A Second Chance to Save My Daughter

Chapter 005

Watching the affection written plainly across Daisy's face, Warren felt something tighten in his chest.

He swallowed the bite of egg she'd offered from her own spoon, bitterness flooding through him.

Warren set Daisy down beside Molly and said, "I'm going to check the storage room for anything useful. You two go ahead and eat."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left quickly.

Molly stared at the eggs still heaped on the plate, more than half remaining. Something flickered in her heart, tentative and small.

But years of disappointment had taught her not to hope. She glanced at Daisy, thinking quietly that perhaps this was enough. If she were gone, at least Warren would be able to take care of their daughter.

Inside the cramped storage room, Warren tore through boxes and shelves, urgency sharpening every movement.

After the experiment with the wild greens, he'd confirmed exactly what the Healing Spring could do. It accelerated the growth of crops and healed injuries and illness alike.

Before, he'd been turning over the question of how to provide a decent life for Molly and Daisy now that he'd been given this second chance. Now, at least, he had an answer.

He unearthed several half-empty packets of vegetable seeds from a dusty corner, and a pang of regret settled in his gut.

The Pendleton family had once owned two acres of farmland. But after Warren had become disabled and sunk into apathy, after Molly had been left weakened by childbirth, after Mabel had fallen bedridden with illness, there'd been no one left to tend it. Molly had bought seeds now and then, planting whatever she could manage in the small courtyard. It was winter now. If it had been any other season, there wouldn't even be this much left.

Warren hurried back to the Healing Spring and submerged the seeds in its water for a few moments before planting them directly inside the system pocket dimension.

The space was thick with mist rising from the Spring, each breath he took easing the tension from his limbs.

He returned to the real world and found himself standing in his own shabby bedroom.

He and Molly had been sleeping apart for a long time. The room was a wreck.

Warren hauled water in from the yard and set to work cleaning, taking his time with every corner. He'd spent so many years in a muddled haze that exhaustion didn't even register anymore.

He worked straight through the night. By the time the sky began to pale with dawn, the entire courtyard had been transformed.

Before Warren's accident, the Pendleton family had been fairly comfortable. They'd built a modest two-story house with a cement courtyard and a small garden plot. Years of neglect had left it overgrown and shabby, but with a little effort, it looked respectable again.

When he was finished, Warren stepped back into the pocket dimension.

The space was lush and green. The vegetables he'd planted the night before had sprouted, grown, and ripened completely in a matter of hours.

His excitement surged. He plucked a leaf and bit into it.

Without pesticides or pests, nurtured by the Spring, the ordinary spinach had become extraordinarily flavorful. The bright green leaf was crisp and sweet even raw, without a trace of bitterness.

He quickly harvested all the spinach and stuffed it into burlap sacks.

With fresh vegetables on hand, breakfast wouldn't be a problem.

Warren prepared the morning meal and knocked softly on Molly's door.

She'd been rising early for years out of necessity. She was already awake.

"I'm heading into town to look for work," Warren said with a faint smile. "Keep an eye on baby for me. Breakfast is ready. If I manage to earn anything, I'll pick up some rice and flour on the way back tonight."

Molly's expression didn't shift. She simply nodded, her face as impassive as ever.

Warren didn't press. After years of drunken neglect, he couldn't expect one night to change her mind. But he had two weeks. He was certain he could win her back.

The sky was still dim when Warren set off on foot toward the county seat.

After drinking a cup of water from the Spring the night before, his leg had already improved noticeably. He still limped, but the pain had dulled considerably. At this pace, he'd reach town in under two hours.

By the time the sun had fully risen, Warren was sitting in a corner of the market with two large burlap sacks at his side.

In the winter of the year 2000, northern markets were dominated by potatoes and cabbage, vegetables that stored well. Redharrow wasn't a major city, and the market that morning was almost entirely devoid of anything green.

Warren felt a flicker of confidence. He spread out an old bedsheet and arranged all the spinach on top of it.

He hadn't been able to find a scale that morning, so he'd tied the spinach into small bundles with straw twine. Each bundle weighed roughly a pound and looked vibrant and full.

He propped up a handwritten sign: Fresh Spinach. $3 per bundle.

The morning market was crowded, and the sight of such fresh, green vegetables drew immediate attention.

"Oh my, look how fresh that spinach is!"

"It's been ages since I've seen greens like this in winter!"

"Young man, how much are you charging?"

Warren smiled at the cluster of elderly shoppers gathering around him. "Three dollars a bundle. It's a little over a pound, not under."

The crowd erupted in laughter and disbelief.

"Young man, you've got to be joking."

"Pork is only five dollars a pound. How can vegetables be three?"

"Don't try to pull one over on us old folks."

Warren chuckled and gestured at his display. "Sir, take a good look at these greens. You can tell they were just picked this morning. Redharrow isn't a big city. In winter, all we've got is cabbage and potatoes. Sure, you can find hothouse chives, but those run five or six dollars a pound and they're hard to come by. This spinach is fresh, green, pesticide-free, and doesn't have a single bug hole. It's safe and clean. I guarantee it tastes better than any spinach you've ever had."

A few of the older shoppers still hesitated, unconvinced.

Seeing this, Warren untied one of the bundles and held up a leaf. "Look at this. The leaves are full of moisture. You could eat it raw if you wanted. Want to try?"

That did it. One by one, the elderly shoppers reached out and plucked leaves from his hand, tasting them on the spot.

"It's true! You really can eat it raw?"

"No pesticides and it still grew this fresh?"

"Three dollars is three dollars. It's worth it!"

"Young man, give me two bundles!"

"I'll take one and give it a try!"

Warren grinned as he collected the money, but then realized an awkward problem. He didn't have any plastic bags.

Before he could figure out what to do, the shoppers laughed and waved him off.

"Don't worry, son. We all bring our own bags."

"Those flimsy plastic things can't hold anything anyway!"

They pulled cloth bags from their pockets, handed over cash, and took their bundles of spinach without a second thought. After years of shopping, they could tell at a glance that each bundle weighed more than a pound, not less.

The customers left smiling, and Warren's sales were brisk.

By late morning, he'd sold out completely. He counted the bills. Just over three hundred dollars.

Three hundred might not sound like much, but this was the year 2000. The average monthly salary for most people was around three hundred dollars. Earning that much in a single day left Warren deeply satisfied.

He wandered through the streets for a while, bought rice and flour, and discreetly slipped them into the system pocket dimension when no one was looking.

He also picked up plastic bags, hemp rope, more burlap sacks, and a variety of vegetable seeds.

For now, he planned to make his money selling fresh produce. These were all necessities.

It wasn't planting season, so the seeds were left over from the previous year and sold cheap.

All told, Warren spent just over a hundred dollars.

In addition to the rice, flour, oil, seeds, and bags, he also bought several skeins of soft yarn.