Jason looked up into the sky as he read the letter placed in his mailbox

Jason looked up into the sky as he read the letter placed in his mailbox.  'What the….?  That's what Grandpa left to me?  Besides his old bandana and ten packets of seeds?'  He looked at the letter again and again- it had been postmarked someplace called "Mineral Town", and had obviously been forwarded at great speed.  He read it over again, the words still sinking in.

To Mr. Jason Icasea:

Your grandfather's will has been opened and read, and you are required to be in presence here at the Icasea ranch spread by 10 A.M. the 31 of Winter.  If you do not appear by that such of a time, the inheritance will be split and go to the highest bidders.

Pack your articles of clothing and such, as I think you will need them when the terms are discussed.  You are allowed to bring nothing more than a pet dog, five hundred gold pieces, and the items that you pack.

I await your arrival.

Sincerely,

Mayor Thomas, Mineral Town

Jason shook his head, thinking of what the news meant.  Sure, his grandfather had died a short time ago.  He missed him- all those years of going to the farm, looking at the quiet nature of the town- but why were they calling him back there?  There couldn't be anything there by now- in his last years, Grandpa had let the fields lie fallow, as farm work was too much for his body.

'Must be the matter of the taxes from his passing.  They must want the estate taxes…. Sheesh."

Jason walked back up the driveway to his home, where he lived with his mother and sister, Sarah.  Both were sitting on the couch watching the "New Year's Special" television programming.

"Any mail?"  his mother asked, looking up at him from the couch.

"Well… there's a few bills….  That book club's threatening to send collectors after me if I don't send them the 230 G they want for my membership, and I got a letter from the mayor of that little town I used to go to for summer vacation."

"You got a letter all the way from Mineral Town?  At this time of year?"

I passed Mom the letter so she could read it.  Her eyes scanned it and then looked up at me.

"They want you to come and take care of things, maybe close up the farm so they can have a tax auction.  Real shame."

"Well, it says I need to take about ten changes of clothes, pocket change, whatever's in my room that I want to take, and Blazer."

Hearing his name, my pet puppy jogged out into the living room, trailing another shredded sock- one of my good ones, AGAIN…..

"They want you to leave the 31st?  That's tomorrow, Jason!  Are you going to go?"

I shrugged.  "I think I have to.  Grandpa let me stay with him all those years, I can't turn my back on that place.  I'll get packed right away."

I was starting off to my room to gather my various outfits- until I considered the fact I might be doing a lot of dirty work- farms were almost always dirty, it seemed- from the dirt of the fields to the mouse poop in the silo to scooping up cow flops out of the pasture so nobody slipped and fell…

As I was reaching for my pair of coveralls that I had bought to help out at the county fair last year when I needed a few extra G, I folded them up and placed them in a suitcase that had been under my bed for maybe three years.  Then I gathered various shirts, especially those that made me look kind of cool. 

'If my memory is as good as I think it is, I think I remember there were several young ladies in that town.  Not to mention they must have grown up by now.  Which means somebody might be looking for a boyfriend.'

In the middle of my daydream, the phone rang. 

"I got it!"  said a voice- Sarah, as usual, could hear the phone ring through three brick walls- at least if she thought it was one of her friends calling….

She picked it up and talked for a few seconds, then called my name.

"Jason!  Phone!  It's from Mineral Village!"

I raced back out, almost falling over Blazer in the process, and grabbed the phone from her.

"Hello?"

"I assume I am speaking to Jason, then?"

"Yes, this is him.  Can I help you?"

"Yes!  This is Mayor Thomas, calling from Mineral Village.  I just wanted to know if you had gotten my letter."

"Yes, Mr. Mayor.  It just came today.  So, what do you need me there for?"

"Well, it's about the farm.  We've been thinking, as a village, that maybe we ought to sell the farm to pay for the estate taxes.  But the fact of the matter is, it seemed like a good plot of land going to waste.  So, we read your grandfather's will, and we were surprised."

"You mean Grandpa left something for me?  I thought…"

"Well, the big question I called today is to see if you are in fact coming down to our town tomorrow to claim your inheritance.  I understand if you don't, but I was hoping that you would come down…"

"I'm packing right now.  I'll hopefully be there by the early morning ferryboat crossing.  It depends on the weather, though.  I might be a little late if it turns foggy again."

"I think we can manage a few minutes either way.  So, I'll be expecting you at the docks tomorrow, then."

A whispered voice could be heard on the phone, and the mayor spoke in soft whispers with somebody else, who then went ahead and called out to somebody else to "get the old Icasea place in a state of good repair, he's on his way".  The mayor then came back on the phone.

"Well, then.  You'll be there, tomorrow, 10 A.M.?"

"Yes.  I'll see you then.  Goodbye, Mr. Mayor."

"Yes, goodbye, lad. I'll see you tomorrow."

The line was closed with a click, and I walked over and sat down in a chair in the kitchen.

"What was that about?"  I turned.

Mom was standing there, clothes in hand, as she had been for the last few minutes.

"I think they want to give me something."

"What do you mean?  The lawyers said the only thing he had left you was an old bandana and a few packets of seeds.  What could they be planning on giving you?"

I thought long and hard, contemplating my conversation.

'Let's see.  They want to give me something, but they ask that I bring my dog, five hundred G, and about ten pairs of clothes.  What could they want with me?'

"I think…."

"What?" my mom wondered, having gone back to folding clean pairs of socks into balls.

"No, never mind.  They wouldn't be trying to do what I think they're doing."

"Come on, tell me!  I'm your mother, Jason.  You can tell me anything."

"Well…." I started, not sure what to make of my idea,  "You remember Grandpa left me a few bags of seeds and his old bandana?  The only tools he said he ever needed- besides the ones in his toolbox- to farm?"

"Yes… I'm washing it right now.  The seeds are on top of your dresser, I think."

"Something tells me I'm going to need them."

Mom thought for a minute, then her eyes went wide. 

"You don't think…. They're giving you the farm?"

"Maybe.  I mean, why else would I take my own things, a small amount of money, and my pet dog?"

"You might be right…. Which means this is your first chance at independent living."

Mom let a little tear fall out of her eye.

"I knew this day was going to come, sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be so sudden.  You're moving out."

"Well, I have to.  I'm not ruining this chance of a lifetime."

Mom let a smile cross her face and then returned to her task of folding socks and undershorts.  Even if I am 19, I can't pack a suitcase for anything. 

The 31st dawned clear and sunny, the last of winter's chill fading away as the spring breezes waited to blow in warmer air.  I waited for the ferry to appear at the pier downtown, Sarah and Mom beside me. 

We had awoken early, after a long session of laser tag with our respective groups of friends, who were kind of depressed that I was leaving.

Then, this morning, we had gone out to my favorite restaurant and ordered breakfast.  I got my usual- scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes with plenty of orange cup juice.  After that, it had been time for gift-giving- Mom having surprised me with a laptop computer she had her friends at work put together for me.  It came loaded with all sorts of cool programs- even that latest version of AOL that could work through a satellite hookup so I could keep in touch.  Then Sarah had come forward with a wrapped package- letting me open it and find the videos she had personally selected for me- including "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which I had been looking for since I saw a snip of it on PBS.

Out of nowhere, a foghorn blew its loud, mournful sound out over the water.  The old ferryboat slowly floated in from the ocean, several people on board, I saw.  The only one who caught my attention was an older man with blondish-red hair.  Kind of a light orange, it looked like. He stepped off quickly as the people who sailed the boat did also.

"Going to Mineral Village, are you?"  I looked over to see a man with dark skin and white hair.

"Yeah.  I got a letter and I'm supposed to be there today in about four hours.  Think we can get there by ten?"

"Sure.  It wouldn't be a problem.  Let's get that luggage of yours loaded up and we'll get set to go."

It took the two of us about half an hour to get my luggage stored down below, after which it was announced that the ferry was leaving for Mineral Village in five minutes.

"Well… looks like this is it.  You be careful, Jason."

"I will, Mom.  Take care of the cats, and-"

"Wait.  I figured you might need a few mousers, and since I hate cooping them up in the basement….  I'm sending Snip, Licky, and Male Cat with you, where they can run around out on the farm."  She reached over and pulled a pet carrier loaded with three cats- an economy size one, at that- and deposited it on the deck next to Blazer's carrier.  They immediately started meowing, and I sat down and let them smell my fingers through the bars in the front.  They quieted somewhat; relaxed that someone they knew was with them.

The foghorn sounded again, and the engine started taking the boat away from the pier.  I waved back at Sarah and Mom as they waved at me, wishing me the best and that I be back sometime, no matter what.

The guy with the white hair looked back at me.  "Quite a lot of stuff to be taking, isn't it?"

"No, but I usually don't get to go somewhere in the blink of an eye."  I shook my head.  "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Mineral Village, would you?  I haven't been there for maybe eight, nine years."

"Well, not much has changed." He started, then looked at me.

"You must be Jason.  The boy the Mayor was in such a state about."

"I am.  I take it you must know the town pretty well."

"I do.  I live on this boat.  It's my business and my home.  My name's Greg, nice to meet you."

I reached out and took his offered hand in a handshake.  "It's nice to meet you, too.  So, what's been going on in the town lately?"

"Well, the big announcement that you're coming to town is kind of the big news… other than that, the vineyard's part-time helper quit, but it won't matter to them until this next fall…."

Greg kept talking and I kept listening, thinking back about all the people I had known when I had last visited.  Especially those five girls who would be undoubtedly turning into cute potential girlfriends. (Note:  Don't flame the author.  The farmer's a guy, what guy doesn't want a cute girl on his arm for the rest of their lives?)

'Let's see….  There was that pink-haired girl next door at the poultry farm…. Then there was that one who lived with her grandmother, the best midwife in three counties around…  then that shy one, always with a book in her hands….. and that one at the Inn, where we went to eat sometimes, and the Inn's owner would always have a few cookies for me. She was a feisty one, I think.  Wanted to learn how to play football, I think.  And finally…. That one at the market, with the long brownish hair and the great singing voice.  I wonder how everyone is….'

Eventually, a strip of land could be seen on the horizon, and it slowly turned into an island with towering mountains in the background. 

"Mineral Village, ahoy!" the call came from the boat's front, and we prepared for docking by bringing up all my luggage to the deck .

The cats meowed somewhat, Blazer barked a bit, and I steadied myself as the boat slipped into port.  It eventually came to a stop at a short pier next to a house, with a truck next to it, and a man in a red suit with a red top-hat walked forward as I stepped onto the pier.

"Welcome to Mineral Village, Jason.  It's good to see you again."

I reached out and shook his hand.  "Same here.  And it's nice to see the town hasn't changed one bit."

"Well, we've got plenty to catch up on.  But you've got to be kind of tired."

He pointed to the truck.  "Zack will take your things up to the house.  Why don't we go to the Inn and eat there?  Everyone's out working, so I think we'll be the only ones there, except for Doug."

The truck rolled away as I told the driver- a big, muscular guy- to be careful with the animals, and we proceeded to walk up the steps.

Well, that's all for the first chapter.  Chapter 2 will have Jason's first meeting with many of the villagers for the first time in 10 years.

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