Because her property extends out so much, Gran only has one neighbor and that neighbor has a son, but Adrian doesn’t know this, so she was unprepared, not that anyone is ever prepared for that kind of thing.

Adrian made a habit of leaving early in the morning to explore the town. She started doing this hoping the Traveling Librarian would be in his normal spot to hand out books, but he’s not. At least he isn’t there in the mornings. That wouldn’t stop her from walking around the town until her feet ached, and she would. She would wave ‘hi’ to all the folk working in their shops and the people walking on the sidewalk. This became her daily routine and when Adrian finally came home, she would plop herself down on the couch and fall asleep to the sound of her grandmother’s records. Her grandmother didn’t mind, because she’s completely satisfied with Adrian’s new habit, and usually wouldn’t bother her when she came home, but this day wasn’t like most others. This day Gran and a wagon full of canned tomatoes, was waiting patiently for her to come home.

“But Grandma I was just in town,” Adrian complained, stomping one foot on the ground spoiledly.

“Oh Adrian don’t whine,” said Gran peeling potatoes. “It looks ugly and pathetic.”

Gran continued to peel potatoes without giving her granddaughter a second glance. Reluctantly the ten year old dragged her feet to the door, pulling the heavy wagon full of canned tomatoes, and wrinkling her nose at the bitter smell of vinegar as she left. She dragged the tomatoes half a mile through the forest like road on a red wagon, watching cautiously for any wandering wolves.

Bad day to wear my red hoodie, she joked to herself.

Adrian is well aware there are no wolves in Jupiter, but something about delivering goodies for her grandmother through the forest, made her feel uneasy and careful. When she finally made it to Gran’s neighbor’s home, whatever their names were, Gran didn’t even bother to tell her, she quickly realized how tired she really was. Her hand ached now, the same way her feet did, but she kept going. Finding no reason to turn back now.

The house wasn’t actually much of a house, it was more like a small little cottage, but behind it, just like Gran, the yard seemed to go on for miles. It made Adrian wonder if they owned as much land as Gran.

She knocked on the door and waited for anything:  a sound, a voice, or maybe a small animal, like a cat or a dog, but nothing came for a while and just as Adrian began to walk away, the door swung open, and there in the opening was the beginning of complication.

He wasn’t the tallest boy she’s ever seen but he was taller than her. He had messy black hair and dark blue eyes. She could tell he wasn’t her age, he was definitely older but not by much, due to the shape of his face. He still had his childish features, making his face look a little thick and round, but you could see, it was beginning to smooth out. Just like Jacob Rice, he wore black dress pants and was tucking in his white button down shirt. At first, Adrian wasn’t affected by his presence at all, but years later when she would look back, this would be one of her favorite moments.

Adrian doubled back, yanking the wagon with her. “Hi,” she greeted, “I’m Eden Lamb’s Granddaughter and she wanted me to bring this for you.”  

His eyes moved to the wagon and immediately he retreated back inside, leaving the door wide open. Again Adrian waited, but this time she wasn’t forced to wait long for a response. She heard mild shouting. Probably from a mom, she said, “Will, I don’t have time for this. We need to go.”

The next voice said, “But she’s out there right now, and she says she’s Mrs. Lamb’s granddaughter.”

“Oh! The tomatoes are here,” the woman cried excitedly, “Tell her she could just leave them outside and don’t forget to thank her for bringing them.”

Adrian swayed awkwardly on her heels as the boy returned, his hair now combed as he pulled his suspenders over each shoulder, “You could just leave them right there, thanks and please tell your grandmother we said thank you too.”

Adrian nodded as she began to walk away slowly, “I will.”

Her pace quickened as she spun around and ran down the road until she was home again. She quickly wrote this experience in her diary, but for years she would forget all about it, until accidentally stumbling over it, looking for the Christmas decorations.