The Last of the Sages (Sage Trilogy, Book 1) Read Online Free

want a job?”
    “No. Just wondering.”
    “How could he be a farmer when he knows nothing about it?” Jennings, of course.
    “What can I say?” James replied, shrugging his shoulders. “He’s right.”
    “Do you want to be a farmer?”
    “Not really, but I might have to learn it just in case.”
    “You should talk to Leidy,” Jennings said as he nodded at his own suggestion. “She’s definitely got the farmer’s touch.”
    “What’s the farmer’s touch?”
    “I don’t know,” Jennings sighed. “I just made it up – whatever – she’s good at what she does.”
    “Yeah, she’s so successful that she has no time for us anymore. When was the last time we all hung out? The four of us?”
    “Can’t remember.”
    Korey growled in anger. Michael Crick and a few others in line turned around and looked at them cautiously. A couple little girls further up giggled.
    “What was that?” James asked, raising his eyebrow. “A dying lion?”
    “This line hasn’t moved in five minutes,” Korey mumbled.
    “Well, stop thinking about your stomach and join the conversation,” Jennings snapped back.
    “We should go to Leidy’s store. She runs it when her parents need a break. We might be able to get some free fruit to tide us over.”
    “You do know that this line isn’t going to hold our spot.”
    “I don’t care. I’m just hungry.”
    “Doesn’t matter to me,” James said as Jennings threw his hands into the air.
    The three of them left the line simultaneously and a couple behind them cheered under their breath. Thankfully, it was only a couple streets down to Leidy’s. It was really her parents’ store and it actually had no name, being known as the “fruit store” by the villagers, but since Leidy did all the work, friends called it by her name.
    The villagers didn’t know what to think of Leidy and her unusual character. She was as plain as dirt even by the village’s standards, and her attire usually consisted of a dingy tank top and a pair of manure-stained denim jeans that she refused to wash. She never wore shoes. And she cared little for what others thought of her since her assertive attitude had always gotten her ahead in life.  Not to say she was arrogant or full of pride. She was actually a sweet and well-mannered individual…until she set her sights on something she wanted. Then she transformed.
    It took only ten minutes to journey to Leidy’s corner store, and to their amusement, she was already doing her rounds of kicking non-spenders out onto the street.
    “You’ve been scaring ma customers long enough!” Leidy scolded one man, her thick accent already making them laugh. No one knew how to label it, but it sounded like she was chewing peanut butter when she talked.
    “I’m not scaring them!” the man pleaded. “I’m warning them!” He was wearing a stained trench coat with a number of patches on the exterior. Korey muttered something about the man’s name being John.
    “Warning em o what?” Leidy asked, giving him an evil eye. “R great savings and discount prices? Cuz if it’s anything otter than that, yeh gotta go!”
    “Judgment is coming! The Maker will soon destroy Allay for its disobedience and complacency!”
    “I hear yeh alright. Yehr being too complacent in buying ma products, and too disobedient in leaving ma store, but I’m no Maker!  Just a lady wit a growing temper that rivals his own!”
    “I’m leaving now, but I’ll be back tomorrow!”
    “Well, I guess I’ll see yeh in tha morning. In tha mean time, I pray tha good Lord will take yeh by then!”
    The beggar left surprisingly unscathed. Leidy shook her head in disbelief as she turned toward her friends. Her eyes immediately lit up in joy as she saw them, chuckling amongst themselves.
    “Next time I’ll charge for tha show,” she laughed. “How are ma boys?”
    “Well entertained, Lei-Lei,” Jennings laughed. “Never a dull moment with you.”
    “Sometimes I pray there were, but