~Note~ The older a violin is the better it sounds. I surfed the web for an actual 19th century violin, which has been called "The Golden Age" of violin crafting. The sheet music song is also real, and if you look it up on YouTube™ and with Celtic Woman, that performance is the dancing style I have in mind.( I am a musician myself, so these details are important to me.) To legally protect myself I claim no financial gain by stating these sources; it is simply to allow my readers a better understanding of my characters. I am not trying to endorse either of these things. Now that we've covered this, BACK TO THE STORY!
"Well? How does it feel? It's very old and a bit used, but I've heard that makes them better."
Chelsea stared at Robert in disbelief. In her hands was violin and its bow, both of which she could tell were very expensive. Actually, she was holding the case in which the two were kept, lid open and facing her, just as Robert had placed it into her hands.
"Robert…I can't take this…," Chelsea began awkwardly.
But Robert wasn't listening. He held his hands forward and exclaimed, "Wait! I almost forgot!" He rummaged around in his side bag, pulled out a large flat music folder and held it up excitedly. "Of course I know you can improvise on your own, but I thought it would be nice if you had some music to go by as well!" He held it out to Chelsea, a goofy smile on his face. She sighed, closing the violin case and set it beside her. She folded her arms and looked him square in the eye.
"Robert, I can't accept these things. It's not that I'm not grateful, but I hardly know you, and these things are all really expensive," she said with a concerned look on her face. "At the very least, I'd have to pay you back for most, if not all of the expenses, and I'm just not in a position to do spend my money on luxuries right now."
"Then let's try the bartering system," he said, waggling a finger in his free hand. He had expected this reaction, but he would not be deterred from his plans. "I'll make you a deal. You keep that violin and the music, and I'll take your participation in the concert at payment." Before she could protest he held his hand in a stop sign. "You wouldn't have to sing, you wouldn't even have to dance if you don't want to."
Chelsea gave out a long sigh, "Listen, Robert, my life in the city, which I know you are well aquainted with, was much different from the life I live on the island now. I don't have the free time for practicing that I used to."
"Oh, I'm not so sure about that," he replied. He cocked an eyebrow at her and said, "Don't you spend a lot of time talking to the people around the island?"
"How—."
"Oh, plenty of people have told me so," Robert answered, cutting her question off. When she gave him a funny look he shrugged his shoulders and said defensively, "Well there isn't much else to talk about on this island…." Chelsea groaned.
In an effort to change the subject, Robert took a step forward and gave her an honestly concerned look. "Look, Chelsea, you're right, I don't know what your life is like on the island. But I do know that music is a part of you. I'm sure if you took some of the time you travel the island to practice, it would make you happy. Please don't throw that part of you away. Please take the violin."
Robert gave her such a pleading look as he spoke that she finally relented. He let out a relieved sigh and, more calmly, handed her the sheet music. He started to leave, but halfway to the road he turned and yelled, "By the way, the papers of authenticity for the violin are in the folder. I'll keep you updated on the concert details. You may also want to talk to Lanna. She wants to practice your duet together."
As she watched him go down the road she looked between the violin case and the music, and wondered if she had been punked. With another heavy sigh she picked up her new possessions and took them inside. She placed the case and sheet music on the table and pulled the violin out to inspect it more thoroughly. It was a modern violin of the late 19th century and of Italian make. It bore the label of Giueseppe Scarampella, Fireze 1883. Picking up the sheet music, she saw that it was a song called "Granuaile's Dance," an incredibly complex piece. She then looked at the authenticity papers to learn the violin's maker was Eugenio Degani. A second surge of guilt overtook Chelsea and she considered giving it back to Robert. Why would he give her something as expensive as a 19th century violin? Was he that desperate for participants in the contest, or was it something else? Chelsea shook her head; it was weird enough that he was intimately knowledgeable about her past, she didn't want to think about it further. So she racked it up to the only conclusion that made sense; like Lanna, and like Pierre, she had a crazy fan.
"How did he get this paper?!" Clarice demanded.
"He requested it, ma'am," the nurse replied.
"How many times to I have to tell you people that he is not to have any paper to write on?! He is a sick man and does not need to be wasting his time on such trivial things."
The nurse let out an exasperated sigh; she was getting very tired of the wife's attitude. "Well ma'am, if you do not want him to have the paper, then you should keep an eye on him yourself. Since he, and not you, is my patient, I am required to bring him whatever he needs to be comfortable." She looked over to her patient at the bed, "You just let me know if you need anything else." He gave a weak nod and she left.
Franklin's health was falling for the worse still. Any extra energy he previously had to recover was now being used on ways to communicate with Chelsea. Clarice's arguments took the last of his energy. The Doctor had repeatedly recommended to his wife that she reduce her visits, but Clarice would have none of it. He had tried several times to write letters to Chelsea on the farm, and she intended to keep close watch over him. Each time his letters were discovered and destroyed. On one occasion an employee of his had brought his laptop to him, and with it he had tried to send emails to the board with his decisions. Once again Clarice foiled his attempts, telling the board that it was the ramblings of a sick man, delirious with pain, and that they should ignore any messages sent to them until he recovered.
Since then he had been put under supervision whenever the laptop was brought in. The paper had been taken away an hour ago, and the laptop had been returned (along with a watchful employee) to keep him entertained until Clarice could come and "address the issue" as she called it. He sat there sadly and surfed the web, looking up words like "farm" and from there "crops" or "farm animals." The employee watched the screen, bemused by what could compel the company CEO to such topics.
Clarice huffed as the nurse went away and turned back to the desk in the room. "You want to write Chelsea a letter? Fine, I'll write her a letter." And thus she began what would become a two-page rant to her daughter, stating her child's incompetence, foolishness, and so on.
Franklin ignored her and continued to browse the websites. Just then he got an idea. He looked up a specific store he knew on the internet and began searching for what he hoped would be a good clue. When the employee stepped out to fetch something for Clarice, Franklin quickly sent an online text to an employee he knew he could trust.
At length Clarice was done with her letter, not long before Franklin's assistant walked through the door. She stopped him and thrust the letter into his hands. "I want this delivered to Sunny Island as soon as possible." She motioned to her other employee who moved to follow her out the door to her cab. Before leaving she spat to the new-comer, "Watch Mr. Rougue until my assistant returns." With that she and her employee left.
Franklin weakly smiled to his assistant, who smiled back at him and walked over to his bedside. "How are you feeling sir?" he asked.
"As well as one could expect; poorly," Franklin croaked. "Listen, I want you to do me a favor. Something in secret, I don't want my wife to know." The assistant raised his eyebrows curiously and nodded, leaning forward. Franklin whispered something into his ear, and pointed at a picture on the screen. The assistant looked from the page to Mr. Rougue in surprise, but nodded again and promised to have it done personally. As told, the assistant stayed only until the other employee returned, and with one last reassuring look at Mr. Rougue, left to see to his tasks.
"Are you sure you want to spend your money on that, little missy?" Gannon asked.
"Yup, it's time," Chelsea replied happily. "All of the bridges were built a season ago. It's time to start on the next step to improving the island. And since this is the last day to buy a Wonderful from Chen's shop, I no longer need to keep this reserve of money I've been saving for them."
"Well, you're a good girl," Gannon said with a smile. "The people of this island sure do appreciate all your hard work. I'll have the Road from the Ranch done by tomorrow."
"Thanks, Gannon. See you tomorrow then." She gave him a wave and walked out the door. It will be a little tough, she thought to herself, but I'll do my best to upgrade a road a day. As she walked down the path to Mirabelle's she roughly organized her financial plans in her mind.
She walked into Mirabelle's shop to find Julia. They were becoming really good friends. Natalie was there today, talking with Julia and Mirabelle at the counter about something. Mirabelle spotted Chelsea as she came through the door.
"Oh, there you are sweetie, I have good news for you." She pointed to the list of purchasable items to indicate a new selection. "With all of the male farmers coming to live on the island, we finally have enough business to support selling sheep here. Vaughn's bringing them in on his next trip here."
Chelsea cheered and danced happily on the spot. It had taken more than a month to ship all of that mayonnaise, and it had finally paid off. Then she stopped and made a little grimace, folded her arms and focused her eyes on the floor in silence.
"What's the matter, dear?" Mirabelle asked worriedly.
"Oh, nothing," Chelsea replied. "This just changes my plans a little. I just started my campaign to fix the roads today, and I wanted to charge right on through it one day after the next."
"Oh, really? I'm so excited! New roads, that sounds great," Julia chimed.
"What does that have to do with getting a sheep?" Natalie asked.
"I'll need to add more feeding bins, that's what," Chelsea frowned. "Which means it'll have to happen between or after the roads."
"Just do what you can," Natalie shrugged. "The farm's what makes the money, so the farm comes first, right?"
"She's right," Julia said. "It won't be too big of a deal if the roads have to wait a day or two. You've had to wait much longer for the sheep to come in, right?"
Chelsea looked up and smiled, "You're right, both of you. I'll add a feeding been before the third, and then continue my work on the roads."
The girls spent some of the afternoon together, as Chelsea told them about Robert's gift and asked their opinion's on the subject. Before long, however, Chelsea had leave in order to get to the mines and back before five. "The money's got to come from somewhere," she said. Slinging her hammer over her shoulder, she set off.
That night before going to bed, Chelsea picked up the violin. She was so tired from both her time in the mines and the running in between destinations that her vision was a little blurry. Instead of trying to read the sheet music, she focused on tuning. She tested each string as carefully as she could and adjusted the turning pegs accordingly, with only hear musical ear to guide her accuracy. When she was satisfied she spent some time polishing it before putting it away again. She decided to leave actual practicing to tomorrow before the New Year's Eve festival… and when she could see strait again. She changed into her pajamas and no sooner has she settled herself in bed she was asleep.
~P.S.~ Sorry about the long wait everyone. This chapter had been written and ready to go for a couple of weeks. Due to a virus in my computer and almost losing the entire manuscript, it took about a week and a half to get it restored and back to normal. Thank you all for being patient, and expect the next chapter very soon!
