A Haven From the Storm
Chapter 16: Spring Growth
Mid-spring is the time for solid, steady growth in Mineral Village. Early spring, everything and everyone is in a hurry to shake off the harsh winter and start living again. Many plants almost jump out of the newly unfrozen ground and blossom. All put out fresh green leaves to gather in the sun's nourishment and make up the winter's losses. Birds and animals venture out from their hiding places, seeking food and mates. The people here were not that different, as I'd discovered with Popuri and Mary. Blind, direct self-assertion.
In mid-spring, everything and everyone settles into a routine, once they are convinced that the winter is really over and the warmth won't be taken back. I was forming my routine, and seeking my solid, steady growth. I still didn't see myself as a real farmer, but was convinced I could sure look and act the part as long as I needed to.
Judging from what I saw on the national news in the mornings, I would need to for quite a while. In the cities, the hard times were deepening, peoples' moods changing from desperation to terror. One morning, the news greeted me with a seemingly endless line of ragged, hopeless looking people. The longest breadline seen in Liberty City in nearly 80 years, the newsreader said; six kilometers of people waiting eight hours in line for a tin of vegetable soup and a few rolls. Through some freakish cruelty, the camera was set up in front of my old workplace. The windows were all broken out and boarded up, and a discolored spot stood over the main entrance where the sign that had greeted me each morning for three years had hung. 'Dynatech Inc. Superior Talent Building Superior Propulsion Systems' After that, I stopped watching the national news. Yes, I was going to have to imitate a farmer for some time to come.
Actually, the new backpack didn't double my productivity. Well, in foraging and harvesting it did - but when I thought about bringing more of the field into cultivation, I ran into my next limitation, watering. I could harvest three, maybe four patches a day easily, but watering even twelve patches every day, one subpatch at a time would take up most of the day. Sixteen was quite out of the question. I'd have no time for anything else.
It was time to visit Saibara. I should have done so long ago. He was, after all, the nearest to an engineer of all the villagers. You'd think we'd have some common ground. You'd think.
He didn't. My vain side was kind of hoping he'd be all wide eyed and full of questions for a big city rocket scientist. But he wasn't in the business of feeding my vanity. When I showed up at his workshop at ten in the morning, he greeted me civilly enough OK. But I clearly didn't impress him much. He mentioned how from his window, he could see me in the fields every day. "Are you applying yourself to your work? It certainly looks that way to me. You work almost as hard as your grandfather did. But you get much less done than he did. You have to learn how to work smarter."
"That's just what I came here for. These tools I'm using don't cut it at all. I'm wasting far too much effort with them. Take this watering can, for instance. You'd think it'd cover nine times the area it actually does. Can it be improved?"
"Certainly. It looks like you've worn away some of the rustiness in it, makes the job easier. For 1000G and a kilo of copper ore, I can triple its performance. For 2000G and a kilo of silver ore, double again. Either way, the work'll take three days."
"And how much for the ore?"
"I don't sell that anymore. You'll have to mine it yourself and bring it to me. I'm getting too old for mining. And Gray doesn't have any idea how to."
"Neither do I, for that matter. Where do I do the mining? How?"
"Mine's behind the waterfall near the hot springs. Mining itself is simple - just use something like your hoe to dig the ground until you find the ore." He pointed to a cabinet behind us. "There are some samples so you can see what it looks like. But you'd better be rested up before you start - mining's harder than anything you've done up to now."
The money wasn't a problem. Neither was finding the ore. But three days without watering my crops - wouldn't they die?
"And three days for the work? Be really hard to go without watering my crops for that long. Couldn't you expedite it for some extra money?"
"No, that's how long it takes. You want things done right, it takes time and care. Something Gray's still got to learn."
"You're right about good work needing time, all right. Well, thanks for taking the time with me. I'll have to work out how to go without watering for that long. Best'd be if we get a good rainy spell."
"Fine. When you're ready, come back and see me during working hours. Remember, I'm closed on Thursdays."
Walking back home, I thought about it. Losing three days of harvest would be a big hit to my progress right then. On the other hand, being able to bring more of the field into cultivation would bring my income up quite a bit. Only way to decide was to run the numbers for the rest of the season.
Figuring at the kitchen table, I concluded that if I lost the three days, then made it up by bringing four more patches into cultivation, I'd be a little ahead for the season, and would be off to a nice start in the summer. I clicked on the TV to the weather channel and stared at the map intently. I'd like to tell you that I modeled and calculated the next three days' weather. But that would be wrong. I just guessed that the front bringing rain to the village would stall out for at least one more day. That decided me. 'OK, enough back and forth, old man. We've got some mining to do!'
Two plus hours later, I had two pieces of silver ore and two of copper in my backpack. The two hours were from resting in the hot springs before and after the mining. Saibara was right; I was almost as tired from digging up that ore as I had been my first day working in the field. Funny, though, how time seemed to stand still when I was actually in the mine.
I was back at Saibara's in the early afternoon. I handed him the watering can, the silver ore and 2000G.
"So, you made up your mind to do it today, eh? Good choice. Always use the right tools for the job. Check back in three days. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll start working on this right away."
"Ah, one thing more." I took out the other piece of silver ore. "I've got no place to store this. Why don't you just keep it."
His eyes brightened. "Why, this is wonderful! This is my birthday - how did you know that? So, I guess some of the stories I hear about you are true. Generosity is so much more impressive when the giver has little to give."
"Well, hope it'll be of help to you. See you in three days then."
I started out the door, but saw Gray standing at a tool shelf giving me an odd look so I went up to him. "Afternoon. Haven't seen you since the festival. How's it going?"
"Uh...OK...uh, why did you give that ore to grandpa? It's worth 20G, you know."
"Like he said, a birthday present. I've got to live with all these people, might as well try to get on their good side."
He sniffed and looked angry. "Just try it with him and see what you get! I've been working here for a couple of seasons and he hasn't liked a single thing I've done yet. But I'll show him! I think I'm starting to get the hang of this metalworking business."
He calmed down and went on. "Hey, I heard about you and Popuri splitting up. I'd say it was a tough break, but I bet you're better off without her. Yeah, she's hot looking OK, but she's a total freak. I see her playing with the chickens at their farm. She talks to them, too. Complete weirdo. Her brother isn't much better. Pushing me around at the festival like that! If you hadn't kept me off, I would have smeared that creep into the ground! Never seen their parents, but they must be pieces of work to have kids like that."
I was getting annoyed. "Look, Gray, you want to watch out with stuff like that. You're talking about my friends and neighbors there."
He looked unimpressed. "Can't choose your neighbors, but you could do better for friends. The whole lot of 'em give me the willies."
His talk was leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I thought I'd better try to change the topic before I got mad. "Say, how are you and Mary doing? I haven't seen her since the festival, either."
His look brightened. "Mary? I see her every day at the library. She's always finding me new stuff to read. Just between you and me, don't think much of her novel - never liked sea tales.
"You know, I thought for a bit there you were sweet on her, but then you went after Popuri, so that was all right. Mary was blue for a few days there for some reason, but after I took her to the festival, she got back to normal." He puffed himself a little. "Guess I know how to be a friend to her, one date with me cheered her right up, huh?"
That guy was starting to creep me out. Unpleasant and clueless. He went on.
"Now, I hear you're making some moves on Karen. Taking her away from Rick is a good thing, all right, but I'm not so sure you want her either. She's a lush. Last winter almost every night, she was staggering around in the inn shouting at people - I'd watch her from upstairs for kicks. 'course, if you got her alone when she was blasted, bet you could have a real party!"
That was it. I poked my finger at his chest and snarled. "Look pal, keep your mouth shut about her. You don't know the first thing about it. You know, that dirty talk of yours is going to get you into big trouble - better change your attitude real quick!"
He sneered. "Oh yeah? And it gonna be some dirt farmer like you whose gonna change it, huh? I'm just dying to see that."
I was seeing Rick's point about this character. In fact, I was steamed. I was about to really give him a piece of my mind when Saibara shouted, "Gray, quit wasting time! Get over here right now and get the forge heated so I can reduce this ore!" Gray sneered over his shoulder as he walked away from me, "Saved by the bell, clod hopper. We'll continue this some other time - you betcha we will!"
I was still steamed up about Gray as Karen and I had another of our evenings together at the Inn. For once, I'd finished my first cup before her. I took the last nip out of it as I really got into the swing of griping about him.
"Guy just makes my flesh crawl, the way he talks nasty about everyone here. Good thing Saibara called him away when he did, we were about to come to blows. And you know, I wouldn't have minded it one little bit!"
"Come on, Jack. You know how tough he's having it. Don't tell me you haven't had unkind thoughts about some people here."
"Yeah, but I keep them to myself. The way he was talking about you; that really got to me! What a creep. Hey, Doug! Want to freshen up these drinks when you're free?"
"Yeah, hold on a second." The place was pretty busy. The word had gotten out about Karen's singing at the Inn, and people came on our nights together to hear her. Doug finally got around to bringing us our second cups, and I went on.
"You know, one thing he was saying is worth considering. If he's seeing us as a couple in fact or about to be, maybe other people are too. You think we're carrying this trick a bit too far?"
Karen had the guitar in her lap, idly strumming progressions as we talked. Even without her singing, it sounded relaxing. "Well...you know, there's no way a single guy and a single gal our age can come here together regularly and not have people talk about it. If it bothers you, want to call it off? I'd understand."
I thought about it. She wasn't drinking too much any more. We'd have our two cups together and then go home. And she wasn't coming and getting drunk when I wasn't there - I'd have heard about it. I didn't know why, but my just sitting and talking with her a couple of nights a week seemed to help her. I didn't want her to go back to humiliating herself in public. And I enjoyed her company also. She sang and played for a good part of the evenings, and she seemed to just know what songs I'd really like.
"No, I don't want to call it off." I looked at her. "I really enjoy these evenings, you know." I smiled. "People ought to see this for what it really is. Couples are a dime a dozen but a guy and a gal our age being true friends, now that's rare."
She didn't answer, instead going into a peace and flowers song. Sort of getting a gentle dig in at me for my wanting to mop the floor with Gray. When she finished, I laughed, "OK, OK, I get the message. I'm not really going to beat the guy up. But I am going to stay clear of him."
"It'd be a good idea, the way you feel about him."
"Oh gosh, something else I just thought of. He does like Mary and he's seeing her every day. Last thing a nice innocent person like her needs is to get mixed up with his kind. He'd really mess her up. Does she have any feelings for him?"
"Like I told you before, there's nothing there. She feels sorry for him. I guess she's taken him in the way Ann'd take in a sick kitten." She gave me a knowing look. "If you're concerned about Gray getting Mary, well, you know how to put a stop to that."
I rolled my eyes and took another drink. She wasn't continually harping on Mary and I being the perfect couple anymore, but she wasn't giving up on the idea either.
Ann came over to us, put her tray on the bar and sat down beside us.
"Karen, you're singing as sweet as a songbird tonight. I'm so happy to see you getting back to performing again. Look at all the people in here tonight - they came to hear you, you know."
Karen lifted her cup. "Phooey! They came for this." She drank.
"I'm not shucking you. Nights you don't come, maybe only a third as many people are here." She gave Karen a sly look. "Of course, you're singing better than ever because you've got someone to sing to, hmm? You starting to get over Rick now?"
Sometimes Ann was as subtle as a car salesman. Karen looked upset and I jumped in quick to head off bad feelings.
"Ann, you know, I haven't seen Cliff since the festival. Where's he hiding himself?"
Karen could be biting when provoked. "Yeah Ann, what's doing with that boy? We used to see you two together all the time. What's the deal here? Somebody changing their mind about something?"
Ann was so flustered that sweat was actually beading on her forehead. "Well...uh...he's not here anymore."
"What? Where is he?"
"He said he was going to Halibut Point. He left the morning after the festival. Said his money was running low and he'd heard there was work at the fish camps up there. Which there is, you know. Good sport fishing there - rich guys come in from the cities to try and land legendary fish." She still looked upset. "Karen, you mind if I talk with Jack alone for just a bit? It's about Cliff."
Karen's mood had passed and she looked sympathetic. She waved us off. "Go. I expect Jack knows him better than any of us."
Ann took me off to the kitchen and started in with a troubled look. "Jack, he did say what I just told you. But that's not the whole story. After the festival, both Dad and I were pretty mad at him for bringing liquor and getting people drunk. I...uh...said some things I guess I shouldn't have. The next morning he was gone, leaving behind a note saying what I told you." She looked despondent. "Jack, you think he's gone for good? You know him well - you think he'd really just leave like that for good? I was...uh...getting used to him. You know."
And there was a dark side of Cliff's character. It was so easy for him to make friends that he'd never had to face up to difficulties with other people. When they arose, he'd do just as I feared he'd done - tell himself 'to hell with it' and go off to the next town where things were easier. But I wasn't going to tell Ann that. Not yet.
"Well, he was telling me he was worried about money and how he couldn't make any here. If you're really worried that you...ah...well, you could try sending him a letter up there. I think he'd like to hear from you. He's really fond of you; that's another thing we were talking about at the festival." I forced a grin. "Look, I bet he's up there on the fish boats thinking about you right now. Write that letter. Give him a little time by himself to think things over."
"I suppose. Well, I'd better get back to working the tables. Crowd's real thirsty tonight."
We went back into the main room, when Duke caught my eye and motioned me over to his table. What now? We greeted each other correctly and he invited me to sit. "Hey Jack, that was a hard knock, Popuri ditching you like that. Guess someone should have warned you about her. She's a nice enough girl, but..." he fluttered his palm "...a little flighty, if you know what I mean."
"Karen tried to warn me in her own way."
"Yeah, you and her have gotten thick as thieves." He gave me a skeptical look. "Hope you know what you're doing there. She can be pretty hard to deal with sometimes. Well, the reason I wanted to talk to you was...ah...Doug set me straight about what went on at the festival. I thought it was you who got those kids drunk. Hell, you were drunk!"
I laughed mirthlessly. "I sure was!"
"Yeah, well now I know it was Cliff who brought the hooch and it was you trying to break up that fight. So, what I was saying about you then was...incorrect. I...uh...take it back."
Guy was trying to apologize to me! He was just a little too proud to get it out. I made myself look as friendly as I could and waved my hand. "Think nothing of it. I've got no hard feelings. The thing was so confused, you just had to call it the way you saw it. Anyone could have got it wrong."
He relaxed a little. "Yeah, well, that's OK then. Look, I like to think I'm a fair man. Not going to pretend you're one of my favorite people here. You got a ways to go before you convince me you're one-tenth the man your grandfather was." He looked as if he was sizing me up. "You're trying hard, I'll give you that much. But I don't want to go around accusing you of things you didn't do. So...uh...let's just consider that incident over with, OK?"
"Fine with me. It's awful white of you talking to me like this. And there's one thing I owe you."
He looked puzzled. "What's that?"
I got up, toasted him with my cup and said, "Thanks for this awesome wine of yours! Salud!"
He laughed and waved me off. I could hear him chuckling in his cup as I walked away. "Kids these days!"
While Saibara had my watering can, it rained for three days straight. Three glorious, water soaked days! I spent them harvesting, foraging and piling up the loot. By then, I had a steady income of about 1500G a day - better, I reflected, than I had been making at engineering. Of course, the money was all spent in upkeep or saved away for planned improvements as soon as it came in. Building improvements would be the big money sink. And I was getting nowhere fast in piling up lumber using that cruddy old axe. It was Saibara's next job.
I showed up at Saibara's at ten o'clock to the second. I'd spent the morning mining again and had a piece of silver ore ready. He welcomed me in and handed me the shiny, silvery watering can to my great delight. It looked new and ready for some serious work. If my praise for his work was a little fulsome, it didn't seem to affect him. We talked over improving the axe, and came to the same 2000G, three day agreement.
On my way out, Gray decided to needle me a bit more. I wasn't going to say anything to him no matter what, but I was pretty close to clipping him when he jeered, "You and Karen are pretty good drinking buddies now, huh? When are you two going to try the other stuff? She's ready for you, clod-hopper!" Creep.
Each new and/or improved tool called for my modifying my routine a little. Some practice with the improved can convinced me that I could handle twelve patches with the same effort I'd been spending on eight. I was steadily moving back in the fields clearing one or two new patches a day, leaving aside the large stumps and boulders I couldn't deal with yet. The fields were only about a third clear, but I was getting where I could really see the end of that job - sometime in the summer, perhaps. Slow steady progress from a productive routine.
Popuri had her routine also. She and Ann still passed by the mountainside gate at eight each morning on their way to the hot springs hill, then back again at ten. Often, she would stop at the gate, call out to me and then chatter away about one thing or another for a few minutes before going home. It would have been cruel had I actually been in love with her, but I was convinced that she wasn't being mean. It was mostly her usual innocent thoughtlessness. She at least had the presence of mind not to taunt me with Kai, even though Karen assured me that was what filled her mind these days. Worked for me.
I believed she was grateful to me for not resisting our breaking up. From some of her comments, I also suspected she considered me as a possible fallback option in case the great escape with Kai didn't come off. Karen and Basil both suspected she was capable of such scheming. I was grimly determined that she would not surprise me if she did try to grab onto me again. Any hint of that kind I heard from her, I met with impassioned rhetoric about the glories of farm life. Several times, I was rewarded by her running away shrieking, 'I hear that stuff from Rick all the time, and I can't stand any more of it!'
Only once did she come into Erehwon; the day her egg hatched. She was quite fetched when she heard me call the chick Popuri. She thought I was being sentimental. Actually, the chick did remind me of her. It was fluffy, noisy and silly.
I stopped in at Chicken Lil's almost every day to check in on Lillia and see if Rick was softening his mood with Karen. After the egg hatched, I also had to go there to buy feed for the chick. It was a little awkward. After I asked Rick to sell me a week's supply, he started asking pointed questions. "Hey, where did you get a chicken, anyways? We haven't sold you any and nobody else keeps them anymore."
I hadn't thought it out too well. I didn't want to get Popuri in trouble with her brother so I guess I looked like a fool, standing there and stammering until Rick gave me a twisted grin.
"Oh, never mind. I think I know what happened. Guess there's no harm in her giving you a little gift." He chuckled. "It makes you a customer of ours now. A steady one! Chickens are always hungry. Just don't encourage her to make a habit of it. You want any more chickens, come right to me and we'll deal."
I was making no progress at all in getting Rick to give Karen another chance. He was no longer being angry and insulting about her, but was completely uncommunicative whenever I talked about her. It got so that just a grunt from him was a good sign that at least he was listening to me. I paid him back in kind when he brought up Popuri, Kai and I. It wasn't very mature of me, I know, but it was still a sore spot with me. As summer approached, he was more and more worried about what would happen when Kai returned and his sister turned 21.
Lillia and I had become the best of friends. I don't know why certain older people just naturally take to me, but it's always been the case. It wasn't a mystery with Lillia, however. We just couldn't stop talking about the old days with my grandfather. She also loved to hear stories about my parents. She wasn't quite clear why my father had left the village so suddenly, but she thought that something had shocked him pretty bad when he turned 18. He had always told me that he didn't want to farm and left just to go to school - not quite with his father's permission but not totally against his will, either. Anything else that had happened, he'd never even given me a hint of.
Karen and I had stopped in Rose Square to talk on our way home from the Inn. The night was still and a little bit muggy - a promise of summer to come.
Karen turned and said, "Jack, you know I haven't been bothering you about Mary lately..."
"For which I am very grateful!"
"Jack, listen to me. I can accept that you don't want a love right now. I still think it's a mistake...oh never mind! What I'm trying to say here is that you should at least be friends with her. You said before that's what you wanted."
"Yes, but..."
"Look, you're supposed to be friends with everyone here. That includes her. You haven't spoken once with her since the festival from hell. You know, with everyone so busy with springtime work, nobody goes in there except me and Gray. She's lonely."
"Is she? I thought she shut the world out with her writing."
"It's not the same, Jack. Look, all I'm asking is for you to go visit her every now and then. Not to court her. Not to bring gifts. Not to bare your soul to her. Just be friendly to her, that's all."
And as hard as I thought, I couldn't answer that point.
I paused in front of the library. No, it's more like I went up to the door, paused, turned around to leave, and then went back again. I did that for several minutes. Finally, I steeled myself to open the door and enter. After all, I owed her something.
It was much as the first time I had come there. The library itself hadn't changed at all, of course. Mary was, as usual, hunched over her desk writing and occasionally mumbling to herself. The same long blue dress and vest, the same long braided hair. I wasn't going to startle her again, so I walked past her desk, stood in front of her and quietly waited for her to look up.
A couple of minutes later, she did. She looked pretty much the same as the first time we'd met there. She looked rested, her face calm again. Perhaps there was a new line or two in her brow, but they were faint, if not just my imagination. Her look wasn't the welcoming one of our first meeting. It was more questioning. Her eyes were asking, "How's it going to be this time?"
"Ah, miss...I'm looking to read a book - The Physical Chemistry of Hydrazine. Would you happen to have it here?"
She gave me a little grin. "Let me check the catalog, but I think I'll have to special order that one for you. Jack, how are you?"
"Not bad, keeping very busy. How about you?"
"About the same. I'm just about finished with the chapter I'd started when you first came."
We fell silent, looking at each other for a bit. Then we blurted out together, "Mary, I'm sorry!" "Jack, I'm sorry!"
We both laughed a little.
"Mary, I know it's supposed to be 'ladies first,' but here maybe I should start off."
She nodded.
"I know I hurt you something terrible with Popuri. Really, it wasn't my intention to get you feeling strongly for me. And it certainly wasn't my intention to get you feeling that I'd been playing with you only to spurn you for her." I grimaced. "That whole thing with her was one big mistake. I freely admit that. Maybe one day, I'll tell you what kind of a mistake it was.
"I just wanted to be your friend. I liked talking to you about literature, and reading your stories. Any wrong impression I gave you...well, I'm crude and insensitive and I ought to be kicked for it. A typical socially incompetent nerd, that's me."
I was going to go on in that vain for some time, but she held up her hand and gave the instinctive inborn call of the librarian, "Shh!" She went on. "Jack, there's no need for you to stand there beating yourself up over this. And long explanations aren't really necessary, either. I assume that Karen has been keeping you as well informed as she has been me."
I nodded.
"Gosh, what a good friend she is." She gave her wry smile. "You know, most people would have given up on me after all that. Not her. She was with me all the way. I just wish I could help her with Rick."
"I'm working on that. Not with too much success up to now, but I'm not going to give up."
"I hope not. I've never seen them so alienated from each other before. I still don't understand why. Well, I'm not going to sit here and beat myself over what happened, either. I'll just say that I am sincerely sorry that I was projecting my fantasies onto you, and for all the trouble it caused everyone. It won't happen again. I've grown up a lot in the last couple of weeks."
"We both have. I just wish we could be good simple friends - you know, like Karen and I are. If only we could have a fresh start!"
"I don't see why not. I still like you, Jack. You've got a sharp mind and you're nice. Now that all that romantic nonsense is burned out of me, I think we could be friends."
I stepped up to her desk and extended my hand. She took it. We shook hands smiling.
"Well, Mary, I'm glad that's done. I should be getting back to the farm now. It seems every day I find something new that has to be done." I started to turn towards the door, but stopped.
"I can't leave without knowing one thing. Did the Portsmouth Lady make it through the typhoon?"
"Oh! That's right, you haven't read the rest of the chapter yet. Yes, they did, but with a few losses. One sad one, too. Here, pull up a chair and you can read about it." She got out a sheaf of handwritten pages and handed them to me.
Her writing style was more mature. She showed a well-developed sense of tragedy, leavened with faint hints of hope for the future. We read together and discussed the chapter for an hour. As I walked out of the library, I thought it was like none of the insanity of the last couple of weeks had happened at all.
Afterwards, I dropped by the General Store to buy some more seeds. Karen and I went to our old place of consultation near the mailbox. She smiled with satisfaction as I told her about my meeting with Mary.
"See Jack, that wasn't so painful, was it? I told you she wasn't a difficult person."
She looked thoughtful. "You know, you lead a charmed life. You got just what you wanted out of all this. Popuri's gone, you're just friends with Mary, and you've got a bunch of people sympathetic towards you."
"Beginning of this season, if anyone'd told me I was lucky, I'd have slugged 'em! You know, all that happened there was that a bunch of damage caused by my stupid decisions got undone. You know the only thing I really learned from all this?"
"Do tell."
"Don't make mistakes. And we already knew that, right?"
"No, Jack. The real lesson here is that good friends are the most valuable thing in the world."
We just stood there for a while, liking each other's presence.
