Again, thank you so much for keeping up, guys! I hope you're not too mad at Jack; things will turn around again. Anyway, this chapter almost went straight into the garbage because I thought the whole Ann-Jack-Cliff friendship part was a little corny, but I'll leave you guys to be the judges of that. The upcoming chapters will be better.
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If there was one thing that Hall had taught his daughter successfully in the sixteen-year course of her life, it was about honor and being true to oneself and others. That was the sole reason for Ann's decision to face Cliff again even after she had accidentally ended up leaning on him; otherwise, she'd want to run to Jack for comfort and to hide...that is, if Jack hadn't been such a liar.
None of this, though, would still ever get in the way of her wanting to see the pika bunny.
The late-winter chill still nipped at her neck and ears as she made her way up into Moon Mountain alone after sunset, in a yellow long-sleeve shirt under her heaviest overalls. She was walking at the slowest pace possible, thinking of how things would have been if she'd never met Jack or Cliff. Suddenly she realized that maybe it wasn't meant to be: maybe it wasn't meant that she should feel out-of-place when she thought of both of them, that she wasn't meant to find herself beginning to like both of them and screwing up her life over it.
'I used to be all about ambition', she thought to herself. 'I had important dreams of improving Green Ranch, I wanted nothing more than Cliffgard winning the horse race, I wanted to finally finish knitting that sweater I started, I wanted.... And now this?'
For the first time, she felt that being sixteen really sucked.
When she came around to the hidden part of Moon Mountain, where the legendary Goddess's pond was, she sighed in relief to her discovery that Cliff wasn't there yet... if he was ever going to show up. Either way, she was going to see that pika bunny and live to tell a story about it.
"Really devoted to this, aren't we?" a male's voice asked her through the biting cold. Ann's stomach did that familiar double-flip and she dared not turn around to see who it was. Cliff's presence was painful enough, but if that voice really did belong to Jack she'd just die, or something.
Ann, however, did not die.
"Jack!!!!!!!!!!!!" she whispered loudly. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you like all day," Jack said, his brown unkempt hair hanging messily over his face, which had turned pink from the cold. "So I found Cliff, who said that instead of heading to the bar or something you were going to see about a special rabbit here in the--"
"So he told you that," Ann gritted her teeth and spoke to Jack in a rude tone, for the first time ever. "Great. And I suppose you wanted to...?"
"I was interested in finding you first, but now that there's a special bunny mentioned I'd wanted to help!... I can, can't I?" Jack looked down at her inquiringly. The look on his face suggested that he thought he'd have no problem being invited to join her.
"I don't know. I kind of thought you'd have someone waiting on you. Unless, of course, this is your make-out spot." Ann choked over her own words, and even through a wavering tone, what had to be said, had to be said.
"What do you mean??"
"Your fate is sealed. Or Popuri's, whatever. I don't particularly care to remember all that bull crap of yours, but I'll torture myself by remembering enough to know that you are a total creep. I mean, what kind of guy goes and tells a girl who really cares about him that he doesn't like one girl, who happens to be such a total... well, I'm not gonna get into that, and then turns around and tries to seduce her? I mean, what is wrong with you??"
Jack's eyes bulged, then his face turned a little bit pinker. Ann was unsure of whether he'd lash out in anger or start to cry. "Ann... no. No, no, no, no, no, you just don't get it--"
"Of course I don't get it!! I don't even wanna try to understand, but all I know is that you--"
"Ann, listen to me!! I mean, for God's sake!!... How did I know this would get around, just how did I know.... Okay, it's like this: Popuri and I aren't really--"
At this point the auburn-haired girl was shaking with fury and looked about ready to drop-kick him and drag him through the snow by his hair. Jack took notice of this and crossed over to her, then placed his hands on her shoulders. Ann was ready to curse herself for getting so weak at the sense of his warm hands on her shoulders, but couldn't help yearning inside for a sign of hope that it surely wasn't what she thought it was.
"You've got to hear me out on this one, Ann. Please. You're like one of my best friends and if I can't tell this to you, I can't tell it to anyone. Popuri and I don't have a thing going on. I promised I wouldn't tell any of her secrets, but your friendship means much more to me. I'm only trying to help Popuri, because... well, she likes Gray. And Gray's been watching her for months. The poor girl, she can't stand it when he doesn't even say anything to her. For a long time she's waited for him to make a move, and--"
Ann burst out into such uncontrollable laughter that she feared she'd frighten her rabbit off, but it was still such an absurd thought that she came to tears and gripped her sides. "You can't be serious!!"
"You believe me now?" Jack smiled and then laughed. "Yeah... that's what it's all about. Kinda silly, huh? But... you won't tell anyone, will you?"
"I'll do better than that: I'll help too. And I'm so sorry that I--"
"Nope." Jack moved a fingertip onto Ann's lips. "Not another word like that. I can't stand to hear apologies from girls, for some reason. It makes me feel like I'm the one who did something wrong."
"Well, then.... Jack?"
"Yes?" Jack's hands were still on her shoulders and his eyes searched hers deeply.
"Will you stay to see the pika bunny with me? And Cliff?"
"That's what I was hoping for." Jack took a hold of Ann's hands and pulled her to her feet. Without so much as a word, her body operated instinctively and her arms moved around his shoulders as he embraced her. And that one moment, when she felt alive and warm in his large arms, the happiness inside her heart encouraged her to do what she'd been longing to do since she realized her true feelings: she raised herself a little just to kiss his cheek. Jack buried his head between his shoulder and neck and she felt his skin on her, but it was hard to tell if he was inhaling her scent or trying to return the kiss softly. Whatever it was, she didn't quite care right now... she just never wanted to be upset with him again.
"Um... what are you two doing?" Cliff poked his head into the bushes, making them both jump apart like two north poles of two magnets.
"There was a leaf. In Ann's hair," Jack sputtered defensively before flexing his muscles and smoothening out his overalls. "So, um, what are we looking for? A rabbit?"
"The pika bunny," Ann said suddenly, hiding her pink face behind her field guide. "This is the ideal spot for its habitat. I just hope they're not extinct or something... after all, they are an endangered species."
"I remember seeing something like that before in my travels," Cliff narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the photograph. "Let me show you something."
Jack and Ann looked at each other, shrugged, and watched as Cliff crawled out of the bushes and fumbled through the inside pockets of his brown suede jacket. He removed an airtight-sealed package of some exotic dried berries.
"Not a single rabbit, squirrel, beaver, fox, or any wild animal for that matter, that doesn't like these," Cliff explained, dangling the bag.
"They look like shriveled golden raisins," Ann laughed, "except a little bigger."
Jack's eyes widened. "Wait a minute...."
Cliff knelt and scattered a handful of the berries onto the hard frost-covered ground, then scuttled back into the bushes on his knees, then held a gloved finger to his lips.
"The pika bunny, as you call it, just might show up once it gets a whiff of these," he whispered. "Just watch. If it's here at all, it can't resist them. I don't blame them either." He tapped the bag and opened it again, counting them out.
"What are those, anyway?" Ann asked.
"These are called the Berries of Full Moon, or something like that. This fall I found them all the way up there," Cliff pointed to the top of Moon Mountain. "The kind old restaurant owners up there said I could pick some. They're supposed to be worth a lot, but man, do they make a good trail mix!"
Ann thumbed through the pages of her field guide and at last located the gold orb-like fruit. "The field guide says that they're extremely rare, worth at least 300 gold pieces, and that there's some old tradition in the village about the people who eat it together and their friendship....."
"I knew I'd seen them somewhere!" Jack slapped his leg. "I never tasted one, but I picked a couple and sold them for a lot of money. Then I went to Karen's dad about it and he said that they made an awesome wine. They said they'd make me a bottle."
"Well, here, I've got three left," Cliff showed them the open bag. "What do you say? Just for the heck of it. We can try them and," he added sarcastically, "be friends forever. Who knows, maybe all our little dreams will come true, and crap."
"That's not something to laugh about," Ann narrowed her eyes and nudged him.
Cliff looked down at the snow, his ears turning pink. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make a mockery of the village's traditions." He cleared his throat uneasily. "Um... well, here you go. Let's try these things."
"I'm game," Jack smiled, accepting a sun-dried yellow berry. "I'm hungry!"
"Me too!" Ann chuckled, following his lead.
"If I had that wine I'd make a toast," Jack snapped his fingers. "Oh well. To us anyway!"
And the three of them followed the cue, biting into the Full Moon Berries heartily and savoring the perfect taste of sweet-sour citrus and traces of nectar. Ann was reminded of the flavor of that fall's bountiful harvests and the gold of the leaves, the roundness of the full pearl moon, and the nostalgic scent of autumn memories such as the Horse Race. Her heart soared and she looked up into the diamond-studded winter sky, her breath coming out like crystal clouds and evaporating into hot mist.
"Wait, what's that--" Jack spoke first, pointing a finger beyond the bushes.
A rustling sounded and then shadows flickered against the gray-white snow. Ann's breath caught in her chest as she saw tiny feet patter along on the short stubby legs of a little rodent almost indistinguishable from a mouse or a rabbit. Its large, soft eyes found the fruit at its feet and the pika bunny's small pink nose sniffed at it twitchingly.
"That's it!!" Ann gasped, then she clamped her hands over her mouth and watched in amazement.
"Cute little thing," Jack said softly. "Aww, Ann..! What do we name her?"
"First off, it's a boy," Ann giggled. Then she turned to her right and looked at Cliff, kneeling with a tender gaze on the rabbit. "Second, why don't we ask Cliff?"
Cliff jumped and looked at her as if she had been speaking another language. "What?!"
"Well, if it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have seen him tonight," she said with endearment in her voice. Her eyes softened and her tone was warm and friendly. "Thank you so much. Sometimes I... sometimes I don't think you really know what you're doing, but, I think those berries really did it for us. So I couldn't have gotten to see this rabbit without your help. Thank you. And, I want you to help us name him."
"What about 'Snowball'?" he guessed, his face coloring even underneath the stern expression his eyebrows gave him.
"I like that," Ann smiled. Her blue eyes glittered and she hugged Cliff tightly, making the fuchsia color on his cheeks deepen. When she pulled away she found that she'd been blushing too, then nodded to Jack.
"Thanks, guys," she said. "I really appreciate your being here for me tonight."
Both Jack and Cliff took one of her hands and helped her to her feet when the bunny hopped off into the forest behind the Goddess' pond. She draped an arm around each of them and they walked out together.
"I guess I'll be seeing you guys at the Spirit Festival tomorrow night," Cliff said, facing the open air, when they reached the Mountain Carpenters' cabin. "I'm the Harvest King as you know, and I want you two to be my partners when we play music. If that's not too much trouble."
"Oh, I'm there!" Jack agreed, giving him a light punch on the shoulder.
"And I guess that means I'm going too," Ann nudged him. "Besides, after what you've done for me, I'd be really glad to."
"Thanks." Cliff's eyes still pierced into the open. "It, um, really means something to me. You two are the only friends I've got." Then he faced them, bowed, and went inside the cabin without another word.