Chapter 4

Penny wiped the sweat from her brow, ignoring the tenderness in her muscles. Much to her continued frustration the patch of dirt before her looked pitiful and strangely barren. She had spent the better part of the week breaking the carpet of sod in the back yard and turning it over with a shovel. Then she had chopped into the huge clumps with a hoe, and finally attempted to rake it out into an environment that looked like something would grow in it.

What she had were clumps. Clumps from the size of marbles all the way up to softball. And they were hard. Not hard like modeling clay ... more hard like bricks. Tons and tons of little red rounded bricks.

She scowled as she looked at the illustration in the book she held. The caption below the picture read "A properly prepared garden bed." She looked back at the uneven cobblestone patch that she had brought into existence and tried to compare the two. Not even close...

The fact that the garden in the woods was growing as if it were soaked in magic fertilizer only served to reinforce her frustration. She had visited the meadow on three separate occasions and inspected the mounds of dirt. Nothing about them seemed to be terribly interesting or unusual except that the plants growing from them seemed to be doing so with exceptional gusto

She bent down and leaned over the edge of the bed to look closer. Kneeling with one hand still in the grass and another trying to crush a small golf-ball sized bit she realized that she had her butt stuck in the air at the precise second that she heard the throat clear behind her.

With a start she looked over her shoulder and the flash of red made her blush. It's HER...

"Hi," the woman said. "I'm sorry to bother you but I couldn't help but notice your garden." Penny turned and rose to her feet, facing the body she had found so delicious in her dreams.

The woman had on a pair of shorts and a tightly fitting tank top that seemed to accentuate her breasts. Her legs were pale, and dotted with freckles here and there. She had a sweet round face that was accented with a broad smile and thick pink lips. There wasn't a spot of make-up on her face, but it was clear that she didn't need any either.

Penny turned and looked at the tilled soil beside her before looking back at the woman. "I think garden might be a stretch at this point," she replied. "Landscaping gone bad is more what it's turned into."

The woman chuckled and stepped through the gate, stepping closer to Penny, close enough to touch. She thrust out her hand in official greeting. "I'm Jenn," she said simply. Penny's business demeanor took over and she firmly and politely shook her hand.

"I'm Penny," she said. Businesswoman Penny recognized the same make-up in the woman before her. She's a professional too. She's sizing me up, reading my body language the same way I am her. Did she feel that same electric spark when she touched my fingers? Does she see that lust in my eyes when I look at her? Is the poke of her nipples through her tank top because of the chill in the air?

Jenn turned toward the garden, taking her eyes off of Penny for a moment and breaking the spell. Penny knew that she was processing what she had observed about her. Penny did the same.

"The soil here is deplorable," Jenn said after a moment, nodding toward the disturbed earth. "It's almost completely composed of clay which won't grow much."

"But..." Penny started to say how she knew Jenn was growing a garden but corrected herself. "But ... I've seen gardens all over the neighborhood."

"Most of them have topsoil from Wal-Mart in them and need to be replenished every year or they won't grow anything either."

"Ugh," Penny groaned. It seemed unlikely that with their tight budget that she could afford such an endeavor, and she was beginning to get the feeling that the entire endeavor was a losing proposition.

"There are other ways to do it though," Jenn said after a moment. She watched the doubt and confusion cloud Penny's face before she continued. " ... Inexpensive ways."

Penny nodded. "That would be good." She looked at the cloddy mess of disturbed clay at her feet and sighed. "This seemed like such a great idea at the time."

"It's not a bad idea," Jenn countered. "It's just that it applies to the laws of nature, not the laws of finance." Penny eyeballed the redheaded woman critically. She's a sharp one.

"Tell you what," Jenn continued. "Why don't I show you my garden..." Yes why don't you, I love red hair. " ... and I can show you what worked for me for not a lot of money."

"O ... Ok," Penny stuttered, suddenly snapping out of her trance and bringing her eyes up to level. God was I staring at her chest the whole time? She didn't notice the flush of Jenn's face as she turned away and led Penny into the woods behind her own house.

They walked, Penny following behind both due to the narrowness of the path and because she was not supposed to know where she was going. However, following Jenn had another lovely side-effect.

Penny's eyes followed the curvature of Jenn's pale silky legs up from her running shoes all the way to where they met the hem of her shorts. A shudder ran through her as she followed the lines up into the shorts, enjoying the shape of Jenn's round posterior. Jeez am I turning into a lesbian here? It was due to the fact that her eyes weren't taking in her surroundings that she missed the branch that Jenn ducked under and walked right into it, smacking herself in the forehead. The sting of the branch across her forehead jolted her back to reality and she ducked, continuing on after an oblivious Jenn.

They crossed the little stream, skipping across the three flat rocks strategically placed for just that purpose, and continued up the gentle rise to where the mounds intersected the field. Jenn surveyed Penny still rubbing the red mark on her forehead and decided not to comment. Instead she directed her attention to the raised garden beds around them.