Molly sighed, glancing at the flier once more. She wasn't what you'd consider a gullible girl, and she felt a healthy dose of skepticism towards the claims this poster was making. Land, a house, a barn and a coop, all for the low, low price of free; somehow, she didn't quite believe that. But at this point, what else could she do but look into it? She couldn't go back home, and she didn't have an education. She knew her great grandparents had been farmers, so hey, anything they could do, she could do better, right? Well, at least she hoped.
But, as it would turn out, it was ridiculously difficult to find this 'Castanet' on a map. Her father's atlas was either too old or too new, because where the flier said the town should be, all there was was barren coastline. So all she really had to go off of was the flier's tiny map, and even if the damn town really did exist, she still had to find some way to get there.
"Rats…" she mumbled, sitting outside the train depot. Even after showing the ticket master the map on the poster, he'd just shook his head. He'd never heard of Castanet, and even if he had, there were no stops on the train line. "It's all for the better anyway," she said, standing and dusting her pants off. "I couldn't have afforded a ticket anyway…" Just as she was about to turn tail and head back home to a set of disappointed parents, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It seemed almost like…like a sparkle at the edge of her vision, but that was silly.
It was Saturday, and the marketplace in town was busy, so she brushed it off as just one of the vendors waving at a prospective customer or a cart rolling by. Shrugging to herself, she turned and started down the path. But before she had taken two steps, the wind picked up. And not just any wind, it was far too fierce a wind for such a mild spring morning. Bowing her head against the sudden gail, the flier she held in her hands was ripped from her grasp, and she sucked in her breath sharply.
"No!" she gasped, trying to snatch it from the clutches of the gail that had taken hold of it. Scrambling after it, she wove through the crowd, who seemed equally as startled by the sudden wind as she was, flailing and trying to catch the errant piece of paper. "Come back!" She watched as it twisted and tumbled on the breeze, until finally, it came to a halt. But not before slapping some poor fellow in the face.
"Wha-!?" The man, who looked as muscular as an ox and just as intimidating, staggered back as the flier slapped against his face. Molly's eyes flew open in shock, and she dashed over, her stomach twisting into a knot.
"I'm so sorry!" she said, halting in front of him timidly as he peeled the flier off of his face. He wore a confused expression, until his eyes scanned the contents of the poster. Then, to Molly's great surprise, his expression brightened, and he finally glanced down at the girl.
"Hey, this is Mayor Hamilton's flier!" he said, taking another look at it, before handing it back to Molly.
"Mayor…Hamilton?" she asked.
"Yeah, his flier asking for new ranchers!" The man grinned down at her. "So this is yours?"
"Er, yeah, I'm sorry about it hitting you in the face…" Her face was bright as a tomato as she apologized, but the man only chuckled.
"Don't be sorry, it must've been fate that made it fly into my face!" He stuck a hand out to Molly, who very cautiously shook it, though she still wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. "The name's Cain, I'm a rancher from Castanet. You must be lookin' to fill the position the Mayor's been offering?" And just like that, Molly's entire day had turned around for the better. Her blush faded as she broke out in an excited smile, and she nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Yes I am! You know where Castanet is!?"
"Know where it is? I'm heading back there right now!" Cain motioned back towards his horse and cart. "Just making the monthly trip to market, but seein' as there's not a lot to sell, I'm fixin' to head back a little early today." He hiked his trousers up by the silver-buckled belt at his waist. "You wouldn't be needing a ride, would you?"
"Would I!?" Molly couldn't believe her supreme luck; maybe it was fate? Whatever it was, she was feeling incredibly grateful for the stroke of luck she'd been given, it was the first time in a looong time anyone in her family had caught a break. "I would love one! I-if you're offering, that is."
"Sure, I've got room for one more. I could stick around for another hour or so if you need to get any bags or luggage-"
"No, no bags." Molly clutched the flier to her chest happily, and trotted over to Cain's cart. He gave her a surprised look, his eyebrows high over his forehead.
"Er, no bags at all?" he asked, scratching his head. "It's…it's a long trip, it's not easy to come back for things after we get there. I usually only make this trip once a month…"
"I don't really have anything worth taking," Molly said, a bit ruefully. "And I don't wanna take anything that my family might need back home…" She trailed off, not really wanting to mention how destitute her family would be if she were to take anything from home. Every little thing they had, they absolutely needed. Cain seemed to catch the hint, thankfully, and just shrugged.
"Well, alright, if you're sure." He climbed up into the driver's seat in the cart as Molly scrambled up onto the back. Her grin stretched from ear to ear, and she read through the flier once again. Even if this gig was too good to be true…well, she had to try, right? She owed her family that much.
At first, Molly thought it was a fly tickling her nose. She batted at it with her eyes still closed, hoping it would buzz off. But when the tickling continued, she turned, facing the opposite way. Still, the fly persisted, and she was left with one last option; cut her nap short and open her eyes. It was difficult to sleep on the bouncing and rocking cart anyway, especially since they'd left the paved roads of the city far behind, and were now riding through unpaved countryside. Grumbling slightly to herself, she opened her eyes. But what she was greeted with was not a fly.
"Waaah!" she shrieked, jumping back, nearly toppling off the back of the cart. Before her floated a…well, she wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a tiny person, but, it was floating, and seemed to be emitting a sparkling aura.
"What!? What is it!?" Cain shouted, spooked by Molly's shriek of terror. He whipped around in his seat, staring at her questioningly. She motioned towards the little flying creature, but when Cain just shot her a funny look, she slowly realized that he probably couldn't see it. Molly was completely still for a moment, before clearing her throat.
"Er…nothing, nothing, sorry. Just a…just a spider," she lied. Cain continued to stare at her, before turning back to the road. Her heart still beating a mile a minute, Molly looked back to the creature, who was now waving at her.
"Hello!" it chirped, in a very high-pitched voice. This startled her again, but she held in a scream this time; no need to make Cain think she was crazier than he already did. She just stared, convinced that she was dreaming. But after three pinches, that conviction was waning. "…You can see me, right?" the creature asked after a moment, when Molly didn't respond. Slowly, she nodded. "Good! That's what I thought! I saw you look towards me in the market place, but when you didn't follow me, I was afraid you couldn't see me after all. That's why I had to kick up that big wind to make the poster fly out of your hands!" The little being shook it's head, before plopping down on the cart in front of her. "But that gust took all the power out of me! I'm not like the other sprites, I'm just a kid!"
"…You made the wind…?" The click-clop of the horse's hooves and the sound of the wheels on the uneven dirt road covered up her whisper well enough, so Cain wouldn't hear her talking to the…whatever it was. Chances were, if he couldn't see this thing, he couldn't hear it either. "What…are you?"
"I'm a harvest sprite!" the little creature chirped, jumping into the air, only to fall back down again. "Ooof! Well, nearly. I'm not a proper harvest sprite yet, but I will be one day!"
"…What in God's name is a harvest sprite?" Molly still wasn't entirely convinced she wasn't seeing things, so before it could answer, she reached out, and poked it in it's cheek.
"Hey! Don't!" it squeaked. "I'm ticklish! Anyway, harvest sprites are what control the elements! They're the ones that make the harvest possible! With the help of the Harvest Goddess, of course!" He said all of this like it was the most natural thing in the world, but Molly was thunderstruck. It was only then that she remembered the old kid's stories; the Harvest Goddess and her sprites. The mischief the sprites made, and how their Goddess would always bail them out and set everything right. But, those were just kid's stories! Right?
"You've got to be kidding me," she whispered, before checking her own pulse. "Am I having hunger hallucinations?"
"What?" the sprite asked, before shaking his head quickly. "No, no, I'm real, I'm real! You've gatta believe me!" He thrashed his tiny limbs in the air as he threw a tiny fit. "You just gatta believe me, or else who's gonna help the Goddess!? She's dying, and she needs your help!"
"My help?" She raised an eyebrow at what she assumed was just a hallucination. "Okay, even if there was a Harvest Goddess, which there's not, why would she need MY help?"
"Because!" it wailed, "Because you can see us! Because you're pure of heart!"
"What?"
"Only those pure of heart can see the sprites, and talk to the goddess! Only someone with a pure spirit can save the Goddess!" The sprite seemingly found the strength to fly again, and floated right up to Molly's face, hugging her cheek. "Please, please help us! We need you! And if I can't find someone to save the Goddess, she's gonna…she's gonna…" He became incomprehensible then, his wailing became too much, and big fat tears sprung from his eyes. With every passing second, the idea that this was all a hallucination was fading from her mind, and with this tiny thing hugging her face, she started to think maybe…maybe he was telling the truth?
"I'm not…I don't think I'm very pure of heart," Molly said, plucking him from her face by his tiny wings, and holding him in her palm. "Are you sure it has to be me? I've kinda got other people to save, too, and I don't think I can…I don't think I know how to save the Goddess."
"That's why we gatta go talk to her!" the sprite squeaked, drying his tears with the backs of his tiny hands. "Oh, please say you'll go! Please say you'll help the Goddess!" Molly sat there, staring at him for a moment, and when it looked like he was going to start wailing again, she panicked.
"Okay, okay!" she said hastily, "I'll talk to this Goddess of yours! But I really don't think I'll be much help…" Before she could voice any more misgivings, the sprite had sprung from her palm, and back up to his face, but this time, he was kissing her cheek, not crying on it.
"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" he sang, before flying circles around her head. "We're gonna save the Goddess, we're gonna save the Goddess!"
"Okay, settle down," she chuckled, still unsure of the whole situation. "First, I guess I have to talk to this Mayor guy about his 'become a farmer' thing."
"But we'll go talk to the Goddess next, right?"
"Uh, yeah. After. Is that okay?" The sprite clapped his tiny hands together, and Molly smiled. Okay, he may or may not have been a figment of her stress and starvation-addled brain, but he was damn cute!
"That's perfect!"
"Well, this is where I leave you." Molly bowed deeply to Cain as he leaned down in the driver's seat. "Town hall is directly up this hill, and across the bridge. You can't miss it!"
"Thank you, Cain," Molly said, lifting her head and smiling up at him. "I owe you so much; you really saved my life there!" The older man shook his head, chuckling.
"Ah, no need to thank me! I should be thanking you; this town could really need some new lifeblood." That sounded slightly cryptic to Molly, but she let it slide, and Cain cracked the reigns, his cart pulling away. She turned away, looking up the hill towards where he'd said town hall was, but not before she caught the last thing he mumbled: "Let's hope you last longer than the last one."
"Last one?" she asked, looking at the tiny sprite, Finn, who sat on her shoulder. "What does he mean by that?"
"Er…" He trailed off, twiddling his thumbs. "…Let's head on over to the town hall! The sooner you talk to the Mayor, the sooner you talk to the Goddess!" Molly gave him a weird look, and he added, "she'll be able to answer all your questions, I promise!"
Shrugging, she decided to store her questions away for later, and began the trek up the hill towards Harmonica Town.
Town hall really was hard to miss, since it was built right into the side of the cliff. In fact, many of the shops and houses in the downtown area were built into the cliffs. 'Good insulation,' she thought to herself, walking up to the front door of the Cliffside building. Pushing it open, a tint bell over the door chimed. Just as it did, a rather stout fellow who was shuffling papers behind the front counter turned, seemingly surprised. His apparent confusion grew when he didn't immediately recognize her.
"Hello, what can I do for you…?" he asked, as Molly looked around the small front office. She held the flier in one hand, but held it out to him then, donning an awkward smile.
"Oh! Er, well, I saw this flier, and I thought I would come see the city…maybe stay…"
"You…you want to become a new farmer!?" He seemed a bit too enthusiastic saying those words, and Molly shuffled back a step or two. But the little man all but vaulted over the counter to come shake her hand, nearly crying tears of joy from his small, beady eyes. "Oh, welcome! Welcome to Castanet! Oh, I'm so happy to meet you!"
"Er…yeah…" Molly's entire arm was shaking up and down as he basically had a deathhold on her hand, and when he finally released her, she inspected her poor crushed hand for damage.
"Oh, where are my manners?" the man asked, konking himself on the forehead. "I'm Mayor Hamilton, elected official of our fair city! And what might your name be, dear?"
"Um, Molly," she said, glancing at the sprite who floated by her side. It seemed Hamilton couldn't see him either. Mayor Hamilton clapped his hands, and nodded once.
"Yes, yes, well, it's nice to meet you, Molly! I know you're going to love it here!" Shuffling back behind the counter, Hamilton bent down for a few moments, before reappearing with a small stack of papers. "Well, here's the new farmer agreement! You can read through it if you like, but it's all very good and fair, I'm sure you won't take offense to any of the stipulations-"
"Stipulations?" Her skepticism was creeping back up on her, and she walked forward, up to the counter, and took the stack from him when he offered it. "What kind of stipulations? The flier said 'free farm'."
"Er, well, yes, the farm is free…" Hamilton said, tapping all five finger together nervously. "And it's quite a steal, too, everything one could need, all nicely bundled up and ready to go…a spacious field, a lovely barn, even a hotsprings nearby…"
"5000 gold!?" Molly looked up at the man incredulously, stabbing at the paper. "Free means free, not 5000 gold!" The mayor looked away sheepishly.
"Well, technically, that's just the property tax," he said, "the property itself is valued at nearly 30000 gold, so 5000 is nothing in comparison-"
"But I don't have 5000 gold," Molly lamented, visibly wilting. Finn squeaked beside her. "I can't afford this…" And she'd come all this way, too! She was so far from home, couldn't afford this promised 'free' ranch, what was she going to do!? Seeing her silently anguish over her misfortune, Hamilton hurriedly shook his head.
"Well, now, don't fret just yet!" he said quickly, putting on a smile. "I'm sure arrangements can be made! Don't go turning the offer down just yet!" He looked around quickly, Molly wasn't sure why, before dropping his voice considerably. "Who says the tax has to be paid in full before you move in? I don't see why we couldn't just, collect the tax from you after a few months, maybe after you've saved up a bit…" Molly's dour expression brightened a bit, but not all the way. 5000 gold was still 5000 gold, no matter when she had to pay it. And paying later just meant that sometime down the road, she'd have to give Hamilton 5000 gold that she could be sending back to her family. That was a lot of money!
'But what else am I going to do?' she thought, sighing heavily. This was her last shot, her last chance to make something of herself and help out her family. She couldn't fail. She was their last hope.
"You said the house includes everything? A bed, a kitchen, a bathroom?" Seeing her resolve solidify, Hamilton cheered right up, and nodded.
"Of course, of course!" he said. "Everything's included! So does this mean you'll stay?" Molly hesitated a moment, but when Finn began to wail in her ear that she had to stay, she sighed again, and nodded.
"I guess it do-"
"Father, what's going on out here?" Molly was cut off by a voice that emerged from the back room. Hamilton immediately lost his cheery demeanor, and went back to looking sheepishly away. Molly was about to ask who'd spoken, when the speaker himself appeared, poking his head out from the back room, and then strutting out to stand beside his father. "Who's this?"
The fellow who now stood before Molly was nothing like the much older Mayor Hamilton. Besides his general looks, his white-blonde hair, blue eyes, the fact that he was taller than Molly, his entire attitude was different. His posture was perfect, his nose was in the air, his pointed features were worn in a cross between a scowl and a sneer. His clothing was immaculate, and his aura was that of quiet superiority. In other words, he was everything in a person that Molly despised. This was the kind of person who would look down on people like Molly and her family. And from the way he was eyeing the brunette, she got the feeling he was looking down on her right now.
"Gill, this is Molly. She's come to answer my ad for new farmers," Hamilton introduced cautiously. He glanced at Molly. "Molly, this is Gill…my son." Molly looked back to the taller boy, cocking an eyebrow. The family resemblance was…nonexistent. Damn, Molly looked more like Hamilton than this guy! But she had to admit; Gill looked more the part of the Mayor than his father did. Hamilton seemed too sweet to be a politician. Gill…well, he didn't look sweet at all.
Gill's gaze travelled down to Molly's second-hand boots and back up to her home-cut bobbed brunette hair. She was silent as he seemed to assess her, but she did notice something strange. Finn sat quietly on her shoulder, worriedly snuggling into her hair and hiding his tiny face like a child. As Gill's eyes landed on her shoulder, she was pretty sure she saw one of his eyebrows cock slightly, as if momentarily confused. Could….was he seeing Finn? His eyes seemed somewhat unfocused for the small moment he was staring at her shoulder, but he quickly moved on, and Molly was sure she'd been imagining things. Just like the others, this Gill fellow couldn't see Finn. After all, you had to have a 'pure heart' to see sprites, apparently. This uppity fellow couldn't possibly have a pure heart. Molly had been still, awkwardly enduring the Mayor's son's scrutiny, and flinched when he finally cleared his throat.
"Pleasure," he finally said, holding out his hand. Molly hesitated to shake it, but thought it would be rude not to. And she didn't need to go and be making enemies right off the bad, especially since Hamilton was making a concession for her to pay the property tax later.
"Uh…yeah," she answered lamely. After hardly even touching his hand, he withdrew it, folding it back behind him. Molly's arm hung limply in the air for a moment, as she sunk in what had just happened, before falling back to her side. 'What a prissy jerk,' she thought, but swallowed her insults.
"Well, it looks like my father's already given you the contract," Gill said, nodding towards the papers in front of her. "So, if you'll just sign and pay, I'll get that filed away for you."
"Er…" Hamilton, tapped his toes on the hardwood nervously for a moment, before chuckling anxiously. "The thing about that is…I actually already told Miss Molly that she could pay…when she's saved up for a few months…" Gill's eerily calm demeanor cracked at this, and he glared daggers down at his father.
"What!?" he hissed, throwing his hands in the air. "Father, do you never learn!? You can't keep signing new farmers on IOUs!" He stabbed a finger at Molly without looking at her, to which she didn't particularly like. "She'd going to stay a few months, and then run off like the others! And then who's going to be put out 5000 gold!?"
"Hey!" she interjected, slapping his hand away, to which Gill looked very shocked. "I'm right here! Don't talk about me like I'm some criminal!"
"Oh, I know your kind," Gill sneered, crossing his arms haughtily. "You people are always looking for a free ride, someone to mooch off of! Don't get mad at me because I see through your little ruse!"
"'You people'!?" Now she was really getting angry! "What do you mean by that!? Just because I'm not some prissy, silver-spoon-fed daddy's boy doesn't mean I'm some con artist!"
"How dare you, you little-"
"ENOUGH!" Hamilton's voice echoed through the small office, and brought both arguing parties to an abrupt halt. Both sets of eyes turned to the Mayor, who looked about ready to pop. Molly began to shrink back; now she'd gone and done it! She was going to get an earful, and there was no way she was going to be able to pay the tax later now; if Hamilton even let her stay in Castanet at all! Oh, why'd she have to go and open her big, fat mouth!?
But Hamilton's rage wasn't directed at her, to her great surprise. Now, the tiny Mayor blew his stack at his son instead.
"Gill, you know how much we need new farmers!" he yelled, and Gill stumbled back, shocked that his father's voice was capable of rising to such a decibel. "How dare you come in here and make her feel like a second-class citizen! In the eyes of Castanet, she'd a valued citizen now, and I will not have you, my only son, talking to my citizens like that!"
"But, Father, I-"
"Enough, Gill!" Hamilton shook her head, which had all but turned crimson at that point. "It's clear to me that you're not mature enough to work here in town hall! Until you've learned a valuable lesson in courtesy and kindness, I forbid you from handling Castanet affairs!" Gill let out the prissiest gasp Molly had ever heard escape someone's lips, and the way he balled up his fists made her think he was about to stamp his feet on the floor like a child. That thought nearly made her laugh.
"That's not fair!" Gill protested, sounded less mature by the minute, but Hamilton was having none of it. He crossed his arms sternly, staring his son down.
"Get out of here, Gill. I'm too disappointed to look at you right now." Gill's mouth hung open for a few more seconds. His gaze turned to Molly briefly, a fire burning behind those icy blue eyes like she'd never seen before. His vitriolic gaze lingered for a few seconds, before he rounded the counter, and made his way for the door.
"Fine, run the city into the ground for all I care!" he spat over his shoulder at them. "Not like one farmer is going to save this failing town. Nothing but a miracle can save it now, anyway." Both Molly and Finn flinched when Gill slammed the door behind him, and then turned back to Hamilton, who was rubbing his temples tiredly.
"Ohhh…don't have children," he said, very much sounding his age. There was a pause, before Molly couldn't hold her laugh back anymore. Hamilton wasn't made, though, in fact, he joined in after a few beats. "So," he said, as they started to calm back down. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I sincerely hope my son didn't scare you off; we're really a very friendly city! Gill's just…slightly less optimistic than I am, you see."
"Yeah, I kinda got that," Molly said, shrugging. "But, I guess it didn't make me want to stay any less…that is, if I can still pay the property tax after I save up for a while."
"Of course, my dear! Anything to make up for that dreadful snaffoo!" After things had calmed down, Molly signed the contract, only slightly pessimistic about having to pay that tax later down the road, and as she walked from town hall, Finn let out a happy little chirp.
"Horray! Now we get to go visit the Goddess!"