Word Count: 66,017
Summary of Events:
Dallas made his final preparations before heading for St. Brieux; he went to the local diner for lunch and ended up learning from a patron some interesting information on the women, whose surname he also found out was Pedin. Finally he got to the Pedin house and met both of the women for the first time; they had coffee together — a rather awkwardly quiet experience — before Dallas went out to have a look at the combine, which Dallas discovered Debbie was terrified of.
Excerpt of the Day:
"Next came the large, grand living room in which a couch, a chair, and a loveseat in orange and brown floral sat, all facing the gargantuan, aged TV — probably the newest thing in the house, looking only about from the nineties — on the chair sat another diminutive woman who had grey hair bundled back into a bun so small it didn't even jut out from her head. She had an afghan of crocheted granny squares in every solid colour imaginable on her lap and her head was bowed in slumber.
Dallas noticed a grandfather clock and a small round mirror with long brassy spikes jutting out of its perimeter on the walls, along with a couple of bookshelves that had a couple of dated knickknacks between the books — many of which also looked dated.
"Sit down," Debbie said, and Dallas did so, sitting at the end of the couch furthest from Mrs. Pedin. He looked down at the seventies coffee table adorned with a table runner that looked like it was made from upholstery fabric more fitting of an eighties palette, a TV remote, a newspaper, and a tin of salted mixed nuts.
Debbie roused her mother who startled and then looked up and fixed the gaze of her dark blue eyes sharply on Dallas. She looked him over critical, her gaze causing Dallas to feel uncomfortable; she looked as much a calculating killer as her daughter did.
"Welcome to my farm Devon," Mrs. Pedin said, her eyes locked on his and her voice sounding surprisingly strong for her frail, thin appearance. "I'm pleased to meet you, my name is Shirley."
Dallas shifted in his seat and nodded barely. "Pleased to meet you as well, ma'am."
Shirley smiled a cunning smile and folded her hands on her lap so that her left one was on top. No rings. If it would've truly been an accidental death Dallas had a feeling she might've kept the rings on, Dallas ha a chilled feeling she'd orchestrated her husband's accidental death as well as murdered others.
The air was stuffy and smelled old fashioned, it had a quality of closeness that made Dallas feel chilled despite the summer heat beating on the house and taking the temperatures into the thirties.
"Now, before you get settled in, we should discuss your duties," Shirley continued.
Dallas nodded, glancing over at Debbie, who'd sat down on the opposite end of the couch beside the end table with the eighties lamp sitting on it.
"Your most important duty is the operation of the combine when we begin our harvest," Shirley said. "Aside from that you are to provide general aid to Debbie in bringing in the harvest, keeping the yard tidy, and whatever other projects she would have for you."
Dallas nodded.
"Should we ever see you sitting around doing nothing there shall be severe consequences," Shirley added, looking at Dallas seriously, yet with a ghost smile on her face and a glimmer of sinister mischief in her eye."
Pedin: pedahn
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