Chapter 92 - Ninety One - Feathering The Nest (1/2)

As the longest day came and brought with it the shortest of nights, the fruits within the garden began to mature.  Globes of red and orange began to appear amongst the otherwise green tomatoes on their supported stalks.  The first of the deep purple aubergines' were ready to be cut from their plants.  Cuc.u.mbers, gherkins and courgettes were hiding amongst the leaves of their vines with a handful here and there waiting to be picked.  Food within the garden was becoming ever more abundant and plentiful.  So, although there was no more flour to make bread or noodles, there was more than enough to fill stomachs with all of the fresh produce at hand and the pork in the ice cellar.

Thus the decision was made to allow the hens to keep their fertilised eggs for hatching.

According to the book that they had regarding raising chickens, this shouldn't be an easy thing; many egg laying hens raised by people had lost their natural maternal instincts and it was not as if they had incubation equipment.  They asked the soldiers about the base's hens, but only Luke had any contact with those birds, as he helped fill up their water tank sometimes.

”There was one or two hens that just began to act odd, wouldn't let us near their nests, wouldn't leave them to get food,” he recalled, vaguely.  ”Their keepers weren't experienced either, were worried about them being sick and spreading bugs, so the healthy birds were moved and the keepers put feed right in front of the others to make sure they'd eat.  Sometime after, the eggs beneath them hatched.”  Since then, the maternal hens were allowed to breed, while the other hens kept supplying eggs for consumption.  But that was the base's lucky situation.

Tyler, Dexter and Autumn could only stare at the hens, see if any of their girls were broody.  They couldn't really tell.

A certain little girl nudged in between them to stare along side, then tugged Autumn's blouse with one hand.  The woman smiled indulgently and kneeled beside the child she adored.  ”What is it?”

Lucy pointed to one of the birds, then pointed to another and another before dropping her raised hand.  Autumn and the men frowned in confusion, then looked at the three hens' Lucy had pointed to.  They didn't seem any different to the other birds... but what to say to the child not to disappoint nor discourage her...  ”Does Lucy want to play with them?” Autumn asked, only for the little girl to shake her head.  Then she looked behind them at someone in the distance and waved.

Autumn rose to her feet as all three a.d.u.l.ts noticed Ren Zexian approaching in an unhurried manner.  Nathan was walking close by his side.  ”Good morning,” Ren Zexian smiled lightly as he greeted them.

Since the last incident which had forced the couple to separate, the two men had become even closer and stickier, the atmosphere about them so pink that even a person with no imagination thought they saw blooms of roses with sparkling dew upon silken petals surrounding them both. Not that neither man physically clung to the other, just that if there was a space between them while they walked together, it was nothing more than a hair's breadth. And after breakfast and in the evening after dinner, they could be seen walking together closely.

Lucy didn't seem disturbed by the atmosphere surrounding the Cultivator and his lover nor did she worry about coming in between them.  She rushed over without qualms to tug at Ren Zexian's loose sleeves, before indicating the hens once more. ”Ah, I see,” Ren Zexian patted her little head as he replied.

The three a.d.u.l.ts opposite looked at him in query, urging him to share his understandings with their eyes. He chuckled, before saying; ”she simply is indicating which of these birds you should pick.”