>>6070276>No new postsYou let yourself in and left the groceries upon Cora's meager dining table, correcting the bag as it began to slump. "I do tend to keep t' my word. I expect you don't begrudge me for taking so little time."
The nurse took your nutberry basket from you and shook her head. "I'm more appreciative of your efforts at the moment." A moment was taken to contemplate, then-- "You must've been the petty type."
The implication prompted a huff. "Cora, I can guarantee you I've never been a criminal to begin with. The only reason I was ever locked up was choosin' the wrong place to pass out." You pulled up a thatched chair and motioned for Cora to return your basket. "Bring that back; I've got something to show you."
Cora did as you asked, but stayed only a brief moment. She quickly got to stocking produce instead, laying it all out atop a dresser and sorting it into different baskets she had atop a different shelf.
After a protracted wait, you finally managed to get her to settle down and showed her what you'd discovered on the way to the Gulch. Cora seemed somewhat unimpressed by the discovery, commenting how she "wish[ed] that it had a proper fruit", but humored your inquiry about naturalists in the area.
"Oh, you're serious. Well... nobody comes to mind, really. You're rather fish-out-of-water here in more ways than just being foreign. Shenanigan's Gulch is a mining and trading outpost, not a proper city." There seemed to be a hint of bitterness in her tone. "It's a shame, but I doubt you'll find help. Better you look elsewhere if you're out for animal trackers."
The rest of the day was spent planning out tomorrow and making sure the house was as good a safe haven as you were gonna get. Windows were barricaded (at Cora's insistence), meals were made and split between the icebox and the table, a few more nutberries were hollowed out and your pointy rock was made into a makeshift dagger.
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Next morning was a brief one. Cora insisted she stay at home the entire time-- you couldn't convince her to leave no matter what you did and struggled for arguments that would persuade her to come with you. Eventually, you just left the house without her.
In your hand you kept your nutberry basket. Within it was only a couple of nutberries. The rest of the basket was filled with your dagger, a few snacks, a (very, <span class="mu-i">very</span> crumpled) edition of yesterday's news, and your new notebook.
Now all you needed was your old pencil and pen and you'd be golden.
[cont.]