Chapter 2

It Can't Be So!

Althea scuttled across the beach and plodded onto the eggplant purple doormat before the shack's rickety door. She looked at the tanned beachgoer expectantly. "Well?" she quipped.

Kai chuckled, creaking the door open in a goofy fashion. "Ladies first," he winked.

Althea stepped inside, immediately turning to the wall for a light switch.

Kai flipped the lights on instead, revealing the inside of the quaint housing. "Ta-da!" he exclaimed.

She twittered half-heartedly and glanced around. The sanded white wood covering the floor and walls gave the place a wide-open feel. A wave mural roared across the back wall. Kai waltzed around rectangular metal tables, draped with yellow gingham cloth, to the counters near the back of the shack; he inspected an aged dish cabinet, fingering the glasses, plates, and silverware tucked inside. He bent over the sink.

Althea stepped over and peeked over his shoulder. Kai had started washing the dishes in the sink, polishing them until they gleamed. It surprised her that he'd be such a neat freak, but she supposed it was only common sense for his restaraunt to have clean dishes.

He waved a hand to his right. "Ah, back there are the bathrooms, and a closet I use for cleaning supplies and stuff! You could check it out, but there's not much to see," Kai explained. A little hallway bent down to the rooms he described.

Althea nodded. She cocked her head, raising a brow. "Wait. Where do you stay, then? There's no bedroom here. Do you sleep on the floor?" she inquired dryly.

"No, no!" Kai laughed, "I stay at the Inn! Which reminds me, shouldn't you be out meeting people or something? Or, like, finding a place to crash?" He stared at her with wide, gray eyes.

"I suppose," she sighed.

Kai smirked, setting down the current dish he was scrubbing and whisked his leather coat off. "What? Are you too... Shy?" he teased, "Or, goddess forbid, scared?"

She simply frowned and waved absently. "Sure, sure, whatever. Thanks, Kai. I'll probably come back later. If not, I'll see you tomorrow," she said, a little blankly. Althea hardly paid attention as she shoved the door open and stepped out onto the beach.

The first person she met had whittled her down, already. "Cute, but not my type, anyway. He's probably got a girlfriend already," she breathed. She started toward the plank connecting to the stairs, leading somewhere she had yet to explore.

"Who's got a girlfriend?" an innocently curious voice chirped.

Althea pivoted on her heels to see a young woman with lively pink locks held back by an inky black satin headband. Her rusty red-brown eyes seemed to pop out of her head. She blinked her dainty lashes and furrowed her brow.

"Oh, no one important," Althea replied cooly. The girl seemingly popped out of nowhere.

"Oh, okay!" the girl breezed by the subject, much to Althea's relief. She brushed back a stray pink lock and smiled. "I haven't seen you before. What's your name? Are you staying here? Why'd you come? No one ever comes to Mineral Town except Kai. Have you met him? Do you know anyone here?" she spewed excitedly, clasping her tiny hands into fists and waving them around.

Althea stared baffledly for a few awkward seconds. She attempted to piece together a proper answer, then a lightbulb lit up in her brain. "Well," she began, "I received a letter from someone in Mineral Town." She reached into her pocket for the letter, digging until she came up with nothing even close to a letter.

"Oh, I didn't know people used pocketwatches anymore!"

Althea pursed her lips and dropped it back into her pocket. She must've forgotten to retrieve the letter from Kai; though not a surprise, she could've gotten the handwriting identified.

"That's a big suitcase. What've you got in it that makes it so big?" the girl peeped.

Althea involuntarily ground her teeth. There's always more questions. Always. "A violin," she grinned, "I'm a musician." She blew a stray blonde hair out of her face.

The young woman clapped her hands as her curls bounced. "Oh, oh! How wonderful! You should play at the Fireworks Festival!" she cheered.

"Oh, that's actually what-"

"Just wait till I tell everyone! An actual musician, playing for us!" she swooned, her eyes glittering with wonder. She straightened up. "Oh, it's been lovely to meet you! I'm Popuri, I live at the chicken farm. I have to go now!" she fluttered, scurrying off.

Althea made a desperate grab at Popuri. "Wait! Don't- oh, oh great," she grumbled. Nothing faster than rumors spreading through a small town, she thought. What would the villagers expect from her? Who would they expect? Would she let them down? Questions flooded her thoughts, keeping her feet planted on the ground. A warm breeze drifted by, sweeping her pleated skirt to the side. Luckily, it measured long enough to prevent it from flying up too far.

"But I will, won't I?" she asked, but more as a statement. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead, settling on the bridge of her nose.

She snapped back to reality as a seagull cawed and swooped down to capture a stray french fry. Althea swatted at it, shooing it away. "Hey, shoo!" she shouted, stumbling in the sand. It cawed in protest, but flapped away. She watched it sway and fly in a circle directly above.

Turning away, she briskly made her way across the beach to the plank. Her clunky boot heels clopped against the wood, silencing as they hit the concrete stairs. A rosy-stoned plaza came into view. Hedge bushes bordered it, dotted with lampposts. She wandered into the center of the square, drinking in the scenery. The stairs lead down to the beach at her right. A two-story building, assumably the Inn, towered above a the tops of some trees at her left; a plot of parkland occupied some space before there were any houses, obscuring anything but the Inn from her view. Paths leading down to more village houses branched out behind and in front of her.

She tapped a few dainty fingers against her soft chin, deciding on which path to take, when loud female voices chattered loudly behind her. She could barely discern what their conversation was about as they yelled over each other. As she turned to greet the ladies, they all moseyed down the path leading north, meeting eyes with Althea and coming to a halt.

Three women stood an awkward stance, as if unsure what to make of the sight before them. "Oh, so it's her," whispered a woman with sharp eyes and voluminous, short dark brown hair.

Another woman, hair pulled tightly into a dark blonde bun, replied quietly, "So it is, Anna."

The third smiled graciously and ran up to Althea. 'Bout time. "Oh, hello! I'm so pleased to meet you, young lady. I'm Manna, I work at the winery with my husband, Duke. It's so inspiring to hear how you traveled from all the way across the world just to come here, to this tiny town! Oh and not to mention-" Manna chattered excitedly about all the gossip she'd heard from Sasha, who heard from Jeff, who heard from Rick, who was told by Popuri all about the young lady musician who'd arrived. Althea felt no shock at the outrageous stories that'd already spread so rapidly.

Althea waved her hands in a halting motion. "Please, please," she sighed, "I've never done this before. I'm not as great as everyone seems to have made me. Please, don't delude yourself with these rumors." She exhaled and plastered on a weary smile.

Anna examined her nails and tossed her head. "I figured it'd be something like that. Look, honey, no one ever comes to Mineral Town. You're going to set off a buzz for months, even if you only stay a day," she explained. Her jade dress flapped in another breeze.

Althea felt sobered after that statement. She didn't ask for something like that. "Well, I'm certainly in for something I didn't sign up for," she breathed.

Manna folded her hands and laughed softly. "Don't worry!" she assured her, "We're all here for each other."

Sasha gave a soft smile, toning down the worried creases in her face. "If anything, we are a... Close town. I hope you enjoy your time here," she said softly, straightening her royal blue skirt.

"I'm sure I will," she huffed, puffing a stream of air at a stray blonde lock.

Anna raised a brow at the musician. "So, who've you met so far?" she inquired.

She gave careful thought to how she'd go about it. However, she remembered she'd only met two villagers, "Popuri, and Kai." She absently tightened her coat around her waist.

The ladies all seemed to press in.

"What were they doing?"

"Was it scandalous?"

"Is it really true?"

"Oh, this is delicious!"

Althea put her hands up in protest. She saw what was going on here. "Hey, wait, wait, wait! STOP!"

Somehow, they'd heard her, and all stared blankly back. "What?" Manna stated.

"I saw them seperately, n-not..." she trailed off in horror.

The women relaxed, stepping away from her. All three proceeded to groom their hair, nails, and any other thing they supposed they should.

"Well, honey, what do you think about that Kai, anyway?" Anna pressed.

"Funny, but not my type," concise and straight to the point.

Anna just stood, eyes boring in to Althea. "You should meet everyone else before I die of boredom, sweetie," she grumbled.

Manna laughed. "Anna, she's only just arrived! Cut the woman some slack. Besides, now that everyone's heard, they'll be so excited to meet her and-"

Althea bowed. "Thank you! I suppose I must meet the others, then!" she declared. They all waved goodbye, then huddled together for some hard-core gossip. Making haste toward the path they'd come down, she strode off with purpose in her step, the idle chatter of the ladies fading. A path turned to her left, but she decided to leave it be until later. A quaint, yet elegant church rose up before her.

Children chased each other in the grass next to a small graveyard while a kind-faced man, in pastoral garb, looked on and smiled. Every once in a while, he halted their roughhousing when they looked as if they were hurting each other.

"Look, May! Look at the lady over there!" the boy exclaimed, pointing directly at Althea.

May turned around, her braids whipping about her head. "Ooh!" she cooed, trotting over to Althea.

Althea smiled and made a soft greeting, "Hello there, May. I'm Althea."

"Hello. I'm very pleased to meet you," she said politely, making a respectful bow to Althea.

The boy made no such attempts. "Hi!" he shouted, attaching himself to her leg, "I'm Stu! Nice to meet you!" His crazy grin was impossible to deny, however childish his gesture was. He was a child, after all; he only seemed so when compared to May's quiet, polite nature.

Althea laughed and patted them gently on the head. "Well, Stu, May, I'd love to stay and play, but I'm on a mission!" she told them.

"A mission?" Stu cocked his head.

May clasped her tiny hands behind her back. "What kind of mission, Big Sister?" she asked.

Althea faltered a moment. Big Sister. She shook it off, proceeding to explain herself. "Well, I'm on a mission to meet everyone by the end of today! I don't want to waste time meeting the people all spread out over a couple days, so why not all in one day?"

Stu pouted, releasing her leg and standing up on his toes. "Aw, please stay to play with us! Pleeeeeeeeease!" he pleaded, his eyes huge and round.

"O-oh, I suppose I could-"

The man intervened. "Stu, what did I teach you about thinking of others?"

Stu furrowed his brow in thought. "Harvest Goddess?"

The pastor sighed. "No, Stu. Just because I say the Harvest Goddess is always the answer doesn't mean She's the answer to every question," he instructed.

"Harvest Sprites?" he tried.

The pastor just chuckled and ruffled Stu's hair. "Stu, I said to treat others how you'd like to be treated, remember? If you wanted to play, what would you do if May tried to get you to read a book?" he asked.

Stu put his hands on his hips, puffing out his tiny chest. "I'd do it, 'cause May is my best friend!" he exclaimed.

"Ah, a lesson for another day, I see," he responded. "Anyway," he turned to Althea, "I'm Carter, the pastor here. It's good to see a fresh face in Mineral Town. Welcome." Carter extended a hand to her.

She gladly grasped it and shook politely. "Well, I think it's certainly going to be interesting," she laughed. She rubbed the sweat off her brow with a forearm. "Goodbye, Stu, May, Carter. I'll see you around!" she shouted.

"Goodbye, Big Sister!" May's farewell joined with Stu's and Carter's as Althea briskly walked down the path to the left.

She passed a couple streetlights as she flashed her watch in front of her. Eleven twenty-two. How did the time speed by? She stopped in front of the cottage-like building, a large rectangular sign erected before it.

"Mineral Town Clinic," she read aloud, "Open from nine to four every day except Wednesday. Closed on festivals." What happened if you injured yourself during a festival? She didn't intend to find out, that's for sure. Luckily, the day had fallen on a Friday, so Althea reached for the sleek silver doorknob. No point in being polite if it was a clinic- anyone could walk in.

She pulled the door open with ease and stepped inside. As she led the door closed behind her, she immediately noticed the blank white walls and floor. Well, what did she expect? Rainbows and ponies? A couple chairs dotted the walls, along with the obligatory doctor's office potted plants.

A gentle voice peeped up from behind a counter in the back, "Oh, good afternoon! You must be the one everyone's been excited about!" A young, petite woman with a round face and soft brown eyes leaned forward excitedly, her short, mousy brown hair bobbing with her. "I'm Elli, and Doctor's in the room over. He's in the middle of a check-up now, so I'll have to ask you not to bother him until he's done," she piped.

Althea nodded. She smiled and walked over to Elli, who stood in front of a tall shelf full of medicines. The whole place smelled strange, like they made the medicine right there. "I'm Althea," she stated awkwardly, this time unsure how to start conversation.

Elli giggled softly. "Well it's nice to meet you, Althea," she replied. She then cast her eyes nervously downward, fiddling with her frilly dress sleeves. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but... Is it true you've travled across the world?" she asked as she slammed her palms down in excitement. "I mean, I grew up here all my life, and I've never had a chance to leave. Doctor always talks about going places to research but he's never followed through and I... So, is it really true?" she pleaded.

Althea drew back a bit from her outburst, but gave a warm smile. "More or less. I've been a lot of places, but certainly not all around the world," she explained.

If a person could wilt, Elli did so. "Oh, I-I didn't... I'm sorry. I got too excited," she sighed.

Althea felt a world of guilt on her shoulders. She searched frantically for something to cheer her up, anything. Than, she remembered a certain souvenir she'd taken from an island trip. It held a special place in her heart, but... "Here. I took this from a place called Sunshine Islands, and you deserve to have it," she said, holding out a red-striped clam shell.

"Oh, it's so pretty! I couldn't take something like this!" Elli gasped, holding a hand up to her mouth in surprise.

Althea smiled, holding it out further. "No, I was the one who experienced the trip. You take this as a token of budding friendship!" she said.

Elli cautiously reached out for the shell, finally taking it in her hand. "Thank you," she whispered, tears in her eyes.

Althea had no time to respond as the door to... Doctor's office swung open.

"-to ice it regularly, okay? You're lucky Mary was there to bandage it when she did, or it'd be a pile of blisters. Take care, Gray," a deep voice called from inside.

A sturdy man, shoving a baseball cap back on his strawberry blonde mop, stopped once to give a grumpy look at Althea, then turned and exited.

Althea looked back at Elli, a look of indignation evident. "I'm sorry, but what's his problem?" she asked. Elli opened her mouth to answer but straightened up when she spotted something behind Althea.

"He just acts like that as an outer shell. Pay no mind," the deep voice, presumably the doctor's, piped from behind.

Althea turned to see a tall, lean man, a shock of black hair atop his head; dark, almond-shaped eyes with educated gaze stared back at her. He rubbed his chin in thought. "I haven't seen you around. What could you possibly be doing here? Someone like you probably wouldn't come to a place like this," he mused.

Althea's brow dipped. "Someone... Like... Me?" she questioned, a little offended by his statement.

His eyebrows shot up as if realizing something he hadn't before. "Ah, never mind that. That was a bit rude, I apologize," he assured her. He extended a hand.

Althea, still maintaining a healthy skepticism, cautiously grasped it and shook. "Althea Skylark, sir," she declared, putting on her best smile. Too bad she felt far from her best.

He gently smiled, giving her heart a sort of strangled little jump, and his dark chocolate eyes met with hers. "Pleased to meet you, Althea. Call me Doctor," he replied.

She pursed her lips. "Surely Doctor isn't your name?" she asked dryly.

"Of course not, but I must retain a professional reputation, you see," he explained, running a hand through his dark hair and straightening his coat cuffs.

"Could you at least tell me your name?" she pushed, blinking her blue eyes as innocently as possible.

He sighed stiffly, "Trent. My name is Trent." His eyes held an unreadable expression, his face returing to a monotonous emotion.

She grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Trent," she beamed. Something seemed a tad off about him. She liked it.

The corners of his lips twitched, but made no further movement. "The pleasure is mine," he responded, out of politeness, she guessed.

They held gaze for a few seconds, blinking awkwardly. The air seemed to thicken with the silence. Althea opened and shut her mouth as Trent raised an inquisitive brow, but no conversation attempts were made. He had his hands shoved in his pockets while he slowly rocked back and forth on his heels.

"So," Elli almost shouted, desperate to break the ice, "now that we've all met, Doctor has to get back to work," she hissed in his direction, then laughed pleasantly as if it didn't happen.

"I hope I don't see you soon, if you know what I mean. Being a doctor and all..." Trent awkwardly gave a little wave and returned to his office, pulling the door shut behind him.

Althea was left wondering where the sweet Elli she met earlier had gone. She also couldn't piece together what just happened. Shrugging it off, she turned to the door and reached for the handle. "Um, I'll see you guys later," she said.

Suddenly, the door flew open and smacked Althea back. She cried out and felt her forehead, where a formidable bump was beginning to form.

"Oh Goddess! I'm so, so, so sorry! I was running here because I-"

Althea locked eyes with a girl garbed in overalls and a red plaid three-quarter length shirt. Her straight, straw blonde hair loomed forward as she bent over to talk to Althea.

"Claire?" Althea shrieked.