Lost and Found [Harvest Moon: A New Beginning]

Love

"And with an astounding collection of 216 critters, the winner of this year's Critter Festival is... Rio!" Dunhill grinned broadly as she squeezed through the crowd to stand at the front with the runners-up. He shook her hand and picked up a small crate next to him. Passing it to her, he announced that her prize was a case of Hana's famous homemade peach jam.

As Rio passed by afterwards, Toni glowered at her. "It's not fair!" he exclaimed. "You're bigger'n me! How am I supposed to beat you? You always win!"

Rio smiled at the boy next to her and ruffled his hair. "Hey, you did great!" she exclaimed as he pulled away from her in annoyance. "You came in second—that's pretty amazing for a kid. You even did better than Rod! Just wait 'til you get a little bigger. I won't stand a chance against you!"

He brightened up at that. "Hey, yeah, that's right! 'Cause I'm so good at it now, all I need is to get a little taller! How do I do that, though?" he asked as he looked up at her with a puzzled frown.

"Well, it would help you to grow faster if you ate more veggies," Rio said, putting on a serious, thoughtful expression.

"Vegetables? Really? Gross! But if it'll help me get bigger.... Hey, Mom! Can we have salad for dinner?" he shouted as he ran off towards his startled mother.

Rio laughed merrily, as both Vaughn and Neil admired her deft handling of the tempestuous child—Vaughn from a distance and only in his thoughts, and Neil to her face as he joined her.

Neil liked the kid okay, most of the time anyway. He had spirit, that was for sure. But he was clever and quick, and all too often bored in the quiet, small village. That frequently resulted in him getting into mischief, but he wasn't really a bad kid. Just... kind of pesky at times. But Rio never seemed to be bothered by him or the other kids in the village.

Rio smiled up at him as he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Hey, nice job," he said. "You really caught a lot of bugs this year. When did you find the time?"

She laughed again as she replied, "Well, lucky for me there are insects out and about at night as well as all day! As soon as I finished my day's work, I'd be off running around looking for critters to catch. It made a big difference, too, having Vaughn to help around the farm. He even took on some extra work so I'd have more free time. Said he didn't care much about catching bugs anyway."

An irritated looked passed over Neil's face, and he followed her gaze as she turned and waved to the cowboy standing some ways behind them, leaning with his back against a corner of the livestock barn along one side of the grounds. He tipped his hat in response to Rio's gesture, but to Neil's relief, he didn't move to join them.

As usual, Rio made the rounds, chatting with all the villagers and many of the tourists who had come from out of town for the festival. When she approached the group of women that included Camellia, she could sense the elegant woman's discomfort even from a distance. Conscious both of her fear of insects and of her internal struggle between that fear and her desire to be courteous, Rio simply smiled at her and held up her hand, saying, "Don't worry, Camellia. I'll keep my distance. I've been catching bugs all morning, and I know how much they bother you."

The other woman looked relieved and grateful, though she shuddered at the mere thought of touching bugs. "So very many insects," she said, shaking her head. "I don't know how you can do it."

Sensing Neil's rising impatience—he thought Camellia stuck-up and priggish and had little patience with her—she smiled again at her and led him away from the women and towards Hossan and Clement. The two men brightened at her approach, calling out congratulations to her as she drew near.