Fall3
No rooster sounding this morning, but I still felt optimistic as I went to the TV.
Weather forecast, sunny. So, no walleye today or tomorrow. Luck somehow perfectly neutral. Welwick seemed surprised by that. The re-run of Queen of Sauce again showed me how to bake bread.
Picked up the bait and opened my door to find Emily there, her hand raised to knock.
“Hello. What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“I heard from Lewis that you’d got your hands on some cloth. If you’d like to try to make something from that, you’re welcome to use the sewing machine in my house. It would be nice to have someone else who's also into making their own clothes,” she said eagerly.
How had Lewis known? He must’ve been snooping in my chests, unless he stopped by while it was still in the recycling machine. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to make anything,” was all I said out loud however.
“All you need is cloth and some kind of item for inspiration and decoration,” she explained. “I really look forward to see what you make. And even if your first few creations aren’t to your taste, keep trying with other items. You will get better with practice.”
“I’ll try,” I promised.
“That’s great! See you later. I need to go and see if I can get Haley out of bed.”
I watched her walk away. Then I noticed a few things. The kegs were done, and I had got mail.
First letter was from Marnie, requesting a bunch of amaranth for her cows. Good thing I’d planted four of them and not just the one I needed for the community center. There was a second letter from Shane, with a cutout from a magazine attached. A recipe for pepper poppers. It was no suprise that he wanted to have a taste if I made it, considering how much hot pepper chutney he’d eaten during the Luau.
Picked up the coffee and tea, and put hops in the kegs. One coffee went into the chest where I’d put the mystery box coffee, the other came with me so I could give it to Dr. Harvey if I found him.
I went downstairs to water the crops, rebait the crab pots, and check the pond. The crops were sprouting as they should. The corn was ready for harvest again. Two gold, one silver, and the remaining were base quality.
Seeing the pond shocked me. The clear water had grown murky and dirty orange. Was the Angler really alright in there? Then I spotted the bucket at one corner, containing four handfuls of roe. It was unlikely that it would’ve produced roe if it didn’t like the water like that.
The information from the price catalogue in me was another shock. The Angler’s roe was worth 480 G per handful. Giving 15 of these to the Junimo would really hurt my wallet. Yet depending on how often the Angler produced roe, it could be the best way to complete the Fish Farmer bundle without having to spend a season or more fishing and hoping to catch enough fish with roe to get 15 of the same type.
Head swirling with conflicting goals I gathered a broken CD, soggy newspaper, and a periwinkle from the crab pots and rebaited. On one hand I wanted to get the scrolls done before anyone from Joja took notice. On the other hand I wanted to have the money. I still had alot of investments ahead of me before I could consider the farm up and running.
Went to take care of the chickens and Belle. Another large egg this morning, of course going into the mayonnaise maker. The one I picked up got shipped along with the periwinkle, and I picked up 1767 G from yesterday’s shipment.
The roe went into the Spring chest to hopefully keep me from getting too tempted to sell it. When I tended to the furnaces, I put one of the remaining copper ore in my backpack. It would have to do for inspirational item. Another soggy newspaper went into the recycling machine. I still needed those torches.
I took a shortcut to Emily’s and Haley’s house, and heard raised voices from inside. I still went inside, prepared to dodge or flee.
“I cleaned under the cushions last week!” Haley’s protest was shrill.
“I do most of the chores around the house,” Emily said. “You really should help out more and stop being so childish!”
Haley turned to face me. “Oh, Farm Girl. You’re just in time.”
“She does have a name, Haley,” Emily chided her sister.
“Emily wants me to clean under the cushions, but I did it last week. Don’t you think it’s her turn to do it this week?”
I looked from one sister to the other. Part of me wanted to slap some sense into Haley, but it was more likely to make her hate me, and I didn’t need her to try to sabotage me at every turn. Telling her I agreed with Emily that she was childish about it could have the same result.
“Haley, why don’t you have that as your one weekly job?” I asked after a few seconds.
Haley sighed. “I guess. That would mean there’s no need to argue about it.” She upended one of the sofa cushions and got a vacuum from behind the sofa.
I went to Emily. “I came to see if I could make something out of the cloth I’ve got, but maybe this is a bad time...”
“It’s fine. I guess you’d have to chance upon one of our arguments sooner or later. Let’s get your measurements so you know what size you should aim for.” She grabbed a measuring tape from next to the sewing machine. “Thanks, by the way. I thought she’d storm off and leave me to do it,” she said in a low voice.
Emily took several measurements and wrote them down on a note. “Here. Keep it handy for later. What did you bring for your inspirational item?”
I showed her the copper ore. “Maybe not all that good, but I didn’t want to waste food, or anything valuable, on a learning piece.”
“Put that here, so you can see it as you cut the pieces. Then sew the pieces together,” Emily instructed me.
In what seemed like no time at all, I’d made a turtleneck sweater. Copper colored rather than grayish white, and thicker than I’d expected from such cheap cloth. I looked up at where I’d put the ore, but it had vanished.
“I could feel your magic pull the ore into the sweater as you made the seams,” Emily said. “Now, try it on.”
I did as she asked.
“Oh! You managed to make it fit perfectly on your first try,” Emily said.
“As if,” Haley said scornfully, having finished cleaning the couch. “It’s loose and sagging and its color clashes with her trousers. A far cry from being fashionable. At least you’ve got another piece of clothing to wear, Farm Girl.”
“Sweaters are supposed to have a loose fit and end below the waist,” Emily said. “The arms are long enough and equal length.”
“I agree about the color, Haley,” I said. “But I’m glad to have something warm. It’s still somewhat warm outside, but it will get colder as winter approaches, and at that point comfort will be more important to me than being fashionable.” I swept up the scraps and put them in a nearby waste-basket before heading to the door. “I’ll leave you two to your house chores.”
I went to see Jodi and Caroline at their usual meeting spot, and handed Caroline the tea.
"The first tea grown and brewed at my farm," I said.
“Oh, Erica... You’re spoiling me!” She inhaled the aroma and took along sip. “I love it!” She drank the rest.
I nodded. “Though maybe I should’ve made two...” I added to Jodi.
“While I do like tea, I prefer to have it flavored in some way,” Jodi said.
I went to the clinic to see if Dr. Harvey was there. To my surprise, he was, standing behind the counter.
“What’s the emergency?” he asked, alarmed.
“Just wanted to see what you think of this. Brewed from the beans grown on Hardship farm.” I handed him the coffee.
He smelled it for a long time before taking a sip. “Really good. I’d love to get more of it, but I understand if you need it yourself to boost your running speed.”
Unsure of what to do I went towards the Secret Woods. I could use more hardwood for mushroom logs, and the slimes probably needed culling. In looking around for possible forage on my way there, I spotted the fishing chest beside Leah’s cottage. Now that the Trout Derby had ended, it was in a rather useless place, and I had space in my backpack for the stuff now. Maybe I should move the chest to the beach so I wouldn’t have to run to the town fishing chest all the time.
There were stuff in there I barely remembered receiving, most importantly a diamond and an ancient sword. Had I donated either one to the museum yet? Probably not. I’d given the diamond from the mines to the Junimo. Had I thought the sword was just another rusty sword like the one Marlon had given me and not noticed just how much older it was? I had been having my thougths primarily on the trout and their tags during the derby.
A sound of hammering came from inside Leah’s cottage. She’d kept her cottage locked all the time, so I knocked, hoping she’d hear me over the noise she made.
“It’s Erica. Can I come in?” I called.
“Come in, the door’s unlocked,” came the muffled answer.
I found her working on a twisted sculpture made from wood.
“I moved here to be able to work on my art. The nature here is so inspirational. Sculpting in wood may well be my favorite medium, as once you get past the outer layers, its true nature starts to show...” Leah chipped off a minute piece with her chisel and took a step back.
It reminded me of how the townspeople were starting to let me see more of themselves now that they knew more about me. “It’s the same with people.”
She was taken aback, blinking a few times. “You’re absolutely right,” she said after a few seconds. Then she sighed. “Although I have to admit... it’s not easy to pay the bills as an artist.”
I pursed my lips, considering possible solutions to that. My eyes went to the sculpture. “Why don’t you have an art show in town, and maybe auction off some of your pieces?”
“I’ve never thought about that before. While I like to make Pelican Town a true art destination, I’d be crushed if nobody likes my sculptures...”
“If your finished sculptures are as good as this one, I’m sure they’ll all find at least one sculpture they like, even if they couldn't agree on which one was best,” I assured her.
Leah looked somewhat relieved. “I’ll need to think about it. Thank you for stopping by.”
I left her to think it over. The Secret Woods had about as many slimes as last time I’d been there, but one thing was different. There was a blue slime among the green, and it dropped a dwarf scroll with ablue band. The find gave me yet another reason to visit the museum, but I reined it in and gathered the hardwood from the stumps, along with two common mushrooms and a chanterelle, before leaving.
I dropped the fish off at the town fishing chest. They weren’t worth that much, but they’d be useful if someone asked for them on the Help Wanted board. Halfway to the museum I met Penny walking the children home after class and exchanged a few words with each of them.
“Are you going to slay monsters?” Vincent pointed to my sword.
“Vincent!” Penny objected.
“I have been slaying monsters,” I told Vincent. “One of them dropped something I’ll donate to the museum.”
Both children looked as if they were ready to follow me back there to see what it was.
“You need to get home, both of you,” Penny reminded them. “But now you’ve got something to look forward to on Friday,” she added when they started to object.
“See you later, miss Erica,” Vincent said and ran home.
“That boy...” Penny said, looking in his direction and shaking her head. “Let’s go, Jas. Let’s not make Marnie worry about you.”
Jas pouted. “It’s not fair that I’m not allowed to be outside after 6 pm.” She still followed Penny.
Gunther looked up from what he was writing as I approached his counter.
“Got stuff to donate?” he asked.
“I’m not sure if I’ve donated either of these before.” I put the diamond and ancient sword on the counter.
“No. You haven’t.”
“Then there’s this thing that I found in the forest.” I pulled out the scroll.
“I think that will be most useful in my attempt at making a dictionary of their language,” Gunther said.
I went to place them, noticing Elliot reading by a bookshelf, then took a look at what rewards Gunther had for me. There was another rarecrow in there, one resembling a roadkilled raccoon. I put it in my backpack.
“Still nowhere to place the decorative stuff?” Gunther asked when I left the rest.
I shook my head and closed the rewards chest. “Still living in asmall cottage that is mostly just a place to sleep. I have prioritized other stuff.”
“You have been most helpful in locating the lost books too, and I’ve contacted other archaeologists about your finds around the valley.”
“And I, for one, is most grateful for you finding those books,” Elliot said behind me, startling me. “Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you, Erica. It’s just that I noticed you going to the museum area.”
“I’d been meaning to come talk to you afterwards,” I told him. “You just seemed so caught up in your book to notice anything else.”
“Oh, I’d always notice a lovely lady like you,” Elliot said. “Could I walk you home?” he offered.
“No. But I could walk you home,” I said in return. “I’ve got a chest for my fishing gear to place on the beach,” I added.
We left the museum together, discussing the books I’d found, our conversation skipping from one to the other until we reached the beach.
“Do you mind if I place the chest in between these bushes?” I asked when I’d looked around for an out-of-the-way spot.
“Sure. Want to come see what my cabin’s like inside when you’re done?”
“I’d love to.”
I transferred the bait maker and the decorative items to the chest. Maybe this time I’d avoid forgetting about them.
Elliot’s cabin was almost as small and utilitarian as my farmhouse, but he had no TV. Instead he had a piano taking up a lot of the space between his writing desk and his bed.
“I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, but no-one in my hometown believed I could. So, I came here to achieve my dream, thinking that a cabin by the sea would provide me with the solitude and time to work on my novel. But inspiration is a fickle thing. I’ve started several stories, but most of them have ground to a halt...” He bit his lip. “What kind of novels do you like to read?”
I considered my options. He might’ve heard from Pierre about having come in red-eyed from crying over a book. So he might think my answer would be Romance. It was one genre I definitely didn’t want to mention, as he might read too much into it. There was definitely something that could develop to romantic feels, but I didn’t know him well enough yet.
“I read several genres, but if I had to choose one, I’d say sci-fi,” I finally said.
He blinked. “That’s a bit surprising. I guess even those with the earthiest profession can have their head among the stars. I’ll remember that.” He glanced towards his desk. “Er... I could use your help with something. Could you take a look at my rose? I think it may be dying.” He indicated a small potted rose bush that looked rather scraggly and wilted.
I did so, and gave him some advice on how he might keep it alive before leaving.
Before returning to town, I rebaited the crab pots and looked for forageables. My haul, apart from a shrimp and broken glasses from the crab pots, was a clam, three coral, and two sea urchins that had been close together.
I looked in the direction of the mine cart. But Clint was already heading to the Saloon, so I might as well.
“I see you’ve got a bigger backpack than before,” Clint remarked.
While he didn’t say it, I felt he meant it as minor critique that I hadn’t used that money for upgrading my tools.
“Yes. That means less need to have to choose what to keep and what to toss, so I’ll be able to afford other stuff a little sooner than I would otherwise.”
He let me go through the door first, and I went to talk with Marnie, who looked sad.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“I spilled a whole bucket of milk on the floor today. It was horrible. And such a waste of my poor Belinda’s hard work.”
Not knowing what to say, I hugged her, which made her composure break. It was awkward to comfort an older woman, but she clearly needed it. At some point in that hug, my tears started falling too. I too had needed a hug
“Thank you,” she said when she’d regained her composure somewhat. “I’m usually not that emotional. It’s just that things tend to pile up, and then there’s one thing to make it fall over, like that bucket.”
“I know,” was all I could say as I wiped my cheeks and eyes. “I think everyone needs a cry once in a while when there’s been one setback too many. I may not have been at that breaking point yet, but I do, or did, have stuff piled up.”
Pam commented it when I went to talk to her. “Hey, kid! You’re too young to be moping around in a place like this,” she told me.
The alcohol on her breath told me I had better not argue too much. “One is never too young or old to be emotional. And I won’t stay long. Just wanted to know how you’re doing," I said.
“What does it look like?” she asked before taking another swallow.
“That you’re well on your way to drink yourself to sleep,” I said.
“Damn right, kid!”
Drawn in by the aroma I surprised Gus by buying some bread. He watched me wolfing it down and placed a glass of water in front of me.
“You look like you might need it,” he explained.
“Thanks. Watching the re-run of Queen of Sauce this morning made me want some bread. Didn’t even know how much until I saw and smelled yours.”
Gus laughed. “She does make every dish seem like the tastiest thing ever.”
I nodded, too busy draining the glass to answer. “Your bread’s real good too,” I said when I’d finished, then went over to Shane.
“Thanks for the recipe,” I said. “It does sound tasty. Though making it will have to wait until I have a kitchen and a barn with a cow. I’ll have to hold on to the hot peppers I grew until then.”
He looked surprised, clearly not having expected to be thanked. “You don’t have to...” he began. Then he looked towards Marnie. “I should be thanking you for cheering her up.”
“No problem.” A suspicion of what he had been about to say crept over me. “Or would you prefer the hot peppers as they are? They are nice and hot according to George.”
A range of emotions played over his face telling me he clearly wanted at least one, but didn’t want to say it.
“You don’t have to give me anything,” he said, turning his attention to his mug.
“I know. But I may want to.” I briefly laid a hand on his forearm before leaving.
Rummaged through the Saloon’s and George’s bins on my way home, finding a baked fish and a second pair of broken glasses.
I returned to my farm, the light from the torches cheering me up. The beach forage and the shrimp went into the shipping bin, and I fed broken glasses to the recycling machine.
Then I spent a few hours taking down a few trees, including a mahogany tree, and clearing my quarry. No geodes this time, but enough ore and coal to smelt a couple of iron bars when added to what I already had. Sure, I had enough copper and gold ore to smelt several bars, but I needed iron bars if I wanted to make more kegs. The other broken glasses got set to be recycled, before I went in to get ready for bed.
