Well, while I was writing this chapter, a certain ending was suddenly opened up to me for the first time on the game, and I just HAD to write about it. Can you tell which one...?
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The Prank War
Chapter 3: Poisoned Tea and A Missing Horse
"What does Katie hate, huh?" Gwen was sitting on the table in the carpenter's shop, calculating the cost of the wood Kayla was asking for on a notepad. She swung her legs back and forth, almost kicking a shelf in front of her. "I'm not sure," Gwen said finally. "She hates being treated as the child that she truly is, but, other than that, I can't think of any items that she really hates."
"Darn," Kayla was disappointed. "I was hoping that we could get her back for the pie thing."
"Maybe you'll have to do something else. Something drastic."
"Like?"
Gwen grinned. "Joe has tomorrow off, and I know he always goes to the café for lunch."
"So?"
"He always gets food and a drink. Katie usually takes a break along with him."
"And how would that help me?"
Gwen got off the table and rummaged around for something on a shelf. She finally found what she was looking for: a small sachet. She gave it to Kayla.
"It's a powder. A little toxic, just a pinch of it in someone's drink would make them sick."
"Wha?" Kayla was a little stunned. "You're suggesting I should put this in their drinks?"
"Yeah."
"But, wouldn't they notice it?"
Gwen frowned and took the sachet back. "Um, well, yeah, that could be a problem. Hey, I've got a plan." Gwen quietly told Kayla her plan, and Kayla nodded and grinned.
The next day, Joe went fishing as usual, and stopped by the café at noon, just after it opened. Unbeknownst to him, someone was waiting behind the café
"Come on, Kayla, remember the promise," Gwen murmured to herself.
Sure enough, Kayla came on her horse, Lemon Drop, just a few minutes after Joe came into the café. Gwen gave her a thumbs up, and Kayla nodded, a little nervous as to what she had to do. She gently nudged Lemon Drop to a slow gallop, then whispered to the horse. "Throw me."
Lemon Drop reared, and Kayla fell off, she managed to cushion her fall, but it still hurt a little. She'd practiced this for a long time now, but falling off the horse was always hard. She cried out.
"Ow! Ow! Someone, help me! I can't get up!"
Gwen grinned, gave her a thumbs up and ran into the café through a side door. The three inside the café, Katie, Joe, and Wallace, came out to see what the ruckus was about.
"Oh, Kayla! Are you all right?" Katie asked, worried.
Kayla managed to stand up, making it look like she was having trouble. "Ooh, yeah, Lemon Drop got startled and threw me I know it was an accident, right, girl?" Kayla patted her horse. "Sorry to scare you guys."
"Are you alright?" Katie asked again.
"A little sore, but I'll just go home. Can you help me on her?" Kayla asked Joe.
"Sure." Joe helped Kayla onto the horse, and Kayla waved to them. "See you, guys! Thanks for checking to see if I was OK!" Kayla rode off.
Wallace, Katie, and Joe went back into the café, and Katie was sure that she heard the door of the kitchen shut no, it must have just been Joe shutting the front door of the café. Yeah, that was it. She and Joe turned back to their lunch.
"That was weird," Katie said. "I've never seen Kayla come here on her horse."
"Yeah." Joe took a sip of his tea and made a face. "This tastes a little funny"
Katie tried hers. "Ew, bitter." She grabbed a sugar packet and dumped it in. She tried it again. "Ah, much better."
Joe also took a sugar packet, but didn't put the whole thing into his tea. "Yeah, that's better."
"Guess the sugar already in it settled."
"I didn't have any in mine."
"Oh? Well, maybe it was just something else then"
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It was something else, as Joe and Katie found out the next day.
"I am not getting up," Joe moaned to Gwen who was prodding him with her boot. He was still lying on the floor on his cushion, the covers pulled over his head. "I'm sick today."
"Heh, how long were you out drinking last night?" Gwen demanded, giving him another light kick.
"He didn't go to the bar last night," Kurt told her. "I think he's really sick."
Gwen sighed and crossed her arms, looking at the young man. "Oh-kay, I'll tell Grandpa that you're ill. But get better soon, OK? Grandpa won't like it if you're out for more than one day." Gwen walked out of the shack, Kurt following her.
Louis was waiting outside. "Oh, hi, uh, I'd like to order some firewood," he said nervously. He was always nervous around any girl, other than Lyla.
"OK, I'll help you in the office. Kurt, get some wood together."
Kurt nodded and did as he was told.
"Where's Joe today?" Louis asked. "H-he's not working?"
"Nah, he's sick," Gwen answered as they reached the office. She opened the door, went to the table, and picked up her notepad. "How much?"
"As much as 300G will buy."
"OK," Gwen wrote it down.
"By the way Lyla told me that Katie was sick today too."
Gwen stopped writing and looked up. "Really?"
"Y-yeah."
Gwen tried her hardest not to smile. "Guess it's just a little bug going around then."
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Kayla was getting a little frantic. She knew that Tim had come to Clove's Villa to continue his search for the Sacred Land, but he hadn't come back yet. Kayla had been taking care of the animals all day, now she had to find her little brother.
She finally found him when she knocked on the door of the main house. "Um, excuse me," she told Gina, the maid, "You haven't happened to see a young boy with black hair dressed like an explorer around here, have you?"
"Do you mean Mr. Tim?" Gina asked. "He is visiting with Miss Dia right now."
Kayla stared at her. "Wha-what? Visiting with Miss Dia?"
"Kayla? Is that you?" Tim suddenly appeared in the entryway in front of her. "Kayla! I asked Miss Clove to help me find the Sacred Land!"
"Um, that's nice Tim, but you should tell us where you're going next time," Kayla sighed. "You know how scary Bob is when he's mad."
"Yeah, but we might be able to find it. Come on!" Tim grabbed his sister's hand and led her into the front room. Dia was examining books on the shelf, intently looking for something.
"Miss Clove might know about the Sacred Land," Tim told Kayla. "She's looking for a book on it."
Dia picked up one of the books and flipped through it. "Oh didn't Katie say she needed Moon Drop Dew for something?"
"Y-yes, Miss," Gina answered. "That was awhile ago, Miss."
"Well, I think I just found the book that says how to make it. But, as for the Sacred Land" Dia sighed and turned to Tim. "I am sorry, Tim. I cannot find the book."
"Aw, man," Tim was disappointed. "Can I look around here to see if I can find anything?"
Dia nodded. "Yes, you have my permission to do that."
"Thanks!" Tim exclaimed. "do I have to go home, Kayla?"
"No," Kayla answered, "I just needed to find where you were is all."
"OK. I'm gonna go look to the carpenter's shop and ask if they know anything!" Tim waved to everyone and left. Kayla followed.
When Kayla got back home, she found that Gwen was there, caring for her splendid red mare, Mille Feuille Napoleon (or just Mille for short). Kayla waved to her. "Hey! What's up?"
"I got off work early today," Gwen said, then snickered. "Since Joe's a bit ill."
Kayla giggled. "I wonder if they'll figure out why they're sick?"
"Dunno. Hopefully no one will find out."
Kayla suddenly thought of something. "Uh-oh"
"What?"
"I did tell Tim where I was going yesterday and why," Kayla gulped. "Shoot! He went to the carpenter's place! And you know that he can't keep a secret!" Kayla ran off to try to stop her brother from going to the carpenter's shop.
But it was too late
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Tim saw that no one was working outside, and the shop was closed. Rats, he thought, No one's here. He decided look around and see if anyone was home.
He finally caught sight of one of the apprentices, Kurt. Tim waved to him. "Hey! Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Kurt didn't answer, didn't even acknowledge that he was there. Tim ran up to him anyway and showed him the treasure map.
"You helped build Clove's Villa, right? Do you know anything about this?"
"Go away," Kurt mumbled.
Tim wouldn't let that stop him. "It says something about a Sacred Land' in Praria Forest. Do you know anything about it?"
Kurt shook his head. Tim frowned.
"Why's the shop closed today? Can't I talk to Gwen or Woody?"
"Joe is sick," Kurt answered.
"Ooh Kayla told me that she and Gwen were gonna play some kind of a prank on Joe and Katie. Hehe, I guess they did! Where's Woody?"
"I don't know."
"Well, I'll go look for him." Tim left for the lake.
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Kurt casually mentioned to his brother that Kayla and Gwen had played a prank on him and Katie. Joe immedeately understood.
"Oh, great," he groaned, "Gwen must have slipped something in our tea! That would explain it Well, they're not getting away with it!"
"Why don't you just stop this whole thing?"
"And let Alan's team win? No way!!"
Kurt sighed and closed his eyes. Joe wouldn't change his mind, that was for sure.
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The next day, Katie and Joe were better, and Katie told Joe that she had a plan, though she'd need Dia's help. Katie went to the villa to talk to Dia, and they knew just what to do
"OK, Bob's gone," Katie whispered. She and Dia were hiding behind a tree near the stable at Brownie Farm.
"Alright, go," Dia told her. "Be quick."
Katie ran into the stable. It was unlocked. She found the horse she was looking for and led it out. Dia followed her out of the ranch.
"Hehe, I'm glad that Mille trusts me!" Katie patted the horse. "You're my friend too, right, girl?"
"Here's the stable. I'll tell the maids that we have an extra horse." Dia and Katie put Mille into one of the stables at the villa. "This ought to be interesting"
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"What do you mean, Mille's gone?!?!" Gwen demanded. Her fists were balled and she looked ready to slug Bob. He was trying to calm her down.
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she just wandered out."
"That's my prize horse!! The horse who—almost—won the race!" Gwen screeched. She tried to punch Bob, but he ducked just in time. "You'd better find her soon, or else!"
"Or else what?!" Bob shouted at her. "There's nothing that we can do other than look, Gwen. Yelling at me isn't going to do anything!"
"It makes me feel better, that's what." Gwen scowled. "You'd better find my horse, Bob!" Gwen stomped off.
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Tim was at the villa again, looking for any more clues that might lead him to the Sacred Land. Since Miss Clove didn't mind him looking wherever he wanted, he wandered near the stable on the villa, intruigued by a pile of rocks
"That's really weird," he thought aloud. "Can I climb them?"
He turned around to look over the land again. He'd never noticed the stable before. It looked a little more run-down than the rest of the house, so it had probably been there before the house was built. It was small, too, being able to accommodate maybe two or three animals at the most.
Being the curious boy that he was, he decided to take a look at it. He recognized the only horse inside.
"Mille?!"
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"You'd better have one heck of a good excuse for having my horse in your stable," Gwen angrily told Dia.
Dia managed to keep a straight face. "Indeed I do," she answered. "You made my dear friend Katie ill. I could not allow that to stand."
Katie had to blush a little when Dia called her a "dear friend".
"Well, you scared the heck out of me by hiding my horse!!" Gwen snapped. "I'll get you for that, Dia Clove!" Gwen left with her horse.
Katie sighed and shook her head. "That was fun, but Tim had to ruin it early on"
"Tim meant no harm. He is just doing his job." Dia sighed. "Truthfully, I would have been more worried if he hadn't told Gwen about her horse being here She would have been much more angry if Tim had kept it a secret."
"Yeah, I guess so. Well, I'll see you later, Dia!" Katie waved to her friend and went home.