help with is moving the cart. It is not hard because the springs power the wheel but I can't do it and dance at the same time.  The cart has some water barrels in it and one of my dolls can shoot liquid." Alex smiled at the farmwife and tried not to feel embarrassed.  The pair went into the workshop and Alex wound up the cart with the key.  "You just hold onto the handle and push or pull it and it moves with you." Alex demonstrated by grabbing the rails and moving the ticking cart out of the workshop. The wheel on the cart made a clicking sound as it moved.

"Okay, so it sounds simple." Martha looked around and saw how clean everything was in the workshop. She glanced down at Alex who was wearing a corset and skirt with the wooden sandals.  Alex blushed at her gaze.  Moving the cart was very easy for Martha.  She was grinning the whole time as they made their way to the dropoff before the stream. "This is a really neat magic tool you got here Alex. Those barrels of water there probably weigh more than my husband but the cart moves like it is empty."

"I know it is amazing. Hold one one moment while I get changed." Alex said with a smile.

"Change into what?" Martha asked and tilted her head.

"Um it is embarrassing, promise not to laugh okay?" Alex used a blanket to make a screen to change behind inside the cart.  There was some rustling of cloth for a minute and Alex came out in the magical girl dress with three fancy dolls in hand. "Martha, meet Lily, Rose and Edelweiss"

"That is cute. Why don't you go ahead and show off your magic?" Martha asked after a moment's pause. She flashed the nymph a grin.

Alex's phone displayed the following with the magical girl dress equipped:

Name: Alex Parker

Class: Magical Girl

Sex: Female

Race: Apple Nymph

Strength: 10

Constitution: 10

Dexterity: 16

Intelligence: 7

Cuteness: 10 (+2 from equipped item)

Skills:

Cleaning: 2

Cooking: 1

Toymaking: 1

Tailoring: 2

Feats: Empower Doll

Spells: Animate Doll

Grow Plants

Lesser Charm Person

Doing a little dance caused the dolls to start moving as well. Rose hopped up on the barrel and put a hose into the water.  When she fired the water gun instead of squirting a little stream of water the resulting water jet shot into the ground with many times more pressure than before. Mud was sprayed everywhere from the resulting impact. The force of the jet rocked the cart.  Lily, Edelweiss and some of the stuffed animals were knocked onto the ground. "What happened?" Alex said, looking around in a panic. The mud explosion was enough to startle the nymph and forget to keep dancing.  With the dancing halted, the dolls went limp.  Alex apologized to Martha and tried to explain what happened when she saw that Lily and Rose had been tossed down and covered in dirt.

"So all this water was magic?" Martha asked.

"Yes and no... Yes it is still magical but..." Alex started to explain then stopped. "I don't know how to explain this. The magic of the dance makes the dolls move but the water is coming from the barrel and the squirt gun is a normal squirt gun."

"Huh? So you can make water do magical stuff?" Martha looked confused.

"Not really... I just wanted water to squirt but when I did Rose ended up doing a mud blast instead of water." Alex looked down and thought for a moment. "It is just that Fufi did a really bad job of explaining cuteness to me. Before when I was a man this spell was more like something akin to child's toys.  Now it is something really dangerous.  If I would have just called Luna and asked her to make me a girl and not been so hesitant to wear the provided outfit in the rift dungeon I could have cleared it in one go.  It took me days of going back and forth." Alex explained, her eyes going back and forth between Martha and the cart, awkwardness apparent.

"Hmm... Maybe we should have talked about that earlier." Martha thought for a second and then nodded her head. "But I am curious about something here... You have made your own dolls but what is a squirt gun?" Martha looked over at Rose who was covered in mud.

Alex cleaned everything up with the feather duster and explained," A squirt gun shoots water... It is a toy gun."

"A toy?" Martha asked, looking down at the dolls with a quizzical look on her face. "I know what a toy is, but what is a gun?" Martha had an odd look on her face as if she were trying to see something.

"A gun shoots bullets and hurts people. Real ones are very dangerous." Alex answered, picking up one of the plushies and placing it back in the cart. She paused for a second then added, "You could hurt someone with one of these too." Alex pointed to the squirt gun Rose had in her little hand.  It was impressive that the recoil didn't knock it from the doll's hand. The gun was just as dangerous as a real one.

Martha thought for a minute and then shrugged. "You know, I can't find anything wrong with that explanation." Martha gave Alex a warm smile. "I don't think your magic can be all bad." She felt the concept of guns was a bit over her head but considering their past wanted to be supportive of Alex.

"Well thanks Martha.I am glad you don't think my magic is bad." Alex felt better after talking with Martha. "Um Martha, want to see what Lily and Edelweiss can do next?" Alex took a moment to inspect the barrel.  The attack Rose did used several gallons of water. Alex made a mental note to only use Rose at full power when there was enough water around.

"Sure." Martha replied and watched as Alex gathered up the dolls and resumed dancing.  Lily fired an arrow at the hillside that made it look like someone had shot a huge firework off at a target. The arrow was in mid air as the projectile soared through the air to hit the target in the ground. The impact site burst into a pink heart shaped explosion that put a crater in the hillside.  A plume of dirt and rock rained down in the area. It looked like a small earthquake had occurred in the area for a minute. "What did she do there?" Martha asked, still grinning as she watched Alex dance.

"Her arrows are almost like a tiny grenade but much more powerful and can be set off from long distances." Alex continued to dance and Edelweiss charged a small boulder.  The armored doll's weapon struck the rock and sent it flying off into the woods.

"That looks really dangerous.  I hope Bob and Fufi are not in that part of the woods." Martha said as she watched Edelweiss charge a second time with another rock. The second rock was sent flying off into the woods as well with a clack of metal hitting stone.

"Oh, that is a good point.  I guess we should stop here." Alex stopped dancing and picked up Edelweiss before going to the back of the cart and placing her inside. "Let me go get changed.  And please don't tell Fufi about this.  I'm sure she'll tease me and say something like I told you so." Alex winced at the mental image of a smug-looking flamingo.

"Oh, one last thing."  Alex said and handed a cloth bundle to Martha. "Could you give this to Bob?  I made him some new clothes today."