AN: Happy Anniversary! This is a little gift I've written for you to celebrate my anniversary of writing fanfiction. I wrote my first few thoughts down on February 14, 2014! So I decided that, in honor of the occasion, I'd write a one-shot for the two fics I've completed during the year: Roses and Sonatas and The Winds of the Past (the one-shot for that appears in the related collection of short stories titled Three Little Words and Other Tales). Thank you so much for reading, and please let me know how you like your present! :)
Wild Roses
People often forgot the girls were in the room whenever anything serious was happening or being discussed. Partly that was due to the fact that they were such well-behaved, quiet children (at least, some of the time), and partly it was that no one really expected that they would understand any of it, anyway.
People never gave them enough credit.
When Alice collapsed on the kitchen floor, burning up with fever, her face flushed and her eyes glazing over, Lily knew just where to go and what to do. She told her little sister, Cami, to stay there with their mother, then she ran out the door as swiftly as her limber little legs could carry her, across the street to the pretty little kirk where she knew she would find Alisa and Nathan. Bursting in through the doors, her very entrance startled them from their prayerful reveries and brought them to their feet.
"Mama's sick! She's red and hot all over and she fell down and she needs help, quick!" Lily cried as she ran up to them, clutching at Alisa's skirts to pull her towards the door.
The two adults turned startled faces towards each other. "Sick? Alice? Why, I…. Well, Alisa, you go back with the child and see what you can do. I'll go into town and fetch Cam. It may be nothing, but better to be safe…."
Alisa nodded, her deep blue-violet eyes wide with concern as she allowed the little girl to pull her back across the road to the farm. On her arrival, she found Cami sitting next to her unconscious mother, stroking her hair, silently crying over her. She couldn't lift Alice on her own, she knew, but she checked her pulse (racing), her breathing (shallow) and her temperature (fiery). Biting her lip, uncertain how best to help, she hesitated a moment before hurrying to the sink. She soaked a cloth in cold water, wrung it out, and placed it on her feverish brow. Then she asked Lily to take Cami into the living room and read her a story, assuring the girls that their mother would be just fine. A few minutes later, Cam burst into the room. He stopped short when he saw his wife lying on the floor, Alisa kneeling next to her, evidently in prayer. Nathan came huffing and puffing along behind him, stopping in the doorway to catch his breath before joining his foster daughter in prayer.
Cam knelt next to Alice and reached to lift her. Feeling the heat radiating from her, he hesitated, drawing back in alarm. Then he carefully picked her up and gently carried her into their bedroom, laying her on the bed. He asked Nathan and Alisa to stay with her a little longer, then he ran out the door, completely unaware of the two worried little faces peeking around the corner of the room at him as he tore out the front door.
A short while later, he returned, still at a run, Dr. Ayame and Hiro close on his heels. As the good doctor turned towards her patient, Hiro dropped her black bag on the bedside table and opened it up, standing ready to pass her whichever tools she requested.
"I think first we need to get her out of these clothes," she started to say.
Blushing, Nathan edged towards the bedroom door. "Oh, ahh, I think perhaps I should return to the church. Cam, you know where to find me, should you need me. I will be praying for Alice in the meanwhile. Alisa, you may stay here if you can be of assistance, my daughter. If not, you may join your prayers with mine." Then he hurried out the door, closing it quietly behind him.
Alisa looked uncertainly at Cam, then the doctor, and finally Hiro, but they were too preoccupied to notice her timidly looking around. So with a gentle murmur, she slipped out the door and followed Nathan down the road, except that she turned and headed up the mountain, feeling a compulsion to pray at the Goddess's pool at the mountain peak rather than within the confines of the manmade church.
Back in the farmhouse, Dr. Ayame and Cam removed Alice's clothing, stripping her down to her undergarments. She seemed to hover just at the edge of consciousness, shivering violently as if freezing cold, though her skin was hot to the touch. A few times, she suffered coughing fits that left her curled up in a fetal position, her face contorted with pain.
After she completed her examination, Dr. Ayame looked down at her thoughtfully. "Pneumonia," she pronounced. "Probably bacterial. I'll give her a shot of antibiotic to get her started, then I'll send Hiro back with some tablets. She'll probably be out of it for a while, though. Try to keep her comfortable and quiet, and when she wakes, push her to drink as much as she can. If she's still coughing, try herbal tea with honey to soothe her throat. Rest, fluids, and antibiotics—that's what she needs most right now."
A little tug at the hem of her white coat caught her attention. "Please, doctor, will my Mama be okay?" a tremulous little voice asked. She glanced down into storm-blue eyes, large with fear and shining with unshed tears.
Smiling as she stroked the caramel-colored hair of the little girl's head, she said, "Yes, Lily. Your mother will be all right." Then glancing down at the flushed, restless figure on the bed, she muttered under her breath, "I hope," unconscious that the child's sharp ears picked up her mumbling.
As Dr. Ayame and Hiro were departing, Laney arrived. "What happened? Is someone sick?" she asked as she stepped aside to let them pass.
"Alice has pneumonia. I guess she collapsed, and Lily ran to get Alisa and Nathan. She's a smart girl, to think of such a thing. But Alice is pretty sick."
"Oh, my goodness! I wondered what had happened when I saw you take off like that. I'd have been here sooner, except just as you left, we got a rush in the café. Can I do anything?"
"I don't want to leave her. I hate to ask, but… can you close up my shop for me?" Cam asked, not taking his eyes from his wife's flushed face.
"I'll do you one better. I'll send Ash along to take care of that—he's stronger than me, so he'll get it done faster—and while he's seeing to your shop, I'll cook something to bring you and the girls for dinner. I'll be back in a while. And Cam—don't worry. She's a healthy, strong woman. Remember how she pulled through that awful fall when she was pregnant with Lily? She'll be just fine, you'll see."
Cam just nodded silently, and Laney slipped quietly out the door, leaving the family alone.
He sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Alice's hair gently as he watched over her. Before long, he felt little fingers clinging to his trousers, and looking down, he saw the frightened faces of his little girls staring up at him. Forcing himself to smile, he said, "Don't you worry, girls. The doctor and Laney are right. Mama will be just fine. She just needs some rest."
Lily nodded after a little hesitation, but Cami began to sniffle as tears spilled out of the corners of her eyes. Neither girl had ever seen their mother sick or showing weakness of any sort before, and the sight of her unconscious and feverish in bed alarmed them. They felt as though the world had flipped upside down and inside out, and as they watched her weakly flail an arm as if fending off some danger, they wondered when or even if it would all be right again.
Cam lifted his daughters onto his lap, and the three of them clung to each other, Cami's arms around his neck and Lily's arms around Cami. One pair of blue eyes and two of green watched Alice as they sat in silence, and when she spoke, they all jumped as if badly startled—even Cam.
"Nnuh… not roses," she mumbled, shaking her head slightly. "Wild roses. Has… has to be… wild…. They're her fav'rit… mine, too…." Tears appeared at the corners of her tightly close eyes. "No, have to… have to find them… for her… an' for me…." Then she shook as another paroxysm of coughing overtook her, and afterwards she was still and silent once again.
The girls and Cam looked at each other, surprised. "Daddy, what is wild woses?" Cami asked, leaning against her father as she tightened her grip.
"Wild roses are a kind of rose that grow all by themselves out in wild places. They look different from the roses that you mother grows and that I sell. They're very pretty, but sadly they don't grow here anymore."
"Why not?" Lily asked. "And why does Mama want them so much?"
Cam looked back down at his sleeping wife. "They don't grow here anymore because they were so pretty, everyone picked the flowers and dug up the plants to take home, and eventually there just weren't any left. The last time I saw a wild rose around here was when I wasn't much older than you. But they grow where your mom grew up. They grow very well there—thick hedges of them all along the roads and the edges of fields. As for why she wants them… I have no idea at all."
The next day, Alice wasn't any better. She was still hot to the touch, still delirious. Now and then during the night, she'd woken enough to mutter a little more about the need for wild roses, then slipped back into a deeper sleep. Cam couldn't give her any of her pills, because she wasn't conscious enough to swallow them. Reluctant to leave her and the girls alone, he asked Lily to run across the road and ask Alisa or Nathan if one of them would please go for the doctor.
About an hour later, Dr. Ayame and Hiro arrived. The doctor took one look at Alice and immediately looked concerned. By then, her breathing had become labored, and she had begun to ramble yet again about the roses. She turned to Cam with a scowl, and said, "You'd better get her into the clinic. Immediately. Hiro can help you get her in the cart, but don't delay."
The blood draining from his drawn face, Cam began to dress her, with the doctor's help. The girls stood just outside the door, and they looked at each other in fright. "Is Mama vewy sick?" Cami whispered to her sister as they moved farther back out of the way.
"I think so," Lily replied. "They wouldn't take her away to the clinic if she wasn't."
"Will she get better?" Cami asked, tears pooling up in her large green eyes.
"I don't know. But you know how she keeps talking about those flowers? Maybe if she got some, she'd get better again." An idea began to form in her mind, and she looked at her little sister. "Cami, do you think you can be a brave girl to help Mama?"
Her little sister nodded vigorously, her tawny curls bobbing. Lily took her hand, then called to Cam, "Daddy, I'm going to take Cami over to the church. Is that okay?"
"Yes, thank you, Lily-bud. That's a great idea," he replied as he paused to smile at her gratefully. Really, she had such astonishing presence of mind for a six-year old—better even than some adults. "I'll come and get you when I get back from the clinic." Then he returned to his task.
Lily pulled her sister away from the door and went to the bookcase in the living room. Looking over the shelves, she pulled out a large volume that she knew was her father's flower reference book. She could read a few words, mostly flower names, and her Mama had taught her how to use an index, showing her how to look things up in books anytime Lily had asked her a question that she couldn't answer. She finally found the word "roses," but wasn't sure how to spell "wild". She could tell that it started with a W, though, so she looked until she found something that looked right.
"See, you find the word here in the back," she explained to her sister, in unconscious mimicry of her mother, "then you see these little numbers? You find the page that has the same numbers on it. They're all in order, so just start with the first number here and keep going 'til you find it."
Cami nodded, impressed by her older sibling's knowledge, and watched her as she flipped around, finally arriving at the page she sought. There was a large color plate, depicting a prickly stem that ended in lots of green leaves and a pair of wide, flat flowers, each with five light pink, heart-shaped petals and a golden yellow center. She stared at the picture, memorizing the details, and told her sister to look closely at it, too. Then she carefully put the book away, pulled on her coat and boots and helped her sister to do the same, and they ran out the door.
They crossed the street, and ran quickly up the stairs to the courtyard before the church. "There. I brought you to the church, just like I told Daddy. So I didn't tell a lie," she declared, then started to run back down the stairs, pulling her sister along with her.
Cami dug in her heels, though, and Lily stopped to look at her. "What? What is it, Cami?"
"Where are we going?" her sister replied, looking fearful.
"We're going to go look for those flowers for Mama," she said, stoutly, with a determined look on her face.
"But Daddy said they don't grow here anymore. And Daddy knows everything about flowers."
"Yes, I know… but we have to try. Maybe somewhere there's one growing somewhere that no one noticed. That's why I asked if you could be brave, for Mama. But if you're too scared, you can stay here with Alisa, and I'll go looking."
Cami shook her head. She was scared—but she had absolute faith in her big sister. If she said they had to try, then she believed her unquestioningly. She clutched her hand a little harder and did her best to keep up with Lily as she pulled her up the mountain path.
The girls looked high and low around the river and up the terraced hills that overlooked it, but all they found was blueberries. They ate several handfuls of those, then they continued up the path a little farther. They explored the rocky hill to the north of the path, then crossed the rickety bridge that went to the high cliffs on the south side. There was a zip line there that went to an otherwise inaccessible bluff, but Lily hesitated. She had been told many, many times never ever ever to use the zip line—her Mama said it was too dangerous for little children. Still, she would have used it anyway, preferring the risk of punishment to the risk of failure. But she couldn't reach it, so she had to make do with standing at the edge of the precipice and staring hard at the far side, looking for a glimpse of pink. She saw none, though, and the girls turned back.
As they returned to the other side of the bridge, though, Cami spotted something white through the trees. They went to investigate, and found a curious white stone porch, like for a house, except that it was set into the side of a steep, tall cliff. As they stood at the door, wondering if they should knock, it suddenly opened and a merry-looking woman stepped out, stopping in surprise to find such small visitors on her doorstep.
"Why, hello there!" she exclaimed with a twinkle in her eyes. "Have you come to be my little guinea pigs?"
"What's a… a guinea pig?" Lily asked, as Cami clutched her hand tightly and hid behind her.
The woman laughed, and replied, "Well, it means someone that has experiments done on them. But don't be afraid, little girls. I was only teasing you." Bending down to get a closer look at the girls, her long cotton-candy-pink hair slipping down around her shoulders like a cape, she looked from one to the other and asked, "But what are two such young children doing all alone in the woods? Especially this time of the year—don't you know how chilly it can get in the mountains in autumn? Where are your mother and father?"
"Mama is very sick, and Daddy took her to the doctor," Lily replied. "We're trying to find a flower that we hope will help her get better, though Daddy says it doesn't grow on this mountain anymore."
"Well, what flower is that?" the woman asked, straightening up. "I do a lot of foraging in these mountains, so I might have seen it."
"It's a wild rose, do you know what they look like?" Lily asked anxiously.
The lady screwed her face up, thinking. "Yes, my dear, I do. But I can't remember seeing any for at least twenty years, maybe more."
"How old are you?" Cami asked, her eyes wide. "Twenty years is so old, but you look younger than Mama!"
Blushing, Lily hissed at her sister, "Cami! That's rude! You shouldn't ask people how old they are!"
But the lady just laughed again. "To be truthful, little girl, I don't really know for sure. I'm ever so old—hundreds of years, at least. But I lose track of time."
Both girls stared at her in awe, and Lily said, "Are you a witch?"
Again the lady laughed, and she said, "No, not really. I do research alchemy, but that's more of a hobby. I am an oracle—a seer."
"A… a see-er? What does a see-er do?" Lily wondered.
"Well, a seer sees things—things that have been, things that are, and things that may come to pass. Come with me, and I'll look in my scrying glass for you." She held out her hands to the girls, and after a brief hesitation, they took her hands and followed her through the large stone door.
Inside was a huge room carved out of the solid rock. All kinds of strange tubes and bottles and jars lined shelves and tables along one side, and a huge, bubbling cauldron occupied the very center of the room. The oracle told the girls to have a seat at a small table, and she went and rummaged around some shelves on the far side of the room. With a pleased exclamation, she pulled out a large, shallow basin and brought it over to the table. Then she poured out some water from a large urn into a small silver pitcher and brought it to the table. She pulled a few jars from a shelf, and tossed a few pinches of various powders and dried leaves into the pitcher of water, then she waved her hand over the pitcher as she chanted something in a low voice, her eyes half closed as she murmured softly.
She poured the water into the basin and waited for it to smooth out to a glass-like surface. Cami started to ask a question, but the Oracle, her eyes still half closed, raised a hand to silence her. When the surface of the water was perfectly smooth, she opened her crimson eyes and gazed at the surface.
"I see a bush—the flower that you seek," she said, her voice still sing-songy. "Four blooms—two open, two still buds. Yet one bloom wilts, withering and fading. A moon rises high in the starry sky…. Oh!" she gasped, drawing back in surprise.
"What is it? What did you see? Are the flowers us? Is.. is Mama dying?" Lily asked in rapid succession, her face drawn with anxiety.
The oracle shook her head to clear it, then looked at the girls solemnly. "I saw her—the Green Lady, Sephia. I have not seen her for two hundred years, at least." She rose, then carefully poured the water from the basin into a large pail near the door. "As for the rest… as I said, I can see what was, what is, and what may be. Your mother is sick, as you already know. Her life is in danger, or I would not have seen the possibility of her demise so near. But it was no more than that—a possibility, and perhaps only a slim one, at that.
"I don't know why you seek this flower, nor how it can possibly help her recover. But you seem to believe it will, and perhaps that alone is enough. Before, I would have told you that you had no chance at all—even if somehow there were still wild roses in these parts, this is not the time of year for them. They would have shed their petals weeks ago, and nothing but their crimson hips would remain on the stems. But if the Green Lady is somehow involved… well, anything could happen. But you must be brave little girls, if you are to have any hope of success."
She rose and went to one of the many cupboards that lined the walls. She opened the door and dug around, finally pulling down a pair of small, blue bottles from the topmost shelf. "Here, drink these. They may be helpful to you." She handed a bottle to each child and waited expectantly. "Go ahead, they won't hurt you."
"What… what are they?" Lily asked, a little fearfully.
"They are potions to help you befriend the wild animals that live here on the mountain. They should help keep you safe from harm—from the animals, anyway," she added under her breath.
The girls drank the contents of the bottles, surprised by the delicious flavor—a little like cake, Lily thought, though Cami thought it tasted more like strawberry ice cream.
They departed, thanking the oracle for her help, and continued on their way. They combed the side of the hill as they made their way back down to the trail, then went on up the mountain path a little farther. There the river flowed through a narrow gulley not far off the path, and the girls remembered that this was one of their mother's favorite fishing spots. So it was perhaps thoughts of her that pulled them down the winding path to the stream, where they stood and watched the water flowing quickly by as it tumbled over rocks and logs. The scent of fresh water reminded them that they were thirsty, so they stooped to get a drink of water, Lily showing Cami how to cup her hands just right to catch the water as it flowed by. Cami finished drinking first, and wandered around the area a little while Lily finished.
Before Lily even realized her sister had strayed from her side, she heard a loud crashing sound and a long, wailing scream. Racing to the edge of another, deeper gulley nearby, she saw her sister lying at the bottom of it, dazed. She scrambled down the hill after her, and cried with relief when she saw that Cami was mostly unharmed, other than some bumps and bruises and scratches from the brambles. But, looking around her, she realized that now they were stuck in the bottom of the ravine, with no way to climb back out. And then she heard more crashing through the brush nearby, accompanied by a loud snuffling sound.
A moment later, and a huge brown bear wandered out of the brush, and stopped to stare at the white-faced children, lifting his snout to sniff the breeze.
He lumbered towards them, mumbling to himself, and stopped before them. Too frightened even to scream, the girls froze staring with wide, terrified eyes. He reached out a huge paw, and Lily, shivering, saw that even the smallest of his claws was bigger than the largest of her fingers. She cringed, squeezing her eyes tightly closed, and wrapped herself protectively around her little sister as the bear's paw came down on her.
Then she gasped, and looked up in surprise as the bear clumsily patted her on the head. She got a good look at him then—he was the biggest bear ever, she was sure, and covered in thick shaggy fur, dark brown except for a little bit of grey around his mouth and chin and his big brown eyes. He rumbled a little at her, a peculiar sound that wasn't quite a growl but wasn't quite a snort, either. Then he turned around and lay down and waited… she wasn't quite sure what for.
After a few minutes, he looked over his shoulder, and grumbled again, making a whooshing sound through his nose that reminded Lily of when her mother would sometimes sigh when she was annoyed or impatient. She stood up, feeling sure that the bear wanted her to do something, but uncertain what it was that she was supposed to do, exactly.
Cami, though, gave a little squeal and immediately clambered up the bear's broad back, sitting on him as if for a horsey ride. "Git-up, ho'sie! Git-up!" she exclaimed in delight. The bear looked over at Lily and tossed his snout, as if gesturing for her to do the same. Still hesitant, she climbed up behind her sister, and as the bear slowly rose, the girls grabbed fistfuls of thick fur to keep from sliding off, Cami shrieking with glee all the while.
He lumbered up the steep side of the ravine, digging into logs and earth with his huge claws as he struggled up the slope, occasionally slipping and losing some of the ground that he'd fought so hard to gain. But at last he scrambled over the top of the ravine, right next to the mountain path, then lowered himself down again.
The girls climbed down again, and Cami threw her arms around his great, shaggy head, burying her face into his thick fur. Lily reached into her pocket and, after a moment's hesitation, pulled out a handful of blueberries she'd tucked away to share with Cami later. She didn't know when or what they would next eat—but it was important to her to give him something to thank him, so she held out the berries to him. He snuffled at her hand, then curled his long, red tongue around the small pile, taking them in as one sweet, tangy mouthful. He rumbled happily, rose, and lumbered off, disappearing into the bushes. The girls could hear him crashing through brush and bramble for some time as they slowly started back up the path towards the peak.
They moved slowly now—it was getting late in the day, and Cami was sore and stiff from her fall, trying not to cry as she stumbled along after her sister. They were hungry, too, and although Lily scanned the bushes for more berries as they made their way up the path, she didn't see any more berries. She found a few mushrooms, but since she couldn't tell good mushrooms from bad, she left them alone.
Finally they reached the top of the mountain. Near the peak was a small pool of crystal-clear water. The sun was beginning to set, and Lily felt a pang of fear, wondering how she would get her tired sister all the way back down the mountain in the dark. She shivered a little at the thought of the unknown creatures of the night, and felt intensely grateful to the oracle for her gift—though she wondered how long it would last.
The girls sank down near a tree by the pool of water, too tired to go any further or even to try to find something to eat, despite the loud growls and stabbing pangs of hunger in both their little tummies. They curled up, holding each other tightly, and though Lily struggled to keep awake, soon both girls were sound asleep.
Cam returned home, half-dead with exhaustion, though he walked with a lighter step than he had earlier that day. He stopped by the church to fetch the girls, hoping Alisa hadn't minded him leaving them so late. It was nearly midnight now—but finally Alice's fever had broken. Finally she had opened her eyes and looked around, and was aware of her surroundings—and of him. Finally she was on the mend.
Dr. Ayame had insisted she remain there overnight, but had promised him that if she continued to improve, she could return home the next day. So though his face was drooping with exhaustion, his eyes shone with joyful relief.
The church was dark, and he hesitated, not wanting to wake Nathan. Alisa wouldn't be there now, anyway; she boarded at the town hall since there was only one tiny bedroom in the church. He decided that, late as it was, she had probably either taken the girls back to her room with her, or else taken them home to the farmhouse. Since home was closer, he tried there first.
But as with the church, the house was dark and still. So with a tired sigh, he turned and shuffled up the path to the town. He was so tired, it took him nearly twenty minutes to walk the mile from the farm to the town hall. By the time he arrived, the doors were locked for the night. He hesitated, uncertain what to do. He hated to wake Rutger and Rose, and he was sure that Alisa and the girls must be asleep by then, late as it was. So, after some initial reluctance, he turned and slowly returned home, falling straight into bed as soon as he arrived.
Lily thought to herself that she was dreaming. She had to be… what she was seeing couldn't be real. But if it was just a dream, why did it feel so real? She felt the cold of the autumn night seeping into her bones, heard the distant squeaking of bats and the nearer hooting of owls, smelled the scent of damp, dead leaves, even felt the breeze ruffling her hair.
A pale light shone from the depths of the pool before her, and rising from the center of the clear water was a woman. A beautiful, tall, willowy woman, with long green hair, braided and twisted into knots with the ends still hanging nearly to her feet. She opened her eyes and looked at Lily—a serene, compassionate look in her ivy-green eyes.
"Who are you?" Lily heard herself ask.
"Don't be afraid, little one," the lady said in a soft, musical voice. "You are safe here. But why are two such little girls sleeping alone on my mountain? Are you lost? You are Alice's daughters, Liliana and Camellia, are you not? Then where are your mother and father?"
Lily broke down, sobbing as she told the green lady all about her mother's illness and her feverish wish for wild roses, and their subsequent search. The lady listened, and looked thoughtful at the end. "Alice did me a great favor in the past, and so I have blessed her and called her my own in appreciation of her efforts. As she is mine, so are you and your sister, and likewise you fall under my protection. The oracle's potion isn't what kept you safe from the bear—it was both due to my protection and because your mother has befriended the animals of the mountain. They can smell her on you, and know that you are her cubs.
"So your mother is unwell, and has such a strong desire for these wild roses that she cannot forget it even in her illness. And you wish to oblige her in the hope of soothing her afflicted spirit, but as these flowers have been unfortunately eradicated from these environs, you cannot do so. Well, dear child, that is an easy enough dilemma to remedy." And as she spoke, she waved a hand towards the far side of the pool, and Lily could see shoots rising from the ground, growing into young plants, then tall shrubs, and finally buds appeared and burst into blooms—just like the ones in her father's book. What must have been several years' growth took only moments.
Staring at the lady in awe, Lily stammered, "Wh-who are you? A-are you the Green Lady that the oracle saw?"
With a light, musical laugh, the lady replied, "I am the Goddess of the Harvest, and this pool of water is my home—or one of many windows into it, rather. I am the patroness of these two towns, though I daresay many have forgotten it.
"Now, my child, sleep—sleep and be refreshed. Here is a friend to keep you warm through the night." As she finished speaking, Lily heard crashing sounds, and a moment later the same brown bear from earlier lumbered out of the brush and over to the rose shrubs, sniffing curiously at them. Lily stood and pulled her sleepy sister up, and dragged her to where the bear was nestling down. The girls collapsed against him, instantly feeling warmer as they buried themselves in his thick fur. The last thing Lily saw was the green lady's radiant smile, then she knew no more.
Cam woke early, well before sunrise—unusual for him even when he'd gotten to bed at a reasonable hour. He was confused at first, wondering where Alice was. Then it all came back to him in a flood—her illness and admission to the clinic, her improvement, the whole long day and late night. Oh yeah, he thought—and the girls were still with Alisa, who must be getting worried by now. So he dragged himself out of bed, stumbled to the kitchen to start the coffeemaker, and while the coffee brewed, he pulled on his clothes and splashed cold water on his face. He quickly gulped a cup of coffee, then headed back up the road to town.
Rutger was just unlocking the door to the town hall when he arrived. The mayor greeted him with some surprise, knowing that he was no early bird. Cam explained why he was there and mentioned that Alice was improving. Rutger was glad to hear the news, and waving Cam back towards Alisa's room, he hurried up to tell Rose about it.
Cam knocked on Alisa's door, and a few minutes later, she opened it, dressed but still drowsy. "I came to pick up the girls," he explained. "I'm sorry for leaving them with you so long—it was the middle of the night when I got back, and I didn't want to wake you."
Alisa stood there blinking, her mouth slightly open in confusion. After a moment, she said, "Cam, I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen the girls since the day before yesterday."
Cam tore into the house, nearly falling over himself in his frantic haste. Why, oh why hadn't he just woken everyone up last night? Then he would have found out they were missing that much sooner, at least. Where could they have gone? What were they doing? It wasn't like Lily to just wander off like that—Cami, sure, she was only four. But Lily was so… so dependable. Maybe he'd depended on her just a little too much—after all, she was still a little girl.
As usual, the dogs came trotting up as soon as he entered the house, sniffing him all over in case he had any new, exciting scents clinging to him. He singled out Lad, the oldest of Alice's herd dogs, and fastened a lead to his collar. After Lily had been born, Lad had all but adopted her, hovering protectively near her as she played and explored all around the farmyard. When Cami had come along, he'd taken to her just as well. He had a good nose and was a smart dog—Cam figured that of all their dogs, he was the most likely to be able to track the girls down, even if he wasn't trained for such work. He grabbed Lily's stuffed rabbit from her bed and held it for Lad to sniff, then he told him to go find her.
Lad cocked his head and looked at Cam for a moment, his ears perked up. Then with a bark, he turned and ran for the door, pulling Cam along behind him. He nosed his way up the driveway to the road, then sniffed along the road until he reached the mountain path. Cam felt a little sick—if his girls had been up on the mountain all night, who knows what might have happened to them? They hadn't returned home, so maybe they had fallen and been hurt—or worse. Remembering the time Alice fell, and catching sight of her limp and unconscious on her horse's back as Mikhail had led her down the mountain into Konohana, his stomach knotted with the fear that history was repeating itself.
But Lad was tugging eagerly at the lead, so he forced his fears back for the time being and ran after him. He nosed around a little on either side of the path, but he continued on up the mountain without wandering very far off the path. When he reached the part of the path near the trail down to the river, he suddenly stopped and stiffened, growling a low growl, his hackles rising as he sniffed around the path. Then after a few moments, he again barked, and ran up the path.
The sun was just beginning to rise over the treetops to the east when he reached the peak. Out of breath from running up the mountain, he tied Lad's lead to a tree and went to the pool of water to sit for a minute before continuing on. However, when he reached the pool, he saw a sight that left him slack-jawed in astonishment.
On the far side of the pool, near some of the young trees that surrounded the pool, he saw his young daughters, sound asleep, nestled into the thick, shaggy fur of a huge brown bear. The bear raised its head to look at him, snuffled a little, then laid his head back down, watching him with patient eyes. And surrounding the little grove where they slept was a mass of wild rose shrubs—thickly covered with pale pink blooms.
Cam helped Cami into her nightgown and tucked her into her bed, kissing her forehead as she snuggled down into the softness with a sigh, already more than half asleep. Lily was already in bed and all but asleep herself, and he stroked her hair gently, just looking at her in bewilderment before he leaned down to kiss her forehead, too. Then he turned out the lights and shut the door. He had many questions—but they could wait. For now, they needed rest.
After he found them asleep, snuggled up to a bear of all things, he'd cautiously awakened them, uncertain what the bear might do. He'd stayed put, though, as Cam gently lifted Cami in his arms and led Lily away from the pool. She'd resisted at first, groggily insisting that she had to pick some roses for her mother before she could leave. But Cam had promised to bring her back later that day, after they'd slept some more and eaten some food. Only then had she acquiesced and followed him back down the trail towards their home.
Alisa was there at the farmhouse when they returned. Upon discovering that the girls were missing, Cam had bolted out the door, eyes wild with panic, and she had thought it wise to go and wait at the house in case they returned. The time had not passed quickly for her, though—ever since Lily's birth, she'd helped Alice with the girls, and she was practically part of the family. She loved them dearly and was beside herself with worry. Unable to sit still, she had spent the time pacing back and forth, beseeching the Harvest Goddess in prayer to watch over the missing children and bring them safely home. When Cam finally walked through the door, Cami asleep on his shoulder and Lily stumbling beside him, she had nearly fainted with the suddenness of her relief.
After tucking the girls into bed to sleep and to warm up, Cam asked Alisa if she would stay and keep an eye on them while he went to Konohana to check on his wife. She agreed, but seeing that he was exhausted and strained, she suggested he first have some breakfast. She even offered to cook it for him while he sat down and rested for a little bit.
While he ate, she also recommended that he ride to Konohana, since if Alice was able to leave, she probably wouldn't be strong enough for the walk back yet. He hesitated, then acknowledged the wisdom of her suggestion with a weary smile and a word of thanks. Then he pulled on his coat and left, leaving her to keep watch over the girls.
Alice was sitting up and eating a simple breakfast of juice and hot cereal when he walked into her room. He sat in the chair next to her bedside, relieved to see her so improved. He accepted a cup of coffee from Hiro, while Dr. Ayame looked at him critically. "You need to rest, too, Cam—you look like you've hardly slept," she commented as Hiro returned with another steaming cup.
While Alice finished eating, the doctor examined her. "Well, it seems that the antibiotics are helping. Your temperature is only slightly elevated, your pulse is almost normal, and you're breathing much more easily than you were yesterday. And, of course, you're awake and lucid now.
"You can go home, but you need to take it easy for a while yet—I'd say at least another week. I'm sure Cheryl would be happy to come over and take care of your animals for you while you recover, and you could ask Ying to see to your crops—that young lady is turning out to have quite a green thumb.
"Also, although you shouldn't have been contagious from yesterday afternoon on, you would have been up until then. So keep a careful eye on anyone you've been in contact with for signs of illness—especially those little darlings of yours. All right? Come back if you start to feel worse, and remember what I told you about taking it easy!"
With that, she patted Alice firmly on the shoulder and strolled off to start her day's rounds, leaving Hiro to finish up the paperwork for her.
When they exited the clinic, Alice was visibly relieved upon seeing Cam's horse, Cowboy, standing calmly, waiting for his owner's return. Before heading home, they went across the street to arrange for Ying to tend to Alice's fields for a week or two while she recovered. After that, Cam lifted her up to Cowboy's back, then he took the reins and led him back home. They didn't talk much on the way—both were very tired still, and although her breathing was greatly improved, Alice was still somewhat short of breath. When they reached Bluebell, they went first to Ash and Laney's house to ask if Cheryl could come over each morning to take care of the animals while Alice recuperated. She happily agreed, and they turned back down the road towards home.
Cam helped Alice down and sent her on in to take a hot shower while he tended to his horse. Alisa waited until he came back into the house, then left to start her day's duties at the church, reminding him that both she and her foster father were there to help whenever they needed it. A few minutes after she left, Alice stepped out of the bathroom, towels wrapped around her body and damp hair.
"You go ahead and get into bed," Cam told her, following her into the bedroom. "I'll take care of the girls. Just get some sleep."
Wearily, Alice nodded, then pulled on a camisole and shorts and climbed into bed, falling asleep almost instantly. Cam sat next to her, stroking her hair, just watching her sleep for several minutes with a tender look in his eyes. Then he rose and went to check on the girls.
Lily was just waking when he walked into their room. He sat next to her on the bed as she sat up, and he said, "Well, Lily-bud. You've got some explaining to do. But first I think you and your sister could use a hot meal."
The little girl nodded. "I'm soo hungry, Daddy. All we had to eat were some blueberries. Can we have pancakes? And eggs? And sausages? And—"
"Whoa, there, take it easy!" Cam protested, laughing. "I think someone's eyes are bigger than her tummy!" He stood up, mussing her hair, and said, "Get dressed and help your sister get dressed. I'll go make something for us to eat, and you can tell me what happened while we eat. And keep it down—your mother's back home and sleeping, so don't do anything to wake her, okay?" Then he went to Cami's bed and gently shook her awake, then after a too-brief cuddle, set her down and told her to get dressed.
While the girls dove into their pancakes, Cam sat and sipped a cup of tea, watching them closely. Once Lily had taken the edge off her appetite, he set his cup down. "All right, Lily-bud. Time for you to 'fess up. You told me you were going to take Cami to see Alisa while I took your mother to the clinic. But Alisa said you never showed up. So what happened?"
"I didn't say that, Daddy, not exack-it-ly," she said, gulping down some of her juice. "I said we were going to the church. And we did—we went to the churchyard first, then we left and went up the path to the mountain. We just never went inside the church. I didn't tell a lie, Daddy."
Cam's mouth twitched, torn between amusement at his daughter's clever deception and ire that she'd intentionally deceived him. His sense of humor—no doubt assisted by his relief that everyone was all right—won out in the end, and all he managed was a stern look and a reprimand. "You know, sweetheart, what you did was very wrong. You put yourself and your little sister in danger, and even if you didn't exactly lie, you weren't honest, either. I trusted you to take care of your sister and yourself, you know, and you let me down."
Looking crestfallen, Lily said in a small voice, "I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to help Mama get better. Am… am I in trouble?"
"Well, suppose you tell me a little more about what happened? Then we'll see." Cam suggested, pouring himself another cup of tea and leaning back in his chair to listen.
So Lily related their adventure to her father, in between mouthfuls of breakfast. Now and then Cami piped up with some comment or overlooked detail, but mostly she was content to let her big sister talk while she ate.
She told Cam all about her plan to try to find wild roses for her mother, about their meeting with the oracle—which startled Cam, as he hadn't been aware of such a person living in the woods. She told him about Cami's fall and how the old brown bear had rescued them, and about reaching the peak as it was getting dark, and how they'd been too tired to go back down either side, and besides, it had been getting too dark to look for the flowers then, anyway. So they'd settled down to rest there by the water and fallen asleep.
"What about the bear? And all those roses there by the pool?" Cam asked as Lily paused, hesitant to continue.
So taking a deep breath, she continued on to tell him about the beautiful green lady, and what she'd said and done. "I thought it was just a dream," she said at the conclusion of her narrative, "but when you woke us up, the bear and the roses were there. So I don't know. Was it just a dream, Daddy? Or was she real?"
That, Cam thought to himself as he sipped his tea and watched his daughters devour their meal, was an excellent question.
Alice was still asleep when Cam and the girls returned from their hike back up to the lake. Cam made her a pot of tea and some toast, and placed a few thorny stems of the pale pink roses into a small vase. He put everything on a tray, along with the medicine she was supposed to take, and carried it in to their room as the girls scampered alongside. He set the tray down on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed, then he gently shook her shoulder.
The first thing Alice saw as she reluctantly opened her eyes were the large, pale pink blooms. Sitting up in surprise, she stared at Cam. "How… where…?"
The girls climbed up on the bed, and Cami bounced across on her knees, exclaiming, "Do you wike dem, Mama? We found dem all by our selfs!"
Lily cuddled up to her mother, wrapping her arms around her and holding onto her as if for dear life. "Are you all better, Mama? We found the flowers for you—do they make you feel better now?"
Glancing in confusion at Cam, Alice quickly hugged her daughters, assuring them that she was indeed much better, and that she was certain it was all because of the pretty flowers. The girls beamed, and Lily looked relieved. Then Cam suggested they go play for a while, since he was pretty sure their dolls were quite lonely and missed them. They ran off to check on their 'childrens', and Cam moved to his side of the bed, sitting next to Alice and leaning back tiredly against his pillow. As she sipped her tea and nibbled her toast, he related the events of the past couple of days, including Lily's tale of their adventure. Alice looked alarmed at the idea of her girls alone on the mountain, but when Cam mentioned the bear, she smiled. "Good old Bruno. As soon as I'm recovered enough, I'll have to go catch some nice, fat fish all for him. Imagine him being clever enough to figure that out!"
After Cam concluded his story, Alice sat looking thoughtful. "So what do you think, about Lily's 'beautiful green lady' that is? It seems too fantastic to be true, but all the same, the flowers came from somewhere," Cam mused.
Taking another sip of tea, Alice replied, somewhat hesitantly, "I never mentioned it to anyone before, but… when I first arrived here, when I had that accident and was knocked out… I had a dream about a lady that looked just Lily's description. She told me that the time had come to reunite the two towns, and she needed my help to do it. I… I thought it was just a dream. But… then things kept happening. And I had more dreams of her, too. Maybe they weren't dreams, after all."
They sat and thought for a few minutes, then Cam looked over at Alice. "So why did you want wild roses so badly? And why haven't you mentioned it before? If I'd known, I would have found some for you."
Alice sighed. "I'd forgotten all about it, honestly. But I guess somewhere down inside it must have still bothered me."
"What bovvered you, Mama?" Cami interrupted, and Alice jumped slightly. Peering over at the door, she saw the girls sitting in the doorway, Lily dressing one doll while Cami brushed another's hair.
Smiling, Alice patted the bed and the girls climbed up, Lily snuggling up to Cam while Cami climbed up onto Alice's lap.
"When I was young, a little younger than Cheryl, I used to argue with my mother a lot. One morning, I had a big fight with her. I don't even remember what about—just something silly and unimportant, I'm sure. But we were both very angry, and we said some things to each other than we shouldn't have."
"Was that Baba Anna? Why did you fight? What things did you say?" Lily asked, curious as ever.
"Yes, that's Baba Anna. It's hard to explain why we fought—we just did. And I think that the things we said are better left unrepeated, sweetheart." Looking over at Cam, she said, "This was during that big influenza epidemic. The one that…." her voice trailed off, and Cam nodded, understanding what she left unspoken—the same epidemic that took both his parents from him.
"Anyway, when I returned that night, I discovered my mother had collapsed shortly after I'd left. She was sick—so very sick…."
"Just like you," Lily softly interrupted, clinging to her father as she looked at her mother with big eyes.
"Yes. Like me. But she was even more sick than I was. For a while, we thought she was going to die. She just kept getting worse and worse, and she had to go to the hospital. But so many people were sick with the same thing that they had started to run out of medicine.
"I was so frightened at the thought of losing her, and I felt terrible that the last things I'd said to her were so mean. Somehow I settled on the idea that if I could just find some of her favorite flowers—the wild roses that grew all over in the late spring and early summer—then everything would be fine. But it was fall by then, and all the roses had died.
"I searched high and low, scouring the countryside for them. But I couldn't find even one single rose anywhere, and Mom kept getting more and more sick.
"Finally, while I was visiting my mother for a few minutes before setting off on my search for the day, I overheard the doctor tell my dad that he should start planning for the worst—gathering family to say their goodbyes, that sort of thing.
"I panicked and ran away. I don't know why I was so fixated on finding her a wild rose. Maybe I thought that if I could manage one miracle, then somehow I could work another? I don't know. But I spent the entire day searching, going farther and deeper and higher into the hills than I'd ever gone before.
"And then it happened. I found a wild rose—one single, perfect, pale pink blossom, hidden away in a small glade, sheltered from the cold winds. It was the very last rose on a late-blooming bush, and from how perfect and fresh it looked, it had to have bloomed just that very morning.
"I rode my pony all the way back to town and to the hospital, as fast as she could go. When I ran into my mother's room, I found doctors gathered all around her bed, and my heart stopped—I was sure I was too late. But then one of them moved aside, and I saw her—her eyes were open, and although she was pale and worn, she smiled when she saw me standing there in the doorway. I ran to her and threw my arms around her, crying with relief. Then I remembered the flower I'd worked so hard to find for her, and handed it to her.
"I still remember how big her eyes got when she saw it—she knew it was the wrong time of year for them. Then she sniffed the sweet fragrance, and for the first time in days, there was color in her cheeks—the same delicate pink as the rose petals. And I knew then that everything was going to be just fine."
"Just like you?" Lily whispered, sidling over and putting her arms around Alice's neck.
"Just like me."
Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, and most locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and MarvelousAQL Inc. The story's plot and some characters & locations are my own invention.
Photo Attribution: The cover image is titled "wild rose" and is by Jo Naylor, aka pandora_6666. It may be viewed on the Flickr website, photo ID 4708129155. It is available for public use under the terms of the Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0. I have not altered the image in any way, other than any cropping or resizing that may have occurred as part of the process of uploading it onto this site.