Thank you so much for all your reviews! I appreciate them thoroughly. This chapter's a little longer than usual, but I still hope you enjoy! :)
ALSO, Just another warning that this fanfic follows the story of the Bells in AP pretty closely so if you haven't played the game or haven't finished it there will be spoilers.
PART 3: THE RED BELL PART 2
The bright, warm spring sun was beginning to wane. I reached up into the reddening sky and stretched my arms. "Oh well, Finn," I started in the mists of a yawn, "we've been at it for a while now and still no red bell."
Finn blew up his cheeks as he zoomed in front of me. "Yeah, 'cause you've been yacking it up all afternoon with that blue haired guy!" I cleared my throat in an attempt to change the subject.
"I was going to say... we've been at it for a while, but the night is young!" I gave him a little wink as he folded his arms in annoyance. "Relax, Finn," I gave him a pat on the back, "we'll find it. Owen said his cousin Chloe might know something about it, so—"
"Aw! No fair, Chloe! Rematch!"
A little bout of giggles and then, "Okay, Bo! But this time, I ain't going easy on ya!" Finn and I turned around to watch Bo and a little orange-headed girl, who I presumed to be Chloe, zoom past us.
"Look over there, Kasey!" I turned in the direction of his little finger and saw some sort of a rusted object laying on the ground about 20 feet away. "That's the red bell!"
"See, Finn? What'd I tell you?" I grinned as I jogged towards the bell. I bent down to pick up the bell now as Chloe sprinted forward and kicked the bell high into the air.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!" She yelled, her cheeks glowing bright pink.
Finn made a face of death. "The bell!"
"Way to go, Chloe!" Bo ran up to where we were and put his hand on her shoulder. He framed his eyes with his hand as we watched the bell go higher and higher until it landed into someone's chimney. "That's the best I've seen so far!"
Chloe gave a cheeky smile, "Told you I was going easy on ya before!"
"Kaseyyyyyyy!" Finn started as he beat his little fists on my shoulder. "Do something!"
"Ouch, Ow! Okay!" I pushed him off me as I ran up to Chloe. "Hey little girl! Do you realize what you just did?!"
"Yeah!" Chloe's big eyes shone sky blue. "I just scored like A ZILLION points in kick the can!" She gave Bo a big high five. Definitely not the answer I was looking for.
"And did that even look like a can to you?"I pointed a gloved finger to where the red bell once rested.
"Kick the can's just the name of the game, DUH! It doesn't have to be a can!" She crossed her arms. "But I'll have you know that was my new toy."
Finn started to flail in midair. "T-TOY?!" I didn't think I'd ever seen him that mad before.
"Look here, kid," I started sternly, "that's not a toy. That thing you just kicked is—"
"CHLOE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW?" The four of us turned around to see Ramsey, the blacksmith, red-faced with a hammer in his hands. He started to stomp closer and closer to us.
Chloe just kicked the dirt beneath her feet. "What do ya mean, grandpa? I didn't do nothin'."
"Oh really?!" His voice was softer now, but his face shone even redder up close. "Then why is it that something is stuck in my chimney, and now I can't use the fire?"
"I dunno..." Chloe continued to look down.
Finn zoomed in front of the angry old man. "She did it!" He proclaimed boldly. "This little... BRAT here! She's the one who kicked it!" Of course Ramsey couldn't hear him anyway.
I swiftly grabbed him and pulled him closer to me. "Watch it, Finn," I said under my breath. "Snitches get stitches! Remember that..." But he was hardly paying attention to me.
Ramsey gave a large sigh as got down on one knee in front of Chloe. "It's okay, kiddo. Just be more careful next time... what were you all doing anyway?" He looked around at me and Bo.
"Playing kick the can...," Chloe mumbled.
Ramsey sighed again as he got up, looking Bo and I squarely in the eye. "Then you two hooligans can help me solve the problem. Hop to it!" Then he turned to Chloe and reached out his hand. "Come on, kiddo!"
"But—" I started to protest.
"But nothing!" Ramsey demanded. "You were playing, so now take care of your mess. And at your age...unbelievable!" Ramsey took Chloe's hand and started to walk briskly. I shot her a dirty look as she turned around and stuck out her tongue.
Finn just stood there floating, wide-eyed. "Come on..." I gestured toward him.
"I can't believe this!" Finn huffed, "She's such a little BRAT!"
"Bah haha! The runt did what?!" Owen slammed a hand on the table, threatening to knock over our beers. The bar was filled with a low rumbling of a crowd; the place was always busy this time of night.
"You heard me! She kicked the bell right into the chimney and then let me take the rap for it! Ramsey was pissed!" Owen gave another hearty laugh.
"Leave it to Chloe to get herself out of any mess! That's my girl!" Owen took a large gulp from his mug.
I pressed my palm against my cheek as I watched him lick the froth off his upper lip. "Yeah, yeah... but then I had to spend the rest of the evening finding ores to help out the old man!"
"Hey," He pointed a finger at me, "least you got that bell thing you were lookin' for, huh? And I coulda sworn you made the whole thing up..." I rolled my eyes. He was right, though. Finn and I had secured the red bell. All that was left to do was to put it back on the frame and ask its sprite to ring it. However, since the bell could only be rung in daylight, we'd have to wait until tomorrow.
"What'd you need it for, anyway?" Owen asked raising an eyebrow. Oh no, not again...
Just then—to my luck may I add—Kathy appeared, her blonde ponytail dancing back and forth. "Good to know you're all havin' fun," Kathy smiled as she refilled our mugs with the cool, amber beer. "And look at you," She gave me a wink, "you don't look half as trashed as last time, and you're still havin' a good time!"
"Alright, Kathy," I took a quick swig of my beer as Owen laughed. "You can't hold on to that forever, you know. That was one time!"
"Hey, I know, I know!" Kathy laughed. "But now that I think about last time, we never got to finish that conversation we started." Oh boy... "Now who was that girl you were so shy about before?" Owen and Kathy shared a laugh as I rolled my eyes.
"Kathy! Fill 'er up!" Cain demanded from the other side of the room. He seemed completely drunk as he shot her a toothy grin.
"Okay, okay!" Kathy called. "I'll get you later!" She smiled as she rushed over to fill up his mug. Owen's eyes lingered on her frame as she walked away from our table. I rolled my eyes again. Who was the one with the crush?
Suddenly, a plate of fries plunked down on our table, and we jumped a little in surprise. Chase, the same jerk from before, set down a bottle of ketchup next to it without a word. He shot us a disgusted look and then proceeded to walk away back into the kitchen. So he really did work here...
"Geez, he scared me...," Sighed Owen as reached for the bottle of ketchup, pouring it on his side of the plate.
"That's the second time he's seen me, and he hasn't said a word..."
"You saw him before?" Owen asked, dipping a fry in the glob of ketchup. "Where?"
"Who does that jerk think he is?" I could feel myself seething as I rose up. "I think imma go back there and teach him a thing or two." Owen immediately grabbed my arm, trying to get me to sit down.
"Chill out, Kase," He smiled. "That guy's just like that to everyone. Leave him alone. It's not like he was personally attacking you or anything." I broke free of his grip and strutted across the bar to the back door of the kitchen. Maybe Owen was right, but enough was enough. Who did this guy think he was, treating people like that? I quickly turned the brass door knob and opened the door widely. Chase just stood there, chopping something on his cutting board. I stood there for about 10 seconds, still hearing the dull thuds of his knife against the board. So he hadn't noticed me come in. I slammed the door behind me as I marched up to his station.
His neck craned up in surprise; then his eyes narrowed. He still didn't say anything.
"Nothing to say?" I narrowed my eyes in response. "Huh?" He rolled his eyes and continued on chopping—thud, thud, thud.
"Hey, you!" I grabbed his shoulder this time. He looked up from my hand to my face back to my hand again, his eyes wide with shock. "You can't treat people this way! I'll be damned if I'll let you keep walkin' around here, actin' like you're better than me! Especially when you don't even know my name." He shot me a nasty look and then went back to his cutting. The clanking of his cutting board filled the air again. "Hey—" I started.
"Disgusting..." He mumbled.
"Huh?"
He picked up a piece of potato that he was cutting and threw it on the ground. "You're the new farmer, right?"
So he did know who I was... "Uh, y-yeah."
"We just got a new shipment of potatoes from your new farm, and I've got to say that's some of the nastiest shit I have ever seen." He scoffed coldly and pointed towards the discarded potato on the ground.
I could feel my cheeks reddening. "Wait a—"
"At first I was kind of hopeful that there was going to be a new farmer. Goddess knows with the fire hardly burning we need as good of crops as we can get our hands on. But this shit?" He proceeded to wipe of the contents of his cutting board straight into the garbage disposal. "Not even an animal would eat this."
"Y-You take that back!" I grabbed his shoulders and slammed him straight into the counter. His deep violet eyes glittered with no emotion.
"What? It's not like I lied. But it's no surprise you'd grow shitty crops," He smirked slightly, "with all the time you've been spending here getting drunk." I could feel my hand trembling and balling into a fist.
"Why you-!" I raised my fist, aiming it right at his cocky smirk. Suddenly, the door slammed open and I turned around to see a worried Owen. He caught glimpse of my hand and rushed to pull me back from Chase.
"Kasey, calm down! If Hayden catches one glimpse of this, he'll kick your ass outta here!" He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me out of the kitchen. Through my peripherals I saw Kathy standing by the door, a worried look on her face. I knew I was out of control, but I couldn't let that son-of-a-bitch get away with something like this! Owen had a strong grip on my arm, but I managed to break through, rushing towards Chase. I saw him recoil a little unwillingly as Kathy let out a small shriek. But I only pointed a finger in his face.
"The next time... you throw away one of my crops like that..." I said through gritted teeth, "I'll beat the shit out of you."
I have to say that his was my favorite chapter so far. Sorry if I made Chase too mean or Kasey too impulsive, but hey! No one's perfect :P.
If you enjoyed at all, please review! :3