47 Deciding on a Return Gift

"Thank you for the gift. I will come to clean the shrine and bring you an offering." Amelia bowed to the shrine and then sat on the bench nearby. She bit into the fruit. It was sweet and tasted like something she had not tasted before but it slightly reminded her of the cherries. She finished the fruit. "That was very amazing. I am not sure what it will do but I am grateful."

Edna patted Amelia on the back, "it might not kick in right away but I am sure that it will help you. I trust our mountain god and goddess. They always pull through when it really matters."

"I will place my trust in them as well. I will place a nice offering for them and I want to thank the fox. Have you ever seen the spirits of the shrine before?" Amelia looked at Edna smiling.

"Me? No, I have not been blessed to meet them but I am still grateful for all their help. I have been praying to then since I found out about the shrine. When something blessed happens I make wagashi treats and bring them to the shrine." Edna looked back and smiled.

"If that is the case. Please allow me to make them this time. I will need your guidance on making them but I want to be the one to thank them. It is only right that I work hard on the treats for them." Amelia smiled sweetly and was looking at the sakura blossoms.

"If that is what you desire then I will show you tomorrow. It is far too late in the day to do it today. I like that you are willing to do it with me." Edna walked Amelia back to the blanket. "I will make sure that the kitchen knows that you are eating out here and that we will be making wagashi sweets tomorrow. I will be back in an hour to have dinner with you two."

"Thank you, Mother Edna. I will be here waiting for your return and I am looking forward to making the sweets. I hope that you do not mind me wanting to make them for you as well." Amelia bowed and sat down on the blanket.

"Oh dear, of course not. I will see you in a bit." Edna bowed back and left the two to their embroidery.

"Wagashi sweets? Did something happen at the shrine?" Miyuki looked at Amelia and set down her embroidery.

"I got a gift from the god and goddess of the shrine. I am feeling blessed so I will make them return sweets so that they know that I am thankful for the gift they gave me. The fox that came to me was the cutest." Amelia sat down and started to embroider the horses again.

"A gift. That is very rare. You must be lucky that they chose to give you something so precious. We will do this until dinner, that is if that is what you would like to do?" Miyuki smiled at Amelia and watched as the girl started touching.

"It is not like there is a lot else that I can do besides I would love to get this done before he returns." Amelia looked at the square smiling. She continued to stitch the dark blue colour in.

"Then I will continue to work on this task." Miyuki looked down at the stitches that she was doing and continued to make the fax patterns in the cloth.

Gabriel looked down at his sketch and smiled. 'I am so attached. When I get home I need to pray to the mountain god and goddess. I will do everything humanly possible to keep her alive. I will not lose the one that I love. I just wish big brother would come home.' Gabriel let out a sigh and the carriage stopped. Gabriel stuck his head out and saw that there was another carriage in front of theirs.

"Sir, do you mind if I go and see if they need any help? It looks like the wheel is broken." The driver looked at Gabriel as his head poked out.

"I don't mind if you are able to help. It could be a ploy so be on your guard. I already know that it will take an hour or so to fix so that will give me time to collect some of what we need." Gabriel stuck his head back in and collected a small amount of digging supplies.

Edward opened his eyes. "We are not there yet but you look like you are going hunting?"

"Kosuke is going to help the carriage that is broken down so I thought it would be a good idea to collect a few herbs while we stopped. Now, this could be a ploy to try and rob us so could I ask you to stay here and guard the items we have?" Gabriel goes to the door and looks at Edward.

"Yes, that is perfectly acceptable. I will stay here and guard the items inside although it is mostly herb books." Edward nodded his head and looked at the book that was beside himself. "I will be here if you need me."

"Thank you, Edward. I appreciate it." Gabriel climbed out of the carriage and went to the woods and started the night hunt of herbs. He found the first herb he needed in abundance. He started to harvest the green tea leaves. 'It is nice that I can get some more of this as I was using it for many teas. I will need to dry it out.' He placed all the green tea leaves on a piece of fabric and harvested all the full-grown leaves. He looked around and found valerian. He dug up the plant and saw that the roots were thick. He dug up the whole plant and placed that on another fabric that was placed over the green tea leaves. He wrapped up the two items and walked back to the carriage.

"Thank you for stopping. It is thanks to you that we will not be stuck on the road. I am grateful to you." A young female voice was speaking to Kosuke.