Chapter 525
When Penelope and Julian got dressed and went outside, the sky was already flashing with lightning and rumbling with thunder.
The farmer’s wife and parents had already gathered the grain on the east side of the RV, but a large patch of crops below and to the west of the vehicle remained, blocked from harvest.
The farmer was frantic, repeatedly knocking on the RV door, but it was unclear if the person inside couldn’t hear or was simply ignoring him. After a long while, there was still no response.
“Please, can you get up and move your vehicle? The rain is about to start any minute. Once it does, all these crops will be ruined! It’s not easy for us farmers to grow a season’s worth of grain. Please, have some consideration!”
The farmer pleaded, but the RV remained silent.
Penelope couldn’t stand by and watch. She told Julian to wait under the eaves and jogged over.
“My goodness, with all this noise, if the person inside still can’t hear, I wonder if something’s wrong,” Penelope said loudly to the farmer, her voice laced with deliberate concern.
The farmer didn’t catch her meaning at first. “What?”
Penelope repeated, “I’m saying, maybe something happened to the person inside!”
“Happened?”
“Well, they’re not deaf, are they? How could they not hear such a commotion?”
Hearing this, the farmer started to believe it.
“You don’t think something really happened, do you?”
“Something definitely happened!” Penelope’s eyes darted around. She gestured for the farmer to step back, then took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and landed a solid kick on the RV door.
The kick was so forceful it shook the entire vehicle. Just as she was about to kick again, a light flicked on inside. A moment later, Maria yanked the door open, her face a mask of fury as she glared at Penelope.
“You’re kicking my RV in the middle of the night, keeping me from sleeping! You’ve gone too far!”
Penelope blinked. “Oh, so you’re not dead?”
“You’re the one who’s dead! How dare you curse me!”
“Then why didn’t you answer when he was knocking on your door?”
“You were disturbing my rest!”
“So you heard him, but you just couldn’t be bothered to respond.”
“Why should I respond to him? I told you, I was resting, I
“Stop, stop, enough with the nonsense!” Penelope pointed to the sky. “It’s about to pour. Move your RV right now so these people can harvest their crops.”
“Who are you shouting at? My daughter is sleeping! If you wake her, I’ll make you pay!”
“I said, move the vehicle!”
“Why should I? I’m parked right here, and I’m not moving!”
“Are you incapable of understanding plain English?”
“I think you have no idea what happens when you cross me!”
Just then, another clap of thunder echoed, and the wind picked up, signaling the imminent downpour.
The farmer was desperate, clasping his hands together and begging Maria.
“The teacher told us you’re a big star, and we’re just common folk who can’t afford to offend you. But please just move your RV a little so we can save our grain. “It might not be worth much, but it’s our family’s food for the entire year. We can’t just watch it get washed away by the rain. That would be a sin.”
“Who are you calling sinful?” Maria was slightly wary of Penelope, but she had no such reservations with the farmer, her tone growing harsher and more arrogant.
Maria simply refused to move the RV. No matter what they said, she wouldn’t listen. Seeing the rain was abour to start Penelope’s temper flared. She grabbed Maria, yanked her out of the vehicle, and climbed in herself amidst Maria’s shocked
crÃes, slamming the door shut.
“What do you think you’re doing? Get out of my RV!” Maria, furious and panicked, pounded on the door.
Penelope ignored her, settled into
the driver’s seat, started the engine, honked the horn a few times, and backed the Ry straight out of the yard, parking it
long the side of the
road.