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I’d seen the dog running around the property when I arrived. That scared me more than anything else: the intimidatingly large number of weeds and general debris, the general disrepair of the entire property, or the fact that the house was barely a cottage (at least it had a roof and a bed, but it didn’t even have a kitchen)! I’d always been afraid of dogs, and my hopes that it belonged to someone nearby were quickly dashed when the mayor introduced me to the farm “proper” – which it was anything but, at the time.
I wasn’t afraid of the hard work, or the long and difficult hours, even though I knew my body was soft from the relatively cushy life I’d led in the city. I’d never gotten that much exercise at once, and I knew it would take time to build up my strength and endurance. I wasn’t afraid of the expenses, even though I’d spent nearly everything I’d had to get here. No, the thing that scared me the most (other than the mayor himself, with his overly effusive manner) was that loudly yapping little ball of unrestrained energy.
After a few days, it rained for the first time since my arrival. And even though the dog and I had made no overtures toward each other, I couldn’t just leave him out in the rain. He was so little... Who knew, maybe he was housetrained? Not that I was optimistic. But as scared as I was of him, I didn’t dislike him. I was just afraid he was going to try to eat me or something. The rational part of me knew how ridiculous that was, but phobias aren’t rational by nature. I steeled myself and called him by the name Mayor Thomas had asked me to choose that first day. (It was Thunder. I had been scared of thunder when I was little, but I had grown out of it; I was hoping I’d stop being scared of him the same way.) He didn’t answer, of course, but what did I expect?
I didn’t try to approach him right away, but when he got close enough to me while I was doing general chores on the farm, I came close to him while he ignored me and picked him up. He wriggled at first, and he smelled like wet dog, but I hadn’t realized how little he really was. He was kind of cute… Maybe it wouldn’t be terrible to have a dog on the farm?
I shook my head to clear it even as I brought him into the house. No, I would have to find him a home where he could get the care he deserved. As cute as he was to look at, I still felt my knees getting all rubbery and my stomach going tight. I put him down almost as soon as I was inside and ran back outside, praying that he wouldn’t make too much of a mess…
Two seasons passed, and I tried periodically to pet Thunder and to talk to him, and he seemed to be growing used to me, but it was hard to put aside my fear at first. Especially when I realized he wasn’t housebroken… We worked on that, though, and eventually one of us had the other trained.
I’m not sure which, though; probably he had me trained more than the other way around.
But by the time fall rolled around I realized he was fully grown. He wasn’t an especially big dog; I could still carry him as easily as I had when he was a puppy. Some of that, I thought, might be due to the fact that I was also stronger than I had been half a year earlier, but he just wasn’t that big a dog. He was pretty strong for his size too, though, as my blanket could attest after he’d wrestled it off the bed and utterly destroyed it.
I tried to take him out every day after that happened, to let him run around the farm and work off some energy before bringing him in for the night. It helped both of us, I think; I was definitely getting used to him being around and maybe even a bit fond of him.
But one night I was having trouble convincing the cows to get inside their barn, and the chickens were still wandering around, when I heard an unfamiliar sound that sent chills of pure ice fear through me.
It was a dog barking. An unfamiliar dog; I knew the barks my dog made, and these were deeper, hoarser, and hungrier. I couldn’t move, and the chickens were raising an unholy racket.
I ran for my axe, crying and stumbling blindly, when I heard another bark answering the first.
Thunder.
He was mad – how dare this interloper intrude on his territory! I could hardly see in the darkness through my tears, but it sounded like Thunder was going after the strange dog!
That made me angry, enough to cut through the fear and start my legs working again, and this time I ran toward the barks, waving my axe and screaming like a deranged berserker. I hoped the noise and demented aggression from both me and my small but fierce dog would scare off the strange dog.
It dodged and it howled and it tried twice more for my chickens, but eventually it ran away and I fell over in the middle of my fields and cried it out.
I felt something nudging at me and sat bolt upright, afraid the wild dog had come back – but no, it was Thunder, and he was whining softly in his throat.
He was… worried.. about me?
“You’re a good dog, Thunder. You’re such a good, brave dog…!” And then I was hugging him and wailing into his bristly but soft coat while he wriggled around to try to lick my face – which somehow seemed less gross than it had just a few days ago…
After that day, I let him run around all day, and every night I took him to bed with me. The nights were growing colder and it was nice to have a warm companion in bed with me. He liked to sleep on my feet, which was weird, but it kept them warm, so I wasn’t complaining.
The leaves grew more and more colorful as the days passed. I was still getting to know everyone in town, but I was getting to be pretty good friends with most people. The Harvest Festival came and went; I didn’t do too badly for my first autumn in town, but the farm still needed a lot of work. I was mostly able to keep the field clear, but I didn’t really have enough stamina to handle many crops, and though I had made friends with the Harvest Sprites, they weren’t yet much more skillful at crop management than I was… Which wasn’t saying much.
Not that I mean to be derogatory, not at all! We were still learning. It takes time.
But the winter meant a break from the heavy farm work, and that meant I could explore the areas around town more fully.
On the first day of winter, I was pleased to discover that the lake had frozen over enough to cross the ice to that mysterious little island cave in the middle. Not knowing what to expect, I packed a couple of meals and set out, taking Thunder with me so he could explore the mountainside. I took one of the flowers I’d been keeping with me, intending to make another stop on my way.
As I made my way with the excited dog in my arms, I watched him looking here and there, his nose going at a hundred miles an hour as he sniffed the familiar-unfamiliar scents of the woods south of my farm, newly covered with a blanket of snow that had appeared overnight. The trees were completely bare of leaves and glimmered instead with ice. The air was crisp and clear, and even I could smell something that was distinctly “winter”, even if it was different from the winter of the city.
With Thunder still in my arms, I made my way up the narrow path that lead to the Spring Mine, the Hot Springs, and the Goddess’ Pond. I stood there with the dog and looked down into the water, wondered what the Goddess’ reaction would be… And realized I couldn’t do it. Even as a joke, even to assuage my fears, I couldn’t even pretend to toss Thunder in as a sacrifice. Turning from the water, I set him down on the bank before throwing in the flower I’d grabbed from my cabinet.
A lightning flash, and another and suddenly the Goddess was there, like always… “Well, if it isn’t Quartz,” she said as always, utterly ignoring the terrified yips Thunder was emitting as he made a beeline for me and cowered, tail between his legs as he tried to become invisible between mine, by trying to burrow into my boot.
“You’ve come again. Thanks for making an offering!” She seemed completely oblivious to his whimpers and it was all I could do not to ignore her and pick him right back up. But she seemed no more inclined to notice him than ever, and with her typical happy but still somewhat vapid expression, she added, “By the way, I really liked that last offering. Bye now.”
One last lightning-flash and she disappeared again, and poor Thunder was all but losing his mind with error as he shrank even lower, about ready to burrow into the dirt under my boots.
At last, I was able to pick him up, now that the Goddess was gone.
“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” I murmured, scratching behind his ears. He whimpered again and leaned his head against me. It was the first time he’d ever done so when I’d held him; he was perfectly willing to lean against my legs (to my relief, he didn’t jump on people very often) but maybe he’d also sensed my restraint with him. “My poor, brave little guy. It’s okay. It’s only the Harvest Goddess, she won’t hurt you. Just a flash of lightning, is all. You’re not scared of lightning. I know, I’ve seen you play together.”
He was definitely starting to relax now, and I carried him, murmuring reassurances as I headed up the hill toward the frozen lake. By the time I arrived at its edge, he had lifted his head and was sniffing enthusiastically in all directions, taking in the exciting new scenery. I’d taken him to the lake before, but it was our first winter there, and it was covered in snow and looked (and probably smelled) very different.
The place gleamed; I stopped to take it in as I slowly lowered Thunder to the ground. He ran off, doing doggy things, which as near as I could tell involved sniffing at every rock and tree and creature he could.
At the moment, there were no other signs of human life in the area. The frozen lake was hardly silent, however. Our footprints were not the only ones marking the snow; other animals had already been here, but at least one person had walked up the hill. I figured it had been Gotz, who often came in the early mornings to collect wood.
My rucksack was light; because I didn’t have a lot of room to carry much, I had only packed a couple of meals to carry me through. I wasn’t interested in finding the bottom of the mine; Zack had told me it was at least as deep as the Spring Mine, but that there was a lot more going on the deeper one went. I’d decided to see if I could get as far as the tenth floor. Zack had also told me that most of the more interesting ores and stones didn’t start until that deep, so I figured I’d try my luck and see if I couldn’t find a few black grasses to boost the meals I’d brought. To my relief, the dirt floors were firm but not hard to dig despite the cold, and my hoe turned the soil as readily as in the Spring Mine.
I lost myself in the rhythm of digging for a ladder. Over the last three seasons, there had been a noticeable improvement in my stamina. Where once I would be feeling tired after tilling only a few spots, I could now go turn more than a row of plots across my field! So tilling the mine was easy.
I did in fact find a couple of grasses before uncovering the ladder to the next level. I was getting tired by the time I got to the ninth floor, though, and I had run out of food and most of the grasses I’d found. I gave myself three more tries to find the ladder and caved in, as it were, deciding to head back home to rest. Just as I hit the last of my promised strokes, though, a wave of fatigue hit me like a ton of the scrap ore I’d been tossing away and I had to sit down for a moment. I was really close to passing out and I could feel it.
Once I was able to stand again, I made my way to the ladder leading up and dragged myself back to the surface.
Thunder wasn’t in sight.
I was so tired, I wanted to cry; I barely had it in me to whistle. I didn’t know if he’d hear me or if he’d head my way even if he did, but I couldn’t go climbing the hill the way I felt. It was dangerous; I knew that. I’d heard about Gotz’ family and I was in no shape to wander up a mountain.
I was surprised at my own relief when my brave little mutt trotted up happily, tail wagging and covered in snow.
“Let’s go home, Thunder,” I muttered. He slowed and looked at me. I knew then just how tired I was because I could have sworn that he looked both worried and thoughtful.
It was early in the day. If I was any judge by the sun’s position, it wasn’t even noon yet. I picked Thunder up again and started back toward home. At the bottom of the hill, he started struggling, and as we passed the fork in the road that led to the hot springs, he wriggled free, landing pretty well for a dog, and barked once, softly, as he started to run in that direction.
“Oh, no, Thunder, I just want to go home and lie down. Please?”
But he wasn’t interested in listening. I was near tears again as I followed, and picked him up just at the end of the path – and he began howling.
“What is it?” I asked him, even closer to despair than I had been before. I started back toward home, and his howls got even more poignant. I turned back toward the Spring Mine, and he got quiet, licking my face. I turned around again and he howled. I turned back and he stopped.
I started back toward the Spring and he yipped, happily this time, and licked my face again.
“I guess we’re going this way then,” I muttered, and as we approached the spring and the pond, he wriggled to get down.
Putting him back down on the ground, I watched him steer wide of the Goddess’ Pond and make a beeline for the Hot Spring.
I stood there dumbly for a minute and broke into laughter. I could tell I was almost hysterical; even I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was laughing or crying. “Thunder, you’re a genius,” I sobbed, and I stumbled for the Hot Spring. Without even waiting to get into the changing room, I was peeling off layers and getting ready to climb into the invigorating waters. Being careful not to leave a trail of clothing took almost all the energy and brain cell I had left, but I did it, and I sank into the waters gratefully, letting them close over my chilled body as I leaned my head back and sighed.
Thunder scampered up the rocks behind me and sat near my head, panting happily in the steam and letting the warm stones keep him warm too. It didn’t take long before the spring began to work its magic and I started feeling like I might live.
“You are a very, very good dog, Thunder. A Very Good Dog,” I murmured, turning my head to look at him and giving him a good scratch under the chin. I moved to behind his ears and his tongue lolled out in a doggie smile. “I can’t believe I was scared of you, in the beginning,” I said softly. He thumped his tail happily.
We sat there like that for some time, until I felt as strong as ever. “You know what, Thunder?” I asked him as I climbed out, “I think I’ll go back to the Winter Mine for a bit, and this time I’ll bring my basket. But I’ll also be more careful about how much energy I use.” The basket was sitting outside the Spring Mine where I usually left it, and the sight of it reminded me that I could bring back a lot more gems and ores to make a profit, which would make the ridiculous fatigue worthwhile.
He sighed as I emerged from the changing room; he knew it meant leaving the warmth of the rocks.
It was so strange to think that I hadn’t even been in town for a year yet; life here had become so natural and easy in such a short time. I was really happy here, and I had overcome a lot – not just my fear of Thunder, but also my insecurity about whether I’d be able to pull off the whole farmer thing (it was a learning process, but I was doing it!) and a lot of my shyness around new people…
I kept my promise to Thunder and loaded up the basket with the first gems I found in the Winter Mine, and we went back to the farm. I decided to hit the inn for the evening and spent some time visiting before calling it a night.
To prove that the snow had come from somewhere legitimately, the next day it was snowing, and I decided to spend the day visiting around town again, doing some shopping and making sure I got to visit with everyone. I had become friendly with pretty much everyone, but not really had the time to get too close to anyone. My closest friends were Cliff (who had not stopped singing my praises since I’d hooked him up with the job at Aja Winery) and Mary, who liked to tease me gently about spending more time in the library than she and Gray combined, in the early days. (Only she was serious; she didn’t think she was teasing.)
I wanted to spend some time in the Church, too; despite the fact that the Harvest Goddess had scared my pup the day before, I wanted to pick Carter’s brain about the ways that worship happened in the Church, considering that the Goddess was a nature goddess; why a church, when there was a pond where she could actually appear?
I’d learned from him long before that no one else in town could see her, though, despite the stories of her presence. It had always made me wonder; Mary had told me stories of a very distant land where there was a group of people called Earthmates, who had a deep tie to the land and certain abilities to work something that was very like magic, but was not the usual sort of magic that apparently existed in that land as well… It was a very strange thing. She didn’t like to talk much about the place; I got the feeling that something very sad had happened.
Apparently, there was quite a lot that was different there, but Mary didn’t talk about it any more than she had to. She was writing a book, she said, and only once she’d hinted that it might be based on something that happened there, but she usually managed to avoid the subject, so I let it go.
Today I was interested in what Carter might have to say on the subject of other faiths in other lands, so I decided to go the long way through Rose Square. I stopped in at the Poultry Farm to say hello to Lillia; Popuri and Rick were home, and I slipped each of them an egg I’d picked up on my way through my own farm. Rick was kind of cute, but sometimes I wondered if he was trying to compensate for his father’s absence a little too hard. I stopped in at Barley’s farm, too; he was watching May play with Hannah and I gave that little pup (who was apparently my Thunder’s mom!) a couple of scratches behind her ears. Barley was pleased to see me overcome my fear of dogs, and we chatted for a few minutes before I went on my way.
Cliff was entering Rose Square from the north when I got there, but even from across the way I could see he wasn’t quite himself. He was walking unsteadily, and I wondered briefly if maybe he’d had a bit too much at the inn – or on the job – before I remembered that he didn’t really partake of the product of his work very much.
I didn’t have time to wonder much before he staggered a few more steps forward and keeled over, face-first. I ran to him, and I could hear him muttering as he tried to rise.
“I always remember the day I left my home when it snows. It was snowing then, too.” Then he collapsed completely, and a photo fell out of his pocket.
I picked it up without thinking and shoved it in mine, then tried to lift him – but I couldn’t, and I didn’t want to risk moving him alone in case he was injured. I ran to the inn, since it was closest, and would be most likely to have people there.
Fortunately my instincts were right; Carter was there, visiting with Ann and Doug.
“Welcome! Quite a snowy day, isn’t it?” Ann greeted me as I entered, but I gasped out the reason for my sudden arrival.
“What? Cliff!? Dad! Come quick! It’s about Cliff!!” Carter and Doug turned toward us with alarm and followed me out with alacrity; we all made good time to Rose Square. Doug positioned himself at Cliff’s head; Ann and I picked up his feet, and Carter led the way to the Clinic at a brisk pace, holding the door for us.
Elli followed us in as we carried him to the clinic’s treatment room, and she and the doctor worked furiously, piling blankets and hot water bottles around him to bring up his temperature. Not surprisingly, he’d become hypothermic, lying on the freezing bricks of the square. Only when he was stable did the doctor bring us back to his office.
“Thank goodness you happened by when you did, Claire.”
“Thank goodness he’s safe!” Carter expostulated. “What was he doing there?”
I bit my tongue; maybe it wasn’t quite a silly question to ask since Cliff was usually working at this time of day.
Ann turned to me. “Thank you so much…”
I shook my head. “Thank you all for coming so quickly…”
“Just rest, and he should be fine. Everyone should go home now.”
I looked at the picture after leaving the clinic; Cliff was in it with a girl and a woman I presumed was his mother – was it a family picture?
I kept it in my pocket; I went back to the clinic the next day to check on him. He was mostly asleep, but when I pulled out the picture, he managed to sit up. “Hey!! Where did you find this?!”
I told him what had happened after he passed out – I presumed that Doctor and Elli had given him the basics.
“Oh… I see… You told Ann and the others for me.
“This photo shows my mother and my sister… You see… I…” He seemed to be having more of a hard time emotionally than physically. “I didn’t like where I lived, so I left my mother and sister to strike on my own. When I came back, my mother had died and my sister had gone somewhere… Where, I just don’t know… This town reminds me of that other one, long ago…”
He shook his head as though to clear it, and I could see it cost him. But he put on a brave smile and met my gaze. “I’m sorry to bother you with my story. I’m sure you don’t want to hear it…”
I shook my head and he lay back down. He looked so pale. I tucked the photo back into his pocket adjusted the blankets around him and tucked him back in. He was wrong. I did want to hear it. He’d opened up some since taking the job at the winery last season, but there was a lot no one knew about him yet. He was very attractive and very sad, and there was something about him that brought out my protective instincts, even though he was clearly no weakling, physically. I didn’t think he was emotionally weak either, but there was definitely a fragility about him, and the information he’d just given me was a rather profound insight into some of the why behind that… At least I knew he was sleeping well.
My heart was heavy in my chest, so I decided that some heavy work was the perfect cure for it, and I made a beeline for the Winter Mine, stopping only for a moment by the Spring to pick up my basket from its usual spot.
I paid no attention to my own energy levels again, too caught up int thoughts of Cliff and wondering what had happened to him… and of course I paid the price.
Hazy awareness filtered in and out; I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten there, but I was in the clinic, on the bed I had left Cliff in just a few hours before.
I wondered what happened to him, somewhere inside the haze that was my mind.
Doctor came back into the room, and I heard a distant thud, presumably from the next room; it sounded like a body hitting the floor.
The Doctor started his usual lecture about how I needed to pace myself, but as he spoke, I thought I heard the sounds of something heavy being dragged along the clinic floor.
I faded back into the darkness; it was warm and soft and safe, and all there were there were troubled but distant dreams. Mostly they were of Cliff and of Thunder, and playing together in the snow. All in all it was rather pleasant, and I definitely preferred them to the aches of my body.
The next morning, I woke up in bed, and someone had apparently let Thunder in; he was licking my face and whimpering to wake me even as my alarm did its duty. I felt refreshed as I always did after a night in the clinic; whatever Doctor had given me always seemed to work – unlike his own experimental medicines, when I’d first moved to town…
But that was neither here nor there. I rose and began my morning rituals, noting that it was snowing again; that made three days in a row. Was it two, or three? The events of the last few days had thrown me off. Still, I wasn’t angry about any of it; I could easily check my calendar at any time, and winter was slow here in Mineral Town, so it was not a big deal to miss out on a day or two, especially since there was not much in the way of farmwork to be done.. I could always have the Sprites help out with the animals, as I often did in Winter in case of blizzards, and in fact had done so on the first day of the season, so I wasn’t worried. Still, I did check in on them every day or two for my own security, and I made sure to gift the sprites with flour at least two or three times during their stints working on my fields.
They were at it the next morning, and after reassuring myself that my cows and chickens had not forgotten me, and that Lightning was enjoying his run of the farm, I made my way down to the Winter Mine for a brief exploration. I was back on my farm before noon; it was becoming a routine already, and I didn’t mind. I did want to explore more deeply, but I wasn’t really in the mood that day. I wasn’t really sure exactly what it was that I did want to do. I looked at the calendar; tomorrow was Gray’s birthday, so I made sure to set aside some ore for him. He liked Gold, and that wasn’t hard for me to get at this point, so that was easy enough. I decided to make the rounds of town again. Winter was good for that; hardly anyone else’s routine changed except mine.
I headed to the library first, rather than my usual route which brought me first to the blacksmith’s and the poultry shop. I hadn’t had the luxury of indulging in the books there very much since my first days in town, after all, and I thought it would be nice to hide out from the cold and relax a little. I could pull in a pretty tidy profit with a brief jaunt in the Winter Mine, and Winter was long…
The streets were empty as I made my way through town, though that wasn’t a surprise; I heard someone whistling in the vineyard – I thought it might be Cliff, and couldn’t help smiling. If it was him, he’d recovered quickly from his illness, which the Doctor had said had been brought on by stress, exhaustion, and malnutrition. Ann had taken it personally until Doug reminded her that he hadn’t been eating well before he took the job, not because he hadn’t had the option to do so, but because he’d spent so much time pushing food around on his plate and ignoring it. He’d begun to put weight back on, and muscle, but the seasons of wandering aimlessly and moping had taken a toll. The change of the weather, Doctor said, had pushed him over the edge when his melancholy peaked. I wasn’t the only one who was convinced that it was the reassurance of having so many of us rush to aid that had done at least as much good as any medicine Doctor had given. Cliff, not unlike me, had come to town without very much to his name, and only the merest idea of what he wanted to accomplish. Unlike me, he hadn’t had much support – and the support he did have, he didn’t know how to handle.
The only people who had shown much interest in him or his story at first had been Ann, Carter, Doug, and I. Now, with Duke and Manna having all but taken him in, he was beginning to open up with us and to socialize more with other people too. It was heartening to watch. At first he’d reminded me of Thunder, too; he was kind of puppyish at first, and he still had that eagerness to please that I could see becoming irritating, to some people… But I had to admit to myself, I found it rather endearing.
He wanted so badly to be liked…
I entered the library with a bit of a shiver and a gust of wind and snow. It wasn’t a blizzard by any means, but it was coming down hard enough to be noticeable. Mary seemed focused so I waved; she waved back distractedly and kept writing. I made my way upstairs and perused the shelves. There wasn’t much new since I’d last looked, but that was okay; I took a book down at random and opened it. It was a listing of all the crops I could grow, including their growth rates and the prices I could expect to ship them for. It was good information; I’d been right to start with spinach in autumn. Some of the seeds weren’t yet available to me, but I didn’t think I could have afforded them yet anyway. The coming year would be different.
After I’d made some notes about the crops I was most interested in, I headed out; Mary was still engrossed in her writing and barely looked up as I let in another blast of cold air.
I stopped in to say hello to Ellen. Barley was right: she appreciated the visit very much. I had brought a ball of yarn with me – and she was so excited to receive it that she told me to wait while she knitted me a stocking!
She told me to hang it from the hook in my house and wait. I couldn’t do otherwise. I liked Ellen and was deeply grateful for the gift. I resolved to visit her at least every couple of days, and bring her more yarn from my sheep.
I didn’t realize how much time had passed by the time she finished, so I took my new stocking home and hung it up as promised.
Thunder greeted me at the door, barking happily and wagging his tail fit to fall off. I tossed his ball a few times; he was getting much better at playing fetch and I was beginning to look forward to entering him in the frisbee toss next summer.
I watched him run back and forth after the red rubber ball, studying him as I did. He was not a very large dog, but I was beginning to think he was just the right size. I was still scared of much bigger dogs, but being around him had made me much less fearful of dogs in general. Dogs were people too, in their own way… They had personalities and feelings, things they liked and disliked. They had moods and friends and even senses of humor – I’d definitely caught Thunder laughing at me a time or two when I’d done something silly, and he loved to run and play with Lightning.
“Hey,” I said to him as I tossed the ball again. “What say you and me head out to the Winter Mine tomorrow, and then hit the Hot Springs again together?”
He barked happily, wagging his tail as he brought the red ball back to me. He dropped it at my feet and ran in little circles, almost bouncing with enthusiasm.
I couldn’t help it; I laughed and reached down to scratch his ears. “Sounds like a yes to me, huh boy?”
He ran in another circle, then reached for the ball in my hand and licked my fingers.
“Oh, Thunder. You’re such a silly boy,” I said with a giggle. “Okay. It’s a date, then… But I warn you, I’m going to be asking your opinion of a certain young man who works in the winery…”
I swear that dog cocked his head thoughtfully at me, as though he understood me, before he made another grab for that ball.
No, I was certain I did not regret coming to Mineral Town. In fact, I was pretty sure I was finally home, at long sweet last.