Sally sighed.

  She was proud of her daughter.

  Really, she was!

  Setting up two restaurants in their little village in as many weeks was really impressive.

  And it was almost enough to cover their debts.

  Not quite enough, but maybe…

  She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she had seen the line down at the city square herself.

  Her daughter was a business genius!

  Maybe not a cooking genius, since she only really made three things…

  But she sure could sell those three things!

  The problem was…

  Her daughter was only eight years old.

  And now she wanted to leave their village on her own!

  “But, Mama, I’m going to bring Mr. Cat with me!”

  Sally sighed again.

  Gods and Goddesses forgive her, she was going to use one of the words the younger kids around the village kept repeating.

  That was just so extra!

  She didn’t even know if it was better or worse!

  Actually, it was worse!

  It was just worse!

  “Meow.”

  The cat in question just licked his paw and groomed behind his ear.

  “Lily, explain it from the beginning. Where do you want to go, and why?”

  “Okay!”

  Perhaps Sally’s greatest blessing was her daughter’s filial piety.

  Yes, perhaps even more than her husband!

  (It was very close in her heart though!)

  Lily was a fantastic daughter. She listened, she did what she was told, she had a good attitude…

  Sally thanked the Gods and Goddesses every night for her daughter and her husband!

  And the Gods and Goddesses blessed her in return!

  Bill’s healing was proceeding as fast as it possibly could.

  He would make a full recovery!

  It was a miracle, given the accident…

  Truly, literally, a miracle!

  What nobody had counted on was how expensive the surgery and aftercare had been…

  Even the Gods and Goddesses had been shocked!

  But, that wasn’t the issue at hand.

  Lily wanted to go off outside the village, by herself!

  As far as Sally was concerned, her pet cat didn’t count as a companion, let alone an adult.

  Lily pulled out a map—where had she gotten that map from, anyway?—and spread it out on the table.

  “Look, Mama, here’s our village, Three Creeks!”

  Lily stood on her chair and reached her little arm, pushing her finger against the spot depicting their home village.

  Nestled in the foothills, at the confluence of three mountain creeks where they merged into a navigable river, which…

  Economic stuff!

  “We talked to the mayor, and he recommended expanding to one of these three villages!”

  Of course, there were only three neighboring villages.

  Then, down the river, there was Charleston, the nearest town.

  And the river continued, merging with other rivers, until eventually it reached the capital, at the top of an inlet with sea access…

  The Great Swamp City!

  The Capital of the Kingdom of Appalashia!

  Lily’s map, however, didn’t show that much.

  Instead, it showed the western reaches of the kingdom.

  North of Three Creeks Village, and the next village Lily pointed to, was Lumberville.

  No prizes for guessing what they did there!

  “And then there’s Stone Pit, and Grassy Hill!”

  Who named these villages?!

  Still, it was mighty useful.

  If you were going to Stone Pit, you knew why you were going there!

  In fact, Three Creeks Village might have been lucky.

  They could have been named Mine Village, or something!

  Sally forced herself to focus, rather than get distracted, despite how much she wanted to avoid the reality.

  Sally was a good-at-math mom.

  That’s where Lily had gotten her math talent!

  She knew Lily needed to expand her business, if she was going to accomplish her goal.

  And she felt bad about it!

  Because it felt a little selfish! She was relying on her daughter—her young, eight-year-old daughter—to pay for her retirement!

  Of course, it was more the debt…

  And there wasn’t much Sally could do, because she was stuck taking care of her husband!

  Was it really all right, to rely on her daughter like that?

  There was no question about her husband.

  She loved him, and wanted to take care of him, and help him get better, and that was a good thing!

  But, her daughter…

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Lily…

  Didn’t care about that!

  She’d set her mind on paying for her parents to retire, and that was that!

  And she was doing it!

  Lily went on explaining her expansion plans.

  “...and that’s why we decided on Stone Pit! They’re always working, and that means they’ll always want Lilyburgers to keep their energy up!”

  Of course, the ghosts had helped Lily with her planning.

  By the way, Mr. Cat had voted for Lumberville!

  He was fond of climbing trees, and boy did they have a lot of trees there!

  Lily had had to put her foot down, although she promised to go there next.

  Sally leaned over the map.

  Stone Pit…

  Was only a few miles away!

  The villages were surprisingly close to each other!

  Or, perhaps not.

  They had been founded back when the fastest way to get around was riding a horse, and the next fastest was walking.

  It would be a half day’s walk, and longer if one was pulling a cart or carrying a heavy pack.

  Now, they had automobiles!

  Cars!

  Rubber tires, loud engines, and even headlights!

  They were still rather primitive, but the new contraptions were giving horses a run for their money!

  Lily had even worked on a couple cars before, last month when she had been doing chores!

  She was just the right size to crawl underneath one and change the oil!

  By car, Stone Pit was only a fifteen minute drive away.

  But, Lily’s family didn’t have a car! Nor did they have a horse!

  “Lily, how were you planning to get to Stone Pit? Walk?”

  On her little legs, that was a full day’s journey…

  “George is going to give me a ride!”

  “The mayor?”

  “Yeah! He said he was going to visit Stone Pit anyway, for go- I mean, Business Golf!”

  Lily explained that while the mayor was golfing, Lily would be visiting their Royal Bank branch and local smith to order a cart and find a shop to convert into another restaurant.

  Sally felt a pang of regret.

  She had heard about her daughter’s golf talent, and lamented not being their to witness it herself.

  What if she had missed Lily’s first words, or her first steps?

  Her daughter was growing up so fast…

  Tap

  Tap

  Tap

  Bill entered the dining room, relying heavily on his cane. Sally rushed to pull out a chair for him at the table, and he sat down with a huff.

  “Phew…”

  “Good morning, Papa! How are you feeling?”

  Bill had heard their discussion from his room.

  “Just fine, pumpkin.”

  He knew how his wife was feeling.

  “Sally, you should go with her.”

  “Huh? But, Bill…”

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said bravely. “I can handle myself for a few hours.”

  Sally bit her lip.

  It was true, Bill could get up and move around on his own, at least a bit.

  “But…”

  “Sally.”

  Bill looked at her with determination in his eyes!

  And Sally made up her mind!

  “Okay, but I’m going to whip up some food for you before we go.”

  “Yay!” Lily cried.

  She hadn’t spent a lot of time with her mother over the last few weeks.

  Mainly only at breakfast and dinner.

  She said prayers of thanks to the Gods and Goddesses!

  Sally quickly prepared an extra big lunch for her husband, and then she set out with her daughter and her daughter’s cat (and her daughter’s ghosts) for the mayor’s house.

  “Oh, Miss Sally, are you coming as well?”

  “Yeah, Mama’s coming with me!” Lily answered brightly.

  The Mayor was dressed in his golf clothes already!

  “Most excellent. I was a little worried about Lily being on her own, to be honest…”

  “Yes, me too.”

  They quickly agreed on the plan for the day, and then set off!

  The engine rumbled!

  The tires rolled over the dirt road!

  The wind blew in their hair!

  The car’s top speed was about twenty miles an hour!

  Of course, the mayor didn’t drive nearly that fast.

  Safety first!

  But soon enough, they arrived!

  The village of Stone Pit!

  It was a little deeper in the mountains, and as its name suggested, it was a stone quarry village!

  About the same size as Three Creeks Village, the primary industry was digging stone out of the mountain, and floating it down a river to the rest of the kingdom. About a hundred and fifty men worked in the quarry, cutting and hauling the stone.

  And they all ate packed lunches every day!

  There was also a rather difficult golf course, full of hills and bunkers…

  ‘Bunker’ is what golfers call sand traps!

  The mayor parked his car at the country clubhouse, to meet with his golf buddies…

  Er, that is, his business associates…

  And Lily and Sally walked hand in hand to the city square!

  The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and they were both so happy to be spending time together!

  “Mrow…”

  Mr. Cat waddled after them.

  But, it was good exercise for him!

  He just wished it wasn’t quite so warm…

  “Oh, we’ll have to find some water for your cat soon, Lily.”

  “Yeah! Poor Mr. Cat…”

  “Meow…”

  They arrived at the bank, and a receptionist was waiting for them.

  She was a clerk, like Gertrude, but her hair was a brown so dark it was nearly black, and she had bright brown eyes, and she was wearing a plain black dress.

  “Welcome, you must be Miss Lily. Three Creeks Mayor George informed us you would be coming.” She turned to Lily’s Mama. “And you are…?”

  “My name is Sally, I’m Lily’s mother.”

  The clerk raised an eyebrow. “My name is Rose. We were told that Lily was emancipated…”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Sally said, a little sadly. “But, it’s her first trip out of her village, so I came along.”

  “Yeah! I’m spending time with Mama today!” Lily chimed in.

  “And will your mother be participating in the business discussion?”

  Lily tilted her head. “Hmm, probably not.”

  Sally nodded.

  “Right, I’m really just along for the ride…”

  Sally was feeling a critical lack of agency right now!

  But, she couldn’t get too involved!

  She was still headed for debtor’s prison, after all…

  She didn’t want her debts to get in the way of her daughter’s business!

  So, she simply sat down, and Mr. Cat jumped up into her lap, and let her daughter and Rose talk about their business. She stroked Mr. Cat’s soft fur, and his purring soothed her.

  Purr purr… purr purr…

  Unlike in their home village, Stone Pit wouldn’t let them just set up a cart at the quarry.

  Especially not if it needed water and power!

  But, at the same time, there was plenty of room for the cart, and it would be nice for the stoneworkers.

  They settled on a fee of one hundred and fifty dollars a month for the hookups.

  Then they went over the available shops in the village’s city square.

  But when they got there…

  “Oh!”

  Lily looked around.

  There wasn’t a fountain!

  Nor were there any benches for people to sit!

  Instead it was just a big open plaza, ringed with shops and stalls.

  The ghosts were about to chime in with their own advice, but…

  “We’ll need to buy some tables and chairs!”

  Lily came up with the idea on her own!

  She was getting good at this business stuff!

  The quarry had its own picnic benches, but the city square needed seating!

  She asked for permission from Rose, but…

  “Well, I’ll have to ask the mayor about that.”

  “Okay,” Lily replied.

  That was fine.

  She couldn’t get everything set up in one visit anyway.

  Today, she would order the cart and get that sorted, since it could be done quickly. She’d also do a few job interviews, and look for a manager.

  And if she was lucky, she’d have time to practice her putting with the mayor before it was time to go...