A Haven From the Storm

Chapter 19 – Sweet Strawberry Shortcake

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A personal note:

My apologies to those readers who have been expecting updates for some time. Due to the place I'm at in life right now, I've found it difficult to get my head into Haven-space for some time. A few of you in fact know at least one of the other places I've wandered into recently. And of course, chapter 18 was a cusp chapter – the story, of necessity, will be of a somewhat different character afterwards.

The current chapter is something of a clean-up of some previous problems left unresolved. Nevertheless, I'd like to think there is some intrinsic merit to it, and I hope it gives some of _Haven_'s loyal readers enough pleasure to partially compensate them for their patience. I am most grateful to all of you for your kind reviews, now as always.

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I was rather eager to get to bed that night. I figured that the lady and I had much to talk about. And I was not disappointed. Almost as soon as I laid down in bed, I fell asleep and fell into a clear lucid dream. We were at the pond together, me on the shore and her in the center, more beautiful than when she had appeared to me in wakefulness. The mists of the waterfall and the pond surface framed her; the moon and starlight glittering resplendent on her gown.

In dream, her beauty and mystery did not intimidate me in the least. We were just old, dear friends talking - and joking - together.

"No more hiding behind waterfalls? I guess we've been properly introduced now. It was the vegetables?"

Her girlish laughter was musical. "Yes, the time for childish shyness - hiding behind skirts! - has passed. Now we're both ready to talk face to face." She grew serious. "Your offerings have once again completed the circle that has joined your family and I for generations. The circle that your father broke by leaving the village. Now, you have repaired the damage and are poised to continue our shared life."

"Pardon me, dear lady, if I ask too many questions. But all of this is very new to me! I feel like a child walking into an advanced level lecture. May I ask - who and what are you? Are you the Goddess the villagers tell so many tales of?"

"I am the one the villagers tell romances of. But I am no Goddess. I'm as mortal as you - although somewhat more long lived. I am...a feminine presence of the forests and fields, ponds and streams. Especially the ponds. Water is my natural element."

I remembered the poetic myths of my youth. "You are a water nymph, then? An undine?"

"You could say that's what I am if you wished."

"For that matter, do you have a name?"

She laughed. "Now who, other than your ancestors, could have had the opportunity to name me. You may continue to call me 'lady' if you like. It rather pleases me - Alfred called me that also."

"Alfred? You mean my nine times great-grandfather? You knew him?"

A smile of wistful remembrance. "I certainly did. The ties between your family and I started with him. I love all your family, but I must confess a special fondness for you. You have Alfred's spirit. You even look much like him. You bring back memories of a very special and sweet time. Perhaps you would like to hear my story? I think you are ready for it."

"Most certainly I do, dear lady."

"For as long as I remember, these lands - these ponds and streams, hills, forests, and plains - now fields and settlements - have been my home. I've never strayed from them. I have no desire to, and have no need to.

"Do you remember when you were born? Neither do I. My mother and father...well, it would be difficult to explain to you just who and what they were. Later on, perhaps, when you've learned more. Anyways, for a very long time, these lands were mine alone. I couldn't tell you for how long. I had no need to count years - all I needed to know was the wheel of the seasons. I suppose it *has* been a very long time - when I was young, the shapes that the stars made were different. And it was colder than now.

"My life here for so very long was that of a carefree child - guiding the plants through the seasons, dancing through the woods and fields, playing harmless tricks on the animals and keeping company with my favorite companions, the fishes. Then, on that day, Alfred appeared here.

"As I said, he looked a lot like you - he was a little older, but not much. He was a wanderer, but not an aimless one. He knew what he wanted - to make a home and a life for himself. That first day, he explored what is now the village with awe in his face and love in his every movement. When night came, he slept under the stars covered with canvas on the place where Erehwon now is.

"I watched him the whole time from behind cover. I was *fascinated*. I'd never seen anything like him. He looked a little like the animals I knew, but the airiness in him! He looked at the wild, free country and saw a beautiful house and fertile, orderly fields. To look at what is and see in it things that never were - that was completely new to me.

"Well, the next morning my fascination turned to rage when he started clearing space of vegetation. Using edged tools on *my* trees and bushes! Outrageous! Unthinkable! How dare he!"

She smiled slyly. "Believe it or not, I actually have little power over you people. Certainly not enough to harm you directly. But I have *rather more* influence over the plants. In my anger, I set out to afflict him and drive him away. And afflict him I did! Ground he thought he had cleared I caused to grow thick with vine and thorn overnight. More than once, he had to struggle to his feet after sleeping from the vines grown around *him*!

"I just meant to discourage him, as I do with the animals when they try and do something I don't like. I put obstacles in their way - they sniff and scratch at them for awhile, then give up and go do something else.

"But Alfred - he didn't give up! Do the worst that I might each night, the following day he would undo my handicraft and claim a little more ground for himself. I was the one getting frustrated! In my agitation and haste to plague him with wild growth, I became careless of concealment and he became aware of my presence.

"Now, he was the one to be amazed and fascinated - by me. And amused - you share his sense of high humor, also. I can still hear him calling out to me as I crouched in the trees: 'Hie, green lady! Ye'd hog all these fine lands for yourself and leave none for a poor man such as me? Well, match wills with me and see who pulls ahead!'

"Matched wills and wits we did, for some time. Then, when he had cleared enough land and moved some of the native vegetables to it, I became entranced by what he was doing despite myself. Not only did he see orderly, healthy fields of vegetables in his mind; he made what he saw real! There was a beauty in it as fine as the beauty of wilderness. And I came to admire the beauty of the mind that saw it and realized it.

"I stopped fighting him then. I discovered that talking with him face to face was difficult for me - his airiness and my wateriness clashed - but in his dreams, we communed together very well indeed. I came to understand that he was not greedy, he wanted just enough land to make a living for himself. So I agreed to let him live and work on what is now Erehwon. We spoke every night while he slept; he let me know what he was trying to do and I taught him about the land I knew so well. We came to like each other very much. Then, we came to love each other."

"You love all my family and all the villagers, right?"

"Yes, but this was different...he came to love me as a man loves a woman. And I returned his love the same way. He wanted to marry me! I would have been happy to marry him and bear his children, but it was forbidden."

"Who could forbid it?"

"You see, in the old, old days, this was our world - there were so few of you and you were so childlike. Now you're growing up - and there are so many of you! - so it's pretty much your world now. A few of us hang on in the remaining wildernesses. Again, in the old days, your kind and ours sometimes lived side by side and mixed. The results were...disturbing. You have some confused myths of those times. So, God made it known to us that we should be separate. I believe this is one of the very few places left where we two do still live side by side.

"One of the disturbing effects I mentioned is that if I bore a child fathered by a man, it would shorten my lifespan to that of a woman. I didn't mind it for myself - it would have been worth it to me to be his wife. But it was forbidden. Apparently, I am intended to live this way for some time yet to come."

"So what did you do?"

She hung her head a little. "I obeyed. Oh, I begged and pleaded with Him but that was His will. It was made known to Alfred – in ways appropriate to him – that we were not to be and he was not happy, but accepted it also. We still spoke every night, but I could see that he was restless and anxious to start a family. I told him that he should find a bride of his own kind, and eventually he did leave for awhile – to return sometime later with a beautiful young wife.

"I didn't resent his happiness. If I could not be his wife, I was determined that he be content with the one he'd taken. So, as my wedding present to him, I pledged to him and to his descendants all the lands of the village – apart from the forests and mountains which I still reserve for myself – for as long as they live and work here. I promised that the land that is now Erehwon would perpetually be exceptionally fertile and fruitful, in memory of our love."

She went on to give the other side of Mineral Village's history – about the few other settlers that Alfred brought into to village, founding the families that make up the village to this day. She told of how the knowledge of how this place came to be was passed on from father to eldest son and about the vegetables given to her in thanks for her enriching our land – and she never made clear what she wanted the vegetables for. And moving into modern times, she told the story of my grandfather's only son – my father – unsuited by temperament (as I well remembered) for tolerating anything supernatural, running down Mother's Hill in disgust on his 18th birthday after what was supposed to be a joyous introduction went terribly wrong. Grandfather's wife had died before she could bear any more children and worries that none of our line would remain on Erehwon had weighed on his mind in later years. He was relieved of these worries when I spent my 7th summer on Erehwon and, as she told me, then formed an unbreakable bond to this land. She wouldn't tell me exactly what the bond was or how it was formed, but she assured me that it was more a matter of the direction my inclinations and desires took rather than any robot like control.

"You will freely choose this life out of your own heart, and you will be completely content and fulfilled in it."

"And Mary, she is a part of it then?"

"Oh yes. Very much so. Your union will be joyous and fruitful." That giggle again. "Very fruitful. Most certainly, one of your children will remain on Erehwon after you are gone. The circle will continue unbroken."

"I'm glad to hear it. And I'm grateful for the start you gave us. But...uh...I don't want to sound churlish here, but are you going to continue to intervene in our lives like that?"

"I don't see any need to. I think you two know how to do all the rest yourselves now."

"Good. I do sort of like to do that kind of thing myself, you know."

She laughed. "As all of you menfolk do. Or like to think you do, anyways!

"Oh, but one further thing. This is not in the nature of a threat – it's nothing I have the power to do – but rather a warning. You've been tempted often to abandon the village and return to the world. You likely will again in the future. Don't. You've finished your business with the world and it is finished with you. There is nothing more for you there but despair, madness and death."

"I'll keep that in mind."

***

I woke that morning refreshed and at peace with the world such as I'd not been in many years. After hearing the lady's confidences, this place was no longer to me just temporary shelter from hard times. I'd come home.

Well, it wasn't quite home yet. Erehwon was still half wilderness and all run-down buildings. And it wasn't mine yet. The lady might be all right with my living here, but I still had to prove myself to the villagers. Nearly one season down, eleven to go. I swung into the morning chores with enthusiasm. Before, it had been duty - now I was working towards something I really, really wanted. Home.

By seven, the animals were tended to. I'd started in on the watering when a voice hailed me from the townside gate. A welcome voice - for a change - from those quarters, it was Mary. I put away the watering can as I bounded over to meet her.

As we came face to face, we tried to put on a little dignity and greet each other calmly. It didn't work. We were soon grinning at each other like a couple of small kids.

"Morning, Mary, how are you?"

"Wonderful, Jack. And yourself?"

"About the same. You're sure up early today."

"Yes, usually I'm a night person. I like to stay up late writing - sometimes I go out in the back yard and watch the stars and listen to the crickets until past midnight. Then, I find myself nodding off in the library the next day! But I actually came for a reason."

"Well, would you like to come in and tell me about it?"

"Thanks." She came in through the gate and we walked side by side in front of the fields. "Jack, I figured - stop me if I'm presuming something - that you'd be coming into the library every afternoon now to visit me."

"You have me all figured out, it seems."

"In that particular, anyways. But I got to thinking - isn't that the way we were before...before yesterday. The two of us surrounded by those dusty stacks having oh so literary conversations. Not that I mind such conversations, of course! But...if we're really starting fresh...perhaps we should get used to each other in different surroundings."

"And you have the new venue in mind, I take it?"

"Yes. Let's go walking together around the mountain, you and I. It's so beautiful and peaceful up there. That is, if you can spare the time for me."

I took her hand. "For you, I'll rework my schedule. Why don't you give me a tour of your favorite places - you know, I've not had the chance to go up there yet."

"Follow me, then."

And so it began. I guess most people could tell you of their golden days. Those glorious times when the person you're with and the places you're together in are the whole world - and all's right with the world. Those late spring mornings with Mary in the mountains were my golden days.

Even though we had gotten a second chance with each other - in fact, one of the strangest kick starts I'd ever heard of - we weren't exactly rushing into each other's arms. With all we'd been through this spring, we weren't quite sure of each other. We weren't a couple yet, it's rather that we were both now willing to try and be together. Most of our mountain walks together we spent getting to know the basics about each other. And in getting used to each other's company.

"You know, Jack, actually I wasn't born here - I was born in Capitol City. We came to live here when I was 3, so Mineral Village is pretty much all I remember."

"How's that? I thought your family was a pretty old one here."

"On my mother's side, yes. When she was young, she had some artistic interests, so her parents let her go off to the State University. When she met my father there - he was a grad student in botany - it was love at first sight. They both agree on that! Well, they got married within a season. They were married right here in the town chapel by the old pastor - Brown, I think it was - then went back to Capitol City so Dad could finish his degree. Mom worked in the museum until I came along, then her family helped us out a little. But Dad had fallen in love with the village from his visit and all the stories Mom told him, so when he finished school, they came back. Mom's parents thought that having a scholar in the family was just fine, so they carried them, then had the library built - with a lot of help from your grandfather - when he started writing books.

"Like I said, the village is about all I've ever known, apart from short trips to Edgeport. It's all I want to know; I guess the city made some bad early impressions on me - I still have nightmares about those electric trains! That they go flying off their rails and chase me down. "

"Yes, the cities can get pretty chaotic and threatening. And Capitol City's much nicer than Liberty City. At least there, the crooks rob you with computers rather than guns - usually."

We got to a ledge which overlooked the entire town and stopped to admire the view.

"Mary - look at that! I've never seen the whole village like this before. Everything's so green, and the buildings just fit perfectly into the landscape without dominating the countryside. It's so beautiful. You know, I knew before I was lucky to get to live here because then I wouldn't be a burden to anyone - or starve in the streets. But now I think I'm lucky to live here period. "

"You're not wanting to go back to the city anymore, then?" She rested her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her waist.

And she jerked herself away as if she'd been shocked. She promptly gave me a very apologetic look. "Jack, I'm sorry. I'm not rejecting you – really I'm not. You see, you're my first boyfriend and...well, I'm not really comfortable with these displays of affection yet. It's all so new to me. Please be patient with me and let me get used to you."

I forced a grin. "I'm Mr. Patience himself. I understand and I'm not offended. Holding hands is just fine for now."

I really wasn't offended – well, a little annoyed, maybe. But I swallowed my aggravation. I mean, I'd seen such things before – she wasn't the first 'first boyfriend' girl I'd befriended and I knew that shy, bright women had their quirks. Mary didn't disappoint me there either.

Like when we made our way up to the pond beyond the hot springs area. Passing the stand of sugar maples there, she stopped dead, motioned for me to be quiet and listened intently. Then she whispered as if talking to herself, "How can that be? It's too early. Jack, wait here for a second."

And she amazed me by quickly shinnying up a tree with a surprising grace and ease.

"Got you!"

"Mary?"

"Don't worry, Jack. I've been doing this since I was a little girl."

"You say so. But I haven't. Don't expect me to follow you up there."

"Don't be a big baby – I'm coming down right now."

And with the same ease with which she had ascended, she eased back down, cupping something carefully in her hand.

"This is what I was after. I heard it buzzing up there. Look."

It was a cicada – a big one, about 10 cm long and bright green with shiny red eyes. It almost looked like a piece of jewelry.

"It's so beautiful."

"Yes, isn't it. Dad and I believe this species is native only to Mineral Village and the surrounding forest. When I heard it's call, I didn't believe it because they almost always appear only in late summer. It was up there calling for a mate. You know, they live hidden underground as larvae for many years. Then they emerge as beautiful adults to breed."

"And then they die."

She looked a little sad at that. "Yes, that's their life." She carefully put the cicada on a tree trunk. It crawled up a little ways, then resumed its buzzing.

***

Later that afternoon, I walked into town to pay a debt. I let myself into the church and down to the basement where Pastor Carter was reading at his desk.

"Pastor, I owe you an apology for yesterday."

"You saw her, then."

"I did. It happened just as you said it would. We spoke also. She *is* the lady who was talking to me in my dreams. But how did you know?"

"Your grandfather told me some time ago. You see, in the normal course of events, you would have been introduced to her on your 18th birthday. That, of course, didn't happen and he was concerned that someone here know enough of her to aid you in picking up the thread of your family."

"Yes, she told me that she...uh...greatly disturbed my father when he first saw her. It drove him out of this place for life."

"And you Jack? Are you disturbed by her?"

"Not at all. I love her. She's already done me so many favors. I'm going to stay here for the rest of *my* life – if they'll let me."

He smiled. "You needn't worry. You're better than halfway there already – in people's hearts."

I returned his smile. "I hope you're right there. But not in the farm work. I've got a ton of effort still in front of me there. Do you know that Mary is a part of it also?"

He looked surprised and pleased. "That I did not know! How so?"

"Apparently we are meant to marry. She said we're going to have children together. A *lot* of children."

He laughed delightedly. "So, do you want to reserve the chapel for the wedding, then?"

"Ah...don't quite have a date nailed down yet. Let me get back to you on that. But Pastor, you know that she's not really a Goddess, right?"

"Yes. She's just another one of God's children – a different order than us, but still created."

"A lot more obedient to God than most of us, too." He looked curious. "Ah...she told me a lot of things and I don't know how much I'm supposed to keep in confidence. I'll ask her and get back to you."

"I'll be waiting patiently."

***

Towards the end of spring, I had another welcome visitor to the farm. About six one evening, I was hauling turnips to the shipping bin when a familiar voice came from the townside gate.

"Hey farmer-boy, why are you carrying your head in your hands like that?"

What the... I stopped and turned around to see Cliff standing at the gate grinning.

"Sheesh. Harris is sleeping on the job again, letting hobos like this wander the streets."

I ran over to the gate grinning as broadly as he was. For a minute there, it was all bear hugs and back slaps and "how the hell you've been?"

"Cliff, you're a sight for sore eyes! When did you get back?"

"Just now. Just got off the boat and headed right over here."

"Heh. Well, why don't you take a load off and tell me all your adventures."

He proceeded to stretch out on the ground and I sat down beside him. "Right- o. Well, you know, everything they said about the fish camps up there is true. Lots of rich guys showing up there to go after the prize catches. They don't even bother with taking the boat, they just come right in from the city on their jet-copters. Lazy bums they are, too! All they want to do is get their picture taken next to a big one – everything else they pay flunkies like me to do for 'em. At first, it was real cool. They were throwing coins around like the good times never ended." He patted his clothes, and a rich musical jingle emerged. "Caught a few of 'em! I figure I'm flush through the end of the year now.

"Good thing I salted some away 'cause towards the end things started getting rough. The happy-rich crowd started fading away and a bunch of really ugly customers moved in. Gangsters and pols – as if you could tell the difference between 'em. They brought their own flunkies with 'em and there wasn't any room for bums like me anymore. I saw a bunch of goons beat some poor slob like a sack of potatoes just because he looked at their boss's floozie. About that time, us regular guys started packing up and heading out to the cities. I almost went with them, but y'know, I was getting a little scared the tales they were telling about how hard things are in the cities now. I honestly didn't know where I was going until the _Princess_ pulled up to the dock here and I figured 'what the hell' and got off."

"What decided you?"

"Couple of things. I'm looking at one of them now."

"Shoot. What do you want to see a broken down old dirt farmer for?"

"'Because that farmer-boy is one of the good folks. World's running short of them these days."

"And the other reason? Would it happen to be a redheaded barmaid with a loud voice and a heart of gold?"

His expression got troubled. "Well, uh...along those lines, reason I came here first is, would you mind if I crashed with you?"

"My home is your home. You're welcome anytime – if you can put up with that little shack of mine. But what's wrong with the Inn? You trying to save your money?"

"Not exactly...look Jack, you know I left this place under a dark cloud – doing my part to break up that festival and all that. You should have heard Ann yelling at me that night!" He rubbed his ears. "Then again, maybe you shouldn't have. Doug was quiet, but just as disapproving. Nah – I figure I cashed my whole check with those folks. Say, how did you come out of all that? Does not-so-little-where-it-counts Miss Pinkie still have you on her leash?"

"Ha! It's been a real wild couple of weeks, buddy. Stay relaxed while I tell you the tale." And I led him through the waning of Popuri and the waxing of Mary with him laughing his butt off a good part of the time.

"Sheesh farmer-boy, let me have a look at your phone book, OK? You sure run into some pretty wild gals! So, it's Mary now, is it?"

"Uh-huh. And this one's for keepers – I hope."

"Shoot. I could have told you that right at the start."

"Well, why didn't you?"

"You wouldn't have listened. One thing I've learned is that guys have to find that kind of thing out for themselves. Nobody else can tell 'em."

"Well, I just had a post-grad crash course in romance, OK. Hope I never see the inside of *that* school again. But getting back to you – that dark cloud has all blown away. 'Come back, all is forgiven!'"

He looked skeptical.

"Hell, hobo, Ann has been missing you something fierce since you left. Every time I go in the Inn, she's all over me asking 'Have you heard from Cliff? When is he coming back?' You think she was making up all that stuff in her letters?"

"What letters?"

I snorted. "The letters she's been writing you every day since you left." He looked puzzled. "You never got 'em?" He shook his head. "Damn! What's happening to this country – can't even deliver a letter a couple of towns away anymore! Well, look man – you're in solid with her, take my word for it." I tried imitating his wicked leer. "Come on, hobo, let's head out to the Inn and check out the hot babes."

He laughed. "Why is it that your leers come out looking like an angel smiling?"

I batted my eyes and lisped. "Oh Cliffie, you just say the sweetest things!"

Now he was rolling on the ground. "Hey! Does Mary know you're that way? Now I don't know if I want to stay here after all!"

"That was the point of the exercise, hobo. Come on. Let's take a walk. Bet you're thirsty."

"You got *that* right, farmer-boy."

Well, both of us got to see just how much 'all was forgiven' that night. I went in the door first with him at my aft looking like he was ready to turn tail and run at the first sign of incoming fire. I was just a touch annoyed with his twitchiness so I decided to get this thing kick-started.

I yelled out, "Hey Ann! You back there?! I found this bum wandering the streets and I don't know what to do with him!"

She called back from the kitchen. "Hold your horses, Jack! Are you flying already?!" She came out looking peeved. "Bar doesn't open for ten minutes and...OH. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD CLIFF!" And she ran right past me and to both of our surprise, grabbed him, hugged him real tight and started spinning him around.

Well, they both had their feet back on the ground in a bit – sort of – and it was all "How have you been?" "I missed you so much." "You're looking good, babe." and so forth for awhile there. I figured that they had a little catching up to do, so I told them I was going to take my seat at the bar and wait for Karen. I don't think either of them heard me. I didn't mind that very much.

Karen did come in after a bit and she was immensely amused at seeing ex- tomboy Ann going totally squishy over the returning prodigal son. We had our couple of drinks together, watching them all the while as they sat there oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Karen, it's true love, it is. A beautiful thing, no?"

"Copy that!"

About ten, Karen headed back home and I walked up to the lovebirds – Ann with her face resting on her hands rapt with attention while Cliff was animatedly telling some fish stories.

"Ah, pardon me folks, but Cliff – you still wanting to crash at my place?"

"Huh? What would I want to do that for? I got my old room back – they were saving it for me."

"Just checking. Have a good night folks." Doug and I gave each other thumbs- up as I went out the door. I walked home figuring that that drifter's days on the road were just about over and done with. It *was* a beautiful thing.

***

Karen didn't blatantly intrude herself into the relationship that Mary and I were growing, but she did play a major – and useful – role. We had this elegant triangular communications channel going. Mary and I would see each other in the morning, then she would go and open up the library. Karen would visit her around midday and engage, it would seem, in some fairly intense debriefing and advising. Then in the evening, Karen and I would meet at the Inn and she'd give me facts and advice about Mary over our wine. I was grateful to her for it – she was both tactful and very helpful in smoothing over what could have been a whole lot of rough spots. Like when I expressed some annoyance over Mary's shying away from touching.

Karen laughed a little. "So you're thinking she's all cold and repressed, right? Not hardly! Actually, she has some very passionate feelings about you. What it is – she doesn't quite trust herself around you." She gave me a squint. "I recommend that you not try taking advantage of that. It wouldn't go down too well with her – or me."

"Not to worry, I respect her innocence. I like it too – it makes her kinda cute and appealing."

"Good. Keep it that way. She *is* inexperienced, you know. She's never even been kissed." Then she gave me a searching look. "I wonder how inexperienced *you* are behind that earnest church boy front of yours. All those years on your own in the cities around all those wild women - surely you're not a virgin."

"You know, with you and Mary telling each other everything, I don't think it's safe to answer that. I'm taking the Fifth."

She chortled. "Heh. You just did answer it. Well, she most certainly is. And don't count on that changing until her wedding night. She's a good girl."

And there in a nutshell you had Karen's protectiveness and loyalty towards her friends. Having something useful and pleasant to do – helping Mary and I along – had energized her. She was no longer dragging along like a broken person, nor was she getting trashed at the Inn anymore. But I didn't think for a minute that living vicariously through Mary and I was anything more than a temporary measure until we could figure out how to fix her real problem – Rick.

I still didn't have the slightest idea how to get Rick reattached to Karen. The lady's insistence that Mary and I together would inspire him to reconciliation sounded sweet and reasonable in a formal manner, but there was one practical problem. He didn't see us together! Nobody did as long as Mary was insisting that we meet alone up in the mountains and that we keep quiet about our relationship 'until the time is right.'

The one thing I could do is improve Rick's attitude towards myself – sort of preparing the ground so that he'd take me more seriously when I figured out what strategy to follow. Anyway, I *did* like the guy and was feeling pretty sorry for him. On top of being swamped with work, a sick mother and a...uh...challenging sister, he really didn't need a bunch of people harassing him about Karen. Like, I reflected guiltily, I'd been doing. He didn't like being constantly ragged about her – fine – then I was going to be the friend he'd go to when he wanted to get away from all the pressures on him.

Easily done! He did like a little wine in the evening – it was one of the few recreations he allowed himself – but after Karen's latest screaming fit, he didn't set foot in the Inn anymore. Well, I could bring a little bit of the Inn to him. One evening, about the time he'd be heading off there, I showed up on his doorstep with a bottle.

"Hey Rick, I've got a little problem here – two of 'em in fact."

"Yeah? What are they?"

"One, I've got this wine, but no cups. Two, it's too much for me to drink by myself. Got any ideas?"

He grinned and allowed as he did. He ducked in the house, then came out with a couple of glasses.

"Now this is what I call being real neighborly. Why don't we sit out by the stream – last thing we need while trying to relax is Popuri shrilling in our ears."

And relax we did, stretched out on the bank getting mildly soused – and not a word of troublesome women crossed either of our lips. We just chewed the fat about farming, gossiped a little about the townsfolks (yes, we guys do it also) and otherwise got as loose as a couple of geese. A few evenings of that and he saw me as a 'good times Charlie' rather than as Karen's annoying advocate. Call it friendship or call it conditioning, but I figured I was getting him softened up to listen seriously to me about Karen – when I had something new and useful to say.

***

It can get wicked hot in Mineral Village. The last week of spring we finally had one of the scorchers, where everything and everyone wilted from the heat and dripped from the humidity. Especially ex-city boys playing at being farmers. An hour into the fieldwork, I decided that my shirt had to go before it dissolved from the sweat. Even without it, I was flirting with heatstroke and took frequent short breaks dipping in the stream. It wasn't energizing like the hot springs, but it sure felt good. It was getting towards noon, the time when the young farmer-boy's thoughts turn towards hot springs and afternoon naps, when I saw Karen walk in from the townside gate. She was looking at me with an odd expression on her face, one eyebrow cocked and was saying to herself, "So *that's* what it is."

"That's what what is?"

"Uh...why are you working like that?"

"Because this row's gonna be corn come the first week of summer. I figure the run off water will drain this way when I..."

"No no no - I mean, why are you working half naked?"

"Because it's stinking hot and sticky out here. It's my own land - for the time being - so what's the diff?"

"The difference is..." She pointed towards Chicken Lil's. Popuri was leaning on our boundary fence watching us. She waved at me and I waved back.

"It's Popuri. So what."

"I was passing by on the way to visit Gotz when I saw her parked at that fence staring at you. You're getting the poor girl all worked up."

"Huh?"

She shook her head. "Still clueless!" Then she lowered her voice. "Jack, as one pal to another, you're starting to look pretty damn sexy these days. Look at her. She's practically drooling over you!"

I looked again. She *did* have sort of a hungry look on her face. She waved again. I waved back again.

"But...but...but she's waiting for Kai, right?"

"You really want to depend on her fidelity to Kai for your peace of mind?"

I thought about that for a bit. "Ah...stand by one there." I went into my shack and came right back out wearing a loose old shirt. Karen nodded. I looked again at Popuri and waved. She looked disappointed, waved back, then walked away from the fence.

"Given a choice between heat exhaustion and a hormonally challenged Popuri, I'll take a day in the clinic any time!"

Karen nodded again. "Always thought you were a smart guy."

***

One morning several days after Mary and I started having our beginning of the day walks in the hills, she was much more quiet and reserved than usual. I'd already learned that this meant she was deep in thought about something and that she'd open up about it in her own time. As we paused at the base of the trail going up to Mother's Hill summit, she did.

"Jack, my parents don't know that we're seeing each other. I haven't told them yet."

"Your mother still doesn't like me, is that it?"

"Yes. You want the plain truth?" I nodded. "She *despises* you. You know why, of course." I nodded again. "In fact, during the time when...when I wasn't doing so well, she actually tried to get some people together to have you expelled from the village. She didn't get anywhere with it, but that shows the depth of her feelings.

"You see, I'm getting uncomfortable with the way we're seeing each other in secret. I've almost never held things back from my parents. So last night at dinner, I...uh...didn't exactly tell them we were together, but kind of hinted my way towards it. She didn't take it very well, not at all."

"Um, would you like me to go talk with her? See if I could get her to change her mind about me somehow?"

She gave me a troubled expression. "Jack, I don't know if you could change her mind. She gets very fixed in her opinions."

"Well, we have to do *something*. You're absolutely right about how we're seeing each other. I don't like skulking around in the shadows either. I'd be proud to have the whole village see us together. Let me go talk to her. You know I can be pretty charming when I put my mind to it."

"And she can resist charm when she puts *her* mind to it. Are you really sure you want to? It could get rather unpleasant, you know."

"Can't say as I really *want* to, but do you see any other way?"

She allowed as she didn't, and our time together that morning was pretty quiet and uneasy until we both agreed to separate early and go about our days. I spent the rest of the morning digging and chopping (and sweating – it was another hot day) trying to structure in my mind what I was going to say to Anna. I'd gone through about twenty scripts when I finally gave it up and decided I'd just wing it. A mid-day bath and nap, a fresh change of clothes and I was waiting at her front door as she came back from the afternoon hen-clatch in Rose Square. When she saw me standing there, she got the kind of expression she'd have had if someone had left a cowpie on her step.

She came up to me and snapped, "What do *you* want? Did you come to see Basil?"

"Actually, I came to see you. I need to talk to you about your daughter."

Her look turned poisonous. "What? Now wait just a minute...the way she was talking last night...and now this?" She poked her finger in my face. "Are you trying to insinuate your way back into her affections? Well, let me tell you..."

"Anna. Do you really want to do this on your front step where anyone passing by can hear? Or would you like to invite me in so we can speak in private?"

"Very well! Come on in – but make this short!"

We went in together and we stood in the living room. She swung around facing me with her arms folded and I managed to take a deep breath and start before she did.

"Anna – Mary and I have become very fond of each other and we've being seeing a lot of each other – in a totally innocent way. But neither of us likes going behind your – or Basil's – back. I'd like – we'd both like your acceptance if not your approval of my openly courting her."

It showed how much she hated me that she actually let a vulgar word slip from her lips. "You bastard! You are *completely* shameless. It's not enough that you broke her heart and caused her a nervous breakdown once. You want to do it again? You want to kill her this time?"

"Now Anna, that's really unfair..."

"Why *are* you so intent on tormenting Mary anyways?" She sneered. "Is it that you weren't man enough to have your way with the *lovely* Popuri, so you think that my Mary might be easier prey? Well, let me tell you that I'm not tolerating your slimy ways anymore. I'm going right to the Mayor and we're going to have you *out* of our village!"

All right, I shouldn't have goaded her, but her hostility was getting my goat. I smiled and responded, "I understand you already tried that and it didn't work. Be reasonable, Anna..."

"Don't give *me* your insolence. You think you're privileged here because of that farm – well, it isn't yours! It belongs to the village and we can always take it back. And that is going to be my goal in life from now on. Now get out. And stay away from Mary or I'll have Harris on you."

I shot back as I opened the door, "On what charge? Talking to an adult woman without her mother's permission?"

"Out!"

Mary must have gotten an earful from her mother that evening because the first thing she said to me the next morning was, "Jack, what *did* you say to her?"

"Yeah, I guess I didn't handle that too elegantly," and told her how the interview went.

"...but she didn't give me a chance. I'm sorry, Mary. I know I should have thought it out better – but I don't see how. So what do you want to do now?" I tried to make my face as expressionless as possible. "You want to call this off? It looks to me as if I could break up your family if I kept trying to be with you and I don't want that on my hands."

Her expression was frankly miserable. "Are you sure it's that and not your farm you're worried about?"

"Mary, how could you think that? You're more important to me than anything else." And then she did let me hug her.

"I'm sorry to have doubted you, Jack, "and she touched my cheek, "but...my self-confidence isn't all that great and I am so very fond of you."

"The feeling is mutual. But what are we doing to do? Could you really defy your mother's wishes?"

"I don't know. I just don't know. But...maybe we should stop meeting like this and go back to talking in the library. Now she's quite certain of what I'm doing getting up and going out so early."

"All right. Let's just do that and see if we can't find some way forwards." I looked deeply into her beautiful black eyes. "Mary...have faith in yourself. I've never met a woman as fine as you. I'm still absolutely convinced that somehow this will all come out well and that we'll be together for the rest of our lives. It's just that I don't know the details yet."

And so we held each other a little while longer, a little while longer on the edge of an uncertain future.

***

If the Goddess Festival is for young sweethearts and the Horse Races are for men, then the Cooking Festival is one of Mineral Village's family events. A single person *can* participate, but most of the people showing off their culinary artisianship are family groups. Mary, Ann, and Rick put some effort into getting me to enter the competition. When I made the perfectly reasonable objection that I couldn't cook anything since I didn't have a kitchen, Ann observed that I had a laying hen and she took me up to the hot springs and showed me how to boil eggs in them. She insisted that the waters gave them a special flavor that stove-top boiling could not reproduce, and after trying the results myself I had to agree that it was not too shabby a snack.

So the morning of the festival found me standing alone at a table in the middle of Rose Square, displaying two *very thinly* sliced spa-boiled eggs. Two lousy eggs. I looked to my left at Doug and Ann's table groaning with luscious salads and pasta creations. I looked to my right at Sasha and Karen's table covered with casseroles and omelets and something well concealed that Karen was standing red-faced over. I looked back down at my two eggs and got the sudden, strong urge to just wolf them down and run back to Erehwon and leave this to the adults.

I had already been instructed as to the drill by the mayor. I was supposed to stand here smiling until the judge came by and sampled my entry. Then people would file by to taste our culinary creations, after which we contestants could, one at a time, leave our tables and sample the wares of our competitors. Well, like he'd said, 'It doesn't matter if you win. No one's expecting you to. The important thing is to participate.' Anything you say, your honor. But I kid you not when I say I just wanted the whole thing to be over.

Cliff saw I was standing there very alone and uneasy and came over to give me a little moral support.

"Hey farmer-boy, this your produce stand?"

"I wish I could get a little cash off of this. I feel like a damn fool standing here between two buffets showing off a couple of boiled eggs. Hey! Wait your turn." I half playfully slapped his hand away as he reached for a slice. "Way you eat, it'd all be gone before the judge gets here. Where is he anyways?"

"That's him coming in now. I recognize him from the picture." He pointed to a giant of a man – 200 kilos if he was a gram – waddling into the square wearing a green tuxedo, top hat and monocle. The mayor went up to him and escorted him to the center of the square.

"Who the hell beached that whale? Who *is* that guy? I've never seen him here before."

Cliff snickered. "You don't read the Edgeport paper very carefully. That's _The Gourmet_. He writes the food and restaurant column. Means he gets to go all around the county eating for free. It's nice work if you can get it, eh?"

"Didn't realize there *was* that much food in the county. You know, I have the strongest urge now to go guard my fields. I can just see him pulling turnips out of the ground and swallowing them whole."

Cliff and I managed to stifle our laughter as the Mayor went into his usual pompous introduction of 'our distinguished judge and our talented contestants' and then started leading the Gourmet around the tables. He went through what appeared to be a well practiced routine, greeting each person in turn, taking a nice healthy portion of their dishes, then commenting on it in an intelligent, well-structured manner, making notes on a pocket computer all the while. He spent a lot of time at Doug and Ann's table – them going back and forth in a professional discussion of seasonings and him concluding with 'a most excellent diversity of delicacies, just as I expected.' Then he was standing in front of my table.

The mayor introduced me. "This is Jack, the newest resident of our village. Even though he's just finding his way here, he was kind enough to join us today." The Gourmet and I shook hands, me somehow managing to extract mine from those oversized flaps of flesh as he looked at my dish and commented, "Ah, spa-boiled egg. This is a real treat special to your town alone." He took a sample, chewed thoughtfully and said, "Yes. It's such a simple dish – but the harmony of flavors is most pleasant indeed. This showed care in preparation. This is very good, very good indeed!"

So I relaxed as he rolled on to the next table rather than passing out from food poisoning. That he almost did next. First he complemented Sasha on her omelets, then looked on with wonder as Karen nervously uncovered her dish, revealing blackened lumps of...rolls? Potatoes? Fish balls? The Gourmet didn't seem to know either, and he looked as nervous as Karen as he picked up one, steeled himself and put it in his mouth.

I know it wasn't fun for him or Karen, but I had to hold back laughter as he sweated, turned red and exclaimed between heaves, "This is...I've never tasted anything quite like this!" Karen matched his red face with her own as he waddled off, surreptitiously washing his mouth out from a bottle of brandy he had extracted from his coat.

A few minutes later and the Gourmet had completed his rounds and was standing in the middle of the square next to the Mayor, looking over his notes. He looked up, cleared his throat and got everyone's attention.

"As usual, it's so difficult to judge this festival. Your town has so many fine cooks. But someone has to be the best, and in my considered opinion, Doug's eggplant pepper pasta supreme is the day's best. Congratulations, sir!" And Doug came up to exchange handshakes and bask in the applause. "Second best, in my humble opinion, is Anna's truly superb strawberry shortcake. Congratulations, madam!" Anna came up to accept her portion of the accolades. "And finally, honorable mention must be given to the finest portion I've ever tasted of one of your town's specialties – Jack's spa- boiled eggs. Congratulations, sir!" Well, I guess I would have just stood there with my mouth agape if Cliff hadn't given me a good shove towards the waiting Gourmet and Mayor. I accepted my handshakes and applause with Doug kidding, "I guess I'm going to have to watch out for you next year!" and Anna being at least minimally civil towards me. We all stood together as Kano snapped our picture – I still have a copy in one of my albums – then we all went back to our tables as the townsfolk filed past, congratulating me as they sampled my honorable eggs.

My plate got emptied off quickly enough – I just know that Cliff got a second helping when I wasn't looking, and then it was my turn to eat. Everything was pretty good, but I was saving my appetite for Doug and Ann's dishes. A little pasta supremo here, a little grilled spicy fish there and I marveled that Cliff had ever wanted to leave the Inn, dark cloud or no. Ann and Doug were teasing each other about who had sabotaged which recipe and they made a real pretty family scene together. Then it was on to Sasha and Karen's table. Sasha's omelette's were top-drawer OK, and I wasn't shy about saying so. Then it was time to test out Karen's biohazard. I didn't have the Gourmet's guts, so I broke off a small portion with Karen going, "are you really sure you want to?" braced myself and chowed down.

It reminded me of the 'gross-out' contests me and my pals had as little boys – you know, daring each other to eat truly revolting things and calling the guy who wouldn't a sissy. Well, Karen's creation would have made sissies out of the whole lot of us. I stood there for a bit counting the number of times my stomach turned over while Sasha whispered to me, "I don't know why Karen insists on entering every year – it always ends up this way." Once I was satisfied I could open my mouth without doing some power purging, I joshingly imitated the Gourmet's patter.

"Hm, the delicate bouquet of carbonized plastic makes a nice contrast with the benzene like aftertaste. The generous portion of ethyl alcohol provides a much needed anesthetic effect and...OW!"

Karen had picked up one of her thingies and nailed me right on the forehead with it, sending my cap flying.

"Karen! Those things are hard. That hurt!"

She glared at me. "Good! You want seconds? Coming right up!" And I ducked quick to retrieve my cap and beat a hasty laughing retreat as another toxic projectile sailed over my head.

Then, my next stop was Anna and Mary's table. Anna's cold fixed expression as I approached had me on my guard, and I decided that a little lighthearted charm was the best way to get past this.

"Congratulations, Anna, on a very close second place. Gee, this shortcake does look yummy."

Dead silence and icy glare. Mary tried a "Mother, please..." which earned her a "Mary, be quiet!"

I went on. "Mind if I try a little of the shortcake? Hold the arsenic, please."

She silently cut off a portion and thrust it at me. It was the only thing sweet about her.

"This is excellent cake. You're baking's still as good as I remember. Thanks."

Mary tried again. "Jack, congratulations on your honorable mention. It's a pleasant surprise..."

Anna was having none of it. "Mary! I said to be still. You don't want to encourage this...this creature."

I didn't want to cause a scene at yet another festival. I gave it up, saying as I turned away, "Look, I don't want to cause any trouble here – and certainly not between mother and daughter. I'm going now."

I got a couple of meters away when hurried footsteps caught up to me and Mary grasped me by the arm saying, "Jack, please wait." She turned me around so we were both facing her mother, who was speechless with rage, then she held my hand while she talked to Anna.

"Mother. I know how you feel about him. You know how I've always loved and respected you and I've always tried to obey you...but this time I can't. You're wrong about him."

"Mary, let go of him and come back here this instant!"

People had quieted down and were turning to watch yet another Jack inspired festival disaster. I was cringing inside, but kept a rigid impassive pose.

"Yes, Mary, you should go back..."

"No, Jack. I have to speak my mind now – and my heart. Mother, I know you blame Jack for my breakdown. But it wasn't his fault, it was my own."

"Mary! You mustn't speak of these things in public."

"Why not? It's not a secret – everyone here more or less knows what happened. Well, I insist that it was not his fault. I was putting my hopes and wishes on him when he wasn't ready for me. He had so many troubles at the time. That I took it badly was not his doing, it was my own lack of self-control and he should not be held responsible for it.

"But Mother, now we've both passed through those troubles and have a new perspective on each other. I really think – really feel – that Jack and I may be right for each other. But we'll never know unless we try. The last thing I want is to go against your wishes. But I'm not your little girl anymore, I really am a grown woman now. Don't you see it...I can't hide in the library for my whole life, pretending that I'm still a girl of 12. I have to find out what life intends for me. Maybe you're right and he is a mistake. But I have to find out for myself. Please, can't you see that?"

"Mary, I really wish you didn't have to do this."

"But I do, Jack. So Mother, I really really want your approval for my seeing Jack. But whether I have it or no, see him I shall. If it means that I have to leave home and go live in the Inn, I'd hate to do it, but I will."

At this point I was anxiously looking around for the Doctor, because Anna with her red face and stretched veins looked as she were about to have a stroke. Then I felt someone come up beside me. It was Karen. She showed a calm, serious expression and spoke respectfully but firmly.

"Anna, please allow me to speak my heart here. You know how close Mary and I have been over the years – I believe that apart from you and Basil, I know her the best of anyone here. Surely you know how much I love her and that I'd be the last person here to wish any harm on her. Well, I am absolutely convinced that Jack is right for her.

"I've been in the middle of Jack and Mary's trials right from the beginning – I've been Jack's friend almost from the day he got here and with all respect to you, you *have* misjudged him. What I see in this man is maturity and decency and strength. I believe that Mary would be fortunate above most women to have him as her man – and that you and Basil would be blessed to have such a man taking care of your daughter.

"Yes, he made some mistakes early on and Jack heard about them from me – loud and clear. But they *were* just mistakes, not maliciousness or ill will." She pursed her lips. "And please all you pardon me for speaking frankly about where his mistakes came from – but we all know the difficulties and heartbreaks Jack had when he arrived here. He was kicked out of the work that was his lifelong dream, he'd lost the last close member of his family, he took over Erewhon as a howling wilderness – and he was a man about it all! My God people, all that would have broken a lot of men much older and experienced than him! But look at what he did – he just rolled up his sleeves and went to work – oh, how he works! - and he's tried his damnedest to get along with all of you.

"I don't want to cast blame or single out anyone, but you know, I feel that we all could have done more to make Jack feel welcome and comfortable here. Don't you all think that if we had done that from the start instead of just letting him stumble around on his own without aid, he wouldn't have gotten mixed up in some of the things he did?"

I was amazed at this point to see some people actually looking guilty and hanging their heads. She went on.

"So Anna, I respectfully ask you, are Jack's actions here those of a callous, immature boy? Speaking for myself, Jack has been a Godsend in seeing me through the troubles I've been having." She gave a quick side glance at Rick, who looked really uneasy, then she looked me square in the eyes and took my hand. "Jack, one of the greatest privileges of my life is to have met you, and to be able to call you my friend. And Anna, in my considered opinion, you would be even more privileged if one day you were able to call him 'son'."

Now, Sasha had come alongside us and started speaking. "Anna, I have to agree with everything Karen's said. You know the troubles my daughter has been having. Well, Jack has been a true friend to her this season, helping and comforting her as best he could. And he's done so in a completely selfless manner. He's been with her in some of her most vulnerable moments and he never tried to take the least advantage of her."

Karen interjected, "And he easily could have."

Sasha went on. "So I really think you have nothing to fear for Mary from Jack and you should let them try and find their own way." She smiled. "It's best that they do it in the open anyways. That way, we'll all be watching them."

Now it was Pastor Carter coming up to us and speaking. "Anna, I must agree with all that's being said here. I've been counseling Jack through his troubles. And without violating confidences, I believe I can tell you that the thing weighing heaviest on his spirit was the sadness that your daughter was going through. In all of it, he was trying to find the right way to treat her. If he made some mistakes...well, if anyone here doesn't make mistakes while in emotional turmoil, I'd like for that person to come forth and counsel *me*. I know that I'm not so fortunate. So I see no harm in their being friends and I believe you should try and accept it."

Cliff was the next one to stand alongside me. "Ah, I don't know how much stock you folks'll put in my views, me being a newcomer and a no-count drifter and all that. But I think I've known Jack longer than any of you – by one day, at least. He's confided in me about Mary – you know the way boys our age talk about girls amongst ourselves. And I can tell you, he was always concerned about doing the right thing towards her." He gave Mary a grin. "You know, I used to call him a boy scout the way he always talked so respectfully about you. He never got...well, a little bold in his speech like I sometimes do about girls I like." He gave Ann a quick wink and she turned beet-red. "Mary, I always thought he was a lot sweeter on you than *he* thought he was. Glad to see you finally figured it out, farmer-boy. So Anna, for what it's worth from me, I've met a lot of people in my time and Jack's one of the most stand-up straight-arrow guys I've ever known. You got nothing to worry about coming from him."

Then I was astonished when Popuri – Popuri! - came up to Mary and I. She was a little teary-eyed, but not babyish – it was really like adult womanly concern. "Jack, Mary. I guess it's confession time, isn't it? I didn't know about all this until now...really, I didn't. I never would have have done all that if I had known..." She turned and looked at Anna. "Anna, Mary's heartbreak wasn't Jack's fault – it was my fault!" She looked back at Mary with an apologetic expression. "You see Mary, Jack was never chasing me – I was the one who was after him. At the time I didn't see any harm in it. He was the new guy in town, this exciting guy from the city – and I was so lonely and all, so I didn't see anything wrong in making friends with him. I didn't know you loved him. If I had, I wouldn't have interfered, really I wouldn't have. And there you have it – I was so thoughtless and selfish and immature, I almost spoiled it all for you. Mary, I wouldn't blame you if you hated me forever – but I really and truly am sorry. Could you possibly forgive me?"

"Popuri, of course I forgive you. It's so mature of you to speak like this in front of everyone." Mary and Popuri hugged for a minute while all the women got a little weepy looking.

Then Popuri wiped her eyes, stepped back a little and looked at us. "So Jack, this is the lucky lady?"

"Really I'm the lucky one, but yes, it's starting to look that way."

"I hope it works out. You two look so sweet together." She turned back to Anna. "Anna, please let them be together. When I was with him, he was only nice and sweet and thoughtful to me. I know he'll treat Mary well. Please don't worry for her."

For the next few minutes it went on like that until all that praise had me completely embarrassed. It turned out that about two-thirds of the people there had good things to say about me. Only Gray and Basil were standing with Anna, and Basil was clearly being the dutiful husband trying to calm his wife down and keep her out of trouble. As people sort of quieted down again, I felt I had to say something – and I had to start out slow to keep my voice from breaking.

"Gosh, I don't know about all this stuff you folks are saying. I thought all I was doing here was growing a few root crops and talking to some people – and drinking more than I ever have before." That got a few chuckles, and I looked a deflated Anna in the face and went on. "But these folks do have a good point – I'd much rather be courting Mary out in the open rather than having to sneak around behind everyone's back. That way, if I foul up again, you people can kick me from here to Edgeport and back again. So, uh, I guess all I can say to you is that I'm sorry about the past and I'd really like a second chance. I'm not going to make you a lot of empty promises. All I'm asking is that you judge me from what I do from here on out."

Anna was sitting behind her table looking very lost and alone. She looked at the people surrounding Mary and I, then she looked up uncertainly at Basil, who softly told her, "It's all right dear, just speak your mind." She looked at me with the same uncertain expression and started in a very small voice. "Jack...I hadn't realized you'd made so many friends here. They appear to like you and respect you greatly. I...I...well, you really can't expect me to change my feelings about you in an instant. But I suppose everyone does have a point. If everything is really out in plain view...Mary, are you really and truly sure this is what you want?" She nodded. "Then very well. I shan't stand in your way." A little of her asperity returned. "Out in the open, that is. No slinking around in secret doing heaven knows what! I'm going to hold all of you to what you said about keeping a watch on what this boy is doing with my daughter!"

And everyone relaxed – me most of all - and gave Anna their hearty assurances, and even a little applause and approval to boot. For a few minutes we forgot all about the food with people coming up to Mary and I – and Anna and Basil too – giving us compliments and encouragement. It was one of those moments in my life where I knew – right at the time it happened – that I'd passed some kind of a test, and yeah, I was kinda easing back and enjoying the moment. It was the afternoon when I first started feeling that Mineral Village was home and the villagers were family.

A little later, I went up to Anna as she still sat behind her table, talking with Sasha and Manna.

"Ah, Anna – thanks."

"Don't mention it. Everyone seems to expect it of me. And I *am* expecting you to be on your best behavior."

"But of course. Um, I do have one little favor to ask of you."

"And that is?"

"Could I please have seconds on that shortcake? It really *is* good."

She gave me a brief and thin smile before she went back to guarded blankness – but it'd been the first smile I'd seen from her in weeks. She handed over a pretty generous helping. It was the sweetest strawberry shortcake I'd ever had.

And then the day got even better. While Doctor and Elli were chatting with Mary and I, I saw Rick out of the corner of my eye walking up to Karen, a cool exterior poorly hiding a lot of nervousness. I kind of tuned my companions out for a bit so I could copy those two.

"Hi Karen. How are you enjoying the festival?"

She matched his cool pose and inward edginess. "It's turning out pretty well, don't you think?"

"It's certainly been dramatic. Uh...you've known all along that Jack and our little Mary were sweet on each other?"

She gave him her trademarked crooked grin. "Yeah. You know how good I am at keeping secrets."

Now *this* was looking good. I nudged Mary to get her attention and motioned to her to listen also.

Rick started looking real bashful. "Uh, look Karen...I guess I've said some hurtful things to you recently."

And she matched his shy expression. "And I've returned them word for word, haven't I?"

"Yeah. Well, you know how stressed out I've been. I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm sorry for everything I've said."

"And I'm sorry for what I've said to you. I get angry and frustrated, but I don't really hate you."

"I'm glad to hear it. I was kind of hoping...that...that we could at least be friends again?"

"That's agreeable to me. Say, I think Mom still has some omelette left. Why don't you come over to our table and have some?"

"Ah, don't mind if I do."

"And don't worry – you don't have to eat any of my food fiasco..."

And they walked off together to her table as Mary and I looked at each other and grinned ear to ear.

She whispered to me, "Now how do you think *that* happened?"

"Mary dearest, I think we just set a good example for them."

Later, as the festival was breaking up, Mary and I went over to the table where Rick and Karen were still talking – about produce prices, of all things.

"Rick, Karen, we aren't intruding on anything here, are we?"

"Not at all, Jack. It's something you'd be interested in also. You think turnips will get past 65 this spring?"

"I'd be satisfied if they didn't get below 50. How 'bout them 155 jumbo eggs, huh? What depression? You're making out like a bandit!"

We would have gone on like that for awhile but Karen saw that Mary looked a little bored and broke in with a pretty good suggestion.

"Hey guys, I think we've all had a pretty good day here. Don't you think it's an Aja evening?"

Mary and I went, "Yeah!" "Sure is!" and Rick looked puzzled and asked, "What's that? She's not back here again, is she?"

"Nah – it's kind of a little tradition of ours. She's talking about Aja wine. Do you like it?"

He got a real thirsty look on his face. "You betcha I do! Who's got some?"

Karen motioned to him. "Follow us, Richard."

A few minutes later found the four of us around Karen's kitchen table, glasses raised and toasting each other. "To the happiness and success of this circle of friends. Together forever!"

Such was the late spring of my first year in Mineral Village. Sun was in Gemini and it really showed.