They travel up the road on the steeds, the guards following close behind as they make their way towards the neighbor's farm. As the approach the farmstead, Immalaine looks around at the well tended lands and the house, furrowing her brow as she considers it. It seemed like it was bigger than last time? She wasn't sure, maybe it was a trick of her mind. As they slowly rode up to the house, one of the workers raised a hand in a wave, before pulling a cloth from around his neck and wiping his face. He approached the group, with a smile both friendly and curious. "Welcome strangers, what brings you fold out this way?"
"We were wonderin' if Mr. Pierson were 'round," Immalaine replied. "I was hopin' t' speak t' him." The worker narrowed his eyes briefly, as he thought. "Well miss," he said finally, "This time of the day, you're likely to find him up in the orchards." the man pointed off behind him. "I'll take you there, if you'd like."
Rastellion smiles. "We'd appreciate that." He dismounts and helps her down, then hands the reins off to one of the two guards. "We'll be fine," he says; "see to the horses. P'rap's there'd be no objection to havin' 'em use the trough?" The farmhand makes a 'help yourself' gesture then turns, gesturing at the young couple to follow him. They pass a vegetable garden and skirt the thin arm of a wheat field, then arrive up among the orchard's trees.
As they enter the orchards, Immalaine notices a couple more workers sitting in the small gazebo off to the side, talking with each other as they ate their midday meal. In between them was a larger man with vivid red hair, waving his hands about as he spoke. Whatever it was, perhaps a joke or humorous tale, the men were all laughing together. The worker that brought them to the orchard put his hand up. "Hold here a second, while I go let Mr. Pierson know you're here." Not waiting for a response, the man turned and strode purposefully to the gazebo, leaning down to talk to the redheaded man and gesturing behind him to the young couple. Mr. Pierson looked over the worker's shoulder, examining them for a moment, then nodded and turned back to his man, before standing up to come down and meet them.
Pierson speaks with their farmhand guide as he strolls towards his visitors. "Now I'll want t' be plantin' corn in th' west field this spring," he says, briefly glancing up at the couple, then back to his man. "And that mean's we'll..." He trails off, frowning, and his eyes return to Immalaine. His pace slows and he stares for a long moment, then a look of incredulity spreads across his face. "Immalaine? Immalaine Tattersoll... it' canna be." He takes a halting step towards her. "It is. Little Imma! We thought you was dead!" He rushes to cross the remaining distance between them and grabs her in a huge hug. After several moments, he steps back, holding her by the shoulders. "Let me look at you child ... you've grown! What ... where've you been these three years?!"
As the large man finally lets Imma go, she takes a breath and looks up at him. "Mr. Pierson ... ahh .. well." she stutters a moment, before grinning at him. "It's rather a long story, but I'm here now, an' no not hardly dead. I ... how's everyone doin'? Mrs. Pierson? Edaline? Whilleam?" Her words come out in a quick spurt of questions, as the man continues to look her over.
He shakes his head. "Little Imma," he repeats. "I canna believe it... here, come on back up to the house - you and your friend, too. Edaline's inside. Wait 'til she sees you." He starts leading the way back to the house. "Thought you was dead..." he says, under his breath. "Why'd you not come back before, child? Eda cried for a week, she did."
The old bench was faded, but warmed by the sun, and Immalaine settled herself down on it as Rastellion took a chair off to the side. She hears Mr. Pierson calling Eda's name at the top of his lungs as he barges to the back of the house. "Eda!" he yells out. "Get down here girl, you're not goin' to believe who just showed up!!" From one of the upper windows, a female voice rang back down. "Pa, if it's that Teasley boy again I told you, I don't want to see him. Not after I saw him and ..." "No, Eda! It ain't that boy, but it's someone you will want to see. And you will never believe me if I told you. So get down here girl."
"Fine," was the reply heard and the light sounds of someone running down the stairs. "Really, pa," the voice could be heard growing louder as the pair headed back towards the door, "I don't know why /everything/ has to be such an emergency with you. I mean who could possibly be so important that I'd ha ...." Eda steps onto the porch, her shoulder length blonde curls dancing around her face as she comes to a sudden halt. For a long moment, she says nothing but stares at Immalaine's face as her expression goes from impatience to confusion to disbelief to shock before finally she opens her mouth and croaks, "Imma?" | Having watch her old friend's face, Immalaine simply nods. "Eda ..." she says, looking at the young woman who'd grown a lot herself in the three years that Imma'd been gone."Oh ...." Eda whispers, as tears well up in her eyes and she throws herself onto the bench, tacking Immalaine with a hug. "You're alive!" she said, bursting into tears.The wind knocked out of her, all Immalaine can do is put her arms around her old friend and hug her back.
Rastellion smiles to himself, watching the reunion. Pierson is standing, grinning, looking on fondly as his daughter embraces her old playmate. He turns to Rastellion after a few moments. "Arden, Arden Pierson," he says, extending his hand. "Are you responsible for bringing Imma back to us?"
Rastellion stands and shakes, matching the firmness of the weathered grip. "Nay," he says, shaking his head, "'Cept in convincing her to make the trip. She needs to secure her inheritance." Pierson frowns. "So where's she been this whole time? You been with her?" Rastellion shakes his head. "Nay, only met her in Bree, an' that only a few months back. Before then..." He frowns. "Before then... you know, I don't rightly know. She's scarce talked about it, 'cept to say her farm was burned and one of th' stablehands rescued her and kept her alive. She's not wanted to say much more than that, save that times were hard." He looks back where Eda is still fussing over Immalaine, touching her hair and face. "Don't know why she never came back b'fore, with such friends waiting."
Pierson turns his attention back to the young women, just as Eda finally manages: "Imma... where've you been all these years. What were you doing? Why'd you not come to see us, but left us thinkin' you burned an' dead?"
She looks at Eda with an awkward smile, tears in her eyes as she sees her old friend. "I, well after th' farm were raided we didna come back t' it. We were 'fraid th' brigands would return. Then ... time passed an' ..." Immalaine stumbled to a halt, not wanting to admit how tough times had been for a long while. She shoots a glance over at Rastellion, one of nervousness and pleading.
Rastellion nods encouragingly, for her to go on. "You said it was tough, but a surviving stablehand helped you?..." he prompts, unaware of Immalaine's real concerns about this subject.
"He pulled me away from the farm, afore th' brigands e'en knew I was there ...." Immalaine pauses again, biting her lip as she looks around. "I'd have gone back fer me pa if he hadn't ..."
Both men listen with interest, Rastellion having not heard Immalaine talk about this part of her past before. Pierson nods. "Good fellow, then. They'd have killed you - or worse - for sure if you'd gone running back to that." He rubs at his jaw, though, puzzled. "But why'd he not bring you back after? Or bring you here? Surely you knew we'd've looked after you, Imma..." Eda nods enthusiastic agreement.
"I've no idea why ... I just followed him where he went. He ... he were th' only thing I had after th' farm was gone, an' I couldn't think of anything but what had happened fer weeks after. I ... th' nightmares ...."
Rastellion leans forward and grips her hand, as Pierson frowns. "Still," he says, shaking his graying head, "didn't the fellow know you had folks 'round here as cared about you?... Or did he take you to his own people? Where've you been this whole time? Bree? Trestlebridge?" She squeezed Rastellion's hand, trembling as she shook her head. "I dun know what he thought, an' we didn't stay anywhere long. Spent a lot o' time traveling about." she said evasively.
Pierson frowns and draws breath to ask another question, when a voice come from beyond the corner of the building. "Ho, pa! They said you'd gone back down to th' house. Letty says to ask if you'd like to be coming in to..." The speaker rounds the corner - one look and it's obvious this is Pierson's son, he's so like his pa - and breaks off, seeing the small company on the porch. "Ah, didn't know you had company," he says, striding up the steps, starting to hold out a hand... and then he freezes, mouth gaping open like fish suddenly flipped up onto the lakeshore. "Im ... Immalaine?" he breathes.
Pierson grins at his son. "I see you've not forgotten the pretty neighbor girl. She's come back, safe and sound!"
(Credits and love go to Rastellion, who provided the voice of the male characters in this story. *Blows kisses to Rastellion and grins widely*)
