2.3.5 Week One: Farmers
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For a while, everything was normal at Tildy's house. She tended her garden carefully, and she now had orchids, pomegranates, and dragon fruit. She didn't know why the orchids and pomegranates were necessary, but Rasmodius had been insistent that she develop them.
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Valerie threw the occasional tantrum, but was happy most of the time.
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Rasmodius often helped her wind down by reading to her from her favorite book Princess Plumbob's Castle.
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He also took care of the Junimos, making sure they were happy. "Never underestimate the little spirits," he often said. "Without them, our world would be a bleaker place."
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Guinimo was a great traveler, even attending the climate change talks in Paris.
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The others were more into partying, but Rasmodius said that the strains of their music helped make the garden grow.
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One day Rasmodius sat down next to Tildy and started rubbing her shoulders. "There's something I need to tell you," he said. "It's something I should have told you a long time ago, and I hope you'll forgive me when I've finished. My only excuse is that I never even dreamed that this problem would come up."
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"What are you talking about?" demanded Tildy. "Are you planning on leaving us? Do you have another family? What?"
"None of the above," said Rasmodius. "But I've never told you why I became a wizard.
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"I grew up in a dark hollow, far away, to the southeast of the medieval city of Windenburg," he began.
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"I never knew my parents. I was raised by my elder brother, Vladislaus. He had some fame as an organist in the early part of the last century. Vladislaus Straud -- perhaps you've heard of him?"
Tildy shook her head.
"A pity," said Rasmodius. "It would make my task easier if you had. The other thing that Vladislaus was noted for was that he was rumored to be a vampire."
"A vampire?"
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"The rumors were true," said Rasmodius. "Until well into adulthood, I thought it was natural to have the cravings of a monster, natural to own a stable of serfs to satisfy one's hunger. Vladislaus assured me that he and I were simply a part of the Metacreator's great plan, and I was willing to listen."
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He paused and took a breath. "But one day I traveled to Windenburg and met people there who considered vampires to be monsters. I met a woman who refused to marry me because of what I was. At that moment I resolved to leave my brother and seek a cure for vampirism. By the time I found one, the woman was a grandmother, of course. Since then, I have devoted my life to finding ways to regain the powers I had as a vampire. It never occurred to me that --"
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"That what?" asked Tildy.
"That vampirism could be inherited."
"No." Tildy could hardly breathe. "Not Valerie."
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"I'm almost entirely sure that she is," said Rasmodius. "You might not have noticed, but a bat flew through the room when she was born. But the taint won't manifest itself until she's a teen, and I do know a cure. It's just that we won't be able to have any more children."
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Tildy didn't wait to hear more. She left the house in shock. Valerie a vampire? No more children?
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She couldn't, wouldn't believe that her perfectly ordinary little girl would grow up to be a monster. Her perfectly ordinary little girl who liked to bite her books.
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It took Tildy several days to process everything that Rasmodius had told her. There was a cure, but what if Valerie didn't want a cure? Would she be a lonely monster forever?
One day Tildy went to consult the guardian of the wishing well. He was usually grumpy and never granted Rasmodius anything he asked for, but he was sometimes kind to Tildy.
"Haven't seen you in a while," he said.
"It's expensive raising a child," said Tildy. "We haven't had the money to give you the offerings you deserve. Anyway --"
"Don't say it," said the guardian. "Don't ask me for a child."
"How did you know I was going to do that?" asked Tildy.
"Give me credit for some intelligence," said the guardian. "I know your daughter's a vampire. I know you don't want her to be lonely. Ergo, you're thinking maybe that nice well could cough up a child who would be her companion but not be a vampire. But the way I'm feeling the child would more likely be a ghost or evil. Is that really what you want?"
"No," said Tildy. "But --"
"Look, Rasmo isn't my favorite person, but he is a good wizard. If he says he can make a cure, then he can. Go ahead and have another kid of your own. It'll work out."
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Tildy went back to the house and woke up Rasmodius. "If you can cure Valerie, then you can cure other children too, right?"
"It's not that simple," said Rasmodius. "She's going to have to want to be cured. I'm not going to force it on her or anyone."
"Even so," said Tildy, "I think we should go ahead and have another child."
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Soon after that, she found out she was pregnant again.
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Meanwhile, the object of all this parental concern was busy redecorating her bedroom. "No more pink!" she insisted. "Hate pink, Mommy! Want red!"
