thenovelthief Chapter 341: Farm Dailies 13
Chapter 341: Farm Dailies 13
"Wyatt, I understand how you feel, but raising a child is too hard. It’s not the same as raising a pet. Remember Serena Lynch? After she took in that child, her already difficult life became even harder. She even had to worry about the kid while we were fleeing for our lives. If it weren’t for Annie, Serena Lynch and Chase Underwood would never have gotten separated from us."
Miles’s words hit home for everyone. Chet Lawrence kept his head down; after all, he was the one who had brought the baby back. He felt he had caused trouble for everyone and was overcome with shame.
"I know. I can be indifferent to adults and the elderly, but a newborn baby... I just can’t bring myself to stand by and do nothing. She’s just so pitiful."
Everyone else felt the same way, but faced with reality, they were often forced to make the most practical choice.
"Let’s find the parents first. If we can’t, we’ll decide then." The group chattered away, giving Evelyn a headache.
"Evelyn, if we can’t find her parents, would you be willing to raise this child?"
Evelyn pursed her lips. ’To be honest, I don’t even want to have children of my own, let alone raise a stranger’s child.’
Evelyn shook her head. "I’m not willing."
Everyone fell silent. Peter Owens and Raymond Shepherd, who had gone out to gather information, returned. They brought back some bad news and a woman.
"There are still quite a few pregnant women in Fairgate. The night before last, a woman gave birth, but she bled to death from the complications. She was a refugee who’d arrived a while back, with no parents or husband. Another refugee who fled with her admitted she was the one who abandoned the baby at the farm entrance. We brought her here."
When the woman entered, she kept her head down and her shoulders hunched. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the sleeping infant in Wyatt’s arms.
"I’m the one who left the baby outside the farm gate. I had no other choice. The baby’s mother was Moira Hughes; we met on the road. She was already pregnant when I met her. She said she’d been assaulted by a group of bandits. That baby is tough—Moira was a refugee for seven or eight months and never miscarried. But as soon as the baby was born, she killed her own mother. I’m no relation to her, and I can barely feed myself. All I could do was leave her at your gate. Whether she lives or dies is up to fate."
When she finished, the woman glanced timidly at everyone. "Can I go now?"
"Take the child with you." Miles tried to give the baby to the woman, but she recoiled in fear.
"Me and this child... it’s not meant to be. I can’t provide for her. If you don’t want her, just abandon her. Either way, I’m not taking her."
With that, she ran off. Miles started to go after her, but Evelyn called him back.
"There’s no point in chasing her. It’s obvious she has no intention of raising this child."
"We can’t be the suckers left holding the bag. It’s snowing now, and life is only getting harder."
Evelyn pulled Quincy aside and told him to take care of something. Quincy left after listening to her instructions. Evelyn rubbed her temples. "Let’s take a vote. Raise your left hand if you agree to keep the child, and your right hand if you don’t."
After a moment’s hesitation, everyone raised a hand. Aside from Evelyn and a few of the hired hands who abstained, everyone else cast their vote.
"The votes in favor of keeping her are more than the votes against." Evelyn wasn’t particularly surprised by the result, but she hadn’t expected Ronan to raise his hand in agreement.
"Then let’s keep her for now. I’ve already sent Quincy to handle the follow-up. Everyone outside will think the baby died."
Back in their cabin, Evelyn looked at Ronan, puzzled. "You rarely take a stance. Do you like children?"
Ronan took her hand, saying nothing. After a long silence, he gently pulled Evelyn into an embrace. "I don’t like children," he said softly. "I was just thinking... what if no one had found you back then?"
A bitter feeling welled up inside Evelyn. She had abstained from the vote because she had gone through the same thing.
She couldn’t make the choice she considered most suitable and correct.
The next day, a rumor spread through Fairgate: someone had left a baby at the farm gate, but the farm refused to take it in, leaving the child to freeze to death. Its body was supposedly still lying in a snowdrift.
When the news spread, anyone who had been thinking of doing the same thing quickly gave up the idea.
Meanwhile, the baby was cared for mostly by Yunnis Denton and Wyatt Vaughn, with Aunt Crane and Joelle Finch also helping. But no one had given her a name. In the end, Wyatt went to Taylor Vance and asked him to come up with a proper name.
"The baby’s mother’s surname was Hughes, so let’s call her Zoe Hughes."
From then on, Zoe Hughes became a member of the farm.
Evelyn didn’t interfere much in the matter. The snow fell heavier and heavier, and she rarely left her cabin unless it was for something urgent or to help with the birth of new livestock.
The hired hands, worried about being laid off, made sure to find work even in the snow. Every morning and evening, people came to deliver firewood, fetch water, and clear out wood ash. Aunt Crane even came to ask Evelyn if she had any laundry that needed washing.
The harsh weather on Immeasurable Mountain cast a bleak shadow over life on the farm, and the workers lived in constant fear and anxiety.
Evelyn had Quincy reassure everyone that as long as they worked hard and followed the farm’s regulations, no one would be laid off. Only then did their anxieties subside.
"You have no idea. For the past few days, they’ve been terrified whenever I show up. I heard that refugees are freezing and starving to death in Fairgate every day, so nobody wants to leave the farm."
"This weather is unnatural. The heavy snow will probably seal off the mountain soon. When that happens, robberies and raids will increase. Tell everyone to be more vigilant. Have them get some logs, sharpen the ends, and stick them along the inside of the perimeter fence."
Quincy nodded. "Okay, I’ll let everyone know shortly."
"I’ve made some candles these past few days. Take them and hand them out to everyone. Also, watch the heated platforms in the livestock area—the fires can’t go out." The temperature had been dropping steadily. Without the heated platforms, some of the animals wouldn’t survive.
"Should we go cut some more branches? I’m worried that once the mountain is snowed in, it’ll be hard to even go outside."
Evelyn nodded. "Yes, let’s stock up on more branches. Bring the Mammoth and the horses so we can haul more back. Ronan and I will go too."
Quincy asked tentatively, "In that case, are we still going to trade supplies with the refugees from Fairgate?"
"We’ll stop trading once the mountain is snowed in. Go hang the sign."
Quincy left with the candles to tell everyone about sharpening the logs for defense. The next day, Evelyn and Ronan led a large party five kilometers from the farm to a mountain to chop branches. The branches were already iced over. In another day or two, it would be impossible to even get into the mountains.
"This damn weather is relentless torment. This little ice age is even worse than the extreme heat. My hands and feet are covered in frostbite."
"The extreme heat wasn’t any better. You could die from just a few seconds in the sun, and the heat would burn your skin."
"You’d think the authorities would come check on the people. Even if they can’t provide shelter, they should at least hand out some food. If this keeps up, many more people are going to die."
"In times like these? Those people stopped caring whether refugees live or die a long time ago. I just hope this deep freeze ends soon."
...
At six in the evening, the group returned to the farm, fully laden. Outside the main gate, a crowd of refugees from Fairgate had gathered to beg and trade for supplies.