Chapter 27: Concern

                                    

                                          

              "I heard from Robin that Adeline's coop is finished," Marnie said with a raised brow as she watched Shane feeding his chickens. His head jerked up to look at her, considering he hadn't even known she was there. 
              "Yeah...?" 
              "Perhaps she could benefit from a head start on her flock," Marnie suggested as she nodded over at the large flock of newly hatched chicks. Shane nodded hesitantly and then sighed. 
              "I... I'm worried about her, Aunt Marnie," Shane admitted. It was the most grounded and present Marnie had seen him in a while. She slowly nodded and sighed. "I... think she's in danger." Marnie froze at those words, unsure of how that sweet little one could have possibly attracted any sense of danger. 
              "Well... we just have to be there for her, then. Try to make her as safe as possible," Marnie responded. She wasn't completely confident in her words, but she didn't let the uncertainty show. 
              "I don't know how to do that..." Shane muttered as the feeling of uselessness flooded through him. 
              "You don't have to be fancy about it, Shane. Little things can add up and go a long way."
              "Her phone!" Shane burst out, confusing his aunt. "Can I borrow the truck? To make a trip to Grampleton?" Marnie nodded, not completely sure what his plan was. But it was the most dedicated she'd seen him in a while. 
              "Just be careful," Marnie stated, and Shane nodded.
Shane spent some time hand-picking a few chicks to bring over to the farm. After picking out four baby chicks, two white, one brown, and one of his specially bred blue chickens, he grabbed some feed and headed to the farm.
It was two in the afternoon, so Shane hoped that Adeline would be willing to go on a trip. He trudged his way out to the farm to see several figures of people working in various places with one sitting on the porch. He noticed that it was Sebastian sitting on the porch with a laptop on his lap. Sam was moving logs of wood to a small woodshed that Shane didn't recall being there in the past, but a lot had changed on the farm in the past couple of months Adeline had been there. 
He noticed Abigail working with the crops and so he moved his attention to the last figure, Adeline. She was in the middle of walking down a path, so he didn't know if she was working on any task in particular. 
"Shane?" Sebastian questioned as he looked up from the laptop. Adeline's eyes instantly found him and Shane shuffled awkwardly. 
"Can I talk to you Addie?" he questioned. Adeline nodded and motioned him over to an area of the farm where none of her friends were working. 
"I... brought some friends," Shane gently lifted the carrier he held in his hands slightly. "They're old enough to be on their own, but still pretty young." 
"Shane... you didn't have to," she responded but her face lit up brightly. 
              "I also... wanted to ask if you'd like to go on a mini trip with me, over to Grampleton... so we can change your phone number." She looked up to him with wide and surprised eyes. 
              "You don't have t-"
              "Addie... please," Adeline observed Shane intensely before she nodded slightly. 
              "Okay. Yeah... okay."