Willow Here;
Hello there! Welcome to my new readers and previous readers alike. I wrote this short story for a Harvest Moon Secret Santa back in December but I have decided to post it up here because personally I don't think Phoebe gets enough love. I really did enjoy writting this story because it gave me a chance to write about charters who don't get much screen time in Pure Magic (My current on going Wizard/Hikari fic check it out if you have the time) It was nice to get out of first person perspective and explore a pre-game Castanet. Well anyhow I hope you enjoy!
Phoebe stared at the broken mechanism and sighed, this was going to be a larger undertaking than she had previously thought. She grabbed the rag out from her pocket and began to wipe the grease from her fingers.
"Well do you think we can fix it?" came the hopeful voice of the eagerly awaiting little boy behind her.
Phoebe sighed and turned to Paolo, not wanting to get his hopes up too much. "I'm not sure", she admitted honestly, "It's in pretty bad shape and it looks like most of it was scrapped for parts at some point. The town must have sold them off for money."
She readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose absently as she inspected her findings once again. "It's been out of commission for many years, just about the only things still in any kind of working condition are the piano and the pearls."
Paolo looked dejectedly to the ground. This whole project had been his idea after all. After learning about the town song and the great machine that used to play it at every town festival he had been suddenly struck with the hopeful, childish idea of fixing the now mangled beast.
"Oh," He said his voice very quiet.
Phoebe set down her tools and took a seat on the ground, her back up against the tub-like fountain she had been working on and her eyes trailing up into the vacant sky above her. This was not at all the way she had envisioned spending her day when she got up this morning. She had her bag all packed the night before, and when she got up this morning she had quickly gotten herself dressed with the intention of heading out into the mines on another exploratory trip. She had nearly been through every inch of the lower mines by now. If she kept pace she might even be able to start in on the upper levels at the beginning of next year.
Yes, she had it all planned out. She had packed herself enough supplies to last her several days and every tool she might need in any kind of situation the mines might throw at her. She just knew the day would be filled with discoveries. She could feel it in her bones. So she strode out into her family's store front, pausing only briefly by the front door to announce her departure to her mother, who was standing behind the counter glancing over a catalogue.
"Oh. Before you go could you just run a short errand for me dear?" her mother had asked sweetly stopping her daughter in her tracks.
Phoebe had stopped and turned to look at her mother expectantly. Both knew her mother need not even ask. Her parents asked so little of her that on the rare occasion they made a request Phoebe would dare not refuse-no matter how badly she might be itching to head out into the mines for a few days of adventure and discovery.
"What do you need?" Phoebe asked her mother obligingly.
"Ozzie down at the fishery ordered some parts that came in this week," Barbra told her daughter, lifting up a medium sized box from behind the counter, "Your father was going to deliver it on his way into town but he forgot to take it this morning," she said, setting the box down on the counter with a heavy thud. "I hate to ask you to carry something so heavy such a long way, but it simply must be delivered today."
Phoebe shrugged of her pack feeling only the slightest hint of disappointment. She set it carefully down next to the front door. It appeared that the mine would just have to wait. "No problem Mom", she said, walking over and hauling the box into her arms. It was heavy but far from anything Phoebe couldn't handle. She was used to dealing with heavy machine parts and crawling around in the mines. She was a lot stronger than she looked.
Barbra walked over to hold the door open for her daughter and smiled gratefully, "Thanks for all your help dear. Your Father and I really appreciate it."
Phoebe simply nodded in response before heading out the front door and into the intense heat of the summer day. It didn't take her long at all to make her way into town, where she spotted the mayor and the owner of the Town's Inn, Jake, having a serious looking discussion. She couldn't help but overhear bits of it as she walked by.
"People just don't come to visit this town like they used to," Jake commented sadly. "We manage to make ends meet with the restaurant and my mother's cooking, but I haven't rented a room in ages."
The mayor nodded sympathetically, "Things have been rather hard lately," he agreed. "However I have faith that this town will band together and make it through this rough patch and become even greater for it."
Phoebe didn't heard the rest of the conversation because she had walked right past the two without as much as making eye contact. It was a familiar conversation though that everyone in Castanet had been having at one point or another throughout these last few years. Times were hard. Phoebe knew everything in Castanet seemed to be ever so slowly dying away. Even her parents' general store was suffering, and her father's camera shop had lost nearly all its customers altogether. People just didn't have the funds for their once customary annual family photos.
Phoebe sighed and glanced over the dark shop windows as she passed them. This place was lively and thriving once, though it seemed so long ago now sometimes she thought she could barely remember. Now all that remained of those easier times were a few faded and distant reminders, all but forgotten in the passage of time. She hated to see the town like this and avoided coming whenever possible. It just left her gloomy and sad.
Her thoughts now sour and her destination in sight, Phoebe quickened her pace, eager to get this dismal errand over with and continue on with her day as planned. She soon reached the edge of the docks and walked up along the side of the fishery before turning the corner and coming to the front door. She fumbled a moment to get the door open with her hands full but after a bit of creative use of elbows she managed to slink the front door. An ungraceful clanking of a large bell signaled her entrance to anyone inside.
The first thing Phoebe noticed was that there was music playing inside. It was a sweet, fluid melody that instantly made her feel content. She let out a soft sigh and released a tension she had not even known she had been carrying. Something about this tune was vaguely familiar and distinctly happy. It made her feel right at home just hearing it.
The second thing she noticed, after finally coming out of her reverie, was Ozzie and Paolo deeply engaged in some sort of discussion on the other side of the shop. She unloaded her burden on a clear space on the counter before approaching the two.
"So they used to play this song at all the town festivals?" Paolo asked enthusiastically.
Ozzie nodded in answer, "Yes it used to ring all through the town on special occasions, signaling a time for celebration," Ozzie explained informatively to his son.
"Of course! The Town Song!" Phoebe exclaimed, suddenly remembering where she'd heard this melody before.
Her sudden outburst brought the other two's attention to their guest. They appeared startled by her presence and Phoebe understood the purpose of the loud clanking bell on the front door.
"Hello," Phoebe said awkwardly as the other two simply stared at her in startled silence. "I came by to deliver the shipment you ordered from the general store," she explained, nervously pushing up her glasses. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Regaining his composure, Ozzie smiled happily and strode over to the box sitting noticeably on the counter. "Oh there it is!" he said happily. "I was wondering what happened when your father didn't come by this morning."
"Sorry about that. He forgot to take it," Phoebe explained, "so I had to bring it down for you. Is everything there?"
"No problem," Ozzie said opening up his box and carefully inspecting the contents. Yes, everything is accounted for. Thank you for bringing it by, it had to have been heavy."
Phoebe smiled awkwardly and shifted her weight slightly. "It wasn't too bad," she mumbled uncomfortably. "Well, if everything is there I'll be on my way then."
"Thanks again," Ozzie called out after her as Phoebe stepped through the door and headed back out into town.
Somehow no longer feeling up to an adventure in the mines Phoebe turned her gaze toward her father's camera shop where she knew she would find him. Her head was strangely full of thoughts of the town song and she hoped her father might be able to answer some questions she had on the matter.
She walked through the door into the all but empty camera shop to find her father looking up at the door expectantly. He couldn't hide his disappointment upon discovering the new arrival was not in fact a customer as he had hoped, but it quickly faded into a smile when he realized that his daughter had come to see him.
"Phoebe! What a surprise," he greeted. "Is everything alright at the store? Is your mother OK?"
"Everything is fine Dad." Phoebe reassured her father as she found a chair to plop herself into. "I was just in town making a delivery for Mom and thought I'd stop in and say hi."
"Well, it's nice to see you," Simon said genuinely. "You're in those mines so much lately I hardly get to see you."
Phoebe felt just the slightest pang of guilt at her father's comment. It was true that she had been spending more nights in the caves than in the comfort of her own bed lately. She had a habit of disappearing for days sometimes before finally coming home. It wasn't like she was trying to avoid her parents. There was just so much to do.
"How's business?" She asked, wanting a change of subject.
Her father sighed and absently began digging through a box of camera parts. "Same as usual," he commented sadly, "though the Summer Festival is coming up. I'll probably be able to sell a few family photo's there. People are usually in a better mood during festivals."
"This whole town could do with some cheering up," Phoebe agreed.
Simon nodded. "Don't worry, the fireworks usually put a spring back in everyone's steps for a while."
"You know, when I dropped by to deliver the parts Ozzie was playing the town song." Phoebe said casually.
"Ah, that had to have been nice," Simon said wistfully. "I don't think I've heard that tune in years."
"It's funny, I could hardly remember it when I first heard it," she said, leaning back in her chair and absently cleaning her glasses. "But I can sort of picture it being played during the festivals sometimes. Why did they stop?"
Simon stopped what he was doing and paused a moment to think, "Let me see…" he mused as his daughter waited intently for his response. Her inquisitive eyes locked firmly on her father almost willing him to give her the answers she sought. "There used to be a machine of sorts that played the song at festivals loud enough to be heard all throughout town," he explained. "But some years back, when you were about ten I think, it broke down." Simon sighed sadly, "There were several attempts to fix it but it kept breaking down and eventually the repairs were too much for the town to afford. So, after a while they just stopped trying and the practice of playing the town song just sort of fell by the wayside."
"That's too bad." Phoebe said sadly as she stared at the ceiling, "Something about that song made me feel really peaceful. It'd be nice to hear it at a festival again."
"That machine made a lot of people happy when it was working," her father agreed. "I like to think the best kind of inventions are the ones that fill such a need."
Phoebe spent a few hours chatting with her father and helping him do some odd cleaning before she finally grew bored and decided to leave. Once she was back outside, however, she noticed Paolo banging away with a hammer at the tub-like fountain that had an immersed piano.
"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked, more than slightly concerned with the destruction of public property.
"I'm trying to fix the town song machine!" he said enthusiastically. "My Dad told me that this is what used to play the town song on festivals and I'm going to fix it!"
Phoebe pushed up her glasses and shook her head slightly. "The only thing you're going to do by banging away at it like that is break it further." She sighed, "Have you ever even worked with anything like this before?"
Paolo shrugged, "How hard can it be?"
Phoebe stared at the excited little boy before her. She glanced at the fountain and right then and there came to a conclusion. "You're going to need some help with that," she said clinically, taking the hammer from his hands and going over to inspect the piano. "Here let me take a look."
The next several hours where filled with careful prying and tedious dismantling of the mechanisms found in a hatch just below the submerged piano. It had taken most of the day just to take apart and assess the state of the mechanism. Now there she was- sitting on the ground with a very difficult task before her. How was she going to go about fixing the machine?
"Let's call it quits for today," Phoebe suggested. "We can try and come up with some solutions tomorrow."
"Ok, let's meet back up here tomorrow morning!" Paolo agreed before heading back home to the fishery.
Phoebe grabbed some of the ramshackle parts that had not been sold off for scrap and headed in the direction of home. On her way she ran into her father who was also heading back. He glanced at the armful of parts his daughter was carrying and gave her a knowing look.
"Are those from the old town song machine?" he asked her casually.
Phoebe looked at her father, a bit taken aback. "How did you know?" she exclaimed.
Simon shrugged. "I had a feeling when we were talking earlier that you might try your hand at fixing it," he commented knowingly. "You're my daughter after all. It's not too hard for me to guess at what you're thinking."
"It wasn't my idea or anything," she said defensively. "But when I came out of the shop Paolo, Ozzie's little boy, was banging away at the thing with a hammer like a crazed maniac. I couldn't just stand by and let him smash it to pieces."
Simon chuckled, "So now you're taking these parts home for their own protection?"
Phoebe blew out a puff of air indignantly. "Of course not," she said tiredly. "If I'm going to do this I might as well do it right." She shook her head as the two of them climbed the hill behind the abandoned ranch. "I don't know if there is much that I can do though," she admitted worriedly. "There really isn't much left of the old pieces. What little is left is mostly broken and useless. It's going to need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up and that's too expensive."
Phoebe sighed heavily and her father gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "You'll think of something kiddo. Just be sure not to work yourself too hard."
"Ok, hand me that wrench over there and just a little bit tighter here… Ok, now that tool next to the bolts. No not that one, the other one, there you go. Give it to me…Hold this…..Ok and just a little bit more annnnndd….THERE!" Phoebe announced happily standing up from her work and reaching for the rag laying over the lip of the fountain.
"Is it fixed?" Paolo asked curiously as he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. The two of them had been hard at would in the hot summer sun since early that morning and by now they were experiencing the heat of the day.
"I don't know," Phoebe said, passing the rag over to her partner in crime. "I can't be sure if the substitutes we put in for some of the old parts will work, but there's only one way to find out. What do you say we fire her up?"
Paolo nodded enthusiastically in agreement, and Phoebe let him hit the makeshift switch she had rigged up to the machine for testing purposes.
There was a hum as the thing fired up and a buzz from the electric pieces and a slightly concerning whine as the old machinery slowly shook awake from its long slumber. The two of them listened intently for what results their labors would bring when one by one each pearl slowly opened and the sound that came from the old rickety beast was a garbled discordant hailstorm of terrible music. It sounded more akin to a strangled cry of a cat stretched out and elongated than anything even close to the melody they were hoping for. Their only saving grace was that it was also terribly quiet, nowhere near loud enough to ring throughout the streets of town. In fact, if one wasn't standing right next to it, Phoebe guessed, you would have to strain to hear it at all!
"Turn it off!" Phoebe commanded and Paolo quickly moved to obey.
"What was that?" the young boy asked in a horrified voice once the discordant tune died away.
Phoebe stared at the mechanism before her and bit her lower lip in thought. "I don't think we have enough power,"she said thoughtfully. She bent over the old machine and began poking around the different parts until she found the old power source and inspected it carefully. "It must have been more damaged than we thought." She sighed heavily and began skillfully removing the part in question from the rest of the machine.
"Is that bad?" Paolo asked, not entirely sure of what was going on.
"It's not good." Phoebe admitted, "I could maybe rig something up at home to replace it, but I don't have the parts or resources to make anything this small. The one I build will have to be much bigger."
"What's the matter with bigger?" he questioned. "Bigger is better, right?" He clearly had already adopted the mindset of a fishermen from his father.
Phoebe smiled and shook her head and pointed to the limited space underneath the piano in the fountain. "It's going to be hard enough making one small enough to fit into this fountain," she explained, "and if the power source takes up all the room where are we going to build the rest of the parts?"
Paolo tilted his head to one side in thought, "Can't we just put them outside instead?"
Phoebe shook her head, "Machine parts aren't exactly pretty," She explained patiently. "If we start to crowd the street with gears and bolts people will get angry."
"Well it won't be a problem if it's pretty, right?" Paolo pressed.
Phoebe shrugged her shoulders. "I can't think of any way to make the working parts of a mechanism more visually appealing to others." She sighed, "If you come up with any ideas in that department let me know."
The young boy suddenly grinned from ear to ear, "Ok, leave it to me!" he said enthusiastically. "You just get to work on that power thingy and I'll come up with a way to make it prettier!" And before Phoebe could stop him he had run off into town humming happily to himself as he went.
She let out a heavy sigh, "That wasn't exactly what I meant," she muttered to herself and then she let a slight smile crack across her face. "Oh well. At least he's having fun," she thought cheerfully. She began to pack up her things and head home to get started on building a new power source on her work bench.
BOOM!
The house shook slightly from the minor explosion and smoke filled the room around her. Phoebe coughed as she quickly moved to clean the black soot from her glasses.
"Is everything ok in there?" her father called anxiously from the next room over. "You aren't hurt are you?"
"I'm fine Dad," Phoebe answered reassuringly. "I just had a little mishap with some apparently faulty wires is all."
"We're glad you're having fun dear!" came the out of place enthusiastic call from her mother.
"But be careful and try not to burn the house down." He father added.
"Oh Simon. She told you it was just a little mix up. She's not going to burn the house down," her mother laughed easily.
"The whole house just shook Barbra. I'm a little concerned." Her father said defensively.
"Oh don't be such a worrywart! She hasn't destroyed the house yet has she?" her mother reassured.
"No", her father answered wearily. "Just a few curtains, a bed frame, my wheelbarrow and one of our best rugs." He sighed.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. Her parents had had this conversation many times over in the past. Her father always a bundle of nerves and her mother always too carefree for her own good. They were such a ridiculous pair.
She ignored her parents' pointless conversation in the next room and returned her attention to the smoking piece of equipment before her. Obviously something in the setting was not right. She would have to take it apart and get back to the drawing board. She frowned slightly and furrowed her brows. This power source was proving more difficult to build than she had first thought. She sighed and wearily began taking it apart, taking careful note of everything as she dismantled it piece by piece- searching for any indication as to what had gone wrong.
She didn't mind the tedious work. After all, this was what working with machines was all about! The trial and error, the assembly and the dismantling. Her keen eyes scanned over every piece as it came off the machine and passed through her hands and onto her work bench. She still wasn't sure what she was going to do about the rest of the machine but for right now her only concern was getting the power source to work properly. She smiled cheerfully to herself as she worked. This was her element, where she felt most herself and at ease.
Phoebe didn't understand fashion or farming or cooking like the other girls, but what Phoebe knew better than anything were machines. For once she was going to build something that would give everyone just a little bit of happiness. That was a good feeling. Just once, she thought, it would be nice for her little world of nuts and bolts to reach out and connect with everyone else's. Even if it only lasted a moment, Phoebe thought that would be enough.
She pushed her glasses up as she worked and began jotting down all her findings on the newly dismantled, failed power source and quickly began sketching out ideas for a new one that might work better than the last. She didn't have much time if it was going to be completed in time for the summer festival and Phoebe suspected that there would be quite a few sleepless nights in her future and worst of all, she still wasn't entirely sure that the whole thing could be fixed at all.
Still she would have to try…
"Phoebe! Phoebe I think I figured it out!" Paolo burst into the room screaming, causing Phoebe to jump and nearly drop the wrench she had been holding.
"Don't scare me like that!" She gasped, turning away from her work bench to stare at a very excited looking Paolo.
"Sorry, but I just have to show you!" He said happily. "I think I finally figured it out for real this time."
"Is it better than your "cover it with flowers" idea?" Phoebe asked skeptically as she returned her attention back to the power source before her. It had been two days and she thought it was nearly complete now. At least it hadn't blown up on her in the last few tests; that was a definite improvement. In the meantime, Paolo had been coming to her with all sorts of ideas on how to make the rest of the mechanism more appealing to the eye. None of his ideas had proven useful as of yet, but Phoebe carefully considered each and every new idea he brought to her just the same. It was just as much his project as hers after all.
"This time I think it's really good!" He said happily. "What if we use the town itself as the mechanism?"
Phoebe fought the urge to laugh, images of the town turning to some giant robot flashing through her mind. That seemed to her just the sort of thing a little boy might think up. Still, seeing how excited Paolo was about this particular idea and remembering that same feeling from her own days of childhood and how carefully her parents had fostered those bright ideas, she decided to hear Paolo's idea all the way to the end before making any judgments.
"What did you have in mind?" Phoebe asked curiously, prompting him to explain his idea further.
Paolo scrunched his face up as if he were struggling greatly to offer an answer. "Well, if you just look at everything in town it all just sort of…fits…" He trailed off obviously struggling to explain himself. "It's too hard to explain! Come with me into town and you'll see!" He insisted on grabbing Phoebe's hand and pulling her in the direction of the door.
"Ok, ok" Phoebe smiled, catching some of his enthusiasm. "Show me what you've got."
It didn't take long to go from the mining district all the way into town as Paolo was practically all out sprinting there in his excitement. Phoebe struggled to keep up with the very energetic young boy in such heat.
"Careful not to trip!" Phoebe called out to him just as his foot snagged on a stray clump of weeds and he planted face first into the dirt. "Are you ok?" She asked him worriedly.
Paolo quickly sprung up from the ground and grinned, "I'm just fine," he announced before running off again leaving Phoebe behind to catch up, "Come on! Let's go!" He insisted.
Phoebe shook her head, little boys sure were resilient.
Once they made their way into town and Phoebe had finally managed to catch up to him, Paolo once again started pulling Phoebe by the hand. Dragging her past town hall and the school until they were standing in front of the mayor's house.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Phoebe asked patiently though inside she was hoping she didn't come all the way down here for absolutely nothing.
"Just look at it!" Paolo exclaimed excitedly, "The whole town, I mean look!"
Phoebe titled her head to one side in confusion, "I am…." She said carefully, "What am I supposed to be seeing?"
"You're not looking!" Paolo insisted getting impatient, "Look doesn't that roof look like a ramp? Or that thing on the roof like a catapult? That fabric could be a trampoline right? Isn't that the kind of stuff you use in machines?"
Phoebe looked at each of the items in turn as Paolo mentioned them and found once she was told what to look for, they were indeed very much like the things he thought they were. It sort of required a different kind of sight; like the one children applied to find shapes in the clouds. Much like cloud watching though, once Phoebe identified one, she could see all sorts of things that could be something else.
Suddenly it hit Phoebe what Paolo was trying to show her, "You're talking about a Rube Goldberg machine!" She said understanding finally dawning on her.
Paolo made a funny face, "A what?"
"A series of chain reactions used to perform a simple task." Phoebe explained. "You're taking about turning town itself into one right?"
Suddenly Phoebe felt a swell of excitement come over her. Could it work? She dashed down one of the side streets her eyes locked on to the various objects of the town as she went quickly taking stock of anything that might by applied to such a purpose. If required a bit of imagination but there seemed no shortage of ways she could do this. She ran down the stairs and over to the pool of water she had figured out fed the piano fountain below. If she could just find a way to control when something got sent down into the fountain heavy enough to hit the keys…..
"Paolo you are a genius!" She exclaimed happily turning around and grinning at the nervous looking boy behind her. "This could actually work! You did it! Good work!"
Paolo grew a grin to match Phoebe's and began jumping up and down in excitement, "I knew it was a good idea! I told you! So where do we start?"
"We really appreciate it Mayor." Phoebe said politely as she followed Mayor Hamilton into some back room of the town hall, "We'll be sure to be careful with it."
"It's not very up to date I'm afraid," Hamilton said sadly, "I just haven't had the chance to make any changes it to it in recent years, but the buildings are all there."
"It should be fine." Phoebe assured him, "We just need something to give us an idea."
"It's very exciting what you two are doing." Hamilton said happily, "It would be so nice to hear the town song play again. I've been wanting to get it fixed for ages but there just haven't been the funds."
"Don't worry Phoebe and I have got this!" Paolo announced proudly.
Phoebe smiled awkwardly, "We're going to try our best, anyway." She said humbly.
"Oh here it is! The town model!" The Mayor announced pulling up a large model town and swinging it over in Phoebe's direction, "When I was child it was a hobby my father and I shared together." He sighed wistfully then. "I tried to start it up again with Gill when he was younger but he just was never interested."
Phoebe glanced over the model critically it was very well made with careful attention to detail right down to the tiny cobblestones in the roads. It was beautiful but as the mayor had warned, it was also out of date. The most recent additions to the town and building updates were not present here on this model including some of the very updates Phoebe hoped to exploit. Still it was better than nothing and Phoebe knew with a little inventive thinking she could probably make it work.
Phoebe took the model from the mayors hands and smiled "Thanks again," She said graciously, "we will be sure to return it when we are finished."
Paolo nodded solemnly in affirmation, showing that he too understood the value of the thing they were being lent.
"Oh you are very welcome." Hamilton said cheerfully, "Anything to help get the town song playing again!"
Phoebe and Paolo were sitting together in her work room around a table that had been borrowed from Dale to be used for the model. Phoebe had gone there with her father expecting to have to beg to borrow a table her family couldn't afford but when they had explained that it was needed for a model being used to fix the town song machine Dale had gladly offered one of his lesser quality items to borrow. It seemed that Phoebe and her father had not been the only ones who missed the town song.
"Ok now with these kinds of projects it's easier to work backwards from the end." Phoebe explained pointing to the tiny pool in the model. "This is where need to find something to send down with the water to hit the keys and activate the pearls but it needs to be something we can control when they go down."
Paolo nodded thoughtfully as he listened intently to Phoebe's every word.
"Maybe we could put up a gate of some kind that gets lifted" She mused aloud, "But then it would have to be a screen so as not to block the fountain, but whatever was behind it would have to be heavy enough to push down the keys but not so heavy it damaged the screen…."
"What about fish?" Paolo offered curiously.
"Fish?" Phoebe asked, "Wouldn't they damage the screen though?" She was deferring to the young boy's knowledge since having grown up in a fishery he obviously knew quite a bit more about she than she did.
Paolo shook his head, "You wouldn't need one." He said, "Fish wouldn't willingly go down the tube unless forced."
"Then how would we make the go to the fountain?" She asked not sure how that would help them.
"Just scar em!" Paolo said happily, "Drop something heavy enough into the pool and they'll run to get as far away as possible."
"At which point they'd be sucked up by the current of the tube and end up in the fountain." Phoebe thought allowed. "Good thinking!"
She looked at Paolo and smiled, she wasn't sure she could ever have gotten this far without him. All the really good ideas had been his so far. She was really glad to have him around, he was full of excess energy sure but he sat and listened carefully when she needed him to and he was always willing to help her by fetching a tool or holding a piece in place. He'd been a great helper in all of this, with his help they might actually be able to pull it off in time for the Summer Festival.
"Where are we going to get the fish though?" Phoebe asked, "I don't even own a rod."
"Don't worry, I'm sure my dad will let us have some if it's about the town song." Paolo reassured, "I'll ask him when I get home."
"Fish are harder the scare than I thought." Phoebe sighed taking notes down on her clip board.
"You're telling me!" Paolo said flopping himself out on the ground in defeat. "We've put everything we can think of into that pool but they don't care!"
Phoebe sat down beside him and took a deep breath, "I think we need to enlist the help of an expert." Phoebe said critically.
"Lucky for you I'm right here." Came a cheerful voice from a little ways away.
The two of them looked up to see Ozzie standing looking them over, "Paolo you were late for lunch so I decided to come fetch you."
"Dad no matter what we do these fish won't scare!" Paolo blurted out not even bothering to explain his absence at lunch.
"Well what are you trying to scare them for?" He asked incredulously.
"We need to make them swim down the tube and into the fountain below." Phoebe explained pushing up her glasses, "But evidently they are more scared of the tube than whatever we drop into the pool."
Ozzie knit his eyebrows together in thought, "Just can't spook them enough eh?" he chewed on his bottom lip a moment, "Well I don't know if this'll help any but I once had this black pearl given to me by a friend. I thought it might look good in a tank so I plopped it in there with the fish. It was the strangest thing really but the fish stated freaking out as though it were poison."
"A black pearl?" Phoebe asked curiously.
"Yeah they are found deep within the mines below town." Ozzie explained, "You ask around the mining district where you live, someone might have one they'd be willing to lean to you."
"Couldn't I just go down and get one myself?" Phoebe asked, "I'm used to being in mines after all."
Ozzie shook his head, "I'm sure if you had more time you could find one but those pearls are difficult to find and the festival is in a week now." He said knowingly, "Can you really afford losing a few days to the mines?"
Phoebe knew she couldn't. There was still a lot of work to do and they had just wasted an entire morning dropping various heavy object into a pool with no success. She shook her head and sighed, "I guess I'll have to start asking around."
"Why don't you join Paolo and I for lunch first." Ozzie offered and Phoebe smiled
"I'd like that." She said getting up off the ground.
"Finally!" Phoebe said exasperated as she walked through the front door of her parents' house, "It took the better part of the day but I managed to track down a black pearl."
"A what now?" Her mother asked curiously.
Phoebe silently pulled out the large black sphere from her bag and handed it to her mother, "It was with Mira, but she didn't know where it got to. So we had to dig through her closets for hours until we found it."
"Is this for your latest project? The Melody reaction or whatever?" Barbra asked looking over the object in her hands curiously.
"Melody Recreation Apparatus," Phoebe corrected tiredly, "And yes, it's what's going to scare the fish enough to swim down into the fountain."
"Fish?" Barbra exclaimed, "Where did you get fish?"
"From Ozzie." Phoebe sighed rubbing the spot on the bridge of her nose where her glasses usually rested.
"You sure have been getting around lately." Barbra said cheerily, "I'm really happy for you sweetie. When you were a kid you would never have dreamed of talking to so many people, this is a really big step for you."
"Yeah." Phoebe said noncommittally only half listening to her mother. She was tired and drain from all the social interaction she had been having lately. It's not that she hated dealing with people it was just that doing so took so much energy out of her. "Mom if you don't mind I'm going to get back to it at my work bench, I'll just have a sandwich or something later."
"Ok honey if that's what you want," Barbra said brightly, "We'll give you some space to work."
Barbra watched her daughter knowingly. She knew how important having some quiet time alone was to her daughter and how exhausting what she was doing must have been for her. Phoebe was like her father in that way, and sometimes she just needed her space. Still she was proud of her daughter and everything she was doing. She didn't realize it, not yet, but unwittingly Phoebe was slowly bit by bit, favor by favor, pulling Castanet back together. All for the sake of her little project. Barbra smiled happily to herself, she always knew that Phoebe would do great things.
Several days had passed since Phoebe had acquired the black pearl and in that time she and Paolo had been making great strides in their apparatus. The black pearl had worked flawlessly for scaring the fish and once dropped into the pool they fled into the fountain every time. They had determined that exactly five fish were needed to activate each pearl properly and after tediously adjusting the angle of the fountain's spout slightly they managed to get the fish to hit every necessary key consistently. The two of them had been running all over town like madmen as they worked on the various methods of delivering the black pearl to the pool before deciding on the best one.
However, for all their work, their piece just didn't yet seem complete, "It's still missing something don't you think?" Paolo asked Phoebe while he continued working on his crayon drawing of their invention so far, "It just doesn't feel complete yet does it?"
Phoebe looked over the tiny model of their work so far and couldn't help but agree. "It does seem a bit lacking doesn't it?" She said thoughtfully as her eyes scanned the model town looking for inspiration. Her eyes fell on the ramp like roof of the Mayor's house and the more than convenient road leading up to it. It seemed such a shame not to use such a perfect set up in some way, especially since it was the spot Paolo had first pointed out to her to use for such a plan.
"Why don't we use this?" Phoebe said pointing to the roof.
Paolo looked up from his drawing to see what Phoebe was pointing to and grinned. "That seems like a really good idea." He said happily, "But what should we do with it?""
"Why not roll an egg?" Came Simon's voice from behind them.
Phoebe turned to look at her father incredulously, "An egg?" She exclaimed, "Of all things why an egg?"
Her father shrugged, "I just figured since you have used something from every other area of Castanet why not get something from Flute Fields too?"
"That makes sense." Paolo agreed easily causing Phoebe to look at the two of them in surprise.
"What are you guys talking about?" She asked slightly confused.
"Well you are using the black pearl from the mining district, plus your power source is made from materials found in this district, that table is borrowed from the carpentry shop. Then that model from town hall, and the fish from the fishery and most of the buildings in town are used in the thing itself right?" Her father asked.
Phoebe nodded slowly in response.
"So why not let the folks in Flute Fields make a donation?" He finished.
"But an egg?" Phoebe asked nervously, "It'll break way too easily."
Paolo shrugged, "It'll be a challenge." He said casually, "Don't you think it would be fun?"
"I don't think you understand just how hard working with something like that would be." Phoebe insisted worriedly.
"You'll figure something out dear." Her Mother said encouragingly as she walked into the room behind her father, "You're a bright girl after all!"
"Phoebe looked at all the hopeful faces around the room and let out a load groan, "Fine, we'll give the egg thing a try." She relented finally, "But I'm not making any promises that it will work."
"Dang it!" Phoebe cursed for the umpteenth time, "See this why working with egg's is impossible!" She growled in frustration as yet another egg splatted to its doom on the wall of the building across from them. Phoebe shook her head helplessly, "This whole town is going to look like a victim of a childish prank before we get this right." She sighed heavily.
"Come on Phoebe I know we can do this!" Paolo said encouragingly.
"I told you this might be impossible" Phoebe sighed tiredly. The festival was two days away and she still hadn't gotten the power source to work quiet right. She had been spending her days working out the kinks of the apparatus by running all through town during the day and working steadily at her work shop by night, She's slept little in the last week and with the festival right around the corner pressure was mounting to get it done and running.
She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes roughly. "I'm reaching the end of my rope Paolo." She admitted wearily, "This thing is sucking the life right out of me."
She felt a small hand pat the middle of her back sympathetically, "Maybe we should take a break?" He suggested nervously, "You do look pretty tired."
Phoebe nodded the two walked down from the roof and back onto the road below. Just as they came down they noticed an unfamiliar face standing in the middle of the road staring at the wall to the building covered in eggs. He was dark skinned and had oddly silvery hair. He turned and fixed his gaze on Phoebe and Paolo looking at the two expressionlessly.
"Did you…..do this…?" He asked slowly not a hint of any emotion in his voice.
Phoebe looked at the mess their experimentations had created guiltily, "We're sorry about that." She said apologetically "We'll be sure to clean it up right now."
"What….are you…..doing?" He asked his expression not changing in the slightest.
"We're building a machine to play the town song!" Paolo said enthusiastically, "But we have a few kinks to work out…" He trailed off, "The egg is supposed to bounce of that canopy there and drop down this shoot and then follow the rain gutter over to this ramp and then launch the black pearl over there." He explained pointing to the awaiting black pearl further down the road."
The stranger gazed in the direction that Paolo pointed and nodded slightly.
"But the eggs keep breaking." Paolo said disappointed, "Phoebe maybe your right, maybe an egg wasn't a good idea."
"Did you try…a duck egg?" The stranger asked calmly.
"What?" Phoebe asked surprised, "Why a duck egg?'
"Harder to break…." He said simply as if that explained everything.
Phoebe titled her head puzzled, "They didn't say anything about that when we were at Horn Ranch." She commented.
The stranger just shrugged before turning and heading inside the house marked as the Wizard's. He didn't even bother to say a word of parting. He just simply up and left Paolo and Phoebe standing there stunned in the middle of the road.
"Did we just meet?" Paolo asked his voice hushed with awe.
"The Fortune Teller?" Phoebe finished for him, "I'm not sure but I think so…."
"That's sooooooo cool!" Paolo said jumping up and down in excitement, "I can't wait to tell everybody what happened!"
"Calm down." Phoebe said smiling, "You and I have a mess to clean up first." She said sticking her thumb in the direction of the egg soaked wall. "Remember?"
"Oh…" Paolo said more than a little disappointed. "I almost forgot."
"Ok let's see if this works." Phoebe announced nervously. It was the day before the summer festival. Everyone was getting ready for the next day's festivities and Phoebe and Paolo had run out of time to figure out a new solution to the egg problem. The majority of the previous day having been spent cleaning up their messes and hunting down some duck eggs to try in place of the normal chicken eggs.
"Cross your fingers." Paolo said to her equally nervous.
Phoebe carefully lined up the egg with her intended target and gave it a gentle push saying a silent prayer that it would work. The egg rolled effortlessly down the roof and did the most extraordinary thing, it didn't break! Phoebe could hardly believe her eyes, it not only remained intact but it landed on the canvas she had been aiming for.
"I don't believe it…" Phoebe said in shock.
"It worked!" Paolo exclaimed excitedly, "Phoebe it worked!"
"Let's not get too worked up." Phoebe said more to herself than Paolo, "It needs to work consistently, go get that egg and let's see if we can do it again."
Paolo happily complied and they went ahead and tested it again and again. Every time, almost as if by magic, the egg landed where it was meant to every time. It even worked when Paolo tried, it seemed as though, through no action on their part, the thing had become fool proof.
"What on earth is going on here?" Phoebe marveled quietly to herself.
"Who cares?" Paolo asked happily, "it works right?"
"But I don't know how." Phoebe said biting her lower lip in thought, "Can changing the type of egg really make that much of a difference. Cain didn't seem to think it would when we asked him for the eggs."
Paolo shrugged, "I guess the fortuneteller knows what he's talking about." He said still just happy it worked, "Besides aren't we running out of time anyway?"
That drew Phoebe from her troubled thoughts of the egg and back to the real matter at hand, "You're right. The festival's tomorrow and even with the egg ramp working we still aren't finished. Let's move on to tightening that canvas into a trampoline for now."
"Aye aye!" Paolo said dutifully giving Phoebe a stern solute.
The mystery of the egg still bothered her but Phoebe had far bigger things to worry about. She quickly followed after Paolo to finish up their work. With the big issue of the egg breaking out of the way she saw no reason that they couldn't finish it by the end of the day. If she could work out the last few kinks in the power source tonight anyway.
As Phoebe and Paolo busied themselves with the final touches the mayor came over smiling brightly while watching them, "Everything going well?" He asked cheerfully.
"It's going great!" Paolo announced cheerfully, "We should be all done by tonight!"
"That's wonderful!" The Mayor exclaimed clapping his hands together jovially.
For the first time Phoebe allowed herself to speak with confidence, "He's right Mayor I think we've got it just about wrapped up. We should be able to play it tomorrow at the festival."
"Everyone will be so happy to hear it!" He said excitedly, "Thank you both for all your hard work!"
Paolo blushed a ruby red, "It wasn't that big of a deal." He said shyly and Phoebe chuckled slightly to herself.
Several others dropped by throughout the day to offer a hand if it was needed and to check up on their progress. Everyone was very excited to hear that it should be finished in time for tomorrow and Phoebe couldn't help but feel good at seeing so many delighted faces thanks to her handiwork. After hours of making adjustments and testing and retesting everything Phoebe finally concluded that everything was good and that they could go home.
"But we never made the song play." Paolo said worriedly as the two gathered up all the tools in the waning light.
"That's because the power source is still on my workbench." Phoebe explained, "I have to make just a few more adjustments tonight and I'll install it in the morning before the festival." She said smiling. "Don't worry," She reassured him, "You've worked really hard these last few days, and tomorrow will go off without a hitch. Your dad will be so proud."
The little boy grinned sheepishly, "You really think so?" He asked scratching the back of his head.
"I know so." She said smiling, "Now go home and get some rest, tomorrow is the summer festival."
Phoebe looked over the piece of machinery in front of her and fought the urge to throw it across the room, "Why?" She asked helplessly, "I've done everything I can think of, so why?" The thing simply refused to work.
She banged her head down on the work bench and groaned. What was she going to do? The festival was tomorrow and she had already promised everyone that her Apparatus would be ready. Most importantly she had promised Paolo. She remember all those happy faces she had encountered while she had been working today all those people who had so willing given her whatever she needed to help her. They were all counting on her to do this and it had been all going so well! And now here she was at the very end, just mere hours away from sunrise, and she had hit a brick wall.
"Stupid." She whispered venomously to herself. Just plain stupid is what she was. How could she have promised all those people something she hadn't yet finished? Didn't she know better? Why did she allow everyone to get their hopes up? Because she was selfish that's why. She liked how good she felt went they looked up at her smiling. So rather than admitting the truth, that she couldn't be sure, that she couldn't make any promises, she got ahead of herself and made promises she had no way of knowing if she could keep.
She just wanted to be the hero for once, was that too much to ask? Just once she wanted to work on something that would mean something to somebody other than herself. She wanted to be the one that helped make everyone happy. Phoebe was never really sure how to go about doing that normally. Things that made her happy hardly ever worked for others, her idea of happiness was always slightly off from every else's. But with this Melody Recreation Apparatus, she had finally found a place where hers and their worlds intersected. She had finally gotten a chance to do something for everyone else and she was going to fail.
She could still clearly remember the day she had accidentally over heard the other girls calling her weird after she had tried to share her father's machinery catalog with them at school one day. She knew that they were her friends and that they hadn't meant anything malicious by it. Still, sometimes she could even now feel the hollow ache from the hard blow their words had dealt her that day. She sighed, it wasn't like she believed she was hated, but she knew that she never really did quite connect with everyone else. This project made it feel like maybe, just a little bit, she was changing that.
Right up until the power source absolutely refused to work for her. She lifted her head and helplessly began to fidget with various parts and pieces in a vain attempt to do something to fix it. She knew it wasn't going to help but she was out of options and she couldn't bring herself to just quit. Not when she had so much riding on this, not when there were still a few more hours left on the clock. Maybe if she removed this bit and attached it extra careful this time? What if she tightened down these bolts here? She could clean out that part there a little and see if that helped.
All night long she tinkered away at her work, fueled by a mad sense of desperation and hope. She worked well into the hours of morning, adjusting something here, swapping out parts there, and all out dissembling some parts just to put it back together, paying extra attention to every detail. Eventually exhaustion from yet another sleepless night took over and Phoebe had no choice to walk over and collapse onto her bed not even having the energy enough to change out of her clothes or climb under the covers.
"Phoebe wake up! You're going to be late!" Came the harsh warning from her mother as Phoebe was jostled awake by a firm hand.
Phoebe groaned loudly and turned over in a vain attempt of escaping the hand shaking her.
"I know dear, I'm sorry to do this to you after all the sleep you've missed." Her mother said sympathetically, 'But I've let you sleep all I can, you MUST get up. Everyone's waiting on you at the festival."
At mention of the festival Phoebe shot up in a panic, "Mom the Power source!" She half screamed.
"Don't worry your father and some of the other's took it into town for you." Her mother reassured cheerfully, "You must have been exhausted when you finally went to sleep, and you forgot to take off your glasses so I moved them for you."
Phoebe suddenly looked around and realized that she was in fact not wearing any glasses. She took them from her mother's out stretch hands and hurriedly shoved them onto her face. "What do you mean they took it to town for me?"
"Well you were sleeping so late we deiced to take care of it for you so you could keep sleeping." Her mother explained obviously not affected by the panic in her daughters voice, "But it really is late now the festival starts in an hour or two you better get going."
"No! No nonononono!" Phoebe screamed making a mad dash for the door, "No, it's not ready!"
"Well good luck dear!" Her Mother called after her in a carefree manner, "I'll be down later to see your machine in action!"
She let the door slam shut behind her as she ran in a panic to town. Her mother's over casual manner did not affect her as her mother always reacted to things like that. All her attention was focused on that useless power source and the absolute nightmare that was about unfold all around her once she got to it. What was she going to do? How was she going to explain herself? How could she end up so unlucky with this turn of events? She knew they were only trying to be helpful but now things were well out of hand. She never should have fallen asleep, she knew how important this all was! How could she just sleep though what precious few hours she'd had left?
"What am I going to do?" She cried.
Phoebe dashed into town carelessly blowing past several townsfolk in the process and ran straight for where she knew her useless power source would be waiting for her. Ozzie, her father, and Hamilton, were all standing around it chatting happily amongst themselves and Paolo could be spotted in the distance showing off his finalized crayon drawing of their finished product. Phoebe felt her heart stop, she had to tell them, she needed to come clean right now and tell them everything. Her stomach turned as she thought of how disappointed and angry they would we with her once they found out. Worse now they had the added injury of knowing that they had carried an essentially useless hunk of heavy metal all the way down here for nothing.
"There's the lady of the hour." Hamilton said brightly when he caught sight of Phoebe.
"Finally up I see." Her father laughed, "Well I think you've got just enough time to set everything up."
"It's not going to work." Phoebe said weakly, "I mean, it doesn't…" She stopped, trying to find her words through her fear.
"Nonsense," Ozzie said brightly, "You've got plenty of time, you and Paolo have been working hard at this for days, have a little confidence."
"No you don't understand-" Phoebe desperately tried to explain.
"Ah ah ah!" Hamilton silenced her quickly, "Not another word of doubt." He said smiling, "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine."
Phoebe felt her heart sink, "But."
"Don't worry dear," Her father reassured in a rare moment of optimism. That was usually her mother's department. "I have every confidence in you."
Phoebe swallowed hard well now they had done it. How could she possibly explain it to them now? She couldn't, not with them all looking at her with such confidence like this. Even if she tried to they wouldn't listen. She had no choice but the show them then.
"Alright." She relented sadly, "I'll need you to move back a bit so I can hook it up." She sighed.
She opened the hatch which she had long since prepared for the power source and dutifully began installing it was practiced ease. Hoping beyond hope for some sort of miracle to happen and deliver her from this simply awful situation. They all watched her with intense interest and Phoebe couldn't help but feel like an insect under a microscope. Didn't they have anything better to do than stand around and carefully witness her failure?
Her eyes glanced over in the direction of Paolo who was proudly going from adult to adult to receive their praise for all his hard work. His grin was almost wider than his face and his cheeks were the color of pink cat flowers. This was all going to hit him hardest of all and she felt a sharp pang of guilt for that more than anything else. She just hoped when it was all said and done everyone blamed her and left him alone. He really had worked so hard after all.
Phoebe plugged in the last cable feeling for all the world as though she had just put the final nail in her own coffin. All there was left to do now was to climb in and wait to be buried in it. She sighed and looked anxiously up at her unwanted and awaiting audience. She gave a quick prayer for the impossible to happen, for it all to somehow miraculously start working and for everything to go well. For it to turn out perfectly so she didn't have to see her father look down at her with that familiar look of concern and disappointment, so she didn't have to see Paolo's crushed face when he learned he would not be making his father proud today after all, and so she didn't have to live through the bitter feeling that would pervade the coming festival once the announcement was made informing every one of her utter failure.
"Well," She said uncertainly, "All that's left is to turn it on…" She said pushing up her glasses wishing the ground would swallow her up that very moment.
"Ok then fire her up!" Ozzie said happily.
As Phoebe cautiously reached for the switch some ridiculous, irrational part of her filled with hope that this might actually just work and the rest of her resigned to finding out that it wouldn't. Feeling as though she were her own executioner holding her very own life in her hands she gravely pulled the switch…
Somehow miraculously the machine started to buzz to life. Phoebe could hardly believe her ears, it was working! Her face lit up happily and she watched as the faces of those around her did too. She released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding as she listened to the machine quickly rev up. She felt almost dizzy with unimaginable relief. Then it suddenly ran just a little bit louder and promptly died out without another sound.
Her heart sank as all her hopes were dashed in the same instant she had allowed them to swell. It was devastating and heart breaking. What exactly had she been expecting? She knew better than anyone that it wasn't going to work.
"Told you…" She said in defeat, "I tried to tell you but…" She trailed of not daring to meet the eyes of anyone around her. She was stealing herself for the jeers she was sure would come.
"What this?" Ozzie said his voice strangely cheerful for the life shattering events that had just taken place around him, "This is nothing! Sometimes machines, they just need at little-"
He pounded his fist heavily down on the power source and it instantly sprung to life and began revving up flawlessly.
"Help." He finished a wide grin across his face, "See? No problem! It's working just fine."
Phoebe looked at her now running machine and then at Ozzie in a kind of bewildered shock, "How did you?" She asked stunned.
"I do this to some of the machines we use at the fishery sometimes." Ozzie shrugged, "It usually works."
Phoebe shook her head in disbelief.
"Oh my look at the time!" Mayor Hamilton exclaimed suddenly, "Never mind that, you'd better hurry if you're going to get everything set up in time!"
Phoebe nodded dutifully and wasted no time enlisting Paolo to help her finish setting up their project. It didn't take too long once Phoebe managed to get the power source in snuggly and shut the hatch but they still barely finished in time for Hamilton to announce the beginning of the festival and give them the signal to start up the apparatus.
"You know what Phoebe?" Paolo said standing next her at their place in the roof, "I think you should do it."
Phoebe looked down at the little boy who was offering her the duck egg solemnly, "But I thought you wanted to do it?" She asked curiously, "This is your big moment after all that hard work you put in."
Paolo bashfully scratched the back of his head, "Yeah but I think you worked harder than I did." He admitted, "I mean all I did was help…."
Phoebe smiled and patted Paolo on the head, "I couldn't have done this without you." She told him honestly, "But why don't we both do it? Just to be fair?"
He beamed up at her happily and nodded.
They pushed the egg carefully down the roof and watched their project go off just as Phoebe had promised, without a hitch. When the music started ringing through the town Phoebe felt that same feeling of joy and peace as she had all those years ago and she smiled knowing that everyone else down at the dock, where the festival was going on must be feeling it too.
What Phoebe didn't know because she wasn't present to hear it but her mother would tell her about later when she would join the rest of the crowd was that after the town song had finished the Mayor saw fit to give a little speech.
"I know these last few years have been hard." He began, "But I just want to say how proud I am of not only Phoebe and Paolo for putting this all together but of all of you. The people of this town have all pulled together to make this wonderful thing happen, proving once again that we can do absolutely anything if we stick together." He smiled then, "Even repair a long broken machine that we had no money to fix. You all are good people with wonderful hearts and together I know with time we can make this place great again."
And just then, still feeling so hopeful and happy from hearing the long absent town song again everyone else was inclined to feel the same. All thanks to the hard work of their local inventor and one very determined little boy.