A/N: I have been rethinking Divine Intervention in a lot of ways. I want to stay true to the story I had floating around in my mind for so long, but I think it deserves a mature update to reflect the person and the writer that I have grown into since starting it. I want to impart meaningful thoughts and feelings and tell a story that feels real and nostalgic to the games and relatable to all kinds of people. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway! Thanks for everyone's patience as I continue to edit and revise. And I do promise that one day it will be complete.
This game is based on the original Harvest Moon: (More) Friends of Mineral Town and Harvest Moon: DS (Cute) characters with touches of inspiration from A(nother) Wonderful Life.
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The second of Spring.
Inhale, exhale.
You've got this.
Dr. Trent dragged his brown leather duffle bag out from under his bed with a grunt. As he heaved it onto the mattress of the newly made bed in his new bedroom, he heard Elli pass by in the hallway beyond, wheeling her own suitcase along behind her. She paused at his door and stuck her head in. "Are you almost finished? We should be on our way in five minutes!"
"Yeah, almost done!" he called back, casting around for any last-minute supplies to cram into the waiting bag. He just needed a spare shirt, a pair of clean slacks, and toiletries for the overnight stay at Forget-Me-Not Valley's local inn.
It was the second of Spring, two days before he would begin his brand-spanking-new job as Mineral Town's one and only full-time physician. It was his first ever real professional placement as a licensed physician. This clinic in which he stood, and the health of all the residents of the little town it came with, were his responsibility now. Practically his whole life had been spent in preparation for this, and Trent was ready. Now he just had to get comfortable living in a completely new place.
At least he was able to continue working with his training partner, and now nurse, Elli. That made one familiar face.
That familiar face popped back into his office. "I'm ready when you are!" the nurse chirped in her perpetually good=natured way.
"Great. I'll be down in a minute." He and Elli had studied together for years; she knew him better than anyone else, and there was no one better to begin a career alongside.
The nurse pranced away. Trent snapped his bag shut and gave his room a once-over, heading for the doorway. Nothing stood out to him that he was forgetting, and so he thundered down the stairs to the public first floor of the clinic, taking the stairs two or three at a time.
Elli stood anxiously at the front door, glancing at her watch. She reached for the door as Trent crossed the room towards her, but the handle suddenly swung from her grasp as the door opened from the outside.
Blinking in surprise, the two regarded the figure in the doorway. Who would be calling on a Wednesday – the only established Clinic holiday all week? Surely everyone in town knew that the clinic was closed on Wednesdays. It had probably been that way for as long as the small rural community had had its own clinic.
In the doorway stood a middle-aged, wiry woman in denim coveralls. Her pale blonde hair was pulled back in a short ponytail, streaked with grey, and her laugh lines flashed with her sheepish grin.
"I'm so sorry, Doctor and Nurse Elli," she began apologetically. "First of all, I want to welcome you to Mineral Town. We're just thrilled to have you both. Dr. Hardy spoke so highly of his protégés before he retired to the Valley. My name is Claire Kelley – I own and operate Haven Ranch at the south of town. I'm well aware this is your day off, and I apologize, but I had to catch you before you left. I hope I'm not being too much of an inconvenience." She held out her hand.
Trent and Elli took turns shaking her hand. The doctor forced a smile. "Thank you very much, ma'am. We're happy to be here and will do our best for you. But I'm afraid we're in a bit of a rush – would it be possible to meet another time? We'll be back in Mineral Town Thursday morning, and the office will be open and ready for you at 9 am sharp."
"Well – it has to do with where you're going," the farmer quickly cut in. Her voice held a pleading note that gave Trent pause.
"Forget-Me-Not Valley?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Oh, is there something you want us to pick up for you?" Elli inquired.
Claire chuckled and lowered her eyes. "Dr. Hardy mentioned that he had invited you both to visit him in the Valley and that you'd taken him up on the offer. Funny coincidence...my daughter, Ella, just very recently moved to the Valley herself and started up her own farm there, by herself. It's hard for me to find time away from my own farm to get down to see her, and I haven't heard a lot from her, so I was wondering – that is, I hoped – well, since you're in the Valley, I thought maybe you could touch base with her? I just – I'm sorry, I'm worried about her. Just your typical anxious mother, I suppose. I was hoping you could just check up on her and make sure she's doing all right. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but she's all I've got, you know?"
Elli was staring wide-eyed at the farmer, their time crunch forgotten. "Wow. She started her own farm up all on her own? That's brave."
Claire smiled weakly. "It is, isn't it?"
"That takes incredible ambition," Trent agreed. He didn't voice his other thought: But Ms. Kelley, when has a parent's hovering ever helped their child learn and succeed on their own merit?
"Of course, we'd be happy to check in on her! It will take no time at all," Elli beamed, all sunshiney hospitality.
Well, she was right about that. Trent smiled in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes and reflected not for the first time on Elli's unstoppable willingness to rally to the causes of everyone she met. Without questioning it, or weighing whether a better solution existed, or picking apart the options available, she simply chose to help.
Relief flooded the middle-aged woman's eyes. "Oh, thank you. She's never been on her own before, and it's no easy thing. Starting a farm up on your own, that is. I should know." Claire sighed. "We've spoken on the phone, mind, but what good is her word when I know she wouldn't want me to worry? Just a little peace of mind is all I'm looking for. I want to make sure she's eating and settling in OK."
Trent nodded. "We understand, ma'am. As Elli said, we will be sure to pop by and report back." He paused and considered his next words carefully. "It sounds like an enormous, worthwhile project she's taking on. I'm sure it's going to be very rewarding for her to accomplish this for herself."
Elli was nodding and smiling warmly when she seemed to realize how much time had passed. "Great Goddess!" she exclaimed, fairly shoving the doctor past Claire and into the cobblestone street. "We'd best be going, or we'll be late for Dr. Hardy! Pleasure meeting you, Ms. Kelley. See you Thursday!"
"I'll be looking forward to the update," the rancher smiled. "You have my gratitude, Doctor and Nurse Elli. Until Thursday."
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Inhale, exhale.
The sun rose that morning the same way it had the morning before. The same way, in fact, that it rose every morning back home. Its warm rays crept across the streets and glimmered into windows, wakening the sleepy valley's streets the same way it roused the avenues in Mineral Town. Saibara the blacksmith would be hard at work, stoking the fires of the forge; Gotz the carpenter would be making his rounds in the wood; and her mother would be up, same as her, feeding the chickens or tilling the earth or maybe thoughtfully watching the sun rise, too.
"Well, ya sure know yer way around an ax," came a gruff, approving voice.
Panting, Ella rested her elbow on the tool in question and paused from her labour, watching as the slightly stooped figure in well-worn jeans and a white sleeveless shirt plodded his way over to her. Small, sharp eyes beneath heavy black brows met hers, and his dark hair was shot with grey at the temples. His leathery, bronzed skin spoke of decades spent working beneath that same hot sun.
"Thank you, Takakura," Ella said, attempting a smile. She was trying to make a point of saying his name in the hopes he might actually using hers. Instead of calling her Ella, or "girl", or "honey", or anything, he simply did not refer to her at all.
It had been two days since she had heard her own name in someone else's voice.
Who knew loneliness could settle deep into your bones so quickly? In Mineral Town, there was no such thing as a stranger; everyone in town knew exactly who she was, and the entire village was like her extended family. She and her friends had grown up exploring her mother's fields, playing hide and seek in Ann's father's inn, and chasing each other around the supermarket. (Karen's parents always really hated that.) Moving to the Valley, Ella suddenly discovered how very self-conscious she was. It had been years since she'd had to make a first impression – and now, suddenly, she had to make dozens of them.
The blonde had always had a certain mental image of herself. Growing up, she had prided herself on being resourceful, independent, and a good problem-solver. But removing herself from her sphere of comfort, the only place she had ever known, called all these notions into sharp question. She did not feel at all brave or competent when she dreaded the thought of even having to speak to someone she didn't know. And she felt ashamed, knowing that she was keeping herself captive on her own farm, too overwhelmed to venture into the valley of strangers.
But in her bones, Ella knew she was doing the right thing.
A younger version of herself probably would have found the idea of moving away from everything she knew and working her way from the (literal) ground up just as her mother did very romantic and exhilarating. But then again, Ella was realizing that the younger version of herself was utterly clueless about everything. And anyway, the circumstances around her sudden move were less romantic and ideal than she would have ever imagined.
Beyond her property, Ella could hear her new neighbours shouting words of greeting to one another as they began their morning routines and commutes. It reminded her achingly of the familiarity of Mineral Town, but she commanded herself to straighten up and focus. Forget-Me-Not Valley could be home, too. One day, she would be a part of those daily greetings.
Just…not today.
"I got those numbers for ya." Takakura thumbed through a notebook until he found the page he was looking for. "Here. Pricing for cows. But first, the barn. It needs work, like I said. It's in no shape to house an animal in any respectable way."
Biting the inside of her cheek, Ella nodded tautly. The property's caretaker had made no secret of the state of the farm when she had spoken to him on the phone about buying it. He had even offered for her to come look at it for herself before she purchased – but she hadn't had the time. Now she was the proud owner of a wide field pockmarked with stones and stumps as well as a rundown barn and coop unfit to act as any kind of shelter.
"Now, how's about we go on down to Vesta's and buy those seeds we've been talking about? It's about time you met Vesta's people. You'll be doing a lotta business with them."
"The best time to have planted spring seeds was yesterday. The second best time is today," Ella agreed with a nod of determination.
Takakura looked at her a moment too long, as if detecting the dread weighing in the pit of her stomach, and gestured for her to follow him.
The Valley was quiet in the still morning. Takakura led Ella over the bridge to the east of her headland. The brook beneath burbled pleasantly, and Ella caught the silvery flash of fish making their way towards the ocean south of the Valley.
A wide expanse of field stretched out before them, neatly sectioned with fencing and separated from the farm's two log cabins by the Valley's main road, which led away into Northwood City. Three figures – one broad-shouldered, one staunch, and one petite – already knelt in the soil, planting.
"Mornin', folks," Takakura called out. The figures all looked up to wave before pausing when they saw Ella.
"Well, I'll be!" boomed the broad-shouldered figure with coppery curls, rising and brushing her hands against her embroidered apron. "If this isn't the Ella I've been hearing about! Just how do you do? I'm Vesta, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" She took both Ella's hands in hers and pumped them enthusiastically, smiling broadly.
"It's so nice to meet the farmer extraordinaire Takakura has been telling me about," Ella squeaked out. Somehow, Vesta's smile seemed to grow even wider.
By then, the two others working in the field had made their way over to Ella and Takakura. Placing her hand on Ella's back, Vesta gently but firmly turned Ella to face them: a young man with a cold, blue gaze and curly black hair, and a smiling young woman in a neat green dress with a heart-shaped face and long, chestnut tendrils escaping from the bandana tied in her hair.
"This here's my brother, Marlin. Works here on the farm with me. He's single, ya know!" Vesta winked, then burst out in hearty laughter as Ella flamed scarlet and Marlin rolled his eyes. Both avoided making eye contact with the other. "Oh, I'm only joshin' ya! HA HA HA! And this is our farmhand, Celia. Couldn't do what we do without her. Also single, if you know any likely prospects. HA HA!"
Celia smiled. "Oh, Vesta. You know I'm not lookin'. Hi there, Ella! Welcome to the Valley. You'll love it here."
"I already do," Ella lied, smiling at the other girl. Celia's tranquil demeanor was a welcome temporary refuge from Vesta's nearly oppressive friendliness.
Takakura thought he would have to help Ella navigate the purchase of the assorted springtime seeds she was after, but both he and Vesta were taken aback at the young woman's easy familiarity with the process. Ella, on the other hand, was quite suddenly struck by a wave of loneliness as memories of running errands just like this with her mother assailed her, one after the other. Reaching into the wallet pouch on her workbelt, she rapidly blinked away tears.
"Would ya'll like to join us for breakfast?" Vesta asked as the younger farmer stowed her purchases in her rucksack.
"That's very kind of you to offer, Vesta, but I better get to planting right away," Ella replied, turning quickly for the door. "Very nice meeting you all. I hope you all have a very productive day, and I'm sure I'll see you soon. Take care."
"Well, come back soon, hear? Marlin'll still be single! HA HA!"
Takakura hung back to chat with the Valley's other resident farmers, which suited Ella just fine. She hurried down the road back towards her farm and disentangled her jumbled feelings about the encounter with the farming trio down the road. Vesta seemed lovely, if a little overbearing; Marlin was impossible to get a read on; and Celia – well, Celia might be a friend one day. Overall, it had gone just fine, but she decided that was enough socializing for one day. She would buckle down to working land and planting and then face tomorrow.
That was the plan, anyway, and plans have a funny way of changing. The blonde stopped short as she stepped back onto her land. Here were three more figures – and these ones were rooting around the edges of her field!
For a fleeting moment, Ella considered turning around and going straight back to bed until they were gone. Instead, she steeled herself, bit down on the inside of her cheek, and strode toward them.
"Can I help you?" she called as she approached. As she got closer, she realized something curious: none of them were dressed to be digging around in the dirt. One wore a crisp white physician's jacket, another wore a neat collared button-down and pressed dress slacks, and the third wore a frilly blue concoction with puffed sleeves and a starched white apron.
The three turned to her, and her aggravation was forgotten as a familiar craggy-faced, one-eyed, bald doctor met her gaze. "Dr. Hardy!" she cried.
"Well, I'll be," he grunted, getting to his feet with effort. "You didn't need to come this far for a checkup, child. I didn't retire without ensuring there would be a suitable replacement for the clinic."
Ella fell forward to hug her longtime childhood doctor. "I didn't know you retired here. Dr. Hardy, I own this farm now."
"You... what?" rasped the older man.
"We told you," laughed the voice of the woman in the frilly blue dress. At that, Ella turned to take in the other two intruders on her farm.
"Whoops – please forgive us for our trespasses. Dr. Hardy assured us that this property was most certainly not under new ownership." Flashing a wry smile at his fellow physician, Trent held out his hand to Ella. "My name is Trent. Dr. Hardy was my mentor through medical school, and I'm proud to say that Elli here and I have taken up the torch at the Mineral Town clinic since his retirement. Since we're not far, we're visiting him occasionally for further professional development. Congratulations on your farm."
As he spoke, Trent noted Ella's strong resemblance to her mother. She shared the same pale blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, but she wore it shorter, and her eyes were the same startling blue but flashed with a keenness altogether different from her mother's kindly, doe-like eyes. Freckles danced across her nose. Her small, upturned mouth lent her an almost mischievous look. She was cute enough and certainly interesting to look at, but not outstandingly beautiful.
"Oh, that's all right. I know Dr. Hardy, too. I grew up in Mineral Town, and he's looked after me for as long as I can remember. Congratulations on your new jobs." As she shook his hand, Ella's eyes flickered over Trent's dark, mussed hair and alert, angular eyes. A black tie peeked out from beneath his folded collar. Something about the way he met her gaze and subtly appraised her without any apparent surprise made her think he had been expecting her, or knew of her, somehow. What had Elli been saying about "I told you so..."?
"How do you do," giggled Elli. "I'm Elli, and I'll be the nurse at the Mineral Town clinic starting tomorrow! Please do forgive us. We ran into your mother, actually, just before we left, so we did know that you had just bought a farm down in the Valley, but you must know how stubborn Dr. Hardy can be." The nurse had short brunette hair cropped smartly at her chin and curled under slightly to soften the look. Her doll-like eyes were big and brown, and her warm little smile put Ella at ease as they grasped each other's hands in greeting.
"My apologies, dear girl," came Hardy's grumbling voice. "These two told me that they'd heard word of Claire Kelley's daughter buying a farm in the Valley, but I hadn't imagined you'd moved in just yet. You wasted no time – it's only the second of Spring. My mistake, and I oughtn't have assumed. Well, I hope you'll also forgive us for rooting around in your fields, but I'm hoping you might find our quest useful. We're weeding, as a matter of fact." He held up a bunch of tall red grasses, soil still clinging to the roots, that Ella immediately recognized.
"Oh, chokeweed?" she said. "That pesky stuff used to grow at my mom's place, too. It smothered out everything that grew near it, so I think she more or less eradicated it."
Hardy nodded. "It doesn't stand much of a chance in a developed environment. Hence our interest in it on your farm. I took the liberty of harvesting it when I first happened upon it here, back when no one lived here."
"Is it useful for something?" Ella asked curiously.
"Well, not yet," Trent said, a hint of irony colouring his tone. "It's actually slightly poisonous to humans in its raw forms. But I have a theory or two about medical applications it might possess, and I've been hoping to study it for some time. Do you mind if we collect some more samples? We will reimburse you – "
Ella laughed out loud at the suggestion, which caused Elli to start giggling alongside her. "Oh, by all means, please take all you can carry. I'll even let you have them for free. You can probably tell just by looking at my field that I don't need any additional obstacles."
"Nonsense, child. This is your property, and we are taking resources from it. You'll be reimbursed at market value." Hardy rested a hand on Ella's shoulder. "This land is your livelihood now. Learn to say yes to payment in exchange for what grows here, even if you are glad to be rid of it. Following your dreams is tough going, especially in the beginning."
The old physician was right. Ella nodded, meeting his eye and finding approval there. She glanced quickly to Elli, who was smiling her warm smile, and then to Trent, who looked back at her with reserved thoughtfulness. That made two hard-to-read men she had met before 10 a.m.
The short morning hours stretched into afternoon as Ella worked the earth, rotating between weeding, tilling, splitting stumps, and lugging away stones. She marveled at the simple agricultural truth that matter how many stones one removed, a thousand more cropped up across the upturned earth. On the fringes of her field, the herb collectors worked just as steadily, slowly filling a large wicker basket with the red weed.
Ella had just retreated to the shade of her small farmhouse to take a long drink from her water pump when Elli flounced up to her side. The nurse shaded her eyes with a hand and beamed. "Wow, sure is a warm one today, huh? Hey, Ella, we were just about to have a picnic lunch. It doesn't look like you've eaten yet, so would you join us?"
Ella hesitated, but the nurse's entreating smile won her over. Her stomach grumbled quietly in agreement. "That sounds nice, Elli. Thanks."
The nurse led her back to where Hardy and Trent had spread out a large blanket under a large tree. A small stack of sandwiches accompanied a bushel of apples. The foursome tucked in eagerly, and Ella was at once grateful she had been invited – her lunch otherwise was likely to be wildberries and toast. And there was something she needed to know.
"So," the farmer began carefully, "You heard about me moving here, huh?"
"Yes!" Elli replied eagerly through a mouthful of egg salad. "Your mom – ah, we ran into your mom on our way out this morning, and she wanted – she told us that you had moved here." The nurse blushed at her own stammering and took another big bite of her sandwich to excuse herself from saying any more. Ella sighed inwardly and glanced at Hardy, who placidly munched away on his apple, and at Trent, who had stopped chewing and was staring into space.
She knew it.
Her mother, in the sweetest way possible, had sent spies to Ella's farm. Trent was clearly in on it, but Hardy probably wasn't. Ella felt her appetite evaporate.
She and her mom had talked about this – what Claire had asked the two clinicians to do may have disastrous consequences.
Ella stood abruptly, brushing crumbs from her sandwich off her coveralls. "Thanks again for lunch. You're all welcome to stay as long as you need." With some surprise, the trio watched her hasten back to her cabin and retreat inside.
Elli pursed her lips. "Oh, dear, I messed that one up."
"What happened here?" Hardy demanded.
Trent got to his feet. "Her mom was really worried about her moving here and asked us to check in on her, and now she's on to us. That was a stronger reaction than I expected, though. I'm just going to see if I can have a quick word with her."
Upon closer inspection, Ella's farmhouse was even more rundown than Trent had originally thought. The logs were warped and splintering in many places, and the condition of the roof would have made Gotz weep. As he knocked and waited for her to answer, he glanced around at the weathered, half-collapsed barn and the lopsided coop that stood on the far side of the stone-littered field. The place was in even worse shape than he would have dared to imagine, and now he understood Claire's concern much more clearly. It was one thing to take over an operational, modern establishment by oneself...but this place?
The door opened slowly and there was Ella, forcing a smile and opening her mouth to begin some sort of breezy explanation, but Trent stopped her by shaking his head.
"I'm not going to insult your intelligence by pretending that you're mistaken," he began. "Yes, your mother is worried about you, and yes, she asked us to stop by and make sure you were doing alright."
As he watched her, he could tell the farmer was looking somewhere far away. The silence stretched between them until Ella finally looked up to meet his eyes. "She's going to worry herself sick," she said softly. "Look at this place."
"Are you eating?" Trent asked. "And is your bed warm and dry at night?"
Uncertainly, Ella nodded.
"Then that's what we're going to tell her," the doctor said firmly. "We're not on a reconnaissance mission here. And this should get easier on her the more time you've spent apart." He paused. "If you'd rather us say nothing, you can tell me so, and you have my word on it."
Ella's mouth worked until she found the right words. "My mother is an incredible woman. But this is something I need to take care of for myself, and she understands that. I am capable of this. I'm sorry, I can't explain it any better. Let's just say it's complicated."
Trent surprised himself with the words that came out of his mouth next. This morning, he had firmly been against "reporting back" to Claire, agreeing with Ella that her ambitions would be best realized independently, but now he found himself understanding Claire's perspective and maybe even defending it. "She's very proud of you. I thought you should hear that, as well."
Immediately, he wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut and left the conversation where it was; something was clearly going on, and the last thing he wanted was to make Ella cry. But instead, she met his gaze levelly, again revealing the astuteness he had glimpsed earlier. "Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad Mineral Town has someone like you and Elli looking after it. I'm sure you're going to be great."
The sucker punch of unexpected encouragement left the doctor momentarily speechless. "Well, for what it's worth, I also think you're going to whip this place into shape." He realized he even meant it, too. Something in the quickness of her eyes and the way she looked out at the mess of a property she had purchased told him she was going to be OK. When she offered up a small smile, he couldn't help smiling back.
"Well, I'll be off then," he said abruptly, feeling that Elli and Hardy would be soon wondering what was taking so long. "Err, would you prefer that we don't say anything to your mother?"
The farmer sucked in her breath through her teeth. "You can tell her that I'm eating great and sleeping warmly. I think that's a good place to start. Maybe don't mention the dilapidated barn, though."
"You got it. Well, I'll see you around." Trent turned away as Ella began closing her door.
"See you next week," she called.
"Until next week," he replied automatically. Her door closed and only then did he realize that he and Elli hadn't made plans to return every week – but maybe it would be a good idea to come and collect as much chokeweed as they could before it was out of season.