Chapter 4.6

It took longer than I thought to reach the first farm, the terrain got steeper the further west we went until it was rolling hills of fields of corn and wheat as far as the eye could see. We cut through the fields to save time, and the corn plants towered over us maybe two feet above our heads, so we were forced to navigate purely using the compass. The corn provided shelter from the sun, but it was suffocating to not know how far we'd come and how far we still had to go. We trudged on, through the endless expanse of towering corn.

"How much longer is it?" Tommy complained, even he ran out of things to talk about when there was nothing but corn on your four sides.

"I don't know." Theo answered.

"Shall we stop for a bit?" I asked. We were all bored, hungry and tired from walking the entire day, but even as we perched on the uneven ground, resting didn't really lift our moods. We sat in silence, not really gaining any stamina from stopping but not really motivated to move either.

Rex thought it was a good time for a nap and curled up at Tommy's feet, while Theo gently sips from her water bottle, her eyes cast a million miles away. The day's travels had worn me down, my body throbbed, and it took all my might not to follow Rex into curling up in a ball and calling it a day. Just as my eyes started to droop, Theo shakes my arm, sending shivers down my spine and jerking me awake.

"We'll be there soon, so don't fall asleep here." She stood over me with an outstretched hand. Tommy was already standing next to her ready to leave. I must have fallen asleep for a second.

"Okay." I agreed and reluctantly took her hand. She pulled me up, and we set off again.

Thankfully she wasn't wrong, after ten minutes we found ourselves exiting the cornfield and facing a large stretch of purple flowers.

"That's so pretty!"

"Look! There's a house!" in the distance, beyond the field of purple flowers, was a small farm, with what looked like cows grazing in the field beyond it. There was a road right by us that skimmed the perimeter of the flower field and forked to our left, with one fork leading to the farm.

Tommy insisted on picking one of the purple flowers before we set out. The farm itself was muddy and warn. It had seen better days, but it was shelter, regardless, it would keep the cold out and we might even be able to find some fresh food. Theo didn't expect it to smell as much as it did, when the wind blew in our direction, a thick smell of warm mud and manure wafted with it, and Theo made a disgusted expression and tried not to gag.

I had to admit, it was pretty bad.

The sun was setting, casting long dark shadows within the farm. There were five buildings in total. The first two were animal pens for pigs and cows, the third was a storage barn, and there was a house and a smallish stone shed further in.

"Do you think we could get some fresh milk?" Theos face lit up at the prospect.

"Ever milked a cow before?" I asked, I was exhausted, but my curiosity was spiked.

"Nope, but how hard could it be?" she smiled and pulled open the door to the cowshed. A wall of stink hit us, and we stepped back unconsciously. "Wow." Theo gasped. After we got used to the smell, we ventured in. There were cow pens on either side, most of them filled with tired looking cows. In the end stall, separate from the rest, was calf sucking on its mother teat. Theo and I looked at each other, and despite how tired we were, we grinned- "Fresh milk." We said in unison.

"I'm game if you are." She added, readying herself to climb over into the pen and reaching for a nearby bucket.

"What are you doing with my cows?!" a little voice shouted out. Theo froze, saddling the barrier into the pen. We all turned to find a small girl standing in the doorway, her hands resting on her hips, looking cross.

"We're sorry, we didn't think anyone was here!" Theo apologised with shock, climbing back down.

"Why wouldn't we be here, its my daddy's farm?" she grumbled.

"I'm sorry. We just wanted somewhere to rest for the night."

"Then why were you climbing into Jasmine's pen?" she narrowed her eyes.

"We just wanted some fresh milk. We're very tired and hungry."

"Oh, okay." She seemed to accept our reasoning, then she broke out with a big smile, "I'll get you some bread then! Wait here!" the next second she bounded off out of the barn.

"What do we do now? Should we wait or get moving again?" Tommy asked.

"She seems friendly enough, we should rest here for now." Theo jumped down.

"But if something feels off, we should leave." I interjected.

"Agreed." Theo nodded.