Lost and Found [Harvest Moon: A New Beginning]

Exhibition

It was damned hot for a fall morning, Vaughn thought to himself as he looked up at the intensely blue sky and wiped the sweat trickling down the back of his neck. He'd nearly worked himself into a heatstroke, but at least he'd managed to finish all his chores before lunch, which would be early that day due to yet another festival. He'd never been to a town with so damned many festivals, he thought sourly as he trudged back to the farmhouse. He arrived just as Rio vaulted over the pasture fence, racing towards the porch in spite of the heat. As she ran up, her shirt and hair damp with sweat, she grinned at him and he returned her smile. She'd never been one to sit still, and she was always at her best when she had plenty to keep her busy.

She threw together a couple of sandwiches, grabbed some fruit from the fridge, and opened a jar of refrigerator pickles. She poured two tall glasses of iced tea, and they went outside to sit on the shady porch to eat, hoping a little breeze might blow up from the river. Rio wolfed her meal and gulped her tea quickly, finishing her meal well before Vaughn. Standing up, she looked at him apologetically. "If you'll excuse me, Vaughn, I have to hurry and get cleaned up and ready for the festival. I try to look halfway decent when I'm competing."

Vaughn shook his head slowly as he stared up at her, a half smile curling into one corner of his mouth. "Goddess, Rio. You look more than halfway decent now. You just never could see it."

She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him, though she blushed at the compliment. As she dashed back into the house, he called after her, "I'm going to go back to the inn to take a quick shower myself as soon as I'm through. I'll see you at the fairground."

"Okay, I'll be there in an hour or so!" she shouted from the back of the house, and he settled back down to finish his lunch before going on his way.

**************

Vaughn strolled up to the gate just as Rio was coming along the road, leading a large Holstein cow behind her. He did a double take when he saw her, and said, "What the hell? How can you stand to wear that in this weather? You're gonna give yourself a heat stroke, you know."

She shrugged, wiping a trickle of sweat from her forehead as she stopped before Dunhill's table to register her cow for the competition. "I'll be fine. Really. I'm used to it." Then she turned to Dunhill, who slid the entry card across the table for her to fill in.

Vaughn said, "Well, whatever then. I guess you know what you're doing. I'm gonna go take a look around. Good luck." She nodded and turned her attention to the forms. Hesitating just a moment as he scanned the crowd, Vaughn took a deep breath and went on in. Although he'd been in the village for a while now, he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the number of people these fairs seemed to draw.

It still surprised him, how many tourists came each time, some of them from some pretty far-off places, too. And judging by the number of people milling around the grounds, the Cattle Show was one of the town's most popular events. Spotting Allen and Rod standing together talking nearby, he sauntered over.

"Hey, what's with Rio's get-up? What the hell is she thinking, wearing something like that in this heat?" Vaughn asked, looking back to where she bent over the table, filling out her form as she fanned herself with her cap.

"Can't you guess?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking in amusement.

"Nope. I wouldn't ask if I could," Vaughn said, scowling at him.

"Well, just think about it. What kind of festival is this? And who is she currently locking lips with? You get it now?"

Vaughn scowled at the phrase 'locking lips', but shrugged. "Don't see then connection."