[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions]

[Tess’s Almanac: 75th day of Winter! 16 days until the Winter Festival! Looks like we’re starting to look at warmer weather, folks! Expect temperatures to start to improve, and likely to keep warming up until spring comes!]

Jason felt a smile break across his face as he rolled out of bed. The air was indeed warmer, a far cry from the freezing air that he had become used to. For that matter, it was almost hot, as the fire was still heating the house even though it was far warmer than the night before. Jason made a mental note to let the fire burn down a bit over the day, then slowly walked up to his window.

Outside, all traces of snow were gone, leaving the simple brown expanse that had become used to. White snow, or brown grass, those were the two options that he had been given for the previous months. He was more than ready for spring, that was for sure. The grass would be green, he could get out into his field again, Chance would have untold amounts of fun chasing monsters…

Chase. Chase wasn’t hopping on him. His eyes opened wide, and he spun to look around the room. The faithful dog wasn’t anywhere in sight, which was… Odd. Several days earlier, Jason had discovered that the reason that Chance could always get into the bedroom was due to the simple fact that the bedroom lock didn’t work. He had continued to lock it, just for fun, but Chance had continued to find ways around it.

So… Where was he now?

Jason slowly walked to the wardrobe and dressed, a terrible feeling falling across him. He grabbed his sword next to the bed and belted it to his waist, and though he hoped not to use it, it was always best to be prepared. Keeping his hand on the hilt, he slowly stepped up to the door and pulled it open.

A soft squeak echoed through the hallway as he did so, reminding him that he really needed to get the hinges oiled. Distantly, he heard a soft whimper from Chance, though not one that he thought came from simply needing to do his business. Jason’s heart began to pound, and he bolted down the stairs.

“Whoever’s there, give it up!” Jason called out. “I’m armed, and I won’t hesitate to attack!”

There was no response, and Jason burst into the living room and looked around wildly. Chance lay on his bed before the fire, a net thrown squarely across him. On top of that, his muzzle had been tied shut, and Chance’s eyes were wide. His tail began to wag as Jason ran up to him, though, displaying his never-faltering good spirits.

Jason knelt down and pulled out a knife, slitting the ropes as quickly as he could. The moment that he was free, Chance bolted for the stairs and raced upward, barking as loudly as he could manage. The noise echoed up and down the corridors, and Jason felt his blood turning to ice. Still, he came running after Chance, and came up to the door of his study a moment later. Chance scratched as the door, and Jason caught sight of scuff marks on the wood around the doorknob.

“It was unlocked.” He muttered and threw the door open. “You’re going to break into my house, and aren’t even going to do me the curtesy of not breaking everything I own.”

As the door swung open, though, his jaw dropped. The office was in shambles, there was simply no other word for it. Books lay scattered across the floor, his desk lay overturned, and the safe was cracked open.

“Note to self, get a better safe.” Jason muttered as he started tiptoeing through the desolation. He didn’t mind stepping on most of the books, and decided to take the opportunity to actually clear out some of the darker texts, but still found it annoying nonetheless. As he came to the desk, though, his heart sank.

“And you found what you were looking for.” He whispered as he found the bottom desk drawer sitting on the ground. It was the neatest part of his office, and as he rifled through it quickly, it was easy to find what was missing. He scowled darkly, then rose and tapped the hilt of the sword.

“Alright, Chance. Are they still here?”

Chance barked and rushed out of the room, where he began racing through the house. The faithful dog sniffed doorways and windows, then led him down to the front door. It was unlocked and hung ever so slightly open, and Jason sighed. He stepped out onto the front porch and strode to the edge, where he looked over into the yard and found telltale footprints pressed into the soft soil. One set came in, one set went out. Not being a particularly skilled tracker, Jason had absolutely no idea how old the tracks were, but a quick glance toward Summer Shandy revealed no one along the road. They were well and truly gone, and Chance rushed off the porch and began to bark as he pointed toward Summer Shandy.

“No reason to go running off right this second, Chance.” Jason sighed and pushed himself upright. “We know where they are, and I have a feeling they’ll be waiting for us.”

He turned and walked back into the house, quickly gathering up breakfast for himself and Chance. When they finished eating, he checked his sword once more, then strode out to Lady’s stable. A moment later, they were on the road toward Summer Shandy, fury bubbling up in Jason’s chest.

He hadn’t known such anger in years, certainly not since coming to the pristine land of Summer Shandy. There had been days when he had been devastated, of course, and even a few days when he had become quite frustrated. This anger, though, threatened to consume him as he rode hard for town. His mind became focused on exactly one thing: His family. After all, what can stir up feelings of hatred more than one’s own kin?

When he came charging into town, he found a small crowd clustered around the inn. Tess stood near the doorway trying to hold people back, and looked up in equal parts relief and horror as Jason rode up to the back of the pack. He swung down out of the saddle and forced his way through the crowd, pulling Lady along behind him. That got people to scamper away quickly enough, and he soon hitched Lady to the post next to the door.

“Jason, I-” Tess began, but Jason cut her off.

“Are they in there?”

Tess inclined her head. “Jason, what exactly happened?”

“Come on in, and you’ll find out soon enough.” Jason muttered. He forced his way through the door and looked around as quickly as he could. The place was largely empty, save Lacy sitting just in front of the hearth, with a smug look on her face and a crackling fire behind her. Constable Hank stood just across the table from her, a rather awkward look on his face, and Jason rushed forward.

“How dare you-” He began, and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Jason, I wouldn’t advise that.” Hank held up a hand. “I’ll admit that I don’t have these sorts of situations a lot, but I know enough to know that any reaction you make, here and now, will be held against you.”

“And what about them?” Jason hissed. “They broke into my house. I don’t know which one did it, but they broke into my house and tied up my dog.”

“My dearest Killian paid a visit to his brother. Perhaps he came a little early in the morning, but you can hardly blame him for panicking and running for safety when that filthy beast came after him.” Lacy sniffed.

Rage again flared through Jason, and before he knew quite what he was doing, he’d drawn his sword and had it pointed at the woman claiming to be his mother. A faint smile played across her lips, and Hank groaned.

“Jason. There are witnesses at the window.”

“She admits that she broke into my house.” Jason snapped. “Arrest her. We can deal with everything else later.”

“That’s not going to work, dear.” Lacy’s voice dripped with venom. “If you arrest me, I’ll make the documents public, and… Now… That wouldn’t work out well for you, would it?”

“They have to be in here.” Jason turned toward the stairs, but Hank just sighed.

“Your brothers have already left.” Hank shrugged. “Presumably, they took the documents with them.”

Jason ground his teeth together so loudly that he was certain that everyone could hear him. “Then let’s go after him.”

“On what grounds?” Hank shrugged.

“Breaking and entering.”

“Do you have any proof of that?”

Jason froze, then slowly crossed his arms. “Not exactly.”

“Right.” Constable Hank sighed. “Up in Illumitir and some other big cities, people have found ways to test for… What part of the body is it? Toeprints? Skin… No… I don’t know, but there are tests you can do, except for the fact that they don’t like sending those test kits down this far south.” Hank sounded as though he was growing just as annoyed as Jason. “It would be your word against hers, and with those… Ahh…”

He paused, and Jason turned to Hank. “Those documents that you never should have put together in the first place?”

Hank sighed deeply and nodded. “Yeah. Those would be the ones.”

“Then this is all your fault.” Jason snapped, turning the blade toward Hank.

“Jason!” Tess stepped in between Hank and the tip of the sword. “Not the time.”

Jason ground his teeth together again, then sheathed the sword violently and turned to march out. He pushed through the crowds of people and marched aimlessly across the square, circled the well a few times, then climbed up on Lady and started riding back toward his home. he was about halfway there when Tess came riding up next to him on Angus, and he turned and snapped at her.

“What do you want?”

“To help comfort you.” Tess sighed and shrugged. “I… I know what you’re going through.”

“How?”

“Because that’s the same thing that happened to me last year.”

Jason froze, then nodded slowly. She continued to speak after a few more moments.

“Blacksuit came after me with loads of paperwork and legal clauses, and I was barely able to keep ahead of them. A lot of my work this year has been trying to untangle everything that he did. That’s just what’s going to happen here.”

Jason shook his head. “They have wills that clearly show the farm going to someone else. I could lose everything.”

“And if you do, we’ll make it work.” Tess soothed him. “When you first arrived in town, you had what, fifty shandys?”

Jason blinked and smiled softly at the memory. “I think it was forty.”

“Then it makes my point even better.” Tess sighed. “Let’s say that they do get the farm. First off, your eighty acres off in no-man’s land isn’t part of that deal, so we’re guaranteed to have that much, at least. If they empty your bank account, I have enough money to buy us a house and a few starting crops. With two of us, we’ll be able to make a good go at things, and that’s a worst case scenario. We’ll come out of this just fine.”

Jason sighed deeply, then flashed a smile and nodded slowly. “I… Thanks, Tess. I appreciate it.”

“You know I’m here for you.” Tess reached across the distance between their horses and patted him on the arm, then shrugged and kept moving forward. “Now, what say you and I go back to the house and have a nice, relaxing sort of a day, and then we get back to the real world tomorrow?”

“That sounds lovely.” Jason flashed a small smile. “Whatever happens, Tess… Know that I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

With that, they rode off down the hill toward the farm, not really knowing what would come next… But ready to face it together.