A/N:: Made for the Village Square Bravery contest. Hope you readers love it! Thank you & R&R please!
Little Kathy hopped and skipped through Harmonica Town, staring through all the thick windows. The items inside the buildings all looked glorious to her. She smiled to herself as the bright sun shone behind her and made the glass windows sparkle. Her father had kicked her out of the house saying she should go visit some friends. And with that she was on her way to Renee's ranch to maybe ride a few horses. She swerved over bridges and down many paths till she reached Horn ranch.
"Hey Renee!" she called to her brunette friend who was brushing their horses. She ran over. "Wanna ride around for a bit?" she asked. Renee shrugged sadly.
"I have a lot of work to do, I'm sorry Kathy. But you can take your horse for a ride if you want, its fine with us here." The both smiled and the blonde hugged her friend then hopped on top of one horse. She waved her friend goodbye and trotted off.
She trailed her way to the Garmon Mine district. She thought maybe she could find someone to talk to there. Maybe Owen was around. She stopped in front of the blacksmith's store and tied the reins in her hand to the handlebar atop the concrete walkway leading to Ramsey's as she jumped off her saddle. She burst through the front door, her pure emerald eyes glistening with a mixture of glee and some kind of boredom, and she felt the warmth of the coal-fire on her skin.
The man at the front desk, with a hammer hung on his shoulder, looked down at the ecstatic young girl who was maybe half his height. He grinned at her and leaned over his roughly used and dented counter. She put her hands behind her and rocked from her toes to her heels and asked the expected question.
"Is Owen around?" she pondered endearingly. Ramsey chuckled slightly and hummed slowly.
"I think he told me he was off to the lower mine. But that was a while ago and its about time for supper. Would you go fetch him for me?" he said laying a finger on his chin. Kathy paused for a moment, then nodded quickly, so he handed her a small lantern. "Owen has one like this with him at the moment, so just look for another fuzzy light." The callused man told her as she grasped the newly lit contraption. Her face was distorted slightly as her eyes peered through the makeshift glass. Ramsey smiled and shooed her out in the direction of the mines.
Her small figure was shadowed by the large entrance. Once she entered she felt a chill go down her and the smell of damp, newly made tools filled the air, which was different from the burning flames she had smelled in the store a few minutes earlier. The first few paths were lighted well, but as she headed down the steep stairs to the lower mine there were only few sources around that flickered as if they would go out any second when she walked past. The girl held the lantern in front of her, as if protecting her from the wandering shadows that the uprooting crystals had caused to dance.
She walked steadily down even steeper stairs and darker paths, that eventually the light in the cave had diminished, and the only way to see was the thin stream of light provided by her lamp. She glanced carefully around the rounded walls of the cave, making sure she wouldn't miss Owen. But she wasn't so aware of a sudden drop of steps in front of her. She tumbled down the jagged rocks and landed flat on her back, yet her new found skill enabled her to keep her lantern from crashing. Otherwise she would have been doomed. She chattered her teeth subconsciously, but stopped once she noticed a smaller, dimmer light beyond her. She took off.
Kathy was sprinting full speed ahead of her, her eyes half closed, and the light slowly got bigger. Suddenly the slightly larger and more muscular redhead was directly in front of her.
"Kathy?" his rough young voice asked. She smiled halfheartedly, still freaked out of her wits. Yet she was definitely happy to see her friend, it made her feel a bit more secure.
"Owen! Boy, am I glad to finally find you!" She laughed and looked up at him.
"Not much of a mining kind of girl are you, huh?" She smirked down at her as he got a better grip on his own hammer. She set her lantern on the cold ground and folded her slender arms.
"Ha! But I can swing a mean hammer! And heck, I bet I could prospect a few gems y'know." She protested. He lifted an eyebrow and the smirk on his lips never left.
"But I doubt you would ever come down here by yourself." He rebutted. The blonde snorted and made her hands into fists on her sides. She glared up at the young boy, though he was only a few inches taller than herself. She wondered if he was purposely trying to tick her off, or if he was just asking a question in the form of a statement.
Before she could reply, they both felt a strong breeze coming from the door to the mine. It swirled down the stairs and hit them both relentlessly. They had shut their eyes to avoid flying dust and when they both looked around again, their fire-filled lanterns had settled into black and everything was shrouded in ashy darkness.
"Oh my goddess! Oh my goddess! Oh my goddess! Oh my -!" Kathy's worried flaunts were cut off by friend's firm grip on her shoulder. By now, her eyes had adjusted to see but few inches ahead of her, yet she could tell Owen was right there in front of her nose.
"Calm down! What's wrong?" He shook her softly and she pursed her lips. She twirled the toe of her shoe on the stone hard floor and didn't have the nerve to say. "Kathy?" He said again in monotone. Hints and bits of concern lined his voice. But the young girl was much more worried. She shivered and shook, and if she spoke she knew it would just be a mix of unsteady squeals and high-pitched hysterics. "Are you scared? Of the dark?" He interrogated, his happy-go-lucky blue eyes gazing straight into her pale, and getting paler, face.
"Hmph," She puffed out her cheeks and closed her eyes tight. Not wanting to admit her phobia. But slowly… "Who wouldn't be afraid of a dark mine! Who knows what's in here." her sturdy voice faded, as did her sentence and confidence. Owen reached over and easily rubbed his fist over her light head. She wondered how he could see so well.
"Nothing's in here silly." He smiled, that was basically all Kathy could make out in the gloom of him. "The dark isn't that bad once you get used to it." The boy continued. The soon-to-be waitress sighed, shrugged, and basically gave in. She bit her tongue and folded her arms once again, turning her head so she wouldn't look at the redhead. But there was no getting away from his playful glare.
"Nuhuh. I've always been afraid of the dark. No way I could ever get 'used to it' any time soon." She admitted miserably.
"Hm, your not the kind of girl I would expect to give up and be scared so quickly." Owen thought out loud.
"Everyone has their fears."
"Did something happen Kathy?" He gazed into her eyes. He really did care. She broke.
"OK. You were right earlier. I hate the mines Owen… I'll never get over it." She said. And even though she was practically blind at the moment, she sat on her butt and refused to move. The blacksmith's relative crouched next to her.
"Your so difficult." He sighed. "I want you to tell me what makes you so scared." He put his hand on her elbow, it couldn't be less awkward, fortunately.
She took a deep shaky breath. And began, did she really have a choice anyway? "When I was a toddler, my dad took me down here. I was having a great time and I kept nudging my dad to take me deeper and further down. But after a while our wick burnt out and everything starting rumbling and there was a deafening roar in my ear. It shuddered through my body and I could feel the beat in the pit of my stomach and in my chest. I think my dad recently told me I had fainted that second." She twirled her thumbs while Owen tried to share a common look with her.
"You know I used to be afraid of heights, and that mine cart outside was a complete terror of mine. Ever since that cursed Luke pushing me in it." Kathy tried not to giggle out loud. "I know, I know." He smiled. She was happy for that instant.
"Look, we need to get out of here, one way or another. And if you were smart, you would come with me, and not stay here." He stated. She looked up at him innocently. He smirked and lifted his eyebrows. He stood up and stuck out his hand to her generously. She took it and he yanked her up without trouble. He tried to move forward into the damp caves but Kathy clung to his arm and shook nervously. "Just be brave. Shake it off." He told her simply.
She gulped a large swallow and carefully traveled down her throat as the passed down dark and shady mines. They traveled up familiar stairs, that Kathy kept telling Owen over and over that they were evil and conniving devils that begged her to trip on them.
Soon the path was light again, and the two could see more than a few feet around them. Kathy's eyes began to sparkle as she ran towards the exit.
"My goddess!" she screamed as she fell lightly on her back on the grass near the shipping bin and mine cart. The cold grass felt much better than the mine and it tickled her skin. She gleamed as her gawking expression followed the clouds and glossed the buildings around her. She just realized how vivid the land's colors were. She would always remember this, how something changes so drastically after you come over an obstacle. She was about to jump up and give Owen the biggest hug known to man but before she could blink a second time he was right there next to her. She glanced at him and smiled her smile up to the bluest sky, closed her eyes and felt like passing out would be the appropriate thing to do. But before she got the chance, Owen began to poke her. She glanced at him again.
"So, wanna come have dinner at my house? It's getting late we've been through a lot today."
"Sounds good." The girl was hungry, she had to admit. So she nodded and followed the future blacksmith to the shop.
"We should do all this again sometime."
"Only if it consists of your current fear." He chuckled at the comment, although all he could think of from that point through dinner was that hideous feeling he gets when looking down the drop off where the mine cart leads... Ooooooh, heights… maybe early before dawn he could sneak out and destroy the wretched thing so no one would ever know it was still his phobia.
"Hey! Maybe we could spook Luke with whatever instead! I heard he's afraid of needles!"