Oh, I should mention... there might be some minor spoilers to people who have not completed either of the Treasure Hunt endings. So beware.
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The Prank War
Chapter 6: Festival Fiasco
It was decided that they would hold a cooking festival the next day, in which everyone who wanted to would bring a dish. The festival would be held in Walnut Forest, around the carpenter's shop.
"I'm cooking fish," Katie told Joe in a sing-song voice when he visited her at the café. "Want to try some?"
"Sure, I wouldn't mind," he answered, excited. He loved cooked fish, but didn't get to have it often.
Katie let him try a bite of a cooked and seasoned fish, and Joe loved it. "Remember, you're cooking that for me," he joked. "No one else can have it, right?"
Katie giggled. "Oh, Joe, if you want it so much, you'll have to make sure that you come early and guard it yourself. I can't do that. I'm also going to be baking a pie and some cakes, but I know that you won't be interested in that, soo"
It was then that Katie realized her grandfather was in there to check on something he was making. "Pardon me," he chuckled, "I'll leave you two alone in a minute."
"What, why the bashful look, Grandpa?" Katie asked. She was feeling really giddy today.
"I just don't want to interrupt you two is all," Wallace said with a smile.
"Oh, Grandpa!" Katie scowled. "You tease me a lot!"
Joe blushed. "Uh, er, I'd be willing to try your cakes and stuff, too, Katie, if you want me to."
"Oh really? Well, you'll have to wait because I haven't started them yet." Katie smiled at him. "Fish takes longer."
"Are those fish I caught?" he asked.
Katie nodded. "Of course! I wouldn't use any other fish, not when cooking for you," she smiled sweetly at him.
"Well, I gotta run," Joe said a little while later. "Guess who is in charge of setting up tables?"
"You? Wow, that's cool! I'll see you later, Joe."
"Later, Katie!"
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"What kind of stuff will Katie be making?" Bob wondered.
"Unedible stuff," Alan answered. "We just gotta put something in the stuff she makes so that everyone'll hate it!"
"Shouldn't be too hard, everyone will probably hate it anyway," Kayla laughed.
"Good point, but we have to make it REALLY bad," JC said. "Like adding pepper to stuff makes it bad, right?"
"No, pepper spray!" Jason suggetsed, and everyone laughed.
"Wait, I think we have some." Bob rummaged around in a cabinent somewhere, and found pepper spray.
"Why in the world do we have that?" Kayla asked.
"I don't know, Dad kept it for a long time," Bob answered.
"Yes, all right, this will work great!" Alan took the spray.
"Do you think Lyla will be making anything?" Kayla asked.
"Probably," Jason answered. "Why?"
"I heard from Gwen that the tape Katie played at the party was actually Lyla's," Kayla answered. "You should put something in whatever she makes, too."
"IF she makes anything. Lyla's known for burning things, you know," Bob pointed out.
"Very true," Kayla agreed, "But Lyla is probably one of the best cooks in the village, when she actually makes something that's good. This would be a great way to get at her!"
"We're all so evil," Alan laughed. "But, it's agreed. We'll mess up Katie and Lyla's cooking!"
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Katie cooked lots of fish and also baked an apple pie and a few different cakes for the festival. Lyla had tried cooking lots of different dishes, and brought only the best to the festival. Gina and Martha, the maids at Clove's Villa, had also made different dishes, and even Gwen had prepared a type of vegetable stew. (She refused to use any meat in her cooking.) Wallace, of course, had made the most dishes, but then again, cooking was his profession.
"Grandpa said my cakes and the pie came out great," Katie told Lyla. "Hee hee, I hope everyone likes them."
"I made a few pies, too, but Louis ate the best one while we were still at home," Lyla laughed. "Oh well. I made a lot of other dishes that came out OK, but I left them at home. I've been trying to teach Louis some basic cooking, too, but he doesn't have time to practice very often."
"Oh great, look, trouble's here," Katie muttered when the group from Brownie Ranch arrived. "Hey, where's Joe?"
"I don't see him," Lyla looked around. "He must be in one of the buildings."
"Whoah, lots of food, man! Are you sure we should do this?" JC asked, his mouth watering when he saw some of the dishes.
"Of course we'll do it!" Alan snapped, patting the pepper spray in his pocket. "Just first we need to find out what Lyla and Katie made"
"Don't ruin all the dishes," JC suggested. "I wanna pig out today!"
"Me too," Jason agreed.
"Do they serve alcohol here?" Bob asked aloud.
The other guys groaned. "Sure, nothing like being drunk before 10AM," Alan muttered. "Go knock yourself out, Bob."
Kayla made a face. "How can you like something that tastes so nasty?" she asked. "Beer is gross."
"You need to try wine," Jason told her. "Nut wine is really good."
"Well, I hardly go to the bar," Kayla chuckled. "Maybe I'll try that next time. Is it sweet?"
"Yeah, it's pretty sweet."
"Look, there's Lyla!" Alan finally spotted the pink-haired woman. "But what did she cook?"
"Beats me," JC shrugged. "Just keep an eye on her and see which dish she introduces to people as her own."
Alan did that, and finally found out when Lyla showed her dishes to Gwen. "Try it," Lyla suggested, "This cranberry pie came out very good!"
"It looks good," Gwen agreed as she took a slice. "Wow, Lyla, if only everything you baked came out this good!"
"Yeah I made that veryberry pie, too," Lyla motioned to it. "Right next to Katie's apple pie. They're both good, too."
"I'll try them later," Gwen promised. "I need to show off my stew to people!"
Lyla chuckled and waved to her, then left the table to join her husband. Alan crept up and put a light dusting of pepper spray on Lyla's cranberry pie and Katie's apple pie. "Heh heh"
"What the heck are you doing?!" Alan heard a voice behind him. He gulped and turned around, finding himself face-to-face with an angry Joe. "What did you just do to Katie's pie?"
"I was looking over these pies, which I am NOT gonna touch," Alan answered. "I hate pie, man! It's nasty! Particulairly, sweet pie, like that veryberry pie!"
"Katie made an apple pie. You're pointing to Lyla's," Joe dryly pointed out.
"Uh, whatever. I'm surprised you're not over there indulging in alcohol with Bob," Alan changed the subject.
"Well," Joe shook his head, "I would be, but I promised Katie I'd stay dry until at least noon. So I'm just waiting."
Alan watched as Bob ran into the outhouse near Kurt and Joe's shack. Gwen was laughing at him. "Looks like Bob's had enough!" Alan commented.
"Hard to fill that guy," Joe agreed. "Ugh, my outhouse I just cleaned it up..."
Alan decided to run and join Gwen. "What happened?"
"Heh, I think Bob had a little too much to drink," Gwen chuckled. "Oh well. When he comes out of there, he might be a little more sober. Might."
"Psst, by the way, I put pepper spray on some of Lyla and Katie's pies," Alan whispered. "So don't eat any more pie, OK?"
"Gotcha," Gwen said. "Heh, I wonder how long it will take everyone to notice?"
It didn't take very long. Ronald was trying Katie's pie, and had to promptly spit it out.
"Oh man, what did they use to flavor this?" he asked, washing it down with juice. "That's HOT! It tastes like pepper!"
Wallace tried a bit of it, and agreed. "Oh dear, I told Katie to be careful"
Lyla tried some a little later, too, and ended up getting sick from it. Louis had to take her home. People got the same type of reaction from Lyla's pie, as well.
"What happened?!" Katie was almost frantic. "That pie was fine when I left home!! What happened to it?"
"Great," Joe suddenly recalled, "You know what? I saw Alan hanging around the pies, earlier. I swear I saw him put something on them. It musta been pepper or something."
"Pepper spray, to be exact," Alan laughed. "That's what you get for messing with the karaoke party!"
"But Lyla got sick!" Katie was angry. "She's been feeling bad a lot lately and you just made it a lot worse!"
"So?" Alan asked. "She'll be fine tomorrow. I didn't put much pepper spray on it."
"You jerk! I hope you're sorry!" Katie, shaking with anger, decided to leave to check on Lyla.
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"Ooh, I can't take spicy foods at all," Lyla moaned when Katie came to her. "What happened to the pie?"
"Alan put pepper spray on it," Katie muttered. "I shoulda made him eat the whole thing. At least he didn't ruin my fish!"
"Well, what's done is done. But now I'm afraid I won't be able to eat for another few days." Lyla sighed and laid back in bed. Louis had propped up the pillows so that she could sit up. Katie took her hand.
"Do you want water or something?" she asked.
"I already have that." Lyla sat back up. "Katie there's something I really want to tell you I haven't told Louis yet, but I know I should"
"Where is Louis?" Katie asked, having noticed that he wasn't around.
"Getting me some medicine. He has stuff to help with an upset stomach. It really works, too." Lyla smiled. "He's so wonderful"
"What is it you want to tell me?" Katie asked.
"I think I think" Lyla blushed and leaned closer to Katie so that she could almost whisper. "I'm not sure, but You know how I haven't been normal lately?"
Katie nodded. Duh, the whole town probably knew by now.
"There's something else, too. My... cycle, if you know what I mean, well, I've missed the past two months." She leaned even closer, and whispered to Katie, "I'm not sure, but I think I might be pregnant."
Katie gasped. "Oh my gosh! Lyla! That's great!"
"Shh, not too loud," Lyla scolded, "I'm not sure, I want to find out for sure before I tell Louis."
"So then, you're always feeling nauseous and I'll bet that spice didn't help," Katie muttered. "I'm really sorry, Lyla. We should just stop this whole prank thing, I don't want anyone else to get hurt I'm supposed to go back to school tomorrow, anyway," she moaned. "Back to the same old routine"
"Are you packed yet?" Lyla asked.
"Yeah. I leave mid-day tomorrow. I'll be sure to stop by to say goodbye."
"When will you be back?"
"In four months. I'll be sure to write you, though," Katie promised. "And when I come back, I'll be back to stay!"
Lyla would have said something else, but Louis came in with the medicine then—and Joe. "How are you, Lyla?" Joe asked. "Stupid Alan played a prank on us"
"I'll be fine," Lyla assured him. "I just can't take spicy foods."
Lyla took the medicine, and Joe and Katie decided it was best to leave. "Heh, don't worry about getting back to Alan," Joe told her, "Everyone's a bit upset about what he did."
"That's good." Katie sighed. "What a way to ruin my last day here"
Joe sighed. "I wish you wouldn't have mentioned that you make it sound so final"
Katie smiled. "OK, then, the last day before I leave for my four-month-long trip. How's that?"
"Better. I'm still gonna miss you, though."
"Maybe you can come visit me," Katie suggested. "They allow visitors. Grandpa's come once or twice."
Joe didn't answer at first. Yes, he had every intention of visiting Katie while she was at school, but there was something else on his mind, too
"Wallace, can I talk to you?" Joe asked next time he was at the bar, the day that Katie left. She'd only been gone a few hours, but Joe already missed her sorely.
"Sure, what's the problem?" Wallace asked.
"Not a problem so much, um," Joe blushed. "I'd like to ask you about your granddaughter"
"Oh, Katie," Wallace laughed. "What about her? She's quite fond of you, young man."
Joe nodded. "I know. And I'm really fond of her, too. I was wondering" Joe looked around to make sure no one else was in earshot. Actually no one else was there, but he wanted to keep it quiet, anyway. He leaned over and asked Wallace a question. Wallace's eyes grew wide, but he nodded.
"So then, I can go with you to Flowerbud City next time?" Joe asked.
"Absolutely," Wallace answered.