CHAPTER 9:

Gray never mentioned the cookies, and I never volunteered the information, scared that I might laugh, if provoked to. I also had not mentioned the moon watching rain check, not wanting to bring up the old hatchet, which had caused so much trouble. Instead, we just spent time together, fishing, walking, talking, and laughing. Looking at my calendar, however, showed that the full moon was in a less than a week, and I knew that now was my chance.

I walked up the road, and turned towards the Blacksmith's. I could hear hammering inside, wondered if I should wait until later, but decided to go ahead in. I pushed open the door, into the hot workshop, to find Gray, with his sleeves turned up, furiously hammering on the head of a sickle. I softly and carefully walked up, and looked at his back. He was sweaty from the heat, but the work made his arms look stronger than ever. Losing myself in the rhythm of the hammer, I forgot to tell him I was there. He turned, to reach for a tool, and nearly had a heart attack, suddenly finding me there.

"Claire! Don't do that! You scared me to death!"

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. You just seemed so caught up in what you were doing, I couldn't bear to stop you. What were you thinking about anyway?

Gray relaxed slightly. "That's alright. Well, I was…thinking about…this tool. Barley brought it to Grampa today, and he told me to finish it."

I looked around. "Where is he?"

Gray rolled his eyes. "He went up to visit Ellen."

"Ah, I see." I shifted my weight to the other foot. "I was looking at my calendar today, and saw that the full moon of the season was in six days. I thought maybe, you know, we could, do that rain check we had planned. It's supposed to be sunny, no rain, so it would be nicer. You don't have to, I just figured…" I was really rambling now, and stopped myself before I said something embarrassing.

Gray had turned back to the workbench. He, not even turning around, answered, "Of course we can. I'll meet you there." I watched as he picked up the hammer again, and started hitting the metal, making sparks fly.

"Good! That's great, it really is!" I looked around nervously, gave his broad shoulders a quick hug, and was out the door before he could turn around again.

That being settled, I ran up to the top of the town, intending to visit Elli, as she had asked me to do so. I found the Clinic's door to be locked, and decided that she must be at her grandmother's house, which was odd, because it wasn't Wednesday. I, feeling curious, walked to Ellen's house, entered, and found the room semi-full of people. I located Elli, hurried up to her, and asked what was wrong.

"My grandmother is not well today. She had a fever, and was going to lay down to rest, but she blacked out right before she got there! I'm very worried about her."

I gave her a hug and told her that I hoped Ellen would be on the mend. She nodded fretfully, and walked over to her husband, and stood there, biting her handkerchief. Saibara was there also, and was very pale, unlike his usual ruddy-faced self.

I left a bit sad, hoping that Ellen would be alright. She was the one who was kind enough to make my sock, which is where I received my special ring. My next stop was the Poultry Farm, where I picked up some animal medicine, and spread the news to Lillia. She immediately stood up, grabbed her light shawl, and ordered Rick to find some spare eggs, to take to the ailing woman. Rick found the eggs, but tried to convince his mother

to let him run up, so she wouldn't have to go out of the house.

Lillia would hear none of it, and snapped, "I won't be caught dead here in this house, while a friend is in need!" I picked up Lillia's basket, followed her out the door, and handed it to a very disapproving Rick. I then watched them head up the road, and turned towards my farm, after stopping to admire the sound of the hammering still coming from the blacksmith's.

The next five days passed rather slowly, filled with work, thought, worry, and trips to Ellen's, who was still very sick. Summer was fast approaching, the weeds were growing very fast, but my turnips made me very proud, as did my plump, healthy potatoes. The cucumbers were crisp and green, but scarce.

An interesting thing happened one day, down at the lake. I was foraging, gathering the herbs and flowers next to the water's edge, when I stumbled, and my newly-picked vegetables showered the ground. I ran around picking up the dry ones, but as for one particular cucumber, which had embedded itself in the mud; I pitched it into the lake. Instantly, two green ears rose out of the shimmering water, followed by a green face. It looked at me blankly, and then said, in a scratchy, garbled voice, "…You give cucumber. I……happy." The face disappeared as soon as it had appeared. Confused, I picked up my basket, and hurried away from the lake.

My animals were thriving. Belle was extremely affectionate, Bessie was healthy, and the chickens squawked cheerfully when I picked them up. I again commissioned Gotz, to extend the chicken coop, so I could incubate a few more eggs. He happily went about this task, wiping his forehead in the increasingly warm air.

The day of Gray and I's moon watching "date" was, as forecasted, a bright, sunny, beautiful end of spring day. I excitedly went about my daily chores, dancing around the field with my watering can. Before night began to fall, I retired from the chores, put on my jeans, my favorite orange top, and ran up the road, a bounce in my step as I drew nearer to the Inn, my destination.

Ann downstairs, chatting casually with Harris. I signaled to her that this was important, and she suddenly sniffed the air, and then excused herself, saying that she left something in the oven. I ran to the back, and found her, looking quizzically at me.

"What do you need? You look all keyed up."

I shivered with anticipation, and told her how I came about this date.

She laughed suddenly. "Calm down, Claire. I congratulate you on a date well scored."

I looked around embarrassed, then confessed my deepest worry, to which, to my displeasure, she just started laughing her head off.

"It's not funny! It's scary!" I was indignant. She slowly stopped, and wiped her eyes.

"Oh…I'm…sorry! That's…just so funny." She choked out, still fighting the urge.

Turning towards the back rooms, she yelled out Karen's name.

Karen came out, struggling with a can and can opener. "Hi, Claire! Ann was giving me some cooking tips, because I planned to make dinner for Rick tomorrow night."

Ann turned towards me. "Tell Karen what you just told me. It's priceless!"

I scowled slightly at her treatment of my fear, but quietly told Karen the same thing.

Karen's eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't laugh, but looked highly amused. "You're worried that he might kiss you?" She asked, smiling.

"Well, yeah. What would I do?"

"Um, duh. Kiss him back, maybe?"

"I just, oh, you don't understand."

"Trust me, I do. It's not that big of a deal, though. I wouldn't worry about it."

I left quickly, inventing some excuse, and anxious to leave before they called somebody else out of the back rooms, who would blab it all over the town.

The sun fell slowly, and I nervously made my way up the hill, a bit early, just in case anything happened. As the stars winked out, one by one, footsteps echoed behind me. I didn't turn around, just kept staring out over the town. Gray, I knew that it was him because I memorized his footsteps, walked up, and sat down next to me.

"Hello Gray. Beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Hello Claire. Yes it is, very much so." He sounded very relaxed, the exact opposite of how I felt. We sat, and conversation flowed, until we were both comfortable, and having fun.

"If the moon was really made out of cheese, what kind would it be?" I asked.

"It's too white to be cheddar, so it would be mozzarella." He replied, faking seriousness.

We both laughed softly. Our hands touched, then clasped. Gray looked down at me, and I up at him. I knew what was coming. The space between his face and mine shortened, shortened, shortened, until it simply wasn't there anymore. Unlike my original idea, there was no rushing of the mind, no worry, no confusion. My mind shut down, leaving me to think with my heart.

It was over all too soon, and before I could collect my thoughts completely, we were heading down the mountain, hand in hand, under the rising of the new sun.