Mountain Life

CHAPTER 4C - Planning Mars

Magda just grinned at her. “You cannot let on you’re a passenger. When he gets a week off on Mars with his wife, the look on his face will be fascinating. I do still have one extra seat?”

Joseph started to speak, “Well….”

“Yes, Joseph?” Magda asked.

“You convinced me.”

“Perfect! We have a full plane.”

They moved the conversation from the table to the living room, and David lit and stoked a nice fire in the fireplace.

About midnight, Magda said, “I think we need to leave these poor people to get some rest. Can I drop you two off somewhere?” The delivery car that dropped them off and the blanks left shortly after they left the vehicle.

“Actually,” Monica said, “The hotel at the spaceport if it is not too much trouble. We have rooms there.”

“Perfect. I am staying there myself.” She opened her portable. A man appeared on the screen.

“Sergent Riddle, how may I help you this evening, General?”

“Sergeant, I need a ride.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I see you are at Hill Farm. We can be there in 4 minutes.”

“There will be three passengers, and thank you.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

They disconnected, and they all headed to the porch and talked a little until the car descended and landed on the apron. The driver exited and opened the door for the general. Monica got in, and the general followed. “I guess being a General has a few perks.” The Sergeant smiled at her, and she winked back.

“Brigit, here is my personal comm. Let me know when you return to the area and take that class. By the way, I did a little checking. There are greenhouses and hydroponics under the dome we will be at. You should be in your element.”

“Wonderful!” Brigit responded.

They all said goodbye and took their seats. Mik sat up front in the car, and the general and Monica sat in the back seat. It went straight up, and the rear exhaust kicked in, and it was gone. The crickets and other forest nightlife were the only sounds a second later.

“I’m beat. See you in the morning.” Gayle said, “Let’s sleep in, maybe 5:45?”

Jon added, “WOW! 15 minutes extra sleep. Excellent!!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was awake by 5:15 and gathered in the kitchen, as usual. “Well,” Jon said, “I think I’ll get dressed and start what I need to start.”

David and Joseph said, “Be right there.”

Brigit asked, “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Marissa replied, “Nothing, really. In two days, we are heading home. So we can tie down the cart, cover in case of rain, and help Gayle and Jon around the farm.”

“Marissa, I am assuming that I cannot bring the book back with me to the settlement, and we do need to read it before the class. I may sit and read it after lunch; I hope to get through much of it and finish when I return for the class.”

“Correct. The book needs to stay in this world. Although no one would notice, and we do not hide things, we do not volunteer things to the settlement population in general.”

“Marissa, I need to ask a question, and I hope I am not out of place or overstepping my posting.”

“You want to know why we hide the fact the world, the worlds of here and home, are not open,” Marissa said.

Gayle spoke, “I can answer that.” She looked at the table momentarily, then directly at Brigit, “Young one. Look at you, here, now. Can you imagine what would happen to the settlement if the population was made aware of this wonderous place? We would lose a large percentage of our population instantly. The greatest fear of the council is to bring on a new council member who has no attachments to the community, like you. We feared you would remain here. We have never stopped anyone from leaving the settlement. Jon and I met on the collection, and we were paired to do as you are doing. We returned home as scheduled, but this place kept gnawing at us. We had to return.”

Marissa nodded at Gayle. She continued, “We left the community, and the story was we were exploring out beyond the mountains. We found this farm, and there was a Help Wanted sign on the street. We picked up the sign and walked up to the house. When there was no cabin, we walked here. It took several days. As we approached the house, we spoke to Marco Hill, the farm owner. He saw we had the sign and talked for nearly an hour on the porch. He made lemonade. He hired us on the spot when he knew we understood farming, animals, and the simpler life. About five years later, we found him in his bed. He died in his sleep at only the age of 90. We had no idea what we would do when a man, a lawyer, knocked on the door. He told us he read the will and discovered Marco left it to Jon and me. His words stuck in my mind. He said that ‘Jon and I were closer to Marco than his family, so we were his only family on this planet.’ They signed over the farm to us, and we kept the name, Hill’s Farm, in his honor.”

Marissa continued as Gayle began tearing up, “Jon met up with the collection on the path and showed us the cabin. He built it for us, stocked it as needed, and we took inventory and let him know before we left. On the return home, we will restock what is needed. He then told us to come to Hill’s Farm, and we did. This has been the standard collection since. Nearly two decades.”

Brigit sat there and had no idea what to reply. She started to open her mouth and closed it. A moment passed, “I need to tell you, I have had those thoughts, this wonderous place, this amazing place. But I am beginning to get homesick. I will enjoy the months here in the class. Yes, I will also enjoy the trip to Mars with Magda, and no, never in my lifetime did I ever expect to utter those words.”

She smiled at the thought of flying off to the planet Mars for a few days. “You need to know that I am committed to the community. But you also need to know that this vacation, working vacation as it is, is a lot of fun.”

Gayle and Marissa looked at each other, “She’ll be fine.”

Marissa added, “Let’s get dressed and start our day.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Brigit was the first to dress and turn on the vid. She found a channel with children’s programming and got lost in the nonsensical story.

Jon came out and stood there, mesmerized also. Then Joseph stood beside Jon, and the three stared at the screen.

Gayle and Marissa walked out and stared at the three of them. David entered the room, and Gayle made a motion, SSShhhhh… with her finger on her lips. She grabbed the remote and turned off the vid. The three took a second, and the spell was finally broken. The others laughed at them.

They took care of the never-ending daily chores on any farm.