Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except Khloe, Jason, Jared, the plot of the story, and children seen in future chapters.
Chapter 1 Harmonica town
Abaigael walked out of the clinic and toward her apartment 3 blocks away with her messenger bag containing that nights work and her laptop. She sighed. She couldn't stop thinking about Champ, an English bulldog she had to put down that day. He was ten years old with cancer. The family had decided to bring him to the clinic and have him put down. He had been one of her first patients.
On her way up the stairs to her apartment she grabbed the mail and saw the first letter in 3 years from her sister. She opened the door to her apartment on the second floor, set her things down, and sat on the couch to her sisters scratchy handwriting.
Abbi,
Father has passed on. He died of a heart attack on Wednesday Spring 9th. I hope this letter finds you quickly so you might come home for his funeral. The will reading will follow. Not that there is much to give away. The farm has failed in the last year of father's illness and it will need to be restarted from scratch. All the animals have been sold, the house is in disrepair and downsized, the barn and coop are in the same condition. We could not afford to keep everything running and I did not have the time to take care of father and the farm. Please come home, we need you.
Your twin,
Allison Gray.
Abbi sat on the couch, dropping the letter on her coffee table, astonished. Her father, Jackson Edward Gray, had died of a heart attack four days ago. Silent tears started to spill. No one was there to comfort her as she cried alone at what had become of her family farm and her father. She didn't get to say goodbye.
Abbi woke up after crying herself to sleep. She was numb. She called into the vet hospital and reported a family emergency, her father's death, as well as her resignation from the clinic due to the family emergency.
She wrote a quick letter to her sister.
Allison,
I will be there as soon as I can. I am sorry for the state of the farm and that you had to take care of father by yourself. I am resigning from the hospital and moving to Harmonica town to help you restore the farm.
Dr. Abaigael Gray VMD.
Abbi sealed the envelope and put it downstairs to be sent. She locked up and left for Harmonica town to find a place to live and then send her things.
Two days later, she pulled her truck up to the front of what was left of their family farm. She saw her sister walk out, identical to her except for their hair and clothes. "Allison." Abbi said hugging her sister and giving her a sad smile. Allison collapsed in to sobs. The time apart, the death, and the state of the farm had Abbi crying as well. They stood there like that for awhile until the tears had dried up.
Abaigael broke the silence. "I can hardly believe this..." She started. "I know, the farm is a wreck, and dad not being here… He would have told us to quit blubbering and get the fuck to work." Allison smiled at the thought and laughed. "Hell yes he would have." Abbi agreed. Allison started toward Abaigael's truck. "So these are those gas eaters that they have in the big cities." Allison poked it. "Yes, this is a truck, good for hauling horses and other livestock out to the sanctuary the vet clinic runs." Abbi said patting her truck. She would miss it. They didn't use those in anywhere but the cities. "It's big." Allison said stepping back. "It has to be." Abaigael laughed. Allison smiled at her. "I just got your letter this morning. We need to find a place for you to stay, I would say the house, but it doesn't have enough room for more than one person at the moment." Allison said. Abbi turned to get a good look at the house.
They had taken down the second level, probably to conserve on heating costs and such, and the roof that replaced it was crappy. There were boards missing, boards broken, windows broken, and holes in the walls. The coop had a bad roof, a makeshift door made from cardboard, and a few holes as well. Abbi turned to see the Barn and wasn't surprised to find holes, a bad roof, and an old door. The barn had been her hiding place on the farm, as a child, she would climb into the loft and sit amongst the hay and read. She liked being so close to the animals, but the coop and barn were bare now.
"This place needs major fixing." Abaigael sighed. She remembered how to build and repair, she just didn't like to. "I'll stay at the Inn, but I'm going to talk to Hammy Hamilton first and try to find some property." Abbi told her sister, who looked thoughtful then started to giggle, and finally bent over laughing. "I haven't heard anybody call Mayor 'Hammy' in years!"
"You just call him 'Mayor' now? How boring!" Abigail said pretending she was swiping something aside with her hands. "I'll come with you, I want to try and ride in one of these 'trucks'." Allison said. "Alright, pull the handle out and the door to the passenger side will open." Abaigael instructed getting in the driver's seat. "Okay now you see that strap, clip it in this little buckle so that the straps cross over your chest, it holds you in place in case we hit something." Abbu waited for her sister to finish with the buckle, turned on some folk music, and drove down the path from their house to the rode and slowly into town. She hated folk music… She could stand country but preferred rock and pop, though… those may give Alli a heart attack. Her sister was humming along with one of the songs, some things never change. Abbi parked as far over as she could and away from entrances.
"This is still town hall right?" Abaigael asked walking up to the first building you see when getting into their downtown. "Yeper" Allison chirped, unbuckling and getting out. "That thing is cool! I want one!" Allison said coming around to stand by her sister. "They only allow them in and around the big cities, I have to sell it once I am done moving all my furniture." Abbi said sadly. "Aww, that plain ole sucks!" Allison exclaimed.
They walked into city hall and Abbi found 'Hammy Hamilton' not so Hammy looking. He had white hair, was plump instead of muscular, and shorter. His face looked rounder and he looked… old. A lot changed in 12 years. "My, my, I think I am seeing double!" Hamilton joked. "Hello Hammy." Abbi and Alli said in unison. She gave him a brief hug. "I am so sorry about your father Abaigael, it has been a devastation to the whole town." He said squeezing her bicep. "Thank you Hammy." She said respectfully. "Are you coming back for just your father's funeral then?" He asked with a sad smile. "Actually, I am staying. Allison needs me to help revitalize the farm and reconstruct the buildings back to their former glory. Which brings me to the reason I am here, I was wondering if I could buy some property and possibly some space to start my own veterinary hospital." Abbi stated plainly, getting to business right away, not dwelling on feelings. The mayor gave her a frown wondering if her father's death had any effect on her at all.
"We have some vacant property in the downtown area that you can have as an apartment, and we can construct another shop next to the wizards house if you would like." Hamilton stated in a business fashion. "That will work perfectly, can you send the architect to talk with me and we can map out the floor plans, I will call the moving carts, automobile company, and all that so I can get settled here." Abbi said smiling politley. "Yes, the deed to the property is 100,000 Gold, and to build the clinic… well that depends, the architect could give you an estimate?" Hamilton stated.
Abbi signed a check for 100,000G and shook hands with Hamilton. "It will be moving in ready in 3 days." He said. Abaigael nodded and left with Allison. "You just signed over 100,000 G like it was nothing! Are you that rich?" Allison cried out in anger. "No, I only have 300,000 G to my name, I will hopefully gain more than loose it when I sell all my assets in the city, but I'm not filthy rich Allison. I am actually middle class in city terms." Abaigael said leaving her truck and heading toward the Inn. "300,000G to your name plus more… Why didn't you send any home?" Allison said angry and stopping on the sidewalk.
"I did not send any home because in the last letter you had sent me, three years ago, you said you could handle things and there was no reason to send money. I was not informed you had the need for it Allison." Abaigael said, enunciating every word. She noticed then that Allison had gained a twang that was common in the small cities. Abaigael had been in the city so long that she had a very different accent.
Allison turned and angrily walked on and they both entered the Inn. "I can handle myself from here Allison, thank you." Abaigael said, not wishing to deal with her twin at the moment. "I'ma say hi to everybody first." She said walking over to Yolanda, she had specifically used her twang then to point out to her sister she noticed the difference in their speech as well.
Abbi looked at the people. If it was possible, Yolanda had gotten bigger. Maya hadn't changed much except she cut her hair short and grew taller. Jake was grayer, and Collen was as beautiful as ever.
Abaigael walked over to Jake. "Hey Allison, when did your hair get so long and why are you wearing that?" He asked mistaking their identities. "Hello Jake, I'm actually Abaigael, I was wondering if I could get a room for 3 nights, I'm moving back but the town house won't be ready for another 3 days so I need a place to stay, away from Allison." She added the last part in when her sister left the building. "Yeah, no problem, sorry about that….It's 1,000 G every night." He said. "Okay." Abbi answered with a smile handing over 3000G. "Hey I'm sorry about yer dad, he was a good man." Jake teary eyed. She gave him a tight smile.
She grabbed her suitcase from her car and thankfully didn't run into any villagers. She showered; put on PJ's and went to bed. She knew everybody would probably be in bed or at the Bar anyways. She didn't feel like drinking, drinking pushes back problems to the next day, creates new ones, and gives you a hangover. She fell into a dreamless sleep.