Daisy became very busy as summer drew to a close. Harvesting things before the first frost, making preserves, canning them, trying to gather enough chopped firewood that they would have a decent stockpile, making sure they had all the supplies they would need to get through winter.
Apples, grapes, figs, pears, persimmons, pomegranates, various greens, beets, turnips, zucchini, winter squash, pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes, more herbs than she could count…there was an awful lot growing on the May farm and not many people to gather it all up.
She had always been under the impression that farms focused on specific crops rather than a hodgepodge like this but that might be because in the future grocery stores made things more easily available for everyone. If people wanted things in the past, they had to grow them personally or trade with people who did.
Ginny was a saint helping with all of the food preservation in exchange for keeping some of the jars for herself and Callum. Daisy wouldn't have been able to do it without her or Leo, who assisted her late into the night after Ginny had gone home.
Sometimes they made games out of it to make the time pass more quickly. Such as who could fill jars the fastest or collect a certain number of fruits or vegetables within a given time frame.
At the moment, she was up a tree tossing apples down for Leo to catch and he was making her laugh by juggling them. He was surprisingly talented and didn't drop a single one.
Daisy dropped another one for him and he added it to the ones he was juggling with ease. He was managing six apples at once now, which was rather impressive. She had never seen anyone juggle with more than four balls before.
The funniest part about this was that he was doing it all as expressionlessly as usual. He wasn't the type to smile much. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen him do more than a small twitch of his lips.
Watching someone deadpan juggling six apples was hilarious for some reason. She laughed so hard she nearly fell out of the tree.
Leo noticed and frowned up at her after gently adding the apples to the basket at his feet. "Don't fall. I don't know enough first aid to patch you up if you do."
Daisy was embarrassed being lectured by someone a dozen years younger than her and scowled. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need you to worry about me. It's your fault for making me laugh anyway."
"…it really wasn't that funny. Why were you laughing so hard?"
"I don't know!"
She didn't want to say it was because of his face. That would probably put him out and she didn't want the camaraderie they had reached to be spoiled. The Krinzels were great but she couldn't be herself as much as she could around Leo since they expected her to be like the real Veronica May.
She had told him more about herself than she had told anyone in years even though she was being careful not to give anything concrete about her past away. It was done solely to keep him distracted because there was only so much one could say about farming without getting repetitive or dull. Sometimes bits and pieces about her life bled through.
Surprisingly, she didn't mind sharing that with him. She must have been lonelier than she thought. It was kind of nice actually being able to talk to someone even if it was limited. There were less restrictions talking to him than anyone else in this time period.
Leo didn't seem bothered by her lack of real answer. "Be careful, Veronica. I'll stop joking around now. Toss me some more apples."
"Alright. Go long!"
Daisy chucked the apple to the side for him to catch. He had pretty good reflexes. Before the juggling started, they had been playing a game to see how far he could go to catch them without dropping any and had been able to do a few feet.
Once they had collected all of the apples from that tree, they moved on to the next one. The farm had a grand total of five apple trees and they had already stripped two of them.
She climbed down, mindful of her skirt, and used a branch on the next one like a pull-up bar to hoist herself up. What she wouldn't do for a good old pair of yoga pants right now. That would make things much easier!
They continued on like this until dark then took all but one of the apple baskets down to the cellar. They had more preserves to make. She wanted to make some cider too. Since it was such an old practice, she had the materials she needed to do that here.
Daisy practically drooled at the thought of some of the other things she could make with these apples. One of the few things she had enjoyed doing outside of work before coming here was baking.
Apple pie, apple tarts, apple crisp, apple cake, apple turnovers, caramel apples…If only she had the time. She would have to cut into her sleep to do that but it would probably be worth it. Desserts made out of farm-fresh apples like this must be amazing.
"…what are you thinking about to have such a look on your face?" Leo asked with a raised eyebrow.
It was uncharacteristically bold of him. And he was displaying more expression than usual. She must have been making a really weird face. Oops.
"Things I can make with all of these apples," Daisy said honestly. "I love apple desserts."
His one visible eye brightened and for a moment he showed the sort of enthusiasm you would expect from a boy his age. He was normally so reticent. "Do you know how to make apple tarts?!"
"I do."
"Can you make one? Please? It's been ages since I've had one and they're my favorite!"
This might be the first time Leo admitted he liked something. She wasn't about to say no to that, especially since she had been considering making one anyway.
Daisy grinned at him. "Absolutely! I do need to make some cider tonight though so we can drink as much as possible before it ferments. Apple cider vinegar is a useful thing to have though so it doesn't matter when it does."
He nodded, seeming a bit embarrassed about his excitement, and set to work helping her peel and cut the apples. They worked in silence for a while and she felt perfectly content. Working herself to the bone wasn't so bad when she had the reward of seeing the results of her efforts. It was more satisfying than anything she ever did back in her original time.
She had never minded hard work if it resulted in something that made her happy. She was thriving, the farm was hanging in there, and nobody was the boss of her. In a way, she was living the dream.
Unfortunately, people didn't want to accept that a girl could do things on her own here. The townspeople's whisperings had only gotten worse and she had gotten five marriage proposals from creepy older men. She may be mentally twenty-four but this body was ten years younger!
The next day when Daisy went into town for some sugar to make that tart with, she was accosted by the cobbler for what felt like the millionth time. He blocked her path no matter which way she tried to move.
Trying to hide both her temper and her unease, she coolly said, "I'm afraid I don't have time to chat, Mr. Wilem."
"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be working yourself so hard. If you married me, I could hire people to handle all of that farm work and you wouldn't have to lift a finger."
Ha! As if taking care of his children would be considered 'not lifting a finger.' She wasn't interested and had told him so every time she ran into him. When would this idiot learn to take a hint?!
"I happen to enjoy farm work. Now if you'll excuse me—"
"You need a man to take care of you, Veronica. Being stubborn about this won't do you any good."
Daisy glared at him and put her hands on her hips. "That's 'Miss May' to you! You don't know me and I haven't given you permission to call me by name. I won't let you or anyone else tell me how to live my life so if you know what's good for you, you'll leave me alone."
Mr. Wilem was taken aback by her sudden show of fire but wasn't about to stand down. "How dare you talk back to me, you little wench? You won't find a better offer elsewhere. Who's going to protect you? You live alone!"
That felt more than vaguely threatening. She was about to hotly reply but suddenly didn't need to because someone had arrived to back her up.
"Me," a familiar voice said in the coldest tone she ever heard.