Chapter 7: The First Town Party
Saturday, December 6
I went and picked up my gelato hat and umbrella from the Able sisters in the morning. It wasn't raining that day, so I just put my new umbrella in my house. On the other hand, the hat came in handy. There was a brisk wind all day and the woven hat protected my ears from it. I wore it with my gelato sweater and jeans. While it didn't look particularly stylish, it was comfortable.
After spending the morning doing what was getting to be my usual chores (and finding out that about half the trees I planted the day before died), I spent the afternoon considering what snack to bring to the party. Brewster would likely have the drinks covered, so that was no worry. Our town hadn't had a get together like this yet, so I didn't know who was likely to bring what. Or who would like what.
In the end, I checked what items I had and decided to do a cereal party mix. I could remember how to make that and it would likely work in this realm too. I had a nice mixed grains cereal that reminded me of Chex, some peanuts, Worcester sauce, the spices, some corn chips, and even a small bag of rye croutons (I wasn't even sure how I ended up with those, but it helped). The only thing I was missing were some mini pretzels.
But those should be a basic item, right? I closed my cabinets and softly asked, "Could I have some mini pretzels please?" Then I opened the nearest cabinet.
And to my delight, there was now a bag of little twist pretzels. I thanked… whatever force is responsible for the food supply and got to work on the mix. The recipe I knew did work, so I put it into a bowl that had a lid to cool down.
While I worked, I left the radio on. They were playing music now, various bands with names like Whiskers, Party Stompers, Birds of Style, and Neoclaw. It was a range of genres too, like Neoclaw was a metal band (which surprised me some, but then I realized their lyrics were way cleaner and less violent than reality's metal bands). Much of it seemed to fall close to pop music, though. Probably since there was just one station, most music played would be the songs that appealed to the most people.
They stopped the music at two for news and reports. In the midst of that, I heard my interview with Baabara. That station hadn't cut any of it, which made me glad. Selective cutting could lead to skewed views. Then again, that spread news of Loki.
At the end of it, the announcer said, "From our initial look, it seems that although she is a human, Nadia is much how anchors are supposed to be: hard-working and kind individuals who seek to improve themselves and everyone around them. We at ACRN have decided to follow Central's policy of wait and see with this change in structure.
"As for this mysterious Loki, Central has investigators looking into the story, but advise that it may just be a chance event. The borders of our realm are intact as usual and nothing else out of the ordinary has occurred this week."
Nothing so far, then. But Rover said he'd keep in touch if they found anything, so it would be more likely that I'd hear significant news from him first.
There was still a lot of time left in the day after I finished the snack mix, so I went out fishing to work on my debt.
Fishing had seemed slow, but I ended up making a good profit on it. It was enough that I was able to pay off my second debt. "Nadia, you're doing very well with your house payments," Tom said when I came back to speak with him. "So are you ready for the next upgrade? I warn you, it's pricier than the last two, but your main room will be expanded and you will get an attic space for use as a more private bedroom."
"Sure, I'll take that."
"Great! Your new house will be ready tomorrow. Would you like to update the other options for free or leave them as they are?"
I considered it. "Um, leave them be for now. They're working out fine."
"All right. We'll discuss the cost tomorrow, then."
"Right." I looked around the shop, but only purchased some paper to write letters. "Say, are you going to be at the party tonight?"
Tom looked disappointed. "Oh, no I won't be. The shop will be open then, you see. I have to keep consistent hours."
"Ah. Well you could drop by for a few minutes if you like." I smiled at him.
"Thanks, Nadia, I'll keep that in mind."
I arrived at the coffeehouse shortly after seven, carrying my bowl of party mix. Patty and Deena were there too, and the three of us set about to decorating. Over at the bar, Brewster was checking over his equipment and testing out some things. He was quiet, keeping mostly to himself, while the three of us were chatting and laughing a lot.
We set most of the tables in a row against the wall, to act as the snack buffet. After we put several blue tablecloths over them, they looked nicer, although we agreed something more festive would be appropriate. Patty had brought over brownies, while Deena had date bars. After a little while, Brewter brought over a bowl of punch and a cooler of soft drinks, both of which he was offering for free just for the party.
After that, I found a helium tank and a bag of colorful balloons in the closet, so I pulled those out to inflate some. Patty and Deena brought out streamers and taped them anywhere they thought would be fun, like the bottom of the stage, along the bar, up the staircase, along the tables, on the ceiling corners. I added my balloons to spots, including a pair on the sign in the museum lobby. I noted that it named the coffeeshop 'The Roost'. That seemed quite appropriate.
At eight, others started arriving. Rodeo came in with Goose. Monique came shortly after, followed by Mabel, Tortimer, and Pelly. Copper came in, saying that he'd only be here a short while, but wanted to make an appearance. Blathers and Celeste came down, starting up a conversation with Brewster. Finally, Bob came in around a quarter after.
There wasn't really an agenda, but Pelly went up to the piano to play for a little while. Patty sang a song, and soon got others to get up on stage and try. As for myself, I went over to the bar and checked out the menu Brewster had.
"Oh Nadia, isn't this a coincidence?" Blathers said to me. "It just so happens that Brewster is the fellow I knew in college. I knew that Rover had impeccable tastes."
"It's a small world, as they say," Brewster commented.
I smiled at them. "That's great. The prices you have seem a little high." I could buy an umbrella or a shirt for less than some of the drinks here.
"It's for the quality," the pigeon informed me. "I don't settle for anything less than the best ingredients, from the best farming towns."
"I see. Could I get a hot spiced cider, then?" I passed over the payment.
He nodded as he took it. "I'll get on it. This will take a few minutes." He went to the fridge to retrieve the apple cider, then poured some in a cup to place in a warming device.
"Brewster is so serious," Celeste said with a smile. "He rarely reacts to anything. Unlike my brother, who freaks out any time he sees a bug unexpectedly." She giggled.
"He-hey!" Blathers protested. "I've just had… bad experiences with insects. But I deal with it for the sake of my job."
"That's one form of courage," I pointed out.
"I wouldn't be too sure of that," the brown owl replied. He shuddered. "In my view, insects are like disgusting monsters, but on a much smaller scale. Have you ever taken a close look at one? I wouldn't have, except that I had to in order to get my museum curator's degree. They're so alien, unlike we animals. The way they wear their skeletons outside their bodies, and yet some of them have hair! And their beady compound eyes… I just cannot fathom how that is natural."
"They're kind of fascinating in that way, as well as disgusting," I commented. I liked a few bugs myself, but some I didn't want to go near. Like cockroaches.
Blathers sighed. "Well I'm just glad that the insect display doesn't require much care. So long as the plants are healthy and thriving, there isn't much I need to do in there. Of course, there's only a couple in there now, but when spring and summer come along… yeah, I hope we don't have any mishaps."
Brewster then placed a white mug on a platter in front of me. "Here you are, Miss Nadia, one hot spiced cider."
"Thank you," I said and pulled it closer to me. The amber colored liquid was slightly cloudy from teeny bits of apple and spice remaining. And he had stuck a cinnamon stick in the mug too, so that added its own red-brown coloration. I swirled that around, then took a sip.
And it was well worth the high price. It was something I might have found on small family farms, I reflected, a definite homemade flavor. It was like someone had melted an apple and added the finest cinnamon, along with other spices I wasn't too sure of. Definitely, Brewster put a lot of care and knowledge into his drinks.
"That's very good," I told him.
He nodded slightly. "As it should be."
The tall yellow dog that was Copper came over and looked at the menu. "Hello, fellow, could I possibly get two coffees to go?"
"How do you want them?" Brewster replied.
"One black, one with milk and sugar." He produced enough Bells for the drinks.
"Coo. I'll get right on it." He went to retrieve some travel mugs with lids.
"Ho Nadia, this party was an excellent idea," Copper said, nodding to me. "A close-knit community helps make a safe community."
I smiled to him. "Sure, Copper. How's work going?"
"Fine, we've got things under control. The town border is tight in most areas, although the northwest corner concerns me. Our giant tree extends up into the outer mists and we can't easily patrol up there, or keep an eye out for demonic invasions. But we're watching it closely."
"I see."
"There's also a peculiar feature about the hill itself," the police dog added. "It's not easily seen, but on the side of the hill nearest to the border fence, there's… something."
I looked to him. "Something?"
"You ought to see for yourself. Not tonight, as it may be too dangerous in the dark. But tomorrow, go take a careful look around the hill."
"Okay, I'll do that."
Brewster passed over two mugs. "The black lid is on the black coffee, white on the coffee with milk and sugar," he said. "There you go, sir."
Taking the two mugs, Copper replied, "Thanks. I'll see you all around. Keep safe!" Then he headed up and out of The Roost.
I finished off my cider, then went to mingle with the others. There was quite a bit more snacks available: an apple cobbler, chocolate cookies, a vegetable tray, and two bags of potato chips. Not really hungry, I offered to take over the piano from Pelly, even though she seemed to know the songs by heart. She smiled and let me do so, so I pulled out the party songs book again and played from there.
"Oh hey, why don't you and Monique sing a song?" Patty suggested from where she was nibbling at a variety of snacks on her party plate.
"We don't really know the songs, pffffft," Monique said, shyly bringing her arms in closer. She had decided to wear a pretty red dress tonight, which was trimmed with black lace.
"We can try singing from the book, at least," I said, flipping through the book until I found one that looked simple.
"Okay," she said, still uncertain but not wanting to look like a wallflower. She sat by me on the bench and looked at the songbook.
Patty brought the microphone stand over to us as I played out the song once so we could hear it. Then we made an attempt to sing through it, which didn't work out too well as the song was just funny and one or both of us would start cracking up mid-line, causing our neighbors to laugh too. It was about friendship and how you can tell your best friend anything, even the really embarrassing and dumb stuff that you've done.
After we got through that, Patty and Deena wanted to play their guitar and cello, so we left the piano bench. I got some punch and various snacks, then sat down at a table with Monique. We chatted and clapped for whoever happened to be on stage. In the mean time, other neighbors would come over and talk with both of us.
At one point, Bob came over to our table. He was still wearing his white scarf, although his shirt had changed to something of purple stripes. "Do you two lovely young ladies mind if I come admire you from up close?" he asked, trying to sound suave, but coming off as a bit silly. "A girl's beauty can't be truly appreciated from far away."
I smiled, holding back a laugh. "I suppose if you keep the flirting to a low," I told him.
He sat down in an empty seat. "Ah drat. Am I being obvious?"
I nodded.
On the other hand, Monique seemed to be thinking. "Hey… wasn't that line in a movie that was on TV last night?"
Bob perked up. "Right, you mean The Islander? I love that one!"
"That might have been it," she said. "It had the red frog who moved to a town from an island and stirred things up, but then he ended up with the girl in the end."
"And it has an awesome scene where there's a surfing competition and the guy surfs while standing upside down! That is one of my top favorite action scenes ever."
"Yeah, that was it," she said, nodding. "It was kind of nice, although lacking a bit somehow."
"It was made on a lower budget than most movies," Bob admitted. "But they did a great job with what they had. I'm a total movie buff, so I could recommend some other movies if you want to see some other great ones. I get all my pick-up lines from movies too."
"Oh?" I asked. "Like the ones you were using on the other girls earlier?"
"Ah, well," he grinned, but was blushing too. "You know how it is; a truly romantic guy is a rarity, so those of us who are ought to spread the love around." When both of us giggled, he looked blankly at us. "What?"
"I'm not sure love works that way," I told him.
"Well that would keep you in good practice, I suppose," Monique commented.
"And you know what would sound good," Bob said, turning to her, "was if you'd practice singing. You've got a voice like honey and could be as sweet as cake if you developed it more. Mmm, cake… I wish somebody had brought some cake."
"These date bars are pretty nice," I said, holding the last bit of mine up. "They must have some honey in them."
"Are those the ones with the oats and healthy stuff in them?" he asked. "It doesn't exactly seem like snack food. Then again, my favorite way of having dates is a candlelight dinner, some whispers of love, and a walk on the beach at night."
"Is that from another movie?" Monique asked.
Bob nodded. "Aw yeah, A Month in Montera. That is a sweet romance that'll leave you with all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings inside. It's a great one to watch with your sweetheart at your side." He then thought of something and pulled some items out of his bag. "Oh right! I didn't have time to bring any proper snacks to the party, so I brought these instead. Here." He handed over an orange to each of us.
"An orange?" Monique asked, looking over the round fruit.
"It's special because only apples grow in this town," Bob told us. "But oranges are both healthy and tasty, which is good for keeping healthy."
"He is right about that," I said. "I might just plant them instead, though. We could have some orange trees then."
"Well you plant mine too," Monique said, handing the orange over. "You seem to be learning a lot about that."
After a while of talking with him, he seemed to lose interest in not getting much of a reaction out of us with flirting or near-flirting, so Bob went off to talk to Mabel. Monique went to pick up some of the cookies, but ended up chatting with Patty and Deena while Pelly went back to play piano some more. I noticed that Rodeo seemed to be off by himself, so I picked up my plate and went over to him.
"Hey there, mind hanging out with me some?" I asked.
The bull smiled. "No, that'd be nice, chaps. I tried to ask Deena to dance with me earlier, but she was worried about me stepping on her feet." He looked down at that. "Which I probably would."
"Don't feel too bad about that," I said. "Lots of people are clumsy."
"I know." After a pause, he said, "I've noticed that you've been planting a lot of trees lately."
I nodded. "Right, because I've been clearing out some other trees. Not as many as I've been planting, though."
Rodeo nodded. "Well that's good. I'm mostly into flowers now, but I know having a good amount of trees helps flowers out too."
"Right. Actually, I've been reading up on making a good environment for the town and the book I have suggests that having many flowers spread through your town will help make things happier. So what's the best way to grow lots of flowers?"
From the look on his face, he was pleased that I was seeking out his advice. "Oh, well… I admit, I've loved flowers for a long time, but I haven't taken them seriously until lately. This guy that I knew in my last town, he had the most amazing garden around his house. He always won the Flower Festival wherever he lived and had so many florist trophies. But most amazing of all, he had grown a golden rose."
That puzzled me. "A gold colored rose?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No, it's a rose that appears to be pure gold. Not just the flower, but the stem and the leaves too. I was stunned by it, but he wouldn't trade it for anything. He kept it safe inside his house, so I went to see it whenever I could. And I decided that I'd figure out how to get a gold rose of my own."
"That does sound amazing. I wish you good luck with that."
"Thanks, Nadia."
After taking a sip of my punch, I said, "I'd just like to get more flowers around town."
"In that case," he paused, thinking. "Then you ought to grow similar flowers together. Like put roses with roses, and cosmos with cosmos. When you do that, then another flower like them may grow up near them in a few days. I once planted a pair of white tulips together, and a month later, I had twelve white tulips in that area without having bought any more or moved others there."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah. My buddy said that it's best to put pairs together if you're looking to grow a lot of flowers. And if you're really lucky, you might go out and find a hybrid flower too."
"Hybrids? Like they look different?" Hybrids could mean many things, after all.
Rodeo knew what he was talking about. "Hybrids are differently colored flowers. I only know how to get a few hybrids. If you put a white flower next to a red flower, and they're both the same kind of flower, there's a good chance that you'll get a pink flower out of them. I've gotten a pink cosmos and a pink tulip out of that combo. And I know if you put a red tulip with another red tulip, you might get a black tulip."
"Black tulip, huh… that sounds interesting."
He nodded. "They look really nice, those black tulips. But I lost the one I got when someone ran through my flower garden."
"That's too bad."
"Yeah… hey, I've got an idea! You just want flowers for the town, while I'm trying to get a gold rose. How about if you help me find all the roses that are growing wild around town for my garden, I'll let you take what non-roses I have right now to plant elsewhere? And when Nook has flower seeds, I'll just buy the roses and you can have anything else."
I nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a good deal. I know where some roses are growing in other parts of town, so I'll help gather them up for you tomorrow. And if I find anything on your gold rose, I'll let you know."
Rodeo smiled. "That sounds great, chaps! We can work together and make Verdant look beautiful."
A short time later, Patty got up and suggested that everybody join in on one last song. I checked my watch and found out that it was getting to be eleven o'clock. Some people were looking tired. We sang what was apparently a common song about friendship; it was simple, but we could feel a deep meaning in it.
Then Goose called out, "We ought to do this next weekend! Who's up for it?"
"Sure, that'll be fun!" Patty said, pleased that this party had gone well.
"It will be a thing to look forward to," Tortimer said. "I like the idea. Are you okay with it, Brewster?"
"Fine by me," the pigeon replied. As he had mentioned yesterday, it was good for business.
"We could shift responsibility for setting up around," I suggested, although I knew I'd probably come early next week too.
"Excellent," the mayor said. "So we'll have a nice weekly get-together now. See you all next Saturday, then."
There were some cheers, then people went to go retrieve the snack dishes, instrument, or whatever else they had brought. I stayed behind to help Blathers, Celeste, and Brewster take down the decorations. When I headed back home, I had a feeling that our community was getting off to a good start.
Sunday, December 7
Gardening took up most of my Sunday. Following the suggestions in the book I borrowed from the library, I carefully planted the three oranges I had (the third having come from Rodeo). Since they weren't native to Verdant, I wanted to make sure they had the best possible chance of growing. There was a lot that could kill a young sapling, but once it had survived an entire day, it would be in that spot until someone took an axe to it.
Then I kept my word to Rodeo. While I searched for what weeds had popped up, I picked any wild roses that happened to be growing. I only came up with nine, all white, yellow, or red. But he seemed pleased with that and kept his end of the bargain, allowing me to take the twenty other flowers from around his home to spread throughout town.
My gardening book supported what Rodeo had told me in that placing similar pairs around would work best. I had cosmos, pansies, and tulips mostly, although there was a pair of carnations. As the bull told me that the carnations were uncommon, I placed those two near my house. I could keep an eye on them there and there was less foot traffic near my place, meaning less chance of them being trampled. I spread the others in all parts of town, just off the footpaths so that they could be admired without being run on.
There was also what Copper had told me, which I remembered after visiting with Monique for a while. He had said something was on the hill which I ought to see. "Have you noticed anything unusual on this hill?" I asked the cat. "I mean, besides the tree."
"Hmm…" she scratched her chin. "Well, there is that large hole in the side of the hill. It's opposite my house and you can't see it easily from here. But if you stay on the bottom of the hill and walk around it, you'll see it. I haven't looked too far into it; it's kind of dark."
After I said goodbye to her, I went back to my house to retrieve the candle from my new bedroom. Now that my place had an attic room too, I had moved my bed and clock upstairs. The room had come with the standard wallpaper and flooring, as well as a pink bookshelf. Unfortunately, it came with no books.
Back at the hill, I walked around as Copper and Monique had suggested, close to the border fence. Up the hill a short ways, there was a cave entrance outlined by a pair of large roots. I lit the candle and peered down inside: there was a series of drops, like a natural spiral staircase. There was no mist, so I started down into the hidden cave.
The slope was gentle, but the tunnel snaked around before deciding to go in a long slow curve downward. There were some mushrooms growing in the dirt; I wondered if they were edible. By looking at the walls, I could tell that this was a dry cave. However, in the moments where I stood still, my candle wavered in some light movement of air. Roots from the giant tree could be seen everywhere, so I was careful with the flame.
Then, something changed. There was a pale green glow spread across the ground ahead of me. Some light was ahead, but what? And why was it underground? I wasn't exactly sure how deep I was, but I guessed around two hundred feet, possibly. I kept an eye out for the white mist, but walked quickly ahead to the next turn.
And there was something amazing there, an enormous natural cavern. In the center, there was a tall cluster of rocks covered in green moss. It was that moss that was glowing, sending out a lightly green tinted light that was soothing to stand in. That managed to illuminate the entire cavern, something that everyone in town could fit comfortably. Overhead, the roots of the tree served as support columns, keeping this place intact.
There are places of quiet, and then there are hushed places. The quiet places are those that could be interrupted by noise, fragile in that way. But a hushed place, like this cavern or the inside of a cathedral, discourages such noise and will always seem quiet, even if you are talking. Was this a sacred place then, or just one of peace? That feeling of life that the tree emitted, it was even stronger down here. I knew in standing here that the white mists would not be able to harm the tree, or invade this space below it.
I soon decided that this was one of my favorite spots in Verdant. Perhaps some lights could be placed in the tunnel leading to it? If we could find a way to get the moss to grow there, that might be best. Otherwise, torches with open flames weren't good around the tree's roots, and I wasn't sure electricity would work down here.
At any rate, I left to ask Copper and Booker if they had gone down into the moss cavern.
No K. K. Slider, huh? Don't worry, I have plans for him. Bob in this story is based on how I remember him... and that is why he is a flirt. Seriously, I remember him flirting with my female PC a lot. It was pretty funny. Although I think they outdid themselves in WW with the lazy type's 'I love you, I love you not' conversation. That cracks me up whenever I get it.
As for Patty and Deena, I've had Patty before, but I don't believe I've ever had Deena. I paired them up as inseparable friends, like some girls tend to be.
