Author's Note:
-is back-
I'm very displeased with one of my other fanfictions I'm writing and am possibly going to redo it all over [it's not up on the site anyway], so I might be slow going for a bit. But I'm going to be positive so stick with me here! In fact I got this one finished rather fast anyway…
Warnings: again, warnings of yaoi in later chapters. DO read this in case you are not interested. Should anything else turn up, I will let you know via the Author's Note. So make sure you READ IT. Thanks! :D
Enjoy~
'The Run Around'
The doorbell rang as Bo walked into the shop. It was early so of course Mira and Julius weren't around. Chloe was chomping on some cereal and a banana while Ramsey and Owen got things together for business. Owen snapped his head in the direction of Bo before glancing at his uncle and quickly making his way toward Bo.
"Hey, shop's not open yet. Something you need?" he asked, puzzled. To be honest Bo never shopped so to see him show up this early in the morning was odd to the redhead.
"Um, yah. Can we talk somewhere? It's kinda important." he leaned closer to Owen, trying to keep Ramsey and Chloe from overhearing. "It's about Luke." he whispered.
Owen's eyes widened. "Wha?" he looked back at Ramsey before ushering Bo into the next room.
"I was planning on asking Julius too…but he isn't here and I sorta was hoping you'd know something." Bo said softly. Owen raised an eyebrow and to Bo's dismay he shrugged his burly shoulders.
"If something is wrong I wouldn't know it. Luke hasn't mentioned anything. Come to think of it, he hasn't come by at all and I just figured his pop had him busy so I never asked." said Owen. Bo sighed and drooped a little.
"Oh but hey! I'll try to talk to him today and if you can come by again I'll tell you what I know. Sound good?"
Bo straightened and smiled weakly, nodding. "Thanks Owen. By the way what time does Julius usually get here?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't have to wait long.
"Well, it's about 7:30 now and the shop opens at 8:00. Julius should be here within 15 to 20 minutes or so at the latest but it's hard to say. He says it's called being 'fashionably late', but I don't see anything glamorous about it. Hold on," Owen raced off as Ramsey hollered to him.
"Oh Owen!" Owen turned slightly. "Can we keep this between us? I don't want Luke to get suspicious." he said, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Owen nodded.
"My lips are sealed." he answered, and turned toward the shop room.
Bo found a chair and sat down, watching Owen help Ramsey.
'Man, that pansy better get here fast! I have people to talk to!' Bo thought to himself. He nibbled his bottom lip and sighed, looking up at the clock every 5 seconds and almost willing Julius to pop out of nowhere.
"Hey guys! How's it going?" said Angela as she walked into the Sundae Inn. Maya and Yolanda in the kitchen while Kathy, Selena, and Jake washed tables. Colleen of course at the register. All looked up and greeted the brunette warmly.
"Morning to you too Angela. What can we help you with today?" asked Jake, washing his hands off now. Angela sighed.
"Well, I know you guys aren't too familiar with the people up at Ganache Mine but…something's going on with um…the carpenter. You know, Luke? I was wondering if anyone might have heard something." she asked. But she had a feeling these people would be the last to know.
"Uhh, not that I know of. You could try asking any of the boys, they might know. Goddess knows word gets spread through them like fire." Jake answered, laughing a bit and hoping to cheer them up. Angela nodded.
"Well, if you hear anything let me know okay? You know the farm is always open! Oh and by the way, keep this under your hat's will yah? Luke might be awful mad if he hears about this." she called, and left through the door.
"Hey uncle…?" Toby said, walking into the room and hoping Ozzie was around. Ozzie looked up and smiled.
"Hey buddy, I thought I gave you the day off or something. Come in, come in." he said as he looked back down to examine a fish Paolo caught. Toby shuffled over.
"Um, I was wondering if you'd heard anything about Luke." said Toby softly. Pascal 'hmm'ed a moment.
"Thought you and him were close. Wouldn't you be the one to know somethin' about it?" asked Pascal. Toby mentally sweatdropped.
"Um, if I'd known I wouldn't ask. But thanks anyway." said Toby. He bowed. "I have to go. Will you be sure to let me know if you find out anything? Oh and one more thing. Luke can't know about this."
"Why not?" asked Ozzie, puzzled. Toby scratched the back of his head.
"Well, he might be angry with me for snooping. But I believe the reason for it is good enough to ask anyway, whether he approves or not." he said. He waved and left.
His next stop was the General store but it wielded nothing and Toby left feeling solemn. He sighed and continued on towards the Meringue Clinic. He was surprised when Anissa nearly ran him over with equipment.
"Ooh, sorry, sorry." she apologized hurriedly. Toby chuckled and he and Perry helped her with the boxes she carried. "Thanks a ton boys. And I'm sorry for almost running you over Toby!" she said, giggling nervously.
Toby shrugged. "It was nothing. I'm alright so please, don't worry about it." he assured the raven. Anissa smiled and hugged him.
"So it's been awhile since I've seen you. Catch any fish lately?" she asked. Toby smiled.
"Caught a big Tuna the other day and Ozzie sold it. Good price too."
"That's great! So Perry and I were just about to get working on sorting these boxes. What brings you here?" she wondered. Toby sighed.
"Well, Luke's been acting weird lately and I was wondering if anybody knew if something happened lately or what." he said. Perry was about to speak when suddenly Irene came through the doorway.
"Anissa, Perry, we need you both at the back." she said, and hurried off. Anissa bowed and waved before turning away. Perry looked at the door before turning to Toby.
"You know, Kathy and the Doctor have been about the same lately too. Kathy gets extremely embarrassed and flustered often. And I hardly see the Doctor. Whenever he's around he just has this grim look on his face and is always rubbing his temples like he's getting a headache. I don't know if it helps but I'd try asking one or the other about Luke. Maybe whatever's affecting him is affecting Dr. Jin and Kathy as well." he said. "I've gotta go."
"Thanks Perry. I'm glad you could help and make sure Anissa hears this, but none of this must get back to Luke. I don't want him to get upset about it." he said. Perry nodded and waved before running off to help the girls. Toby sighed and turned to go. He stopped short when he saw the doctor himself standing in the doorway. For a moment Toby felt pale.
'How much of that did he hear?' Toby thought. But the Dr. walked past him, not mentioning a thing. Toby sighed and hurried out of the tense atmosphere.
'Dr. Jin…that look he had. I bet he knows something about Luke. And Kathy too. What…happened between those three?' he wondered.
"Goodness, goodness. Looks like there's going to be some rain today!" exclaimed a certain amethyst haired man as he entered the Blacksmith's. Bo jumped up automatically.
"Julius, I need to speak with you. May I have a moment?' he asked. Julius nodded.
"Sure. What can I do for you, Bo?" he asked. Bo motioned for Julius to follow him to the back room. Once they got there, Owen ran up to join in the conversation.
"Okay, so something's wrong with Luke and I'm trying to find out what. I have Angela and Toby in town doing the same but I have a curfew tonight and Luke's gonna be real mad at me for walking out today leaving him all the work. Basically what I'm asking is for you to please give me an answer or something good enough to go on. Oh, and to not tell Luke about what we're doing." said Bo hurriedly. Julius nodded.
"Yah yah I got'cha. Okay, so check this out. I was in town talking to Candace and Luna when they start explaining to me something they heard. And guess who?" he asked. Owen and Bo glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Julius leaned in to keep the others from eavesdropping.
"Kathy. They said they were going through Ganache the other day when they see Kathy running off in a hurry. Said she was shaking her head and seemed startled when they questioned her. She mentioned Luke and some other things but she was talking to fast for Candace and Luna to understand her. They also said the Dr. was agitated the other day and was talking to Irene before he stormed off. Irene said it had something to do with an incident here in Ganache Mines District." Julius finished. Bo frowned.
"I wonder what the Dr. and Kathy have to do with Luke. Thanks Julius I really appreciate it." said Bo, grateful. Julius smiled.
"No problem blondie! I'll dig around a bit more to see what I find but I doubt I'll do much more than you, Angela and Toby will. Have a good one!" he said before waving and running off. Bo sighed.
"This is more complicated than I thought. Anyway, gotta go Owen. I'll see you later!" he said. He took off for Brownie Ranch, deciding that Toby had it covered with Anissa in Waffle Town.
It didn't take long for him to reach the ranch and he quickly ran up the dirt pathway where he knew Renee and Gray would be.
Sure enough they were out watching the grazing animals and talking a little. Bo ran over and bowed hurriedly, out of breath.
"Sorry to disturb but, I kinda needed to know if the two of you have seen or heard anything about Luke, Kathy, or the Dr." he said. "And please don't tell Luke about this."
Gray shrugged. He never put himself in the middle of things. But Renee seemed unsure of something.
"Kathy was in Ganache two days ago when she took off for no reason. I asked her about it but she said she probably shouldn't spread things around and kept quiet." said Renee. "Does that help?"
Bo sighed. "Well it helps back up Julius' story. He said Candace and Luna were around when Kathy got upset and fled. He also said the Dr. was torn up about something and stormed off. But nobody knows anything about Luke." he said. A wave of guilt washed over him. He lived with the guy and here he was unable to figure out what was troubling the sapphire haired carpenter. He sighed again and waved to Renee and Gray before shuffling out and back to Ganache.
'I hope Angela and Toby hear something about Kathy and the Dr…' Bo thought wearily.
"Girls? A moment please?" said Toby, entering the Tailor shop. Luna giggled as she hopped onto the countertop and swung her legs playfully.
"Are you wanting a new outfit Toby?" she asked. Candace's cheeks turned red and she shook her head.
"Excuse her Toby, she doesn't know any better." said Candace softly. Luna snapped her head in Candace's direction and crossed her arms in a pout.
"Hey! I'm old enough to think for myself!" she said back, a spark of anger erupting.
"Girls please! I need to know if you've heard anything about Luke. Or maybe Kathy and the Dr.?" he asked. He hoped in all honesty that they had considering how they were right next door.
Luna perked up. "Yah. Kathy was over at Ganache when she flipped out and ran back into town hollering about Luke and some other stuff we didn't catch." she said. Candace nodded.
"And the Dr. was angry the other day about something. He was talking to Irene when he pitched a fit and walked off. Irene said she didn't know what had fired him up but…" Candace looked around before leaning toward Toby. "I think she was lying to cover for the Dr. because she knew we saw that and didn't want to raise suspicion."
Luna nodded. "I'll bet they were all in Ganache. Luke, Kathy, and the Doctor. And I bet something happened up there with them. Something that upset all of them real bad." she said. "Fair enough information?" she asked. Toby nodded.
"Yes, thank you so much. Can you please make sure none of this gets around? I want to keep this under control until I find out more." said Toby. Luna shrugged.
"No problem."
Toby breathed heavily as he left the Tailor shop. The whole thing seemed so odd to him that he figured he might never find out what was wrong. Each lead only ended up creating questions instead of answering them. He sighed again as he made his way down the road.
"Young man." came a voice, old and grim. Toby turned over his shoulder to see Irene standing outside the Clinic. Her face was a solemn mask of grey.
"Yes Irene?" he said softly.
"I understand that you're looking for some answers but I'm afraid there are none. Not for you anyway." she said calmly. Toby felt his heartbeat quicken, and he was certainly not the type to be stressed out so easily as this.
"D-did the Doctor tell you that? I-"
"No. He didn't. Doesn't even know because if he did he would have told me. Toby I know that your intentions are good and I applaud you for your selflessness, but this is not something you want to find yourself in the middle of. Let the ones involved sort it out themselves." said Irene. Toby frowned, but said nothing.
"Right." he said, and walked away.
"Good evening Angela!" Ellie cheered. Angela smiled and waved at the three occupants of the library.
"Hey guys. I stopped to ask a question. Do any of you know what's wrong with Luke?" she asked rather bluntly. Chase scoffed and Gil raised an eyebrow.
"Luke? No, why?" asked Ellie, puzzled.
"Oh, I was just checking. Luke's just been going through some trouble lately. If you hear anything please let me know. Otherwise, I hope you all will keep this from floating around, especially to Luke himself. Thanks." she said quickly, and left. Something made her feel bad about the whole situation all over again. She sighed.
She was halfway down the road, ready to go to Praline, when she heard her name being called and someone running up behind her.
She turned swiftly and smiled as a blonde girl caught up to her.
"Angela. I did hear something, but I didn't want to say it in front of the others." said Kathy, breathing heavy. Angela nodded.
"That's understandable. What is it?"
Kathy frowned and looked uncertain. "Well, I can't tell you for sure what's wrong, but I was up at Ganache Mine one day…you know…to see Owen."
Angela nodded again. "Yeah and?"
Kathy sighed. "Well…"
Author's Note:
Aw man! And we were about to hear something good too! Darn this chapter for being over so quickly!
Never mind, I'm the author. :P
Hope you guys enjoyed. I want reviews people, reviews! :D they make the author extra, EXTRA happy. Okay?
