A/N: I apologize for the slow updates lately. I've been having some personal issues which I prefer not to discuss here. However, I still want to thank all of you recent reviewers for taking the time to read this story and giving me your thoughts! And another big thanks to all of you other readers out there who don't always review, but still take the time to read! It all really means a lot to me.

-CCM

Chapter 17: A Secret Uncovered

Claire entered the Inn hesitantly that morning, her mind still on the events of the following day.

More specifically, the fact that he had called her yesterday, while she was out at the lake with her friends. And he was coming here, to Mineral Town. Claire knew it would happen, eventually – but not quite so soon. And now, a nagging feeling of apprehension, mixed with a prickle of guilt, tugged at the back of her mind.

Inside the Inn, the dining room was pleasantly warm, and virtually empty but for the few souls who had arrived early for the breakfast specials; in one corner, Saibara sat alone sipping a mug of steaming liquid, probably coffee, and Carter was seated on the opposite side of the room, an empty plate in front of him. He smiled welcomingly at Claire as she crossed the room, and she managed to smile politely back without it looking like a grimace.

Doug grunted as Claire approached the bar counter to place her order. His hair was unkempt, and the undersides of his eyes were outlined in dark, bluish gray circles, the result of countless sleepless nights.

Well, that makes two of us, Claire thought to herself bitterly.

"What would you like?" the innkeeper asked, his voice uncharacteristically void of emotion.

"Umm..." the girl passed a glance over the Inn's simple breakfast menu, "I'd just like some eggs, sunny side up, with orange juice. Oh, and toast, but go easy on the butter, please."

Doug nodded and turned into the kitchen without another word, and Claire took that as a signal to go sit wherever she liked. After a moment, she decided on a small table against the front wall of the dining room.

Awkwardly, Claire sat down in silence and looked around the room, avoiding any eye contact with the other diners. Fortunately, it wasn't long until Doug came back with her order.

"Eggs, sunny side up. Toast with butter, and orange juice. Enjoy."

Claire paused in thought for a moment, prodding one of the fried eggs with the tip of her fork. "This looks good. Are these from the Poultry Farm?"

Doug nodded silently.

"...Does everyone get their eggs from the Poultry Farm around here?"

The innkeeper nodded again. "I would think so. They are right in the neighborhood, so there's no need to ship in eggs from elsewhere."

"Oh... well, that makes sense." Duh. Claire flinched inwardly – it seemed as though she had a bit of a penchant for asking stupid questions. Doug nodded once more and walked away without another word, and Claire was left alone to eat her eggs and toast in quiet solitude. Not that she minded much, as the food was delicious, as usual.

Claire only glanced up again when Doug came back around her table to clean up. "You all set, then?"

"Oh... yes. And it was wonderful, thank you."

He gave her a small smile. "Of course... that will be 300G."

Though that was by all means a reasonable price, Claire bit her lip as she pulled out her wallet, hesitant to get a full view of the meager funds within. She handed out the small amount of money to the man and paused for a moment, indecisive, as the innkeeper turned back toward the kitchen.

"Wait..."

Doug swung around to readdress the farmer, moustache twitching. "Yes?"

"Umm... I was just wondering, if you knew of any... well, job openings in town?" She shrugged. "Just small jobs, you know... nothing big."

Sure, Claire had just recently purchased a cow and three chickens for the farm, which helped to bring in a little more cash when Zack came around to collect the milk and eggs, but it was still... not exactly a lot. Some extra money would certainly be useful, even just a tiny addition, she reasoned.

And after that message from Jack, Claire couldn't help but feel the slightest bit guilty about her current condition.

Doug crossed his arms, eyes narrowed in thought as he scoured his mind for a possibility.

"Would I be able to work here?" Claire interjected hopefully. The innkeeper shook his head.

"No... no, I'm fine here on my own. Ann should be out of the Clinic soon enough, at any rate." Seeing the vaguely dejected look on the farmer's face, he added, "Perhaps you could go next door and see if you could help out at the winery for a little extra cash? They might appreciate the help."

Cliff. Cliff worked at the winery. Claire hadn't spoken to him in what seemed like forever.

"All right... I'll go see what I can do. Thanks, Doug."

"No problem."

Manna had been sitting alone at the table, fiddling absentmindedly with her fingernails, when Claire tentatively stepped into Aja Winery. The woman's expression immediately brightened at the arrival of another person to whom she could talk to, seeing as her husband generally did his best to avoid her long winded spiels.

"Oh! Hello, Claire, dear! How nice to see you again! And how's life on the farm going for you? What could I help you with?"

Without waiting for an answer, she went on, "You know, I was just saying to Duke, 'I do wonder how that girl Claire is doing out on that old Sunshine Farm!' and he said, 'Well, why don't you go see for yourself?' And oh, I would have loved to visit! I'm sure you've cleaned the farm up quite nicely and all."

"But you see, I had to go meet with Sasha and Anna in Rose Square that day, and I was sure that Sasha would have some new information on Ann's condition, seeing as she lives right next door to the Clinic, and her daughter has been friends with Ann for years! Karen, that's Sasha's daughter. I'm sure you know her. Oh, what a character, that girl is! Sasha's told me some stories about her, and there was that one mishap concerning the community soup at the Harvest Festival two years ago, but I have to say, that girl does have a simply beautiful voice! Boy, can she sing! Why, at the Music Festival last fa-"

"Ahem," Claire interrupted. "Manna, I came to ask... um, do you need any help in the vineyards? You see, I was looking for a way to make a bit of extra cash... You know, for the farm-"

"Oh – oh, of course, dear! Of course you can help out! I'm afraid we – as in, Duke and I – don't have an especially large sum of money to spare, but definitely enough to help you earn a little extra, as I'm sure Duke would agree! Especially for such a lovely girl such as yourself!"

"Cliff works here, as well – you know Cliff. He's been working here for a few years now, and he's such a wonderful young man, at that! Duke and I practically treat him as our own son! The boy we never had! He's very soft spoken, but very sweet as well – barely talks at all, I mean, when I speak to him, he says not a word back, but he's a good listener! And very handsome, I might add! And, he's single. Oh, when I was his age… In fact, Claire, perhaps you should ask him out on a-"

"Manna!"

Duke came stomping down the stairs, looking distinctly disgruntled as he glanced around the room at Claire, who by now had a noticeably pink tinge to her cheeks, and Manna, who seemed shocked and rather affronted at her husband's interruption.

"Manna, quit embarrassing the girl!"

Claire smiled in gratitude at her savior. Thank you!

She began to speak again. "Umm... Duke, I was wondering whether-"

"Claire here wanted to know if she could work in the vineyards for a little! Just to make a bit more money to go toward the farm, considering the shape it was in and all. And of course she can, right?"

Duke ran a hand across his face, exasperated. "Man- ugh, never mind. Claire..."

He looked the girl up and down, sizing her up while she held her breath. "Yes, you can help out in the vineyards. I'm sure Cliff could use some extra help out in the field anyway, since Manna and I don't generally go out there. Our job is indoors!"

Manna nodded in agreement before squinting down at the young blonde farmer. "You look awfully young... Are you still underage?"

Claire stammered, "I-I'm almost-"

"Well, no matter! You'll only be dealing with the grapes in the field, anyway, so no alcohol for you!" Manna exclaimed playfully. "And I had better not see you sneaking into our wine stores!"

Duke rolled his eyes at his wife, while Claire suppressed a giggle. He turned to face the girl again. "You can go on and assist Cliff with the grape vines today. He's out in the field already, so help him do whatever needs to be done; he knows exactly what he's doing, so just ask him. And afterward, you can just come right back in here for your payment."

Claire beamed at the couple gratefully. "Thank you!"

After exiting Duke and Manna's home on the winery compound, Claire leaned against the wooden fence surrounding the Aja Winery vineyards, peering through the sea of grape vines for that familiar head of bushy brown hair. Upon sighting the brunette ponytail of Cliff, Claire clambered over the fence – taking extra care not to get her pants snagged on the fence post this time, or a loose board – and ran over to greet him.

"Hi, Cliff!"

Cliff jumped, startled by the unexpected feminine voice directly behind him, and Claire blushed sheepishly as he turned around with an equally red face. "Ahem... Hello, Claire."

"Sorry for startling you like that," the blonde apologized. Cliff merely shrugged awkwardly in response.

"So... um, Claire, what are you doing here?"

"Duke hired me to help you out today!" She lowered her voice. "You see... well, I just wanted to make a little more money for the farm and everything, and-"

Claire trailed off as Cliff raised a hand to silence her. "It-it's fine.. you don't need to explain yourself to me."

"Oh... okay." She peered over Cliff's shoulder at the grape vines behind him. "So, what were you doing? You know, until I interrupted you?"

The young man gestured at the plants with a wave of his hand. "I was just pruning the vines, and checking for pests and such... Routine tasks."

Claire managed a smile. "Well, hey- I'm a farmer! I'm used to this kind of stuff, so it shouldn't be too difficult." She glanced at the clusters of rounded, bluish purple fruit hanging from the vine. "They look nice."

"Yeah, well... they're not quite in season yet, so no eating."

Sharing a smile, the two young people each picked up a pair of pruning shears and set to work. For the most part they worked in silence, though a certain question nagged at the back of her mind the entire time. One that she wished to ask Cliff, but at the same time, she didn't want to frighten him away.

After their work was finished, however, and Cliff was just finishing up on the last section of vine, Claire decided to take her chances. "Hey, Cliff... There's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while, now..."

"Umm... wh-what is it?" He raised an eyebrow, not looking at Claire, though his voice cracked slightly.

"It's... well, it's about the monster you saw."

Cliff froze. "What?"

"I-I need to know exactly what you saw... the night you first saw the monster. You said it was the same thing that I had seen! I have to know what happened... what you saw, and what you did, and what it did. Please, Cliff... it's important."

"And," she continued, "it might help me find out more about... um, about what happened to Ann."

The young man closed his eyes for a long minute, until Claire thought he might have actually fallen asleep.

Finally, with a quick glance at the girl's expression, he spoke. "Fine... I-I'll tell you."

"But please," he added, "don't tell anyone else this, Claire."

She nodded in understanding, and Cliff began. "First... you know that – that creature you saw, Claire?" Claire nodded earnestly.

"Yes... It was only a few nights after I had moved into Mineral Town. I had eaten dinner at the Inn that night, and it followed me back through the streets, all the way to the farm." She shuddered at the horrific memory. "It was terrifying, honestly. The monster... it was huge and dark, partially hidden in the shadows, with glowing eyes of gold."

Cliff bit his lip and stared down at his feet. "Well... I-I saw it too. As you already know."

"It happened not long after I moved to Mineral Town for good... Sort of like what happened to you, I guess. I wasn't even working at this winery yet." He raised one arm in a wide arc, gesturing at the vineyards around them, before continuing. "It was a relatively cool night, some time in late summer, just before the leaves began to change, and I... I was walking back to the Inn from the supermarket, since Ann... Ann had asked me to pick a few things up for her, and I needed to buy... something, too."

He shuddered. "I-I remember, the moon was especially bright that night... distinctly noticeable against the blackened backdrop of the night sky."

"It was around... say, nine o'clock at night? Possibly nine-thirty? ...Either way, I was walking down the road when I got this strange feeling... that kind of feeling you get when someone – or something – is watching you..."

"I got really nervous, so I-I started to walk faster, but these heavy footsteps were following me, and when I turned around I saw... it." A strange expression came over Cliff's face as he described what he had seen. "It was an enormous dark figure, covered in what looked like th-thick black hair, or fur, with piercing golden eyes that seemed to stare straight through... straight through my soul. And it wasn't just some animal, I know for sure – it was unlike any animal I-I had ever seen before."

"Panicking, I started to run as fast as I could back to the Inn, which luckily wasn't far at all... A-And the thing didn't follow me after that. It just stood there in the shadows to the side of the road, watching. Waiting. Something about the sight of it... just struck fear through my heart."

"As soon as I got into the Inn, panting and coughing, Ann and Doug came to my aid. I tried to explain what had happened, but I couldn't. I just... couldn't. And I had dropped the things that Ann asked me to buy, but they both saw how freaked out I was and didn't press it any further... Doug just sent me up to my room, told me to get some sleep. B-But I'll never forget what happened that night."

"That sounds... Cliff, that sounds just like what I saw!" Claire's eyes widened. "And... I'm sure it was the same creature that attacked Ann. I'm sure of it; it has to be! Did you – was this the only time you saw it?"

Cliff shook his head. "No... No, I've seen it a total of five times."

Claire opened her mouth to speak, but then decided against it and merely shook her head as the young man abruptly stood up and walked away toward Duke and Manna's home.

I suppose I've squeezed enough information out of him, Claire decided as she, too, stood up with a frown. Not really much more to say anyway... at least, from what I assume.

Taking one last glance around the vineyards, Claire managed to put a smile back on her face as she followed Cliff into the winery.

Claire sighed with relief as she flopped down onto her mattress just over an hour later, exhausted from another day of hard work. Bailey immediately jumped up to join her on the bed, eager for some attention. She smiled at the puppy, scratching him behind the ears and laughing when he spun around and around to chase his tail in circles.

Suddenly, the phone started to ring. Bailey began to bark at the noise frantically, while Claire patted the dog's head soothingly and shushed him as she lifted the phone to her ear to answer the call without a second thought.

"Hello?"

"Claire? Is that you?"

The whole world froze in a heartbeat at the sound of that voice. At least, that's how it seemed to Claire.

"...Jack?"

"Claire!"

The girl heard an angered grunt from the other side of the line, and she twirled her finger around a thin blonde strand of her hair anxiously, dreading what she knew was about to come next.

"You-" He sounded as though he were struggling to keep his anger down to a manageable level. "You can not even comprehend how furious I am with you right now."

"Umm..." all of a sudden, Claire was feeling downright frantic, her mind flying through dozens of excuses, though she settled on playing the innocent card. "I-I don't know what you mean-"

"Ugh, come on... you know perfectly well why I'm angry with you. Mother has been worried sick about you! Just going off on your own, without so much as a goodbye or a phone number to call or a simple explanation as to why you suddenly decided to just up and leave? What is wrong with you? We had no idea where you were!... Do you even care?"

Claire felt the sudden sting of tears forming in the corners of her eyes, but she held them off.

"Listen, Jack... you don't understand-"

"-Oh, I knew it, right from the start! Mother was prepared for the worst, but I for one knew you would be the type to pull something like this! Leaving the city, leaving your family, dropping out of college for this? Some hick town in the middle of nowhere?"

"Listen, Jack, I hated the city! And I didn't want to be a Goddess-damned lawyer! Or a doctor, or a businesswoman! You wouldn't understand! You never understand how I feel! It's always about mother, and Jill, and never about what I want, what I need! And Mineral Town is not just some hick town!"

She heard a deep sigh from the other end of the line. "Fine... just fine. Whatever. I just never realized you could be this selfish."

"And I never realized – oh wait, I did realize how you could be such a narrow minded, uncaring control freak. You always try to control my life, and tell me what to do! You're not my father, you know." She immediately bit her lip, sensing she had gone too far. However, the voice at the other end didn't sound angry; instead, it appeared rather gloomy and wistful.

"Claire... I know I'm not Dad. Nobody could replace him. I just wish you had... said something earlier. I didn't mean for it to come to this, honestly. I care about you, and the same can be said for Mother and Jill. Though you could have at least called."

"...I know. And I'm sorry."

An awkward silence commenced as the argument died down, until Jack said, "I'm coming in for the Mineral Town Cow Festival."

Claire raised an eyebrow, unseen by her brother at the other end of the line. "The Cow Festival?"

"Yes, Claire, the Cow Festival. Goddess, you would think one would do a bit more research on the town they give up their entire life to move into."

Claire flinched at the thinly veiled insult in her brother's words. She could practically feel the sarcasm dripping in his comment; he was well known for his scathing cynicism and snide remarks.

"Hey..." she started, frowning.

"And..." he continued, "You and I are going to have a serious talk when I get there."

Oh, well. It was bound to have happened sooner or later. Just as he had somehow found out Claire's new phone number and discovered where she now lived; if only Claire's detective skills were as good as her brother's, when it came to solving the Mineral Town mystery.

"How's Jill doing?" she asked abruptly, and heard Jack sigh in response.

"She's fine, Claire. Misses you, but she's doing fine. Mother, too."

"Can I... talk to her?"

She could practically see Jack shaking his head, wherever he was. "No... I'm not home right now, on a business trip to Flowerbud. You're welcome to call her up yourself, but she might not exactly be sympathetic to your cause."

"Oh... Well, it was worth a shot, I suppose. As long as she's all right. Bye, Jack."

Jack let out another small sigh. "Goodbye, Claire. And don't forget – I'll see you three days from now."

Three days. Claire hung up the phone and stared at it for a few seconds before slamming it down on her bedside table and falling into bed, hands pressed over her eyes.

"Well, Bailey... looks like we've got our work cut out for us."

Bailey barked once in reply, his little tail wagging ferociously. Claire managed a grin, despite the circumstances.

"Yeah... that's what I figured."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Perhaps it wasn't the most exciting, but some important things were cleared up and questions answered, hopefully. And there will be more answers coming up in the next chapter. Speaking of which, there are only around eight more chapters left, so we should be nearing the climax of the story soon.

By the way, Jack and Jill are indeed the other playable farmers from related Harvest Moon games, whom I used just to make things easier. Though obviously, they aren't farmers right now. Thank you all for reading; any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

-CCM