The nisse was in the kitchen when she got there. When he saw her, he wagged a finger at her and chattered incomprehensibly. Freya blinked.

"I didn't sleep in by that much, calm down, you'll get your breakfast," she muttered. The nisse shook his head and jabbered at her more, hands on his hips. Freya ignored him and set about making the morning porridge. 

The nisse pulled out his chair, which was stacked with 3 cushions, and climbed up. He sat and waited patiently for his breakfast, but still eyed Freya with a look that resembled disapproval. His expression didn't change even after he got his bowl of honeyed porridge. Freya wolfed down her food and tossed the bowl into the sink. She rinsed her plate, reflecting on the convenience of having and indoor tap, even if it was only to the kitchen sink. She left the nisse to take care of his bowl himself and dashed out to the chicken coop. She opened the pen and let them loose, and retrieved the forgotten feed bucket from the previous night. She put the morning's eggs into the feed bucket for convenience. She checked the cows and the bull, and made her way to the vegetable patch.

She was still weeding the vegetable patch when Nantan arrived.

"You're early," she observed. "You said you'd come after lunch. It's only about noon now."

He waved dismissively and grinned. "I didn't quite trust you not to leave without me and make me track you."

"Meh, it's not like I would be trying to hide my tracks," she said in mock complaint, grinning back at him.

"You're oddly hard to get ahold of though," Nantan said cryptically, his smile strange. Freya wasn't sure what to make of it, so she decided to ignore it.

She turned away and pulled one more weed before getting to her feet. She tossed it on the nearby compost heap and clapped her gloved hands together to get the dirt off. It was too late in the day to water, so she made a mental note to do that in the evening. No sense watering if the sun was just going to evaporate it. Water was too precious to waste like that.

"Alright, let's go," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Do you have an idea where Frey dropped the watch?"

"Ehhh.... he said it fell out of his pocket when he slipped on a ledge along the creek," she said, the high pitch of her voice making clear how useless that info actually was. Nantan sighed.

"There are at least three tributaries from the Rio Grande within ten miles of your homestead. He couldn't narrow it down more?" Nantan complained. Freya shook her head ruefully. Frey was good at many things, but his memory was complete garbage. Nantan sighed even deeper. "Fine, let's just see what we can find."

The two set out together, and Freya felt her hair stand on end when crossing the barrier, again. It always felt like passing through static. She supposed it made it easier to know it was working? Neither of them spoke until the homestead was out of sight.