Property of West Wind

by OleGrayMane

In the Yard

 
“Just so we're all clear, here's the contract.” Granny Smith sat on the porch, her narrowed eyes scanning the three ponies standing before her.

“Thirty-five bits a week each. Thirty paid direct, five held in escrow for cash-out at season's end. Six days labor, Sundays off. Three square every day of the week. And now the rules. On this here farm, we don't tolerate no laziness, cussin', drunkenness, or fightin'. Yur here to do an honest day's work, and if ya do, we'll have no problems gittin' along.”

“Sounds copacetic,” Meadowlark said with a broad smile. “We won't let you down, Miss Smith.”

“Ya best not,” Granny huffed. “And plain ole Granny will do fine, ya understand?”

All three nodded their heads.

“Now, Applejack here”—she tilted her head towards the mare seated next to her—“will show you to the bunkhouse. Drop off your things, then y'all come back for cleaning supplies, as your very first job will be to clean the place up. And seein' as it ain't been used in a while, it might take you some time. The bunkhouse ain't fancy, but it's your home while your here, and once it's clean, I expect it to stay that way. Understood?”

A dull chorus of “Yes Ma'am”s answered her.

“Good. When that's finished, your next job will be to git yourselves cleaned-up, 'cause—” She paused and looked at them with some bemusement. “Honestly, you boys are looking a might bit shabby.”

“Last night's accommodations,” Meadowlark said, “were, well, let's say they were less than ideal.”

Granny grinned. “I don't wanna know, but I expect the bunkhouse will be much more comfortable than wherever you've been. After lunch, we'll git you signed into the ledger all proper like, then McIntosh and Applejack will show you the layout of the farm. Real work starts tomorrow. Breakfast's at five-thirty. Don't be late unless you like being hungry.”

Meadowlark raised his hoof. “About that, Ma'am—”

Granny examined their fatigued faces. “I'll rustle sumptin' up,” she said softly.

“Thank you, Miss—” he caught himself and smiled, “—Granny.”

She nodded. “All right, off ya go.” Granny dismissed them with a wave of her hoof.

“C'mon fellers.” Applejack popped up and began to lead them away. “Let's get ya settled in, then we'll get ya some of our famous eats.”

As Applejack trotted the new hires down the path, Granny stood and prepared to head back to the kitchen. She chuckled to herself: Two breakfasts in one day.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Mac wandering aimlessly in the yard, his head hanging low as he poked at a rock lodged in the ground. She stopped to watch.

He pried the rock loose and sent it skittering with a swift kick. He wandered off, hunting for another.

Granny sat down and let out an exasperated sigh. “McIntosh,” she called.

Unconsciously, his ear flicked towards her, but he ignored her and resumed his search.

“Big Mac,” she called louder. “Come talk to me—please.”

He froze mid-kick as his eyes turned towards her. He let the rock be and shuffled back to the house, his head still down. McIntosh sat down in front of her, staring at his hooves.

Granny waited for him to say something, anything, but he remained speechless. In time, she gave up and asked, “Ya gonna mope 'cause I overruled ya?”

He pursed his lips and briskly shook his head.

“What is it then?”

“How ya know they ain't criminals, Granny?”

“I don't,” she said and he raised his head and shot her a puzzled look. “But they don't act like the criminal type, do they? Otherwise, they would've waited util you and AJ were working in the orchards and robbed the place blind.”

He grunted. “How ya know they're gonna work hard?”

“Mac, I don't know that neither, but sometimes ya gotta have faith. I have faith they're good, honest ponies, willin' to work, and I'll keep that faith util they prove otherwise. Providence brought them to us, and for that I'm glad. I'll give 'em a chance, and, if they don't work out, I promise ya I'll send 'em packing.”

“But—” he paused for a second. “We agreed on hirin' two, not three.”

“So this morning, fortune puts three of 'em on our doorstep. Which one of them ya want to send off, eh?”

“Well—” he pawed at the ground “—the older feller don't look like he could—”

“Oh, I see now.” Granny closed an eye and cocked her head. “Ya don't like old ponies no more do ya? Well, I recon that feller's just a few years younger than yur Pa would—” She caught herself. “I'm sorry.”

She lowered her voice. “Mac, this ain't like you. Be truthful. What's troublin' ya. I promise I'll hear ya out.”

McIntosh thrust out his jaw. “I say we don't need nopony helpin' us out.” He raised his voice. “They ain't family, Granny.”

She sighed. “I thought we had this all straightened out. That storm's left us with way more work than normal. You see'd the damage. You know what it's gonna take to fix it. No relatives can help 'cause they're in as bad straits as us. What else can we do?”

“It's an Apple farm. Apples should work it.”

“It ain't no sin to ask for help, Mac. You know that.”

Their eyes locked, but he glanced away. “Apple Bloom can help when she's outta school,” he mumbled.

“She will,” Granny said. “Don't you think for a minute I'm gonna let that little filly off the hook. But that ain't gonna be enough, Mac, you know that. Bloom's a hard little worker, but she ain't half as strong as you or AJ.”

Unwilling to face her, he gazed into the distant trees.

“Mac—look at me,” she insisted. “Please.” He turned.

“I know this farm means a lot to you—it means a lot to all of us. It's been a family farm, and we're all proud of that, but I ain't gonna let my pride, nor anypony's pride, get in the way of makin' this farm work. Not now, not never. You're too young to remember when we done this before. But we did and it's what we gotta to do now. I need ya to come to terms with that.”

He nodded silently.

“Thank you. Don't ya fret none, 'cause there'll be no shortage of work for any of y'all. We're gonna need everypony to work together this season, more than we've needed it in a long, long time. Tomorrow, you and AJ are gonna teach these ponies how to do a full day's worth of work—the Apple way. Ya get 'em taught proper and we'll set them up as their own crew. Then you and AJ can concentrate on gettin' our apple trees back in shape. That's why the others are here, 'cause I need you and AJ to do the work that I trust to family. Do ya understand, Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

She smiled. “Good, I knew it.” She rose and stretched her back legs one at a time. “I'm relyin' on ya, Mac, 'cause we're gonna need a good crop this year. After all, I've got three more ponies to feed—and pay.”

Comments

[Ducati]

Shoot, I'm kinda takin' a liking to this fine story. Please continue pardner

[OleGrayMane]

3152960
Well, hot diggity damn! Somepony's readin' this after all!

It actually all written, and the chapters are just going through rewrites in pairs before I post them.

Thanks for droppin' in pardner.

[Ducati]

3152973 Anytime, stranger!