Chapter 33: How the Land Lies
With a wide yawn, I unearthed my rucksack and emptied it. If I were going to find anything on the mountain worth selling to Won, I was going to collect as much of it as I could. Careful not to disturb Gray anymore than I did the night before, I reluctantly grabbed my fishing rod and quietly shut the door behind me.
Another yawn was lingering with me when Ann called out to me in the dining room.
"Morning!"
She was leaning against the counter, looking just as tired as I felt. I covered my mouth and nodded my greeting back to her.
"Don't do that, you're going to make me…" she said before her sentence trailed off into a slow yawn. The dining room was silent except for our deep breaths and the muffled sounds of Doug cooking breakfast.
"Sorry," I said, walking over to her. "Were you watching the moon last night?"
"What?" she said with teary blue eyes.
"The moon last night—did you see it?"
"No, I was waiting for you!" she laughed. "I thought Gotz was keeping you late!"
I frowned at the mention of yesterday's job.
"But don't worry about me! This is nothing a lot of sugar can't fix," Ann reassured me. "I want to hear all about yesterday!"
I hesitated for a moment. Even though I had already told Claire, it was surprisingly difficult to tell Ann. She had seemed just as hopeful as I had been.
"I'm not going to be a carpenter's apprentice, that's for sure," I said with a grim laugh after I explained everything to her. "But I have rent for Doug…do you mind giving it to him for me?" I asked her as I set the money on the counter. I didn't want to have to explain how I was fired to someone else.
Ann stared down at the collection of coins on the bar. "I'm sorry…" she offered. "I wish we could hire you."
"I'll be fine," I said, though I was doubtful.
"Here, wait a second!" Ann said before darting off to the kitchen and returning nearly as quickly with a small plate of strawberry cake.
"I really don't need three slices," she explained, sliding the plate over the counter towards me.
"Ann—"
"No talking. Eat, and eat fast!"
I gladly picked up the cake with my hand and bit into it. It was shockingly sweet, but I didn't take the time to savor the taste.
"I brought a fork!" she giggled, but my laugh couldn't escape my full mouth to join hers. I couldn't believe I once thought Ann was strange for having dessert for breakfast—food was food, after all.
"Cake always makes me feel better," Ann shared as I inhaled the dessert. "I bet you could use something to take your mind off things too. Karen's birthday is tomorrow and she's determined to take over the bar for the night. She wants to 'keep it young', whatever that means. It should be fun."
"I don't have a gift for her…" I admitted, feeling embarrassed.
"She's got enough junk anyway! I'm just fixing her favorite foods: popcorn, fries, pizza—"
"I can see how you two are such good friends," I laughed, cutting her off from listing any more food—the cake had somehow made me even hungrier, and lunch was still hours away.
"She'll want you to be there, just to hang out," Ann insisted. "We all will! That'll be enough!"
"I'll see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises." My participation was entirely dependent on how much money I could make over the next two days. Given my history, I wasn't confident I'd be there.
"I'll save you a bite either way!"
"Thanks," I smiled.
"So, what're you doing today?"
"Foraging and fishing," I sighed. "And I'm stopping by Claire's for lunch," I added. It was the one part of my day I was looking forward to.
"Wow, it's been a while! You think she's looking for help?"
"I doubt it," I said with a rueful smile.
"Darn," Ann said as she took the empty plate off the counter. "I'll let you know if I hear about anything. Now go and make lots of money!"
"I'll do my best."
I adjusted the straps of my rucksack, grabbed the fishing pole, and headed for Mother's Hill.
The morning passed quickly as I searched the woods for grasses and hoped Won would pay more for them than he did for fish. I tried to remember the places Claire had taken me months ago and managed to find a few clumps of red grass. But it was Gotz who was the biggest help.
"Mushrooms like to grow behind those evergreens there," he called out when he caught sight of me foraging near the clearing. "And watch which ones ya decide to eat," he warned before placing a barrel skirt over one of many small open fires.
By the time I crossed the river to Claire's farm, I had a decent collection of wildlife to sell.
I spotted Claire immediately. She was pacing near the northern entrance to her farm, her hands waving in front of her as if she were delivering a speech to an imaginary crowd.
"Hey!" I called out to her, causing her to jump and immediately drop her hands to her side.
Barks thundered through the air as a large brown dog charged at me from across the field. The chickens squawked frantically in their outdoor pen as the animal raced by. Before I had the time to decide whether to run or defend myself, it was already lunging towards me. Large paws crashed against my chest as the dog jumped onto its hind legs and began enthusiastically trying to reach my face with its tongue.
"Buckley?" I realized. Hearing his name only made the dog more excited. He was nearly trying to jump into my arms despite his size.
"Down!" Claire ordered as she hurried over to us. Buckley dropped to the ground to sit but squirmed and whimpered as if he would leap up at me any second.
"I thought he stopped doing that a long time ago?" I said to Claire as I tried to pet the dog's head, but he insisted on licking my hand instead.
"He did, he's just too happy to see you. Aren't you puppy?" Claire cooed as she patted the dog. I raised my eyebrow at the word. He certainly didn't look like a puppy anymore.
"I figured you'd be coming from town!" Claire smiled and wrung her hands. "Were you fishing?"
"Foraging. Do you still get out there?"
"Not so much anymore," she admitted. "But I kind of miss it. It was always peaceful on the mountain in the mornings. Unlike here!" she laughed. The sound sent Buckley spinning in an excited circle and the chickens clucked their disapproval.
I looked across the farm and found it just as lively as ever. Grassy stalks, tall clusters of broad leaves, and robust vines dotted with purple flowers grew out of the dark soil. A few weeds were scattered around the plots, and I noticed less of the field was planted than had been in summer.
"I'm growing eggplants, carrots, green peppers, and sweet potatoes," Claire explained, and I realized she was watching me take in the land. "Want a tour?"
"Definitely," I smiled.
"Follow me!"
Claire led me over to the chicken coop, Buckley bounding at our feet. A few skittish chicks hurried away from the fence as we approached. The larger birds barely minded us, choosing to instead focus on finding a meal in the ground. I rested my free hand on the makeshift fence as Claire ran through the chicken's names. I noticed the wood had begun to rot away in a few places.
It needs to be repaired soon, I thought to myself as I absentmindedly picked at the chipping wood.
"My flock has gotten a little larger, but Clucky still rules the place!" Claire pointed out the chicken at the top of the hierarchy. No sign of recognition shined in the hen's beady eyes, but I imagined she wouldn't have let on regardless.
Claire turned from the fence and slapped her hand against the noticeably larger chicken coop. "I still keep them outside on good weather days, but Gotz expanded the coop for me for the winter."
I could see the slight color difference where old and new wood met. As we walked past the chicken coop, I ran my hand against the smooth new wood, more appreciative of the work Gotz must have put into it.
"And my apple tree works!" Claire added happily. I couldn't help but laugh. She pulled off her gloves to pick an apple off a branch of yellow-green leaves and wiped it against her shirt. "Want to try one?" she asked excitedly.
"Sure," I took the fruit and bit into it, enjoying its tartness.
An apple a day… The thought made me laugh to myself.
"What're you smiling about?" she asked.
"Nothing, I just like apples," I said as I felt my face heating. "It tastes good."
"In that case, take some with you!" she said, before picking a few more off the branch and tossing them into my rucksack. "I've got plenty."
Claire led me around the field, and I spotted a new sign near the entrance of her land. New Morning Farm was painted across it in thick letters.
"I like the name," I told her before biting into the apple again.
"Ah, thanks," she smiled. "It's so refreshing to see it somewhere other than on my bills," she said as she hurried towards the lowing from the pasture.
"As you can see, everyone is alive and well!" she said as she hopped over the fence. I hesitated before I followed her, remembering the last time I had been in the pasture.
Claire let out a whistle and the colt hurried over to her.
"He's gotten bigger," I said in awe. He didn't look like an awkward foal anymore, though I knew he had a lot more growing left to do.
"Barley says I can start saddle breaking him soon. Hopefully, all those hugs will pay off!" Claire said as she leaned against Norman.
As I came closer, the colt began to nuzzle against me.
"Aw, he's happy to see you!" Claire called.
"I think he's more excited about the apples than anything else," I laughed as the colt insistently pressed his muzzle against my rucksack. I held my palm flat and offered him the rest of the apple I was eating, which he gladly took and crushed in his mouth.
The possibility of treats sent Enid and Susan walking towards us, and I reached in my bag to offer the cow an apple of her own. Her ears fluttered happily as she took the treat.
"Sorry, Susan," I told the sheep, feeling a little guilty she couldn't eat the fruit. Instead, I scratched under her cheek with my free hand. She happily accepted the affection and leaned her head into my hand. I laughed at the gesture.
"She definitely remembers you," Claire said, and I grinned up at her.
"Her wool is getting really heavy," I said as I scratched through her coat. "Are you going to shear her soon?"
"Actually, I'm going to enter her in the Sheep Festival, so I've just been shaping her up a bit."
"She could be a winner."
"I hope so. I could sell her wool for a good price then!" she laughed as she patted the sheep. "I'm still not sure what I'll do for work in the winter. I've been thinking about getting more livestock, but I'm not sure."
"You have time to figure things out," I added, feeling a twinge of envy I wasn't proud of. Claire apparently picked up on it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" she started.
"It's okay," I said with an embarrassed but reassuring smile. "Other people are allowed to have problems too."
She took a breath like she was going to speak again, but then closed her mouth. I waited for her to speak, but she just fidgeted with her gloves.
"Well, there's not much else to see on the farm," she eventually stated. "Ready for lunch?"
I nodded and gave Susan a final pat before following Claire to the house.
"I had to really straighten the place up for today! I'm not used to having people over anymore," she said as she opened the front door and Buckley hurried inside. "It was so embarrassing this morning."
"The place looks fine," I assured her, not sure why she would be embarrassed. I dropped my bag and fishing rod near the door and, without thinking, headed to the bathroom to wash my hands. It was strange to see my new reflection in her bathroom mirror.
"I hope sandwiches sound good," Claire grinned when I joined her in the kitchen.
"What, no rice balls?" I teased as she began pulling various ingredients out of the refrigerator.
"Goddess, Cliff, that was forever ago!" she sighed. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
"I don't know, I could actually go for some," I laughed.
"Too bad, Trent's been pretty adamant about my well-balanced diet. Sometimes I wonder if he gives Elli and Carter as hard a time too."
"Carter?"
"They eat together pretty regularly."
"Well, yeah, Carter dines with everyone in town."
"I know, but they eat together, like, a lot! They're good friends! Sometimes I think Carter sees him more than I do."
"Really?" I asked, feeling surprisingly possessive of Carter.
"I mean, he has to do a lot more than your typical doctor would since we're out here in the country. And then there are the occasional house calls for the rest of the county. He told me if I thought he was busy now, it's a good thing I didn't meet him during his residency."
"Sorry, I meant about Carter and Trent being friends," I clarified.
"Oh," she laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't know. I thought you and Carter were pretty close?"
"We are…at least, I think we are…" I said, getting lost in thought. I was suddenly aware my forehead was tensing up. "Sandwiches are better than rice balls though."
I looked at the strange mix of food on the counter. I wasn't sure how they would all go together. It took me a few moments to realize they weren't all for the sandwiches. As we put lunch together, Claire offered me bites of the various ingredients she had grown. "Here, try this…" she would say before offering me a teaspoon of honey or slice of carrot, and I was always happy to oblige. Buckley sat nearby, begging for his own samples.
We set the lunch at the little table in her living room and began to enjoy the simple meal. I did my best to eat at a polite pace between breaks in the conversation, though I wanted to devour everything as quickly as I had eaten the cake that morning.
As Claire cleared the plates away, a strange item on her shelf stole my attention. I walked over to look at the blue and yellow…stick?
"What is this?" I asked her, confused.
Claire peered from over at the kitchen. "Oh, it's a negative ion," she said as if I should know what that was.
I reached out to touch the metal end, only for it to shock me with a loud snap.
"Agh!" I pulled my hand back. "Is it supposed to shock you?" I asked her, trying to shake the tingling feeling from my fingers.
"I don't think so?" Claire sounded unsure as she joined me at the shelf. She reached out and touched it fearlessly. It didn't do anything. "I honestly have no idea what it does," she laughed. "Trent's going through an alternative medicine phase thanks to Jeff, although he swears he doesn't believe any of it. See?" she said, gesturing to a small collection of raw crystals and oil tinctures nearby. "I hope he'll grow out of it soon, but it doesn't help that Elli has been humoring him by making these weird mountain grass teas," she explained, grabbing a small bag labeled Elli Leaves. "Wanna try some?"
"Why not? You make it sound so appetizing," I teased.
As Claire rushed to get the kettle started, I spotted a small, wrapped box set aside on the shelf.
"Is this a present?"
"Yeah, for Karen. It's a bracelet. I wasn't really sure what she'd like, so Popuri helped me pick it out."
"You and Popuri are friends?"
"Yeah, she likes helping out here sometimes. Gives her something to do other than wait for Kai's letters. She's really looking forward to the party tomorrow night." Claire walked back over to me. "…Are you going to be there?"
"I'll try to be. Depends on how many fish I manage to catch tomorrow."
Claire didn't say anything. I looked back to see her looking at me anxiously.
"Ah, sorry, I shouldn't be looking through your stuff like this," I realized.
"Oh, no, it's fine!" she assured me. "Do you recognize this?" she asked, grabbing an ocarina off the shelf.
"Carter let you keep it?"
"He loaned it out to me. I barely know how to play the thing."
"I liked hearing you play at the Music Festival. It sounded like you knew what you were doing to me."
"Yeah?" she smiled. "I just played the same eight notes for the whole song. I really should practice, but it's just been on my shelf since then." She held the ocarina up to her lips and began to play her part of the hymn, messing up two of the notes. "See?" she laughed at her mistake. "I've already gotten rusty. Do you want a try?"
"Sure," I took the ocarina only to hear a strange screeching sound before I blew into it. I looked at the instrument in surprise.
"It's the tea kettle!" Claire laughed.
"Oh! I thought I broke this for a second!" I laughed.
Claire hurried to prepare the tea as I blew a few notes through the ocarina.
"I always wanted to play an instrument," she explained from the kitchen. "But if something doesn't come easily to me, I usually just give up. I blame it on the competitive nature my lovely parents instilled in me. Ellen actually called me a hobby-hopper just the other day because I gave up on learning to knit!" she laughed, and I sat the ocarina back on her shelf as I listened. "I guess there's some truth to it. Carter once asked me what my hobbies were, and I just blanked."
I nodded, wondering if she forgot I was there when he asked her that.
"I've tried a lot of things, but never stuck with anything much beyond school or work to develop real talent. I guess it's hard to focus on something for that long."
"You always seemed focused before. You practically read an entire library," I chuckled, though what she was saying genuinely surprised me.
"I don't know. It doesn't feel like I've been focused lately, but that's the story of my life. I'm always all-in at first, then after a while, the newness wears off, and I start getting lazy."
"You can't get lazy on a farm," I warned her.
"Don't I know it," she said with a smile as she set the teacups and a sleeve of cookies on the table. "Here, some highly processed junk food to go with our healthy tea."
"Is this that well-balanced diet you mentioned?" I teased.
"What Trent doesn't know won't hurt him," she shrugged with a smile.
I took a sip of the tea. The flavor was strange and earthy, but my mind was considering what she had said.
"He wouldn't mind me being here, would he?" I asked her as I carefully set the teacup down.
"It's fine," she said in the short way that I knew meant it wasn't.
"He, uh…he seemed a little…uncomfortable at the Harvest Festival."
"Sometimes he gets like that. He just doesn't realize how he comes off to people."
"Hmm," I said, unconvinced.
"Does someone have a problem with you being here or something?" Claire asked.
"No."
We sat together in silence, both drinking the tea and not touching the cookies on the table.
"I should probably get going," I said.
"But you haven't even finished your tea."
I looked down at the steaming hot tea and considered trying to finish it in one gulp.
Claire watched me before letting out a sigh and speaking again.
"Well, before you go, I have something to ask you. But you have to promise you won't say no."
"What?" I let out a confused laugh. "That's not really a question, then, is it?"
"Promise?" she said, her pale blue eyes pleading.
I shook my head, determined not to break any promises I couldn't keep. "Just tell me."
"Okay." Claire took a deep breath. "Duke came by this morning. He needs help picking grapes tomorrow, and I was wondering if you would want to help? The job's from ten to five, and he'll pay you, of course."
I looked at her, stunned by the proposition. Even my mouth fell open a bit.
"Are you kidding?"
"No!" she said, and a smile cracked through her nervous expression.
I let out a short, relieved breath. My open mouth slowly stretched into a grin as I processed her question. I could feel my hopes rising just as they did before and tried to unsuccessfully hold them down.
It's just a day's work, I told myself in an attempt to stay grounded. But the thought was too uplifting. A day's work!
I looked up at Claire in disbelief, but she still looked nervous.
Oh no…
"What?" she asked, seeing the suspicion that must have been clear on my face.
"What did you tell Duke about me?"
"I swear, I didn't tell him anything! I've learned my lesson!"
"Oh, thank the Goddess," I said with another wave of relief, but Claire's expression didn't change. "Wait, so why would I say no?"
"Well…" she said, staring down as she stirred her tea. "…because I'm helping Duke too."
"What?" I asked, confused again.
"You don't want to work with me, right?" Her voice sounded hurt to say the words and caught me off guard. "I can try and find someone else to take my place! Maybe Popuri—?"
"No, it's okay," I said, shaking my head and throwing my hands up as if that would clear up the misunderstanding. "I think working together is fine—I just don't think I should work for you."
Claire looked at me as if I had spoken another language.
I could feel the heat rising to my face and looked down at my tea before I spoke. "I don't want things to end up like they did in summer again. And I don't see how one day with Duke will do that," I tried to explain and took another drink of the hot tea before I peeked up at her.
"So, I was nervous about asking you this whole time for nothing?" she half-laughed.
"I guess so," I said with an apologetic smile before taking a chance and finishing my tea. It only burned slightly. "But I really do need to get going. One day of work isn't going to pay for everything!" Knowing I had a job lined up for tomorrow was oddly motivating, and I was determined not to make the same mistake I made before.
"Alright, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Claire said as I stood and collected my things.
"Yeah, you will!" I grinned, feeling excited about the job all over again. "See you tomorrow!"
Were you surprised by the job offer? In the games, I always run off to find Cliff right away and offer the job to him, so I had fun writing how this could go differently with Claire's confusion. ;)
Next time, we're picking grapes!
P.S. Can you tell I forgot to name Claire's farm at the start of the story? haha
