Chapter 40: A Day in Oakwood

Luca and Finn hopped on a cart heading to Oakwood Village. They arrived quickly.

Oakwood Village was famous for growing delicious nuts. It was one of the richest villages around, and people from cities would often buy nuts from here. Men from other villages thought it was an honour to marry a woman from Oakwood.

Women from the village also had high expectations for their husbands.

As Luca and Finn walked through the village, they saw rows of walnut, almond, and hazelnut trees. Between the trees, villagers grew other crops like vegetables and fruits.

While walking through a nut field, a middle-aged man approached them and said, "Hey kids, do you want to earn some extra money? We need help collecting nuts from the trees. If you do a good job, you'll get some nuts to take home!"

Finn wanted to say no, but Luca thought it would be a great experience.

Luca and Finn got to work, climbing the trees to shake loose the ripe nuts. They carefully collected the fallen nuts in wicker baskets, making sure not to damage any. The sun beat down on them, still they worked tirelessly, chatting and laughing to pass the time.

As they worked, some of the villagers approached them. "Hey, where are you two from?" one of them asked, eyeing them curiously.

"We're from Eldermoor," Luca replied with a smile.

The villager nodded. He didn't ask any more questions, and instead, returned to his work.

Luca noticed that the villagers seemed friendly but reserved after learning they were from Eldermoor.

After a few hours of hard work, the middle aged man approached them, a sack of nuts in hand. "Well done, boys! You've earned your pay."

He handed them each a generous portion of nuts, which they carefully loaded into an old, worn leather sack they had borrowed.

As they walked away from the field, Luca noticed the many shops lining the road, each one selling nuts and boasting signs that read "Authentic Oakwood Nuts" or "Directly from Oakwood Farmers."

The prices seemed surprisingly low, and Luca suspected that these shops catered mainly to tourists. He made a mental note to buy some nuts from one of these shops next time he visited Oakwood.

As Luca and Finn walked away from the nut field, a group of girls passed by them.

Finn let out a playful whistle as a girls passed by. One of the taller girls stopped and turned around, her expression annoyed.

"Who are you whistling at?" she demanded.

Finn smirked. "I'm whistling at nature. Why do you care?"

The girl scoffed. "Don't deny what you did! You're a coward!"

Finn's grin widened. "Who's a coward? You think you're so special? Don't flatter yourself."

The girl's face turned red with anger. "How dare you call me ugly! Come here, I'll dig out your eyes!"

Finn's playfully made a face which earned an angry glare from the girl, who lunged toward him before her friends intervened, pulling her back.

Finn turned to Luca and asked, "She's ugly, right, Luca?" But Luca didn't respond.

Finn followed Luca's gaze and saw that he was staring at a girl with a beautiful ornament in her hair. She looked graceful.

Finn chuckled and shook Luca out of his trance.

The tall girl shouted at her friends, "Let me go! I'll break both their heads!"

Luca thought "What did I do?"

Luca quickly grabbed Finn's arm. "Let's get out of here," he said urgently.

They started running, laughter bubbling up despite the chaos. After a while, they stopped, breathless but grinning.

Luca shook his head, "Finn, why did you have to poke fun at that girl?"

Finn grinned mischievously. "I just wanted to tease her."

Finn's expression turned curious. "Hey, Luca, who were you staring at earlier?"

Luca tried to brush it off. "No one. I was just looking around."

Finn teased, "Don't lie, Luca! I saw you staring at that girl."

Luca's face turned red as he admitted, "I thought she looked cute."

Finn chuckled and started singing, "Luca fell for a girl, Luca fell for a girl!"

Luca chased after Finn, laughing and trying to get him to stop.

The two boys made their way back toward Eldermoor. The journey was filled with talk of the day's adventures.

As they walked, Luca couldn't help but think about the girl with the beautiful ornament. He wondered what her name was and what she was like.

When they finally reached the village outskirts, the sky was painted in hues of orange and pink, the first stars beginning to twinkle above.

They parted ways at the crossroad, each heading toward their homes. Luca walked with a contented smile, thinking about the day's events.

As he approached his home, the familiar sight of his mother's small but sturdy house came into view. The door creaked as he opened it, and the warm scent of stew filled the air.

"Welcome back, Luca," his mother said, her voice filled with warmth.

Luca set down the sack of nuts and smiled. "I brought something special for us," he said proudly.

His mother's eyes widened in surprise. "Nuts? Where did you get those?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

Luca took a seat next to his mother, eager to share his story. "Finn and I took a cart ride to Oakwood Village. We saw the nut grove and decided to help out. The villagers were really friendly, and we had a great time."

His mother, Rhea, smiled warmly. "It seems the birthday boy had quite an adventure today."

"Go and wash up, Luca," she instructed. "I've made your favourite chicken stew for dinner."

Luca quickly washed up and returned to the table, where his mother had already set out two steaming bowls of stew.

Later, as Luca drifted off to sleep, his mind began to wander back to the events of the day.

As he fell into a deep sleep, Luca's dreams were filled with visions of the girl. With a silly smile plastered on his face, Luca slept peacefully.