Born to Ride

Chapter Two: Apples to Apples

Hey! Here's chapter two! I hope you enjoy!

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 Chapter Two: Apples to Apples

LUKE: 

         Just as he promised, there was a list of things I was to accomplish today tacked onto the barn door. I counted fifteen tasks that would take days to complete, let alone one single afternoon. “This man is trying to kill me,” I muttered, checking my watch.

            5:58

            I was early, and I’ll be damned if he takes $5 off of my pay for tardiness. I read through the list three more times, mentally putting an order into my head. I decided to start with a simple task, milking the cows, aand finishing the evening with an even simpler task, tending to the weeds in the apple orchard.

            Yesterday, after he left me to the task of chopping firewood, I was barely able to get everything done. I missed supper to finish it, and was only barely back in my cottage when Ellie brought me a meal. “We missed you up at the main house this evening. Harry already got you working hard?”

            “Yes ma’am.”

            “What’d he have you do this time?”

            “Chop firewood,” I answered.

            “Chop firewood? Couldn’t he have given you something a little more challenging?” No. That was fine for day one. Fine for $45 a day. “The last guy he had had to climb on top of the roof and reshingle the house. The poor boy had never shingled anything in his entire life, done fell off the roof and we had to rush ‘im to the ‘mergency room. That was fun… Imagine trying to call a country boy’s momma and tell her that her son fell off my roof. That was a mess, I’ll tell ya. She was dead set on the ‘pinion that we was trying to kill ‘er son. Old Harold might be a grouchy old man, but he wouldn’t try to kill someone.”

            “I beg to differ, ma’am.”

            “Nah, he’ll wear you in. Ain’t nobody been able to stay for longer ‘an three months. If they actually made it to six months, Harry would go easy on ‘em. Can I tell you a secret?”

            I chuckled. “Somehow ma’am, I think that even if I said no, you’d still probably tell me.”

            Ellie laughed. “Yeah, that’s true.” She pat my shoulder. “We were only able to have one child, a daughter. And Harold drove her away a few years ago with his stubborn pride. My sweet Jessica hadn’t been home since then.” Her smile turns upside down and her brow creased. “He’s just taking out his frustration out on you and every other boy that’s come ‘round here; can’t accept that he’s the reason his daughter won’t come back home.” She sighed again and shook her head. “The day she comes home is the day that Louisiana snows, and that’s because hell froze over.”

            “It snowed a few years ago.”

            “When Louisiana snows every winter more than once and causes power outages.”

            I chuckled and thanked her for supper. She wiped her eyes, now rimmed with red and hugged me. “I think that you’ll do just fine here, my boy. Don’t get discouraged.” She squeezed my forehead and left my little cottage.

            That was last night, and I’m pretty sure I know why Harry’s daughter doesn’t want to come home. If I wasn’t totally sold before, I definitely was after reading the list he left for me. “On time,” Harold said from behind me, “And early. We’ll see you at lunch.” He turned around and strode the other direction.