Chapter One – The Move
Spring 1 – Tuesday
"But Mom, I don't want to move to Mineral Town!"
That was how this all began. My parents and I were moving from the big city to some backwater town in the middle of nowhere. My life as a teenager was officially over. I mean, look at what living out here would do to my social life- not to mention my skin!
As we unpacked the car, I walked through the metal archway that read 'Fargrieve Farm'. Yep, this was where my grandfather had lived, at least until my grandmother had died.
"There's probably no one my age! They're probably all old and… blehh!" I cried in distress, what is that gonna do to make my parents rethink this? Nothing, that's what.
"Now, sweetheart, your grandparents were old, and they had me when I was growing up here," my mother tried to comfort me.
"Yeah, and now we have you. So don't you think anyone else in this town had children?" my dad pitched in. I knew he was trying to help, but this conversation was not making me feel better.
"Yeah, whatever," I mumbled, unpacking my things. As I pushed open the front door, my jaw dropped in shock. "Mom! Dad! Come here, quick!" They ran forward, dropping what they held, and looked in the house.
"What's the matter, honey?" my mom asked in concern, peering into the house. Did she not see it? Was she blind? Could she not possibly see the horror that lay right before her eyes?
"M-mom," I said with the straightest voice I could muster, "there's only one room." My parents looked at me in wonder, and my dad decided to take a closer look.
"Hmm, honey, why is that?" he asked in genuine confusion, "And there's no kitchen! What kind of house is this?" he said angrily, rounding on my mother. She only laughed.
"Well, I didn't know you expected our old house all over again. My parents were good friends with the innkeeper, so we ate out every night. I'd expect Doug has gotten older by now. Aha, we should go visit them. Maybe as a nice welcome back gift, they'll treat us to dinner tonight!"
"Or maybe he won't remember you and will kick you out when he realizes that you're asking for free food," I said quietly. It was enough to shut my parents up for a minute.
"Are they open on Tuesdays?" my dad asked.
"They're open every day," my mom replied, "well except holidays, of course. This town, last I was here, was very close knit. I think we'll fit in great!" That was my mother, always the optimist.
"Yeah… right," I mumbled under my breath. I had a very bad feeling about this town, but I was hesitant to tell this to my parents. This move meant so much to them, and I didn't want to bum them out.
Ten minutes later, all the things were out of the car and piled in the house, boxes and bags were piled up, almost making look as if the house were close to bursting.
"Man, I'm hungry," my dad said. He always thought with his stomach. The doorbell suddenly rang, making me jump. I was so under the impression that this place was a ghost town that it seemed strange that anyone would even be there to visit.
I answered it. There was a tall and burly man with a beard standing at the door, wearing jeans and a T-shirt that showed off his numerous muscles. "Hey, uh, the mayor told me that you guys moved here," he said, somewhat quietly. Funny, he looked like a louder guy.
"Uh, yeah. We did. What's it to you?" I said, always the instigator.
"Gotz!" my mother squealed happily. Nearly throwing me aside, she gave the tall figure a hug. "Remember me? It's me, Kathy!"
It took Gotz a minute to register what my mom had just said, but when he did, he began chatting with her excitedly. My dad even joined in. It was sickening, seeing adults chatting like little children.
Soon after the introductions, Gotz grabbed my mom by her shoulders and said excitedly, "I'll go tell the town that you're here, and we can all meet at the inn for a feast!" My parents were delighted.
I, however, was not.
An hour later, we were walking down a little dirt path to the pile of junk that they called a town. It was disgusting, how there were no paved roads, and not a car in sight. Even bikes were scarce. All that reassured me of was that the town was so small, EVERYTHING was within walking distance. My parents ignored me on the walk into town.
I was used to it, so it didn't really bother me.
The inn must have been the biggest building in town, save the church, whose steeple was visible from our farm. As I walked in, I saw perhaps thirty people. Leaning over to my mom, I asked quietly, "Is this… the town?" She nodded and I heaved a huge sigh of annoyance.
"Welcome back, Kathryn!" the mayor said happily as he ran forward, "Mineral Town would like to celebrate your return by treating you all to dinner, which was cooked up by our very own Doug!" A pudgy redheaded man smiled warmly and waved.
"I trust you know everyone here, Kathryn?" the mayor asked.
My mother scanned the waiting crowd and furrowed her brows. "There are a few new faces, mostly the young ones," she laughed, "but I suppose we'll all get to know each other in time!" My father nudged my mother and indicated that I was still present.
"Huh? Oh, yes! I almost forgot!" she cried, "This is my daughter, Scarlet! She was born after I left Mineral Town, so she'd be about the age of all the other young ladies in the room, I suppose." As my family was bombarded with questions, I managed to stay far enough out of the way so I was not bothered.
As I edged away from the crowd, I saw a boy standing off to the side. He looked lost and abandoned, like an unused toy that was thrown into a corner and forgotten. "Hey," I started, "what's your name?"
He looked up at me with the most depressed look I had ever seen in the eyes of a teenager and said one word, "Cliff." As he shuffled away, I couldn't help but feel pity for him. Of course, it also took me a moment to assert that he was not insinuating that he was going to 'jump off a cliff'. His eyes made it seem as though he wanted to.
"Let the feasting begin!" someone cried, and I realized that it was the mayor. That little man didn't look like he would have such a large voice. I made my own way to the tables and sat near my parents. All the tables were tightly packed, and some people had to stand, but as refreshments and plates of food were handed out, the town housewives made their way to my mom.
"Oh, Kathryn!" one cried, "It's been so long! Remember me?"
"Manna!" Mom squealed, "Oh, Manna, dear! How have you been?"
Most of the conversations revolved around what had happened the eighteen odd years that she had been gone, but when Doug walked up, my mom took the reins of the topics of gossip.
Giving him a hug, she began to talk eagerly to him. I was under the impression that they had been the best of childhood friends. "So… where's Lynn?" she asked excitedly, "I heard that you two were going to get married just before I left town!" Doug's face changed to utterly broken in a fraction of a second.
"She, uh, she passed away a few years after our daughter was born," he said sadly. My mother looked embarrassed at having brought up such a sore subject. "My daughter, Ann," he pointed to a redheaded girl that was trying to talk to the 'Cliff' boy, "doesn't even remember her. She helps me get through the day. She has her mother's smile, you know."
I felt suddenly guilty. I had suddenly realized how significant they all really were. I had been thinking that they all were just hicks with no real lives, but now I saw that even the innkeeper had more of a life than I would have ever hoped to have.
"How about the other children?" my father asked, with a side-glance at me, "Could you tell us who they are?"
"Oh, that's Karen," Manna pointed at a girl with long brown hair, "she's Sasha's and Jeff's…" breaking off, she looked at the other side of the room, "That little cutie is Mary, she runs the town library. Such a quiet girl really; Saibara let his grandson move here from the city, his name is Gray. He's very quiet too, as a matter of fact…"
Everyone seemed to go into a stupor as Manna droned on and on about families and romances, and marriages and even cattle. I just grew sick of it. "Who's the dork?" I asked, indicating a young man wearing a green turtleneck with khaki cords and an apron. He looked like, dare I even think it, the Dorkanator. He would have looked better in a white shirt and tie with a pocket protector and braces. His glasses were insanely large, but his eyes were the most beautiful blue I had ever seen. I was not going to say that though, not after calling him a dork.
"That's my son, Rick… My daughter, Popuri, is over there, talking with Ann," a woman with bushy pink hair said sadly, "Their father left to find a desert plant that would cure me. I wish he had stayed, though… We really need him here."
Oops. Sorry, lady. Just like my mother, I had 'foot-in-mouth' disorder. Just as I was about to ask about a girl on the other side of the room wearing an apron with a blue dress, my mother asked excitedly, all the while nudging me, "Who's that young man over there?"
All the adults standing around us turned their heads and saw exactly whom she was pointing at. He was tall, dark and handsome. He wore a long lab coat, and white pants. His hair was as jet black as his eyes, and he wore a mirror on his head. I didn't even need to ask his occupation.
"That's Dr. Walden's son…" the pink-haired woman whispered, "Don't you remember him?"
My mom nodded. "Dr. Walden's son? Doctor? He was only a little boy when I left here; how old would be now, Lillia? Twenty-two, twenty-three? I remember when he was just a little tyke… I never thought that he would grow to be such a handsome man…" My father cleared his throat and my mother laughed nervously.
Lillia sighed and continued, "Dr. Walden… He and his wife died a few years ago, and he took over the family practice. Poor boy, he never really wanted to be a doctor, but his father felt it was in his blood."
"In his blood?" Doug said darkly, "That man named his son 'Doctor'! If you ask me, the Waldens were a strange bunch… Forced his boy into the practice… what was it he wanted to be?"
"A writer, I believe. Either that or an artist," Manna chimed in, "I can't really remember. All I know is that it was a real waste of talent. He was only twelve when he was accepted into an art college, but his father wouldn't hear of it! He wanted to go to an art college so badly, and he had even won enough scholarships to make it through four full years, but his father said no and forced him to learn the family practice at home. Then, Doctor did what any child would do, and ran away. They went out and found him on Mother's Peak, staring at the sky. Say, didn't Dr. Walden start having heart problems when they brought him back?" she asked.
"I think so… he sort of went screwy after awhile, but we all thought everything was perfectly fine, until one morning, we walked into the clinic and saw Doctor crying over their bodies. He was mumbling over and over about how he couldn't save them…" Doug mumbled.
"They died from heart attacks, didn't they?" Lillia asked.
"Yeah…" another woman chimed in, "We managed to calm Doctor down and ever since then, he's been a really sweet guy. I don't exactly like him, per se, but he's always been kind to us all. There is something about him, though…"
"Sasha's got a point…" Lillia sighed, "the poor man has to act as not only a doctor, but as a vet. All the pressure builds up, having everyone's life depend on you like that. Sometimes, the stress really seems to get to him and he goes into a sort of slump; he does his job, but there's an apathetic sort of air around him…"
Sasha whispered, "It isn't that that bothers me. It's how he reacts to deaths in the town…" We all leaned in nervously, even though we could hear her perfectly.
"Does he act strangely when there's a death?" my mom asked.
"It isn't that…" Sasha said quietly, "he doesn't act at all."
"What?" I said before I could stop myself.
"It's as though nothing had happened. It was the same way with his parents. After they died, he didn't really even seem to care. Call me paranoid, but he just irks me. That's all…" Sasha whispered.
Before I knew what I was even saying, it seemed to burst forth from my chest. "Don't blame him, I mean, his parents died when he was just a kid. It seems as though you're accusing him of being weird or something, but he's probably just a really nice guy that's trying look for someone to fill the void!" Everyone around us seemed to fall silent after I had finished ranting.
"Well, I sure can tell that she's your girl, Kathy!" Doug laughed nervously. Everyone in the inn, the adults at least, broke into nervous chuckles. Doug jerked his head towards the other side of the room, all the while looking at me. I looked up towards where he indicated.
Doctor was looking right at me, his head cocked to the side slightly. Then it hit me: he knew that I was talking about him. I saw him glance edgily at my parents, then the townspeople nearby us. His black eyes narrowed slightly, giving an air of opacity.
I could not move; I could not breathe, nor did it seem any of the others could as well. As Doctor slid off of his stool and walked towards the door of the inn, everyone inside seemed to avoid any sort of eye contact with him, except for me.
"I'll be leaving now," he said in mock cheerfulness. As he gave the room one final viewing, I saw his eyes meet my own. They crinkled into a warm smile. "Goodnight," he said quietly. As I raised my hand to wave a goodbye, he walked out the door and slammed it.
It seemed as though the whole room breathed a sigh of relief. As Doug went to clean up Doctor's drink, my mother looked at me reproachfully. Manna, however, tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered, "I think he likes you." I tried to smile, but it must have looked like a grimace.
"We should be getting home," said a little man in a white shirt, his hair slicked back, "Sasha, Karen, let's get going."
"Coming, Jeff," Sasha sighed, "Karen, dear, let's get going." Karen followed her mother, waving goodbye to Rick as she left. He waved halfheartedly, and I saw that he was glancing towards me.
Lillia rubbed her forehead and said her good-byes, walking towards her son and daughter. They walked on either side of her as they, too, left the inn. Soon after, every one of the villagers followed suit, except for Doug and his daughter.
"It was wonderful to see you again, Kathy," Doug said kindly, giving my mother a warm embrace, "and it was great meeting you, Bill," he said to my father. "And Scarlet," he turned to me, "don't be a stranger. You are always welcome here. I'm sure you and Ann will get along fine, along with all the other young people. Feel free to drop in whenever, because it's on the house." I was amazed at the show of southern hospitality as I shook his hand.
My parents walked towards the door, but I lagged behind, watching as Ann began to sweep the floor. Doug was picking up plates and taking them to the back of the room. Ann watched me curiously as I turned towards my parents and said, "I'll be home in a little bit, okay?" They consented, and I began to pick the plates up.
"You don't have to do this," Ann objected, "we do this for a living, after all." I glanced up and smiled sadly.
"You didn't get any money for tonight, though, so I figured this is the least I could do." Ann couldn't seem to come up with any kind of counter, though, and let me continue. When Doug came back from the kitchen, he nearly dropped the mop and bucket he was carrying.
"You shouldn't be here," he said cautiously, "wild dogs come out at night, and you wouldn't want to get attacked."
"I'm just going to help you two clean up the inn, and then I'll get back home, I promise," I told him. He chuckled to himself and put the bucket on the floor.
"You any good with a mop?" he asked. I smiled and nodded, taking the mop. After a couple of dunks in the bucket, the floor was looking much better, and the two people watching me seemed surprised.
"I'll take it from here, Scarlet," Ann said appreciatively, "You know, when I saw you, I thought you were some city bumpkin with no taste for good hard work. I guess I really was wrong about you." I laughed.
"Well, we're living on a farm now, so I had better get used to it sooner or later. Also, I just wanted to help. I had the major wrong impression about you guys too," I said tiredly.
"At least you didn't think we were just hicks with no lives, isn't that right, Ann?" Doug chuckled, but he laughed even harder at the look on my face, which gave it all away.
"You're a good kid," he said quietly. Ann seemed to be beaming at me. "It would be a shame for that to go to waste, so don't ever hesitate to talk to anyone here. You're part of the family now."
"Family?" I asked sarcastically.
"We're a very small town, so everyone here is so close, it is as though we are a family, and kid, you're in it," he said. As I went to give Ann the mop, Doug seemed to be deep in thought.
"Of course," he began, "there is always a black sheep in any family…" I half expected him to go on ranting about Doctor, but I was only half-wrong in that assumption. "I wanted to apologize though, for what we all were saying about Doctor earlier. The whole story is true, but I think we have all jumped to conclusions about him. You were just what we needed to think twice about that. I'll admit, I don't feel as comfortable about him as I could," Doug paused to sigh, "but there is still the chance that you could be right about him.
"I think it'll take awhile for everyone to warm up to your point of view, but maybe if you could help everyone see the good side of him, then we'd all feel much better, including Doctor," Doug said exhaustedly.
"Dad," Ann began, "are you telling Scarlet that she should hook up with Doctor?" I started, understanding now what he had been implying.
"Well…" Doug broke off, shrugging in dull agreement, "yeah, I think it would be a good idea. I-I mean, you know, after everything that's happened to him, he could probably use a special someone whom wouldn't be afraid to get close to him. Elli has showed an interest, but you can tell that she feels a little uncomfortable around him, just like everyone else."
"All right," I said. Doug smiled. "I'm not making any promises, I mean, we might not even hook up, but I'll try to make friends with him."
I was escorted to the door a few minutes later by the father and daughter. "Thank you so much for all your help," Ann said.
"Are you sure you don't need one of us to walk you home? We'd be glad to, so don't feel put off by feeling like a burden," Doug asked. I shook my head and replied that I would be perfectly fine. "Suit yourself," he said quietly, "but be careful out there. There's more than wild dogs out there."
They shut the door behind me as I left, and I heaved a sigh of comfort. The cool night air felt so wonderful on my face and arms, and the stars were perfectly visible in the night sky. There was obviously little to no pollution anywhere nearby. As I walked down the road, I came to a fork.
Uh-oh, I thought. It had been so long since I had even seen the road, and I had seen it only once at that, I had forgotten the way back home. Neither of the paths looked all that familiar in the dark, so I simply turned left. After a minute or two things started to look bad. I realized that I had gone the wrong way, but it was only nine at night, I mean, someone should have still been awake. I would have to just ask for directions.
The major question was which place should I disturb? It seemed as though everyone in this small town went to bed awful early. I didn't blame them, though. They all seemed to work pretty hard. Just as I was about to turn back, I saw a light. It was like a beacon of hope. I ran towards it.
It was on the second floor of a white building. I sighed in relief and went to knock on the door, but then I gasped in shock. The door read, 'Clinic Hours: 9AM-4PM; Closed Wednesdays'. Oops. I immediately turned and went back to the road. I looked back the way I had come, then to the left and right.
To my left was the church; to the right, one lone street lamp that had burnt out, but past that, everything was dark, impossible to see. Ahead of me, the direction I had come from, I could see a vague light, but the fog obscured my vision past twenty feet in every direction.
I sighed and glanced towards the church. I was pretty sure that the candles that were lit in the windows were for show only. What was I going to do now? As I began to walk straight again, I heard something behind me.
I turned towards the sound and saw a pale figure locking the door to the clinic. I was far too curious to walk away, so I kept my eyes on the person. As he turned around, though, I recognized him.
"You looking for something?" Doctor asked me as he put his keys in his pocket. So it was his light that had been on; he must have seen me walking down the road and come to check on me.
"Oh, I was just walking home. I stayed after to help Ann and Doug clean up after the party," I said nervously. He only laughed.
"Well you went in the totally opposite direction of your house. Are you sure you weren't looking for something else?" he asked softly.
"I don't know my way around this town. I was just trying to get home," I insisted. It was the truth after all, but I knew what he was hinting at.
"All right then," he laughed, "can I walk you home?" His black eyes seemed to burn into my own. I nodded and he beckoned for me to follow.
After we had walked a few minutes, he slowed his pace and asked, "They were talking about me, weren't they?" I had no clue what to say; I was utterly speechless. He looked over at me, "Well?"
I nodded silently. He gave a 'tsk' and a sigh and said, "I really appreciate what you said though. I don't know why everyone here seems to hate me so much, but I really wish it would all stop. Thanks, uh…"
"Scarlet," I responded instinctively. It was all I could do to keep from blushing. He was so handsome, and he was looking at me… with bedroom eyes! Wow, I thought, how could this happen to me?
"Here we are," he said quietly. I could tell that he was no longer looking at me. Sure enough, I looked up and saw the familiar metal arch that read 'Fargrieve Farm'. I looked towards him and smiled.
"Thanks for walking me home," I said softly. Our faces inched closer.
"Thanks for sticking up for me in front of those jerks," he whispered. I shut my eyes… and pulled away.
"Please don't talk about my parents like that," I mumbled as I turned away from him. He looked a little cross at having been stopped from the 'imminent kiss'.
"You're parents were talking about me?" he asked coldly.
"As was the whole town, Doctor. You know, I really need to get home," I said angrily, "you should too. Wild dogs come out at night."
He laughed as thought he couldn't believe what was going on.
"Home?" he cried out as he walked away from me backwards. He put his hands in the air, "What home?"
I let out a small shriek of frustration and stomped away. I knew it was not his fault that I was frustrated. The town was awful rude to talk about him while he was there. I realized that I was utterly in the wrong. As I made it to the door, I pounded my fist on the wall and muttered, "Damn, I was about to make out with him, too!"
The
front door opened. It was my father.
"Scarlet!" he cried,
"I've been worried about you, and so has your mother! Come on in
and grab your things."
"What?" I asked edgily.
"Oh," he said belatedly, "you don't mind sleeping in the shed, do you? It's pretty well insulated. It's sort of a guestroom. That way, you won't need to put up with sharing a bed with us, right?" He had a point.
Five minutes later, I kicked open the door to the shed and flicked on the light. Much to my surprise, it was fully furnished, with a window and everything. It was almost as large as that actual house! In all honesty, it made up for the missed kiss double the value.
"Score!" I cried, jumping onto the bed. It was freshly made thanks to my mother and her quick thinking. They were my favorite sheets, too, with little sheep on them. I changed into my matching sheep pajamas and flicked off the light.
As I curled up in my new bed, and my new room, flashes of the day seemed to engulf my fading waking moments. My eyes finally shut as I saw Doctor leaving the inn, and smiling at me.
Yet, that memory just didn't do the dreams justice.