Harvest Grove
~S. Wales~
A Beau to Beau young adult book
Copyright 2011-05-14: S. Wales
Beau to Beau Books
All rights reserved
http://www.beautobeau.com
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Included in: Harvest Grove
1. Openers
2. Introduction
3. The Unicorn
4. In Broad Daylight
5. Night Sounds
6. After the Night
7. White Noise
8. Koby’s Place
9. Moving On
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Introduction:
Two weeks at her uncle’s farm seems like a life sentence to a young woman who recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday. The two cute college guys her uncle has hired make it a little more appealing, however. When Marly begins to hear barking dogs and the sounds of loud birds coming from the dark and dreary woods at the edge of the farm, she has to investigate. Pushing her way through the thick foliage, in the clearing of the woods Marly discovers something she has never before seen. Through the peculiarly present mist and fog, Marly sees silhouettes of what appear to be two men. But what are they doing and why are they standing so close to each other? Thinking that the two college guys are playing a joke on her, Marly sneaks to the woods often, but the loud noises and the men are gone. Do Uncle Charlie and Aunt Susan know about this? And why did it look like the two men were kissing? No way!
The Unicorn:
The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison. The young gay male, like the unicorn, is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, always mysteriously beautiful, and can be captured only by unfair means.
In Broad Daylight:
A city girl to the core, Marly had been to the country only once and that had been during a field trip in Kindergarten. That was thirteen years ago, but she still remembered the awful smells of cows and pigs and manure.
“You will love it on your Uncle Charlie’s farm, honey. This is God’s country.” Marly’s mother had talked nonstop since they had left the city and Marly wished she would just shut up. Marly sat with her arms folded, watching the endless stream of nothingness whizzing by the car window. “Oh, cheer up, Marly. It’s only for two weeks while your father and I are away on business.” Marly laid her head back and sighed.
Marly’s mother honked her horn twice as she drove down the lane to the old farmhouse where she and her sister had grown up. “I loved growing up here, Marly, and I am so happy that Susan and Charlie chose to keep the farm and all the wonderful traditions that Susan and I shared. Of course, that was a long time ago, but oh, the memories. Susan and I had so much fun. The possibilities for adventure are endless out here. And to think that Charlie grew up on a farm, too! Those two were meant for each other.”
“I know, Mom, I know. You have told me a million times about all the fun you had right here, and about how perfect Susan and Charlie are for each other.” Marly was bored already and the two weeks had not even begun yet.
“Charlotte, it’s so good to see you.” Charlie hugged his sister-in-law as soon as she stepped out of the car, and then he took Marly’s hands in his. “My, I haven’t seen you since you were a toddler.”
“Hi,” she said quietly.
“We are going to have so much fun. You may get to help bring some baby calves into the world.”
Marly smiled. Wonderful, she thought. Birthing calves is not exactly my idea of a good time.
“Thanks again, Charlie. I have to run.”
“Glad to do it, Charlotte. Marly will love it here.”
Charlie took Marly’s bags into the house, giving Marly time to say goodbye to her mother.
“Mom, I hate this.”
“Honey, give it a chance, okay?”
Marly rolled her eyes, but promised that she would give it a chance. What other choice did she have? She watched as her mother drove down the long lane, wishing she were in the car with her.
“Come on inside, Marly,” Charlie called from the door of the old farmhouse.
Marly turned around and slowly shuffled toward the old farmhouse. She entered what her mother referred to as the perfect home and was immediately met by the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. “Oh, hi.” Marly hadn’t seen Susan for a long time and she really didn’t remember her all that well.
“Fresh from the oven, honey. Help yourself.”
After just one bite, Marly had decided that her mother’s sister was her new best friend. “This is the best cinnamon roll I have ever tasted. You should sell these.”
Susan smiled at the young girl. “No, no, honey. My fresh baked goods are just for family.”
“How do you two not weigh three hundred pounds?”
Charlie couldn’t help but laugh at the young city girl. “Farm work, Marly. Everything you eat out here gets worked off pretty quickly.”
Marly ate the entire sweet roll which was huge before stopping to take a drink of the fresh cold milk. On his way out the door, Charlie asked, “Marly, would you like to help me do chores?”
“Okay,” she said, having no idea what was meant by “chores.” She followed Charlie for what seemed like a two mile walk before they reached the barn. It was weird to think of Charlie as her uncle when she barely knew him, and it was very hard keeping up with him. Marly usually didn’t see the light of day until close to noon whenever she was out of school, and she certainly did not go for a two mile walk this early in the day. Lost in her thoughts, Marly missed Charlie’s question. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I was just saying that I see my two summer helpers are here. Koby and Marc are about your age, Marly.”
Oh, great. Two boys to deal with. Summer vacation in Marly’s opinion did not include two boys trying to impress her. She got enough of that in school. They rounded the corner of the barn where two young men were raking or something. Marly wasn’t quite sure.
“Marc, Koby, this is Marly.”
The two boys waved and said hi and then returned to their work. They seemed nice enough, and they looked older than the high school boys from Marly’s school. They were pretty cute, too. Marc was taller than Koby, with blonde hair and a light tan on his arms. Koby had dark hair and his eyes made Marly melt. They were big and they had a puppy dog sad quality to them. He was shorter than Marc, but Marly thought both of them were better looking than the boys she was used to seeing.
“Come on, Marly, I’ll show you the rest of the farm.” Marly waved goodbye to Marc and Koby and then left with Charlie. “Marc and Koby helped me last summer, too. Good workers, those two. They finished their freshman year at the junior college about an hour from here, the same school your mother and Susan went to.”
Marly nodded. That would make them nineteen probably. Marly had been told that she looked older than her eighteen years, but those two guys in Charlie’s barn had to be nineteen at least, maybe twenty.
After a somewhat boring tour of what Charlie considered the highlights of his and Susan’s beloved farm, Charlie had to drive into town and Marly was sent to help Marc and Koby. The two guys were still working in the barn and Marly was not looking forward to doing anything in a barn. She would much rather stay inside the house with Susan. As she entered the barn she overhead Marc say, “We’ll talk later.” Their backs were to Marly, and Koby’s arm was resting on Marc’s hip. Marly wondered what they had been talking about. The young girl was always eager to hear a little gossip.
“Hi, guys, I’m back.”
The two young men immediately turned around. They glanced nervously at each other, and then immediately began talking to Marly. “Here, I’ll show you what to do,” Marc offered.
“Is everything okay? You two looked different when I walked in, upset or angry or something.”
Another quick glance at each other and the two young men both assured Marly that all was well. Marly shrugged and began her mundane chores. After an hour had passed, which to Marly seemed more like three or four hours, Marc and Koby said that they had other responsibilities down by the creek.
“Good, I’ll come, too.”
“Uh, you need to stay here, Marly. The creek is full of snakes this time of year.”
Marly cringed at the thought of anything slimy and went back to her barn chores. She watched as Marc and Koby disappeared into the trees that would lead them to the creek. That was weird, she thought. They seemed to be talking about something serious until I suddenly showed up. Curious to know what was up with the mysterious college guys, Marly set the rake down and followed the footsteps of Marc and Koby into the trees.
It seemed dark and dreary with the huge trees all around her and Marly almost turned around and went back when she heard what sounded like a dog barking. “Doggie, here doggie,” she whispered. She couldn’t keep herself from continuing toward the sound, but her curiosity had gotten her into trouble before and she had promised her mother that she would obey Charlie and Susan. But Marly couldn’t help it. “I have to know what that sound is.” She whispered, “Doggie, here doggie”, again, but then the sound stopped suddenly. All she could hear now was her own footsteps as they made a crunching sound on the dried leaves. She pushed aside the thick foliage to get a look at what was no doubt hiding somewhere in the trees. “It has to be an animal. I hope it isn’t hurt, and I hope it doesn’t hurt me.”
It was too dark to see much of anything, but what Marly could see looked like the silhouette of a man or perhaps an animal. She could not be certain which it was. The shadow moved slowly just a few feet from where Marly was hiding. She put her hand to her mouth when she saw him. “He’s naked,” she nearly screamed. The shadow moved to just behind a tree. The man leaned over and Marly had a better view of his butt than she cared to have. It’s definitely a man, she said to herself. Marly could clearly see his butt crack, but she couldn’t see what he was doing. Then the man knelt on the ground and Marly thought she saw the silhouette of another man, but it was all just a blur. The shadow of a man that Marly could see appeared to be embracing the other man. She could not see the man’s hands, but as she listened she could hear what sounded like slurping noises.
The sound of the dog barking drowned out the sucking or slurping sounds, and Marly now also heard other sounds which until now she had only heard at night. The barking was followed by the sound of crickets and very loud birds. Marly wanted to stay, but she didn’t like bugs, and that dog, who knew what it really was? She turned around and tried to be quiet as her feet crunched the leaves and dried grass beneath her.
When Marly saw the sun again, she began running back to the barn. What was all that? she wondered.
Marc and Koby had already returned when Marly came running into the barn. “Where you been, Marly?”
Marly had no idea what to say. “Um, I went to get a drink of water.”
Marc nodded. He and Koby seemed to be in a much brighter mood than they had been in earlier. “You got a boyfriend, Marly?” She shook her head. “Not a serious one.” Marly wouldn’t mind having one of these guys for a boyfriend. They were nice, and they were cuter than cute. Marc smiled at Koby, but Marly thought it looked more like a smirk than a smile.
Marly went on about her business, and by mid afternoon Marc and Koby were leaving for the day. “See you tomorrow, Marly.” She looked up and smiled.
When Charlie returned, he was surprised to see Marly still working. “You don’t have to work so hard, kiddo. I didn’t expect you to kill yourself doing farm chores.”
“I don’t mind. It’s kind of fun.”
“Let’s go see what Susan has cooked up for dinner,” he said.
Marly didn’t say much on the long walk back to the house. She couldn’t get the image of the naked man and the strange sounds out of her mind. What was that, anyway? Does Charlie know about this?
“Hey, not talkin’ much, kiddo.”
“Oh, I guess I’m a little tired.”
Charlie opened the door, and the aroma of Susan’s homemade cooking immediately brought Marly back to life. “Smells yummy, Aunt Susan. What is it?”
“This is my specialty. I call it Meatloaf Fancy. No big deal, honey. But I have a peach cobbler in the oven made with peaches from our very own orchard.” Marly realized how hungry she was with the first bite of a homemade bun. It wasn’t so bad here, especially with something strange going on in the woods down by the creek, and in broad daylight, no less.