The lilting rhythm slowly faded as the young girl watched the carriage slowly disappear, both Thomas and Matthew resting in it preparing for a hard days work in town.
A light breeze sent (Y/n)'s stray hairs flying around gently tickling the sides of her face as the majority or her hair rested in a peaceful bun. The sun had only just crested the large wall, sending a warm blanket to hug her.
Breathing in the fresh morning air and sweet flowers, (Y/n) glanced down to the small girl whom clutched her left hand.
"Ready to start the day, Mila?" She asked as the youthful child turned her head up to meet the sweet eyes of (Y/n), perfectly lit in the morning sun showcasing all their vibrant colors that matched perfectly with her sweet smile.
"Mhm! I'll go let the chickens out and give them their food!" Mila replied with a toothy smile.
"Sounds good, the first buyer should be here soon, the other will come just after noon." (Y/n) spoke as the two started to make their way to the aged barn.
"Okay!" The little girl responded skipping off towards the chicken coup.
Letting out a small chuckle, the girl walked into the barn to get started on her chores for the day.
Not much later...
(Y/n) walked out the feed room to be meet with an older gentleman. His eyes slightly sunken in and creases throughout his face, the man walked with a slight limp, but no cane for support.
"Hi! Can I help you?" (Y/n) questioned, she was used to strangers on the property as they often came for purchases.
"Oh hello dear. I had made plans with Mr. Dwindle to buy a few dairy cows. Do you know where I can find him?" The man asked with a croaky voice.
"Ahh yes, unfortunately Mr. Dwindle had to run out of town today, but he let me know about you and I can certainly help you!" (Y/n) smiled to the man.
"Oh wonderful, my name is Mr. Lee." He responded with a closed eye smile.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Lee, I'm (Y/n), would you like to take a look at our selection of cows?" The young girl inquired, after a nod of approval (Y/n) lead the man to a field of their current dairy cows for sale. They always kept the group's separate so no confusion would occur.
"This is a good selection... I'm looking for.. hmm maybe two or three? Any specific ones you suggest?" Mr. Lee asked after taking a look at the creatures.
(Y/N) glanced up at the herd of cows, each having their own unique patterns. The sun had risen decently high by this time of day, so the creatures were basking in the warmth while munching on grass, hoping no cloud would block their personal heater.
"See that black on with the white stripe in the far left corner?" The girl asked, her eyes never leaving the animal.
"Yeah."
"I'd say that's your best bet. Great producer and soft nature, gets along well with others. Another good option is the brown one with the white legs a bit closer on the left, same nature. If you looking to add another I'd say maybe this white on with the brown spots." She said pointing at the nearby cow who was standing idly swishing her tail at the flys.
The man nodded, "By any chance do you have any calfs for sale to?" He asked after a moment of pondering.
"Yeah we do, would you like to see them?" (Y/n) smiled at the potentially large sale. Thomas would be happy about this.
Walking over to a large indoor stall, three calf's occupied the space. A couple laying down snuggling into the cozy hay, savoring the warmth and one standing at the back of the group with closed eyes.
"Here they are. We have a couple more down the row, but they are to young to be separated from their mothers. So if you interested in them you would need to buy the mom to. But these little guys are old enough to be separated. They are all girls except the dark grey." The girl said as her and the man quickly glanced at the dark calf resting calmly.
"My granddaughter... her birthday is coming up and I would really like to get her one. It's been a tough year on her, your aware of the flu that's been going around lately?" The man asked as (Y/n) nodded.
"Both her parents got infected... her mother, my daughter didn't make it... her father is on his deathbed as well so she's been staying with me and my wife. I just want to make her birthday special after all that's happened..." Mr. Lee spoke softly, his eyes never leaving the small creatures as his voice cracked at the end, clearly hurt from the recent events.
Letting out a soft sigh, (Y/n)'s eyes darted down to the floor before back up at the man.
"I'm sorry for your loss, my best wishes are with your family and I would be honored to help you." She said resting her hand on the man's shoulder, with the soft touch he looked up and gave a weak smile.
A sudden shadow casted down the hall as a figure blocked the light, even footsteps echoed as they stepped onto the wooden flooring. Both the man and the girl glanced up with surprise after the sudden movement in such a peaceful moment.
From all the way down the hall, the figure was to dark to make out who they where but (Y/n) figured it must be the second buyer.
Clearing her throat she spoke out, "I'll be right with you, just give me one moment."
Without another word the man stepped back out into the sun and around the corner.
"Okay, so do you know which ones you would like to take home?" She asked with a smile.
"I think so..."
Roughly half an hour later...
Mr. Lee was riding off on his horse down the dusty road, along with him to of the dairy cows and one calf followed close behind, each tied together as to not get lost.
Pocketing the money, the young girl turned around towards the barn to find her other client.
The sweet soft thuds of (Y/n)'s boots hitting the wooden floors filled the air as she wondered through the isle looking for the person who has appeared earlier.
After looking out front and at the back fields where all the animals quietly grazed, she couldn't find him. Scrunching down her eyebrows she pondered where the figure could have gone.
Walking back down the long hallway she noticed the office door was slightly pressed open, the golden light filling the room. Pressing the door open she was immediately surprised when she saw the back of the man's head, sitting in a chair just in front of the office desk the man sat with one leg cocked up onto another, his arm laying softly on the arm rest.
"Oh- um excuse me... you cant just walk into-" but before she could finish her sentence the man had turned his head around to look at her. His soft hair swung slightly with the sudden movement grazing just above his eyes. A cleanly shaved undercut and part just slightly off center and a bored expression with little to no emotion lay upon us face.
Her eyes connected with his steel grey eyes, the hoods of his eyes halfway closed adding a rather intimidating gaze from his cold expression. Her heart immediately jumped at the man, he looked only a few years older then herself.
"And why not?" His flat tone showed no sign of wavering, only a serious statement.
"I- um..." (Y/n) found herself lost of words as his piercing eyes still bore into her own, one of his eyebrows cocked up as if not amused by her and wanting her to finish her sentence already.
Quickly glancing away she took a breath and collected herself as the man still stared at her waiting.
"You cant just walk in here. This is a private office." She insisted.
"Tch." The man scoffed. "I'm here for business. This is office. Business happens in offices."
"Your here to buy a horse?" (Y/n) asked for confirmation quickly darting her eyes up to the man's.
"Yes." He replied with no emotion.
"Alright, follow me." She heaved, turning and lightly exiting the office as the man lifted himself off the chair and followed.
As the pair walked down the hallway in silence, they neared the end of the isle when a light scoff could be heard from the man behind her.
Slowly stopping and turning to face him, she furrowed her brows. "What?"
Moving his eyes to meet hers, they coldly glared right through her soul sending a shiver down her spine.
"This place could use a cleaning, you know what a broom is?" He inquired raising one of his eyebrows.
Now it was her turn to scoff, "Really? Have you never been in a barn before? I'm going to let you in on a little secret," she said leaning in slightly narrowing her eyes. "That horse your hoping to buy today? Yeah. Not a very clean creature. In fact, it makes messes to. Shocker, I know!" She rolled her eyes after dramatically raising her eyebrows clearly unamused by the man before continuing to walk forward.
"Tch." He scoffed yet again at her actions.
After reaching the few fields that kept the large and majestic creatures, (Y/n) turned and leaned her back up against the wooden fence so she was now facing the man.
"You shouldn't lean on that." He expressed after looking at the fence, then glancing into her eyes.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" (Y/n) asked unamused.
"Looks like the things about to collapse." He said flatly.
After taking a glance down the fence line she knew and moved her eyes slid once more into his silver eyes, "I think I'm okay, thanks." She said sarcastically, the man only rolled his eyes. "What are you going to use it for?" (Y/n) eventually sighed.
"Riding." He replied staring dead straight into her eyes.
"No shit Sherlock." The girl scoffed. "I meant what kind or riding." She said emphasizing kind.
"Long distance. Strong, can jump and not easily startled." The man stated. "For the military. Scouting to be specific." He finished.
"Oh, your a scout?" She asked slightly surprised.
"Unfortunately." He scoffed.
"I thought the military provided horses?" She questioned.
"Me too, but suppose not seeing as I'm here. I was instructed to purchase one, in fact they sent me into wall rose so I could but a higher quality one. Just so happens I landed here." He responded sounding like he was just wanting to get this over with.
Giving it some thought she took a long breath before motioning him to follow her back into the barn.
"What's your name anyways?" (Y/n) asked still walking, realizing they hadn't properly introduced each other.
After a moment of silence the man only replied with, "None of your damn business." To which the girl only let out a breathy chuckle, not surprised by his response.
~
Thank you guys so much for reading this chapter, I really hope you enjoyed! I know your all probably tired of hearing this but votes and comments really do help me out, let me know what you think and if you have any predictions, thank you again!