Holy absence! o.O I haven't updated in exactly a month and two weeks. SORRY, GUYS! I've been very busy with school the past month. Dumb AP classes and extra-curricular activities are depriving me of my writing time! :( Things, however, are finally starting to slow down a bit, which means I have more time to write! Yaaayy! :)
Chapter 9
I tilted my watering can, letting the water sprinkle onto my sprouting crops like a soft rain. It's the perfect thing to do to calm my worries on facing Gill. I only have half an hour at the most before I'm to arrive at Town Hall, and I still don't know what I'm going to say. He must know who I am. How am I supposed to respond to that? Just deny every piece of evidence he throws at me?
I sighed. Thinking about it is so stress-building. Sometimes, it sounds easier to just run away, like I did from the mansion and start over in a town where people don't care where you come from, but I know that that would be a stupid idea. I have such a great opportunity here on this farm, and the only problem is Gill's suspicions of me.
"Hi, Molly!" I heard call my name from behind me. I turned around to see Renee making her way through the property's grassy field towards me. "I came to have a look at Giselle. She never gave me any problems when she was at our ranch, so I thought that if I show her that I trust you, maybe she'll begin to trust you too."
I smiled and eagerly led her to the barn, hopeful that her plan might actually work. Renee stood in front of Giselle's trough with me, petting the ebony cow's head while it closed its eyes in delight.
"How do you do that?" I asked in wonder. "She barely allows me to get close enough to brush her."
Renee smiled. She grabbed my hand and slowly rested it on top of Giselle's head where her other hand was already petting. Giselle didn't flinch or run away, but stayed still to continue being pet. Renee then took her hand off of Giselle to where my hand was going solo. "There," Renee said. "Now you're doing it."
Giselle began to open her eyes and saw that it was me, not Renee, petting her. She was surprised, but didn't back away.
"She's not running away from me!" I exclaimed.
Renee giggled and watched as I continued to stroke Giselle's fur before she said anything else. "You know, you're farm is very impressive," she marveled. "You've given the island more business than we've had before."
"But…I'm only one person. How can I make such a difference?"
"One person can do a lot if they do the right thing," she said wisely. "Your farm's exports are going to benefit the island's economy more and more as it gets larger!"
"I didn't know I could make such a difference," I said, baffled and flattered.
Renee had to leave soon after, leaving me to finish up my work for the day, and when I was finished, I set course for Town Hall. Every step added to my nervousness, but for every ten steps, I took a deep breath to soothe and clear my mind. I have to keep calm. If he sees my panic, he'll stomp all over me and win.
I walked into Town Hall and was surrounded by a quiet, stale room with one occupant that worked intently at his desk.
"You're right on time," he said, pulling out a slim file.
"Yep," I said, not wanting to say much.
Gill opened up the file he picked out and clicked a pen when he found a certain paper inside. He slightly lifted his head and looked at me directly with his icy, blue eyes. "I'd prefer to do this first while I'm thinking about it. So, would you mind telling me the name of your farm now?" he asked in such a demanding tone that almost made me feel pressured to give him an absolutely wonderful name; otherwise he would send painful futures my way.
I didn't spend much time thinking of a name before coming to Town Hall. It wasn't hard to find something that sounded fun to say, didn't have any ties whatsoever to my past, and was appropriate to name on an island like Castanet.
"Timpani. Timpani Farm," I said with a small smile.
He lifted his head a little more to face me properly. I may have been mistaken, but his eyes were rid of their piercing glare. He bowed his head back down to quickly record the name in the files. He then returned the file neatly into a nearby filing cabinet. "Keeping Castanet Island's musical theme, I see?" he said, closing the cabinet drawer.
I nodded proudly. "It wouldn't fit if it were the only business without a musical name, now would it?"
Gill's eyebrows rose slightly from his usual scowl, enough to make him not seem so disgusted with my presence. "Hmph, good choice."
I don't know if I was supposed to, but I took that as a compliment, considering that that will most likely be the nicest thing Gill will ever say to me in this lifetime. Gill began to explain that he wanted to talk to me in private, away from Town Hall. He said that he would rather not have his father pop in at any moment and interrupt us, and I agreed with him.
So, we left Town Hall, and he led the way up an elevating road in Harmonica Town, always staying about ten feet ahead of me. As we walked, I noticed his head turn completely to the left to gaze at something. I looked too out of curiosity and saw that he was eying a short girl that looked about my age with poofy, pink hair that was up in cute pigtails.
I recognized her. I couldn't exactly recall her name, but I remember that she was one of the girls I met on one of my visits to Sonata Tailoring to buy clothes that weren't too dressy. I remember that she was very blunt in her suggestions for me to try on compared to the old woman and blue-haired girl with her.
"Do you know her?" I asked Gill quietly so that the girl couldn't possibly hear.
His eyes narrowed and he averted his head back around to face where his feet were moving. "No," he lowly replied and kept walking. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was not telling me the truth, but he obviously didn't want to talk about her with me, and I respected that.
Gill led me to the open space of the Church Grounds. It had a beautiful scenery with lavender flowers and trimmed hedges that complimented the church's elegant, blue stain-glass windows. There were wooden benches for picnics beside the railing, which you could look out from and see the vast, sparkling ocean. Such an environment made me smile the slightest, even when I was in such an uncomfortable situation.
Gill abruptly stopped and made an about-face so that I could see his determined look. "It's quiet here on weekdays, so nobody will interrupt us. I didn't say anything, but kept my lips drew back tightly. He knew I would remain quiet, so he continued with what he planned to say, not wasting any time. "You know, you can fool the townspeople, but you can't fool me," he said.
I crossed my arms weakly across my chest. "I-I don't know what you're talking about…"
He rolled his eyes. "Must I really have to explain to you how I know you weren't homeless again? I shook my head honestly. I would rather not hear him point out all my flaws in hiding my identity. "If you know what is best for you and this island," Gill continued, "I suggest you leave Castanet at once."
Something in me snapped then. My teeth clenched and my fists, now away from my chest and by my side, were gradually tightening as I stared down at the ground, my choppy bangs casting a shadow over my hurt eyes. I didn't know what had come over me. I felt a stubbornness come over me that disagreed on my wish to just cry and run away. And then, I remembered what Renee told me this morning. Her words, which resonated in my mind, sent a wave of confidence in what I was doing. I knew I was doing the right thing. I didn't want to cry and run away anymore.
"No," I said firmly, liking the feel of it.
It looked like he wasn't expecting me to say that. "No?" he mocked vehemently. "Must I force you off this island? Having you here will only cause trouble on this island!"
"That's not true!" I snapped back. "My farm is only benefiting this island and its income. As long as my farm gets better, the economy here will improve for the better. I'm sure that if I disappeared from here now, things would only get worse. I would have thought you of all people would have known that."
Gill took a step back and grumbled. "Do you take me for an idiot? Of course, I have considered that, but I cannot have such a suspicious person run a farm here that the whole island will end up depending on in the future! What if you're actually a wanted criminal or something?"
"I'm not a criminal!" I pressed.
"Yeah, and you used to be homeless!" he sarcastically retorted.
"I don't understand how I'm supposed to convince you that I can be trusted."
"You can start by telling me who you really are."
"My name is Molly."
"That's not what I meant!" he said, losing all of whatever patience he had.
I sighed. "Gill, if I was a criminal, or anybody that wanted to do something bad, why in the world would I be on this island running a farm by myself?"
Gill paused and said in a more calmly way, "If you're not a criminal, then why won't you tell me who you really are?"
I bit my bottom lip. I could tell him - maybe not the whole truth, but enough to satisfy him and make him not ask any more questions. Gill's only interest was the island's well-being. If I made certain to him that I wouldn't be any harm to the island or its people, he probably wouldn't care less about who I was. I took a deep breath and decided that I should just come out and say it. If I just say it, he would be off my back.
"Gill, you have to promise never to speak of this to anyone else," I told him in a hushed volume. "If you do, I will have to leave this island, and you know what will happen to the potential of Castanet Island if I leave the farm."
Gill's eye twinkled in interest and leaned in. "I promise. Now, tell me."
I looked down and twiddled with my hands sheepishly, trying to figure out if there was any way to say it without it feeling so sudden and shocking. Unfortunately, I didn't know of a way. "Well, I…I ran away from home."
His nostrils flared. "Do you realize how irresponsible that is?"
I looked away, knowing how right he was. "Of course I do…but I couldn't stand to be there any longer. I was a prisoner in my own home," I said, almost as if trying to convince not only him, but to myself that what I did was for the best.
He caught on quickly to my unhappiness in my old home, and he looked at me in sympathy. He sighed. "Very well... I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm willing to strike a deal with you."
"What kind of deal?" I asked.
"If you make sure Timpani Farm does nothing but benefit the island, I won't bother you anymore regarding you leaving Castanet."
I beamed, and a large grin spread across my face. "Really? Oh, thank you! This is fantas-"
"But," Gill cut in, "if Timpani Farm's sales falter, I will not have a problem with exposing you and chasing you out of here."
I gulped. This meant I couldn't afford to slip up at all; otherwise, I'd have to leave here when I've just begun to get settled here. "I understand," I answered.
"Good," he said and stuffed his hands into his black trouser pockets. He turned around and began walking back into town. "Have a good day," he said over his shoulder.
As I watched him walk away with the back of his dark, blue sweater-vest facing me, I thought to myself how wrong my prediction of the outcome of this was. I can't believe I didn't cry. I can't believe I didn't run away. I can't believe I didn't cave in and tell him who I really am. I can't believe I made it out alive!
Making my way back towards town, the accomplishment in me persuaded my feet to gleefully skip instead of boringly walk. Just as I was crossing the exit of the Church Grounds, I noticed Chase not too far off in front of Choral Clinic. He was bending down and needed one hand on the clinic's blue wall to support him while he panted heavily. Seeing him out during this time of day was unusual, but I too happy to be suspicious of something that was most likely nothing.
"Hi, Chase," I said with a light giggle, bending down a little to somewhat be face-to-face with him.
"Gah!" Chase fell backwards to the ground and gaped up at me.
I gasped and immediately helped him off the ground and dusted off his clothes frantically. "Oh, Chase, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that!"
"N-No," he stuttered and put his hand back on the building to pant some more, "you didn't…scare me. You only…caught me…off guard."
"If you say so," I snickered. "What are you doing here at this time of day? Shouldn't you still be in your pajamas?"
He caught his breath, and his mouth was left open as he looked around at his surroundings quite desperately. "Oh, I was, uhhh…" His eyes finally settled on his hand on the blue wall. "I was getting my check-up! It's best to make sure you're not dying every once in a while."
My eyebrows curved upwards the more I blinked my brown eyes. "Well, are you dying? You sure are acting strange."
"Ahh, n-no, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's it!" he nervously said, making me worry for him. "Well, I've gotta go now. See ya!" he said and dashed off without another word.
I have never seen Chase act so nervous and jumpy before. Thinking about how strange he acted when he was "tired" made me worry to no end on his well-being. What if he actually got bad news from the doctor while he got his check-up? What if he really was dying? What if his excessive panting was from his shock of the news?
The what-if's were scaring me. I didn't want anything bad to happen to Chase.
**Well, there you go! The farm's official name is "Timpani Farm". Thank you everyone that gave suggestions. I had some really good ones that I liked a lot, but I feel this one fits the best with how I want the story to go.
Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! :) **
