Rebirth Online World

Jasper got an unexpected visitor in the morning. It turned out that the Mary person Miriam had been talking about the day before had been Marigold, the bubbly girl who had called out to Quintus just two days before. She knocked on the Palmas’ door just after breakfast carrying with her a handful of daisies, which she shoved unto Jasper’s arms sweetly. Jasper looked at her impeccable white linen dress with flower embroidery which matched her blonde hair then looked down on his own worn handed-down tunic and shorts wryly.

“Invite her in Quintus. Don’t let a lady stand outside the house.” Miriam interjected then added, “Oh, you’re the one who asked about Quintus yesterday! You’re the daughter of the Angelos right?”

“Yes, aunty. My name’s Marigold.” she politely introduced herself. Now that the name Angelos came up, Jasper recalled that the town had a pretty high-end tailor which was named after their owners: Suits and Dresses, The Angelos Tailor-shoppe. No wonder her clothes were so pretty. Jasper quickly pulled out a chair for her to sit and placed the flowers on shelf above of the empty fireplace.

Jasper had taken off the bandages which were starting to itch right after waking up, much to the protests of his siblings, so the still raw scar was an eye-catching red. He found Marigold staring intently at his face with a absorbed look on her face when he sat himself next to her.

“Does it hurt?” she asked. Jasper somewhat expected this question, having been bombarded with it for the past 36 hours. He replied somewhat mechanically, “Not really.”

Awkward silence ensued. Jasper was not quite sure what to talk about as he barely knew anything about her, but the lack of conversation was painful. Just as he was racking his brains for some conversation starters, Marigold spoke first.

 “When you didn’t come yesterday, your mom told us you got hurt. So I hope that you can get better soon, and play with us again…” she trailed off, fidgeting in her seat; that innocence being exceedingly cute. Although Jasper couldn’t be said to be a weak-hearted person, his heart melted at her sincerity.

“Mom says I can go out again soon. Maybe in a few days.” he replied vaguely, scratching his head at the snickering about heard from the other people in the kitchen watching the drama unfold. I’m centuries older than you guys here! Jasper was screaming inwardly to himself.

“When you get better, you have to come and play with us, promise?” she insisted, holding out her fist with her pinky sticking out.

“Uh… promise.” Jasper hesitantly joined up his own pinky with hers into a pinky swear sign. Marigold’s amber eyes beamed sunshine at this promise and she skipped all the way out of the house. I have to accompany children to play, Jasper thought, depressed inside. A grimace flashed past his face for a moment before resignation kicked in. Whether that had happened or not, he would have to go out and mingle with the children Quintus’ age sooner or later, even though it was mostly for pretence. His brothers mistook his reaction to stupor after interacting with a girl and teased him about it before they left. The women had already went off to the farm while their father went ahead of the two brothers, going to the woods. With autumn and winter approaching, the men were busy collecting wood to stock. The fresh wood had to be seasoned for a few months before they were usable as fuel, so they started collecting from now. It would have been easier if they had a horse and a cart, but as they did not, they had to make do with dragging the lumber back home by hand and rope.

Jasper could only sigh and exited the house through the backdoor which was connected to their farm, careful not to let the exasperation show. He joined up with Miriam and the sisters as they weeded the fields, rescuing any useful herbs before they were mercilessly plucked.

This was the most backwater place he had been reincarnated into yet. There were no herbalists in town, the doctor bought his concoctions from the cities ready made every year and the disinfecting spirits were brewed in town. I doubt they even know that there is an occupation that solely deals with herbs, he mused. The valley was a treasure trove of rare and pristine herbs; they were even growing like weeds! His heart ached as he saw a few he missed torn off roughly from the ground and collected into a messy pile to compost later. It felt as if they were killing off literal money trees.

He collected all the herbs he managed to salvage in a quiet corner of the farm spacing them evenly. The ladies were curious for a moment and Winnie asked what he was planting, so Jasper replied plainly, “A herb garden. Can I keep them?”

They only laughed and nodded in affirmation since it was not strange for a farmer’s child to want to have a garden of his own.

If only you knew… Jasper sighed for the umpteenth time that day. With no herbalists in town and the villagers oblivious to the value of their backyard weeds, his options are limited and most involved divulging his knowledge to his family. I wonder if I could maybe attract some herbalists to town, he pondered, forgetting that an eight-year-old’s words were often simply dismissed. But before any of that, Jasper needed to keep the garden alive first.

The plants were arranged seemingly haphazardly but there was a method to the madness. The plants which needed less sunlight were planted closer to the fence, the ones that needed water closer to the irrigation gate and they were interspersed between each species so they won’t compete for nutrients with each other. Feeling rather accomplished himself he let loose a satisfied grin which stayed on his face the rest of the day. The future wasn’t looking quite as bleak as before.