EPISODE SEVENTEEN

Katie stared at the item in shock, turning it in her fingers. She'd only seen one once before; it was the one her grandfather Wallace had always kept. And she knew exactly what it meant.

It was a Blue Feather, and she remembered her grandfather explaining to her that it was an old-fashioned way of proposing to someone for marriage.

'But a feather? What good is a feather?' the nine-year-old Katie asked skeptically, a doubtful look on her face. 'Don't people use Rings to get married nowadays?'

Her grandfather chuckled. 'It still means a lot, Katie. It means a lot, even if it is an old way of doing things. You'll understand one day.'

She swallowed, her stomach twisting itself into a knot. Maybe Carl and Ellen were closer than she thought. But marriage? Carl didn't seem like the type of person to commit to something like that…but then again, there were a lot of things she didn't know about him.

I wonder where he got one of these…they're supposed to be rare…and what is it doing here? Maybe he dropped it?

Katie was so deep in thought that she nearly jumped a foot into the air when she heard Carl call out her name.

She hastily shoved the Feather under the door, nearly crumpling the note in her other hand by accident. She quickly straightened herself, looking up as Carl stepped into the small hallway of the back of the café.

"Katie! I'm so glad I found you…you got my note?" He seemed a little out of breath. "Katie…please…don't ever run off again. You really worried me a lot."

She could feel herself flushing. "I'm sorry. I've just had a really bad day. But it won't happen again---I promise."

Carl stared at her before nodding a little. "Well, I'm really tired, so I'll go to bed. Make sure you get rest, too. I'm sure we'll both feel better in the morning. Good night, Katie."

"…Good night, Carl."

She watched her manager go for a moment but quickly scurried off to her room, realizing she didn't want to be there when he discovered his Blue Feather.

---

It was Fall 24th, the day of the Harvest Festival. Dia had been sleeping for the past two days.

Although Kurt had pressed Alex and Gina for more information, they would only tell him that she needed rest and couldn't see her.

But when he'd threatened to spend that night at the Sanatorium, and every night until they let him see her, Martha was sympathetic towards him and convinced Gina and Alex to let him visit Dia.

Kurt's heart was pounding as all four of them climbed the stairs to the second floor where Dia would be. He opened the door slowly and carefully, afraid of what he'd see behind it.

Sweeping his eyes across the room, he saw that all was still. The purple girl, Jamie, appeared to be asleep. And Dia---his breath caught in his throat when he saw her.

He quickly crossed the room, standing at her bedside. Her face was calm as she slept, her chest rising and falling with her shallow breaths. Nothing like the Dia at the Library, that yelled at him. He never even knew why she was angry with him in the first place…

But he tried not to let her words get to him. He'd assumed that it was all because of her sickness.

Pulling a chair over to her bed, he sat and watched her sleep, but soon looked up suddenly, feeling like someone was staring at him. He saw a flash of bright blue eyes, but Jamie was quickly "asleep" again by the time he looked up. He raised an eyebrow, but was distracted from this by the sound of Gina's voice. He'd almost forgotten that she had been there in the first place, along with Alex and Martha.

"Kurt, you have to understand that Dia is very sick, and if you---" she started, but stopped when she saw the look on Kurt's face.

"I'm staying. Please. You have to let me stay with her."

Gina and Alex exchanged glances, but Martha spoke up

"Don't worry, Kurt. We trust you. You can stay."

And with that, the elderly woman turned to leave, giving Gina and Alex a stern look that said that they should follow her, before starting down the stairs.

Gina looked a little doubtful but gave a short nod to Alex, following Martha. Alex sighed, running a hand through his hair before following after the two women.

Kurt turned back to Dia, studying every feature of her sleeping face. She really is pretty when she sleeps…

---

Katie felt nervous and edgy as she walked behind Carl and Ellen. She could hear the faint sounds of people talking and laughing. They must be nearing the Town Square where the Harvest Festival was being held.

Carl and Ellen were talking cheerfully the entire way, but Katie couldn't get over her uneasiness. She smoothed out her dress. It was more of a feeling that she had to compete with Ellen. But it was silly. Carl was probably going to marry her, so it didn't matter.

But all of a sudden they were at the Square and the villagers were standing and sitting around long tables with the crops laid out on them.

"Hm, the tables seem scarce this year, huh? I wonder if it has to do with the Harvest Goddess' disappearance," Ellen commented, and Carl only mm-hmmed in response. Katie tried not to roll her eyes. So Ellen was just another Nina or Eve and believed in the 'Harvest Goddess'.

But she could see that the tables seemed a little empty, although no one else was complaining. She saw Gwen talking with an enormous hippo in a purple suit. Carl could see her staring at the hippo, and whispered to her, "That's Gourmet."

"…Right," Katie said, staring at the hippo man, unable to see how it could be human. But it was definitely large. Kind of like Bob, now that she thought about it. Maybe Gwen had a thing for big guys or something. And Bob wasn't around, nor was Joe, which made Katie wonder how Gwen knew this Gourmet guy…

But Carl and Ellen were already dragging her around to different tables, telling her to try out all the foods. By the time the tables had been cleared, Katie was stuffed. But it was worth it. The food had been delicious.

Now everyone was gathered around as the Sodas were passed around. Katie refused---she didn't drink---and Carl did too, although she couldn't help but notice that Ellen took one.

One particular woman kept drinking a lot of Soda, and as soon as she turned around, Katie gasped. It was Eve, the woman from the beach. Eve also seemed to recognize Katie, because she scowled as soon as she saw her.

"You!" she cried, pointing at her. Katie gulped and tried to shrink back into the crowd. But there was no room. So she instead pretended that she didn't know Eve was talking to her. However, it was getting difficult as Eve stumbled forward, nearly falling on top of Katie.

"You," she said again, and now had almost everyone's attention. Katie's face was burning. This was so humiliating, to be yelled at by a drunk in the middle of a crowd.

"You're the one that hates the Harvest Goddess," she said loudly, her words slurred. There was a collective gasp from the crowd. Katie could see from the corner of her eye that Ellen seemed to be edging away from her, and Carl looked confused and uncomfortable.

"Nina told me about you," Eve continued. "She said that you were the one that turned the Harvest Goddess to stone!"

---

Nina's heart stopped in her chest as she listened to Eve shout at Katie. That stupid barmaid, she thought angrily. I should've never drunk all those Sodas. Just because I said a few stupid things, Eve's going to totally spill the beans.

She could see some of the crowd turn to look at her as Eve spoke.

"You and the Library girl, Maria, are probably working together! You both hate the Harvest Goddess, after all."

Nina's eyes widened. Oh my Goddess, she thought and frantically looked around for Maria. She had to explain that Eve had just drank one too many Sodas, and…

---

"If you ask me, you both should be run out of this village!"

Katie felt dizzy, as if she were going to faint. It was true; she'd said that she'd hated the Harvest Goddess, but hadn't she explained she hadn't meant what she'd said? But she saw no way out of this. And who was this "Library girl" named Maria, anyway?

"See? She's guilty. She's not saying anything!"

"Yeah, I was a little suspicious of her," a voice chimed in, and Katie twisted her head to see who'd spoken. She saw a girl with bright red hair that was familiar…

"Ann?" she guessed, and the girl looked over at her, glaring. "Ann, you're just mad because I took your job! That isn't fair."

This was clearly the wrong thing to say, because a uneasy murmur spread through the crowd.

And then someone's mouth was close to her ear. "Follow me," it hissed, and suddenly the person was tugging her arm, pulling her through the crowd, past Carl and Ellen, and then out of the Town Square, towards an unknown destination.

---