Page 3

A heaviness weighed on them at the question, and suddenly the air felt stilted and cold.

Lindi froze midway through chopping into a stalk of celery, while her father’s free hand clenched into a fist at his side.

It released, just as he lowered his head to inspect the way her mother continued to care for him and the tiny wound that truly didn’t need tending to.

It was nothing but a scrape, but her mother loved her father dearly and enjoyed pampering him.

“They are coming along as fast as I can get them to,” Nico muttered in a grave tone, just as the breeze from the window blew his short hair around his ears. “It’s hard to tend to the farm and build the fortifications at the same time on my own.”

Somehow, the tension in the room thickened. A chill crept up her spine, and Lindi leaned across the kitchen bench and pulled the glass window closed. However, she did so not because of the cold but due to fear – like it being open was inviting evil into their home.

“Oh, don’t look so concerned, girls,” Nico said with a strained smile and an uplifted tone that didn’t sound too confident. “We don’t know if the rumours are actually true. It could just be people mistaking packs of dingos.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Allira muttered. “They say it truly is a monstrous plague. An act of God.”

Her father rolled his eyes with a scoff. “You women and your gossip. You’re all scaring the wits out of each other. There’s only one devil in the world, and we are devout people living by God’s light. You know how people like to stretch the truth.”

“Then why are you building fortifications?” Lindi stated quietly as she finally resumed cutting the vegetables that lay before her. She was quick to finish with the celery before finally chopping some carrots.

“Because I think it’s a good idea regardless. It will keep out dingos, lizards, and even kangaroos, which will be better for the farm.”

That was an excellent point. The wildlife was abundant, and it loved picking through their crops. Or predators trampled the fields, searching for the rodents that did eat what was growing. Then there were the chickens and pigs they needed to defend.

However, Lindi couldn’t shake this niggling doubt in the back of her mind.

“Then what about Rivenspire?” she asked even quieter. “They’ve started building a wall, and it’s been said people have gone... missing from other towns towards the southwest. Apparently the native people have been fleeing.”

“We have no idea what’s been happening. There are bad people in the world, and all we have to do is keep each other safe,” her father stated confidently.

Then, after capturing his wife with one arm and dragging her down the hall and back to the kitchen, he pulled Lindi into a tight cuddle to smother them, as always, with affection.

She didn’t even mind the masculine, musky odour of a hardworking man covered in a layer of sweat, when she easily melted into her father’s loving hold as he brushed his rough jaw against her cheek.

But the town wouldn’t erect a wooden wall around itself over a rumour. Lindi refused to believe they would be so paranoid, nor would they waste valuable resources, money, and effort to build it without a good reason. It just doesn’t make sense.

She wished her father would get more information regarding it, but he refused to leave their little farming village to travel to Rivenspire. Nico preferred to only travel the half-day’s walk to the large town when he had a horse-drawn carriage filled with food to sell.

Her village, although kilometres of land, only held a few farming steads that supplied all the food to Rivenspire. But her people preferred to keep to themselves, and information was limited.

As if her father could sense the tension in her body, or even perhaps because she didn’t return his embrace, he pulled back to look at her. His thick brows drew together before lifting up his wrinkled forehead.

“Nothing will come to harm you while I’m around. Whatever these creatures are, whether true or false, I’m sure they are nothing to worry about. We’ve been defending our home from predators for years. What difference does it make now?”

Lindi flattened her lips, still unconvinced, but she chose to let it go. Her father released them both so he could pull a wooden mug out from under the counter. He shoved it into the bucket of clean water they had available and guzzled it down like a man who hadn’t had a drop in days.

He’s going back outside to work. Before the sun went down and he could no longer safely see.

The conversation about the fortifications likely lit a fire under his arse to work even harder.

Allira came to her side. Lindi slapped her hands away as she tried to assist, wishing she’d go sit down and rest, but her mother just did it back until she caved.

Fine. It’s only supper. And she was nearby to make sure her mother didn’t faint again.

“I heard Clyde’s boy was at our doorstep with a bundle of flowers in his hand this morning,” her father stated casually, breaking off a piece of fresh bread Lindi had baked earlier.

Lindi’s cheeks heated so quickly she feared her long hair would catch fire. “MA!” she squealed, turning to her with a sense of betrayal. “You promised you wouldn’t tell him!”

Her mother bumped her hip against her own. “I don’t understand why you just won’t go on a picnic with him. He’s a nice boy.”

“Because I grew up with him,” she snapped back, the idea of kissing her lifelong friend making her want to hurl. “And he’s two years younger than me. I want to marry someone older.”

“Like Joshua?”

She scrunched her nose. “Not him, either.”

“Well, you need to pick someone, my dear,” Nico said as he patted her shoulder before heading to the door to exit their home. “You are two and twenty in a few days.”

“Oh? Am I?” Lindi asked in a snarky tone. “I had no idea. Thanks, Pa.”

His lips curled with humour. “What I’m saying is: find someone.”

“Who?” Lindi barked as she chopped into the cabbage before her, continuing to prep the stew she and her mother had planned with a little more aggression than she intended.

“Because there’s only Marcus – Clyde’s son – and Joshua who are around my age, and you won’t let me go to the town with you to meet anyone else. ”

A small silence fell upon them and all that could be heard was Lindi’s blade smacking against the chopping board, her mild huffs of annoyance, and her thoughts raging within her mind.

Do they think I want to be alone, cooped up in this house with them? Chop. Chop. She cringed when she nearly nicked her thumb with the blade. I’m sure they want me to make haste and marry someone who will be happy to maintain the farm with Pa, but I don’t want to just pick anyone. Chop.

She wanted someone special. Someone who would make her heart flutter.

Both Marcus and Joshua left her feeling cold, as if ice was growing in her heart and between her thighs.

They were each handsome in their own way, and she thought they’d be wonderful husbands, she just..

. didn’t see herself being with either of them.

Marcus was like a younger brother to her, and Joshua was a bit of a shy man, which was why he was six years her senior and still unwed. Although she didn’t mind that in Joshua, she just wasn’t attracted to him – but she’d never been able to figure out why.

I know I’m getting older and that I’m running out of time, but what else am I to do? Sitting here isn’t going to get me married...

“About the town...” Nico said at the doorway, cutting into Lindi’s thoughts.

Her head perked up at his strange tone, and she turned to him with her brows furrowing.

It was her mother who answered, which was likely the reason the next words were even being uttered. “We’ve decided that the next time your father goes to Rivenspire, you are to accompany him.”

Her lips parted in disbelief, then a small smile slowly curled them. “What? Really?”

“There are a few families I have developed good relationships with when trading,” Nico stated as he leaned against the doorway and folded his arms. “Your mother made me realise you’re right.

You’ll never find someone here, and I know a couple of strapping young lads who would be suitable husbands. I’ll organise some meetings.”

The squeal that left Lindi was loud and piercing to her own ears as she ran for her father and threw herself into his embrace. He easily caught her, chuckling as he did, then squeezed her so tightly he lifted her to the tips of her toes.

“Thank you!” She hugged his neck tighter as she properly settled her weight onto her feet. “I would appreciate that so much.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, releasing her just enough to place a hand on the side of her face. “Any man would be lucky to have you, Lindiwe. You’re smart, hardworking, and beautiful.”

Her cheeks warmed once more. “You’re only saying that because I have your features.”

His gaze softened, which made his amber eyes seem to glow.

“I think you look like your mother.” Then, like he was incapable of being serious, or perhaps because he found the conversation of her being wed uncomfortable in his own way, he said, “Unfortunately for you, I doubt you’ll find anyone as handsome as me. Your mother was a lucky woman.”

“You’re the lucky one!” her mother exclaimed as she gripped the skirts of her dress and lifted them while turning to them with outrage. “I turned down your proposal three times.”

“Ah, but you still said yes.” Unable to keep his hands off her, like always, he stepped deeper within the house and put his arms around Allira’s waist. “And I’m thankful for it every day. You were a gem back then, and you still are to this very day.”

Lindi held back her gagging sounds as he started on a tangent of compliments while kissing all over her face, ensuring her mother went into a fit of giggles.

A smile lifted into her features. She really did love that about her parents. They’d been together since the year before she’d been born, and they still loved each other just as deeply as they did when they were young.

Her mother had been a girl from the town, whereas her father had been a farming boy who’d instantly grown smitten with this beautiful woman he saw.

Of course, his playful, flirtatious charm easily won her over, even after he’d embarrassed himself by blurting out “Will you marry me?” as his very first greeting to her.

Lindi was pretty confident that the reality of her future love life wouldn’t be so sickly sweet, but she’d like even just half of what they had. And, like them, she desired a daughter who looked like a blend of both her and whoever she married.

She eyed her father’s dark-brown, ringlet curls, his sharp chin, and his tall frame, knowing she’d inherited all those same features from him.

Lindi had her mother’s nose, lips, high brows and cheekbones, as well as her deep-brown eyes – although there were flickers of her father’s amber in her irises.

Her brown skin was lighter than her mother’s but deeper than her father’s bronze, and she towered over her mother’s five feet and three inches by four inches, whereas her father stood barely over Lindi.

She had no idea where she got her breasts from, as her mother wasn’t busty, but she had her same hourglass figure. She also had her father’s broad shoulders.

They both fought over who they believed she looked more like, and neither could settle that argument.

She was perfectly made up of their love and affection.

And she had both their playful temperaments to go with it.

Her smile deepened as she transferred all the vegetables she’d cut up for their stew and swiped her blade across her cutting board. Each one plopped into the boiling pot of pre-prepared seasoned water, the steam smelling of spices and herbs that had already been added.

Ever since Lindi could remember, her home had been filled with adoration, laughter, banter, and acceptance.

The smell of delicious food and wonderful incense wafted out the windows as they all sang, danced, and playfully chased each other.

Giggles and laughter could be heard all across their farm as they pranked and lightly bullied each other, gossiped about their small village, and worked hard to make sure their farm was in perfect operation.

The only thing that ever ruined their days was the weather that made it difficult to sow their seeds or harvest their crops in time, which impacted their yields.

But even then, the rain thankfully and graciously soaked the land while they frolicked in it.