Roses and Sonatas [Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns]

Chapter 28

The day of our camping trip finally arrived. We had decided to leave Monday afternoon, spend the night on the mountain, and return Tuesday after lunch. Ash was already filling in for Georgia at Grady's, and Mako agreed to help Kana while she was away. Laney baked up a storm on Monday, so that the café wouldn't run out of her ever-popular desserts while she was gone. Even little Cheryl volunteered to help Howard with washing up after dinner, despite her disappointment at not being allowed to go with "the big girls".

Dirk eagerly offered to help me with my farm chores, saying that he had more free time now that the tunnel was open and his deliveries didn't take nearly so long to finish. So I asked him if he'd milk my cows and gather eggs, telling him that he could keep the milk & eggs in return. I showed him how to do the milking, and although he was a little clumsy at first, he picked up on it pretty fast. I hadn't spent much time with the happy-go-lucky young man and was surprised not only at how clever and witty he was, but also how bright and insightful, especially given his young age. Perhaps all that time spent walking in solitude over the mountain had been beneficial to him.

Eileen went up in the morning to make our shelter—something she'd called a "bender tent." It was a floorless dome-shaped structure made of branches and slender young saplings that she had driven into the ground and woven together, then she had draped a big canvas tarp over it and secured it all around the base. She'd also thrown another tarp and some old rugs down on the ground inside, to provide some protection from cold and damp. Laney had put together a large basket of food, Georgia brought some thick mats for us to sleep on, and I brought a bunch of old quilts and pillows that I'd accumulated from my two farmhouses. I also brought my violin, which intrigued the others.

After we had everything set up and arranged to our satisfaction, Laney began meal preparations while Eileen built a fire pit and gathered together some rocks and logs to use as tables and seating. Meanwhile, Georgia pulled grass up from all around the fire pit and gathered some fresh herbs and wild greens for Laney, and I collected firewood and fetched water from the spring. Soon Laney had a wonderful-smelling stew simmering in a pot over glowing coals. Eileen kept an eye on it and stirred it now and then, and watched some flat little breads that were baking on stones arranged around the edge of the coals. Laney and Georgia prepared a salad and dressing while I hunted for wild mushrooms and pared some small branches into skewers for roasting the mushrooms over the coals. I had borrowed a coal-fueled samovar from Ina, so we had a good supply of hot water for making drinks as the evening grew colder. Georgia had brought some marshmallows, as well, and Laney had baked a honey cake.

After we ate our meal, we sat around the fire in the lengthening shadows, toasting marshmallows over the coals. As we were talking and laughing, suddenly Georgia sat bolt upright with her eyes wide, saying, "Shhh!!! Did y'all hear that?"

We all listened, and I thought I heard a faint rustling in the bushes nearby. I laughed, and said, "Oh, Georgia, it's probably a fox!"

"No," she exclaimed, shaking her head as she scooted closer to Laney. "I heard something else, something big!" We listened again, then suddenly there was a loud crash in the bushes right behind me. Georgia and Laney shrieked and Eileen froze, the blood draining from her face as she pointed a shaking finger my direction. I rose and turned around to find a massive brown bear rising up on his hind legs behind me.

Georgia, Laney, and Eileen all jumped up and ran screaming towards the tent. I looked after them as they ran, and Eileen shrieked at me to run. I laughed, walked over to the bear, reached up, and scratched him on his chest. "There, old fellow, you like that, don't you? Oh yeah, and maybe a little over here?" I crooned while I moved around to scratch his shoulders as he lowered himself down, leaning into me and snuffling loudly, his eyes scrunched up in delight.