Chapter Ten
The people of the farm welcomed Demetria with a meal. They had lunch on a couple of picnic tables that were put together end to end under the roof of a pole barn. She sat at the head of the table as a guest of honor. She’d showered and cleaned up the makeup she wore overnight and borrowed some clothes from a girl who lived there. Her black hair cascaded around her face.
David spoke up, “Everybody, this is a new resident. She’ll be here for a little while. I just want everyone to know that she had some trouble with some violent people, so she’s not really ‘here’, got it?”
They all nodded. A young woman with dreadlocks and a nose ring said, “A few of us are in the same boat, don’t worry. This place is safe as can be, and these are all solid people.”
Demetria announced to the whole group, “I know a lot about farming, and a lot of other things too. I look forward to sharing with you. I hope you’ll give me a tour of the fields, today.”
One of the men sitting near them said, “I’ll show you around.” He was a short older man with thick, curly white hair, and kind blue eyes.
She smiled. “Thank you, I am so happy to be here. It’s like coming home again.”
David took note of the expressions on faces in the room. He noted the conversation pick up and the laughter increased. He felt his own energy level pick up. He said, “That’s amazing.”
Demetria shrugged. “It’s just how it works. Do you feel the flow?”
He nodded. “Yeah.” he said.
She nodded to the older man and added, “It’s the same thing with the soil, this ebb and flow. What’s your name, Dear?”
“Stan.” He said and shook her hand. His hands were rough. One of his fingers was paralyzed from an accident he had as a boy.
She held his hand and smiled and said, “These are honest hands on an honest man.”
“Thanks, Miss.” He was beaming.
David asked, “Any recommendations on an alias for her?”
Stan offered, “How about Chloe? I always liked that name.”
David chortled, “That’ll get confusing.”
Demetria said, “Call me Marta.”
The table said in unison, “Hi Marta!”
David saw a familiar face. He waved, “Hey Amy!” He got up to hug her. She was transformed from the girl he knew a few years ago. She was strong and healthy and solid. Her hair was shorter, now, and up in a ponytail on the top of her head. He put his arm around her and gestured to Demetria, “Amy, this is ‘Marta’. She’s also a friend of the Wells family.”
Amy shook Demetria’s hand and studied her face. David said, “Amy built this place.”
Amy smiled, “Robbie and David helped jump start the farm, but all these people really built it.” She gestured around the table.
Stan said, “Marta’s a farmer, too.”
Demetria said. “Yes, for a very long time. I can’t wait to see this place, can you show me? Stan will come too.”
Amy nodded and the four of them left the barn.
Demetria said, “In the fall the fields are very tired. Do you ever play music there?”
Amy raised an eyebrow. “No! We haven’t... Really the thought never crossed my mind.”
Demetria took Amy’s hand. “I know this will sound crazy to you, but you should give them company. They like it. It keeps them strong.”
Amy looked at David. He shrugged. Amy said, “OK. I always like to learn something new.” She wasn’t convinced. She was wondering if Demetria was crazy.
They walked into a corn field. Demetria slumped her shoulders a little. “It’s tired.” She knelt down and touched the ground. “Do you feel it?” She asked them.
Stan looked around, “How can you tell?”
Demetria said, “Don’t look with your eyes.”
David closed his eyes and relaxed and tried to feel it. “Hmmm. I can’t really tell.”
Demetria pulled him down onto his knees. She said, “It takes some practice, that’s all. It will actually talk to you eventually.” She looked at Amy, “Are there singers here at the farm?”
Amy nodded and started to head back toward the barns, “Sure. Let me go get the girls.”
Stan and David waited. Stan kept trying to touch the fields and listened for them to talk. He shrugged at David. Demetria seemed so certain it was hard to ignore.
Amy returned with four young women. Three of them were college aged and the fourth was a teen. The girl with the dreadlocks was really eager to find out what Demetria was talking about.
Demetria stood in front of them and said, “This whole place is not only alive, but it hears you and talks to you. But its speech is very subtle. Over a long time, we learned how to hear it and talk to it. Songs work best for talking to it, so I will teach you one today.”
She sang the words. She first sang it in Greek. It was a beautiful, simple melody. The tones of the scale were alien to their ears. When she was done, they were all smiling. One of the girls asked, “Is that a dorian scale?”
Demetria smiled and nodded. “You know music?”
“Yeah, I studied it in college.” The girl said. She was wearing overalls and had her hair tucked under an old John Deere hat.
Demetria tapped her head, then said, “Let me translate, I don’t think the words actually matter, but maybe the sentiment does. Here goes.” She sang,
“Oh Earth thank you for all you bring,
Green shoots in spring,
And flowers in May,
And rolling fields of wheat so fair,
Like golden tresses of a mother’s hair.”
They all sang. Stan teared up and the salty drop fell on the field. “That’s beautiful.” He said.
She clasped his hands and said, “See this feeling you have is not for the music, or the girls, but for this place and these fields.” Stan nodded. He held his hands out and breathed in the air.
David felt his hair stand on end. He knelt on the ground and touched the soil. Demetria looked at Amy and David, “Now do you feel a difference? It can be very subtle and hard to sort out from your own feelings.”
David said, “I did feel something. It was really very sudden. Right when they stopped singing. That was beautiful girls.”
Demetria felt the energy and understanding building. Her eyes were light and lively. “The thing that’s important is that you mean it, understand it, think about it, make it artful. If it becomes rote, stupid drudgery it will have no effect.”
Amy asked, “So what will it do? Or how does it work?”
Demetria smiled. ”It will take time to show you, because it’s much more than just this.” She smacked her hands together, “Believe it or not, people used to practice abstinence in the fields to try to exchange their sexual energy with the earth, but for me, nothing’s better than lovemaking in the fields. Do you do that?”
Amy blanched. The girls laughed. The girl with the dreadlocks nodded and held her hands up and said, “Guilty!”
Demetria put her arm around the girl. “I like this one. Will you stay with me?”
The girl laughed, “You are not shy, Marta! I’m Vera, by the way.”
Amy poked David in the chest, “Never a dull moment with you people! I love her. Do you have any more?”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 10