469 Harvest Fair part three (1/2)
Wind nodded. ”Technically, this is wild rice; what we ate yesterday was white rice. I'm growing some of that too, but it's in a different area.” The Gemini thief was all smiles while he watched her. ”I have an official meeting in a bit. Let's go help Banz settle in.”
Beta's pink eyes focused on him for a moment. ”You said I'd get to play with the ducks first.”
”Right, forgot about that. Ducks first!” Wind lent her a hand and helped her climb out of the rice paddy. Without pausing, she hopped on his back for a ride. ”How'd this turn into a piggyback ride?”
Beta shrugged from his back. ”Working hard makes me tired.”
Wind laughed at the lame excuse but let her stay. Given the amount in ponds in the section that he settled in, the Gemini thief had immediately brought in water poultry. Everspire and Oasis had a wide variety of geese and ducks available at various livestock markets. A few hours spent in Ronnie's library was enough knowledge to get him started. In the following months, he had learned the rest of it with his own hands. The rice crops were started a few weeks after that. ”Since when do you work hard?”
Beta laughed at his words. ”I have callouses on my hands... And you are complaining about me?”
Beta's pretty laugh brought a bigger smile to his face. ” I shouldn't complain, though, with free labor, you get what you paid for.”
Beta jumped down when they returned to the dock. ”The hell? Aren't you paying me? I quit!”
Wind picked her up again and threatened to toss her into the pond. ”Don't use Pon's expressions; it creeps me out!”
Beta closed her eyes in mock fear until he sat her back down. She watched as he walked toward a covered barrel that was sitting on the dock. ”Calling them in?”
Wind nodded and scooped a large portion of feed corn out of the barrel. He had built his house on the water. The three-bedroom house was kept out of the water by long stilts. A large porch that doubled as a dock surrounded the entire house. It was made small because he didn't like visitors. By his own admission, that had changed a bit since he came to Haven. He whistled loudly and then waited. From all areas of the swamp, the ducks and geese started making their way toward the dock.
Beta clapped her hands happily. ”I love it when they stick their butts up.”
Wind gave her a handful of the dried corn. ”Me too.” As an inhabitant of a Dragon City, she'd never seen ducks or geese before. The first time she saw how they feed off the bottom had made her laugh for several minutes.
************
Nix peeked through the kitchen window at Jun'Li's house and rapped lightly when he spotted her.
The Inferno Vice Commander was filling a tray with empty wine glasses. She motioned for him to come in. ”Why are you waiting outside, Nix?'
Nix opened the door and grabbed the three bottles of wine that she had left on ice. ”Everyone's already here. They are sitting in the back.”
”What?” Jun Li stepped closer to the kitchen sink so that she could have a full view of her backyard. ”Dang... I thought I had time. Let's get going.”
Nix nodded and held the door for her.
/Inferno: Jun Li: Join Vineyard, please.
Pon has joined Vineyard.
Nix has joined Vineyard.
Semmi has joined Vineyard.
Milat has joined Vineyard.
Wind has joined Vineyard.
Sharl has joined Vineyard.
Rico has joined Vineyard.
/Vineyard: Jun Li: This is everyone for the Fair meeting, so let's get started. Rico is running the setup. I'll hand it over to him.
Jun Li filled the wind glasses and started handing them out. ”This is my first harvest wine, let's call it Haven year 1.”
Rico stood up and gave everyone a polite smile. ”Going to send something to everyone's hud. Take a look, and then we'll discuss it. Since it's our first one and many of our members don't know what to expect, I thought we'd start small.”
Nix opened his hud when it buzzed and started reading.
[Haven Harvest Fair] No crafted items will be allowed. The following must be a result of Haven's harvest and made by hand. We purchased several large tents to hold everything. Nix's corral will hold the livestock while we are setting everything up. We'll need volunteers to build pens and cages inside the tents.
Livestock: Cattle, Horses, Alpacas, Pigs.
Poultry Contest: Turkeys, Chickens, Ducks, Geese.
Crop Gardening: Vegetables, Nuts, and Fruits.
Harvest Spirits: Wine, Brandy \u0026 Beer.
Harvest Sweets: Jams, Jellies, Honey, Syrup, and everything sweet.
Cooking: Pies, Cakes \u0026 Bars.
[Other Events]
Calf Riding.
Greased Pig Catching.
BBQ
Misc. Games: There are several booths we could make; I'll leave it up to our members to decide for themselves. You want it; then you make it.