The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter
Page 34
Chapter Eight
“Robbie Wells!!” Peggy had long brown curly hair and wore round dark rimmed glasses. She was fuller figured and curvy and was nearly as tall as Robbie. She wore a purple and blue dress and was wearing sandals with long gray wool socks. “Who’s this fella?” She patted Perry on the head and he licked her chin. She laughed and stood up. Amy waved hello. Peggy gave her a knowing wink, “Robbie used to lick me like that.”
Robbie laughed and gave her a hug. “It’s been way too long! Peggy, this is my friend Amy.”
Peggy eyed both of them. “Friend?” she asked suspiciously.
Amy said conspiratorially, “It’s complicated.”
Peggy put her arm around Amy’s shoulders. “Oh Hun, don’t make it complicated! Robbie, are you still a free range man?”
He nodded, “I am, but I have settled down a lot since our youth. Peggy, Amy is interested in farming.”
Peggy’s eyes got big, “Oh, has the farming bug bit you?”
Amy had her hands in the pockets of her barn coat. She shrugged and said, “I hope so, but I don’t really know. I’m sort of dipping a toe into different things and seeing what I want to do with the rest of my life.”
Peggy said, “That’s wonderful! Let me show you ‘round.”
They toured the farm. It was on a small plot of land in the gently rolling hills of south western Pennsylvania near the Ohio border. The early December landscape was muted shades of yellows and light browns and the trees were skeletal and barbed wire fences bordered the property, dark lines of wire were strung between white gray locust posts. A chip and tar road wound through the landscape between farms.
Peggy said, “Farming’s simple in principle, but there are millions of details to stay on top of all the time. If you want to learn, the best thing to do, in my opinion, is just work somewhere as an apprentice for a season or two. Then if you’re ready to dive in, then dive!”
Amy asked, “Do you grow organic produce?”
Peggy nodded. “Yeah, vegetables and herbs, plus we do chicken and eggs. We have some horses, donkeys, goats and an old dog or two.”
Amy beamed, “Oh! I love goats! We used to have them at home. Um, would it be possible to apprentice here?”
“Of course! For sure. This time of year is really slow. There’s not a whole lot going on yet. But things pick up quickly around February. If you want to check in with me in a month or two, we can work something out.” Peggy squeezed Amy’s arm.
Amy breathed out in a whoosh. “Wow! That’s great. I will.”
Peggy punched Robbie in the shoulder. “Robbie, you two seem pretty cute together.”
Robbie’s face turned red. “Well, thanks for everything, Peggy. We need to get back on the road. We were on the way to Washington.”
“You’re like a whirlwind!” Peggy said to him and kissed him on the side of the face. She looked at Amy and said, “He’s a force of nature.”