Her Celestial Farm on the Scrapyard Planet novel Chapter 55

Chapter 55 The Seed of a Community

Finished

Elizabeth blinked, then connected the dots. “Mr. Powell? You were at the recycling station last night?”

Timothy nodded hard, eyes reddening. “Mr. Powell… he got sick because of us.”

He sniffled, voice cracking. “Yesterday, a bunch of bad guys broke into our town. They were beating everyone, stealing everything, trying to take the ladies and the older girls… Mr. Powell and some of the guys charged in and fought them off. But Mr. Powell pushed himself too hard, and his–his backlash-”

He looked up, tears and something almost reverent shining in his eyes. “Ms. Elizabeth, I saw it! It was your potatoes that saved Mr. Powell! Everyone’s calling it a miracle!”

Elizabeth was touched by the boy’s sincerity, but a different question nagged at her. “Why didn’t you bring anyone else with you?”

Timothy’s face tensed. “Selina said–not without your permission. She said we shouldn’t tell anyone where you are. It would… it would cause trouble for you.”

Elizabeth mentally gave Selina a gold star.

Smart kid. Thinking that far ahead at her age.

“The town you’re from… how many people live there?” Elizabeth asked.

She thought back to the crowd she had seen last night. Dozens, at least.

“Lots!” Timothy’s chest puffed with quiet pride. “Ms. Elizabeth, Hope Town has been around for years and years! Mr. Rose says that if we stick together, we can fight off the bad guys! But…”

His voice dropped, heavy with sadness. “Last night… the bad guys were too strong. Some of the guys… they didn’t make it…”

Tears finally spilled over.

He scrubbed at his face with a grimy sleeve, trying hard to look tough.

Elizabeth’s heart weighed a little heavier.

Exile to a Garbage Planet was the kingdom’s punishment for serious criminals.

That meant the original Elizabeth–defenseless women, the elderly–shared this world with genuinely dangerous people.

Without men like Melton–former soldiers willing to fight–they’d be defenseless, no matter how many they gathered.

She looked at Timothy’s brave, crumbling face and softened.

She pulled three potatoes from her storage button and held them out. “Take these back with you.”

Timothy’s eyes lit up. Then he shook his head vigorously. “No, Ms. Elizabeth! These are way too precious! I

1/3

9:39 am

Chapter 55 The Seed of a Community

Finished

can’t!”

“They’re not free,” Elizabeth said, putting on her stern face. “This is an advance on your wages. You’ll pay me back in seeds. If you don’t take them, I won’t hire you anymore.”

That got him. Timothy wavered, tiny fingers twisting the hem of his shirt, then gingerly accepted the potatoes as if they were made of glass. “Thank you, Ms. Elizabeth! I promise I’ll find you even better seeds!”

Melton had gotten better after eating potatoes.

He’d bring these straight to him.

He tucked the potatoes carefully into his bag, then spotted the garbage–covered field Elizabeth had been clearing. His hand shot up. “Ms. Elizabeth, are you cleaning all this up? I’ll help!”

Before she could answer, Timothy set down his bag and got to work, mimicking everything he’d seen her do.

Small as he was, the kid was fast. Sharp eyes, nimble hands–he zeroed in on recyclable metals and sorted them into Elizabeth’s designated piles without being told twice.

“These alloys are worth stellar coins,” he explained while working, dead serious. “Mr. Rose taught me. The shiny ones are worth the most. Rusty ones, the station won’t take.”

Elizabeth watched his practiced movements, genuinely impressed.

This kid knew more about trash classification than she did, and she lived here.

The two of them worked side by side. Before they knew it, it was noon.

Elizabeth straightened up and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Break time. Lunch.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify