Kashi had admittedly been looking forward to the fair. There was a slight frost on the ground when she woke up, the sun coming up later and later in the day. She smiled, pulling an orange sweater over her head. Fall was her favorite time of year. Sure she could enjoy Spring and Summer… not Winter. Kashi hated winter. But she loved Fall. And the Fall fair was the perfect way to kick it off. She wished it were a little chillier. She had a black tee shirt on so that she could take off the sweater when the day inevitably warmed up, but she was excited to wear it when she helped set it up. They were loading a few of her uncle's horses into a trailer to give rides to some of the kids. Kasih was just going to lead the horse around in a circle with some giddy child on top. Not a bad job. Better than being stuck on the ranch.
She drove another pick up truck laden with folding chairs from her uncle's house. Before she could get going, the passenger side door opened. Kashi continued to fiddle with the aux cord, the casing over the wires starting to peel.
"I got everything Uncle Hudson I'll drive slow and—"
"Not your uncle." Matthias laughed, sliding into the seat. "Hope it's okay I tag along. The boys left without me."
"Okay but you still don't get music privileges." Kashi said, chuckling. "I don't think I can listen to another one of your garbage songs with the—"
"My songs are not trash!" Matthias protested, laughing. "It's indie music! It's a form of art!"
Kashi rolled her eyes, turning the keys in the ignition, and turning the knob for the up dramatically. "I don't want to listen to art, I want to listen to music!" As if in emphasis an upbeat country song started playing through the speakers. "This is music, Matthias!" She rolled the windows down all the way, pulling away from the shed, following her uncle and a few of his ranch hands in their trucks.
Everyone was in high spirits on the day of the fair. All the businesses shut down and the whole town came together to just celebrate. Even thoughts of the mystery and her brother's angry words lost their sting. She still couldn't believe he'd just driven off last weekend. Felix had been right when he'd seemed indifferent towards seeing his brothers. It was fair of Felix to feel that way. It bugged Kashi how upset Scott had gotten—
"Kashi Stop!"
She hit the breaks, her mind hauling itself back to reality, Matthias and herself leaning forward from the sudden stop. But she managed to not rear end the truck in front of her. "Sorry, I was totally not here."
"I see that." Matthias chuckled somewhat nervously. "You good to drive?"
Kashi nodded, "Yeah I was just busy thinking. Plus, I can't take good photos of the sunrise. You have a better phone, you can take photos." Kashi pointed to the rosy glow that was starting to spread over the horizon. "Today is going to be gorgeous."
"I heard your aunt made like three hundred pies?" Matthias asked.
"Not three hundred!" Kashi laughed. "She made an awful lot, but she's selling them at the booth she and my uncle always get. She sells pie by the slice too if you want some."
"Are you kidding? I'm going to buy a whole pie."
The two broke into fits of laughter, Kashi accelerating when the stoplight turned green.
The sunrise was just as pretty as Kashi hoped. The red and orange coloring spread and split into a full scale of colors, reflecting off the clouds and painting the countryside in every shade of orange, pink, red, and yellow that had ever existed. The few clouds in the sky were like pieces of pastel cotton candy in a rich spectrum of warm colors.
"If that's not a good omen I don't know what is." Matthias said, snapping a few photos of the sky.
Kashi just smiled, turning to face the road in front of her. The cracked paved roads faded away turning to rough dry dirt chock full of holes and ditches. She hit a particularly deep one, sending Matt into the door of the car with a grunt. The folding chairs in the back clacked against each other unceremoniously.
She laughed, letting out a snort, causing her to hit another pothole.
"Kashi I swear if you hit one more—" Matthias began.
His words were cut short as one of Kashi's tires slammed in and out of a rut, Matthias falling against the dashboard. Kashi howled with laughter at Matt's glare, but he couldn't contain his laughter any longer either.
"You are not driving on the way back!" he managed to get out over the laughter.
Fortunately, they arrived on the massive fields without any more pothole incidents. The volunteers already had tents set up and booths of all sorts in their proper place. There was a little wooden stage for the live bands that would come and have their little moments of fame in the small town. Most of them were pretty good. The sun was now visible over the horizon illuminating the bustling crowd of people.
Kashi backed the truck up where she was instructed, hopping out to unload armful after armful of the plastic chairs. She cackled at something one of the ranchhands said, a snide comment sent Matthias' way that had everyone chuckling when she spied Hughes over with her uncle at the very edge of the clearing.