Pardon Me [open]
“Go to town and find a mason,” her mother had said. “And find one that can work cheap or in return for simplicities such as food and shelter.” Her mother had been very specific and firm on the “cheap” part of it. They weren't paupers, but they were not exactly living the high life either. For the most part, Rowan and her mother had everything they could ever want. Even her grandmother, who she frequently took baskets of fresh goods to, made do with the simple things. They were simple folk and they hardly considered themselves poor.
They were rich in love and life. They had a cow, which while she wasn't much, she gave them milk with which the made butter and cheese. They had a garden that they harvested from throughout the year. They had a strong relationship with the farmer down the road where her mother frequently traded mending, cooking and cleaning for their regular supply of eggs and freshly butchered meat.
What more did they really need? Rowan couldn't think of anything. Well, maybe there was something...
Rowan never knew her father. He was gone long before she could develop any memories of him and her mother refused to speak of him at all. Though she knew sometimes she would catch her mother looking at her in a sad sort of way that made her wonder if she resembled him somehow.
If she ever had children, Rowan was going to be absolutely certain they knew their father. Growing up not knowing was difficult. Even so, life was still great, the whole ordeal with the wolf aside. But, it would be nice... maybe... to have father around. Or a boyfriend. She wouldn't mind that either. In fact, the idea of having a boy around that would help her and her mother, and maybe court her too, brought a smile to her face and put some pep in her step.
She moved through town, stopping to ask a person here or there if they knew of anyone who did stonemasonry on chimneys. The last storm that had ripped through sent a large branch to break off their tree and do some structural damage to the chimney. Already some of the neighbors were helping to try to cut the branch apart so it could be dried for firewood, but the chimney was no longer structurally sound.
“Pardon me,” she said to the next person she came across.