《Shadow of Steel》Prologue - Part 2

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Two thousand and fifty miles east and nine months later

Donna Olson and George Hanson sat for some coffee.

“You sure this plant ain’t bad for the land?” Donna cradled the cup of coffee in her hands as she took a sip, gazing across George’s patio to the fields of Malvaos covering the entire horizon.

“Nah. Dem Malvaos are great for the land. The cotton has grown higher and fuller than any other year.” George drank from his cup in gulps. “The best thing I ever did, growing dem Malvaos.”

“What about the animals?” She sat up in attention.

“They don’t come near it.” George shrugged. “Something M. Produce said about its medicinal properties and repelling its predators.” He set his nearly empty cup onto the small bamboo table.

Donna stared at the field with a shine in her eyes. Those were extremely laden shrubs, she thought.

“And they pay well?” Donna adjusted the way she sat, glancing at George and back at the field.

“Oh boy! Do they?” George guffawed, holding his shaking belly. “They pay three times the price of anything I ever grew, and I get to do it three times every year.”

“Damn! I should have taken them on their offer then.” Donna sucked through trembling lips from her cup.

“Next season, I’ll tell’em to pass by your farm. You won’t regret it.”

--

Two hundred miles north, one and a half years later

A six-year-old girl ran through the fields of Malvaos like a tiny three-foot storm. She spread her arms as she ran just like a gliding eagle, soaring above the young purple shrubs.

She stopped briefly to look at a gopher hole in her way, then she sped out again.

“Saya!” a thirty-something woman called at the girl from the edge of the field.

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“Coming, mama!” She ran, slowing to a stroll at the last minute. Leaning into the nearest shade tree, she cocked her head and asked, “You called?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to run in the Malvao shrubs?” the girl’s mother reprimanded with a deep frown.

“But I wanted to catch the gopher,” Saya whined.

“There are no gophers in those fields, Saya. No animal comes near the shrubs. You know that.” Her frown and forehead wrinkles grew two-fold.

“But I swear there was a gopher hole, right in the middle of it!” Saya waved her arm to the field.

“Young lady, I won’t take this attitude from you.” Her mother moved to pull her back to the house. Saya swung her arm away.

“Ugh! Ok, ok!” Saya’s arms went up in submission as she walked towards the front door.

Her mother opened the door to the house as they came to it, pushed the girl inside, and said, “Hurry and take a bath. And scrub with a lot of soap! Make sure to get that Malvaos taint off you!”

“It’s only bad when the Malvao bursts, Mama!” Saya cried.

“You don’t know that,” her mom shook her head. “Any exposure could be bad. Those shades of violet stay on for seasons! Imagine, my baby, the freak of the town!” She shooed her away while drawing her head backward, lips curled in disgust.

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