Kel led her onto another dirt path she hadn’t noticed before, leading her around the cabin. They stopped at a plot of freshly tilled soil. “I recently harvested all that I had planted, so this is all for you. There are seeds and a watering can inside, as well all the stuff you need to make a good garden.”

“I always wanted my own garden,” Iliana said truthfully. What little room they had in the backyard of her house in Abelton was used up with stacks of wood and the laundry line. “Where are the seeds? I want to get started right away.”

“I’ll show you.” They went back into the cabin and Kel got little jars of seeds down off a shelf. Iliana read all the labels of the jars and set aside the ones she didn’t want to plant. Then she went back outside and went to work. First she got a little stick and marked where everything would go. Then she made holes for the seeds and dropped them in and covered them with soil. Kel helped her lug the watering can to the pump, which was located behind the barn, and back to the garden, but really she carried it to the pump empty and he carried it back full of water when she couldn’t lift it. By the time they were done Iliana was exhausted.

“I used a little magic on the seeds to make them grow faster,” Kel said, plopping down in the grass near the corner of the cabin.

“Really? How fast?” She asked excitedly, sitting down beside him.

“You should be able to harvest at least the carrots within a week,” he answered, then smiled as the dogs ran up to them and also plopped down into the grass, begging for belly rubs.

“Incredible,” Iliana said quietly. She looked up and watched a few clouds overhead move with the wind, scratching Alena’s belly absentmindedly. “It’s so beautiful here.” Kel nodded.

“I’m glad you like it. You can come here anytime you like.”

“Thank you for doing all this for me.” He shrugged.

“It was already here. I’m basically just foisting work onto you. Though I will come and do all the things you didn’t do at the end of the day.”

“I don’t mind it at all. I think it’ll be good for me to learn how to run a farm. I always wanted pets, too.”

“Not all of the animals are pets you know,” Kel said slowly. “Some of them are food.”

“I know that, I’m not dumb,” Iliana said, a little annoyed.

“I didn’t mean… I’m sorry. I should have phrased that differently.” A moment of silence. “I apologize, Iliana, I did not intend to suggest that-”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m still a bit… frustrated with this whole situation. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. It’s not your fault.” The following unsaid sentence hung in the air between them. It was Dray’s fault. Another long moment of silence passed. “Now, about this list,” Iliana said, changing the subject.

“Oh yeah, let me go get it.” Kel stood and went inside, coming back out a moment later with a long piece of paper. “This is all the stuff that needs to be done, but you don’t have to do everything.” He showed her the list. It was long. It had things like; milk cows; milk goats; gather eggs; clip goat hooves; clip sheep hooves; clean out stable and put new hay down; refill water buckets; pump water into water trough; and many more things. In front of each item was a box. Some boxes had checkmarks in them, and others were blank. “The checkmarks mean it was already done. Every day some of the checkmarks will disappear, and that means that you still have to do that thing every day. But some things you won’t have to do for a while, like… shearing the sheep. You only do that in spring, so that checkmark will stay there for a while. Like I said, you can leave some of these things for me to do.”

“Alright,” Iliana said, taking the list. “I’ll get started.” She got up and went to the barn, grateful to be away from him for at least a little while. She was still embarrassed by her outburst. He didn’t deserve her harsh tone. He wasn’t the reason she was here. Yet she couldn’t help but feel some resentment towards him, if only because he looked like the person that was responsible. She sighed, shaking her head. Let’s do some work. That’ll take my mind off of it.

The box for gather eggs was empty, so she would do that first. She found a basket and put the big boots back on, and began gathering all of the eggs. Almost. In one of the nests, a fat chicken was sitting, and when Iliana tried to move it, the chicken pecked her. “Fine,” she huffed at it. Its beady eyes just stared back at her. She looked down at the list, and saw that the box for gather eggs now had a checkmark in it. I guess that’s good enough, Iliana thought. She walked back to the cabin and on the way she noticed another building, small and square and off to the side with its own little dirt path. Kel was still petting the dogs by the cabin when she came up. “What’s that building for?” she asked him, pointing. He looked in the direction she was indicating.

“That’s the meat house.”

“You mean that’s where you kill the animals?”

“Yes, but you won’t have to do any of that.”

“Good.” Iliana went inside and set the basket of eggs by the small cooking stove. Then she began looking more closely at all the things on the shelves. Kel came in after a few minutes.

“I have to go,” he said simply, opening the door to the hall of doors inside the cold castle. “You can stay as long as you like. But stay around the buildings, and whatever you do, don’t go into the forest.” Iliana felt her curiosity perk up.

What could be in the forest? A way out of this place? “Alright,” she said, nodding.

“You can follow the ribbon back to your house. I’ll see you later.” With that he was gone. Dray and Kel seemed to share that trait, being able to just show up and disappear in a matter of minutes. Again Iliana felt bad for snapping at him before. Perhaps he would have stayed longer if she hadn’t done that. He said he was the one usually taking care of things here. Maybe now that she was taking over these duties, he now didn’t have anything to do.

Well, he’s gone now. Might as well get some more chores done to pass the time. I’ll have to let him know he can stay as long as he likes, too. He shouldn’t feel like he can’t be here just because I am.

Iliana looked at the list again. There was nothing left to do, really. It seemed Kel had already done the bulk of the work already, which was surprising to her since it couldn’t be past 9 in the morning. Every box had been filled, except one thing at the very bottom: Name animals. She could certainly do that.

Iliana walked to the fenced fields and watched the animals. It seemed like a lot of space for only three sheep, three goats, two cows and ten chickens. And two dogs. After a while of her watching them one of the sheep came up to her and nibbled on her dress. She smiled at it.

“I’ll call you Nibbles.” This sheep was one of the females. She could tell because she was very round, which that meant the sheep was pregnant. The male sheep was thinner and more wary of her. But Iliana couldn’t tell the two girls apart just by looking at them. That’s it, she thought, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll make them collars so I can tell them apart. But for now she stuck a long piece of grass into the curly hair on top of Nibbles’ head. Tomorrow she could start on the collars.

Iliana spent a few more hours there, watching the animals and naming them when something came to mind. The boy sheep was now Melvin, and one of the cows Helen. She didn’t name any of the chickens but one. The fattest one that had pecked her earlier. Miss Fanny.

Iliana played with Alena and Ritho until her stomach started growling, indicating that it was time to eat lunch. Opening the door to the castle, she peeked in and found herself where she had expected, the hall of doors. She thought briefly about exploring the other doors, but didn’t think it was a good idea. Kel had warned her multiple times not to touch anything when he’d brough her to the spells and ingredients library. These other doors could hold dangers that she couldn’t even imagine. With that thought Iliana quickly closed the door to the cabin and grabbed a hold of the ribbon that was still hanging in the air. Like before it snapped into place, leading her directly to the corridor. Once she reached the corridor, she placed her fingers against the ribbon and began making her way back.

It was creepy being in the castle all alone. The torches high above her head gave off just enough light for her to see, but she was suddenly afraid that they would go out, leaving her in complete darkness. She quickened her pace.

It was cold inside her house. Again, there was only one hot coal in the stove. She got the fire going and ate another sandwich by herself, thinking about the day she’d just had.

It had been good, it had been fun, and it had been different. She still had dirt under her nails from digging in the soft soil of the garden. Iliana wondered just how fast the garden would grow, and couldn’t wait to see.

Then she wondered just how long she had to stay in the castle. As she settled on her bed for some knitting, she eyed the line of flowers on the vanity. Forty-seven flowers. Forty-seven days? That was way longer than she had known Dray. It still didn’t make any sense to her. And why did she have to stay in this creepy castle, anyway? Why couldn’t Kel have come to her? Then she could have stayed in Abelton, stayed with her mother… I hope she’s doing alright. It seems the only way to get back to her is to serve my time here in the castle. Iliana got up and stood by the vanity still staring at the flowers. Then she looked into the mirror, seeing the flower she had tucked behind her ear earlier that day. Why did I do that? That’s what he used to do… Iliana took the flower and twirled it between her fingers, then placed it back in its spot in the vanity. She looked back up, studying her face. No, Iliana. You can’t hang onto him. He left you here. And it’s up to you to get back home.