When I arrived at Big Bonny’s the following morning, she told me she’d snuck into the clock tower.
It was fixable, but there was one little snag…she’d thrown her tools into the fountain!
She asked if I would go get them for her.
I fished them out of the fountain and raced back to her house.
She started choking on her own spit again. I whacked her back good.
She told me the clock gears needed to be oiled.
Steve had oil, I knew he did.
She let me have my way and gave me an empty oil can.
Her tools were ruined…or so she thought.
Couldn’t they be repaired?
She didn’t see a point but I don’t give up that easily. Anything can be fixed!
I knew this was a job for Conrad. He wasn’t a master blacksmith for nothing!
I tried to ignore her negativity.
I asked Steve for some oil.
He told me he had diesel, but that it was oily diesel. Should work just as well, I guess.
I filled up my can with oil before heading off to Conrad’s.
He’s silly.
When I got to Conrad’s, I asked if he could help me with something.
He was willing to look at them, just because it was me. Aww, I felt special.
After he looked at them and told me it was the toughest project I could’ve asked him to do, I felt my heart sink a little bit.
He went on to explain that I’d have to travel into the dangerous heart of Garnok to retrieve a special type of iron for the project.
He said he had a tent that I could take to sleep in on my journey.
I picked it up.
He told me that the trip would take at least a month, and I would have to make the journey alone…horses were forbidden! I couldn’t believe it…a month without my horse?! For iron to repair these clockmaker’s tools!?
Somehow I felt like “serious sacrifice” was an understatement. I couldn’t believe I had to do this…
…Until he started laughing…what on Earth?!
A joke? I felt a heavy burden lift off my shoulders at the same time that my cheeks flamed with red heat.
The tools were already fixed…and here I was falling for a well-crafted joke.
Yes, you keep your children laughing at this hilarious joke. Just watch that I don’t come back with an even bigger one. Bwahaha.
Big Bonny was thrilled to have the oil.
She was convinced the tools were still a lost cause, though.
I pulled them out and dangled them in her face. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Finally, I think she was ready.
Only, she wasn’t ready the way I thought she would be. She wanted ME to repair the clock in her place!
Near fainting is pretty serious…
She begged me, for the sake of the villagers.
She assured me that she’d give me exact, detailed instructions. Perfect. Just what I need to get the job done.
First, use the wrench on the wheel by the clock face.
Oil in funnel. Wind the spring. Pull the lever.
When I got to the clock tower, I used the wrench on the wheel.
I poured the oil in the funnel.
I wound the spring with the winding key.
I pulled the lever.
Easy peasy! I rode back to Big Bonny to tell her I’d done everything successfully!
She was so happy she started cheering….for herself.
When she’s awarded a metal for my effort…yeah, okay.
The clock was fixed and that was the important thing.
She was so convinced that the Councilman would throw her a hero’s parade and give her flowers. Haha.
She ran to see him.
He was very surprised to see her.
He asked her to take a look at the clock, not realizing she, er, I…had already fixed it.
He gave her a small thanks and said he had to be going. I knew Big Bonny wasn’t going to be happy about that…
I was right…a minute later, she was wailing about being insignificant.
I stopped him before Big Bonny had a chance to make a beeline for the silo again.
I quickly explained the situation to him.
He graciously stepped up his performance.
Thankfully, it all went over well with her.
She returned home to clean and invited me to come visit whenever I had the chance!
Here’s a new shirt I got, too!
Rachel Mistwood 