Chương 55: Wheat Harvest Part 1

Day 122, Dydd Llun 12th of Awst (Monday, August 12th) On the morning of the 12th of Awst, Emily, Colin, and I were all up at 4 a. m. to get the morning chores done before the reaper-thresher team showed up. From what I'd heard described, the machine was a true combine, but they didn't call it that. I'd be able to tell for sure when it showed up. Since we only had one field, they were supposed to show up around 8 a. m., and should be done around 1 p. m.

With the heat we were dealing with during late summer, I would have wanted to show up at daylight to get started. Temperatures were regularly hitting 100 degrees, and I was not enjoying myself. I was always more partial to things being slightly too chilly versus too hot. You could always layer on more clothes, you could only take off so many before people started getting angry at you. Plus, there were way more bugs in this world than there were on earth. I didn't need bug bites in sensitive areas.

The looser linen shirts we had did do a bit to dampen the heat versus cotton shirts. They didn't stick to the skin quite so badly, but I still wouldn't say I was enjoying myself. Things had finally gotten warm enough that the river didn't feel too cold to step into in the afternoons. Since Emily and I were now betrothed, I didn't feel bad having her see me in the trouser like underwear I'd purchased through the guild store. Emily still wore her oldest dress when she got in the water.

At 7: 30, I saw the monstrous machine with its huge team of horses as it slowly made its way over the rough terrain to my farm. There was a driver, and seven more men walking alongside the combine. In front of them were three of the huge harvest wagons that the Albion Trade Guild used to haul the harvest back to Weston. This was the first sign that the day wasn't going to go super smoothly. The almanac had said that each of these large wagons was capable of hauling 10, 000 pounds of cargo.

I hoped that the Trade Guild had brought all of the bags I'd requested. Each bag held four bushels of wheat. I told them to expect me to get double or triple what was normal, but who knew if they had taken me seriously? That was only going to be enough to haul off the harvest for three-quarters of my field. I was almost certain that I would get close to forty bushels per acre thanks to the amazing soil, irrigation, and just about perfect weather we'd had this year.

My crop bonuses were basically as good as fertilizer. On the lead wagon was a man I hadn't seen in quite some time. He was supposed to have been out this way a month ago, but if the wagons were any indication, he hadn't believed my claims about my crop yield, or the potatoes. As his wagon came to a stop, Robert Johnstone, a Water Wizard and the head trade representative for the Albion Trade Guild got down and gave me a wide smile. His first words weren't to me, though.

Emily was standing next to me, and he addressed her first.

"I have been told that congratulations are in order! It seems that your meeting with Mr Jacobson here was quite fortuitous for you, Miss Lloyd." Emily gave him a tight smile and nodded. That seemed to satisfy Johnstone, and he looked me up and down before saying, "My, my, this farming lifestyle has treated you well also. You look to have lost forty pounds, at least!" I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head.

Despite sounding like a bad movie villain British aristocrat, Wizard Johnstone was actually a pretty decent guy to talk to. I grabbed my much reduced belly, and said, "That's definitely true. I think I've lost forty pounds of fat and gained ten pounds of muscle since I arrived on the farm." Then, I nodded towards the wagons.

"Where are the rest of your wagons? And are you going to look at the potatoes while you're here? I expected you a month ago." Johnstone frowned and looked back before replying, "Three wagons should be more than enough. Even if you doubled your yield, this would carry almost everything away."

"I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised by all of my crop yields this year," I told him. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Johnstone shook his head in mild exasperation.

"Sure, sure. I am sure you believe you are a marvelous farmer, wherever it was you learned to farm. Still not divulging that information?" He didn't give me time to answer, instead he smiled, then pointed towards the potato field and asked, "That is your potato field then? I must confess, even I have only eaten potatoes during official feasts, or other things like weddings. I have never once seen the plant. Shall we go look then?" I shook my head in frustration.

"Listen, I'm going to get at least thirty-five bushels per acre, and it should be closer to forty. But yeah, let's go look at the potatoes." Johnstone finally just said, "Well, we have enough sacks. We always bring plenty of extras. If your numbers truly are so astronomical, then we shall just have to come back for the rest. I'll even knock off a third of the freight price if your numbers ring true." We walked the short distance to the field and Johnstone looked around.

"You know," he said.

"I knew on an intellectual level that potatoes grew underground, but this is very impressive looking. May I dig some up?"

"Sure thing," I said.

"They're just about fully grown. I plan to dig them up right after the corn harvest." He reached down and attempted to pull the plant out of the ground, but was surprised with the amount of resistance he encountered. He was still at a high enough level that it wasn't too difficult, so on his second attempt he ripped the plant attached to ten massive potatoes out of the ground. As he looked at the mess of plant and tuber, mixed with dirt, his face went pale and he looked at me with his mouth agape.

It took him several minutes before he spoke, and even then his words were quiet, barely above a whisper.

"Your entire field looks like this?" I nodded. A sense of both anticipation, and dread, growing in my stomach. At my nod, he looked back at the bundle he was still holding out, and said, "How many total bushels will you have?" I sighed and said, "Well, I used my 45% bonus from Crop Master and Crop Specialist. Also, my backers and I worked on these for a considerable time, they're perfect for this soil and climate."

"Get on with it, damnit." Johnstone blurted out, his voice growing shrill as his own nerves got the better of him. I took a deep breath to steady my own nerves, and said in a voice that was only mildly shaky, "Two-seventy-five per acre. Well more, but I need to keep some for next year, but I'll be looking to sell two-seventy-five per acre." Johnstone began to laugh hysterically, as if his brain had momentarily broken. As he continued to laugh, he walked out of the field and bent down, his hands on his knees.

He spent a couple more moments like that, then abruptly threw up. Involuntarily, I blurted out, "Oh shit." Then I quickly rushed to his side and patted his back while he continued to dry heave for a few moments more.

"Well this isn't the response I was hoping for," I said. At this point I was on the verge of panic. I had never imagined Johnstone losing his composure like this. He kept his hands on his knees and turned his head up to look at me. With disbelief in his voice, he said, "What other response could you have hoped for?"

"Yeah, I don't know," I admitted.

"But not this. What comes next?" He thought for a moment, then stood up straight and took a deep breath.

"Well," he said.

"I will have to speak with the bishop about this. Technically it should be the governor, but obviously he is simply worthless. The Emperor will probably be informed as well."

"I truly expected to show up here today, and look at a sad field with fist sized potatoes, at best. The potatoes I've eaten were small, and reddish. These are massive!" Johnstone's voice was veering into hysteria again so he took a deep breath before finishing his thought.

"These potatoes are truly massive, each one must weigh a pound! Yes, the bishop needs to figure this out." Right then, Emily arrived with a glass of water that Johnstone happily took hold of. He took a swig and spit it out, then drank the rest of the water down before handing the glass back to Emily.

"Thank you, Miss Lloyd," he said. Then he looked me in the eye and slowly shook his head before speaking again, his voice mostly under control.

"I don't know what your deal is, or who your backers are, but this will get you through your evolution, and will change the empire if they don't just sweep this all under the rug. You have definitely stepped into the world of the big fish with this move." My heart was hammering, and I felt like I was going to join Johnstone and throw up myself, but I took a few deep breaths before I said, "I understand. Assuming everyone decides to go along with this, will I be paid out in full?"

My words made Johnstone laugh out loud again. Then he grabbed my shoulder and quietly said, "If they don't disappear you, then you will be a very important man in the Territories in a few years. Now I think we had better get back to the harvest. People are watching us." I turned around and saw that the entire reaper-thresher team was watching us, curiosity etched on their faces. Once we made it back to where the team had set up next to the wheat field, I was able to get my first good look at the massive machine.