Chapter Two

"What did you bring me here for?" I heard a deep, hoarse voice say behind me. I twisted my body to see who it was. There, with Mark, stood a mountain of a man. His hair was thinning and grey, and his chest was covered in a simple white singlet.

"This is Chelsea, she's the newest victim of a shipwreck" Mark explained to the man.

He looked at me, squinting his eyes slightly.

"And this had what to do with me?" he said in his roar of a voice.

"Her legs are aching, so I was wondering…"

"Say no more" the huge man sighed, and before I knew it, he had hauled me over his shoulder.

Mark was laughing after us.

"My name's Gannon, by the way" he said to me as he carried me through town.

"Nice to meet you" I grinned.

He just grunted in reply, but I knew he didn't mean to offend me.

"Well here we are" Gannon said. I lifted my head to see a large, nicely-constructed house standing in front of a large field. A river was also peacefully running about a kilometre west.

"My pride and joy!" Gannon laughed, interrupting my thoughts.

"What is?" I asked, clueless.

"The house, the stable, the barn, the coop, the shed, ALL OF IT! It's all my work!" he chuckled proudly.

"This is my farm, Chelsea" Mark explained to me, but I had already guessed that.

We entered the house and Gannon set me down on a chair.

He wrung out his now soaking shirt and bowed somewhat humorously.

"I'll see you guys later then!" he said, lowering his voice. He then left the house.

"Alright then" Mark said, clapping his hands gently together. "The bath's just through that door. I'll dry your clothes and get something ready for you. I think I've still got some old clothes…" he instructed.

I nodded.

When I had finished my bath, I wrapped a towel around myself. I stepped out of the bathroom and saw that there were fresh clothes sitting on the floor next to the door, neatly folded.

I picked them up, closed the door and put them on.

The clothes obviously weren't Mark's, judging by how feminine they were.

I exited the bathroom once again, and shuffled painfully to sit down on the same chair I had about ten minutes ago. It had been dried, but it was still a bit wet. I didn't mind, though.

I peered around the room. It was large, and acted as a kitchen, a dining room and a bedroom.

Two beds, one single, one double were laid up next to each other in one corner.

In the single bed, something began to stir.

I jumped up in shock, secretly hoping it was Mark.

But instead of the farmer slipping out from under the bed sheets, it was a very small, brunette toddler. He set his blue eyes on me and clenched his teddy bear's hand tighter.

"Mommy?" he asked in such a small, airy voice.

I wanted to scream- he was so cute!

"N-no…I'm Chelsea" I reached out to shake his hand, but he dodged it by stepping back in fear. "Don't be scared" I said to him.

"Where's my papa?" he asked.

I didn't know either.

Just then, Mark entered the house. "Toby, you're up!" he ran to pick up the little boy.

I sat clueless.

"Chelsea, this is my son, Toby" Mark told me. Mark had seemed so young and innocent; it was a real eye-opener to see his two-year old kid standing in front of me.

"Nice to meet you, Toby" I tried to smile at him. I then turned to Mark again. "I didn't know you were married with a kid!"

His face darkened, and I knew I had said something I shouldn't have. "I was married to a woman who came to this island a season after myself, and she gave birth to Toby in the winter. Unfortunately, she was quite sensitive to the cold, and last season, she passed away" he sighed.

Toby had buried his face in his father's chest, hugging his eyeless bear.

I stared down at my clothes and blushed to think that I was wearing a dead woman's garments. It was a horrible thing to think, but I thought it anyway.

"I'm sorry" I finally said.

But Mark simply smiled and put Toby down. "It's fine, besides, I have a great life on this island. And you'll like it too!"

I raised my eyebrows.

"That's what I wanted to tell you- if you wanted, you could stay here, in this house for a trial period of one year, and see how you like it on this island. Do you think it's a good idea?" he asked me cheerfully.

I hesitated, happiness filling me to the brim, but nodded enthusiastically, almost falling off of my seat.

"That's great!" Mark clapped his hands together. "This'll be great- We'll be like a real family! Won't that be great, Toby?" he asked the little boy. But Toby just shot me a confused glance and nodded somewhat reluctantly.

"Before I forget to mention; make sure you tell me when your legs feel better, because then I can introduce you to the townspeople and maybe, if they're feeling okay by tomorrow, we can go to the Goddess Festival!"

The thought of going to a festival, where a lot of new people would be, almost made me jump for joy.

"They feel better!" I blurted out subconsciously.

Mark laughed at me and took my hand.

Finally, I thought, A new Start…