Chapter 4: Eavesdropping

Claire awoke in a daze. Her thin blonde hair was tangled and matted to her forehead with sweat, and she had fallen asleep in her clothes from the previous day, which were now crumpled and wrinkly in various places. She cringed- she probably looked awful this morning. At the very least, she felt much worse than usual.

As soon as he saw her lift her head from the pillow, Bailey charged over and leaped onto the bed, preparing to shower Claire with wet puppy kisses. Claire, not in the mood for another slobber bath, gently pushed him away and untangled herself from the mess of blankets before rising from the bed, stifling a huge yawn.

She struggled to recall the events of the night before, and with a stab of fear, she remembered everything – the walk home from the Inn, the footsteps that followed her, the huge shadowy figure with the glowing eyes.

Suppressing the sudden wave of nausea that overtook her, Claire staggered over to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Hopefully, a steaming bath would make her feel better and calm her nerves, relax her mind. Taking a moment to glance into the mirror, Claire flinched at her blonde rat's nest of hair and pale face, dark circles beginning to form under her eyes from a restless sleep.

Maybe it was all just a bad dream…? Yes, that's it, I was only imagining things… a really, really creepy and realistic nightmare. Could have been something I ate.

She didn't really believe it herself, but perhaps it was better to just push the uneasy memory out of her mind, rather than dwell on it until it drove her insane. There were other things to worry about; important things that needed to be taken care of if Claire was to run her own farm successfully. She ran through the list of errands in her mind as the warm bathwater spread across her bare skin.

I'll definitely need to visit the supermarket for groceries, and I can buy seeds while I'm there… and the clinic is right next door, so maybe I'll visit Elli and Trent on the way back… Elli seemed nice. And then I have to go see Barley about buying my first cow…

After bathing and changing into fresh clothes, Claire was feeling much better as she took a minute to brush her teeth, and blow dried her blonde hair into place. Her schedule for the day was all planned out, and the bad memory had drifted to the back of her mind for now.

She fed Bailey and grabbed an apple for breakfast before slinging her old rucksack over her shoulder and heading outside. Over at the stable, Claire supplied Thunder with fresh hay and water, and brushed his mane with the animal brush that Barley had given her, which she had stored on a shelf with the young horse's saddle and other tack. He whinnied in appreciation, and Claire just had to smile.

Finally, she was ready to set back out into the village.

Claire decided to stop over at Jeff and Sasha's supermarket first – she desperately needed some food in her house, and she also wanted to get planting her seeds as soon as possible.

The supermarket was an average sized building located just between the Mineral Town Clinic and the mayor's own house. Inside, the shelves were stocked with various food items and cooking ware – fruits and vegetables, baked goods, dairy products – while packets of seeds stood in a prominent display in the center of the store. Over in the corner, the store owner, Jeff, was seated beside the cash register, but he stood up as Claire entered the room.

"Ahem… how may I help you, miss?"

"Um… I just needed to get some groceries… and then I was thinking of buying seeds? You know, for the farm?"

Jeff nodded and handed her a small handheld shopping basket. "Oh yes, you're the new farmer! It's Claire, right? Over at that old Sunshine Farm? Well, go ahead and look around, and then I can assist you with the seeds."

Claire smiled and turned to the shelves of food, picking out a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, various fruits and vegetables, rice balls, and other necessary cooking items. Stopping to look at a display of candy bars, she glanced around and then snatched up a bar of her favorite chocolate, tucking it away into her basket before approaching the seeds display.

Jeff followed her over to the display. "So… what were you planning on growing?"

"Uh… truthfully, I have no idea," Claire admitted. The only plants she had ever even owned back in the city were a small cactus, which barely needed any attention whatsoever, and the occasional bouquet of flowers that died after a week.

The black-haired shopkeeper scratched his head, thinking. "Well, I'm no farmer, but I'm pretty sure turnips are an easy crop to grow for beginners."

He plucked a few packets of turnip seeds off the shelf and handed them to Claire, who nodded and placed them in her basket as he continued.

"And... perhaps some potatoes? Or cucumbers?"

"Jeffrey!"

Claire jumped, and Jeff's face paled at the shrill female voice that accosted them. Their conversation had been interrupted by his wife, Sasha, who had just stormed out from the back room, frowning in disapproval. Apparently, she had been watching the two of them.

"What are you doing, exactly?"

Jeff cringed while Claire watched on in confusion. "I… I'm just helping Claire out with her shopping!"

Sasha rolled her eyes as she yanked the packets of seeds out of Claire's shopping basket, ignoring the girl's faint protests in her exasperation. "By selling her spring seeds? Summer is only two days away! There's no time to grow spring crops, you should know that! The summer heat will kill them, anyone should know that – these seeds will be of no use until spring of next year!"

She turned to grab some packets of various summer seeds off the shelf, pushing them into Claire's hands. "Here… these are summer seeds, dear… tomatoes, corn, and onions. They're all popular summer crops."

Slightly baffled, Claire thanked Sasha for her assistance, and allowed an embarrassed Jeff to check her out at the register before hurrying out the door, her shopping bags stuffed into her rucksack.

Dear Goddess… they were a bit of an odd couple.

Shaking her head, she turned to enter the Clinic next door, not bothering to knock.

"Hello?"

The Clinic was silent. A desk stood at the back of the room, its surface littered with assorted papers and a cup full of pens and pencils. The chair behind it sat empty.

Cautiously, Claire stepped forward into the room, glancing around for signs of life.

"Hello... uh, Elli? You there?"

She heard a murmuring coming from a room behind the desk, beyond a door that had been left slightly ajar. Carefully, Claire set out to investigate, treading around the desk lightly and settling herself against the far wall, just out of sight of the doorway.

Two people were talking in the room on the other side of the door. Claire could hear two distinct voices – the voices of Elli and Dr. Trent.

She knew that what she was about to do was wrong, in a way, but she couldn't help herself. Claire had always been an inquisitive spirit, although her curiosity had often gotten her into trouble. But with all the weird things going on, she had to gather as much information about this town and its villagers as she could. She leaned in closer.

"So... did you check up on Lillia today? Rick told me yesterday that she wasn't doing so well as of late." That was Elli.

"Hmm... yes. She's definitely gotten worse, I'd say. I just can't understand it. Sometimes she seems normal, almost, and then the other half of the time she's practically on her deathbed. It's frustrating."

Claire was startled by the unmistakable coldness in Trent's voice, and she listened closer as he continued. "I brought her another dose of the usual medicines, not that it does much good." A pause. "...How is your grandmother?"

"Oh, Grandma Ellen? She's doing all right... you know, for her age." Elli sighed. "It's only expected, really. Unfortunately, one can't be young and fit forever. Though she did tell me the pain medications have been helping somewhat."

Claire took a chance and silently peered into the room through the crack between the door and wall, holding her breath. The doctor, Trent, sat at a large desk, jotting something down in a notebook. Elli stood beside the desk, her dress swaying slightly around her ankles as she watched him write.

For a long moment, there was silence, but for the scribblings of the doctor's pen. Eventually, Elli spoke up with a hint of uncertainty in her voice, as if unsure of how Trent would react to what she was about to say.

"You know, Doctor, I, uh, heard something outside the Clinic last night," she mentioned quietly as Claire strained to listen in from outside the room. "You remember how I was working late yesterday, finishing up those extra orders of turbojolt you wanted?"

The scribblings stopped. "…You what?"

"Well, I was sitting at the front desk with the orders, and then stepped into your office for a moment to take stock, when I heard something outside the window... it sounded like, well,..." She trailed off, speaking so quietly that Claire could no longer hear her.

There was another, very pregnant pause, and then Trent spoke up, his voice wavering somewhat. "I'm sorry, Elli. I... I've probably been overworking you. You can... you can take off work early tonight."

"But... but Trent, you know-"

Just then, Claire had the incredibly untimely urge to sneeze. Frantically, she attempted to muffle the sound with her shirt sleeve, but it was too late.

Elli whipped around at the sudden noise, and Trent glanced up from his paperwork. Both looked vaguely shocked.

"Claire...?"

Flustered, Claire made a pathetically feeble attempt to defend herself. "I... I was just... uh, I-"

Elli giggled, breaking the awkwardness of the moment. Trent, meanwhile, gave Elli a meaningful look and rose from his desk, striding over to address Claire.

"Are you all right, Claire? You're not sick, or hurt or anything?"

"Oh, um... no. I'm perfectly fine. I... I just came to visit."

"Oh..." The doctor looked relieved. "Well, that's good."

For a split second, Claire considered asking what they had been talking about before her ill-timed interruption, but then realized the absurdity of that idea. She had been eavesdropping, after all.

It was better to just ignore that small detail. Most people don't take eavesdropping on private conversations too kindly.

She made an attempt to smile as if nothing had happened. "So, Elli... are you busy right now? I thought maybe we could talk or something... you know, if that's alright with you, Doctor."

Dr. Trent waved them off, shaking his head and muttering. "Girls and their chitchat..." He went back to his paperwork, and Claire and Elli took it upon themselves to leave the room.

Elli laughed as they entered the main foyer. "Oh, Trent... he's normally much friendlier, but we've just been so much busier lately... He's such a hard worker, but sometimes the work gets to him, you know?"

There was a certain undeniable twinkle in her eye as she said this, and Claire got the feeling that Elli liked Trent as a lot more than just a coworker and friend.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

The two girls began to chitchat aimlessly, until the memories of last night worked their way back into Claire's mind. With a sudden feeling of dread, Claire made the decision to confront Elli about it.

"Um, Elli... I-I have something I want to tell you. Something...strange happened last night, and I just..."

Elli's eyes widened, and she then motioned for Claire to continue. The blonde girl cleared her throat awkwardly before telling her story, the tale of the footsteps that followed her home from the Inn, the yellow eyes that watched her, the huge figure of shadow and darkness.

Claire hoped that Elli could explain things to her, maybe even tell her what she had told Dr. Trent, but the young nurse simply sat there and stared at the blonde girl, dumbfounded.

"Well... Claire, ah, perhaps you were just... imagining it? I mean, it seems pretty far-fetched, if you ask me..."

Claire nodded and pretended to shrug it off, though the memory still tugged at her mind. "Haha, yeah... you're probably right on this one, Elli. I do have a pretty active imagination, yeah... And it was late, so I was probably just tired and all…"

She glanced over at the clock on the wall and feigned surprise. "Oh, Elli... look at the time! I really have to get going, have a lot of errands to run today... seeds to plant. I-I'll see you around, and tell Trent I said goodbye, all right?"

Elli nodded cheerfully as Claire headed for the door, intent on visiting Barley over at Yodel Ranch. "Okay, Claire! Come back anytime you like!"

The brunette had acted completely clueless when Claire told her the story. And yet, Claire could swear she had seen the slightest flicker of recognition that passed through Elli's eyes, before it was replaced by a look of concern.

A/N: Yes, this was kind of a filler chapter, but I felt that it was necessary. The next chapter will have a lot more action in it, I promise! And as usual, reviews are always appreciated!

-CCM