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Part Eight

Walking out of the mud room I take my Mousey over to the various buildings around the perimeter of the garden. “Now we need three pieces of equipment stored in here; the garden cart and fork for the compost, the Tilther and the manual seeder,” I say showing her what the equipment looked like.

“Oh, okay this should be easy,” she says pulling the garden cart out as I lead her to the compost bins.

“Now here is the secret of any good gardening operation, black gold... home grown compost.” I say indicating the three six foot square wood slat bins. “This first one is where the garden waste and kitchen scraps goes. It is broken down and turned into the second bin where it is further broken down by bacterial action until it is finally turned once again into this third bin, there it is ready to use,” I say removing the front slats exposing the rich dark compost.

“Wow this is amazing! So you recycle what would be garbage into valuable compost to feed the garden.” Mel beamed.

“Exactly!” I say dumping a heaping garden fork into the cart.

“Whoa are those worms in there!” she asks seeing something wriggling in the compost.

“Yup, they help break it down and improve the soil. Here, take a pawfull and smell it.” I ask

“Whoa, it smells sweet, like rich earth, I was kinda expecting sort of a garbage smell, but this is amazing.” my Mousey smiled at me I handed her the garden fork and she gave it a go, helping to fill the cart.

“That should be just about right, since we are here why don't you turn the other two bins, just get in there and mix them up composting takes lots of air to work.” I said removing the front slats showing my partner what to do... It pleased me the way she threw herself into the task.

“That was fun! I find It so incredible what you can do on this farm of yours.” Mel enthused as we took the cart to the carrot patch.

“Our farm now, as you are now a part of all this.” I reminded my Mousey.

“Thank you Sir, this new life is going to take some getting used to. But after talking with Sherry, I really hope she goes for it, I think she would come to love it here.”

“ We can hope, Mousey mine. Now we just spread this on top of the places where we harvested since we have about twenty feet here or half a bed by the time we harvest the rest of it, the stuff we plant here will be ready for harvest.” I say as we lay out the rich compost in the bare earth of the carrot patch.

Running the tilther incorporated the compost into the soil, next we needed to just plant the seeds in the prepared bed

“This is the seed house, this is where we store the seed we use to produce the crops we bring to market,” I say indicating the jars of seeds. They are more or less alphabetical, there are four types of carrots we grow here, the ones we are looking for are the Parisian Market. They will be the one with the 'Anima Mundi' label on the top along with the Rainbow Chard. Which is what is known as a 'cut and come again' crop. So we don't have to rotate it as often. We can get three cuts before we need to rotate that bed.” I say handing her the jar of carrot seeds.

“Aren't you worried about the jars breaking?” Mel asks.

“Polycarbonate, very tough. As long as they are sealed they should be safe, occasionally I will need to order seed from one of the large seed houses, they usually deliver by UAV drone within twenty four hours of placing my order.”

“Well, That makes things easy!” she grinned as we went to the equipment shed.

“Yes, I just walk out to the clearing, Tag the location with a GPS transponder and upload the co ordinance with the order, then just wait for delivery. They signal when the drone is within three miles so I can pick it up. There are some advantages to modern technology.” I smirked as we headed to pick up the seeder from the equipment shed.

“This is a manual seeder.” I said of the somewhat strange looking two foot long contraption, a large eight inch spiked drive wheel front and a smooth one in back, with a hopper in the center. A long T-bar handle on the back allows you to push it down the rows.

“We place the seed in the hopper and a small wheel under it drips seeds into the ground, and the back wheel covers them using this device you can plant as fast as you can walk or run depending on what you are planting.” I say as we stand at the edge of the carrot bed. “Now carefully pour the seeds into the hopper and we can get these carrots in the ground.” Securing the top I set the device at the edge of the thirty inch wide bed and holding the handle effortlessly pushed it along the row stopping at the point where the current crop was still in the ground. Lifting the seeder I stepped over and walked back up the other side of the row to where my Mousey stood watching.

“You mean it's That easy?” she asked not believing what she just saw.

“Yup, now just set it along side the row you just planted and walk to the end, then move over and come back.” I said handing the seeder to my Mousey. She laughed and took the handle in paw and walked the line of the bed planting the next row of carrot seeds. I had her plant the whole twenty foot bed in about ten minutes.

“That was too easy!” she exclaimed. As I disconnected the hopper and poured the leftover seeds back into the storage jar. Then reset the irrigation lines.

“It's all about working Smarter, not Harder. Now we just water this in and we are done for the day.”

I say as we replace the tools in their place and using a watering wand to give the new crop a good start.

“Now that our work day is done, What would you like to do before I need to go retrieve Cheryl?”

“Well one thing I think I would like to do is I would like to light a candle for Bree, if you wouldn't object. It will allow me to honor her memory. For having met her, I can almost feel her presence here. Like a warm hug.”

“ I think that would be wonderful, Tomorrow is our day off, so with Sherry here, if you are feeling inspired perhaps you can do some painting?” I asked.

“Yeah, that's an idea, or... We may just tag team you. if you think you can handle Two sexy morph lovers pouncing you at once?” Mel giggled.

“All I can say is I shall do my best to...Rise, to the occasion.” I fired back. “Now, how would you like some baked potatoes for dinner? I'm thinking I do a few extra and make Gnocchi when Sherry arrives. I'm sure she will be hungry after her dancing. Or I could do lasagna?” I offered.

“Are you trying to fatten me up or something?” Mel playfully accused. “Both sound wonderful! Sherry is a big fan of Italian food, so why not do the potatoes and Gnocchi tonight, and we can do Lasagna tomorrow?”

“That works, besides I can whip up some more Kale chips to have as an 'in-flight' snack in case she needs something before we get home. And I don't think you will be getting fat anytime soon, farm work really burns the calories so you should be fine.” I smile at my Mousey.

“So you are okay with sharing everything with Sherry?” I ask as I scrub a dozen good size bakers and prep them for the oven.

“Yeah, I mean she's my best friend and has been my defacto lover for five years now, not that we don't like guys, it just seemed like the next phase of our friendship to sleep together and we just saw it as an intimate benefit to our friendship... We are not possessive, it's not like we are going to be cuffing each other, but we talked about sharing a contract before. It did involve a few beers and some fooling around, but we hashed that idea out I'd say about a year or so ago. Truth be told I thought I would be joining Sherry in a contract, not her joining me. But I am Very grateful that you would not only be open to it, but support the idea as much as you are doing.” My Mousey said in heartfelt honesty.

“Well, I can only speak from my experience, Bree changed my life for the better. I think she is always going to hold a very special place in my heart, being my first morph and all, but she taught me just how loving a contract with the right morph can be... “Sarah, miss wild and crazy, 'Leather vixen' is well matched with Greg. She enjoys the hell out of the rock and roll lifestyle, she loves to dance on stage when he and the band preform. I think she appreciated the downtime she spent with me here. But she needs the bright lights and screaming crowds to really be happy.” I finished placing the potatoes in the oven.

“ I can see that, she was telling me about what her life was like, and that he loaned her out to you for a weekend and that she really cares about you and was worried about you being alone. And her jokes! My god, she asked me if I knew the difference between a really nice car, and a pile of dead groupies? I shook my head and she said she _ Didn't _ have a really nice car in her garage!” Mel Laughed shaking her head. “Thanks for introducing me to your customers.”

“Glad you had a good time. I knew you would be almost universally welcomed, and I wanted you to get some first hand experience, with what deliveries were like. If Cheryl accepts our proposal then I could order another cuff and make it official. I'm not sure how they will like it at the strip club though.”

“ I think if she accepts, she won't care what they think, they are trying to force her into being an Escort. I very much appreciate the fact you are willing to accommodate her, if she chooses to keep dancing.” Mel said softly.

“It's her life, she's special to you, ergo she is now special to me. I just want what's best for her. Don't get me wrong, she's sexy as hell, and I look forward to throughly exploring her, it's just not what I expected to happen when I contracted you is all. But I have learned to roll with the punches for a rising tide lifts all boats. If we can help her than she in turn will help us, it's a win-win and I really like those.”

“My master is wise and compassionate.” Mel said with a smile, salaaming. “Thank you Keven it means a lot to both of us. It just may take Sherry a few days to figure that part out. It is so unlike anything either of us could have possibly expected. I guess the Unseen Hand really does work in the world when you least expect it.” she paused hugging me.

“The Unseen Hand? It sounds like the name of an occult rock band.” I asked Mel chuckled.

“The unseen hand, some call it fate, others the hand of good fortune, or karma, or the hand of god. In my studies it has been for me an observable patterns of events that things just turn out for the best. I have learned to appreciate it is all. Ah, it really feels good to be able to walk around in just my fur. It is soo liberating.”

“Agreed. I find it a good way to remove the stresses of the day with your clothes. That being said, this may sound like a very odd question considering her profession, but, you don't think Sherry will have a problem with my household nudity policy, do you?” I ask my Mousey, who giggled in response.

“Are you kidding? She usually wears as few clothes as she can get away with. You saw her in the laundry room and the only reason she wasn't buck bare in there is Mrs Fisher asked her to do her best to try and remember to wear Something while doing the laundry. Not that she really minded her being naked, it was just that she was from a different time where females were expected to be much more modest. She was very supportive of her choice to become a dancer despite seeming the dower moralist type.”

She struck me as a mother hen type that she cares for everyone under her roof. Do you think she would like a box of Craggin Moore produce?” I ask.

“Oh I think she would absolutely adore it! She has what she calls her 'Victory Garden' in the back yard and a lot of it ends up in the stone soup.”

“Stone soup?” I ask with a grin.

“Yes, one thing I really appreciated about living there, is Mrs Fisher always keeps a big pot of 'stone soup' on the stove that we could all have access to. There were a few times between jobs that it was all I could afford to eat. She said it was from the hard times in her youth when she and her mother had to stand in long lines at the soup kitchen. So when she started the rooming house, she made it one of her policies to make sure her tenants, or 'her family' as she liked to think of us, always had something to eat no matter what their situation.”

“That was very kind of her. Good people tend to gravitate to each other. I'll bet there was very little strife there, no one really causing trouble, yes?” I asked. Mel looked at me a moment before nodding slowly.

“Now that you mention it, you are correct, I remember Mrs Fisher talking about it once when I was helping her in the garden, she chuckled and said the house chooses who lives under it's roof. I didn't understand it at the time, but most everyone is quiet, friendly and everyone tends to help each other out.”

“ I have heard of that before, it's almost like the community under the roof grows organically, and in the absence of strife, love and cooperation blossom. I find the same thing is true of my farm. If I farm with a sense of appreciation for the land, the crops I plant respond to that and everyone is enriched, maybe it is the slower pace out here in the country, but I have found when you move more in harmony with nature, you can see things much clearer.”

“Wow. Keven, that's... Profound.” Mel nodded. “Once again the Unseen Hand shows it's influence.” Mel nodded.

“Perhaps, I have come to accept that sometimes you are in the right place at the right time for a reason, and if I can make a positive difference in a situation, then I have to act. Though I do have to wonder, if meeting Sherry was somehow predestined by this Unseen Hand you are talking about. Though my grandmother would just chalk it up to what she called '_ Orlog. _'” I said shaking my head.

“Orlog?” my Mousey asked.

“Fate, the meddling of the old gods, or something you are destined to do in your life, just accept it and do your best to see it through. She used to say that _ Orlog _ had far too many coincidences to just explain away, that you would Know when it was upon you. I have experienced it a few times, meeting Bree was one... We just Clicked. How could two people from diverse worlds have soo many things in common? and get along so well almost instantly? And each enriching the lives of the other so profoundly? That, is _ Orlog _.” I looked at Mel before continuing.

“When I introduced Bree to my grandmother, about a week after we contracted, shortly before her passing, she was in her late eighties... she smiled happily and hugged my morph, looked at me and said “It's _ Orlog _.” Then chuckled wagging her finger at the sky. This thing with Cheryl feels very similar to me. So we shall see if she accepts. Far as I am concerned, it is out of my hands.” I shrug with a grin.

After dinner Mel went up to her room to preform her candlelight vigil, I told her I would be back between twelve thirty and one, as I had a few things to work on in the office before I headed out to pick up Cheryl. Walking into my study I paused at the shrine to Breeanna; the almost angelic portrait that adorned her headstone and below it her tail that I had reclaimed from the murderous bastard Nate Turner, he wore it on his belt as a trophy! Well I had a trophy of my own I took from him that sits in the back of my safe in a small pickle jar of formaldehyde. I smirked. I lovingly stroked the tanned Raccoon tail hanging below the photograph.“Gods I miss you beloved.” I sighed before sitting at my desk to work on the monthly accounting. Once I finished with my balance sheets, I opened the Net access on my terminal and placed a very special order on the C __ompanions I_ nternational_ website. Entered the GPS coordinates for delivery. A few moments later I received a conformation text informing me that the estimated delivery would be at ten a.m. tomorrow morning.

Mel went up to her room closing the door. She then opened the French doors to the porch removing a tall glass candle from the desk, Lighting it, she set it on the floor in the center of the room. Lighting some incense, she walked around the room fanning the incense smoke into every corner then set it in a small stand she placed next to the candle. Before sitting in the pose of meditation; her legs crossed, her palms resting on her thighs. She cleared her mind and thought of the lively raccoon morph she has seen on the holotapes, so full of life and the joy at which Keven had described her, she then concentrated on the warm feeling she felt permeating the house. An image began to form in her mind as she spoke the words of welcome...

“Breeanna Taylor... Breeanna Taylor... Breeanna Taylor. I call to thee. I call to Thee. I call to thee. Come, Breeanna, for this night I stand vigil for you... move, therefor and appear, Breeanna Taylor, I... Melinda Montserrat call you back to the world of the living, Be with me here and now... commune with one who wishes you well...” Mel chanted opening her arms wide and sending out all the love in her heart. A few moments later thin wispy tendrils of what could be described as fog materialized into a softly glowing cloud.

Mel opened her eyes slowly smiling at the translucent glowing Raccoon that stood before her across from the candle.

“Welcome Breeanna Taylor. Please sit with me, for we have much to discuss.” the mouse morph intoned as the apparition sat before her.

End Part Eight

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