The Secrets of Ordinary Farm

Chapter 43

“Are you still mad at me? Come on, I didn’t even do anything this time!”

That was mostly true-after all the fights her brother had picked with Colin Needle he hadn’t really been too bad this time-but Lucinda was frustrated at how close Colin had been to opening up to her.

“Don’t you get it? He was telling me that we were right about everything, stupid!” She bent to pick up Colin’s lemonade glass, abandoned on the porch.

“So? We were!”

“We could have had him on our side!”

Tyler made a disgusted face. “Like anyone would want him on their side!”

“Forget it. You’re impossible.” She carried the glasses into the house. The door to the Snake Parlor was closed, which probably meant Gideon was having a nap. He was supposed to be getting better. Lucinda hoped they’d get a chance to see him before they left.

As she rinsed the glasses in the kitchen she tried to figure out why Tyler crashing into the middle of the conversation like a runaway truck upset her so much. It wasn’t just because she and Tyler were going to leave tomorrow and things seemed even more confused than they had last year. It hadn’t even been because for a moment it had seemed like they had a chance to make Colin Needle an ally, although that would certainly make things a lot easier-Lucinda had a feeling the fight for Ordinary Farm was going to get really, really nasty before long. No, it was something else.

Colin had seemed almost… nice. That was what bothered her. He had been lost and confused and scared and looking for help and he had turned to Lucinda. She had seen something in him she had never seen before, the Colin that was separate from his crazy, scary mother, the Colin that was more than just a strange, nerdy kid who dressed badly and had been raised in a crazy place without any other kids around. For a moment she had thought she was seeing the real Colin… then Tyler had stomped in and the moment was lost-maybe forever…

Azinza swept into the kitchen with a tray full of crockery. “Gideon is feeling better and he’s going to talk to us!” she announced with great satisfaction. Pema and Sarah came in just behind her and the wide room was suddenly full of noise and movement.

“What? Who?” Lucinda realized she had been standing over the sink for several minutes, lost in thought.

“Gideon, girl! Caesar is giving him a bath and dressing him!” Azinza put the tray down so hurriedly that the cups and bowls rattled. “Which means he will also be told your brother’s secret! A happy day! I will bring some flowers for his room.”

“Just a few!” said Sarah. “The parlor will be full of people. I don’t want anyone to knock over the good vases.” But the cook was clearly excited too. All the women had been helping take care of Grace up in Lucinda’s room and all of them were agog to see what would happen when Gideon and his long-lost wife were reunited.

“Whoa.” Lucinda felt a sudden pang of worry. For some reason, she just couldn’t imagine that Ragnar and Mrs. Needle would both stand quietly by without telling Gideon what had been going on during his illness. Ragnar would tell the truth, of course, but Mrs. Needle would have to lie, and then things would get very, very difficult…

“I have to go talk to my brother,” she said abruptly and headed for the door, leaving Sarah, Pema, and Azinza to look at each other in surprise.

It was a slightly weird scene upstairs, in what had been Lucinda’s room until the night of the storm: Grace was sitting on the bed with Ooola kneeling behind her, brushing Grace’s thin white hair. (The Ice Age girl, after a lifetime of bear-grease and tangles, had taken to clean hair and brushes with joy and would sit for hours happily tending the hair of the other women. Lucinda had been amused at how many times Ooola had asked Tyler to let her brush his hair as well, and how adamantly her brother had always refused.)

Tyler was pacing back and forth in the middle of the room like the producer of a Broadway show just before opening night. “What is it?” he asked. “Is Gideon up yet?”

Lucinda could only shake her head. “Why are you making such a fuss of this? Why have you kept it a secret from Gideon?”

“Because he’s been unconscious most of the time. Duh!”

Grace had looked up at the mention of Gideon’s name, her eyes mild and slightly anxious. “Do I know you?” she asked Lucinda.

“Yes.” It was hard to connect this frail, blinking creature with the beautiful, bright young woman in all the old photos. “I’m Tyler’s sister-this is my room, remember? Gideon’s our great-uncle.” She turned to her brother. “We should have taken her to a hospital, Tyler. There’s something wrong with her.”

“Nothing that seeing Gideon again won’t fix,” he said stubbornly.

“Gideon.” Grace shook her head. “Will he… will he be mad at me? For coming back?”

“Are you kidding?” Tyler said. “He’ll be thrilled!”

Lucinda was not so certain-mad at her for coming back? What did that mean? But before she could ask any more questions Azinza appeared at the door. The young African woman had put on her best dress, a wrap of cotton cloth in bright browns, yellows, and reds that draped her long slender form all the way to the floor. She really did look like some kind of royalty.

“He is ready for us,” she announced. “Come down!”

Tyler turned to Ooola, who was making a few last adjustments to Grace’s hair. “You wait with her at the top of the stairs. I’ll call you when it’s time. Understand?”

Ooola nodded at this great responsibility with a solemn, almost worshipful expression. Lucinda liked the cave girl just fine, but she thought that someone who listened to her brother that seriously had to be a bad influence on him. Sometimes Ooola acted as though Tyler had showed up in the Ice Age on purpose just to rescue her, instead of by messing around with something he should have left alone, which was what had actually happened.

She felt a moment of regret for this hard thought as she went down the stairs. Yeah, but if he hadn’t done something stupid then Ooola would probably have been eaten by that bear…

“Just please don’t do anything too dramatic and embarrassing,” she begged Tyler quietly as they reached the bottom of the stairs. The rest of the farm folk were filing into the entry hall, murmuring quietly among themselves.

He gave her an irritated look. “You’ll be thanking me when this is all over, just watch. You’ll be calling me Mister Genius Dude.”

“If you say so.” She was too worried even to tell him what an idiot he was sometimes.

The Snake Parlor was a good-sized room, but it would have been crowded just with all the farm-folk in it. With Gideon’s bed taking up the center of the room, it felt like she was elbow to elbow with the other passengers on a crowded train, and it reminded her how soon she and Tyler would be on their way back home again.

Both Gideon and Mr. Walkwell were sitting up, although for once Lucinda thought she might have picked her great-uncle in a race, or even a wrestling contest between the two of them: Simos Walkwell looked weirdly pale and frail, while Gideon, although not at his strongest, was obviously healthier than he’d been for weeks. As usual, his hair stuck up in unruly wisps-it was clear that another of Caesar’s attempts to tame it with a comb and water had already failed.

“Uncle Gideon, it’s good to see you,” Lucinda told him, and she meant it. From the expression of his eyes and face she was pretty sure they had the old Gideon back. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

He nodded and smiled at her, but he was listening to something Ragnar was telling him; when he did lean away from the big man it was to wave to the Three Amigos, who had stopped in the doorway and stood shyly, their hats in their hands. “Please, come in,” Gideon told the herders, and his voice was so mild that for a moment Lucinda was frightened that she might have been wrong, that her great-uncle might still be some kind of brainwashing victim. Then Gideon frowned and waved emphatically. “For heaven’s sake,” he said in an irritated tone, “I said come in, already!” Lucinda was relieved.

The nervous Mongolians scuttled forward and squeezed in behind Ragnar and Haneb and the kitchen women.

As she went past him, Lucinda stopped beside Simos Walkwell.

“How are you?” she asked. “I came to see you yesterday but you were sleeping.”

The ancient faun looked at her with weary eyes. Even the stubs of his horns seemed dull. “That thing had me for a long time,” he said slowly. “Like you, I breathed its poison seeds, but I breathed them for nearly an hour. I saw… terrible things.” He shook his head. “A world where that demon was the only living thing left on the earth. I dreamed that it was reaching up to conquer the heavens themselves

… ” Mr. Walkwell trailed off, then lifted an unsteady brown hand to pat her on the arm. It was strange and disturbing for Lucinda to see him this way. “Forgive me, child. It is a long time since I have been brought so low. Go and sit. There is much to discuss today.”

All the farm’s inhabitants seemed to be present now, even Colin and his mother, who had come in last and arranged themselves at the foot of Gideon’s bed where they stood with stony faces like mourners at a funeral.

“Well,” Gideon said, “it’s a pleasure to see you all-more of a pleasure than you can guess!” He smiled as if at a private joke. “There have been times in the last few weeks when I didn’t think this would ever happen again-you, me, all of us here together on the farm. Needless to say, I am grateful for the extra work you all did during my illness, but I am even more conscious that much of the confusion was my own fault.” He nodded his head. “Yes, my fault. I am an old man and I hold the safety and happiness of many people good people in my hands-you people. I cannot afford to be so careless.”

Lucinda was impressed. Was Gideon actually going to admit for once that he might not have all the answers? But that still wouldn’t solve the farm’s worst problems. She snuck a glance at Mrs. Needle, the farm’s most dangerous problem as far as Lucinda was concerned, and caught Colin looking back at her with an odd, unreadable expression on his face. When he met Lucinda’s eyes he quickly dropped his gaze.

“So what I wanted to tell you,” Gideon went on, “is that I’m going to make things a lot clearer about what happens if I’m not around

… no, let’s be honest-when I’m not around. Because I won’t live forever.”

“Don’t say this!” Sarah the cook crossed herself vigorously. She sounded genuinely frightened, and little Pema looked as though she might burst into tears.

Gideon laughed. “Come, come, my dears. We all die someday, and we all have a responsibility to be ready for whatever changes will come. After all, if it weren’t for you and Patience nursing me so ably over these last weeks, I might not have been here today to give you this little speech!” He chuckled, but the rest of the farm folk looked at each other or glanced quickly at Mrs. Needle. “No, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few days about all of this,” Gideon went on. “Lucinda and Tyler, would you come here please?”

Her brother jumped like he’d been pinched. “What? Us?”

“Just go,” Lucinda whispered. She grabbed his elbow and pushed him toward Gideon’s bedside. Their great-uncle smiled at them like a weary department store Santa Claus with his last two clients of the day.

“Caesar, help me sit up a little, will you?” When the pillows had been plumped again behind him, Gideon nodded. “Better. Thank you. Ah, you two,” he said to Tyler and Lucinda. “How you’ve shaken this old place up! It wasn’t very long ago that I was wishing I’d never brought you here-but that’s not the way I feel any more. A place like this needs more than just a legal owner, it needs to belong to someone who cares about it-who loves it. I think I know the answer, but I want to hear it for myself. Do you two really love Ordinary Farm?”

“Yes!” said Tyler, so quickly and so loud that Gideon jumped a little.

“Yes, Uncle Gideon, of course! We really, really do.” Lucinda thought of angry Desta and what she’d had to do to that poor little dragon to protect the farm. “More even than you know.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Gideon reached up a shaky hand to clasp Tyler’s hand, then Lucinda’s. It frightened her how fragile his bones felt beneath the skin. “And here’s what I want to say. I am going to make a new will. I haven’t changed the terms of my old one since my wife’s… my wife’s disappearance.”

Lucinda couldn’t help looking right at the Needles. Colin still wouldn’t meet her gaze, but Mrs. Needle stared back as if daring Lucinda to say something. Didn’t Gideon know that the witch had been trying to change his will only a few nights ago? Why hadn’t Ragnar or someone else told Gideon about that? Did they expect her and Tyler to do it?

“You see,” Gideon continued, “I understand now that it’s not just my farm-it belongs to everyone in this room. In fact, most of you have nowhere else to go. None of you came here by choice-not exactly-and without the farm, your existence here in this world, this time, would be difficult and maybe even impossible. Not to mention all of our animals that can only survive here, where we’ve learned how to take care of them.

“So here is what I’m going to do. After much thought, I am making Lucinda and Tyler my heirs. When I’m gone Ordinary Farm will be belong to the two of you-but only if you agree to abide by my terms and honor all the responsibilities that go with it.”

Even in the midst of such an amazing moment, something about what he said nagged at her. “Responsibilities?” Lucinda asked. “Like feeding the animals? Of course we’ll take care of them just like you have, Uncle Gideon. We know all about that.”

“Not quite.” The old man held up his hand to hold back more questions. “No, part of what it means to own Ordinary Farm is to protect Ordinary Farm-and all the people on it. If you agree to be my heirs, you must also solemnly promise me that everyone here will always have a home at Ordinary Farm.”

“Everyone?” asked Lucinda, astonished. “No matter what they do?” Even if they try to brainwash or kill people? she wondered. How could she and Tyler promise to let Patience Needle stay when they already knew she would go to any length to take the farm for herself and Colin?

“Ummm… ummm… ” Tyler was fidgeting like someone who needed to use the bathroom-it was clear he was feeling a painful need to share his own secret. Lucinda hoped he’d keep his mouth shut about Grace until they could find out whether Gideon really meant what he’d just said.

“You mean even if we’re in charge someday, we can’t ever kick out anybody here?” She avoided looking at Patience Needle, but everyone in the room except Gideon knew who she was talking about. “No matter what they do? We can’t say yes to that, Uncle Gideon.”

“Come, come,” he said, frowning. “I’m not asking you to do anything I haven’t done myself. It’s simple, child-do you promise to abide by my rules?” His displeasure turned to surprise. “Tyler, what are you doing? Where is he going? Come back here!”

But her brother was already slipping between the Three Amigos, hurrying out of the parlor. Once again, Lucinda wished Tyler would think before he acted. Now she had only a few moments before he showed up with Grace and that would probably be the end of any real conversation for the day.

“I’m very unhappy with your brother’s irresponsible behavior,” Gideon said. “And speaking of irresponsible, what on earth are you trying to say? I’m offering you an amazing gift-nothing like it has ever existed before. Why can’t you just do as I ask?”

She cleared her throat. “We’re really grateful, Uncle Gideon. It’s just that some of us… feel that not everyone here on Ordinary Farm… has your best interests… the farm’s best interests

… ” She turned to Ragnar, Sarah, and the kitchen women. “Isn’t anyone else going to talk? Hasn’t anybody told him anything…?”

But before another word could be said Tyler burst through the doorway leading his surprise. She was dressed in a simple dress from twenty years or more gone and her hair was brushed and shiny.

“Look, Uncle Gideon,” Tyler said, half tugging her toward the old man’s bedside. “Just look who we found for you while you were sick! Look who’s here! It’s Grace!”

Gideon looked at her, his face slack with confusion and growing wonder. Then it somehow slid right past wonder and back into pure confusion. “What? Who is this?”

“It’s Grace, Uncle Gideon!” Tyler was almost jumping up and down in his worried excitement. “Your wife!”

Gideon stared at the woman for a long moment, then turned to Tyler. “What are you talking about? That isn’t Grace.”

Tyler was clearly getting panicky now. “Just look at her again, Uncle Gideon! It’s been twenty years and she was stuck in a real bad place-but it’s her!”

Gideon looked at the white-haired woman again, who seemed nervous just returning his gaze, blinking and leaning away from him. He shook his head. “No. Not my Grace.”

Tyler turned to Ragnar and the rest. “Maybe he doesn’t recognize her because he’s been sick…!”

“No, Gideon speaks the truth,” said Mr. Walkwell from the couch. “I am the only other person here who knew her.” He shook his head wearily. “That is not Grace Goldring.”