Friday, 26th of Summer

When Alma woke to the sound of rain, the first thought she had was looking forward to tonight's drinks with Harvey at the saloon. He said he had started looking forward to rainy days; maybe she was too.

She also thought maybe the barn upgrade would be done by today. Did she have enough money to buy a goat? She wasn't sure how much they cost, but she should be able to go ask Marnie. And maybe Jemima would lay her first egg today. The more she thought about things the day might bring, the more excited she got. She soon bounced out of bed.

Alma rubbed Bisclavret's head before going outside into the rain. No mail today, but she was surprised to see a pretty sizable harvest! Blueberries, corn, and hops were ready, as well as poppies. She picked them all and put them in her bag before heading to the coop. She was happy to see Jemima had molted her baby down feathers and now had beautiful adult ones. And there it was: the first duck egg was lying in the hay in the corner of the coop. "Miss Jemima Puddleduck! Good job, you big girl!" She scooped up the duck and scratched behind her head a bit before gathering up the chicken eggs and loving on the hens too. She went out to gather the mushrooms from the cave and then went to the barn to check out the upgrade. It was now quite large, still with two stalls of hay for sleeping but now with quite a bit more floor space. She cuddled Io and Lottie and milked them both. "Are you two ladies ready for another barnmate or two?" Lottie craned her head around and butted Alma gently. Alma laughed and hugged her face. "All right, I'll bring her back shortly!" Alma organized things in her chests then headed south of the farm.

Before she went to Marnie's, Alma stopped by the traveling cart to see if there was anything useful, but nothing struck her this time. "Thanks anyway!" she said to the saleswoman, who waved as Alma walked away. Then she went to Marnie's shop. "Morning, Marnie!" she said as she wiped her boots on the mat.

"Hi Alma. You look like you're soaked, you poor thing!"

"Ah, I'm all right." She took off her hat and shook out her hair a bit before slicking it back. "And I'm ready to buy a goat!"

"Oh, the barn upgrade is finished? Excellent! That's four thousand gold, please." Alma didn't realize it was that expensive, so she was a bit sad that she could only afford to buy one. "What would you like to call your goat?"

"Hm …" Alma thought for a moment and remembered her poppies that bloomed this morning. "Poppy," she said with a smile.

"Great! I'll send little Poppy over to her new home right away."

"Thank you so much, Marnie. You have a good day!" Alma put her hat back on and ducked out into the rain. As she stepped out, she noticed an artifact poking out of the ground just outside Marnie's shop. She quickly pulled out her hoe and dug at the ground, revealing an old arrowhead. She wiped off the mud and put it in her bag to take to Gunther later. First, though, she wanted to go home and say hi to her newest member on the farm. Alma went north, back up to Paradise Farm, and headed straight for the barn.

Inside was a little kid, still wobbly-kneed. She bleated as Alma came in and lay down on her knees. Alma cooed as she approached and crouched next to little Poppy. "Hi, sweetheart! Welcome to your new home." She rubbed her head and petted her back. For some reason, having a little goat made a difference to her. She looked at Io and Lottie, who were chewing cud and watching from afar. A dog, chickens, cows, a duck, and a goat. She really lived on a farm. These were her animals, under her care. For some reason, the addition of Poppy hit her differently. She hugged her a little tighter. "You've got some nice hay to eat on in this rain, but when the sun comes out, you can graze on all the fresh grass you want." She stood up and looked around the barn before she turned around to leave. It felt good.

Alma knew today might be her last chance to catch a sturgeon, so she knew she needed to hurry to the mountain lake. But as she passed her chests in front of the cabin, she got to thinking about the animals. She was getting eggs and milk, so she thought maybe she could start turning those into cheese and mayonnaise. Alma flipped through her notebook; she thought she remembered having instructions for a cheese press and mayonnaise machine. And sure enough, there they were. She looked over the materials. "Yeah, I can make those." She crafted two mayonnaise machines - one for chicken eggs and one for duck eggs - and one cheese press. Once she had more hardwood, she could make another one to have one for cow's milk and one for goat's milk. She quickly took the mayonnaise machines back to the coop and the cheese press to the barn, dropped eggs and milk in each one, and left them to do their work.

It was a bit later than she was hoping, but Alma made her way to Pierre's to sell her things and then hurried to the mountain lake. She made a spot under a pine tree at the edge of the lake, set down her bag, and cast out the line. "Come on, sturgeons, come see me. All I need is one." She caught carp, bullhead, chub, and even a largemouth bass, but no sturgeon. She was looking at the clock and starting to lose hope. "There's always the traveling cart," she sighed to herself. But then there was a bite on her line, and she struggled against it. It pulled and fought, but she was able to stick with it, digging her heels into the mud on the edge of the lake. And finally, out came a long, thin, spiny sturgeon! Alma jumped up and squealed, then she reminded herself to get the fish secured before it decided to jump back in the lake! She took it off the hook and placed it in her bag with the other fish. Giddy, she threw her bag over her shoulder and held her hat on her head as she rushed to the community center. She put the sturgeon into the final slot of the lake fish bundle and watched the little junimo carry the bundle away into the hut, revealing a present in its place. Alma opened the gift and found an attachment for her fishing hook inside. It had a purple fluff on it, like a little skirt at the bottom. She had no idea what it was or how to use it, but it didn't matter; she was happy to know she had finally caught a sturgeon! She knew if she asked Willy what to do with this, he could help her out.

By this time, it was about seven o'clock, so Alma made her way down to the saloon. Harvey was there, already nursing a glass of wine. "Gus, may I have a wine and coffee please?" Alma asked as she approached the bar. She turned and smiled at Harvey. "Hi."

"Well, hello there," he answered with a smirk. "You seem like you had a good day?"

"I did - a great one, actually."

Gus put the wine and coffee in front of her and said, "I sell different dishes each week, so make sure and check in every now and then! You might taste something spectacular."

"Well, what's on the menu this week then?" she asked, sipping the wine.

"Maki roll! Good stuff, made with fresh fish."

Alma remembered that was a part of the chef's bundle on the bulletin board in the community center. "I'll take one to go, please!"

"Coming up! Just let me know if you have any allergies."

"No food allergies, thankfully," she laughed. "I can eat whatever I want!"

"Well," Harvey said, "I, uh, I wouldn't go that far."

"What if I sweetened the deal?" she joked, sliding the coffee mug to him. "Yes, it's for you, and yes, I read your mind."

He gave her a side glance with another smirk then pulled in the coffee. "I didn't know we had a deal going on, but, yes, I accept your bribe - but only this once. This is my favorite stuff!"

Gus put the to-go container in front of Alma. "Okay, see you around," he said, slapping the bar before walking away.

"You like sushi?" Harvey asked, nodding to it.

"Yeah, but that's not why I got it." She put the container in her bag. "It's for the community center. I can drop it by on my way home."

"I see. I like it quite a bit too, though not my favorite thing," he said, taking another sip of coffee. "So tell me about your great day. You have a really healthy glow. That's good."

"Well, that is probably because I've been sleeping so well. It has now been … nine days since my last nightmare."

"Wow! That's - That's great, Alma!"

"I also had a great harvest - which was unexpected for this point in the season. This time in the spring, my poor garden was pretty bare and sad-looking. My duck laid her first egg this morning too, and Robin finished the barn upgrade, so I was also able to buy a goat."

"You weren't kidding!" he laughed. "You did have a great day!"

"Well, that's not it! I made a cheese press and two mayonnaise machines to make more money on milk and eggs. They're working right now, as we speak actually. And! I finally caught a sturgeon!"

"You did?!"

Alma nodded excitedly, trying not to squeal again in her excitement and pride. "I know! I was starting to really think maybe it wasn't going to happen, but then I got one! I feel like I really understand the thrill of the catch now!" she laughed.

"Have you told Willy?" Harvey asked, turning his head toward him sitting at the table behind them.

"No, but I do need to talk to him about something actually, now that you mention it. I got distracted when I came in, I guess. There was this cute guy sitting at the bar who I'd been waiting to see all day." She dug in her bag to get out the tool she got from the community center.

Harvey shook his head and laughed. "First bribery, now flattery. Will your corruption stop at nothing?"

She stood up and said, "Guess not," as she patted his shoulder and walked to Willy's table. "Hi Willy! Hi Clint." Clint lifted his glass to acknowledge her.

"Ahoy there, lass. Enjoyin' the wine tonight?"

"I am, yes! And I have some exciting news I just needed to share with you: I finally caught a sturgeon today!"

He laughed his smoky laugh and shook his head. "Oh, to be a greenhorn again, when things are fresh and exciting. That's great to hear, lass. Good on ya."

"And I do also have a question for you," she said, showing him the small tool. "I got this and know nothing about it. Could you help me out?"

"Aye," he said, holding the thing, "this is a dressed spinner. It's a lure that has this metal bit that spins when the lure is moving, so it looks to the fish like prey. The fur on the end here is supposed to look like a small animal tail too, to draw in big fish."

"Okay, that makes sense. So how do I use it?"

Willy handed it back to her and said, "You'll need an iridium rod, lass. Your bamboo pole won't hold any lures. But if you get the iridium rod, you can use all kinds of lures and hooks. And if you really want to get the fish biting, make sure you put some bait on your hook."

"I see. Thank you so much, Willy, sir. You are always a wealth of information. I have some other investments I need to make before I can buy an iridium rod, but I will definitely keep it in mind."

"Of course, I understand the woes o' the gold." He looked up and nodded to the bar. "Don't want to keep you from your glass there."

"Okay, yes, thank you again. I'll see you both around," she said with a little salute. Then she went back to her seat, put the spinner back in her bag, and took a sip of wine.

"I'm sure an iridium rod is … quite expensive," Harvey said. "Iridium is the most precious ore in the area."

Alma nodded. "Yeah, it's going to be a while before I get that, I think. Unless there are going to be more really tough fish, I think I can get by with my bamboo pole for a while." She smiled and said, "I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."

"I'd say you are," he said, lifting his coffee mug to her glass.

She clinked her glass to his mug, took a sip, and said, "Okay, that's enough about my day. How was yours?"

He shrugged. "Pretty slow. No patients, and Maru was off, so I had the whole place to myself all day. Did some administrative work, some reading, research … that kind of thing. Nothing like your day!"

"Does that ever get lonely for you?"

"Eh, maybe sometimes. But I'm an introvert, so I don't mind. But, yeah, I - I did get to have coffee with a lovely woman at the end of the day, so that was … that was nice." He smiled at Alma, and she smiled back. "She keeps trying to buy me off, though, and I'm not even sure what business we have. It's very strange."

Alma laughed, and he laughed too at watching her laugh so hard. "As my doctor, you turn the other way so I can eat all the junk food I want - that's what!"

"That's ironic," he said, "since you're the one who's actually improving my nutrition and diet."

"Oh yeah, how is that going, by the way?"

"Well," he sighed, "the summer has been rough. I've still been eating … not a small amount of microwaveable food, but I am incorporating more Paradise produce, even if I can o-only afford small quantities. I even had a fresh cup of milk with breakfast just this morning."

"Aw, that makes me so happy to hear, Harvey! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll have to bring more by for you to eat."

"No, no, I want to buy it, Alma. Let me buy it, please."

She chuckled. "You do buy most of it. I can still give you a gift here or there, right?"

"You really don't have to."

"But what if I want to?"

"I already told you: this coffee is the only bribe I will accept!"

They both laughed before they settled into a quiet, peaceful moment. Alma sipped her wine and sighed. "I think I've laughed more with you than I have in the last several years."

He smiled. "Laughter is the best medicine. So … if I can make you laugh, that's the highest accomplishment of my medical career."