Early next morning, the four brothers stood before their new plot of land with different emotions and thoughts about it.
Ethan really considered it a pity the land was not going to be under Isabelle's name. After marrying, they would give her an identity, a place where she could belong. Most importantly, it would give her the right to buy and sell land as a proper villager. She would still get an identity; however, their gift was no longer that.
Lucas was just trying to picture all the things Isabelle told him they could do in the land. He could envision the area where they would plant their vegetables, the area for grazing, and where they could build animal sheds. Everything that could improve their lifestyle!
Joseph felt it was a dream. He had been interested in that piece of land for years. Before, he had all the intentions of the world to buy it when he thought he could finally form a family. The plan derailed quite a lot, yet they still became the proud owners of such land.
Felix was just thinking on all the work he would have to do to clean up the land. It was so full of shrubbery that he would not be surprised if they found a couple of snakes nestled in the area. However, he was also happy that, after years of being a fragile youth, he could finally do the hard labor together with his brothers.
"I think as soon as the cleaning's over, we can start with the fence." Ethan proposed. Isabelle had hinted over and over that the fence around the house needed to be taller to prevent others from peeping; which made complete sense. That also made him think: if the house was going to have a tall fence, why not the new land, too?
"Birch trees could be used for that." Joseph mused, eyeing the tall trees with their white trunks and yellow leaves. Not only was the wood sturdy, the color was perfect to give the house perimeter some personality.
"Not many." Lucas pointed out. Birch trees were the tallest trees in their new land, and the quaint quantity was easily visible. In his opinion, their position at the back was perfect; very much like a landmark. They could be left there.
"Isabelle seems to like birch trees. She stares at them from time to time." Felix added to the conversation. When he told her the reason why the village was named Yellow Leaf, she saw the trees in a new light and always seemed to have a bright shine in her eyes every time she saw a birch tree.
The other three paused and saved that tidbit in their minds. "Right. Then, let's just clean first." Ethan easily decided what to focus in. They would definitely not touch things Isabelle liked.
With a haphazard plan in mind, Lucas was left to start with the cleaning while the rest headed to town. As soon as the land was registered, Felix and Joseph would join Lucas. If there was something special to be added to the land, it would be discussed with Isabelle. They were definitely not going to leave her out of their plans.
"Oh, you're coming, too, Felix?" The Chief asked as soon as he saw the teen together with Joseph. The older man did give the older brother a meaningful look, wondering if he was going to leave all the job to the younger brother. Joseph impassively met the Chief's gaze; he would neither deny nor confirm the silent accusation. "It's going to be a learning experience for both of you."
The way to town was full of the Chief's recount of his time working in a city. The vastness of a city compared to a village. The taller buildings. The crowded streets. The cacophony of noise. The variety of people. The overall feeling that a city never slept; there was always something happening in it.
The brothers drank in the vivid descriptions the Chief regaled them with. Joseph could not imagine a building taller than a mountain. To him, a town was crowded enough; the sole thought of even more people somehow made his skin crawl. Not to talk about the fact that a city never rested; it sounded really tiresome. Cities were definitely not for him.
Felix, on the other hand, was buzzing with excitement.
He could picture the people with different attires, the wide streets, the buildings, the noise, the uncountable businesses, the opportunities! Villages were too tight. Everybody knew everything about each other, and doing something was subjected to the scrutiny of others. Towns were bigger but you could still encounter a known face and you had to fight for every job available.
Cities were vast! You could live years there and you would never know every single person. Furthermore, with more businesses, it meant more job opportunities. Felix truly wanted to experience a city.
Darvo Ryon noticed the polarized reactions of the brothers and pondered.
Soon enough, the three arrived at the Register and Tax Office and approached the empty desk. "Reason?" The person behind the desk grumbled, barely giving them a glance.
Darvo nodded at the brothers to go ahead.
Felix and Joseph shared a glance; the older brother could see the younger's nervousness so it fell on him to start the matter. Joseph dropped himself on the only chair in front of the desk and placed the land deed and the money on it. "Wanna buy and register land." He simply said.
The man hummed and took the land deed to read it. Once he did, he went to a cabinet from where he pulled out another sheet of paper. "Family name?" He asked out loud.
"Edris." Joseph replied in the same clipped manner the other was asking questions. The man just opened another cabinet and flipped over more papers until he found the ones he was looking for.
"Edris. Farming and housing land…" The man trailed off, noticing the price for the lands they already had and the one they wanted to buy. He narrowed his eyes. It was a great disparity. Setting his penetrating gaze over the delinquent-looking man, he inquired. "60 coins is very pricey for you. Where did the money come from?"
Joseph clenched his teeth to stop himself from saying something he might regret. The man in front was an official working for the government, it was natural to doubt. "It was given." He bit out.
"By who?" The official quickly latched onto the reply.
"That's…" Felix, unable to remain silent any longer, spoke up. He regretted a bit his impulsiveness when the official rested his demanding gaze on him, making his heart jump in fear. But he could not back down! "It was Isabelle… She's… our wife." He poorly finished. The official rose his eyebrows and stood from the chair to go to somewhere. "Sorry." The teen immediately apologized, somehow feeling he messed up.
"It's fine." Joseph waved. He was aware that this would happen at some point.
"Do you know how to explain Isabelle's presence?" The Chief suddenly asked, looking at the back of Joseph's head, which jerked in a nod.
The official returned with a frown on his face and full-blown suspicion on his eyes as he looked at the young man and teen. He knew the Chief of Yellow Leaf Village, so he did not address the older man yet for this procedure.
"There're no records of a Wife married into the Edris family for the past 27 years." Meaning, since their parents registered their marriage.
Joseph pursed his lips and his unwavering gaze looked back at the official. "Bought Wife. She embroiders."
The official did not back down from the staring contest, weighting the truth in those words. Bought Wives did not require to be registered; some families did, many did not. What mattered most was the Chief's permission. The official turned to Darvo Ryon, who placidly nodded.
With that settled, the official analyzed the matter of the money. Embroidering was a lucrative business, yes, but it could not make that much money. "Since when has she been embroidering?" Something was not adding up.
"It's not only her money. The eldest brother works at a restaurant as a waiter. And the second brother hunts and sells game. We put the money together and now we can buy the land." Joseph better explained the situation at their house. The official once again looked at the Chief, who once again nodded, confirming the younger man's words.
Yellow Leaf Village's Chief was well-known at the Offices for being impartial and just, so the official finally let the matter go. They had the money; they could buy the land. End of the story. The official once again sat down behind his desk and started writing on the blank sheet of paper he pulled out. Soon, lines of words filled the paper that was then slid to Joseph.
"Write down your name or family name." The official ordered as he took out yet another paper sheet and scribbled.
Joseph pulled the paper close to him and read it; Felix, leaning over his shoulder, to take a look, too. It was basically a copy of the land deed with the added statement that the Register and Tax Office was allowing the purchase of the land. Below, it had the man's name and a space where they could write theirs.
That matter was left to Felix who had the better writing between the two.
Felix's hand shook a bit as he had never used a quill, but managed to make the words legible. EDRIS FAMILY, he wrote. Proud of himself, he presented the paper at the official, who was looking at him bewildered.
"Right…" The official reacted and took the paper when the Chief cleared his throat. "Now this. Your name only. And the Chief's, too." He pointed where to write the name at Felix.
Once again, Felix slowly but surely wrote down his own name after reading the paper, that was a voucher specifying the amount being paid for the land. After the Chief signed with his own name, the official gathered the papers he filled out and the money, then he signed his own name on the original land deed and stamped it with the Office's seal.
"It's done." The official declared, giving the original deed back to Joseph.
Joseph almost jumped to his feet after collecting the deed, eager to be out of the stuffy office. He nodded at the official and led the retreat. Felix waved at the official with a soft 'thank you' and scrambled behind his brother. The Chief also thanked the official and followed the two at a more sedate pace.
When he joined the brothers, he could hear Joseph cursing. "Fuck officials and their questions."
"Now, Joseph, they are doing their jobs. If they make a mistake, they can also face dire consequences." Darvo educated the seething youngster.
Joseph explosively sighed and roughly rubbed his face. "I know. Doesn't mean I like it." He returned. He eyed Felix and decided to reward his little brother for his help. "Come, let's go to the market. Thanks for your help, Chief." The older man waved them off with a small smile on his face. As he looked at their backs, he felt fulfillment, knowing the dirty and wild kids had grown to become respectable, responsible and mature young men.
With those feelings, he made his way back.
Isabelle hummed as she filled a basket with the dishes she had made.
Joseph and Felix had returned hours ago and immediately went to help their brother with cleaning the plot of land. They just gave her the land deed to safekeep and left. She put the paper away and started cooking. Her dress was coming along, so she had time to pamper her men. More so after their recent venture with the land.
The basket soon was suffused with the smell of shredded pork mixed with pickled vegetables – onions, parsnips and carrots – and boiled potatoes as a side dish. She also took the jar that contained the lemon and orange juice Felix made the day before. The jar did not look appropriate to hold the juice, so she thought of buying a better recipient the next time she went to town.
For the time being, the jar would do.
Looking up at the birch trees, a smile bloomed on her face. To think she would basically own some of the trees that adorned the village. There were not many of them, but they were very striking with their whitish trunk and vibrant yellow leaves.
"Food's here!" Isabelle called out to the working men, who paused and started walking towards her.
She chose a place that had a fallen tree trunk so they could sit. It looked quite sturdy still, so she guessed it could hold their weight. It did hold her weight together with Lucas and Joseph who flanked her. Felix got comfortable on the ground in front of her.
Before they could start digging in, she passed around some wet towels she had prepared so they could clean some of the grime from going around cutting weed and shrubs. Only then, she started serving the food, making sure the plates that had more food in them was given to the men.
As a comfortable silence settled, Isabelle glanced at Joseph and Felix. Then, she opened up her mouth to ask: "How did it go at the Office?" Joseph's face turned a bit pinched while Felix lowered his face. "Were you not able to register the land?"
Joseph put his plate down and looked up at her. "There were no problems..." He trailed off, unsure on what to share from their experience.
"Those people in the offices are so mean!" Felix exclaimed. Although he was proud of being able to write down the family name and his own name on the papers, he still could not forget the embarrassing moment where he messed up. "They asked over 'nd over where we got the money ta buy the land!" Exalted, he even reverted back to the way he used to speak.
The change of their way of speaking had not been deliberate. It was a matter of mimetics. The five have been together for close to two months, so they inevitably ended up imitating each other.
Isabelle's way of speaking changed in the way that she sometimes lilted some words or heavily dropped the volume of her voice at the end of a sentence, making it difficult to hear, similar to the brothers. On the other hand, the guys had been slowly abandoning the way they contracted their words and slurred others thanks to Isabelle's proper pronunciation.
"What did you say?" Isabelle inquired, worried.
"Said it was given. They asked by who. We said our Wife. They went to check if we were actually married. Since there was no marriage, the guy was suspicious. So, I..." Joseph continued, but suddenly closed his mouth and looked away guiltily.
"What?" Isabelle blinked confused at his sudden reticence.
Felix fidgeted before taking a deep breath. "Since we couldn't say the truth of how we met, we… we said it had been an exchange..." He slowly and carefully explained.
Realization was starting to dawn on her face until Lucas hammered it into her. "Bought from someone."
Oh…
"Oh…" The word escaped her mouth.
It makes sense. They cannot lie to officials like we did with the villagers. Officials do have veridic proof with documents.
Her thoughts were logical, yet her stomach still twisted uncomfortably.
The truth of the situation was that she was found in the wild, and had no identity. It was hard to prove she was a law-abiding citizen and not some ruffian or illegal immigrant that posed a threat to others. On that note, it was the first time she thought being an amnesiac had its drawbacks. If only she knew who she was, where she came from, then…
Her spiraling thoughts halted when she felt a hand on her thigh. She looked up at Lucas' apologetic expression. Not only him, even Joseph and Felix expressed the same on their faces.
The knot on her stomach loosened a bit. She might regret being an amnesiac; she would never regret meeting them. "You did what you had to do." She firmly said, dispelling both her unease and their worry. "Anyway, were you able to do the registration?" That was the most important part of the whole conversation.
The three stared a moment longer at her until Joseph nodded. "We did. They just asked too many questions." Saying his piece, he returned to his forgotten meal. He could not let Isabelle's effort go to waste.
"Did you have problems when reading or writing?" She continued questioning, the air between them more relaxed than at the beginning of the conversation.
The day before, after the whole argument about buying the land ended, she had lent a shocked Felix her notebook and pencil to practice. He cried some happy tears and immediately started using them.
And, since he had wanted to be prepared for the registration, he pulled an unwilling Joseph to practice, too. That was the reason why Lucas and her had stayed outside after their bath, and how Ethan found them.
A smug smirk crossed Joseph's face. "That guy's eyes almost bugged out when he saw Felix write." Felix blushed, hearing his brother's rare praise, and could not help puff in pride once again when Lucas patted his shoulder.
Isabelle could not help but lean forward to kiss his cheek. He looked exactly like the rooster they had at home whenever it tried to impress the hens.
"Unfair." Joseph joked, softly elbowing her.
"Knowing you, Felix must have done everything." Isabelle playfully rolled her eyes at him.
"I did." Felix nodded, following the gag.
Joseph huffed and kicked the teen, who laughed. Then, he turned to his mischievous lover and stole a kiss from her smiling lips. She pushed him away with a pout, though her eyes were shining in mirth. Their meal ended in a merry way.