Chapter 2 - The Farm in Irttat
Chapter 2: The First Night
Under Javena's guidance, they passed through this long street, turned several corners, and finally arrived at their destination.
Because of its vast grounds, the farm lay at the edge of the town. Behind the house stretched a forest with no visible end, making the place feel remote and secluded.
The low fence and small wooden gate were almost swallowed by wild grass. The yard was overgrown with weeds, low shrubs and towering trees growing in scattered disorder, blocking out the sunlight completely. Only a few scattered rays of light filtered through between the branches and leaves.
Dust drifted within, giving the entire farm an inexplicable desolate chill.
Walking in along the gravel path, one could finally see a low wooden house hidden in the middle of the courtyard.
The cottage looked quite old, its walls covered with black mildew spots, moss growing in clusters from the cracks in the wood.
Not far from the door was a well—whether it had dried up was unknown—with a wooden bucket still hanging on it.
To the left of the door sat several wooden crates, and to the right stood a red tin mailbox, all covered in dust.
While pushing aside the bushes extending onto the path, Javena sighed: "I really miss the happy times playing here. I never imagined that in just two years, it would fall into such neglect."
"At least I'm back now, aren't I?" Lucita said carefully. "I'll make this place as good as new again."
A rusty copper lock hung on the door.
Javena opened the wooden crate in front of the door. Inside were various old tools scattered about—an axe, a shovel, a sickle, and the like, their surfaces coated with a thin layer of tung oil for preservation, so they remained sharp as new.
She rummaged inside and pulled out a four-leaf clover-shaped copper key.
With a "click," the lock opened.
They took a tour around the house.
This house had been uninhabited for a long time. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and furniture, and copper lamp holders hung everywhere on the walls, each holding a round gray bead that, upon closer inspection, was covered with cracks.
The interior space was quite spacious. A living room connected to an open kitchen, all floored in dark brown wood.
In the living room sat a set of primrose-yellow coarse cloth sofas and a wicker coffee table. Against the opposite wall was a birchwood dining set, with an iron candleholder at the center of the table.
A large wooden-framed window was set into the side wall. Beneath it stood a red-brick fireplace, with a rattan rocking chair beside it.
In the kitchen, a clay oven covered in cobwebs and a stove with iron pots stood close together beneath the window, sunlight pouring in across them. A large cabinet stood nearby, with damp coal piled in the corner.
Between the kitchen and living room was a short, wide corridor covered with a dark green patterned carpet and lined with a multi-drawer cabinet.
Following the corridor inward, the bedroom was to the left, the study to the right, and a washroom at the back.
In the bedroom, a bed and wardrobe were positioned by the window. On the windowsill sat a chipped glass vase with a drooping lily inside.
The flower had completely lost its moisture, showing a dried, withered yellow color.
The study contained a wall of bookshelves and a desk with a copper-based table lamp on top, containing the same kind of bead as those hanging on the walls.
The washroom was divided by a bamboo curtain; inside was a metal flush toilet and crude shower facilities, outside was a stone washbasin.
Opening the washroom window, one could see a pond behind the house, apparently fed by running water. A few fallen leaves floated on its surface, but it still looked as clear as ever.
A tree as thick as one could wrap one's arms around grew by the water's edge. Its bare branches had just sprouted this year's new buds, but the sparse greenery somehow gave an impression of decay.
This house, together with the small trunk she carried, constituted all of Lucita's current possessions.
"I should have called some friends to help you clean the house," Javena said apologetically. "I've been so busy with spring planting these days that I completely forgot."
Lucita quickly said: "It's fine. I'm already very grateful that you came to pick me up. I can clean up by myself."
"The house is manageable, but these bushes in the yard have taken root and grown into such a large patch. It'll take you several days on your own." Javena spoke from experience: "Tomorrow I'll find some people to help you. After cutting them down, the wood can be taken away by Durani the builder. Maybe it can be used to repair your house."
What Javena said made sense. Lucita couldn't find words to refuse and could only thank her repeatedly.
After accepting Javena's dinner invitation, she saw Javena off.
During the time of cleaning, Lucita carefully inspected the house and took inventory of some usable items.
In the cupboard were some wooden bowls, plates, and pottery. In the bedroom wardrobe was a set of clean diamond-patterned cotton bedding. A fishing rod hung outside the door, and in the crate outside were some basic tools.
There was no food in this old house. The remaining flour was infested with insects, and the oil and sugar jars were empty. Her own trunk still contained a few pieces of dry bread, but they looked so dry and hard that they were really unappetizing.
Lucita felt somewhat fortunate to have accepted Javena's dinner invitation.
Then, concerning her amnesia, she focused on searching through the study, wanting to see if there were any clues in the place where she'd lived as a child.
The study's bookshelf held some hardcover books like "Complete Guide to Medicinal Potions" and "Bread Baking Techniques." As she wiped off the dust, she flipped through them roughly—there were no hidden compartments or special markings. The title pages all neatly signed with the name “Sandy.”
In the drawers were things like wax seals and quill pens, along with several notebooks containing what appeared to be reading notes.
Finding any clues from these written materials would probably take a long time, especially with Lucita searching blindly like this without any clear target.
It seemed that uncovering the truth of her amnesia would not be easy.
The midday sun blazed annoyingly bright. Lucita carried the bedding outside to air on the clothesline and spread the coal in a basket on the open ground by the door.
Wiping and washing, coming and going, she stayed busy until the red sun began to sink and the pale crimson glow of dusk fell across her face.
When dinnertime arrived, she brought in the bedding and coal that had been airing outside, and Lucita went out to eat at Javena's house.
Irttat was very small in area, with fewer than a hundred households in total. Javena's house was at 18 Parrot Street, only one street away from Sandy’s farm—now Lucita's farm.
Following Javena's description, she easily found her destination.
As the town mayor, Javena's house wasn't as grand as she had imagined.
A small yard of modest size, with a dark red low gate standing ajar. A few clothes hung on the clothesline in the yard. On the windowsill of the small house sat several pots of slender needle grass that had just budded tender pink flowers. Behind the house, the shadow of a vegetable garden could be glimpsed, with several rows of young vegetable sprouts growing inside.
As she hesitated, a woman with black curly hair stepped out through the main gate. She carried a leather quiver on her back, her hair tied in a low ponytail with black cotton cord, draped over her hanging dark red hood. A lake-blue bird perched on her shoulder, seeming to tilt its head to look at her.
The woman's expression was indifferent. She glanced at her and was about to pass by.
"Wait!" Lucita quickly called out to her, asking: "Excuse me, is this Javena's house?"
The woman stopped and listened, said nothing, just nodded at her and left.
Lucita watched the woman's retreating figure.
The bird seemed to sense something and actually turned its head to look at her.
Startled, Lucita quickly averted her eyes and pushed the door open.
By the time she entered the house, the bread had already been baked. Because she was waiting for Lucita, Javena had sealed it in the oven to keep warm.
Besides that, Javena had also prepared roasted venison and endive salad.
Opening the oven, heat and the aroma of food rushed toward her. The dough had expanded to twice its size, soft and airy, the crust baked to a golden sheen. A light tap with a knuckle broke a hole in the outer skin, golden crispy fragments falling down to reveal the honeycomb-like soft interior, from which the scorching wheat fragrance suddenly overflowed.
Javena took a serrated bread knife and sliced the bread.
Freshly baked bread made a "crunch crunch" sound when cut. The yellow crispy fragments from the bread's outer shell and the white, soft, fluffy interior scattered on the cutting board. She used a kitchen spatula to collect them and line the bottom of the plate.
Thick-cut bread slices were spread with butter and fried in a pan until a crispy outer shell formed, then arranged on a wooden plate.
The roasted venison had a golden, glossy outer skin. Cut and arranged on a ceramic plate, it revealed a beautiful cross-section that was tender and juicy. It was brushed with honey, and some black pepper and rosemary were taken from jars and sprinkled on top.
The endive salad was served in a deep ceramic bowl, dressed in a white creamy sauce infused with the fragrance of basil and bay leaf.
The two carried the dishes to the dining table. Javena placed a piece of venison on her bread plate and pushed the honey jar toward her, looking somewhat pleased with herself: "If it's not enough you can add more, pepper too. Try it. How is it? Many people have praised my cooking."
Lucita was indeed hungry. Along with the roasted meat and salad, she ate three pieces of bread in succession.
The buttered bread was crispy on the outside and soft inside, the roasted meat tender and juicy, the aroma of fat and spices mixed together very enticing. The salad was cool and refreshing, balancing out the greasiness of the meat and butter. The early spring endive was crisp and juicy without any special treatment.
She earnestly affirmed Javena's culinary skills.
When she couldn't eat any more, Javena poured her a glass of goat's milk: "I wanted to make you creamy mushroom soup, but Aurora didn't have any mushrooms to sell, not even dried ones."
Lucita didn't like drinking goat's milk, but still gulped it down in one go and set down the glass: "The goat's milk is very good too, I really like it, thank you. My house really has no food at all. If not for you, I would have had to go hungry tonight. Do you know who sells grain in town?"
"Don't mention it. These next few days before your house is sorted out, just come eat at my place. I'm very happy to add an extra set of cutlery." Javena told her: "To buy flour and vegetables, you'll need to go to Aurora's mill. You can also look for vegetables and some spices there. Unlike other places, Irttat has abundant spices, so the prices are very cheap. Also, I saw that the sturgeon-eye lamps in your house are all out. You can go to Irene's general store. You’ll find other household supplies there too, everything is well-stocked there. If they don't have something, you can ask Irene to make it for you..."
Javena went on to give her a detailed introduction to the town, including places like the seed shop, pharmacy, blacksmith, and many other places, but there were some terms Lucita couldn't quite understand. For example, sturgeon-eye lamps, and message feather boxes.
Only then did she look around Javena's home, noticing the familiar wooden lamp holders on all four walls, identical to those on her own walls. The difference was that the beads on the holders here emitted a soft yellow glow, and just a few of these beads illuminated the entire interior as bright as day.
For some reason, the term "night pearl" floated up in her mind.
"Are these the sturgeon-eye lamps?" She pointed at the luminous pearls on the wall and asked: "A kind of... bead that glows?"
Javena paused, then laughed: "I forgot. You were still very young when you left here." She explained: "Things outside are very different from what's in town. Sturgeon-eye lamps aren't actually lamps, they're made from sturgeon fish eyeballs mixed with some special medicinal powder. Because they glow, we use them as lamps. Actually, they're quite different from the kerosene lamps that burn to produce light outside, and from those electric lights that have become popular in recent years."
After those words, Javena added: "This is a very special place... you’ll understand, little by little."
Lucita returned to the farm with a belly full of satisfaction and a head full of questions.
By the time she got home, the golden crow had already sunk in the west, and the entire earth was shrouded in a chaotic dusky yellow. The afterglow filtered through the treetops and fell into the courtyard. In a patch of pale red soft light, among the dark, oppressive tree shadows, the shadows of bird nests could be vaguely seen settled within.
Lucita was very unaccustomed to such dimness. Taking advantage of what little daylight remained, she hastily took a bath and arranged her bedding, thinking that tomorrow she would go to the general store to replace the lamps in her house with new ones.
As soon as the sky darkened, drowsiness came quickly. She lay down on the bed. Outside the window, the sound of crickets was continuous, the low chirping of spring insects so vivid in the universal silence.
The cotton quilt had been aired all afternoon. The gray-green diamond-patterned sheets and dark red pillow, the deep blue quilt printed with yellow stars—the scent of sunshine hadn't yet dissipated. Holding it was like embracing a cloud, emanating a dry, fluffy sweet fragrance. She nestled in that soft pile of bedding, her body that had labored all day stretching out. Her eyes gazed through the window lattice at the last rays of sunset outside. That dim redness reflected in her pupils, revealing a subtle, profound tranquility.
She gazed for a long time, until the last trace of daylight was gathered in, the golden crow sank into the mountain abyss, the deep blue canopy of night enveloped the earth, and starlight surged forth. She finally sank into a sweet, dark sleep.
This was her first night in Irttat.
Comments
Post a Comment