Chapter 6

Cassava

A thousand things seemed to pass through Ann's mind in the couple of seconds following Karen's admission. None of them seemed to make any sense.

Karen? Cliff? Together?

But…how?

When?

These were things she wanted to say out loud, but her tongue was too heavy and she couldn't figure out what question to ask first. So she sat there, silent, as Karen took in a choky breath and a tear made its way down her cheek.

"It was the last night of summer," she continued, answering at least one of Ann's unasked questions. "We both had those beers, he was just going to walk me home, and then…"

Ann cut her off. After the initial confusion had worn off, she began to feel angry. Very angry. At Cliff and Karen, of course, but mostly at herself. For being so goddess-be-damned stupid when she thought that he might have… that she herself might have felt...

"I don't understand, Karen. How could you have… I mean, even though nothing ever… may never have happened, you knew-"

Tears were sliding down Karen's face unrestrainedly now. Ann tried to feel more sympathy for her, but couldn't. She was supposed to be her friend. Her best friend, in fact. And this was just not something "best" friends did to one another.

"I know, Ann… I was a motherfucking idiot! I t-told you, okay?"

Ann did not accept this excuse. She knew Karen to have more sense than that. Perhaps she was more promiscuous when compared to Ann, but she had never done anything to hurt her once, in all of the years they had been friends… which, in her case, was her entire life.

She blinked twice and tried to clear her mind. Trying to muster up as indignant of an expression as she possibly could, she trained her eyes on the teary girl in front of her.

"Then, Karen, why?"

"It's not like it was my goal to steal him away from her, I j-j-just-"

Ann's anger abated as quickly as it had come. 'Her?' The word echoed dully in her head.

"Wait… what? What are you talking about?"

Karen blinked out tears as she shook her head from side to side.

"He n-never saw her that way, he told me… she annoyed him actually, she just f-f-followed him around all the time…"

And then it dawned on her. The her she was referring to was not she herself, but…

"Kai? You slept with Kai?"

Karen's teary face at once registered the misunderstanding. She almost smiled.

"Oh, goddess, yes. I didn't mean-"

"-I thought you were talking about-"

"-Cliff, I know," she whispered.

"Yeah."

They were silent for a moment, and then Ann jumped up toward her friend, pulling her into a hug. It was still a terrible thing that she had done to Popuri, but at the moment, Ann didn't seem to care.

"I'm sorry, babe. I didn't mean to scare you," Karen mumbled, finally pulling away from Ann's shoulder.

Ann chuckled awkwardly. "Me, scared? No, I was just…"

"So you do like him, then?" Karen's eyebrows were arched and her tears had finally subsided.

Ann let out a defeated sigh.

"Oh, don't act so surprised," she smirked. She playfully hit Karen on the shoulder. Her friend smiled for the first time that night.

"I feel so relieved now that I've told someone, you know. It was eating me up inside this whole week," Karen said, changing the subject. "Of course, I don't know how I am going to tell Popuri, after you just reacted like that when you thought I was talking about Cliff…"

She frowned again. Ann chewed her lip, deliberating. After a moment she had reached a conclusion.

"Don't tell her, Kare," she said. "She doesn't need to know. If Kai was never going to feel that way about her, it wouldn't have ever come to anything anyway. Telling her would only crush her more."

Karen sighed. Her eyes were red and she looked exhausted.

"I guess, but I don't want her to go on following him around like a stray puppy, not knowing that he will never feel the same…"

Ann placed a hand resolutely on Karen's shoulder.

"That's for him to tell her… not you," she replied. "Besides, it's Popuri… she will fall blindly for the next attractive bachelor who shows her any attention."

They both chuckled, knowing that was probably true.

"Too bad it's fucking Mineral Town," Karen remarked. "Where hot guys only wander in once every million or so years."

She winked at Ann, who was already rolling her eyes.

Ann was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow that night. When she awoke the next morning, her father was home and already up, busily making pancakes in their tiny kitchenette.

She dragged herself out of bed, walked over to where he was standing, and hugged his back. He turned to her automatically, a smile emerging from under his bushy red mustache.

"Morning, pumpkin. I figured you deserved to sleep in a little this morning after doing such an incredible job with the inn yesterday."

He beamed at her proudly. She returned his smile, glad to have her father back.

"Thanks, Pa," she said. She thought for a moment and then added, "I did have some help, though."

He peaked his eyebrows at her.

"Oh? And here I was thinking you were some sort of wonder woman, managing everything by yourself," he said teasingly. "Who'd you drag into the mess with you? Karen? Gray?"

She shook her head, not knowing what effect the following words would have on him.

"Actually, no. Cliff helped me out," she said, pausing to read his expression.

His brow furrowed for just a moment, and then he appeared to force himself into maintaining a neutral expression.

"Oh," he said after a short silence. "That's nice."

The conversation ended there, and he went back to making pancakes. She felt her disappointment, but then considered the alternatives, and decided that it could have been much, much worse.

She showered, dressed, and ate her breakfast down hungrily. Her morning chores seemed light compared to the previous day's, and she felt in a better mood than she had all week, despite the rather heavy conversation that took place with Karen the night before.

The only time she encountered Cliff that day was when he left the inn in the late morning, heading, she assumed, to the church. She felt inexplicably embarrassed when he passed her by, giving her a slight smile and a parting wave. She waved back, sure that her face had just turned the color of a ripe summer tomato. She was glad his penetrating brown eyes had already turned away from her.

The feeling continued for much of the week, and she simply felt too scared to go upstairs and talk to him in the evenings as she had before. Everything she had ever said to him suddenly sounded a thousand times more idiotic than it had when she had initially said it, and she was worried that if she opened her mouth she would say something so stupid that it would scare him off forever. Besides, her father had become more watchful of her after she had admitted that he had helped out at the inn while he was gone. He clearly still did not trust Cliff, even if he did not directly come out and say it.

Still, she yearned to talk to him, as well as follow through on her promise to Carter and be his friend, even if that was all she was to him. She found the opportunity on the night before the Harvest Festival. Gathering up all the courage she could muster, she stole away from the crowded bar and approached him as he sat alone at one of the tables, drinking a beer and reading through what looked to be a pamphlet containing several complicated mathematical equations.

He looked at her as she sat down, and she felt a shiver run down her spine, much as she did the first time he had ever laid eyes on her.

"Hey," she said, managing a small smile.

"Hey," he replied. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah… sorry, been pretty busy 'round here lately…" She chuckled slightly, trying to shake it off. "Um, anyway, I just wanted to see if you were going to be at the Harvest Festival tomorrow… it's pretty delicious, you know. Er, the stew I mean." She felt herself starting to blush. "The stew we make at the Harvest Festival, that is."

He smiled a full-on smile. She was pretty sure he now thought she was an idiot, if he hadn't already.

"Yeah, okay, I guess I'll check it out. I mean, who can pass up free food, right?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty delicious…"

"So I've heard."

She realized she was now repeating herself. OK, shut up and leave now, Ann. Shut up and leave, she thought.

"Ha ha, yes, well…" she said, now rising from the table. "See you there, then?"

He smiled. "See you there."

She mentally cursed herself as she walked away.

The weather for the Harvest Festival the next day was as perfect as a fall day could be. The air was as crisp as the red leaves adorning the trees and a light breeze filtered through the air. Ann wore a nice pair of dark-wash jeans and a fitted autumn-hued top in lieu of her usual overalls, and had picked out a small knapsack to hold her festival ingredients. She had put her hair into one long braid and tied in her usual bow. She wanted to look nice, but not over the top.

As she and her father stepped into the square around ten that morning, she noticed to her great surprise that Cliff had already arrived, and was standing over in the corner with a chatty Karen, who seemed to be the one doing all the talking. Every once in awhile Ann noticed him nod politely. She kept her distance for a short while, greeting Lillia, Popuri, Gotz, Carter, Thomas, Elli, and Harris, until her father left to oversee the setup of the giant cauldron that would soon simmer with the many ingredients that the villagers had brought.

She gave one more quick glance toward her father, making sure that he was occupied with the festivities, and then made her way over to Cliff and Karen. Upon meeting them, Karen greeted her with a quick hug and Cliff gave her a look that told Ann that he was happy for the reprieve from Karen's monologue. After only a short moment, Karen suddenly spotted Rick and said her goodbyes to the two of them. Ann had to stop herself from her habitual eye roll. But really, she knew that she was grateful for Karen's best friend intuition.

"So, nice day, eh?" Ann began once Karen had left, starting to feel the embarrassment of them being alone together creep up on her again.

Cliff gave a smirk and a nod, but did not remark. Ann knew he wasn't one for small talk, yet somehow her whirring mind couldn't possibly seem to find a topic for conversation at the moment. They stood in awkward silence until the small mayor of Mineral Town, Thomas, hopped up on a box and welcomed them all to the festival.

"Of course the aim of this festival is to celebrate our annual autumn harvest with a giant bowl of delicious food, but let us not also forget to take it as an opportunity to be thankful for all that we have, and all those around us today." He took the next few moments to slowly scan the crowd, trying to make his words sink in. Ann also wondered if he did so because he was rarely at eye level with any of them. "Ahem! All right then, let the cooking begin!" he ended, hopping off of the box.

Ann looked toward Cliff. "Well, did you bring an ingredient?" she asked, looking to see if he was holding anything.

"I did, as a matter of fact," he answered with a hint of smugness, patting his pocket but not showing her what it contained.

Ann was scared for a moment that he had brought some kind of illegal drug, but he allayed her fears by smiling and saying, "and no, it's not a narcotic."

She laughed and shook her head.

"Well, that's good to know," she told him. "So, want me to show you how it works?"

Cliff raised one eyebrow.

"Don't we just like… throw all the ingredients into that giant pot and then wait an hour or two?"

Ann blushed. "Well, yeah… but I dunno. I like to think there's a method to the madness."

He laughed at her, but not in a mean way she supposed. She smiled at him and motioned for him to come with her to the center of the square. There, most of the villagers had already gathered to begin making their contributions to the concoction. Duke was currently at the top of the tall ladder pouring in a couple of different wines, while Manna stood at the base, telling everyone who would listen about how they were contributing two of their most expensive bottles.

Ann and Cliff exchanged looks and then she pointed toward the ladder.

"We take turns adding our ingredients by climbing up and, well, throwing them in… obviously," she told him. "Generally I wouldn't have added so much wine…" she continued, under her breath. "But oh well, it's kind of the spirit of the whole thing, I guess. Though I do like to throw in my own ingredient toward the end, so it's not pushed completely to the bottom." She gave him a small wink. He nodded, looking around at the other villagers.

"How do you know who is bringing what?" he asked, observing what the others had brought. "So people don't bring too much of one ingredient, you know?"

"Oh, well we all generally stick to what we're known for... if we are known for something, that is. That, and it's been going on for so long that we all just figured it out, and now everyone tends to bring the same thing every year," she explained. "Although I like to change it up a bit."

"Oh? And what did you bring this year?" he asked, teasingly smiling at her again. She could feel butterflies in her stomach and mentally cursed herself for being so girlish.

"Guess you'll have to wait and see," she teased back.

The mass of villagers around the pot was dwindling as, one by one, they threw their offerings into the pot. Manna still remained at the bottom of the ladder, commenting on each person's offering.

"Oh dear, are those the same ones as last year?" she could hear her saying about Karen's rice cakes.

Karen turned to her on top of the ladder with one of the dirtiest looks Ann had ever seen her dish out. Manna seemed not to notice, and instead remarked that it was things like that that offset the quality of some of the other ingredients.

Karen reached the bottom of the ladder and made her way toward Ann, fuming.

"I'd like to offset the quality of her fucking face," she mumbled as she passed her by. Ann chuckled. She turned toward Cliff.

"All right, want to give it a try?"

He nodded. "Just hope that its approval rating is higher than the last one," he laughed.

He climbed up the tall ladder, stopped, then reached into his pocket. Ann saw him pull out a small wad of something that slightly resembled marijuana leaves, which he proceeded to pick from their stem and throw in one by one. She figured it was some kind of herb, but she had never seen the particular one before. Manna seemed, for once, to be speechless. She looked at her father, who seemed intrigued rather than irritated at what the boy was putting in the stew, and she felt a small rush of something—perhaps hopefulness—pass through her.

After a minute or so Cliff came down off the ladder, ignoring Manna's now persistent questions about what sort of poison he had just thrown into the stew. To Ann's relief, she saw her father explaining something to the nosy woman, and she seemed to calm down for the time being.

Once Cliff had reached her, she couldn't help her curiosity. "What was that?" she asked, feeling a bit embarrassed that she didn't know since she was supposed to be an excellent chef.

"Cassava leaves," he answered. "They are typically used in African dishes, but they have a nice sort of flavor that reminds me of fried potatoes."

She nodded, impressed, wondering if he had recently been through Africa.

"Well, I guess it's my turn then…" she told him, pulling her knapsack from her back and heading toward the ladder. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Manna watching her haughtily.

She climbed the ladder rung by rung until she finally reached the top. She looked down into the pot and could already smell the wonderful scent of dozens of ingredients blending together. She could even detect the new scent of the herb that Cliff had used. Her mouth watered anxiously.

She reached into her bag and pulled out two sweet onions, then began to peel off their outer layer. She heard Manna exclaim something from below her, but didn't pay any attention to it. Once she was done, she threw the first couple in the pot and pulled out another two.

Halfway into peeling the next onion, she felt a slight disruption from the bottom of the ladder and peered down. The first thing she registered was Duke's maroon-red face yelling up at her.

"You stupid girl, you're ruining everyone's work!" he shouted.

She looked down with a bemused expression. "What, can't handle a little onion?" she taunted, finishing with the third onion and throwing it in.

That seemed to enrage him further. She saw him start to make his way up the ladder, and she turned back to the stew, quickly peeling the fourth onion and throwing it in.

She had just pulled out another when she felt his hand grab ahold of her pant leg.

"Damnit girl, learn some respect!" he shouted.

She kicked at him instinctively. He growled and pulled down harder.

That was the point when all hell broke loose. In a blur she saw her father emerge at the bottom of the ladder, yelling at Duke to get away from her. Manna was speaking at an abnormally fast pace, and the other villagers were gathering to watch the scene erupt before them.

She felt the ladder sway before she could fully realize what was happening. She tried to grab for the edge of the pot, but they had already begun to fall backward and it was now out of her reach. Duke had finally let go of her leg, but it had already slipped from the rung of the ladder, and the other was quickly sliding off the small wooden surface as well. She recognized in a panic that she had to let go, or else she was going to fall onto her back and be crushed by the heavy ladder in a manner of seconds. So, bracing herself for impact, she released her grip and covered her head with her arms, using the foot that still had contact with the ladder to jump to the side, and then she felt herself falling toward the cobblestone pavement.

In an instant she had landed, but with less of a collision than she had been expecting. Her feeling of alarm departed as she realized that someone had caught her from below, and she issued a silent thank you to the goddess. She removed her arms from her face and at once her eyes were met with the same piercing brown ones that she both loved and hated.

"Hello," Cliff said.

"Hi," she responded.

"You okay?" he asked, continuing to hold her close to his chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think."

It was a moment she would have liked to live in for awhile, but it was interrupted as reality set back in with the shouts of the others nearby. He set her down softly and she turned toward the noise. Duke was sitting on the ground a few feet from her, holding his arm and complaining loudly that it and who knew what else was broken. She felt no pang of sympathy toward him. And then her heart stopped. Behind him, his leg still pinned underneath the ladder, lay her father. He wasn't moving. Elli was at his side, checking him, while several of the others looked at him in one terrified huddle.

Her feet carried her to his side without her knowing it. Then she was kneeling, her hand on his chest, tears already forming in her eyes.

"Dad, dad... come on, wake up!" she yelled, attempting to shake him. She felt Elli take her hand and gently push it back.

"Ann, honey, please stop that. He's alive, he's just unconscious. The doctor already went for a stretcher, he'll be back in a moment and then we will take him to the clinic," she told her gently. Ann only registered the fact that he was alive and nothing else.

Then, suddenly, she was back on her feet, and her blood was boiling. She turned on her heel and lunged at Duke, grabbing his shirt and attempting to drag him up as she heard the expletives fly from her mouth.

He returned suit, using his uninjured arm to claw at her hand. And then she felt herself being pulled back from behind, and could see Harris and Cliff insert themselves in front of her, holding off the enraged winery owner.

She continued to reach for him until she realized it was futile.

"Ann, calm down. It's all right," she heard a deep voice say from behind her.

He turned her around and she collapsed into his chest, sobbing. She could smell the forge's ashen scent as he put his arms around her.

"Hey, it's all right," he said, rubbing her back in small circles. "He's going to be okay."

She pulled back and wiped her nose with her sleeve. Gray's blue eyes were on her face, soft compared to Cliff's brown ones. She nodded and then looked around.

She saw that Cliff and Harris had somehow managed to subdue Duke as well. Elli was now tending to his arm while the doctor and Gotz were gently lifting her father onto a stretcher. He was still unconscious, but she could see his chest rising in slow movements and felt slightly better. She walked over to his side and followed as they headed out of the square, telling everyone else to stay back.

In the background, she could hear Mayor Thomas try and salvage what was left of the wreckage of his festival.

The following hour was a mixture of worry, anger, and guilt as Ann waited in the lobby for news of her father.

Why did she have to taunt that asshole? She felt that she should have known that the onions would have caused him to overreact and that something bad would have happened. Although she couldn't have realized that it would have involved her father's safety. But still, it was all her fault then, wasn't it? Although she couldn't have expected the level of idiocy that Duke had displayed, and she realized that he must have been drinking.

I want to rip that fucker's head off, she thought. This feeling was compounded by the moans and complains she could occasionally hear from him in another of the clinic's back rooms.

Finally, after what seemed like days, Elli emerged into the waiting room.

"He's awake now, you can see him," she told her. Ann was in his room in a heartbeat. Upon seeing her father sitting up dazedly in bed, she grabbed his hand and kissed it. Tears ran down her cheeks as she felt an instant wave of relief hit her. She smiled at him.

He looked over at her, returning her smile. He had a bandage around his head, and she could see that the left side of his face was scraped and bruised. He squeezed her hand with his own.

"Don't cry," he told her soothingly. "I'm right here, Mags."

It took Ann a moment to realize that he had just called her by her mother's name.