Disclaimer: Unfortunately, HM is not mine.
"They came!" Elliot crowed coming up from behind me in the fields. I looked up and smiled at him, clutching my new watering can.
When I had when to Taro's house four days ago, he had given me a lot of things: a hoe, a sickle, a watering can, a hammer, an axe, food, extra blankets and two small bags of carrot seeds. It was a lot more than I had dared to hope for, but the very next day Taro was at my house at five thirty in the morning, barking instructions on how to use the tools and helping me plant the seeds. It turned out I had quite the knack for planting and watering; I could only hope I had a knack for growing excellent crops.
I had come to realize that Taro was even stranger than I thought; sometimes random information about livestock or crops or something would come to him in the middle of the night and he'd be banging on my door, telling me what he had forgotten previously. I was still annoyed about that, as I found I was a lot more tired lately, but when I had explained this to the elderly man, he had laughed loudly and said I'd better get used to it – ranchers got up early.
I was still grumbling about this fact when I started watering my turnips early this morning. I had just finished up with a now-empty watering can when Elliot walked up behind me. "What came?" I asked as I walked over to the snaking river to re-fill it where Taro had shown me. "The replies to my grandfather's letters," he informed me with a wide grin. He held up to pieces of paper I had only just noticed. I smiled back at him happily as I kneeled down to the fill up the can.
"Judging by your enthusiasm, I'm assuming they both said yes?" I asked. "Yes," he said happily, "Both of them will be here in two days. We walked back over to my house and I set the can down. "Here, you can read them, Chelsea," Elliot said, almost pushing them into my hands. I read the one from Mirabelle first.
Dearest Taro,
This is certainly splendid news. I've been looking everywhere for a place to set up my shop. If the island is as barren as you say it is, I'm assuming it will take a while before it's back in its glory days, but I am a patient woman. I accept your offer and will be at the island in approximately three or so days. I am bringing with me my daughter, Julia, who is just as ambitious and eager to help as me. It will be wonderful to see you again! Thank you for this incredible opportunity. I'm sure the new rancher you told me about will be working very hard for everyone.
With love,
Mirabelle & Julia
"Wow, everyone's really counting on me, aren't they?" I murmured nervously as I handed the first paper to Elliot. "Yes, I guess so, but it's nothing you can't handle," he assured me warmly. "Thanks," I muttered, before turning my eyes to Chen's letter.
Taro,
Shipwrecked on a deserted island. What an adventure! I wish something as exciting as that would happen to me. As for your offer, I accept. The city is too loud and obnoxious; and, to be honest, not the best place to raise my beloved son, Charlie. This island you describe sounds perfect; exactly where I have been dreaming of setting up my shop! I'm a bit put-off by the fact it will take some time before the island's population increases again, but I can wait, I suppose. I don't think it will take as long as you seem to be anticipating, my friend, if this new rancher works very hard. I will be there in about two days, with Charlie, of course. I look forward to seeing you and your family.
Best wishes,
Chen & Charlie
PS: It sounds to me like you could use a carpenter, Taro. I happen to know an excellent one named Gannon who's looking for a place to start a business as well. Perhaps I should contact him?
"Isn't it wonderful? Everything's going according to plan," Elliot said brightly. I nodded and gave him back the other pieces of paper. "Chen's talked about Gannon before," he went on, "From what he's said Gannon is an excellent builder, and he sells lumber and material stone. We could definitely use him around here." I nodded. "Yeah; I don't know anything about building!" I laughed. He chuckled, too.
I walked back over to my field. For the past few days, I had been working on clearing it entirely of weeds and wood and rocks. It was a daunting task, but the field looked so much better and there would be more room for crops and fences for livestock, when the time came. There were five humungous boulders in my field I couldn't do anything about, and I just hoped they wouldn't get in the way too much.
Elliot started helping me when he realized what I was doing, and though I said it wasn't necessary, he insisted. "I don't have anything else to do today; my family and I are going to be in charge of shipping everything you put in your shipping box over there." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to the medium-sized box in front of the house. "Well, I don't think I'll have anything for a while."
He shrugged. "Well, once the carpenter moves in and you've shipped enough stuff, my family and I will finally have enough money to expand our crummy house!" he laughed as he stared pulling at a particularly stubborn weed. We worked for a few minutes before the silence got awkward for me and I asked, "So you already know Chen?"
"Sure. Chen's been my grandfather's friend for a long time. I've never met Mirabelle or Julia before, though, or Charlie." He paused.
"I didn't even know that Chen had a kid up until yesterday. He's only eight, you know." "Chen and Taro must not have spoken in a long time, then," I said.
"Well, they talked on the phone a lot, but no, we didn't see him often, because he lived pretty far from us, in a different city. But he went on for years about how he was sick of the city and he wanted somewhere quiet." "Why didn't he move to the country?"
I asked. Elliot shrugged. "I don't know, I guess his shop was thriving in the city, so he couldn't complain, and he stayed. But it's not doing so well now and is ready to uproot and move to a new place." I nodded.
We made polite small talk on the weather until I announced I was done with this part of the field today. Elliot nodded politely and invited me to dinner, which I declined. "Maybe tomorrow, Elliot," I said, "I'm real tired right now and I just want to go to bed early." He looked really disappointed for a minute and I almost considered coming, but then he said a quiet goodbye and headed back to his house.
That evening was quiet, with more wild grasses and chocolate left by someone from the rescue boat. That was a real treat, and I scarfed it down faster that anyone would think possible. Just as I was about to go to sleep, there was a knock on the door. I groaned and went to open it. It was Natalie. She had a blanket and a pillow rolled up under her left arm with a book in her right hand. "I came for a sleepover," she told me, walking into the house without so much as a question.
I sighed, but allowed her to spend the night. I hadn't had a real good friend in so long, I was willing to try with just about anyone, and Natalie seemed perfectly willing. We talked for two hours, sometimes about sincere, heartfelt things, and other things were genuinely silly, like her brother's clumsiness. "I don't think he'll ever get married," she mused. But then she looked up at me mischievously and smiled.
"What?" I asked cautiously. "You know," she said slowly, "If you married him, then you would be my sister-in-law." She giggled.
"Ew!" I groaned, "Don't hold your breath. I like him as a friend and everything, but thinking about him that way makes me shudder."
Natalie shrugged. "It was worth a shot." We went to sleep after that, and I didn't offer the bed again. I was much too tired.
The only thing I did for the next few days was water the carrots, and to my delight they were beginning to sprout, proof that I was not a complete failure. I had had enough seeds for eight carrots to grow, and I was eagerly looking forward to them. Other than that, the days dragged as I waited for Taro's friends' arrival.
Finally, the morning of the third day, I woke up to a loud knocking on my door. I was getting kind of sick of waking up to the knocking. I threw off the covers and patted down my hair to make myself somewhat presentable before I pulled open the wooden door.
Standing there was a tall-dark haired man and a short black-haired child, presumably his son. The man clasped his hands together, and his sleeves fell over his hands as he bowed low to me. His son did the same and I almost giggled at the formality.
"Hello," the man said in a pleasant voice, "My name is Chen, and this is my son, Charlie. I assume Taro told you about us?" the tall man questioned. I nodded. "He said you were going to open a shop here." Chen nodded.
"I will be selling seasonal seedlings for every season, and judging by your little garden over there, my shop will suit your needs." I nodded and thanked him for coming. "I'm opening the shop as soon as it is built, in about a week, I would guess. Taro told me that he invited two other people to come live here and they accepted. Do you happen to know who?" Chen asked politely. I nodded and replied, "Yes. Their names are Mirabelle and Julia. Mirabelle is going to open a shop selling livestock, animal feed, medicine and other useful farm things." He nodded. "She'll need someone to bring the animals to the island when they've been ordered . . ." he trailed off.
"Taro said she was going to ask her nephew if he would take the job." Chen smiled at me. "We're going to get this island back on track," he said. "Some day," I agreed. The two of them left quickly after that, Charlie yelling out, "Bye, Chelsea!" just as they were leaving my line of view.
I went over to Taro's house for dinner that evening, discovering that Chen and Charlie had been invited, too. We barely had room at the little table, but Felicia managed to cram us all together; I was in the seat in between Natalie and Elliot, as I was on the boat. "You look nice this evening," Elliot said to me after a minute, his hand fidgeting with that odd green apron. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
Oh yes, I was going to have to let him know some way that I wasn't looking for anything romantic right now. "Thank you," was all I said at the moment. "We're expecting Mirabelle and Julia tomorrow, dears," Felicia said as she sat down next to her son. "They're setting up their shop right next to this house." "Aw, no fair," Charlie sighed.
He turned to his father. "Dad, how come we don't have any neighbors?" "We will soon, son; when more people start moving here," Chen answered happily. His eyes flickered to me for a fraction of a second. "Providing everyone works hard, of course." Had he looked at me because he knew I was the one who would make the most money for the island when the ranch started going strong, or was it because I was just some twenty-year-old kid in way over her head?
I questioned my earlier judgment for a second about Chen's niceness, but I quickly dismissed the thought; it was just my paranoia kicking in again. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to say something to everyone.
"I'm going to work hard and try my best," I assured them, "But it will take some time." "Of course it will dear," Felicia said gently, "No one expects you to do it all in a month, or a year. This is the kind of thing that could take ten years." "Ten years?" Charlie's eyes widened. "That long? I'll be an adult by then!" Taro shrugged.
"One can never tell with this kind of thing. I don't think this island would have any trouble attracting tourists, though. It's so peaceful. Problem is people can't stay over night until we get somebody to run an Inn or Hotel or something." Taro sighed.
"We'll find someone," Felicia promised. "Speaking of people," Chen said suddenly, "I contacted my friend Gannon the other day, you know, the carpenter I was telling you about?" Taro nodded.
"Well, he says he'd be more than happy to come over and see what he can do. He's not so sure about actually moving here, though." "Oh, he will," Natalie said, "No one can resist this place's charm, you wait and see."
I slept a little later than I had intended to the next morning. Well, okay, a lot later. I woke up at ten AM. I hurried through watering my carrots, though I wasn't actually sure why; there wasn't much to do today. I was almost completely done with clearing the field of weeds and rocks and wood. Today I thought I would work on turning some wood into lumber and some rocks into material stone with my axe and hammer.
It would take most of my energy for the day, and Mirabelle and Julia were supposed to be arriving today, so I decided to do it the next day.
Besides, where was I going to put it all when I was done? I could stack it in piles next to my house, but when winter came I didn't want it getting snowed all over.
That was when I remembered the sad-looking building next to the stable. It wasn't much, and it had looked like it would collapse if I touched it wrong, but I had asked Taro what it was and told me it used to me a tool shed, used for storing things.
As I stood in my field debating, I happened to glance to my left and I made out two figures come up toward me. They were both women; that much I could tell, and I assumed they were the island's newest residents. I turned and smiled at them, though they might have been too far away to see it. It took a few minutes, but finally they were both standing in front of me wide smiles.
"Hello, dear. Taro told us that you were going to become the island's rancher. This is wonderful news to us, as we are opening a shop selling livestock and feed and such. Did Taro already tell you?" the shorter, chubbier blonde woman asked. "Yes. You must be Mirabelle," I said. The short woman nodded and gestured to the tall, beautiful blonde next to her. "Yes, and this is my delightful daughter, Julia."
The blonde smiled at me widely. "I'm looking forward to helping my mother run the shop. It's so nice to meet you; I'm sure we'll be the best of friends," she said warmly. She really was very pretty, and I felt a small, selfish pang of jealousy. I pushed it aside and smiled back. "Yes, I'm sure. I'll be buying animals and such, but not until I get the money to build a barn or a chicken coop."
Mirabelle nodded and then laughed. "Yes. Well, Taro's family is very kind. I'm sure they'll keep us alive until then." I nodded. "Yes, they are wonderful." "Anyway," Julia interrupted in her high pretty voice, "In Taro's letter all he said was 'the new rancher' but he neglected to tell us your actual name." I smiled. "It's Chelsea."
I was meeting more people this season than I had in one year in the city, though there were a lot more people there. Maybe I was becoming anti-social. I shuddered. Mirabelle smiled again and said, "Well, we'd best be off now. Chen and Charlie have already started building their shop, but Julia and I are waiting for Chen's construction friend to come to the island before we start. He should be here any day.
Until then, we're staying at Taro's." "Really? But they're house is so small. How will all of you fit?" I asked. Mirabelle shrugged. "We'll manage. And it's only for a short amount of time, really." "Well, I feel selfish having this quiet house all to myself," I said guilty, "If any of you ever feel too cramped, there's always my place."
"How very kind of you," Julia said. "I do believe your friend Natalie mentioned sleeping at you house tonight," Mirabelle informed me. I laughed. "She's been doing that a lot. I'll have to get a bigger bed so my spine doesn't snap one day from the floor." Julia beamed at me, showing white, strait teeth.
"If it's any consolation, I'll probably be on the floor tonight too, as well as some other people. There are only four beds, you know." I nodded.
"We'll just have to make it work."
A/N: Please R&R
