Chapter 10
Search and Rescue

Wouldn't you know?

The reason why you dislike me so

Is because you do not know me?

The negative words you throw at me

The biting glare that glances

Is because you do not know me

Shouldn't you know?

How much I deflect

Your words; such poison

Forgiveness, I will give it to you

Because I can understand you

And I know

I know that you do not know me

"Sorry Molly, I don't know any kind of song like that."

"Nope, haven't heard about it."

"A song about water? Sorry, I can't think of anything."

"Blue bell? Is that a kind of dessert?"

Molly sighed as she thanked Maya and walked away, her head hanging. None of the villagers had any clue as to what she was inquiring about. No matter how she worded it, it seemed like the residents of the island had long forgotten their land's songs, if they even knew them in the first place. Molly was about to give up but Finn kept telling her to go to the next place. She'd already asked the people in the Garmon Mine District and Flute Fields and the only people she hadn't asked yet in town were Ozzie and the rest at the Fishery.

"Let's hope they know at least something to help us along," Finn said, bobbing along with her as usual.

"Well, after what we've been through today I'm not really expecting much," replied Molly.

It was a Tuesday, about a week and a half after the flower festival. Those first few days were full of anxiety, Molly wondering if she should go into town or go visit Owen's house and try to apologize. She didn't want to apologize, after all, it wasn't her fault. Owen had been the one that had dragged her over to where Kathy was. Owen was the one that had insinuated that she liked and was going to go out with Luke and Owen was the one that, technically, stole away her first kiss, in a very unattractive manner she might add.

But, being Molly, she eventually caved in and went to apologize to Owen. When she knocked on the door it was Chloe that answered. She immediately smiled and called out to Owen that his girlfriend was here. Molly immediately denied and Owen came speeding out to the front, crashing into the kitchen counter on his way. He also denied Chloe's statement and, after the long process of trying to explain to a small child what had really transpired between the two, she finally accepted it and with a defeated walk, headed out the door.

"Why is she so upset?" Molly had asked. According to Owen, Chloe was extremely happy that Molly and Owen kissed because then she would get to see Molly more often. Thus was the logic of an eight-year-old. Thankfully, they resolved the issue and, after trying to give Owen a bit of advice on how to not tick Kathy off, Molly had left with the weight of confrontation no longer upon her shoulders.

The other villagers weren't quite as natural, glancing at her as she walked by with the type of eyes that were begging for answers. She could only imagine Shelly and Yolanda talking to each other behind the counter of the Tailor shop.

"Did you see that outrageous kiss between Molly and Owen at the festival?"

"Oh yes, young people are so wild these days, having such a passionate kiss in public."

"I know, right? I wouldn't have expected much less from Owen, but Molly! Goodness, I didn't know she was that sort of girl!"

"Ohhh, I knew it all along, I did. She has the eyes of a temptress, that one."

"Well, well...I wonder how long it'll be before they're married?"

"I give them five months, tops."

"I say three. Want to make it a bet?"

"Ohoho, you'll be losing your money on this one. It's a deal."

Molly let out a shout of frustration and grabbed the sides of her head. No, no way, of course they wouldn't be thinking such ridiculous things...would they?

"Molly? What's the matter?"

Molly stopped shaking her head and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about some things. I'm still kind of nervous that the villagers think that I'm some sort of hussy after that incident at the festival."

"What's a hussy?" Finn asked.

"...never mind," Molly said, turning away. Finn shrugged and pointed out that Toby was on the dock fishing already.

She called out to Toby and he turned around, a giant smile on his face.

"Molly, how are you? I haven't seen you around that much lately," he said, putting down his fishing pole.

"Oh, yeah...well you know, busy with the farm and all," she said, glancing away to cover up the lie. The truth was she just didn't want to face the probing eyes of everyone in town.

Toby must've understood because he nodded his head and gave her a small smile that seemed to say, 'I know it was an accident.'

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. I was missing you."

Molly blushed a little. Toby was always honest, almost to a fault, so comments like these didn't really mean anything, but how blunt he was made her flustered sometimes.

"O-oh, thanks. Yeah, I was thinking that I should ask you and Paolo to go out fishing sometime soon," she said in reply. She wasn't the type to say she missed someone, even if she did, so she usually just substituted it with a reply that might have equaled a statement like 'I miss you'.

"That sounds fantastic, I was thinking the same thing. When would be best for you?" he asked.

"Oh, well I'm not sure. Sometime next week sound good to you? Maybe...Wednesday or Thursday? If that's okay with you and Paolo, too."

"Thursday should be okay. I'll tell Paolo."

"Great! I'll look forward to it. Oh, that's right, before I leave I have something to ask you." Molly said, almost forgetting to ask about the blue bell.

"Yes?"

"Do you know anything about the blue bell? Like a song or something...?" she asked, praying that he would know at least something.

"Hmmm, well I don't know much about it other than the fact that it's in the Watery cave but I think Paolo might know something about it, you should ask him. He's probably over in the lighthouse right now."

Molly practically shouted with joy when she said "Thanks Toby, I owe you one!" and ran off in the direction of the cape.

Toby smiled after her, putting on his straw hat to block out the sun.

"She's always busily running around, that one. I just can't keep up," he mumbled to himself, turning around and resuming his afternoon fishing activities.

Molly, having arrived at the door of the two-story lighthouse, opened it and walked in, immediately spotting Paolo fiddling around with some fish hooks sitting on a small wooden crate.

"Paolo!"

"Molly? What're you doing here?" he said in surprise. No one ever came to the lighthouse, that's why he went there when he wanted to be alone or concentrate on something.

"Sorry to interrupt but I have a question," she said, and began to tell him about her situation, minus mentioning Ben or anything sprite related.

"Hmm, yeah, I think I know what you're talking about. There is this apparatus that me and Phoebe had made a year ago together. The directions are on a paper. I'll get it for you, hold on a second," Paolo said, getting up and rifling through some papers in a folder on the floor.

"Here you go."

Molly glanced at the sheet and noticed all of the materials that she'd need. She didn't know how soon she'd be able to find them all and frowned at the thought of it.

"I know there's a lot, huh? Hey, I'll help you out some. I can catch the fish."

"Really? That'd be great, thanks a lot Paolo," Molly said, grateful. It was a good thing that she already had a duck for the egg. All she had to do was find a black pearl, which, according to Paolo, was located in the Watery Cave.

"But, it's locked...," she said, starting to worry again. She didn't want to sneak in like that time with Luke.

"Oh, don't worry about it, my dad has the key. We are kind of in charge of that place, maybe it's because you can find fish in there too. Anyways, I'll ask him for you," he said, gathering up his things and motioning for Molly to follow him.

"You're really a great help, Paolo. How can I thank you?"

"Don't worry about it," said Paolo, waving her off.

So, after getting the key from Ozzie and after a hard rest of the day mining, she was finally able to find the elusive black pearl. She couldn't believe that such a beautiful stone could be found around here, but then again, with the purity of the ores they could make real gold, rubies, sapphires and the like. Molly just was never so close to the natural processes, she couldn't help thinking how fantastic it all was. Being on the island really made her appreciate nature, something she barely stopped to admire or think about when she was in the city.

"Well, Finn, let's go home and get some dinner. We deserve something nice, how about breakfast for dinner? I was thinking chocolate chip french toast."

"Yippeeeee~! My FAVORITE. Let's go, I'm sooo hungry," Finn said, making pirouettes in the air and speeding off for the house, leaving Molly laughing in his wake.

After a sweeter-than-normal dinner and a long phone call with her mother and sister, Molly was just getting ready to lie down in bed when her land phone started ringing.

"Ugh, it's almost eleven at night, who could be calling? If it's Angela again, I swear...," she said, grumbling as she slowly walked to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Molly? It's Luke. It's an emergency."

Molly almost dropped the phone, a sudden shadow falling over her thoughts. What had happened? Was it Dale, Bo? At that moment she was once again transported to the lake, standing on the beach, staring at how calm the water was. No ripple, no sound. Nothing.

"Molly? Molly, are you there?"

"H-huh? Oh, yeah," she stuttered out. Out of the past and plunged straight into the present, her hands started shaking as she asked Luke what was wrong, dreading the answer.

"Are you alright Molly? You sound kind of shaky. Anyways, it's really bad! One of my dad's hatchets that I borrowed is missing, I think I must've dropped it earlier when I was in Fugue forest. I know it's late but…would you mind helping me and Bo look for it?"

"That's…that's the emergency?"

"Yeah, so will you help me?"

Molly couldn't believe it. She leaned against the wall, suddenly exhausted.

"Uhm…Molly?" came Luke's voice from the receiver, sounding very far away.

"Luke, I could punch you right now," she said angrily.

"Huh? Well, it's okay if you don't want to go, no need to get feisty…," he said, confused.

"It's not that. You call me up at eleven at night and start acting like something has gone horribly wrong. I thought that your Dad or Bo were in trouble but no, you just lost a stupid hatchet. Do you know how worried I was?" she said, her voice breaking toward the end. She took a few deep breathes to steady herself and grabbed hold of the edge of a table. Calm down, she told herself. There wasn't anything to panic about.

"I'm sorry…I didn't really think about that," Luke said quietly.

"That's your problem, you never think do you?" Molly said, frustrated.

"Molly...," came Luke's hurt voice.

Molly closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She shouldn't be taking it out on him, he didn't know how freaked out she would get.

"No…no, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry Luke, I'm just upset."

"Don't apologize Molly, I…I know I don't think before I speak sometimes."

"Well, I think that applies to everyone, so don't worry about it," she said, smiling a little. He could pretend that he was always happy and that what others said about him didn't affect him but she could see through it. "So, you lost your Dad's hatchet, huh? Well, we'd better go find it, shouldn't we?"

"Thanks, Molly. You're the best."

"And don't you forget it," she said laughing into the receiver.

"Never," he replied seriously, making her cough awkwardly in response. Luke laughed and told her he'd be there in a few minutes with Bo and to bring a flashlight.

Molly hung up the phone and leaned back up against the wall, hand to her face.

"Seriously…get a grip Molly."

She felt a small weight fall upon her left shoulder and looked over to see Finn looking at her with a sad expression. She shook her head and gave him a small smile signaling that she was alright. Finn didn't look convinced but didn't say anything and when Luke knocked on her door, Bo in tow, they all headed off to Fugue forest together.

"I'm guessing this hatchet is very important?" she asked as they made their way slowly toward Flute fields, flashlights lighting the way.

"Ahh…yeah. Actually, my dad passed it down to me on my birthday last year. He said it was a gift to him from my mom back when they were just married."

"Oh, I see," she said, looking up at his profile, barely visible in the moonlight. This was the first time she ever heard Luke mention his mother. Bo had told her that Luke's mother had died when he was just a boy, around six or seven, but never gave the reason why and Molly didn't ask either. It was best to leave these things for Luke to tell her when he wanted, she didn't want to pry.

"So that's why we called you out of bed at eleven at night, sorry about that Molly," Bo said, always the polite one.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I wasn't even in bed yet."

"Not tired?" Luke inquired.

"No, actually I'm - ." Molly was about to say "exhausted" but didn't want to make them feel like they were hindering her in any way so she decided against it and said she was "just restless". Bo looked at her suspiciously but Luke seemed to take her word and they moved on to different things.

Soon they were at the entrance of Fugue forest and deciding how to split up their search party. Unfortunately, Luke had been to all three sections of the forest earlier so they had to split up. By means of rock-paper-scissors, Molly was assigned the third, and consequently, farthest section in. With a sigh and a click of her flashlight, Finn and she headed off into the dark maze of trees.

It was a good half an hour later and still she had found nothing. Wandering into the next clearing, she noticed a shrouded path to the one side.

"What's that?" she asked Finn, who shrugged in return. After a moment's hesitation, Molly headed into the small path and struggled her way to the end. She lifted her flashlight and spread it in a wide arc, surveying the area. She gasped when two pinpricks of light flashed back at her from the base of a tree but it only turned out to be a raccoon, come to see who was invading his territory.

"It's alright," she said softly. At her voice the raccoon scuttled away behind the tree. Molly pursed her lips and then smiled. Raccoons were cute, in their own way.

"Molly, what's that?" asked Finn and pointed to a large shape straight ahead of them. She raised her light toward it and saw that it was a home, round on all sides.

"A house? Out here? But who would live in this place?" Molly wondered aloud, trying to remember if anyone had ever mentioned a house in Fugue forest.

"Oh no, Molly…," came Finn's voice from behind her. She asked what was wrong and he preceded to tell her about a scary Witch who lived deep in the forest and practices dark magic on those who have ever offended her.

"And where did you hear that?" Molly said, doubtful. She had heard about the Wizard in town from the Harvest Goddess and occasionally from one of the villagers but only as a fortune-teller and she wasn't even sure she believed that. After all, she hadn't even seen him once and she'd been on the island for a little over two months now.

"That's what Alan had told me, Collin too!" said Finn, as if that was all the proof he needed.

Molly, knowing how the two loved to play tricks, especially on the unsuspecting Finn, didn't put too much stock in this. Actually, the house looked as if no one even lived there. The yard was overgrown, the door partially open and the house itself had an abandoned feel about it. Making up her mind, Molly walked forward and slowly opened the door, a loud creak sounding into the calm night air.

"Molly, what are you doing?" Finn asked, panicking.

"Don't worry, I don't even think anyone is here," she said, taking a step into the house.

"Then there shouldn't be any reason to search it!"

"Oh Finn, calm down," she said, waving her hand in a carefree manner.

Finn, not wanting to be left alone in the dark, sped forward and attached himself to her back.

"Gah! Finn, don't surprise me like that."

"But Mollyyyyy!"

"Shh!" she said, signaling him to be quiet. She thought she just heard something. Something like an animal.

Croak.

There it was again. Molly raised her flashlight and slowly moved from one side to the next. There was a bed, covered in a purple comforter and then a table, covered in dust and then, all of a sudden, a giant pink toad hopped out of nowhere onto the table.

Both Finn and Molly screamed and took a step back, almost falling over in the process. The toad continued to croak at them, frantic almost, but they didn't stay to hear it out, running and slamming the door behind them. They didn't stop until they reached the middle part of the forest, completely out of breath.

"Molly?"

She whipped around and saw Bo looking at her, wide-eyed.

"Oh…Bo…it's just you," she said, panting heavily.

"What's wrong, did something happen?" he asked her, coming over and putting a hand on her back as she leaned over to catch her breath.

"I…I found a house…and, when I was in there…some giant…toad came out of nowhere and…scared me."

"You went into the Witch's house?" he asked, his tone sharp.

She looked up and saw his eyebrows raised in concern. It seemed like this Witch, whoever she was, was feared by the people of the island as well. How she managed to gain this sort of reputation, Molly didn't know. She really could be evil or she could just be on the receiving end of humans scorning the unknown because they've yet to understand it.

She nodded and explained that only the toad was in the house and everything looked like it hadn't been touched in over a month.

"Good, maybe she's left."

Molly, having finally regained herself, found it odd that Bo be so critical of another when he was always so passive. Before she could voice her concern, Luke came running from the other side of the clearing, declaring that he had found the hatchet.

He stopped just short of them and started to tell them where he had found it. At the look on Bo's face, however, he stopped mid-story and looked between the both of them.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

Making a split-second decision Molly replied that nothing had happened and that she was glad he had found the hatchet. Bo frowned at her but only agreed and the three of them left the forest together.

Back at her house they said goodbye and she waved with a tired smile as they headed toward the path that led back up to their house. Luke took a few steps, stopped, and then turned around, briskly walking back to face Molly who was leaning against her door frame.

She raised her eyebrow in a question.

"Thanks for helping out tonight," Luke said, smiling down at her.

"I didn't do anything."

"Sure you did, even though you were completely exhausted you still agreed to help. That in itself is a great favor."

"How'd you know?" She thought she had hidden how tired she was pretty well but it seemed as if Luke had seen through it.

"I'll always know. Remember? These eyes have lie-detecting radars," he said referring to the first time they had met.

Molly shook hers and sighed in resignation. She didn't want to admit it but it seemed as though Luke really did know her pretty well.

"Luke! We need to get home or else Pop will worry," yelled Bo, some odd yards away.

"Well, I'll be seeing you Molly. Sleep well," he said patting her on the shoulder hesitating only for a second as he pulled away and jogged off to catch up with Bo.

"He's a nice guy, isn't he?" Finn said, looking sideways at her with a half-smile.

"He really is, huh?" she said. And with an exhaustion that ran almost bone-deep, Molly changed into her pajamas, turned off the light and sank into a deep slumber. Not knowing and not caring what tomorrow would bring.