Chapter 3

For as long as he could remember, Pete's favorite pastime had been to watch TV. So when he saw an old television set in the house complete with an antenna on top, Pete was delighted. He instantly turned it on, only to be greeted by static. He turned the knob to switch channels, but found that nothing worked. Then he looked around for a movie player in hopes of maybe playing a physical copy of the movie, but there was none.

"Oh," said Zack, who was still helping to arrange things in the farmhouse, "We don't get a very good TV signal here in Mineral Town. But..." He began fiddling with the antenna, and then turned the knob until a fuzzy image appeared. "This one channel should do the trick. It has daily news, weather forecasts, and some educational shows. You'll definitely need to keep up on those if you want to survive out here."

Pete stared at the image on the screen. A man was giving the weather forecast for the next day. "There should be good sunny weather all day long. Get out and enjoy the fresh air."

"Good advice," said Zack. "Come on, I've got more to show ya."

Pete followed him outside, where Zack pointed to a large wooden box. "This is a shipping crate," he said. "You can put the crops you grow in here, and I'll come by at 5:00 every evening to pick them up, and give you payment for them." He looked at Pete a moment. "How much cash you got right now?"

"Not much," said Pete, pulling out a wad of cash. "I didn't expect to stay here after all."

Zack took the cash and looked at it. "You'll have to get used to the kind of cash we use here," he said. "Here in Mineral Town, we use gold coins. But don't worry, I'll trade you this money for the equivalent amount of gold coins." He counted the money carefully, then pocketed it. "This is equal to five-hundred gold coins," he said, pulling out a small leather bag and putting some gold coins in it. "Here you are."

"But Zack," said Pete, "How am I to ship stuff if I haven't grown any crops yet?"

"You'll be growing crops soon enough," answered Zack. "And you can also ship milk, eggs, and wool. And even without those you can still forage around the forest areas of the town for some edible things to ship. There are a lot of herbs that doctors around here might want for making medicine, so be sure to ship any of those if you find them."

"How do I grow crops?" asked Pete.

"Don't ask me," said Zack with a laugh. "I've never done it before. But old Barley will know a thing or two, and so will his friend Doug. You should ask them sometime. Those educational TV shows might teach you a thing or two as well." He started to walk away, but then stopped. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. There are shipping crates in the cow barn and in the chicken coop as well, and I will also be checking those when I come to collect your shipments. Remember, every evening at 5:00. Oh, except for festival days of course. You know why?"

Pete just stared at him.

"Because," said Zack, "I need a break sometimes as well." He started laughing, but slowed down when he noticed that Pete wasn't amused. "Anyway," he said, "I think you'll like it here once you've settled down. Who knows? You might even start a family here." He turned and walked away.

"Yeah right," said Pete under his breath. It would probably be years before he found a woman in this town that caught his heart. All he wanted to do right now was to go inside and take a nice long nap. But, that still couldn't happen, because Pete saw that he had a visitor approaching.

The visitor was a funny looking man with a red coat and top hat. He stopped as soon as he was close to where Pete was standing, and introduced himself in a friendly voice.

"Hello there! I'm Thomas Waterun, and I'm the mayor of Mineral Town! I'm so happy to see that you've decided to pick up where old Jack left off. With enough determination, you'll make this farm just as successful as he did, maybe even better!"

Pete didn't say anything, so the mayor went on. "I suppose I should give you a little tour of Mineral Town, shouldn't I? What do you say, Pete?"

"Sure," said Pete.

"Excellent!" said the mayor. "Come on! We mustn't waste any time! There's so much to see!"

He led Pete up the path that led away from the farm, and they began to walk a road that was paved with bricks. They passed a small building with a picture of an anvil painted over the door.

"That's where Saibara the blacksmith lives," said the mayor. "If you ever need a tool repaired or improved, Saibara is the one to go to."

They passed the inn that Pete had slept in just the night before. "I think you already know," said the mayor, "but that's the Green Inn." He pointed to some coops that had been built next to the inn. "The Greens are also poultry farmers. They raise chickens. If you want a chicken, you can buy one from them."

Right across the street from the Green Inn was a little farm that said "Yodel Ranch" on the sign. "That's old Barley's place. He raises cows and sheep and horses."

They went up the road a little. "This here is a shop run by florist Lillia Flowerbud. You can buy any kinds of seeds from her. And that building over there," he pointed to another building across the street, "is the Daybrook Bakery. The owner, old Daniel, along with his wife, became very sick many years ago, and died when their only daughter was just a baby, and the ownership went to Daniel's mother-in-law, Ellen Wellington." He pointed to an elderly lady in rocking chair who sat outside and waved at the two. "But she's getting too old to work there now, and she can barely stand up anymore. Daniel's daughter has opted to work as a nurse at the hospital rather than take her grandmother's job at the bakery, so her good friend Jeff now owns the place, even though she does occasionally still help to bake things there."

Pete knew that the mayor was talking about Ellie, because he had talked to her in the hospital the day before. He wondered if he should visit her sometime to let her know that he was staying in Mineral Town.

"This," said the Mayor, pointing to a large building with stained-glass windows, "is the church. There are services held there every Sunday by Pastor Brown. The children also attend school there on the weekdays, where Pastor Brown's assistant Carter teaches them."

They passed another building, this one having two doors. "This is my house," he said. "I live here with my wife Anna and my daughter Maria. The door on the left leads into the house, and door on the right leads into the library which my daughter runs. Be sure to give it a visit sometime and check out some of the books. They could be helpful when you're learning how to farm."

They began walking down another path that led back to unpaved roads in a more forest-like area. "Here's where the lumberjacks live," said the mayor. "They will build stuff for you, provided you have the materials for them to build it out of. You can also buy the materials from them, but with the amount of money you have right now it will be easier for you to collect your own building materials by cutting up the tree stumps and smashing the boulders."

They came to a fork in the road. "This path," said the mayor, pointing down one of the roads, "leads to the Forestgaze Vineyard. Sasha and her husband Gotz live there with their daughter Karen."

They walked down the other path and came to a little hot spring. "If you're ever feeling tired or worn out, come here to hot spring and take a bath. It will make you feel better." He pointed to a cave nearby that was behind a waterfall. "That's the mine. You can dig for ore and minerals there."

They walked up the path and found themselves back at the farmhouse. "Well," said the Mayor. "That's all. Be sure to come and visit me sometimes, because I'd love the company." He walked up the road and out of sight.

It was only halfway through the day now, and Pete was already tired. Going into the farmhouse, he turned on the TV, hoping a show he liked would be on. A goofy looking guy appeared onscreen.

"Farmer Fran!" shouted the goofy guy. "Farmer Fran!"

"Yes, Jimmy?" said a woman who walked into the frame.

Jimmy held up a watering-can. "I want to know why it takes so long to water my crops!"

"Well, Jimmy," said Fran. "You have to bring the watering-can to the forge along with the proper materials, in order to get it upgraded. Once it's upgraded, you can water your crops much faster."

"Thank you, Farmer Fran!" said Jimmy. "What else can you teach me today?"

Pete sighed. This show was so annoying. Is this the kind of stuff he'd have to put up with if he lived here? If so, it was going to be a very long two years.