The Chronicles Of Farmland

By Bridget Ratidzo

what could possibly come out from a small town that you have never heard before? You would expect a small town to be boring, laidback and every day is just the same. But not Farmland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bridget Ratidzo
• Release date: Jun 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005244859

Bridget Ratidzo

Bridget Ratidzo is stuck in the fantasy world living stories that do not exist. Because she has discovered the secret passage to escaping the ups and turns of the real world, she decided to project that world as much as she can in carefully constructed words. Those words combined together become stories and now everyone can escape with her.She loves books and other things on her favorite list, and books. An avid reader, hiker (for fun not as a sport) and is terrified of the water for which the only explanation could be she may have died by drowning in her previous life.Her long-term future dream (as we all call it) is to produce and write and direct her own movie, or series because just one hour to a great storyline is excruciating.

Book preview

THE CHRONICLES OF FARMLAND

Bridget Ratidzo

Copyright © 2021 Bridget Ratidzo. All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Smashwords Edition

CONTENTS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PART ONE

REELING

Farmland is a sensitive and interesting place to live. Fragile reputations, large families and close knit community. Add a dinner guest and a girl who has read too many novels.

1

EVERYONE ELSE SEEMED normal. Bella thought eyeing everyone warily around the dinner table. She was the only one prone to feel alien where she should rightly fit in. she glanced at the faces around the table recalling her own opinion that she held for each one. Nothing horrendous, but certainly affirmed by situational and circumstantial evidences

There just had to be some excitement in the busy world where everybody dreamed of a successful conclusion. She should feel ashamed for not holding the most magnifying thoughts and feelings towards her own family or people in particular but she had been on the topic for so long it tended to get boring when she tried to let go of her secret hobby.

‘Did you remember to call Mr. Grace dear?’ Mrs. Phillips asked Mr. Phillips as they had just started eating dinner. Mr. Phillips replied that he did not. ‘You must call him before tomorrow and thank him for letting Fred come and work for us.’

Mr. Phillips did not reply still but made small grunts to which always meant agreement. He openly disliked Mr. Grace and often commented on how slow and frail of a man that he was. His wife was the same manner and their children were the complete opposite. Despite being neighbors for many years, Mr. Phillips found a way to block any possible route that could have led to friendship

‘I think he secretly holds resentment towards Mr. Grace since he couldn’t have him wrapped around his little finger. Despite seeming frail the man is still a bit stubborn.’ Bella so often thought to herself. In her defense, she personally liked the Graces because, Timothy Grace, their second son had been her best friend since kindergarten. And if that alone couldn’t bring the families together nothing ever would.

'Who is Fred?’ Bella asked her elder sister Cylvia, not that she expected Cylvia to really know. He was obviously one of those people who were coming to live in the farms for the first time. Farmland was a very small community where everyone knew everyone including great grandparents and the birthdays of all the children in every family.

‘Who?’ Cylvia scowled at her in confusion

‘The guy mom is talking about!’ Bella said raising her eyebrows, it was impossible that Cylvia did not at least have an ounce of such information. She was after all what Bella called the people person and highly respected as such. Unlike her sister, Bella was more like a hermit. Nothing that was inherited but something that she adopted to when she learned that the world out there can be a very heartless cruel place.

‘Oh Mr. Lotman!’ her face lit up in recognition

Bella almost rolled her eyes of course Cylvia knew, just that she appeared to not use his first name very often.

‘Yes I know him. I met him at the grocery stores once and I’ve seen him around quite a lot—why he is the most eligible gentleman I have ever met.’

Bella drew in a breath. So it seemed that the entire family had met him and he was coming to work in the same office with her. She had a thing about strangers and it would have made it easier if none of the family had met him before. Not that would have happened, Bella hated going out on pointless occasions—maybe the honest thing was that she disliked mingling with people in Farmland in general. What has she done to herself to carry a resentment towards the entire community? It was just hard to survive in a place where every living soul you came into the streets had a classical copy of your life history. Even the old doctor at the hospital was there the day she was born. Bella sometimes had a wild wish to live in a place so big and so populated that she would easily fade in the background. When one has endured the drama of small towns such as Farmland, fading in the background can be a dream come true.

‘he lives with his mother in the City- not so sure what he does for a living but he seemed like a really well off guy.’ Cylvia explained further.

Maybe he went bankrupt, Bella thought. He was probably one of those hyperactive businessmen who loved to take risks—why else would someone leave the big city to come and work in the village?

‘He’s the only child of Mr. Grace’s late older brother—Mr. Grace and his brother did not get along really well that’s why Fred never visited farmland.’

‘I could understand why.’ Mr. Phillips mumbled

Sensing where Mr. Phillips was taking this, Mrs. Phillips marveled, ‘well who knows about that—he came to live with his uncle so their relationship cannot be that bad’

Who cares? Bella decided not to make anything out of it; it was hard enough that a lot was going to have to change.

‘At least his nephew seems to have an eligible bone within him.’ Mr. Phillips carried on with his remarks, ‘in fact all his sons do. I just don’t know what Mr. Grace’s problem is.’

‘Oh for heaven’s sake Mr. Phillips, must I continue to try to divert your attention all night.’

‘You don’t have to, the young man is coming to work for me and I need to express my opinion in case any of you have any ideas.’

Cylvia sighed, ‘I referred him because he has very good credentials and he needed a job he could handle.’

‘A job he can handle?’ Mrs. Phillips scowled incredulously at her

‘This is a farm, we can’t have him try to head the livestock.’

‘He will do well in the administrative department.’ Mr. Philips said, ‘any person who is an entrepreneur knows what admin means.’

Charles’ brow crunched in confusion, ‘what’s an entrepreneur exactly?’

Gerald nudged him as all eyes came to land on him.

‘Why are you even going to school? What do they teach you kids?’ Mr. Phillips rose his voice in mock horror.

‘Useless formulas.’ Charles replied with a bored sigh, ‘I wonder when I will ever use algebra to survive in this planet.’

‘When you are finally smart enough to figure out how.’ Gerald flashed him a thin smile and chuckled at his own joke.

‘We never talked about hiring more staff at the office?’ Bella said with a worried look. The last thing she needed was some stranger prancing around her personal office space. The office was doing just fine without additional workers. Why did Mr. Philips suggest that place?

‘I am taking more work out of your hands, at least for half this year you won’t have to spend all day crammed in the little house.’ Mr. Philips said with a sweet smile, ‘it will be fun you’ll see.’

Cylvia turned to her with a huge smile on her face, ‘you don’t have to worry Bella, Mr. Lotman truly is a gentleman and you do need to socialize more.’

Bella swallowed the lump in her throat, ‘I don’t have a choice, it’s not like I can reverse it.’

‘It’s great that we are all in agreement.’ Mrs. Philips smiled gently

2

FARMLAND WAS A PARADISE FOR serious commercial farmers and a prison for the young people who dreamed of a livelier vibrant place to better suite their energy levels.

‘I can’t wait to get out of Farmland,’ Susan was telling Bella on their way from Mrs. Jones’ diner for lunch, it’s so dead here- its fit only for old people who no longer have visions of a better place on earth,’

Or for young people who need a laid back place to think things through,’ Bella pointed out, though she agreed with Susan to some extent, she didn’t want to dwell too much on the idea of leaving.

‘I’ve lived here for twenty four years—that’s a lifetime to think things through.’ Susan cried in frustration, ‘I have made up my mind.’

Bella chuckled, ‘did you get any responses for your applications?’

Susan rolled her eyes, ‘yes and my parents still need a solid reason for me to leave the house,’

Susan was the second child in her family and the youngest. Her older brother George who was to inherit the family business was a pain the neck for Susan. George married immediately after college and what a sweet woman Catherine was only to be dragged into all that family drama.

Bella wanted to leave Farmland because she felt bored by the ordinary same old sequence of life—Susan wanted to leave because she kept visualizing a day she might just choke her brother to death if they ever fall into one of their useless arguments ever again.

When she arrived home she began to help Cylvia to make dinner— the Graces were coming to join them for dinner. Including Lloyd Grace and his cousin Fred Lotman.

‘Lloyd really likes you,’ Cylvia was telling her, as if Bella was not aware of it, ‘you should stop ignoring him—you don’t even know him that well.’

Bella rolled her eyes. Did knowing that Lloyd Grace was a cold popular womanizer as known by the entire female population of her generation count as knowing him? Yes. And she always found it mystifying even that Cylvia didn’t know all that. Or didn’t people whisper rumors regarding the matter because he was male and took much pleasure in slandering females because it was much more interesting.

It did not take long before they were done with all the grilling and salads and desserts, changed into nice dresses before their guests arrived.

Mr. and Mrs. Grace was a peculiar pair. Mr. Grace with his quiet shy like and withdrawn domineer and Mrs. Grace had a permanent friendly nice smile on her face. Lloyd entered with that charming smile of his and smooth presence.

He was too confident. As he should be, all the Grace sons were good looking and that had landed her in a few laughable instances in high school because of her friendship with Timothy Grace.

‘Bella Phillips, always looking good.’ He said with a wink

Bella pursed her lips and shook his extended hand, ‘I can agree.’

‘You are improving on snubbing at me every time we meet.’

‘That’s a biased statement Lloyd, considering that we don’t meet very often.’

‘That should change.’ He grinned. Susan called it the megawatt smile, Bella always suspected that he had a secret liking of Lloyd but never asked.

Then lastly Fred Lotman came in. Of course he had to be the last person to come in and Bella was almost annoyed with herself for how curious she was to meet him. To make a personal assessment of what she must do to survive having another stranger in her office space.

Of course Cylvia just had to do something to ruin her peaceful existence by begging Mr. Phillips to hire him. What job did he even do in the city anyway? Cylvia didn’t know much about that either. And no one sought it out. Bella (maybe she read too many novels) was worried that they may have brought a serial killer or a mafia king into their farm without knowing it. Gerald and Charlie laughed hard when she managed to voice that point out and Mr. Philips ended the discussion there and then. Well it wasn’t a bad point.

Bella couldn’t help it- she gasped when he came in smiling and exchanging greetings with everyone. She clamped her mouth shut where she was standing. She had no idea what she was expecting, considering the family he was coming from, the fact that he would be easy on the eyes was certain, but she did not expect him to look like that.

The man looked like he had just stepped from out of a glossy magazine. The ones that sometimes came with plastic covers and small gifts when there is a sales promotion taking place. He could be the characterization of all the novels she read all put together. Maybe old Victorian types with characters such as Mr. Darcy. Only this wasn’t England and this definitely wasn’t the eighteenth century. This was a medium sized Island nation and Farmland was a small place in it.

Bella shook her head, what in the world was she thinking about now? She looked down at her feet to wipe away her wild thoughts. Maybe Cylvia was right, she needed to stop her hermit ways and see more people often so that she is not shocked when she sees ta face she’s never seen before.

‘You must be Bella,’ his voice broke into her thoughts. She lifted her head to look at him and held her breath. She decided then that it should be considered a sin for someone to look that good.

And what did it mean that she must be Bella? Who did he talk to about her and considering her reputation in these areas she could as well give up trying to make a good first impression with him.

‘Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Fred Lotman.’ She flashed a smile that she did not feel. She was still trying to sort out her thoughts somewhere up there.

‘Please just Fred.’ He smiled back at her. Of course the smile was always the final kill. Sending her entire mind and imagination into a permanent state of dazzled shock. The one that no amount of self-therapy could nudge her out of. Had she enquired more about him before she would have prepared herself for that moment but of course life like to set surprises, or else it wouldn’t be interesting!

‘Fred.’ She shook his hand—

‘Pleasure to meet you too.’ He said, his eyes narrowed a little into hers and she could only manage a taut smile and a jerky nod. She felt some tingling sensation run from their joined hand all the way up her arm and she imagined also to her momentarily disoriented brains.

Letting go of her hand a little too promptly, he moved from her and extended a greeting to the next person in line while she rushed to the kitchen to organize herself with a stern self-lecture.

She then let out a breath she didn’t know that she had been holding. What was that? Now that was so not like her. She read before over and over about people who got knocked away after one look at another person, it was all fiction and who would have thought that it could happen in real life? She swallowed to calm herself and followed everyone to the dining room.

She felt self-conscious throughout dinner. Cylvia turned out to know Fred for sure- and he seemed very comfortable chatting with her. He was those characters who easily stole affection from people. Everyone instantly liked him. Even Mr. Philips gave up in the middle of his inquisition.

Bella almost choked on her food when Mr. Phillips asked Mr. Grace and Fred if it was alright with them that Fred starts to work as early as the following day.

That gave her only eight hours to prepare for such a huge ambush of her office space and now her state of mind.

Fred accepted, to Bella’s surprise. She almost asked him what he did in the city before he came. It would be important to establish some kind of criticism to hide behind that would tone down his appeal a little. Was he even familiar with accounts that much to start that early?

Their eyes met, he scowled in surprise like he did when they shook hands earlier, she should look away after being caught staring openly at someone like that but those brown eyes were too mesmerizing to disconnect from. His eyes darted around momentarily before he cast his gaze down and answered Mrs. Phillips.

He did not like her, she concluded—well she was the one gawking at him—what a bad first impression. Forget first impression, she was doomed if she had to spend twelve hours in one room with him and expect herself to act normal. Judging by her behavior already, normal and whatever civil attitude she had wanted to create for herself had long been thrown out the window.

Finally the dinner was over and everyone said their farewells.

He hired a new worker?’ Susan gasped at the other end of the line, ‘who is it?’

Bella sighed, ‘Lloyd’s cousin,’ she didn’t want to say his name, ‘he just recently came to farmland’ she was still reeling from the experience. No shaken would be the correct term.

‘Oh,’ Susan exclaims, ‘I’ve heard about him- is he really as good-looking as they say?’

‘Yes,’ Bella groaned, ‘what am I going to do? He caught me gawking at him during dinner.’

Susan chuckled, ‘oh my god, that must have been awkward.’

‘No- I should stop reading novels.’ As if that would correct her twisted fate with this new Mr. Fred Lotman

‘What?’ Susan started laughing

‘I feel like one of my fictional characters have come to life.’

‘Yes get help.’ Susan cleared her throat, ‘but lucky you, I could use a real life Pablo Piasco painting to gaze at once in a while.’

Bella scoffed, ‘I agree.’

‘Can you take a picture for me?’

‘No—that last thing I want is to scare the poor man away, Mr. Phillips really like him.’

Susan laughed harder, ‘you silly girl you ask first before you take someone’s picture.’

‘Oh of course, why are you laughing?’

‘Because I can imagine you trying to snap his face from your desk and then he looks up.’

Bella grinned at the imagined scene, ‘yeah I’m sure the look on his face would be priceless.’

‘So are you going to do it?’

‘No!’

‘Well for now I have to go—I’m going to come over to meet Mr. Prince Charming for myself.’

Bella put her phone down and sighed.

3

IT WAS JUST like any other day in the office. It was her haven-her space. The small book shelf was stocked with sensible books. Most of her favorite fiction paperbacks stayed in her room where no one disturbed their peaceful existence. It wasn’t a big room but looked spacious enough to occupy two desks, another shelve of files and a small comfy looking couch by the door. She’s been there her whole life and the place still looked appealing.

But no matter how much space she created or how many things she threw out the space still seemed like it would fully occupy the man. He wasn’t that big, though six feet tall—but her imagination has magnified him such that he filled the entire space he could as well have the entire bungalow as his office

‘Good morning.’

She raised her head and met his polite gaze. Geez, she had already memorized his voice enough to recognize it? She banished the wild thought and returned the smile

‘Good morning Fred,’ she rose from her seat, ‘please come in.’

He had been holding the door. He closed it and came into her small space. He was formally dressed, of course Mr. Phillips strictly required professional dressing for the benefit of his clients that frequented the office so Fred got a pass for that one.

‘This is a very nice office,’ he commented as he sat at the desk that she showed him. Nice? Not unique or opulent? Well he was from the city!

Not that she ever got overwhelming compliments much. Cylvia told her once that every room she designed always turned out to be another style a library would look like.

Taking a deep breath she carried on to show him around and introduce him to a number of stuff he would be directly working with. Everyone turned out to like him

Who wouldn’t? The man was from the upper city and always dressed like he wanted to walk down the runway.

FRED TURNED OUT TO BE a very knowledgeable person- very nice and easy to work with. She did all she could to keep her eyes to herself but sometimes she obliviously stared at him- his desk was close to the window and streams of sunlight sometimes landed on his desk and caressed his skin.

She even studied him without planning it. His easy gentle manner was quiet disturbing—or it was because her mind had long been polluted by arrogant charming cocky fictional personalities. Or she took Cylvia’s opinion about him being a gentle man very seriously. Or maybe he was just a quiet person, but she could argue that point a little bit.

He laughed and played a lot with the boys- he had very good conversations with Mr. Phillips and interesting ones with Mrs. Phillips. Everyone had interesting conversations with Mrs. Phillips. He hung out with Cylvia a lot. Maybe they were more than friends. But with her- he seemed to avoid her a lot. Like he was aware that she was studying him and she was also avoiding him because her mind ran away from her every time he was around. That kind of person should be avoided right? Yes, like the plague.

Just then he raised his head and their eyes locked before she had returned from her daydream and stopped staring. Feeling heat on her face, she blinked a little before lowering her eyes. An eerie silence followed and she lifted her eyes just in time to see him close his laptop and leaving the desk.

Oh yes, lunch time. She sat there for a moment with her lips firmly pressed together. It wasn’t like this was the first time this happened, she was busted every time she was caught staring and suffered the same amount of embarrassment and yet never seemed to stop the bad habit. Not intending to run into him at the house, she decided to skip lunch and get some work done—maybe she could finish early and go home early and she won’t have to spend the rest of the day with him.

‘Bella you are needed in the stock room.’ One of the herd boys called out at her office door

‘Okay,’ Bella finished what she was documenting in her computer and pushed it away. It was almost time off and she was waiting for Susan to come as planned. She left the small cottage where her office was and strode hastily towards the stockroom.

When she got there, she saw Daniel seated on an unopened sack of feed cradling his right arm against his chest

Not again. She suppressed a sigh. Daniel had to be the clumsiest human being to ever exist on planet earth if he was to always have an accident one way or another. Even if you put him somewhere and told him to do nothing he would still find a way to be injured.

The reoccurring accidents took place so frequently they were getting old. Yes that is why everyone bowed out of it and then there was a psychological contract of her being the petty accidents manager.

‘What happened?

‘Says he was taking feed for the pigs,’ one worker said with a shrug, ‘and someone pushed him from behind.’

Belle let out a sigh, yes she has heard that before, ‘I’ll call the police and one of you take Daniel to the clinic.’

‘We couldn’t find Mr. Fred or Miss Cylvia anywhere –Mr. and Mrs. Phillips went out.’

Bella called the police and they were on their way to the farm- Daniel was taken to the clinic and Bella retreated to the office, wondering where Fred and Cylvia went off. It wasn’t even really lunch time yet. Were they dating? Well possibly—why did that make her feel nauseous? Besides, Cylvia always seemed openly fond of Fred from the beginning

The officers came exactly thirty minutes later including Officer David. He was concerned that there had been similar reports all over Farmland about mysterious thieves who attacked workers and then stole nothing in the end.

Bella’s wild imagination was already drawing scenes from one of her thriller fiction novels. Susan arrived as soon as Officer David and his men left the compound

‘It could be a gang,’

Susan snorted laughing, ‘what? Are you reading gangster thrillers as well?’

Bella shrugged, ‘they are not that bad,’

‘Didn’t you think it could be bored village young adults trying to mess with the police heads like in the movies?’

‘That’s the definition of a gang.’

They were still laughing at this when Cylvia and Fred arrived. They looked lovely together under the sunlight. Susan’s eyes bulged out when her eyes landed on him

‘I don’t blame you for losing your senses—that guy must have been a fairy king in his other life,’

Bella snorted and looked at her in mock horror, ‘fantasy Susan—you are worse than me. Thank you I guess I am normal after all.’

‘Susan? Cylvia marveled when they approached, ‘long time no see—what are you doing here?’

‘I came to rescue Bella but firstly I needed to assess the cause of the problem.’

Bella scowled at her- she grinned with a little shrug before she turned to Fred, ‘hello my name is Susan I am Bella and Cylvia’s friend.’

‘Hello—Fred,’ Fred replied

‘Pleasure to meet you—are you staying long here?’

‘I am not sure yet.’

‘I hope you do, ‘Susan smiled and bated her eyes ‘or we will find a way to convince you to stay, it’s not every day bored village girls like us get to interact with such a tall glass of water.’

Bella felt heat going to her face, ‘Susan, tall glass of water is used when referring to women.’

‘So? The description fits, he isn’t just handsome he is beautiful.’ Susan countered loudly as if Fred wasn’t there with them trying to fight a smile.

Cylvia giggled, ‘don’t mind her Fred—Susan is just messing with you.’

Susan chuckled and winked at him ‘oh dear me how can I mess around with such a serious topic?’

Bella pressed her lips together and gave her friend a you-better-stop-it-or-else look.

‘I’ve never quite met someone like you Susan.’ Fred said

‘Shame.’ Susan said with a sigh, ‘but don’t worry now you have,’

Bella nudged her in the ribs and she just shrugged

‘We saw the police truck leaving- what is going on?’ Cylvia asked

‘David had an accident.’ Bella said tiredly, this same old report was getting old

‘And you called the police?’ Cylvia