Chapter 7

I do not own Spice and Wolf or Holo, the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu

The two sat down and plowed through a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, corned beef hash, toast and coffee. Elizabeth looked curiously at the coffee, it was not something she ordinarily drank, so she took an exploratory sip.

She smacked her ruddy lips and and said, "This isn't so bad, I kinda like it!" So she quickly downed the rest of the coffee.

Holo meanwhile, packed away an impressive amount of food for one so small. When they were finished they eased back the chairs and stretched hugely.

Elizabeth yawned mightily and muttered, "Well, I'm off to bed!" They thanked her grandmother for the delicious food and started for the stairs.

An "Ahem!" from her grandfather stopped them and they looked at him curiously.

He held up some work gloves and he said cheerfully, "It's morning and you've got chores to do!" Elizabeth gaped and she blurted out, "But, we were up most of the night!"

"So was I." Retorted her grandfather, "I was up 'til the wee hours, worrying about you two out there in the night. I'm tired and I want to sleep too, but the chores won't get done by themselves."

Holo grinned at him and remarked, "You are my descendant, he was much the same way too!"

Elizabeth shrugged and said, "C'mon, I'll show you what to do."

Exiting the farmhouse, Holo followed Elizabeth into the old barn. She looked around curiously while Elizabeth filled a couple of metal pails with grain.

Taking one of the pails in hand, Elizabeth said, "Bring the other pail with you and we'll feed the chickens first."

Holo did as she was told and followed Elizabeth out to the poultry yard. As they approached the gate, Holo laughed at the sight of the chickens frantically scrambling to be the first one fed and she commented, "I see that chickens still have no dignity, they are quite unlike the proud eagles I once knew!"

Elizabeth grinned at Holo as she reached into her pail and with a practiced flick of her wrist, broadcast a handful of grain just behind the feathery horde.

There commenced a mad scrambling and clucking as the greedy birds dashed for the precious grain. Elizabeth quickly opened the gate and the two hopped inside the poultry yard and proceeded to scatter the grain amongst the feathery assemblage. Holo laughed and her ears and tail waggled happily.

Having emptied the pails, Elizabeth topped up their water trays and they left the poultry yard.

Pausing a moment to watch the chickens feeding, Elizabeth remarked, "We raise these for food mostly, the eggs we ate this morning were freshly laid. Grandma gathers them early in the morning for use during the day. She'll make these huge omelets for the farm hands breakfast. Right now, it's the beginning of the growing season and we can handle most of the work ourselves so it's a little quiet right now."

Holo smiled wistfully and said softly, "We struggled at first, I was pregnant with my first born and we couldn't be on the road anymore. We had some money and bought a farm."

She smiled, "We had so much to learn! He knew almost nothing and I had only watched from the wheat. A kindly neighbor helped us out a lot and I repaid him by blessing his own fields."

She grinned and said cheerfully, "Of course we didn't tell anybody, it was best that people didn't know of my true nature."

Having returned the pails to the barn, Elizabeth grabbed a hoe and a pitchfork and set them in the bed of the small truck outside the barn. While she was picking up a couple of watering cans, Holo looked at the small truck curiously and asked, "Where are the traces and harness?"

Elizabeth grinned at her distant ancestor and replied, "We don't even have a horse here!"

Holo cocked her head slightly, much like a puppy would do and Elizabeth burst out laughing as she opened the driver's side door and hopped inside. Holo did likewise and was soon seated next to Elizabeth, she watched as Elizabeth pushed in the clutch pedal and turned the ignition key, a moment later the engine was purring as it warmed up. After a minute or so, Elizabeth put it in gear and off they went, chug, chugging along.

Holo grinned and exclaimed, "This is marvelous! A wagon that goes by itself, what manner of wizardry makes it go?"

Elizabeth grinned back and replied, "You'll have to ask Grandpa, he put this truck together for me to use here on the farm. I'm only 14 and don't have a driver's license yet, but I can drive any truck and tractor here on the farm, so long as I don't go out on the highway!"

They stopped briefly to fill the watering cans and headed off to the small patch of Holo's wheat planted with the ancient seeds taken from Holo's little pouch. The truck jostled and lurched as it made its way past the boulder field and soon they stopped.

Elizabeth grinned at Holo and said, "At first, I was lugging the water here by hand, now I can use this truck instead, since you're here now."

While Holo watched, Elizabeth tended her small patch of wheat, carefully hoeing around the young stalks and clearing away any weeds to be pitched into the truck bed. She watered the patch and stood smiling at her progress, glancing up she saw that Holo was blinking back tears as she looked at the young wheat.

Holo smiled at her and said pensively, "My husband put that wheat in that little pouch so I could wear it around my neck. His hands last touched those seeds and now centuries later, they are growing, planted by my lovely great daughter."

Elizabeth reached out and took her remote ancestor into her arms. Holo's slim frame shuddered as she wept silently, she sniffled and said sadly. "I miss him so, but he gave me descendants, descendants who have done well and remembered me. For that, I am grateful!"