Potatoes, Come Forth! Bonus Scene
Thanks for reading Potatoes, Come Forth!
This short bonus scene is for newsletter subscribers.
If you enjoy it, the story continues in Magic, Unfettered?
A Bonus Scene from Potatoes, Come Forth!
Copyright 2026 by H. Jonas Rhynedahll
Everett, happy at last, threw back his head and laughed.
Sarah looked at him like he had gone crazy.
Lessye came out of the house, wiping her hands on the apron that she wore over her house dress. “Everett, is that you —”
Everett’s sister stopped when she saw Sarah. “Who’s your … friend, Everett? And would you mind telling me what you have done with her clothes?”
Everett stopped laughing immediately. “This is Sarah and she’s … ah … well —”
Holding her sheet in place with one hand, Sarah stepped forward and extended her hand towards Lessye. “I’m a princess that he kidnapped and ravished. Sarah Monte-Jaune. I’m happy to meet you! Everett has told me absolutely nothing about you.”
With a huge, pleased smile, Lessye enthusiastically shook Sarah’s hand and patted it affectionately. “Oh! I’m so happy to meet you! You know, we always thought that Everett would never … you know how he is with girls … well, never mind that! You must just tell me all about you!”
“I’d love to! But Everett and I must be getting back to Kleinsvench right away.” Sarah gave Everett a hard glare. “Right, Everett?”
“No, actually, it’s all fine. Technology is back where he belongs and peace, mostly — well, for a given value of peace I guess — has broken out all over. That was a month ago. Nothing to be concerned about now.”
“Everyone is safe?”
“Everyone is fine.”
Sarah nodded and relaxed.
Lessye looked back and forth between Everett and Sarah. “So, will you be staying for lunch, or not?”
Wallace and the children spilled out of the house. Thomas, the oldest at eleven, ran up and caught Everett around the waist in a bear hug. “Uncle Everett!”
Everett returned his nephew’s hug as the rest — Linda, Charles, Cynthia, and Sophie — piled on squealing and laughing. Everett hugged them all and kissed the smallest ones on the tops of their tousled heads.
Wallace, tall and earnest as always, clasped Everett on the shoulder. “Welcome home, Everett! How was your trip?”
Sophie, just four, tugged on her father’s trousers. “Papa, where’s the lady’s clothes?”
Linda hissed at her sister. “You shouldn’t ask naked people that! It’s not polite.”
Lessye gave Wallace a pointed look. “This is Everett’s girlfriend.”
All the children looked shocked and then started squealing and laughing louder.
Wallace looked taken aback. “Oh, really? Wow! That’s amazing! How did that happen… I mean, I’m happy for both of you! We should celebrate! I have a batch of apple cider that should be just about right. Lessye, should I send Thomas to invite the neighbors? Evan Purbow plays the fiddle and I’m sure he’d be happy to play a few tunes. We could have dancing and the whole thing.”
“Oh, I don’t know. We could possibly do that in a day or so. For today, I’d just like to get to know Sarah. Let’s have just a quiet meal today. What do you think, Sarah, would that be alright?”
Sarah gave Everett a long, estimating look. “Everett hasn’t asked me to stay, so I couldn’t possibly impose.”
The entire family looked at Everett in amazement.
“Don’t let her get away, Uncle Everett,” Thomas urged.
“Some opportunities don’t come twice,” Wallace intoned sagely.
“I think she’s too pretty for Uncle Everett,” Charles opined.
The three girls began chanting, “Stay! Stay! Stay!”
“Everett,” Lessye said, “The proper thing to do when a man has … met … a young woman is to ask her, you know, well, to stay.”
Sarah was watching Everett with a clear but neutral expression.
Everett looked back and smiled. “Sarah, I would like you to stay. Will you stay?”
She was quiet for a moment, as everyone watched her expectantly, then she said, “I will.”
The children erupted in a cheer.