On Our Own
written by Shaun Garin
Harvest Moon Back to Nature and Save the Homeland is owned by Natsume Entertainment. This is my take on Save the Homeland and Back to Nature, which, in my opinion is a very good game, but could have slowed down the passing of time and extended the length of time you need to conceivably save the whole freaking town. Rated E for Everyone, Use of Alcohol.
I hold characterization nothing but sacred. I try to portray the personalities true to both games as best as possible.
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Chapter 3 : In the Swing of Things
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"Good morning Mineral Islands! And todays forcast, a warm fifteen degress celcius and climbing. Temperatures expected to rise in midday to twenty degress celcius and there is a zero percent chance of rain for tommorow with temperatures to the seventeen degree mark. Flowerbud Village should expect a ten percent chance of rain, Forget-me-not Village should expect thirty percent, and finally Mineral Town and Sugar Village should expect zero percent chances of rain."
Ann groaned as she turned over in her sleeping bag. "Gah, that's loud. Isn't there a volume button for that?" she muttered.
"I'm afraid not," said Elli as she struggled out of the tangle her sleeping bag had become in her sleep. "It seems to be broken."
"Oh huzzah," said Karen, sitting up in the bed. It was her night for the bed as the girls had decided to rotate until they could make a large extention for all of them to sleep in. "So, who's turn is it to set up the water for the baths today?"
"It's the boys turn," said Mary as she switched off the television. "Well, technically it's Grey's turn."
"How did you get him to do your work?" Popuri asked, struggling out of the tangle of sheets she had draped herself in the night before.
Mary giggled. "I played Janken with him. He lost horribly. So we traded duties today."
Ann raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that you get to work with Cliff on chopping grass for fodder today and fixing the broken parts of the fence AND taking care of the new Cow while he gets to go up the mountain and announce our presence to those people living up there."
Mary blinked and cursed quietly and rather creatively. Elli, who was close enough to hear her blushed and uttered, "Oh my. Where did you learn that kind of language?"
Mary blushed hard. "I read a lot," she replied lamely.
"Riiiiiiight," the other girls chorused.
Just then, a banging at the door startled the five out of a potential Mary teasing. "Hey girls!" Rick called out from behind the door. "It's already a quarter past six! Get a move on!"
"Rick, hold your chickens!" Popuri shot back.
"Don't make me come in there and douse the lot of you with water!" Rick called out before his steps could be heard walking away. The goosh of a watering can being filled in the well caused the girls to scramble into their clothes.
Swinging the door open and neatly catching Cliff on the nose, Ann stomped out and grabbed the watering can from Rick before he could douse anyone. "Gimme that before you hurt yourself," she demanded.
"Yes ma'am," replied Rick cheekily as Popuri threw up her hands.
"Ugh! Men! Where do they get these attitudes?" Popuri demanded.
"I think Jack's been a bad influence on them," remarked Karen dryly, earing a glare from Jack who had one shoulder strap of his overalls hanging off his shoulder. He looked wide awake for someone who just clambered out of bed.
"Him and Kai," put in Ann teasingly as she went over to the Turnips and started to pour water all over them.
"I resemble that remark," Jack said, making a silly face. "Okay people, breakfast is on the table, the shower is hooked up thanks to Grey and men, get in line for the free peep show." He was immediately showered with dirt clods from the girls and the boys laughed at him.
================
"Walnut Forest, population, four," quipped Karen as she headed into the forest, Rick beside her. "You sure that Popuri can handle the chickens?"
"She's seen me doing it enough, right?" replied Rick. "She's a big girl."
Karen smirked at that. "Big enough so that Kai wanted to propose to her this spring?"
Rick sputtered. "What?! Kai wants to do WHAT?!"
Karen arched an eyebrow. "No one told you that? Where have YOU been for the last two years?"
Rick went a deep shade of red and Karen could have sworn she saw steam hissing from his ears. Trying to diffuse the potential nuclear weapon at her side, Karen rested a hand on his shoulder. "Look Rick. You have to admit that Popuri is a young lady, almost ninteen now. Kai can take care of her and besides, Kai wants to settle down in Mineral Town instead of taking her back to Flowerbud Village. Jack has known that Kai wanted to propose last year, and he chickened out."
Before Rick could reply with something snarky, Karen pressed on. "You two have settled your differences last year, but you still can't accept that Kai is head over heels in love with Popuri, can you?"
Rick sighed, deflating like a popped balloon. "I guess you're right. But still, I should have been told this ages ago!"
"Kai came last year, tried to propose. He wussed out. Then he came on Spring the first. He then chickened out again. Jack, Grey, Cliff and even the DOCTOR had to push him to even walk up to Popuri. And then he was reduced to a babbling wreck and the boys had to drag him away."
Rick laughed, startling a chipmunk and the three Harvest Sprites who were playing near the Woodcutters house. "Oh man, I wish I had that on videotape."
"But the point is that you need to relax. Popuri's a big girl now and she won't get involved with someone who's going to mistreat her. Kai may act all smooth with Popuri but when he's gone, he's always turning into a babbling wreck. It took the combined efforts of everyone but Popuri and you to get him to try and propose last Summer the Thirtieth. And that ended up in having to drag him away on account that he was making a total ass of himself."
"That would explain why you and all of the others walked into the Ranch and dragged him out. I thought he was having a seizure or something like that," said Rick thoughtfully.
Karen giggled as they rounded the corner. "Hey Rick, go ahead and talk to Parsley. I'm sure he's got some insights and you've yet to talk to him for a while. I'm going to the resturant over there. Katie asked me to come by when I met her yesterday."
"Right. Hey Parsley!" Rick called out as Parsley looked up. Karen nodded to herself and headed over to the Resturant.
Checking the door and rattling it a couple of times, she rang the bell that hung at the side. Soon, the door opened and a teenaged girl with brown hair in multiple curled locks stood behind it. "Oh Karen!" exclaimed Katie. "Thanks for coming."
"Not a problem," said Karen as she was let into the Resturant. Wallace was busying himself behind the counter, working on polishing the glasses for their opening at noon for the people who wanted to eat there. "So, what's up?"
"Well, I was just wondering, well, it's kinda a silly thing." Katie fidgeted and Karen raised an eyebrow.
"Go on," said Karen.
"Well, Jack's Grandma used to make this really great cake back when she was still alive. I wanted to make it when grandpa told me about it. I didn't feel comfortable asking Jack about it, so I wanted to ask you."
"A cake recipe.... it might still be at the house. Tell you what. I'll check out the house and see if there's anything there. If not, I'm sure the combined efforts of everyone here can help you make a really great cake." Karen leaned on the nearby table as she studied Katie's hopeful expression. "So... why do you want to make the cake?"
"Um, well... there's this contest way over in the City. Grandpa told me that Jack's grandma's cake was a prize winning cake in five counties. I'm sure if I win, then the town could gather some fame and popularity. With that in mind, I'm sure the place won't be knocked down." Katie fidgeted and Karen nodded.
"I see. Well, I'll see what I can do. You sit tight. I'll be back in a few minutes." Karen got up and headed out of the resturant, only to bump into Gwen who was standing behind the door. "Oh, sorry."
"That's okay," Gwen said. "Can I talk to you?"
'Why does everyone wanna talk to me today?' wondered Karen as she followed Gwen to the grove of trees. She noticed Rick and Parsley debating on something. By the expressions on Rick's face, he was loosing the battle. "What's up?"
Gwen folded her arms and looked back at the resturant. "Katie isn't being completely truthful. The prize for the cake contest winner is a trip to the City as well and 20,000 Gold. The Gold I'm sure she'll drop into the Town if she wins, but she's always wanted to go to the City."
Karen nodded as she put a hand on her hip in thought. "Well, if she wants to go to the City, that's fine with me. Any fame or fortune this town can gather is good. Even if it means that Katie can go to the City because of the prize. Did she say what she's going to do there?"
"She wants to go to college," replied Gwen. "Wants to become a high class resturant owner or something like that. There hasn't been someone who left this place since Dia's parents left her here with Martha and Gina."
"What does Dia's parents do to leave their kid here?" inquired Karen.
"Dia's mom is a fashion designer and her father is a big corperate bigwig. They thought that Dia would grow up spoiled or something like that so they hired Martha and Gina to take care of her. She's still a bit of a snob though," said Gwen.
"Well, every road has a bump in it, right?" said Karen. "No pain, no gain. Wanna come with me to the farm? I could use another pair of hands looking for the Cake Recipe."
Gwen shrugged. "Eh, I'm not busy. All right, lets get moving."
==============
Cresting the rise of the small mountian, Grey inhaled sharply as he looked around the small villa atop the hill. Surrounded by a stone wall and decorated in a slightly old fashioned Victorian style, it was a picturesque scene right out of a storybook. Shifting the basket of what Ann had termed "Hello food", three large plump Strawberries, two Verryberries and one large Blueberry, he sighed and walked up to the door.
Rapping it sharply, Grey tapped his foot while waiting for the door to open. After a minute or so, the door opened, revealing a girl with blue hair, dressed in an old fashioned dress.
Grey's first thought was that he had somehow stumbled onto Mary's twin, despite the blue hair. Her whole body language, expression and such screamed Shyness as she said in a soft voice, "Hello Sir. What brings you to Clove Villa?"
Grey found his voice as the initial knee jerk surly response was violently shoved aside. Unlike Mineral Town where he could afford to be something of a jerk at times, especially concerning Saibara, he had to be assertive.
It still didn't help the fact that his love for Mary was nearly instantiously overridden by the girl in front of him. 'Damn my hormones,' Grey thought viciously.
"Uh, hi. I'm Grey from Tony's old Farm. Um," Grey wished he was more of a conversationalist as he held out the basket. "These are for you and the residents of the house. Sort of a "Hello Food" type deal. Thing. Um..."
Gina took the basket and nodded. "Thank you sir. Would you like to come in? Tea is being served right now."
"Um..." Grey rubbed the back of his head, wishing he had a response. What would Jack do in a situation like this? Ah yes, like he always did. Folded like a wussy. Wait, no, that was Kai. Aw damnit, where was Kai when one needed him to make a stupid ice breaker joke? "Sure, tea would be fine. Thanks."
"This way please." The girl opened the door wide and Grey stepped in, pausing to wipe the dust off of his shoes. Following her into the living room, a girl sat at the table. Her expression was distant as she looked at Grey.
"Are you the person who came to pick up Tony's things at his farm?" she asked, her voice level. It felt more like a demand than a question.
Grey interally thanked the Harvest Goddess for a more level playing field emotionally. "More like one of the people who have come to help the town. I'm Grey, from Mineral Town. Your maid has invited me for Tea."
"Sir has brought gifts as well," the girl said, placing the basket in the middle of the table and picking up the tea kettle. "One lump or two?"
Grey felt a ridiculous urge to mimic the old Bugs Bunny joke that Jack had pulled on him last Pumpkin Festival but squashed it down violently. No sense clonking someone on the head for the expensive of a joke. "One, will be fine," he said.
The girl poured two cups of tea, and added sugar to his and added cream and sugar to the girls. After she was finished, the girl she was serving said, "That will be all Gina."
"Yes Miss," she replied, walking out of the room. The door to the kitchen could be heard closing faintly in the background. Apparently, servants WERE quiet.
Grey sipped at his tea as he tried to iniciate conversation. "This is a very nice place you have here."
"It is my family's Villa," the girl said without preamble. She sipped her own tea and looked at Grey critically. "Are there more of you at the old Farm or are you trying to work here all by yourself?"
Grey shook his head. "No, there's nine of us at the Farm. I suppose Jack, the guy who was asked to help this place is getting an extention built on the farmhouse."
"It is a meaningless task at best," remarked the girl. She sipped her cup as Grey wondered why she was so distant. "There's a fine line between what people can do and what people cannot do. You should know what can and cannot be."
"I'll remember that," Grey said. He quickly downed his tea as fast as he could without appearing rude. Then, reaching into the basket, he removed the fruits from the basket and said, "Thank you for your time, miss....?"
There was an awkward pause as the girl continued to stare out the window. Then, she replied, absently reaching for the Blueberry. "Dia. That is all you need to know."
"Dia then. Good day." Grey picked up the basket, turned and nearly leapt out of his skin as Gina stood behind him. Heart thudding in his chest, he was led to the door.
Gina looked at Grey and said, "Thank you for your visit, Sir."
"It's my pleasure. Oh, um, I have something to ask." Gina blinked as Grey pitched his voice a bit softer. "Please, if you know anything that could help this town, don't hesitate to visit us at the farm. We'd rather not see our efforts go to waste without the villagers helping."
"I will try sir," said Gina, her voice even softer. Grey briefly wondered if she was considering something, but she then opened the door. Taking that as a cue to leave, Grey tipped his hat and headed out the door.
Once outside and the door had shut, he thudded his hand against his chest. "Holy. If the guys find out about this, they'll NEVER let me hear the end of it." He then blanched. "Mary'll be pissed."
=================
Cliff wiped his forehead as he looked up at the sun. "About midday," he remarked as Mary puffed beside him. "Are you holding up there all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied. "I'm just not used to this kind of work."
Cliff chuckled. "After a while, you'll get used to it. Popuri is adjusting..."
Just then, he and Mary were treated to Popuri chasing a widly clucking chicken across the farm. She was covered in feathers and the chicken was doing it's best to lead her on a wild goose chase. "Or maybe not," finished Cliff.
Mary giggled for a moment as she sliced the last of the tall grass away with a slash of the sickle. "She's having fun, you can tell."
"Come back here you..." Cliff blanched at the row of explitives that escaped Popuri as she chased the chicken around in circles.
"Yeah right, like heck she's enjoying it," Cliff said, shaking his head.
Popuri skidded around a corner and nearly ran into Joe who nearly clunked Kurt neatly on the head with the boards he was carrying. Kurt ducked it and Woody leaned backwards to avoid the swing. "Danger zone in here," Joe joked as Popuri chased the rampaging chicken all over the farm.
"What the heck is going on here?" inquired Jack as he came over the hill and found Popuri swearing like a sailor and trying to grab the chicken. Looking over at Cliff who had run over to relieve the others of some of their load. Behind them came Elli who carried the tool boxes, one in each hand and Ann who carried a good amount of plumbing.
"I think Popuri has gone crazy," Cliff said with a smirk. "She's trying to murder the chicken."
"Um, okay, that's crazy." Jack gave his load to Cliff as he reached down and plucked the chicken into his arms. Popuri skidded to a halt in front of him as she coughed violently for a moment while regaining her stamina. "Looking for this?"
Popuri nodded as she took the chicken from Jack. She could have sworn that the chicken made a face at her as she held it in her arms. "It got out when I went in to feed it," said Popuri, making a pouty face. "I don't know why they keep running out of the Coop all the time."
"Well it is a nice day," said Cliff who handed Jack's stuff back to him and took the heavy toolboxes from Elli. "Maybe it wants to be outside."
"Could be," said Popuri with a sigh. "I'll keep an eye on it. Your dog can help out, can't it?"
"Pretty much," said Jack as he hefted the load of wood. He looked over the yard and found the Dog running around like a madman, chasing butterflies and... was that a Harvest Sprite? Heading over to the small one room shack, he put the load down on the ground. Ann dropped the plumbing equiptment and groaned.
"I think I'm gonna need a massage after this," Ann complained as Woody and the boys went to work on the house.
"How much did this cost?" asked Cliff as he looked over the amount of material they brought to the house.
"Well, we had to make an extention for two communal bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen, so it came to about 20,000 Gold." said Jack, feeling the lightness of his wallet. "Suffice to say it, in exchange for hygiene and a warm place during rainy days, I'm almost broke. We're going to have to live off what we sell later on."
"So in other words, we're back to Jack's first season," Ann said with a grin. Jack nodded miserably as he shook his wallet. There was a very faint clinking sound in the bag and he grumbled darkly.
"I feel poor. Like 100 G poor. I haven't been that poor since..."
"You got that Vacation House built?" Elli teased and Jack went red.
The Vacation house in the village was something of a peculiarity among the people. Built in a open lot that had been empty for the last few years, Jack had a house built there as sort of a getaway when he needed some time off the farm. Gotz had made it for him and often asked why Jack wanted a townhouse for himself. When Jack said that he felt like having a place in town, it raised questions because his farm was not exactly out of the way. It currently served as a sort of clubhouse for people to come in and relax at times.
There was talk that Jack built it for Grey because he was on the verge of asking Mary to marry him, but Grey and Jack shot down the rumor rapidly, out of embarrasment. Grey had privately spoke to Jack about it later and Jack merely grinned and encouraged him to get his courage to talk to Mary.
Due to the massive amounts of produce Jack shipped every day, he was arguably the richest one in the town but he never displayed his wealth. Getting Gotz to build him new extentions to the farm was about the most he did at times. The Vacation house was something new and caused much talk in the town because Jack NEVER flaunted his wealth around like that. Well, except for the time he was short one log and used his Golden Wood piece to build his fence. Boy did the adults let him have it that day.
"Hey, the Vacation home is just... there, right?" said Jack as he scratched his head. "But seriously, there is a real good reason why I got it built."
Ann smirked and leaned on Jack, resting her head against his shoulder. "And what reason would that be, hmmm?"
Cliff snickered at Jack's obvious discomfort at Ann pressing into his back. Elli blushed and Mary giggled. "That is... er...."
"Mmmm?" Ann tickled Jack's ear and he supressed a groan. Ann had found Jack's sensitive spot the first summer when she came over. The girls all used that spot to get anything out of Jack, much to the amusement of the guys. She ticked again and Jack whimpered.
Suddenly wrenching himself free of Ann, he scampered away from the girl who yelled, "You're not going to get away that easy!" and ran after him. Popuri giggled, set down the chicken and took chase as well, laughing in that maniacal evil villian cackle she did so well.
Mary shook her head and sighed. "Those two."
Cliff hid a knowing smirk. He and Grey had been friends since he had arrived in the town and between him, Grey and Jack, Grey had a distinct lack of courage when it came to Mary. Specifically, asking her to marry him.
Grey came to the town about a month before Cliff did. Apparently, he worked for a construction company that went belly up. Without a place to go and no companies hiring at the point in time, Grey went back to the town where his father grew up and asked Saibara for a job.
It was no secret in Mineral Town that Grey hated the fact that Saibara didn't praise Grey often, if ever. The demanding old man was a bane on Grey's existance until he stepped into the library.
When he met Mary, a unique relationship began. Mary began to help Grey open up as he began to talk about his feelings on being in the small, somewhat boring town. It was a relationship built on books and trust, something that Cliff found fun to meddle in.
After two years and two birthdays, Jack and Cliff decided to build the Vacation House for Grey with some help from Gotz and Zack. It wasn't much, but it was a place where Grey could call home. The problem was trying to get Grey to move in.
Unlike Kai who would love to find any excuse to move to Mineral Town perminantly after finishing his contract with Gotz over in Flowerbud Village, Grey was one of those people who stood on their own two feet. Just getting Grey to LIVE in the house as a present to him was nearly a difficult task in itself. Gotz worked on the building itself while Jack, Cliff and Zack checked and purchased everything they would need for a small family to live in there.
On Grey's birthday, they had presented him with the keys to the house. Grey tried to refuse but it took the combined efforts of the four men to literally shove him into the house and tell him to have a good time in his new place. Then, they locked the door.
Like it or not, Grey wasn't going anywhere until he got his nerve to propose to Mary. It was almost cute, the way he became awkward around her. Kai had teased Grey mercilessly the summer before before going awkward around Popuri.
Elli looked over at Cliff who was grinning and said, "You know something, don't you?"
Cliff blanched. "Um... gotta go!" The drifter was off like a shot as Elli and Mary ran after him, determined to get the secret of the Vacation house out of the pair of boys who were laughing as they were being chased around the farm.
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"Hey Karen, is this it?"
Karen looked up through dusty bangs as Gwen held up a large piece of paper that seemed a bit wrinkled with age. Looking over the recipie ingredients, she nodded. "Yep, that's it. Let's get this to Katie."
Gwen pocketed the paper and pushed the door open. Sidestepping the others who were charging around like crazed Harvest Sprites with Jack's Dog on their tail, Gwen shook her head and said, "You guys from Mineral Town sure know how to slack off."
Karen rolled her eyes as Ann tackled Jack to the ground and Popuri helped her toss the helpless farmer into the pasture. She winced as Cliff came down on a flying elbow, getting a yelp of pain from Jack. "They're a bunch to be reckoned with," she said as she brushed past Joe and Kurt who were setting up the framing of the house.
Quickly heading into Walnut Forest, Gwen read off the ingredient list. "Flour, salt, sugar..." she paused while the pair rounded into the road the headed towards the lake. "Golden Eggs, Golden Milk and Moon Drop Dew? What the hell?"
"Golden Eggs and Milk are pretty accessible," said Karen, tapping a lip in thought. "Though we may need to call Mineral Town and see if Jack's old Chickens and Cows are still producing it. Moon Drop Dew, I haven't heard of yet though."
"Well, lets give this to Katie," said Gwen, ringing the doorbell of the Resturant. "She'll know what to do with it."
"Is she a good cook?" asked Karen, thinking of her own cooking disasters.
Gwen scrunched up her expression as she shook her head. Before she could add anything, the door opened. "Hey, you're back!" exclaimed Katie. "Did you find it?"
"Yep," said Karen as Gwen handed Katie the recipe. "It's got some things I think we can get from Mineral Town shipped here. Other than that, we'll have to find some referance on Moon Drop Dew. You know what it is?"
Katie made a face. "Moon Drop Dew? I have no idea what that is."
Gwen sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, lets go and check things out. I'm sure someone knows what to do with it."
Karen nodded. "Well, good luck. I'm sure we can get some Golden Milk and Golden Eggs shipped here from Mineral Town. I'll stop by regularly and when the shipment comes in I'll drop off the Eggs and Milk."
"Right. I'm counting on you. Thanks Gwen, Karen."
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Grey whistled to himself as he trudged down the mountianside towards the Farm. The sun was dipping in the sky and was casting a warm orange glow across the land. As he turned the corner to head into Brownie Ranch, a voice called out to him. "Sir?"
Grey paused and turned to see the maid named Gina walking up to him. "Sir, I need to speak with you."
"Sure. What do you need?"
Gina looked flustered for a moment before asking, "Sir, do you know Flowerbed City?"
Grey nodded. "Yeah, I was a construction worker there before I lost my job."
"Oh. Well.... um..." Gina looked even more flustered as she said, "Forgive me. I will ask you later. Thank you sir." She ran off, leaving a puzzled Grey scratching his head curiously.
"What was that all about?" he wondered to himself. Then, shrugging, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed down the mountianside.
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Chapter 3 End
written by Shaun Garin
Harvest Moon Back to Nature and Save the Homeland is owned by Natsume Entertainment. This is my take on Save the Homeland and Back to Nature, which, in my opinion is a very good game, but could have slowed down the passing of time and extended the length of time you need to conceivably save the whole freaking town. Rated E for Everyone, Use of Alcohol.
I hold characterization nothing but sacred. I try to portray the personalities true to both games as best as possible.
===============
Chapter 3 : In the Swing of Things
===============
"Good morning Mineral Islands! And todays forcast, a warm fifteen degress celcius and climbing. Temperatures expected to rise in midday to twenty degress celcius and there is a zero percent chance of rain for tommorow with temperatures to the seventeen degree mark. Flowerbud Village should expect a ten percent chance of rain, Forget-me-not Village should expect thirty percent, and finally Mineral Town and Sugar Village should expect zero percent chances of rain."
Ann groaned as she turned over in her sleeping bag. "Gah, that's loud. Isn't there a volume button for that?" she muttered.
"I'm afraid not," said Elli as she struggled out of the tangle her sleeping bag had become in her sleep. "It seems to be broken."
"Oh huzzah," said Karen, sitting up in the bed. It was her night for the bed as the girls had decided to rotate until they could make a large extention for all of them to sleep in. "So, who's turn is it to set up the water for the baths today?"
"It's the boys turn," said Mary as she switched off the television. "Well, technically it's Grey's turn."
"How did you get him to do your work?" Popuri asked, struggling out of the tangle of sheets she had draped herself in the night before.
Mary giggled. "I played Janken with him. He lost horribly. So we traded duties today."
Ann raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that you get to work with Cliff on chopping grass for fodder today and fixing the broken parts of the fence AND taking care of the new Cow while he gets to go up the mountain and announce our presence to those people living up there."
Mary blinked and cursed quietly and rather creatively. Elli, who was close enough to hear her blushed and uttered, "Oh my. Where did you learn that kind of language?"
Mary blushed hard. "I read a lot," she replied lamely.
"Riiiiiiight," the other girls chorused.
Just then, a banging at the door startled the five out of a potential Mary teasing. "Hey girls!" Rick called out from behind the door. "It's already a quarter past six! Get a move on!"
"Rick, hold your chickens!" Popuri shot back.
"Don't make me come in there and douse the lot of you with water!" Rick called out before his steps could be heard walking away. The goosh of a watering can being filled in the well caused the girls to scramble into their clothes.
Swinging the door open and neatly catching Cliff on the nose, Ann stomped out and grabbed the watering can from Rick before he could douse anyone. "Gimme that before you hurt yourself," she demanded.
"Yes ma'am," replied Rick cheekily as Popuri threw up her hands.
"Ugh! Men! Where do they get these attitudes?" Popuri demanded.
"I think Jack's been a bad influence on them," remarked Karen dryly, earing a glare from Jack who had one shoulder strap of his overalls hanging off his shoulder. He looked wide awake for someone who just clambered out of bed.
"Him and Kai," put in Ann teasingly as she went over to the Turnips and started to pour water all over them.
"I resemble that remark," Jack said, making a silly face. "Okay people, breakfast is on the table, the shower is hooked up thanks to Grey and men, get in line for the free peep show." He was immediately showered with dirt clods from the girls and the boys laughed at him.
================
"Walnut Forest, population, four," quipped Karen as she headed into the forest, Rick beside her. "You sure that Popuri can handle the chickens?"
"She's seen me doing it enough, right?" replied Rick. "She's a big girl."
Karen smirked at that. "Big enough so that Kai wanted to propose to her this spring?"
Rick sputtered. "What?! Kai wants to do WHAT?!"
Karen arched an eyebrow. "No one told you that? Where have YOU been for the last two years?"
Rick went a deep shade of red and Karen could have sworn she saw steam hissing from his ears. Trying to diffuse the potential nuclear weapon at her side, Karen rested a hand on his shoulder. "Look Rick. You have to admit that Popuri is a young lady, almost ninteen now. Kai can take care of her and besides, Kai wants to settle down in Mineral Town instead of taking her back to Flowerbud Village. Jack has known that Kai wanted to propose last year, and he chickened out."
Before Rick could reply with something snarky, Karen pressed on. "You two have settled your differences last year, but you still can't accept that Kai is head over heels in love with Popuri, can you?"
Rick sighed, deflating like a popped balloon. "I guess you're right. But still, I should have been told this ages ago!"
"Kai came last year, tried to propose. He wussed out. Then he came on Spring the first. He then chickened out again. Jack, Grey, Cliff and even the DOCTOR had to push him to even walk up to Popuri. And then he was reduced to a babbling wreck and the boys had to drag him away."
Rick laughed, startling a chipmunk and the three Harvest Sprites who were playing near the Woodcutters house. "Oh man, I wish I had that on videotape."
"But the point is that you need to relax. Popuri's a big girl now and she won't get involved with someone who's going to mistreat her. Kai may act all smooth with Popuri but when he's gone, he's always turning into a babbling wreck. It took the combined efforts of everyone but Popuri and you to get him to try and propose last Summer the Thirtieth. And that ended up in having to drag him away on account that he was making a total ass of himself."
"That would explain why you and all of the others walked into the Ranch and dragged him out. I thought he was having a seizure or something like that," said Rick thoughtfully.
Karen giggled as they rounded the corner. "Hey Rick, go ahead and talk to Parsley. I'm sure he's got some insights and you've yet to talk to him for a while. I'm going to the resturant over there. Katie asked me to come by when I met her yesterday."
"Right. Hey Parsley!" Rick called out as Parsley looked up. Karen nodded to herself and headed over to the Resturant.
Checking the door and rattling it a couple of times, she rang the bell that hung at the side. Soon, the door opened and a teenaged girl with brown hair in multiple curled locks stood behind it. "Oh Karen!" exclaimed Katie. "Thanks for coming."
"Not a problem," said Karen as she was let into the Resturant. Wallace was busying himself behind the counter, working on polishing the glasses for their opening at noon for the people who wanted to eat there. "So, what's up?"
"Well, I was just wondering, well, it's kinda a silly thing." Katie fidgeted and Karen raised an eyebrow.
"Go on," said Karen.
"Well, Jack's Grandma used to make this really great cake back when she was still alive. I wanted to make it when grandpa told me about it. I didn't feel comfortable asking Jack about it, so I wanted to ask you."
"A cake recipe.... it might still be at the house. Tell you what. I'll check out the house and see if there's anything there. If not, I'm sure the combined efforts of everyone here can help you make a really great cake." Karen leaned on the nearby table as she studied Katie's hopeful expression. "So... why do you want to make the cake?"
"Um, well... there's this contest way over in the City. Grandpa told me that Jack's grandma's cake was a prize winning cake in five counties. I'm sure if I win, then the town could gather some fame and popularity. With that in mind, I'm sure the place won't be knocked down." Katie fidgeted and Karen nodded.
"I see. Well, I'll see what I can do. You sit tight. I'll be back in a few minutes." Karen got up and headed out of the resturant, only to bump into Gwen who was standing behind the door. "Oh, sorry."
"That's okay," Gwen said. "Can I talk to you?"
'Why does everyone wanna talk to me today?' wondered Karen as she followed Gwen to the grove of trees. She noticed Rick and Parsley debating on something. By the expressions on Rick's face, he was loosing the battle. "What's up?"
Gwen folded her arms and looked back at the resturant. "Katie isn't being completely truthful. The prize for the cake contest winner is a trip to the City as well and 20,000 Gold. The Gold I'm sure she'll drop into the Town if she wins, but she's always wanted to go to the City."
Karen nodded as she put a hand on her hip in thought. "Well, if she wants to go to the City, that's fine with me. Any fame or fortune this town can gather is good. Even if it means that Katie can go to the City because of the prize. Did she say what she's going to do there?"
"She wants to go to college," replied Gwen. "Wants to become a high class resturant owner or something like that. There hasn't been someone who left this place since Dia's parents left her here with Martha and Gina."
"What does Dia's parents do to leave their kid here?" inquired Karen.
"Dia's mom is a fashion designer and her father is a big corperate bigwig. They thought that Dia would grow up spoiled or something like that so they hired Martha and Gina to take care of her. She's still a bit of a snob though," said Gwen.
"Well, every road has a bump in it, right?" said Karen. "No pain, no gain. Wanna come with me to the farm? I could use another pair of hands looking for the Cake Recipe."
Gwen shrugged. "Eh, I'm not busy. All right, lets get moving."
==============
Cresting the rise of the small mountian, Grey inhaled sharply as he looked around the small villa atop the hill. Surrounded by a stone wall and decorated in a slightly old fashioned Victorian style, it was a picturesque scene right out of a storybook. Shifting the basket of what Ann had termed "Hello food", three large plump Strawberries, two Verryberries and one large Blueberry, he sighed and walked up to the door.
Rapping it sharply, Grey tapped his foot while waiting for the door to open. After a minute or so, the door opened, revealing a girl with blue hair, dressed in an old fashioned dress.
Grey's first thought was that he had somehow stumbled onto Mary's twin, despite the blue hair. Her whole body language, expression and such screamed Shyness as she said in a soft voice, "Hello Sir. What brings you to Clove Villa?"
Grey found his voice as the initial knee jerk surly response was violently shoved aside. Unlike Mineral Town where he could afford to be something of a jerk at times, especially concerning Saibara, he had to be assertive.
It still didn't help the fact that his love for Mary was nearly instantiously overridden by the girl in front of him. 'Damn my hormones,' Grey thought viciously.
"Uh, hi. I'm Grey from Tony's old Farm. Um," Grey wished he was more of a conversationalist as he held out the basket. "These are for you and the residents of the house. Sort of a "Hello Food" type deal. Thing. Um..."
Gina took the basket and nodded. "Thank you sir. Would you like to come in? Tea is being served right now."
"Um..." Grey rubbed the back of his head, wishing he had a response. What would Jack do in a situation like this? Ah yes, like he always did. Folded like a wussy. Wait, no, that was Kai. Aw damnit, where was Kai when one needed him to make a stupid ice breaker joke? "Sure, tea would be fine. Thanks."
"This way please." The girl opened the door wide and Grey stepped in, pausing to wipe the dust off of his shoes. Following her into the living room, a girl sat at the table. Her expression was distant as she looked at Grey.
"Are you the person who came to pick up Tony's things at his farm?" she asked, her voice level. It felt more like a demand than a question.
Grey interally thanked the Harvest Goddess for a more level playing field emotionally. "More like one of the people who have come to help the town. I'm Grey, from Mineral Town. Your maid has invited me for Tea."
"Sir has brought gifts as well," the girl said, placing the basket in the middle of the table and picking up the tea kettle. "One lump or two?"
Grey felt a ridiculous urge to mimic the old Bugs Bunny joke that Jack had pulled on him last Pumpkin Festival but squashed it down violently. No sense clonking someone on the head for the expensive of a joke. "One, will be fine," he said.
The girl poured two cups of tea, and added sugar to his and added cream and sugar to the girls. After she was finished, the girl she was serving said, "That will be all Gina."
"Yes Miss," she replied, walking out of the room. The door to the kitchen could be heard closing faintly in the background. Apparently, servants WERE quiet.
Grey sipped at his tea as he tried to iniciate conversation. "This is a very nice place you have here."
"It is my family's Villa," the girl said without preamble. She sipped her own tea and looked at Grey critically. "Are there more of you at the old Farm or are you trying to work here all by yourself?"
Grey shook his head. "No, there's nine of us at the Farm. I suppose Jack, the guy who was asked to help this place is getting an extention built on the farmhouse."
"It is a meaningless task at best," remarked the girl. She sipped her cup as Grey wondered why she was so distant. "There's a fine line between what people can do and what people cannot do. You should know what can and cannot be."
"I'll remember that," Grey said. He quickly downed his tea as fast as he could without appearing rude. Then, reaching into the basket, he removed the fruits from the basket and said, "Thank you for your time, miss....?"
There was an awkward pause as the girl continued to stare out the window. Then, she replied, absently reaching for the Blueberry. "Dia. That is all you need to know."
"Dia then. Good day." Grey picked up the basket, turned and nearly leapt out of his skin as Gina stood behind him. Heart thudding in his chest, he was led to the door.
Gina looked at Grey and said, "Thank you for your visit, Sir."
"It's my pleasure. Oh, um, I have something to ask." Gina blinked as Grey pitched his voice a bit softer. "Please, if you know anything that could help this town, don't hesitate to visit us at the farm. We'd rather not see our efforts go to waste without the villagers helping."
"I will try sir," said Gina, her voice even softer. Grey briefly wondered if she was considering something, but she then opened the door. Taking that as a cue to leave, Grey tipped his hat and headed out the door.
Once outside and the door had shut, he thudded his hand against his chest. "Holy. If the guys find out about this, they'll NEVER let me hear the end of it." He then blanched. "Mary'll be pissed."
=================
Cliff wiped his forehead as he looked up at the sun. "About midday," he remarked as Mary puffed beside him. "Are you holding up there all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied. "I'm just not used to this kind of work."
Cliff chuckled. "After a while, you'll get used to it. Popuri is adjusting..."
Just then, he and Mary were treated to Popuri chasing a widly clucking chicken across the farm. She was covered in feathers and the chicken was doing it's best to lead her on a wild goose chase. "Or maybe not," finished Cliff.
Mary giggled for a moment as she sliced the last of the tall grass away with a slash of the sickle. "She's having fun, you can tell."
"Come back here you..." Cliff blanched at the row of explitives that escaped Popuri as she chased the chicken around in circles.
"Yeah right, like heck she's enjoying it," Cliff said, shaking his head.
Popuri skidded around a corner and nearly ran into Joe who nearly clunked Kurt neatly on the head with the boards he was carrying. Kurt ducked it and Woody leaned backwards to avoid the swing. "Danger zone in here," Joe joked as Popuri chased the rampaging chicken all over the farm.
"What the heck is going on here?" inquired Jack as he came over the hill and found Popuri swearing like a sailor and trying to grab the chicken. Looking over at Cliff who had run over to relieve the others of some of their load. Behind them came Elli who carried the tool boxes, one in each hand and Ann who carried a good amount of plumbing.
"I think Popuri has gone crazy," Cliff said with a smirk. "She's trying to murder the chicken."
"Um, okay, that's crazy." Jack gave his load to Cliff as he reached down and plucked the chicken into his arms. Popuri skidded to a halt in front of him as she coughed violently for a moment while regaining her stamina. "Looking for this?"
Popuri nodded as she took the chicken from Jack. She could have sworn that the chicken made a face at her as she held it in her arms. "It got out when I went in to feed it," said Popuri, making a pouty face. "I don't know why they keep running out of the Coop all the time."
"Well it is a nice day," said Cliff who handed Jack's stuff back to him and took the heavy toolboxes from Elli. "Maybe it wants to be outside."
"Could be," said Popuri with a sigh. "I'll keep an eye on it. Your dog can help out, can't it?"
"Pretty much," said Jack as he hefted the load of wood. He looked over the yard and found the Dog running around like a madman, chasing butterflies and... was that a Harvest Sprite? Heading over to the small one room shack, he put the load down on the ground. Ann dropped the plumbing equiptment and groaned.
"I think I'm gonna need a massage after this," Ann complained as Woody and the boys went to work on the house.
"How much did this cost?" asked Cliff as he looked over the amount of material they brought to the house.
"Well, we had to make an extention for two communal bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen, so it came to about 20,000 Gold." said Jack, feeling the lightness of his wallet. "Suffice to say it, in exchange for hygiene and a warm place during rainy days, I'm almost broke. We're going to have to live off what we sell later on."
"So in other words, we're back to Jack's first season," Ann said with a grin. Jack nodded miserably as he shook his wallet. There was a very faint clinking sound in the bag and he grumbled darkly.
"I feel poor. Like 100 G poor. I haven't been that poor since..."
"You got that Vacation House built?" Elli teased and Jack went red.
The Vacation house in the village was something of a peculiarity among the people. Built in a open lot that had been empty for the last few years, Jack had a house built there as sort of a getaway when he needed some time off the farm. Gotz had made it for him and often asked why Jack wanted a townhouse for himself. When Jack said that he felt like having a place in town, it raised questions because his farm was not exactly out of the way. It currently served as a sort of clubhouse for people to come in and relax at times.
There was talk that Jack built it for Grey because he was on the verge of asking Mary to marry him, but Grey and Jack shot down the rumor rapidly, out of embarrasment. Grey had privately spoke to Jack about it later and Jack merely grinned and encouraged him to get his courage to talk to Mary.
Due to the massive amounts of produce Jack shipped every day, he was arguably the richest one in the town but he never displayed his wealth. Getting Gotz to build him new extentions to the farm was about the most he did at times. The Vacation house was something new and caused much talk in the town because Jack NEVER flaunted his wealth around like that. Well, except for the time he was short one log and used his Golden Wood piece to build his fence. Boy did the adults let him have it that day.
"Hey, the Vacation home is just... there, right?" said Jack as he scratched his head. "But seriously, there is a real good reason why I got it built."
Ann smirked and leaned on Jack, resting her head against his shoulder. "And what reason would that be, hmmm?"
Cliff snickered at Jack's obvious discomfort at Ann pressing into his back. Elli blushed and Mary giggled. "That is... er...."
"Mmmm?" Ann tickled Jack's ear and he supressed a groan. Ann had found Jack's sensitive spot the first summer when she came over. The girls all used that spot to get anything out of Jack, much to the amusement of the guys. She ticked again and Jack whimpered.
Suddenly wrenching himself free of Ann, he scampered away from the girl who yelled, "You're not going to get away that easy!" and ran after him. Popuri giggled, set down the chicken and took chase as well, laughing in that maniacal evil villian cackle she did so well.
Mary shook her head and sighed. "Those two."
Cliff hid a knowing smirk. He and Grey had been friends since he had arrived in the town and between him, Grey and Jack, Grey had a distinct lack of courage when it came to Mary. Specifically, asking her to marry him.
Grey came to the town about a month before Cliff did. Apparently, he worked for a construction company that went belly up. Without a place to go and no companies hiring at the point in time, Grey went back to the town where his father grew up and asked Saibara for a job.
It was no secret in Mineral Town that Grey hated the fact that Saibara didn't praise Grey often, if ever. The demanding old man was a bane on Grey's existance until he stepped into the library.
When he met Mary, a unique relationship began. Mary began to help Grey open up as he began to talk about his feelings on being in the small, somewhat boring town. It was a relationship built on books and trust, something that Cliff found fun to meddle in.
After two years and two birthdays, Jack and Cliff decided to build the Vacation House for Grey with some help from Gotz and Zack. It wasn't much, but it was a place where Grey could call home. The problem was trying to get Grey to move in.
Unlike Kai who would love to find any excuse to move to Mineral Town perminantly after finishing his contract with Gotz over in Flowerbud Village, Grey was one of those people who stood on their own two feet. Just getting Grey to LIVE in the house as a present to him was nearly a difficult task in itself. Gotz worked on the building itself while Jack, Cliff and Zack checked and purchased everything they would need for a small family to live in there.
On Grey's birthday, they had presented him with the keys to the house. Grey tried to refuse but it took the combined efforts of the four men to literally shove him into the house and tell him to have a good time in his new place. Then, they locked the door.
Like it or not, Grey wasn't going anywhere until he got his nerve to propose to Mary. It was almost cute, the way he became awkward around her. Kai had teased Grey mercilessly the summer before before going awkward around Popuri.
Elli looked over at Cliff who was grinning and said, "You know something, don't you?"
Cliff blanched. "Um... gotta go!" The drifter was off like a shot as Elli and Mary ran after him, determined to get the secret of the Vacation house out of the pair of boys who were laughing as they were being chased around the farm.
===============
"Hey Karen, is this it?"
Karen looked up through dusty bangs as Gwen held up a large piece of paper that seemed a bit wrinkled with age. Looking over the recipie ingredients, she nodded. "Yep, that's it. Let's get this to Katie."
Gwen pocketed the paper and pushed the door open. Sidestepping the others who were charging around like crazed Harvest Sprites with Jack's Dog on their tail, Gwen shook her head and said, "You guys from Mineral Town sure know how to slack off."
Karen rolled her eyes as Ann tackled Jack to the ground and Popuri helped her toss the helpless farmer into the pasture. She winced as Cliff came down on a flying elbow, getting a yelp of pain from Jack. "They're a bunch to be reckoned with," she said as she brushed past Joe and Kurt who were setting up the framing of the house.
Quickly heading into Walnut Forest, Gwen read off the ingredient list. "Flour, salt, sugar..." she paused while the pair rounded into the road the headed towards the lake. "Golden Eggs, Golden Milk and Moon Drop Dew? What the hell?"
"Golden Eggs and Milk are pretty accessible," said Karen, tapping a lip in thought. "Though we may need to call Mineral Town and see if Jack's old Chickens and Cows are still producing it. Moon Drop Dew, I haven't heard of yet though."
"Well, lets give this to Katie," said Gwen, ringing the doorbell of the Resturant. "She'll know what to do with it."
"Is she a good cook?" asked Karen, thinking of her own cooking disasters.
Gwen scrunched up her expression as she shook her head. Before she could add anything, the door opened. "Hey, you're back!" exclaimed Katie. "Did you find it?"
"Yep," said Karen as Gwen handed Katie the recipe. "It's got some things I think we can get from Mineral Town shipped here. Other than that, we'll have to find some referance on Moon Drop Dew. You know what it is?"
Katie made a face. "Moon Drop Dew? I have no idea what that is."
Gwen sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, lets go and check things out. I'm sure someone knows what to do with it."
Karen nodded. "Well, good luck. I'm sure we can get some Golden Milk and Golden Eggs shipped here from Mineral Town. I'll stop by regularly and when the shipment comes in I'll drop off the Eggs and Milk."
"Right. I'm counting on you. Thanks Gwen, Karen."
==============
Grey whistled to himself as he trudged down the mountianside towards the Farm. The sun was dipping in the sky and was casting a warm orange glow across the land. As he turned the corner to head into Brownie Ranch, a voice called out to him. "Sir?"
Grey paused and turned to see the maid named Gina walking up to him. "Sir, I need to speak with you."
"Sure. What do you need?"
Gina looked flustered for a moment before asking, "Sir, do you know Flowerbed City?"
Grey nodded. "Yeah, I was a construction worker there before I lost my job."
"Oh. Well.... um..." Gina looked even more flustered as she said, "Forgive me. I will ask you later. Thank you sir." She ran off, leaving a puzzled Grey scratching his head curiously.
"What was that all about?" he wondered to himself. Then, shrugging, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed down the mountianside.
===============
Chapter 3 End