Intro: I did some research on Kansas for this story over Spring Break, and then realized how stupid I was being. Why was I doing research on something I really didn't need to instead of my actual schoolwork which I did need research for? But even so, I don't really know much about Kansas, so my information is probably only fairly accurate.
Across America
Chapter 3: Jessica and Iori
"Jess, honey, please stop complaining!"
"Yeah, Jess, honey, please stop complaining!"
"Shut up, Ryan!"
Jessica Eleffley sat in a comfortable seat on a large airplane bound for Great Bend, Kansas. A few miles out of Great Bend was the home of Ralph Eleffley, Jessica's previously unknown uncle. She had been told that he had three sons, Jackson, Jered, and Sam, a daughter named Korinn, and an adopted son called Cody. Why me? She thought to herself. She could be back in Kingston with Jeff, just the two of them, but noooooooo, she had to be dragged on this trip to the wilds. She sighed and looked forlorn.
Her father watched her, then chuckled. "Jess, it won't be that bad. It's only for three weeks after all. You'll see your friends again soon."
Jessica made a face. Her father always knew what she was thinking. "Yeah, whatever."
"Ralph is real nice, a regular brick. Just because he lives on a farm doesn't mean anything."
"Really? Then why didn't I know about Uncle Ralph until two weeks ago?"
Her father shook his head. "Ralph and I…have had our differences in the past. Anyhow, I doubt that his kids knew any more about me than you knew about Ralph. So don't feel left out."
Jessica's ten-year-old brother Ryan turned his dark blond head around from his seat in front of Jessica and their dad. "Dad, won't we be bored though?"
"Well…Sam is 10 as well, and Cody and Korinn are 12. You can hang out with them. If you want, Jess, you can hang out with the older boys. Jack is 17 and Jer is 14."
"Yeah, great, sure."
Her dad sighed. "I wish you'd lighten up about this trip, Jess. I know it was unexpected," he paused slightly. "But we've patched things up and Ralph and I used to be very close. I'd like to see him again, and it's a good chance to meet your cousins. Please cheer up. For me?" He made a puppy dog face.
Jessica smiled, then giggled. "Dad, you're so silly. But I will try."
* * *
After arriving in Great Bend, they were met by Jessica's cousins and aunt and uncle. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Uncle Ralph looked just like her father, with dark blond hair and kind-looking hazel eyes. She was less pleasantly surprised to find that Aunt Carolyn looked a lot like her own mother, with golden hair and pale blue eyes. When she commented on that, her mother laughed and said, "Good observation, Jess! The truth is, Carolyn and I are cousins," causing Jess to gape at her. "Heh…heh…heh…"
Jackson and Jered took after their mother, while Korinn took after their father. Sam had his father's looks, but his mother's eyes. Cody had dark brown hair, and curiously green eyes. Unlike the others, he was…Japanese? Then she remembered that her dad had said that Cody was adopted. She introduced to them one at a time. As she said 'hi' to Cody, however, something flashed in the back of her mind. Something…she should remember. She brushed it aside. "Hi! I'm your cousin, Jessica."
He smiled, but there was something wistful about it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Cody."
His eyes were bright green, and that haircut…"Uhhh, heheh, I see I'm not alone in having green eyes."
Cody looked surprised. "Um, yeah."
Nervously brushing aside a stray lock of golden hair, Jessica laughed sort of crazily. There was something that she couldn't put her finger on here. But it was once again brushed away as they packed in Uncle Ralph's big truck. The drive took about 20 minutes, the view changing from city to golden fields and green plains. There were fields of yellow and pink flowers, and rabbits scampered on the ground while warblers sang in flight. Jessica had to admit that it was prettier than she expected. But it would have been nicer if they lived in East Kansas, with the large cities. She made a face. Cara would love this place for sure.
* * *
Kari was laughing. Giggling, even. That was good. She didn't even smile a whole lot, but when she did, her whole face lit up like a quick sunrise. "What's so funny?" demanded Jessica. She and Cara had been in a heated debate about the fact that Cara wasn't interested in a guy that liked her.
Kari smiled. It was just like old times, three years ago after they got back from the Digital World. "You two remind me of two of my old best friends, Sora and Mimi. They had this same argument once."
The other two girls leaned towards Kari slightly. This was the first time she had willingly spoken about her past. "Really?"
"Well, you guys aren't quite as different as they were, but still best friends with some definitely different tastes."
Cara leaned back. "We're not all that different. Jess here is just stubborn about some things, that's all."
Jess shot her a dirty look. "Not as stubborn as Cara here. Anyway, what were your old friends like?"
Kari's face grew thoughtful. "Sora was a tomboy, and she liked being outdoors. It didn't matter where, just not cramped in some building. Mimi was the pink-loving girly girl, and she'd much rather be inside a city than the countryside. They weren't so different, really, but different enough."
"Well, as they say, opposites attract!" laughed Cara.
* * *
The farm was not very large. There was a fair-sized house and a large barn half-filled with cattle, pigs, and dogs and cats that wandered around. There were a few fields of golden wheat forming a semicircle from their house about 100 yards away, and beyond that were dry fields and shortgrass prairie. As they drove in, several of the dogs broke out of the barn to greet the truck and its passengers. Jessica's dad laughed. "I see you've still got the hounds, eh?"
"Wouldn't give 'em up for the world!" Ralph replied with a grin.
The two leaped out of the truck with a holler and started to pet and talk to the 'hounds'. Aunt Carolyn laughed. "Come on, Ralph, we've got to help them get unloaded before you go off with your precious dogs!"
"My, are they still such little boys, Carol?" asked Jessica's mom.
"Did you really think they'd grow up, Sara?"
Jess giggled at the adults. "You guys are even younger than us kids!"
Cody and Korinn were laughing together as they ran up to pet the dogs. Jessica frowned slightly. Now, there was still that weird feeling about Cody to figure out.
After they were unpacked in the two guest rooms (Jess had to share with her brother), she asked to be excused. "I'm just going to look around the fields, you know?"
It was early afternoon, and the sun felt great. The temperature was only in the 80's, which was perfect. Jess wandered through the wheat field, golden hair mingling with golden stalks. Her destination was the flower field further out. Western and Central Kansas favored shortgrass, but here was some longrass. She winced as a snake slithered by, and ran the rest of the way to the field. The yellow grass was spangled with asters and goldenrod. She dashed around in them for a little bit, enjoying the refreshing smell. There was an inviting rock right in the middle. Involuntarily, Jess yawned, remembering that she had gotten up very early this morning to go on the plane. "Just a short nap won't hurt." She settled down behind the rock where there was a clear space without flowers, only soft grass. A hawk spiraled lazily in the sky, a speck of darkness against the blue. Around and around, slowly and slowly…Her eyes shut.
* * *
The sun was setting when she awoke. Different colors mixed and weaved through the darkening sky. Oh no! She had been asleep for hours, and maybe her family was worried. She froze as she heard sounds behind her. Carefully she peered around the other side of the rock. It was Cody. He was…doing something with a wooden stick. Practicing…kendo, she thought, remembering something Kari had mentioned about it. She sat up and yawned. It was okay, it was just Cody. Jess stood up, rather wobbly. "Hey Cody!"
Cody nearly dropped his kendo stick. Startled, he turned to face her. "Oh. Hi Jessica."
"You can call me Jess," she said brightly. "So, what 'cha doing? Practicing kendo?"
"You know about kendo?"
"Well, sort of. One of my best friends is from Japan, and she told me a little about it."
"Oh? What's her name?"
"Kari. Kari Kamiya. You know her?"
Cody paused. Kari. Could it be? "You're from New York, right?"
"Yeah." Jess watched his unreadable expression. He seemed very mature for a twelve-year-old.
There was an uncomfortable silence. "Um, it's about dinner time. We should go back."
"Oh. Yeah."
More silence as they walked around. "Hey Jess?" said Cody. "I never even saw you behind that rock! Were you there from the time you left?"
Jess smiled. The ice is broken, she thought. "I fell asleep. Silly, huh?" As they passed through the wheat field, she asked, "Are the snakes around here poisonous?"
Cody smiled, sort of shyly. "Some of them. Just be careful where you step."
As they entered the house, they were chatting like old friends. Dinner that night was fried chicken and mashed potatoes, with fresh bread. "After all, we do grow a wheat farm. Might as well make some bread, right?" Aunt Carol had said. After dinner they were going to buy a couple kittens for catching mice and rats, and Ralph had promised one to Jess's family. There were a couple of other things to buy there, so Jessica took along her bag with a wallet. "I'll get Cody," she volunteered. Cody had disappeared into his room that he shared with Korinn. "Cody, we're gonna go to the Roadson's Farm now! Oh, there you are!" she said as she entered the room.
Cody looked up. He had been staring at a photograph. Jess gasped as she viewed the photograph. She knew it well. She saw it every time she went in Kari's room. It was a picture filled with people holding stuffed animals, Kari included. There she was, hanging on to her brother. Next to her, that was her boyfriend. And yes, there was Cody, standing near him. This was where the feeling came from. He was younger, obviously, but with the same haircut as now, and the same green eyes. He was holding a little yellow head, looking very happy. Slowly, Jess dragged her eyes from the Cody in the picture to the Cody sitting on the bed. "C-Cody, you…"
The young boy smiled sadly. "I guess you do recognize someone in the picture, am I right?"
Jess nodded, shocked. "But how…?"
"This picture was taken four years ago. You know Hikari right? Kari?"
"Yeah," she mumbled, then remembered something. She dug into her wallet. "Here. This is Kari." The picture was just the one taken for Spring Pictures, with Kari smiling sweetly.
"Cody? Jessica?" a voice called softly. Jess and Cody stopped staring at the pictures and turned to the face at the doorway. It was Korinn.
"We'll talk about this later, okay?" asked Jess, then quickly stuck the picture back in her wallet. She left quickly, with only a, "Call me Jess," to Korinn.
Korinn walked over to Cody and saw the picture. "What's going on, Cody? Everybody's waiting for us. Is…she involved with that picture?" she asked hesitantly. "I know you're sad about it."
Cody nodded slowly. "Yeah. Our cousin Jess knows someone in the picture." He got up and put the picture on the nightstand by his bed. "You're right, everyone's waiting. Let's go, Korinn." The two quietly exited the room.
* * *
"Oohhh, they're so cute!" squealed Jess. She held a little yellow kitten in her hand.
"They're not that cute," said Ryan. The kitten in his hand bit him. "Ow!"
A small drop of blood welled from his hand. "Let's get that one, since it bit Ryan!" Jess announced.
Ryan scowled. "That's not funny, sis. I don't want a kitten that bites!"
"Okay, okay," she said. "Sorry, it was just a joke. I wasn't serious." On impulse, she hugged her little brother. Ryan turned completely red.
"Well…if you do want to get it, we can," he said, embarrassed.
"Nah, this one's cuter!"
Korinn watched them stroke and examine the kittens. Her two cousins seemed like the type to argue a lot, but cared a lot about each other. Her dark blond head swiveled at the sound of Cody's voice behind her. He was pointing out a pretty windchime, wondering if she wanted to get it. Her dark hazel eyes softened noticeably. Nearby, Sam shook his head in disgust. It was way too obvious to tell how those two felt about each other. And only at the age of 12, at that! Sam was only 10, but he wasn't stupid. They had only started out as good friends, because they had similar personalities. Quiet, intelligent, and serious. He and Korinn had been sort of, loners, before Cody came. He and Korinn got along well enough, but weren't close, like Jack and Jer. Cody's arrival changed all that. The three had fun together, but Sam couldn't bear being with the two of them for too long. If there was anyone in the family he was close to, it was his mother. The youngest member of the Eleffley family had to admit that being aloof was his own fault. Of course, Cody and Korinn were like that too. Sam would always remember the day that Cody came.
* * *
It was a bright, beautiful sunny summer day. Everything was a beautiful golden color, from the wheat fields to the flower fields. Sam and Korinn were playing in a field far away from the farm. They were allowed to go far off, since there wasn't much out there anyhow. They were both very little, and not even the tips of their heads showed above the tall grass. They weren't doing much, just looking for bugs, barely rustling the grass. They hadn't even heard him coming. Any grass moving was either dismissed as each other or the breeze. All of a sudden, a small, dark-haired boy ran smack into Sam.
"Ow!" the blond boy yelled. "Who are you?"
The other boy wasn't much older than him, about Korinn's age, probably. He had dark brown hair and very green eyes. They widened slightly. "Ahhh…sorry," he replied nervously in accented English.
Korinn appeared next to Sam. She looked curiously at the other boy. "Hey, what's your name? You want to play with us?"
He looked uncertain. "Ah, Hida Iori desu. Ah, no, my name is Iori," he stuttered. "I can't speak English very well."
"That's okay!" declared Sam loudly. "But then where are you from?"
"Japan. Where is this?"
"Well, it doesn't actually have a name, but Sam and I call it Big Bug Meadow!" Korinn giggled. "And we're in Kansas."
Iori looked confused. "Um, what?"
"Hey, what's the big bag for, anyway?" the girl wondered.
"Uh…"
"Korinn, let's take him to Mommy and Daddy! Maybe they can speak his language."
"Good idea, Sam! Come on!"
Iori followed them hesitantly, wondering if he should go with them. It had been a long trip from New York. Going on buses, trains, on foot, and even hitchhiking once, was hard. Most people were curious as to why an eight-year-old was traveling alone. The situation was made worse because Iori knew little English. It was easy to figure out how to get a ticket for a train, and the person at the foreign money exchange place had been very helpful, since different people there knew different languages, including Japanese. Michael had given them all a bunch of money before they left to cover expenses. It wasn't too big of a problem for him, considering his father was a movie star.
Korinn and Sam's parents were very kind and let him stay for a while. When he was regretfully getting ready to leave, they asked him to stay forever! Iori did his best to help whenever he could, and put his brains to good use. In a strange way, he sort of brought the family closer together.
* * *
Jessica and Ryan finally settled on a small white kitten with bright blue eyes. However, they couldn't come up with a name for him. Their arguing was funny, but it did sort of get on Sam's nerves.
* * *
She couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning on her comfortable guest's bed, Jess had lain there for about two hours without rest. Her brother had thrown a pillow at her for being so noisy, but he was now sound asleep. Finally, she gave up and tiptoed to the kitchen to get something to drink. There was a kettle full of water, and she poured herself a glass. As the girl walked past the front door, she felt a draft drift into the room. The door was open. A screen door beyond that was shut. Frowning, Jess walked quietly over to shut it, but then noticed a dark figure outside. "Who's there?"
A pair of eyes swiveled to focus on her. Jess noted with relief that they were green. "Cody, is that you? What are you doing up so late?"
The young boy sighed slightly. "Oh, Jess. I guess I could ask you the same question," he commented, amused. "Actually, probably the same reason as you. I couldn't sleep."
"Me neither," admitted the blond girl, her hair black in the darkness. "I guess it's just a restless night." She stared at Cody for a second. "Why don't we have that chat now then?"
"I guess we'll have to get around to it. So, yeah, I know your friend Kari."
"Four years ago, right? She's still really upset after all that time, you know. Why didn't you ever say anything to her?"
Cody sighed again. "It's a very complicated story."
"Well, neither of us can sleep anyway."
So Cody filled her in on the events that had happened four years ago. "There's not too much to tell, actually. There were 12 of us, and we were a very close group. I suppose that's why we were hurt so easily…But we were boys and girls, and naturally, we…developed feelings for each other. I guess it's natural though, not all of us felt the same way. The hurt ones ran off, and we tried to find them. Kari stayed back to see if anyone went back to our friend's house, which is why she's still in New York, I'd imagine. We were all feeling hurt and betrayed in some way or another, so it was easy to let hasty, angry words out. We lashed out at each other until some of us broke down in tears even, and we really didn't feel like seeing each other anymore. So we split up."
Jess shook her head. "Just like that? You just picked up and left? You went from Kingston to this farm?"
"Just like that," Cody agreed.
"But why? Why didn't you ever try to contact each other again? You aren't still feeling bad are you?"
The boy laughed. "Oh you see, I was probably the only one who wasn't really hurt that day, but I felt that if our team was splitting up, I might as well leave too. As for contacting other people, let me ask you, how would I have? I didn't know where they were. For all I knew, they even went back to Japan."
"You lived in Japan? But I'm sure your parents are still there!" said Jess. "You just let them worry about you like that? I'm sure they deserved better than that!"
"Yeah…I am sorry."
"Well then, why not come back to New York to at least visit? And contact your family?"
Cody's eyes shadowed slightly. "But you see, I'm not so sure I want to leave anymore. I'm happy here with the Eleffley family. What if I visit, and never come back? What if I talk to my mom, and she wants me to go back?"
Some inner voice spoke to Jess. Something seemed to tell her that that wasn't quite it. "No. No, Cody, that's not it, is it? What's your real reason you won't go back?"
The screen opened again, causing them to jump slightly. Korinn stood there, looking curiously at them. "You guys, it's really late! I heard your voices. I hope you didn't wake anyone else up."
Something clicked in Jessica's mind. She turned to look at Cody, who looked faintly guilty. "That's it, isn't it? Korinn, what would you say if I told you that Cody was leaving the farm forever and was going back to Japan?"
The small girl's eyes widened, then dropped. "I…I…" she mumbled numbly, looking shocked and like she was about to bolt away.
"I see," said Jess. "I see. Does anyone else know? Have you two even admitted it to each other?"
Cody and Korinn looked away, blushing brightly enough so that it was visible even in the faint light. Jess gazed at them. Not bad, Jess! She congratulated herself. I should've known right away, though.
* * *
Cody and Korinn were at first, horribly shy with each other. Sam watched them, then burst out in a fit of snickers. Slowly they returned to best friends mode, and didn't bring up the subject again. Jess didn't say anything more about returning to New York either. Although she hated to admit it, she was enjoying her stay in Kansas. The weeks went by in what seemed like a blur. Every day was something new and fun, and she became good friends with her five cousins. She helped with the wheat, taking care of the animals, and gathered armful after armful of fragrant flowers. They roamed the countryside with the white kitten, who still didn't have a name. Day and night were spent laughing and talking and roaming and having fun. "I guess I have to revise my opinion of Kansas," she admitted. "It's a lot better than I thought." When she e-mailed Jeff, she mentioned her problem. Unfortunately, he had no answer, only "it's up to Cody."
Her three weeks were over. Jess flopped on a pile of soft straw in the barn with the kitten. Absently she played with him while still contemplating a good name. Suddenly, sunlight streamed on her face as Cody entered the barn. Jessica's face showed nothing of her concerns, and he was uncertain of what to say. Finally, he quietly said, "Jess, I've asked my parents and I'm going to come with you to Kingston for a little bit."
Her face lit up even more. "That's great! But," her voice dropped. "What about Korinn? Did you guys talk it out yet?"
Cody nodded. "We've reached an understanding. I definitely won't go anywhere without seeing her again first." Then he plopped down with her and they laughed together as the kitten walked all over them.
* * *
"And so you guys got back before me and had this planned out," Kari said. Cara, Jess, Michael, Matt, and Cody nodded. "I'm so glad to see you guys!" she cried. "Thank you. But we still have to find the others!"
"We will," assured Matt. "We will."