Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

"I'm gonna tell you a secret, Jonathon," Grandpa told me, reaching down to pat me on the head with one of his huge, calloused hands and then kneeling to help me tie my shoes. "Today, you're going to learn my secret to making the farm so successful."

"'Kay, Grampa!" I agreed, bouncing my right foot in the air while he worked on my left shoe. I sat quietly while he tied the other shoe, and then asked, "So what's your big secret?"

The old man grabbed my little hand to help me up. "I know you're only five, Jonathon," he said, "but I want you to know anyways. The farm makes so much money because I pray every day!"

"Pray?" I made a face. "Praying is boring."

"Well, my boy," Grandpa grunted, lifting me up onto his shoulders, "that depends on how you do it. See this ear of corn?" He waved the vegetable in the air in front of us. "This corn is going to help us pray."

He started walking, carrying us down the path away from the beach. We walked for what seemed like forever to my young mind, stopping in a small clearing in the forest. Grandpa set me down, and walked towards the little pond in the middle.

The cackle of birds outside my bedroom window roused me from my dream. I rolled over and swung my feet over the edge of the bed, swearing when they hit the cold floor. I looked over at my pillows, desperately wanting to just fall back asleep but knowing that there was something I had to do. My foggy brain fought to decide what I needed to remember, and I when I did I stood up in a rush. Yesterday, I had harvested all of my second potato crop. Today, I could afford to buy two cows and a chicken.

I was so excited about the prospect of owning livestock that I forgot that Hal didn't open the ranch's store until 8:00. I had to spend the first hour and a half of the day just wandering around, since there wasn't anything else to do. When I had paid for the animals, Hal said that he would deliver them to the farm.

Ann was waiting for me outside when I finished my business with her father. "So, what are you going to call them?" she asked, bubbling over with enthusiasm. Like usual.

I shrugged. "Haven't thought about it."

The redheaded young woman gave me a critical look. "Come on. We can go grab Karen, and between her and me we can figure out what to call your cows."

My eyes darted around, looking for an eavesdropper. "You know the rules about that," I whispered. "I'm not supposed to act like anything but a stranger around her."

Ann shrugged. "Fine. You act like a stranger, I'll keep acting like her best friend." She grabbed me by the sleeve and started tugging me towards the vineyard as she said it. I managed to divert Ann enough to let me get the animals situated on the farm, and to make sure they wouldn't be able to make their way through the fence surrounding the pasture. By the time we got to the vineyard, it was already nearing four o'clock.

When we arrived, we couldn't find Karen by the house or the wine cellar. Ann led me deeper into the vineyard, past row after row of grapes until we got to the back corner. I remembered the area from when I was a kid. I could remember a huge, beautiful tree that stood guard over the vineyard.

The tree that stood there now looked dead. It had no leaves on its branches, and the bark was flaking off of its trunk. I could see Kai sitting against the tree playing with the knot on his purple bandana, and after a moment Ann and I could see Karen balancing herself on the rails of the fence lining their property.

When he saw us, Kai scrambled to his feet. "Please don't tell the Master," he said hurriedly, a worried look on his face. "We were just taking a moment's break. It's just so hot out here . . ."

Ann rolled her eyes and waved him back down. "Like I would say anything," she sighed. Kai sat back down and the farm girl turned her attention to her friend. "Jack can't think of any names for his new cows," she told the brunette. "I brought him up here to see if you could think of any."

Karen shrugged and started to do some slow dance moves on the thin rails. "Moo One and Moo Two?" she suggested, twisting her voice to make it sound as sarcastic as she could but telling me with her eyes that she meant it as a joke.

The redhead snorted. "You should get down before you hurt yourself," she cautioned.

Karen rolled her eyes, and turned to hop down. Her left foot slipped as she moved, catching on the rail; her right foot hit the ground, and all four of us could hear the crack as her ankle twisted under her weight.

She flopped onto the ground with a gasp, and immediately gritted her teeth against the pain. Kai stood up in a rush, looking around in panic. "I'll go get the Master," he rushed, turning and running back towards the house.

I watched him run, shaking my head. "Real nice guy you're seeing, Karen," I told her after he had disappeared. "You get hurt and he runs away."

"No jokes!" she snapped, her green eyes blazing with pain from behind her bleached bangs. She moaned. "My ankle hurts so bad. Please help me." Her plea sounded like a little girl's.

With a sigh, I crouched down next to her. "I broke my ankle when I was a kid, so I know how bad it hurts," I told her. I slipped one arm underneath her knees and wrapped the other around her middle. "It's really going to hurt when I pick you up. If you don't want it to hurt even more, try to keep your leg relaxed. Ann will make sure that it doesn't hit anything, okay?"

Karen nodded with tears dripping down her cheeks, and Ann hurried over to crouch next to the offended ankle. The injured girl wrapped her arms around my neck and tried to prepare herself for the pain. When I lifted her up, she shrieked through clenched teeth and then buried her face in my neck.

Ann and I hurried to the church building in town, knowing that the pastor was the closest thing to a doctor that the town had. Kai and Gotz were just coming out of the house by the time we were passing it; Kai stood there gaping at us, but Gotz shook his head and followed.

When Pastor Carter saw Karen, he simply clucked his tongue and broke out his medical supplies. He kicked Gotz, Ann, Kai, and I out while he went about putting a cast on Karen's ankle.

"How did this happen, Karen?" Gotz bellowed after we had been allowed to see Karen, taking a deep drink out of a bottle of wine that he had procured from Goddess-knows-where.

"It's our fault," I spoke up quickly. I could tell that the whine he had been drinking was starting to affect him and I wanted to head off any trouble. "Ann and I went up to the vineyard to see if Karen had any ideas on what to name my new cows. She and Kai decided to take a break to talk to us and—"

Gotz patted me on the shoulder, nearly knocking me off of my feet. "Jonathon, you know I like you, but I thought we talked about this. It just isn't meant to be. You kids should all head on home now, I'll take Karen back home when she's ready."

"Not so fast, Master Gotz," the pastor spoke up. "I don't think Karen will be able to stay at home for a while. She not only broke her ankle, but she tore up her knee pretty bad. With this cast on her leg, there's no way she can make it up the stairs in the house."

Ann's exuberant grin returned, even with it being the late hour that it was. "She can stay at my house," she gushed. "My bedroom's on the first floor, so there isn't any stairs that need to be bothered with. And you know that Dad wont mind."

That's when Karen spoke up. "I'd rather just stay in my own bed," she insisted. "There's a bathroom on the second floor, so I won't have to use the stairs for anything until I'm better."

"Fine." Gotz pointed at me before he bent over to pick his daughter up. "Go home, Jonathon."

Kai followed me out of the church and kept pace with me for a few moments. "Thanks for covering for us," he told me quietly. We stopped walking and faced each other; he held out his hand. "We were never introduced. I'm Kai. I help the Master and his daughter at the vineyard."

I shook his hand, surprised at the strength of his grip. "I'm Jack. I just took over my grandfather's old farm."

We started walking again, and passed the bakery in silence as we both headed home. "Did you know the Master's daughter before you came here?" Kai asked tentatively.

"I used to visit here when I was a little kid," I replied. "She was the only person that spent time with me. I was too shy to leave the farm, but she came over to play."

"Karen, outgoing?" Kai asked skeptically. "I have a hard time seeing her like that."

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as we approached the point where the path split. "You're dating her, right?" And you don't know her any better than that?

He nodded, flushing. "I've known her for years," he confided, "but I don't really know how she feels. Karen never seems to want to talk about anything, and I don't know why. All anyone other than Ann really knows about her is that she wants to go to the city. She doesn't say much of anything else, even to me."

We said our goodbyes, and headed in separate directions. I couldn't help but shake my head as I walked. Kai seemed like a nice guy, but I felt sorry for him. Nice people are okay, but he just didn't seem that bright. It didn't take a genius to figure out that her father was often abusive, at least verbally. Ever since we had hit our teenage years, I could see how the cursing and screaming that she and her father did affected how she acted and felt.

The more I thought, the more resolved I became. I was absolutely going to find a way for Karen and I to be together, but I would have to start thinking. What could I do?