novelraw Chapter 163: Moving to the Wooden House
Chapter 163: Moving to the Wooden House
Outside the safe zone, yellow sand billowed through the air, staining the sky a dark crimson. Evelyn Ford cut a bundle of green grass, then headed home carrying it and her sickle.
There were quite a few other people cutting grass along the way. Whenever they ran into someone they knew, everyone would exchange warm greetings.
Zion Lowell had set up a shed by the pond. He was the only person in the safe zone who knew how to weave bamboo baskets, so many people who wanted to learn the craft from him would watch him work every day.
When Evelyn Ford approached, he had just finished weaving a pack basket.
"Here for your basket?"
Evelyn Ford nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Lowell."
"It was nothing. The basket’s in the pond. Go on and grab it."
The finished baskets had to be soaked in water for a day or two to make them sturdy. Evelyn Ford pulled the large bamboo basket out of the pond, shook the water from it, and walked over to Zion Lowell.
"I made a roast chicken this morning, and it turned out pretty good. I’ll have Ronan Kendrick bring one over for you to try later."
"That’s wonderful! I’ll call it a day early, then."
Evelyn Ford smiled. "Alright, I’ll be on my way. I’ll let you get back to it."
After carrying the large bamboo basket home, Evelyn Ford took out a hemp rope and attached it to make straps, which would make it very convenient for carrying things on her back.
As the fir trees grew taller, Evelyn Ford told Ronan Kendrick her idea of moving out. Ronan Kendrick had no objections and found a flat piece of land far from the apartment building. They planned to start by cutting down the fir trees, and then, a few days later, bring out the wooden house, which would be the perfect cover.
The spot Ronan Kendrick picked was quite spacious. They could put up sheds in the back to raise chickens, ducks, rabbits, and goats, and they could plant vegetables, wheat, and fruits in the front.
Evelyn Ford also wanted to plant some sand-grown watermelons. The new spot was a half-hour walk from the building, so few people would wander this far out. Even if someone did see them, Evelyn was confident she could come up with a plausible excuse.
Their sheds and sheep pen below the apartment building would have to be dismantled. She had already given the vegetable garden to Wendy, so the little girl could learn to grow vegetables on her own.
Ronan Kendrick was also very busy. He had to cut down trees, haul soil back to start a new vegetable garden, and build new sheds, a sheep pen, and rabbit hutches.
Though others offered to help build the house, Evelyn Ford turned them all down. They already had a prefabricated house, so where was the need for help? The two of them were just creating a diversion.
After a few days of banging and hammering, on the night of the sixth day, Evelyn Ford brought the wooden house out. Seeing the thick layer of snow still piled on its roof, she collected it all.
Looking at the wooden house she hadn’t seen in so long, Evelyn Ford felt like she was finally home. But now there was a very important problem: Ronan Kendrick didn’t have a bedroom. He would have to continue sleeping on the cramped wooden plank bed in the living room.
Evelyn had already cleaned the wood ash out of the fireplace. To prevent suspicion from any potential visitors, she dismantled the water heater in the washroom, leaving only a wooden tub inside. Most of the house’s contents were also stored away in her space.
Ronan Kendrick removed the cabin’s original door and replaced it with a plain, ordinary wooden one.
Evelyn also took down the lightning rod. The thing was too conspicuous; she couldn’t let anyone see it.
Ronan Kendrick modified the cabin further, so that from the outside, it looked like a simple, unremarkable wooden hut.
The others came to help them move their things from the apartment building to the cabin. Seeing the finished home, everyone was filled with envy.
"I want a wooden house, too." Serena Lynch tugged on Chase Underwood’s sleeve. "Let’s build a wooden house, too."
Chase Underwood looked bewildered. "But I don’t know how."
"We can just copy Evelyn’s little cabin. It should be simple enough, right?"
Chase Underwood sighed in resignation. "It’s not that simple. We don’t even have nails."
Serena Lynch’s dream of a wooden house was shattered once more. Still, living in the apartment building was pretty good, too. It was more spacious now, with more people moving out and more rooms becoming available.
After Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick moved out, anyone who wanted to trade supplies with her had to walk a long way. The cabin was surrounded by trees, which not only protected their privacy but also blocked the wind and sand.
Evelyn had also scattered grass seed over the tops of the collapsed buildings. The safe zone was now surrounded by vibrant green, the disasters and hardships of the past buried beneath a new life.
Evelyn dug a pond in the front yard, and Ronan Kendrick used bamboo stalks to channel water to it from the main pond. Now she no longer needed to walk half an hour just to fetch water.
She put a dozen or so small fish into the pond and scattered a handful of lemongrass seeds around its perimeter.
Lemongrass is a fragrant herb, a spice that could be used in stews or for making parcel-baked fish. It was commonly found in the Southwest Region and the Sunken Isles Region.
Evelyn was no neat freak when it came to farming. She swept the manure from the chicken coop, spread it over the garden plot, and then planted a patch of scallions and cilantro.
In just two weeks, the garden in the front yard had transformed from a patch of yellow earth into a lush green vegetable plot.
After they moved, Ronan Kendrick expanded the backyard pens to several times their original size. The hundred chickens and ducks she had traded for the goat kids were also placed inside. Far from shrinking, Evelyn’s livestock operation was now bigger than ever.
Once their new home was all set up, Evelyn finally had a rare chance to rest. Ronan was also in the house, watching TV with his headphones on. Evelyn took out a facial mask, deciding to pamper herself.
Her hair was getting longer, but she didn’t plan on cutting it short for now. Tying it up in a bun made her look youthful and vibrant.
The temperature continued to rise, already reaching 32°C. The adults didn’t seem to feel it at all, but the children still found it a little hot.
Evelyn soaked a dozen or so watermelon seeds and transplanted them to the front yard after they sprouted. Ronan had already fenced the yard with bamboo, and they had even rigged up an open-air canopy over the watermelon patch with some torn cloth so that no one could see what was growing inside.
"I guess we can finally be lazy bums for a while."
Evelyn walked up behind Ronan and saw that he was watching a horror movie. Ronan seemed to really enjoy horror, suspense, and adventure films. Evelyn had tens of thousands of movies saved on her phone and tablet, but he only ever watched that one genre.
A female ghost in a qipao was singing a mournful opera tune on screen. It gave Evelyn goosebumps, but Ronan remained completely expressionless.
"Her makeup is too thick, and it’s not applied evenly. Her lips are chapped, and she looks feverish. She has heavy dark circles under her eyes, and her hair is thinning from severe hair loss. That’s a person, not a ghost."
Evelyn was left speechless by his dead-serious analysis.
"Of course it’s fake. It’s a movie."
"Even if she were real, she wouldn’t deserve any sympathy," Ronan said, dropping another one of his gems.
Evelyn sat down beside him to watch. "Why do you say she doesn’t deserve sympathy?"
Ronan started to explain the plot. "The woman was the daughter of a wealthy tycoon. She fell for a cunning dockworker who was full of nothing but sweet talk and insisted on being with him. She angered her father to death and became estranged from her mother. After she married the poor boy, his ambition was revealed. He took her family’s fortune, started feeding her a slow-acting poison, and had a secret affair with her female cousin. After the woman found out, she was murdered in a conspiracy between her husband and her cousin. Unable to rest in peace, she became a vengeful spirit that haunts this mansion every night, singing and wailing."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "So the man and her cousin were never punished?"
Ronan shook his head. "The man took all the money and went abroad. The cousin took her place as the new lady of the house. Many years later, their granddaughter came back to the country, visited this mansion, and encountered the ghost, which is how the mystery of the haunting was finally solved."