Chapter One
All she remembered before she blacked out was a mountain. Flashes of green and a distorted reality came to her mind, one where the sky was the ground, and the ground was the sky, revolving about her head as she tumbled down the mountainside. Suddenly, sharp, grey shapes pushed their way in; one of them invading its way into her arm. Tiny, like shrapnel, whilst a larger one collided with her head. This place was out to get her already, she decided. Her loyal white pony had bolted, free from between the bars of the carriage, the sound of its hooves beating out a rhythm the last she heard.
Thud-thud, thud, thud-thud.
There it was again. Had her horse come back for her?
No – the ground around her felt different now. More… soft, and clean. Lillian tried to prise her eyes open, the echo of hooves dissipating to the back of her mind. An assortment of smells assaulted her nostrils: disinfectant and medicines. Smells she had come to hate, for various reasons. They were too familiar, and not in the way that brought her comfort.
"I think she's waking up," a voice, a woman, said from far away.
Twitching her fingers as if to urge the rest of her body to awaken, Lillian's eyes finally cracked, allowing in a tiny chink of blinding light. She blinked rapidly to accustom her surroundings. Someone was bent over her, smiling, and very much relieved.
"Hi, Lillian," said the woman softly. "I'm Ayame. Do you know where you are?"
The fact that this woman knew Lillian's name was not something the latter immediately concerned herself with.
"No," croaked out Lillian. She was surprised at how hoarse her voice was. Her eyes latched on to two people at the foot of her bed. They were glaring at each other, obviously having a disagreement of some sort, though evidently attempting to push away their differences now the invalid had woken up.
"You're in the clinic in Konahona," explained Ayame, opening Lillian's eyes and shining a torch into them. "If you would follow me finger with your eyes, please." Lillian obeyed, and the doctor looked pleased. "I think she will be just fine."
Ayame addressed the two other people, who looked relieved. Odd, thought Lillian, considering she had never met them before.
"What happened?" she asked now.
"You had a fall," said one of the two people. A man stepped forward. He had a blond moustache and kind face. His eyes were crinkled in the corners, which gave Lillian the impression he laughed a lot. "You were on your way to your new farm… but, don't you remember where you were supposed to live?" he added, brow wrinkling in concern when Lillian merely gazed at him impassively.
All she knew was that she was indeed looking for a fresh start, but the fall… It had erased a lot of information.
"I am Rutger, mayor of Bluebell Town, and –"
He was interrupted by the other woman with whom he had argued with. She had flawless olive skin and donned a headscarf that brought out the colour of her eyes. Even though she, too, was remotely friendly looking, it was obvious that she was not a person to cross.
"Now look here!" she exploded angrily. "Don't you start your waffle about how Bluebell is the best village –"
"That's where you are wrong, Ina!" Rutger had turned a brilliant shade of red. "Bluebell may have its faults but it is surely the better of the two!"
Lillian watched them in slight horror as Ina launched into a tirade about this Bluebell town and how this Konahona was apparently better. Ayame frowned at them disapprovingly, though seemed to think better of intervening as she took Lillian's pulse.
"Well, I think we should let Lillian decide!"
The young girl in question snapped her head up at being addressed so directly and suddenly. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two mayors, feeling awful to decide, but knew she must do so.
And so, the difficult decision had begun.
Bluebell had prevailed.
Lillian moved into her new farm the following day, having been shown around by a rather cheerful, and albeit slightly smug, Rutger. The man was friendly enough, though vague on the details, leaving most of it up to Lillian to figure out. He departed with a cheery wave whilst a bemused Lillian began to unpack her belongings.
Her pony, Pip, had found his way back. It had transpired that a young man named Kana had found the animal sweating and rather distressed on Konahona's side of the mountain. Kana had delivered Pip back that morning and, with a quick glance at Kana's wide shoulders and muscled arms, Lillian found herself wishing she had chosen to stay in Konahona.
Most of her belongings were unmarred although held signs of being thrown about the wagon rather a lot: her garments, after being so meticulously packed, were strewn about and underwear found itself wrapped around her notebook; her tins of food were dented; dresses that lay flat now had creases in them, and basically everything was everywhere. But, she had to remind herself, she was healthy now, and at least none of her possessions had been lost. It was difficult to take pleasure in small things such as this considering she was far, far away from home, practically in the middle of nowhere, and knew nobody in the town except for Rutger. Although, as the mayor who had a duty to know everyone, he didn't particularly count.
Lillian finished assembling her meagre possessions and, after quickly scanning the bookshelf, departed into town. Bluebell town square was not particularly difficult to find; it was, as Rutger had said, literally around the corner. The first shop she came to stated that it sold animals. Knowing that she was here with a purpose to be a good farmer, Lillian strolled through the shop door, albeit more confidently than she felt. She had only little money from what she could scrape together from her old home. It was doubtful that she would even be able to buy a chicken with this.
As soon as Lillian stepped over the shop threshold, someone screeched jubilantly.
"Mama!" a little girl cried, hopping up and down on the spot as if she were on a pogo stick.
"What is it, Cheryl?" asked a harassed-looking woman exasperatedly, coming from around the corner.
"Mama, this is the new girl mayor Rutger was telling everyone about!" The girl named Cheryl ran up to Lillian, smiling delightedly. "You are, aren't you?"
Even if she weren't, Lillian would have felt awful denying this girl something she had been so desperate to discover.
"I – I am," came Lillian's nervous reply. Subconsciously, she fiddled with the hem of her dress, as she always did when she felt embarrassed or awkward.
"Oh, how wonderful," cooed the woman, making her way over. "You must be Lillian. I'm Jessica, and you have already met my daughter, Cheryl."
"P-pleasure to meet you," stuttered Lillian. Man alive, she wished this stupid stutter would go away when she got nervous. They were only people, like her! What was the big deal?
"I hear you're trying to fix up that decrepit old farm outside of town?" enquired Jessica, writing something down in a notebook. Fortunately, she didn't notice the brief look of irritation that flitted across Lillian's face.
"Yes, ma'am, I am."
Jessica laughed. "Please, call me Jessica! 'Ma'am' is my mother-in-law." She finished scrawling on the piece of paper and shut the book. "From a farmer to another farmer, I wish to give you a housewarming present."
Lillian looked on, dumbfounded – even more so when Jessica led her to the back of the shop and to the animals she owned, tethering a cow and bringing it over. Surely a housewarming present was a pretty vase or something, not a cow?
"For you," declared Jessica happily. She chuckled at Lillian's bemused face. "Ash, could you come out here?"
From the barn exited a young man, perhaps slightly older than Lillian, and, she couldn't help noticing, rather cute. He flashed Lillian a smile before turning to his mother.
"Yeah, ma?" he asked, wiping his hands on his trousers.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Jessica told him sternly. "Anyway, this is Lillian, she's the new girl in the village. Lillian, this is Ash, my son."
Ash made a low bow and smiled at her again.
"Could you be a lamb and help Lillian take a chicken and feed to her farm?"
Lillian could hardly believe her ears. Two free animals?
"Why are you doing this for me?" she asked quietly, not noticing the cow sniffing around her feet.
"Oh, honey, it's what people do in this town! We look out for each other!" Jessica smiled warmly. "These two should be enough to get you started for now. Chickens lay eggs once a day, and cows can be milked once a day. I sell other animals too if you're looking to expand. Got all that?"
Lillian nodded dazedly. "T-thank you," she stammered. "I c-can't believe everyone in this town is so n-nice."
Tears pricked her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but perhaps Jessica had noticed, for she had wrapped a comforting arm around the young girl.
"We're here if you need anything, okay?" she told her quietly. Lillian nodded against her shoulder. "Ash, how about that chicken?" she added, turning to her son and successfully covering up the emotional moment, for which Lillian was grateful.
Lillian followed Ash back to her farm, leading her cow on a length of rope. She decided to call the cow Bessie and chicken Coco, quite pleased with her name choices. The farm had blatantly seen better days: paint on the house had begun to peel, whilst the barn and chicken coop had begun to crumble in places, and the overgrown grass easily long enough to tickle one's knees. It would take a lot of hard work, she knew, and, as a city-born girl, she would have to learn on the job.
"Everyone in town is really friendly," Ash was saying as they led Bessie to barn and placed fodder in a feed box. "There's our store that sells animals and such, then Eileen who will do upgrades and repairs for your farm, the town hall, the café, the general store, the church, uh…" Ash scratched his chin whilst he racked his brains for other notable places in town. "Oh, and Grady's. He has horses, dogs, cats, all sorts really."
Lillian had been nodding along to everything he said, though not entirely taking it all in. It was a lot to remember. On the way out, she gave Pip a grateful pat, then made her way to the chicken coop.
"I could give you a tour if you like," Ash offered, leaning against the door jamb whilst Lillian familiarised herself with the farm. He fiddled with his braces shyly and averted his eyes from Lillian's.
The idea was tempting – but considering she had barely said five words to him, wondered if it would make the situation more awkward. She usually found things better on her own anyway, yet when she spotted the flush creeping up on Ash's neck, felt obliged to agree.
"Okay then," she replied.
Ash looked jubilant as Lillian followed him back into town again.
Jessica hadn't lied. All the townsfolk were exceedingly friendly. To be honest, it grated on Lillian after a while, having everyone smiling widely and talking with such genuine enthusiasm. She had been used to city people who rarely cracked a smile on a good day, and now she found herself surrounded by people who did the exact opposite.
Well, except for one.
Cam owned the flower stand outside Howard's café – the latter of whom had taken an immediate shine to Lillian right away – and spent such effort meticulously arranging bouquets into the most beautiful collection of flowers anyone had ever seen. He brooded a lot, too, Lillian noticed. The irritated look on his face when she introduced herself said a thousand words. And yet, she could not bring herself to like or dislike him. In a way he was far more interesting than the other townsfolk: he did not have a permanent smile plastered on his face, but his moody demeanour made her nervous. At least he had been gracious enough to spare her and Ash a brief conversation before returning to his work, so he couldn't be all bad, yet Lillian could not help the distinct feeling that he had taken an instant dislike to her, a newcomer.
Back on her farm, Lillian wasted no time in getting stuck in to her work. Ash had departed with a brief wave and smile, for which she was happy about. She wanted to get the farm looking neat and tidy as soon as possible. It wasn't that she hated having company; she just preferred to be on her own. It was what she was used to, after all.
It took nearly all afternoon to cut the knee-high grass. By the time she had finished, Lillian found herself to be sweating profusely down the back of her dress, but had produced satisfactory results. The grass had been cut, at least, and including the half an hour it took for her to become acquainted with sickle, was better than she could have hoped for. Wiping perspiration from her forehead, Lillian leant against the pasture fence, watching the blood red sun set over the hills. Idly, she found her mind drifting back to the events of the day. Several faces popped into her mind, moving past the grinning face of Ash, finally landing on Cam. Her stomach jolted uncomfortably when she thought about him. They had not said more than a few introductory words to each other, and yet, she thought to herself as she entered her house, she could not think why it was him who weighed so heavily on her mind.
Perhaps because he was different, the mysterious boy of the town which every girl wanted to know. Suddenly, Lillian wondered how many girls had tried and failed to crack that tough exterior of his, desperate to see the soft inside. How romantic would it be if she, Lillian, were the one to succeed! Or, she concluded, it was how he disliked her first, something that irritated her beyond belief.
"Load of fairy-tale bullshit," she found herself murmuring out loud as she drew herself a hot bath.
She mulled this over in the hot water for some time, before finally climbing out of her bath only when the water and turned cold and darkness fell outside, and shook her head at the absurdity of it all. She was not prepared to chase a brooding boy who so obviously did not want to be chased – that wasn't how she was – all for the sake of romance. And she, of all people, knew that life was no fairy-tale.