Finding Femininity

After lunch, Angus took Cassidy to the farmer's market in Hogsmeade. It was held in a large farmer's barn not far from town. Angus was sure it was not what Cassidy had expected. He figured she had expected to be standing out in the cold on the Hogsmeade main street. Farmers from all over the area who had managed to, magically, grow and harvest all sorts of fruits and vegetables and more out of season were displaying their wares. He picked up two large market baskets, handed one to Cassidy and kept one for himself.

He went to one of the farmers he frequented often and ordered several cases of various jams and jellies and preserves and other home canned products to restock his pantry. The farmer knew to bill Brian's personal account and ship the order to Sparks to be forwarded to the estate.

He made his way to another booth and picked up a raspberry and tasted it. Sour. They needed another day or so to ripen. He picked up a berry and gave it to Cassidy to try. He wanted her to know the difference. From there, he went to the strawberries. Tiny wild strawberries. They were ruby red and almost sparkled with ripeness. He picked up one and tasted it. It made him smile. They were delightful, and it gave him countless ideas in the kitchen. He picked up one of the tiny wild strawberries and gave it to Cassidy. "Taste that now," he told her. Then he looked at the farmer. "How many pints do you have of these?" he asked.

"I have 12 left," the farmer said.

"I'll take them all," Angus said. He looked at Cassidy. "Check out the peaches, would you? And maybe the blueberries? Or anything else that is exceptional?"

Cassidy was wowed by what she saw men and woman moved back and forth the sights and smells seem wonderful the coloers of all the fruits in every direction , quickly she followed Angus and watched him she placed a ja he gave her into her then followed him to a stall with razberrys on she saw him pull a face asn fround curiuse as to why but when she tatsed it she realied " wow thats sour , does that mean there not ready?" she asked as she took the strawberry from him looking at it she saw how red it was and then plced it in her mouth she tasted how sweet it was and smiled " nice, its sweet but yet still firm" she added " would look goos aas a decoration on a white chocolat cake the red would realy stand out , or maybe in a tart with vanilla ice cream." she said smiling still.

She moved to the peach stand picking one up she held it finding it soft as she smelt a slight oder bitter and not pleasant , she moved to a second and found it was diferant hard yet slightly soft but a sweet smell the skins unbroken and she smiled " Angus, how many peaches do you want, this stall had perfect ones on" she said looking at him and smiling as she walked over with the one she held gently and showed him.

"Make sure we have at least a dozen nice sweet ones," Angus said, checking out the pears. They were large and ripe and sweet. The clerk at the stand cut one into slices for him and gave him a slice. He tasted it and smiled. "Those are the best I have ever had," he said. "I'll buy all you have. Send them all to Sparks." He intended to divide them between Sparks and what he needed for the house.

"All of them?" the clerk echoed, unbelieving.

"Every last one," Angus smiled.

"I have a whole truckload!" the clerk protested.

"And I have a restaurant," Angus said, only half lying. He was always on the look out for good fruit for Lizzie.

When he had bought all the fruit and vegetables and herbs and all sorts of fresh flours he wanted, he moved on and bought pounds of cremery fresh butter--salted and unsalted. He bought fresh milk and creams, sour creams, cheeses, and greek style yogurt.

He checked out the meat counter and bought all sorts of fresh beef, pork, and chicken to store in the freezer. He was sure Cassidy wasn't going to believe the amount that he had purchased and had ordered to be forwarded to Sparks. But it was how Angus had been doing the marketing for the estate for a long time. He had stopped at almost every booth. He wanted the freshest from local growers from the estate. He didn't believe in buying much that was already prepackaged or prepared already. He preferred to do it himself.

Cassidy orderd a dozen and gave sparks addres the man smiled and nodded saying he knew what to do. Cassidy walked over to Angus " wow thats a lot of things " she said seing how much he had bought " thought is it true fresh is always better?"she asked looking at some herbs taking a small amount she slent it " nice aroma taragon or oregano?" she asked looking up at him then she stood up " smells like it would go well in a soup " she said then clicked her fingers " blueberrys i forgot those " she said looking at him half smiling " sorry" she said but she saw a stall " there come on " she said grasping his hand she pulled him to it . Taking a hand full she showed him " what do you think ?" she asked smelling them " humm Im not so sure, they smell earthy" she held out her hands to him waiting for his opinion on the berrys.

"Both," he told her about the herbs. "I'm going to put in a massive herb garden this year. I'm tired of buying them when we can grow them ourselves. And I use a lot of them." He took a blueberry and tasted it. "They're okay," he shrugged. He looked over the containers and then saw some where the color looked just a bit darker and brighter. He took one of those and tasted them. "Much better. Here. Try this one." He handed her one of the other ones. "Brighter, more defined flavor." He chose that container and several others that met his expectations. When it came to fruits and vegetables, he was very finicky.

"Oh, that reminds me. I need to send to Sparks for more coffee, sodas, and teas for the house. Lizzie can just send them when she comes and delivers them. Oh, and I'll include an order for another case of beer. Sometimes the guys go through the beer. They've been good about it lately, but I would rather the house stay supplied. And Lizzie buys them from a microbrewer for us. I buy lighter ales for spring that dont' have the heavy taste of, for example, the pumpkin ales. I buy them as seasonally as I do everything else.

"I think we're ready to go from here. I think I have everything. Do you see anything else that really interests you?"

Cassidy listened and smiled " yes, fresh herbs also attract wild life too, so we'd be helping the enviroment too " she said noting how she said we and not he she wanted something to keep her busy and a garden would do just that since she was good at growing things back at her home. she looked around and took a deep breath in " nope i think i have seen it all " she said and smiled she listened to the sounds and took in the smells and liked what she found " this place is amazing , Im glad I came " she faced him again and smiled " I can't wait to see what you and I can come up with with all those fresh ingrediants" she moved to stand with him " lets get back , I think im ready for a cu of coffee , what about you?" she asked.

"Oh, definitely," Angus said. "And the girls are going to soon want me to be working on dinner. I'm fixing a great red snapper tonight with a lemon caper sauce. I think you'll like it. I'm cooking the fish in parchment with slices of Italian lemon and some fresh dill. It will have an amazing flavor. And just wait til you see what I'm doing for vegetables and for sides. Shall we go?"

He took her hand and apparated her back home. They arrived back in time to hear Abbey screaming in pain again in the living room. "I really am going to have to take Dakota's toys from her," Angus sighed. "How about pouring us some coffee? I'll be right back."

He went into the living room, and Dakota was repeatedly walloping Abbey with a brightly colored plastic fish. Abbey was shrieking and crying in pain. When she saw Angus, she reached up her hands to him. He went over and picked her up, and she curled into him, crying. "You really do need to learn how to swat her back or throw those toys out of her way, Girl," he said, holding her and kissing her tearstained cheek. "Max," he called the white cat. "Baby!" The cat came out from under the sofa, yawning, stretching and went over to Dakota, who started to giggle and babble. Max nudged the little girl and started to walk off, looking back at her to get her to follow. The baby excitedly crawled off after him.

"I really do like that cat," Angus laughed, heading back into the kitchen, still soothing Abbey.

Cassidy took his hand and elt him aperate her back to the kitchen of the rantch , she looked at the kitchen door as she heard Abbey cry out her heart jumped but when Angus said he'd be right back she nodded thinking the meal sounded intresting she'd seen it at restarunts but not how they make it and she was so intrested flicking on the kettle she took down two cups smiling as she saw Angus with Abby and the tear stains on her cheeks " ow dear tiny tears " she said taking a soft cloth and wiping her face clean opening the fridge she pored a bottle of juice " here abby this should help" she handsed it to her " she should learn to fight back its not fare on her to be hurt all the time " she said brushing the girls soft hair from her face. The kettle poped and she turned making two coffees she placed Angus's down on the table she sat down and blew over hers.

"She's just a very gentle little soul," Angus said, kissing Abbey's cheek as Abbey took the juice bottle from Cassidy. "Her family will bring her up knowing how to take care of herself. "Max is on duty with Dakota. He's taking her on a walk under all the furniture. He's learning 'Baby' means "Max, come take Dakota for a walk.'" He laughed. "He's a great cat. And he doesn't ever seem to get tired of Dakota. See? Here they come." Max walked into the kitchen and walked over to the water bowl and took a drink. Dakota walked over and sat down in front of the kibble bowl and picked up a handful of kibbles to eat.

"Kibbles? Again? Really, Dakota?" Angus frowned. "Cassidy, would you mind? I'm sure Khaat would prefer her daughter not eat the cat food."

Cassidy chuckled " yeah, i noticed " she watched as Dakota and max came in and over to the bowl , leaning down Cassidy brished the kibble from her hand and wiped it clean " here eat this " she said and gave her a soft bisket as she picked her up off the floor cassidy gave Abby one also. " I know she is a good child Dakota is too but she's rough with abby I hope they do get along eventually " she said brushing Dakotas hair back from her face too. she placed her on the floor once she ahd finished her bisket and watched as Max took her back in the living room . Cassidy chuckled and went back to her own coffee which was now cooled in the cup. "how dificult it is this dish your going to do?" she asked him wanting to learn more.