"Listen Jack, I have to go."
Jack stared at him in bewilderment. "What? Why?"
Cliff shook his head. "Don't have a place to stay," he said. "Winter's here, and a cave isn't a good place for a guy to sleep."
"You can stay with me for a while—"
"No Jack," he said firmly. "I've said my goodbyes and I'm leaving."
Jack frowned heavily as Cliff turned to leave.
"Cliff! Wait!"
Cliff tilted his head to look at him.
"Don't you at least want to say goodbye to Ann before you go?"
Cliff scowled. "No." Just seeing her face would hurt too much.
Jack gazed at Cliff solemnly. "Don't do that to her. She really does love you, you know."
Cliff couldn't face him anymore. He turned away. "Not like she loves you."
Jack stared, confused. "I don't under—"
"I'm leaving," he said. "Goodbye, Jack."
Jack couldn't think of anything to say. He knew exactly what Cliff was implying, but was afraid to say it for fear of confirming it.
And Cliff walked away from the farm, and it would be the last time Jack would see Cliff for a long time.
Sonya had hoped for her birthday to pass silently and unnoticed, as they had a tendency to do. Her father would usually buy her a cake from Elli's bakery, and that was usually all she needed. But on her thirteenth birthday, Sonya received the strangest of all surprises she had ever recalled. It came in the form of an oddly-dressed, pony tailed, rough-looking stranger who happened to stop by her home.
On the day of her birthday when a knock came to the door, Sonya was expecting either Ann or Mint coming to quickly wish her a happy birthday, but instead she found a middle-aged, unshaven man glaring down at her, and she nearly jumped for the fact that she'd never seen him before in her life. The man seemed just as surprised. They stared at each other curiously for a moment, each wondering who the other was and what they were doing at the vineyard, until the man finally broke the silence by asking: "Is Gotz here?"
Sonya assumed he was referring to her grandfather and shook her head. "He moved out a while ago."
He paused briefly, eyes falling in disappointment, and then continued. "Is Sasha here?"
She shook her head once more, aptly curious at who this man was and how he knew her grandparents. "She moved with him."
She saw his shoulders sag, and as a last attempt, he said, "Karen?"
Sonya hesitated before shaking her head a final time. "She left before them." She suddenly felt pity for this man - though his rough exterior did not suggest it, he seemed desperate.
"Oh," he said, and then rubbed his arm. "Okay then. Thanks anyway." He turned to leave, and he had taken a few sluggish steps off of the doormat before Sonya called after him, "Wait!"
He turned to face her. "Mm?"
She looked at him squarely. "You knew my mom?"
He blinked in surprise, realization dawning upon him, and then gazed at her as if for the first time. Sonya held herself, though she felt herself tense under this strange man's gaze. After what seemed like an eternity, the man finally said, "Ah, I see now." He smiled at her warmly, and Sonya felt herself relax. "You have her eyes."
Sonya continued to stare. "Who are you?"
The man seemed amused. He put his hands to his waist and said, "You first."
"Sonya," she said briefly.
The man nodded his head and offered his hand. "Nice to meet you, Sonya. My name is Cliff. I used to know your mother very well."
Sonya felt intrigued by this man, and spent the rest of the afternoon following him around the village. He received several blank stares and greeted no one, and it didn't take a genius to tell he had been here at least once before. By the time they reached the mountains, Sonya concluded that Cliff was a very odd man indeed, and this fact only succeeded in fascinating her further. However, Sonya's presence did not go unnoticed, and so the man tried to make conversation with her more than few times. They soon learned that each of them were people of few words, and could therefore walk in a comfortable silence.
After a few hours of following this man around in almost complete silence, Sonya's curiosity was getting the best of her, and she soon found herself unable to stop asking questions. Luckily for her, Cliff didn't seem to mind much.
She asked him the most obvious question first. "Do you know the people here?"
Cliff continued walking as though she'd never said anything. Sonya waited a moment for an answer until she decided she would get none, and also pretended she'd never asked. However, she was not satisfied, and asked him another question: "How do you know my mom?" This one he answered.
"We were friends," Cliff said. Sonya knew it was not the whole truth as much as she knew he wouldn't tell it to her.
"Did you know her well?"
"Yes."
"How long ago were you here?"
"Are you traveling alone?"
"Yes."
"Don't you have any family anywhere?"
"I used to," he said vaguely. "I suppose I still do now."
"Why aren't you with them?"
"I don't know where they are."
"Where did you get those clothes from?"
"I made them."
"Why don't you cut your hair?"
"Don't feel like it."
"Why is your hair blonde in the back?"
"Same reason your mother's was."
Sonya stopped in her tracks. "What?"
"You heard me."
Sonya stopped bombarding Cliff with questions after that.
It was late afternoon when Cliff stopped at the mountain base, in the place behind the carpenter's hut. Sonya asked him what they were doing here, but once again, she received no reply. Cliff walked along the rocky wall of the mountain, apparently searching for something, until he finally muttered, "Ah, here it is."
Sonya, who had been staring at him as though he were crazy, asked, "Here what is?"
And he gave her an answer by slipping between the rocks and vanishing.
Sonya stared and rushed to the spot where he had disappeared to, and was not surprised to find a crevice within the rock. She peeked in to see a cave large enough to fit twenty people, if not more. And there in the center was Cliff, on his knees lighting lanterns. Sonya slipped into the crevice and stared at him disbelievingly. "What are you doing in here?"
Cliff, meanwhile, was peering into a hole on the eastern wall. "Hmm... looks like the sprites have left."
"The what?!" Sonya couldn't believe her ears. "Are you insane?!"
Cliff lifted himself back onto his feet. "Partially," he said.
Sonya dropped to her knees. After a moment of silence in which Cliff busied himself with unpacking food from his rucksack, Sonya asked, "What sprites?"
"The Harvest Sprites," he said casually.
Sonya crossed her legs. "You're being serious, aren't you."
"Of course I am." Cliff looked at her earnestly. "People are just too skeptical to believe these kinds of things. In fact, I believe there was a grand total of three people in this place who knew they existed."
"Who were they?"
Cliff leaned against the back wall and folded his arms behind his head. "Well, there was me... Then there was the potion shop dealer..."
"You can't possibly mean Kent," Sonya interrupted.
Cliff waved his hand. "No, of course not. Kent was his grandson."
Sonya frowned. "Oh. I think the guy you're talking about passed away a while ago."
"Oh?" Cliff eyed her. "That's too bad. He was a wise man."
"Who was the third person?" Sonya prompted impatiently.
"A farmer named Jack," he answered.
"You knew Jack?" Sonya asked, suddenly interested.
"Of course. Who didn't?" Cliff chuckled to himself. "That guy knew everybody. He was one of my best friends way back when. I suppose he's still around?"
"He's been around as long as I can remember," Sonya clarified.
Cliff grinned fondly. "He was a good guy, albeit a strange one. A bit on the naïve side, if you ask me, but he had this odd wittiness that just seemed to show up in him randomly. Responsible, but had a horrible temper. Is he still like that?"
Sonya shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "Well, I guess he's kinda responsible, like a grown-up, and um..."
"Jack? Are you kidding? He was one of the most childish people I knew."
Sonya shrugged once more. "But that's just me..."
"Maybe he's changed," said Cliff.
"Maybe," Sonya muttered, unsure of what else to say.
Cliff folded his arms, and Sonya could just see him melting back into his stoic persona. A few silent moments passed before Cliff asked, "What time are you supposed to be home?"
Sonya cursed aloud. "Dad's gonna kill me!" she exclaimed, and scrambled to her feet.
Sonya was already at the entrance. "I promise to stop by later. Bye!" She squeezed herself through the crevice and dashed back home, leaving Cliff to wonder who exactly 'Dad' was.
"I don't know why they even bother," Rune said, scrubbing the tabletop clean. He worked at the bar daily now, though Duke, who was both the bartender and Rune's great uncle, forbade him to do so during open hours.
"No," said Duke, "You don't."
Rune obviously didn't take the hint. "They really should sell it," he continued. "Though I can't say they'd make much of a profit off of it…"
Duke frowned at him, the creases digging into his face. "On the contrary, the vineyard is ideal farming land."
Rune looked up from his scrubbing. "Then why can't they grow grapes?"
"They can," said Duke. "Just not well."
"You know what I mean."
Duke rolled his tired eyes. "They only have two workers – three if you count yourself, and that's just during Fall – one of which is a stubborn little girl who refuses to work most of the time."
Rune tossed his cloth onto a chair, abandoning his task altogether. "From what I understand, the vineyard was failing long before Gotz and his family left. Now why's that?"
"It's as much a mystery to you as it is to me, boy." Duke looked at him crossly. "Now do your work."
Rune picked up his cloth and resumed washing the table, continuing his talk. "I don't get it," he said. "The soil's not bad or anything, right?"
Duke sighed, exasperated. "Why are you so interested in this all of a sudden?"
"I'm curious, that's all. It was really successful before, wasn't it?"
"Of course."
"So why isn't it now?"
"Nope." Rune seated himself in one of the chairs, watching Duke eagerly.
"She was Gotz's mother," Duke began, "and Karen's grandmother and Sonya's great-grandmother. She founded the vineyard. The story goes that the vineyard was a truly miserable place until Eve set herself to restoring it. And do you want to know how?"
"Yes..."
Duke picked up a broom and began sweeping the floorboards. "She prayed to the fairies."
"Excuse me?"
"I said she prayed to the fairies. So they aided her, dancing around the vines and nurturing the grapes until they grew round and fat and a healthy shade of purple."
Rune waved his arm dismissively. "You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"
Duke rolled his shoulders, sweeping the dust into a corner. "Believe what you will. All I know is that the vineyard died along with Eve."
Rune folded his arms, still unwilling to believe him. "So why didn't the others pray to the fairies?"
"Oh, Karen tried. Several times." Duke opened the door momentarily to sweep the dust out of the bar. "She'd tell me about it, too. She'd sit in front of that Goddess pond for hours, hissing prayers under her breath and trying to force the fairies out of their hiding place." Duke closed the door and placed the broom in a corner. "Poor girl."
"She didn't really think it would work, did she?"
"Given her what?" Rune stood up.
Duke frowned, muttering darkly to himself. "Stupid of me, saving it like that..."
"Uncle Duke?"
Duke glanced at Rune momentarily before turning and heading into the back room silently, leaving Rune to stare confusedly. After minutes had passed, Duke finally returned, a bottle of wine in his hands. He dropped it into Rune's hands wordlessly.
Rune examined the bottle. "What is this?" he said, brushing the dust off of the glass.
"Eve's wine," Duke said, and Rune looked up at him, bewildered. Duke rubbed his shoulder. "The Door to Heaven, more commonly known as Heaven's Gate. The farmer's grandfather gave it to me; he wanted me to give it to Jack. But I wanted to give it to Karen, she may have needed it when she was praying..." He looked at the boy. "It's yours now."
Rune regarded the bottle with a new respect. "You can't be serious. Do you know how much money this is worth? I – we should give it to Kai! And..."
"Do what you want with it. Just put it to good use."