Ann hadn't been tentative about anything in a long time, and she realized the full weight of her position as she approached the front door to the cottage-style house on the vineyard. An apology to Karen and then a nice talk would surely do her wonders. Once everything was settled, Karen could help Ann better define the most recent stirrings of her heart.
The front concrete slab that served as a doorstep was covered in frost; just staring at it hinted at the hostile, cold and somber feelings of the residents at that house. Ann shivered as the wind picked up and whipped at her skin, and was sure to spread that famous cheerful smile across her young face when Karen's father answered the door.
"Karen's up in her room," Gotz grunted without saying so much as a hello. He opened the door for her, at least, though Ann knew that despite his strange ways of greeting houseguests, which were so rare, he meant no harm and welcomed Ann always. She looked up at the man who was not much taller than her-although he was definitely wider-with his gruff face and cinder-brown beard, and thought of how Karen had every right to lash out if she had to live under the same roof with someone just as stubborn and always looking so upset.
"Hello Ann," greeted Sasha, seated at the coffee table with her hair in the usual meticulous honey-blonde bun, dead center on the back of her head. She looked as if it had been drawn up too tight and it was hurting her head. Karen's mother looked a little more glum than usual, and Ann could only guess that another quarrel had gone on in here and she had come at such a wrong time. "I would have been happy to make you a cup of tea, but I've been a little out of it lately. Please make yourself at home. Karen is waiting in her room and I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
"It's okay, and thank you." Ann walked nervously up the stairs leading into Karen's bedroom. The wooden stairs creaked under her feet and she noticed that the little pink mat was gone from the foot of the staircase. Perhaps even her room wasn't quite so welcoming anymore?
Before Ann's knuckles rapped on the door she thought she heard sobbing come from inside Karen's room and wondered just what in the world was going on. It wasn't like Karen to cry over her father anymore-she'd been long past that stage since she was about seven or nine years old. But Ann's fingers had already made their noises on the wood door; there was no turning back now, not after this and after her parents just let her into the house. Besides, she'd have to figure out what it was that was making Karen cry. Whether Karen was displeased with Ann or not, it was her responsibility as a friend to comfort Karen, especially with what she's been through with her family for some years now.
"What?" came Karen's voice, soft as that of a five-year-old girl. She could hear Karen choking back her sobs and felt as if her own heart would break. It was one thing to see your best friend cry, but if she's seventeen and you've just turned sixteen, and someone you've looked up to for so long is crying, it's painful on both parts. The door to Karen's bedroom was cut and placed in poorly, and she could see Karen's long bare feet moving in the three-inch gap that separated the bottom of the door from the wooden floor.
"Karen? It's me, Ann. Come on out, or let me in, or something. We really need to talk."
Much to Ann's surprise, Karen opened the door and wiped her red, tear-streaked face with her palm. She hiccupped to herself and each time she did, her shoulders shook. Karen looked down at the floor in shame-apparently it was not enough to have argued with her father again and have been on bad terms with her best friend, so some supernatural force decided she had to look this way in front of someone she was jealous of and highly respected.
"Karen, I-Well, let me say what I have to say first, and then you're going to tell me what's wrong." Ann said this with an air of real bravery as soon as they were seated at the small tea table Karen had since she was about four or five. Karen only nodded and kept silent and they both stared at the pink checkered tablecloth and small tea things that had been there for so long.
"Okay... well, how should I do this.... Okay. So, about what I said when we were at the Dog Race-after I left, I thought you were totally right. I mean it. I really shouldn't have said what I did, and the last thing I wanna do is fire you up, so naturally I'm sorry. I really am. And then I received word from Cliff that you talked to him, and I came to also say that-"
"Oh, never mind that," Karen spoke at last. "Who cares about him. Who cares about anybody. All this hostility only comes from people constantly poking into others' business. Wouldn't we all be happier if we could all live our lives the way we want to?"
"Karen, what's happened?" Ann took on a surprised look. Not that she hadn't expected Karen to have those kind of views on life, but normally apologies were rare in Karen's home and they were things to treasure and value like money or antiques.
Karen's chest and shoulders shook and her hair flew about as she swiftly buried her face in her hands and failed to suppress a sob. Ann gave her recovery time, and Karen's face changed color again when she looked up. "He threatened to disown me this time."
Ann stood up defiantly. "He did??? Well, what happened????"
"I don't wanna get married, Ann. You know that, the whole freaking village knows that. My father, however, is obsessed with it just so he can get me out of this house. He can't stand me, Ann! He keeps saying all the time at the bar that he didn't want a girl and he has no idea what I'm thinking... Ann, he thinks my intentions are evil! What with Basil talking about marrying Popuri off to someone nice who deserves her... my father overheard and got these crazy ideas when he was all drunk and crap, and he's desperate to marry me off. He thinks it'll solve all his problems, but he doesn't realize that the only way he's ever going to find peace is if he just leaves me alone!!!!!!"
Ann frowned. "I see what you mean." Then suddenly her face brightened. "Karen? Do you ever want to really 'get away from it all'? For a long time, I mean? Instead of spending just a few hours at the beach?"
Karen looked up, hopeful. She folded her hands and rested her chin on them. "Would I ever. But where am I going to get that opportunity unless I get married and move out?"
Ann took Karen's hands and warmed them with her own. "You don't have to. You can spend the night with me on the farm. It'll be fun, I promise. Just like when we were little girls. And you can come now; you don't have to take anything. I can loan you a nightdress-maybe one that's too long for me-and I've got my own private stash of sweets."
Karen grinned. "You'd really do that for me?"
"Of course."
Walking out of the vineyard with Karen's hand in hers, Ann walked smack into Cliff and remembered just what she had promised herself-a lighter disposition towards him. But she needn't worry about it this time around-the look on Cliff's face, plus the fact that he was on the vineyard, told her something was really up and he needed her cooperation for real.
"Ann! I just heard from the Potion Shop Dealer that Jack is sick right now. He doesn't want to receive anybody, he says, but I thought that if you went over there it might cheer him up. I mean, after he shooed Popuri away and all-"
"He did???" Karen and Ann burst at the same time, then they looked at each other.
"No, no, you better go in there," Karen said once they arrived on Jack's farm. She picked up Spunky and played with his little paws. "Something's up if he's gonna leave the little guy out in the snow like this. Besides, everyone knows you and him are a pair-"
"Shut up," Ann said, embarrassed, with a half-smile as she pushed open the door.
Jack lay half-asleep on the old bed in the corner, but before she went over to him she looked around the place. And what a house it was! Ann remembered it as just a simple log cabin when his grandfather ran the farm last year. Now Jack seemed to be not only restoring the farm, but the house too! She observed the door to the kitchen and a stairway leading to the top of the roof. It was quite a comfortable living in here, and she spotted the rug that her cousin Rick was selling last month at his Tool Shop. At least someone was being nice to Rick and buying the few goods he had!
"Jack," she whispered when she neared him, resting a hand on his shoulder that the quilt had been drawn up over. "It's Ann. I let myself in, sorry, but I heard you were sick and I came to give you some of this."
Jack's eyelids fluttered open and the little boy's face he had awakened. How cute he looked when he was asleep! When he saw Ann, his face broke into an uncontrollable smile like a sick child's when he woke up to see his mother with his favorite teddy bear.
"Ann!" he exclaimed, then coughed. "Why'd ya come?"
"Because I care about your health, silly!" Ann said softly, choosing her words carefully. "Now here, have some of this. I bought it from the Potion Shop Dealer, but I mixed in some honey too. Oh, hehe, and I got you a cookie from Elli's bakery."
"You didn't bake one?" Jack made that cute, familiar puppy face and then chuckled.
"Oh, you!!!!" Ann laughed. Instead of whacking him with the pillow she put her arms around his neck and shoulders.
"I'd advise you to stay back. Wouldn't want you to get this cold." Jack sniffled, his nose red. He was so cute even when he was sick.....
"That's okay," Ann grinned. "Well, um.... Are you going to be well enough to go to the Starry Night festival tomorrow? Some people watch the stars from other places, but most of us gather at the church. Elli, Maria and I will be playing music. Unless of course, Popuri already asked you to go to the mountain with her."
Jack managed a weak laugh and lay back against the huge pillow. "Hehe... nah, I don't do the whole Alone-With-Popuri thing. I'll go to church with you." The power of his words reached Ann, and her heart thundered; "with you" seemed to have its own affect that made it stand above all words he'd ever said to her. "Unless of course, you're going as a date with Cliff," he said in the manner she did.
"No!!!!!" Ann wanted to shout, but instead she half-whispered it loudly. "I don't have anything going on with him, or anybody. I don't do the whole Alone-With-Cliff thing, at least not as his girlfriend. Cliff and I are strictly friends."
"That's good to hear," Jack said sincerely. "I wouldn't want you dating him without telling me first." Jack's hand was warm and it reached for hers. He curled his fingers around Ann's hand and gave it a small squeeze. Ann was much too paralyzed to move her fingers but loved it all the same.
Jack coughed again and Ann realized how long she'd been in here, and painfully withdrew her hand from his. "I shouldn't be here too long. Karen's waiting outside for me. I hope you feel better soon, and please get some sleep."
"Thanks," Jack replied, and just as Ann was getting to the door he added. "Oh, and Ann? Thank you so much for visiting me. I think I'll feel better much faster after you've been here."
Ann clenched a fist to her pounding heart and closed the door silently, numb with something that she knew wasn't just the cold.
The front concrete slab that served as a doorstep was covered in frost; just staring at it hinted at the hostile, cold and somber feelings of the residents at that house. Ann shivered as the wind picked up and whipped at her skin, and was sure to spread that famous cheerful smile across her young face when Karen's father answered the door.
"Karen's up in her room," Gotz grunted without saying so much as a hello. He opened the door for her, at least, though Ann knew that despite his strange ways of greeting houseguests, which were so rare, he meant no harm and welcomed Ann always. She looked up at the man who was not much taller than her-although he was definitely wider-with his gruff face and cinder-brown beard, and thought of how Karen had every right to lash out if she had to live under the same roof with someone just as stubborn and always looking so upset.
"Hello Ann," greeted Sasha, seated at the coffee table with her hair in the usual meticulous honey-blonde bun, dead center on the back of her head. She looked as if it had been drawn up too tight and it was hurting her head. Karen's mother looked a little more glum than usual, and Ann could only guess that another quarrel had gone on in here and she had come at such a wrong time. "I would have been happy to make you a cup of tea, but I've been a little out of it lately. Please make yourself at home. Karen is waiting in her room and I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
"It's okay, and thank you." Ann walked nervously up the stairs leading into Karen's bedroom. The wooden stairs creaked under her feet and she noticed that the little pink mat was gone from the foot of the staircase. Perhaps even her room wasn't quite so welcoming anymore?
Before Ann's knuckles rapped on the door she thought she heard sobbing come from inside Karen's room and wondered just what in the world was going on. It wasn't like Karen to cry over her father anymore-she'd been long past that stage since she was about seven or nine years old. But Ann's fingers had already made their noises on the wood door; there was no turning back now, not after this and after her parents just let her into the house. Besides, she'd have to figure out what it was that was making Karen cry. Whether Karen was displeased with Ann or not, it was her responsibility as a friend to comfort Karen, especially with what she's been through with her family for some years now.
"What?" came Karen's voice, soft as that of a five-year-old girl. She could hear Karen choking back her sobs and felt as if her own heart would break. It was one thing to see your best friend cry, but if she's seventeen and you've just turned sixteen, and someone you've looked up to for so long is crying, it's painful on both parts. The door to Karen's bedroom was cut and placed in poorly, and she could see Karen's long bare feet moving in the three-inch gap that separated the bottom of the door from the wooden floor.
"Karen? It's me, Ann. Come on out, or let me in, or something. We really need to talk."
Much to Ann's surprise, Karen opened the door and wiped her red, tear-streaked face with her palm. She hiccupped to herself and each time she did, her shoulders shook. Karen looked down at the floor in shame-apparently it was not enough to have argued with her father again and have been on bad terms with her best friend, so some supernatural force decided she had to look this way in front of someone she was jealous of and highly respected.
"Karen, I-Well, let me say what I have to say first, and then you're going to tell me what's wrong." Ann said this with an air of real bravery as soon as they were seated at the small tea table Karen had since she was about four or five. Karen only nodded and kept silent and they both stared at the pink checkered tablecloth and small tea things that had been there for so long.
"Okay... well, how should I do this.... Okay. So, about what I said when we were at the Dog Race-after I left, I thought you were totally right. I mean it. I really shouldn't have said what I did, and the last thing I wanna do is fire you up, so naturally I'm sorry. I really am. And then I received word from Cliff that you talked to him, and I came to also say that-"
"Oh, never mind that," Karen spoke at last. "Who cares about him. Who cares about anybody. All this hostility only comes from people constantly poking into others' business. Wouldn't we all be happier if we could all live our lives the way we want to?"
"Karen, what's happened?" Ann took on a surprised look. Not that she hadn't expected Karen to have those kind of views on life, but normally apologies were rare in Karen's home and they were things to treasure and value like money or antiques.
Karen's chest and shoulders shook and her hair flew about as she swiftly buried her face in her hands and failed to suppress a sob. Ann gave her recovery time, and Karen's face changed color again when she looked up. "He threatened to disown me this time."
Ann stood up defiantly. "He did??? Well, what happened????"
"I don't wanna get married, Ann. You know that, the whole freaking village knows that. My father, however, is obsessed with it just so he can get me out of this house. He can't stand me, Ann! He keeps saying all the time at the bar that he didn't want a girl and he has no idea what I'm thinking... Ann, he thinks my intentions are evil! What with Basil talking about marrying Popuri off to someone nice who deserves her... my father overheard and got these crazy ideas when he was all drunk and crap, and he's desperate to marry me off. He thinks it'll solve all his problems, but he doesn't realize that the only way he's ever going to find peace is if he just leaves me alone!!!!!!"
Ann frowned. "I see what you mean." Then suddenly her face brightened. "Karen? Do you ever want to really 'get away from it all'? For a long time, I mean? Instead of spending just a few hours at the beach?"
Karen looked up, hopeful. She folded her hands and rested her chin on them. "Would I ever. But where am I going to get that opportunity unless I get married and move out?"
Ann took Karen's hands and warmed them with her own. "You don't have to. You can spend the night with me on the farm. It'll be fun, I promise. Just like when we were little girls. And you can come now; you don't have to take anything. I can loan you a nightdress-maybe one that's too long for me-and I've got my own private stash of sweets."
Karen grinned. "You'd really do that for me?"
"Of course."
Walking out of the vineyard with Karen's hand in hers, Ann walked smack into Cliff and remembered just what she had promised herself-a lighter disposition towards him. But she needn't worry about it this time around-the look on Cliff's face, plus the fact that he was on the vineyard, told her something was really up and he needed her cooperation for real.
"Ann! I just heard from the Potion Shop Dealer that Jack is sick right now. He doesn't want to receive anybody, he says, but I thought that if you went over there it might cheer him up. I mean, after he shooed Popuri away and all-"
"He did???" Karen and Ann burst at the same time, then they looked at each other.
"No, no, you better go in there," Karen said once they arrived on Jack's farm. She picked up Spunky and played with his little paws. "Something's up if he's gonna leave the little guy out in the snow like this. Besides, everyone knows you and him are a pair-"
"Shut up," Ann said, embarrassed, with a half-smile as she pushed open the door.
Jack lay half-asleep on the old bed in the corner, but before she went over to him she looked around the place. And what a house it was! Ann remembered it as just a simple log cabin when his grandfather ran the farm last year. Now Jack seemed to be not only restoring the farm, but the house too! She observed the door to the kitchen and a stairway leading to the top of the roof. It was quite a comfortable living in here, and she spotted the rug that her cousin Rick was selling last month at his Tool Shop. At least someone was being nice to Rick and buying the few goods he had!
"Jack," she whispered when she neared him, resting a hand on his shoulder that the quilt had been drawn up over. "It's Ann. I let myself in, sorry, but I heard you were sick and I came to give you some of this."
Jack's eyelids fluttered open and the little boy's face he had awakened. How cute he looked when he was asleep! When he saw Ann, his face broke into an uncontrollable smile like a sick child's when he woke up to see his mother with his favorite teddy bear.
"Ann!" he exclaimed, then coughed. "Why'd ya come?"
"Because I care about your health, silly!" Ann said softly, choosing her words carefully. "Now here, have some of this. I bought it from the Potion Shop Dealer, but I mixed in some honey too. Oh, hehe, and I got you a cookie from Elli's bakery."
"You didn't bake one?" Jack made that cute, familiar puppy face and then chuckled.
"Oh, you!!!!" Ann laughed. Instead of whacking him with the pillow she put her arms around his neck and shoulders.
"I'd advise you to stay back. Wouldn't want you to get this cold." Jack sniffled, his nose red. He was so cute even when he was sick.....
"That's okay," Ann grinned. "Well, um.... Are you going to be well enough to go to the Starry Night festival tomorrow? Some people watch the stars from other places, but most of us gather at the church. Elli, Maria and I will be playing music. Unless of course, Popuri already asked you to go to the mountain with her."
Jack managed a weak laugh and lay back against the huge pillow. "Hehe... nah, I don't do the whole Alone-With-Popuri thing. I'll go to church with you." The power of his words reached Ann, and her heart thundered; "with you" seemed to have its own affect that made it stand above all words he'd ever said to her. "Unless of course, you're going as a date with Cliff," he said in the manner she did.
"No!!!!!" Ann wanted to shout, but instead she half-whispered it loudly. "I don't have anything going on with him, or anybody. I don't do the whole Alone-With-Cliff thing, at least not as his girlfriend. Cliff and I are strictly friends."
"That's good to hear," Jack said sincerely. "I wouldn't want you dating him without telling me first." Jack's hand was warm and it reached for hers. He curled his fingers around Ann's hand and gave it a small squeeze. Ann was much too paralyzed to move her fingers but loved it all the same.
Jack coughed again and Ann realized how long she'd been in here, and painfully withdrew her hand from his. "I shouldn't be here too long. Karen's waiting outside for me. I hope you feel better soon, and please get some sleep."
"Thanks," Jack replied, and just as Ann was getting to the door he added. "Oh, and Ann? Thank you so much for visiting me. I think I'll feel better much faster after you've been here."
Ann clenched a fist to her pounding heart and closed the door silently, numb with something that she knew wasn't just the cold.