The Wild Card [Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands]

Chapter 13

With a sense of déjà vu, Colette scrambled out of bed. Something off to her left crashed and shattered on the floor, and she stumbled, trying to keep her balance in the darkness as the floor shook and trembled beneath her bare feet.

She made her way out of the cabin, looking around her. Breathing a quick prayer of gratitude for Gannon's improvements to her barns, she ran, stumbling, toward the bridge. She could hear shouts coming from the village, but she couldn't make out any words from that distance. She feared the bridge would collapse as she crossed it, yet she set one foot on it, then another. It swayed sickeningly from side to side, but it felt strong. She hurried across as fast as she could, holding her breath the entire way.

The villagers were in a panic. People milled about in a bewildered mass in the darkened streets, frightened and aimless. She pushed her way into the crowd, trying to gather everyone together and feeling a bit like a herding dog trying to quell a stampede.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but really was only perhaps half an hour, the sky began to lighten. The ground no longer convulsed beneath their feet, but now came aftershocks in shuddering waves. As the sun rose, they all paused and took a good look around them, then they gathered together to check that everyone was safe and accounted for and to survey the damages.

Thankfully, no one had been seriously hurt—no more than some bumps and bruises, and Chen's son, Charlie, had a cut on the back of his head where he'd been struck by one of the many items falling off the shelves of his father's store as they'd stumbled past toward the doors. Surprisingly, damage was minimal. The buildings had been constructed to withstand the tropical storms that blew through every season, and they survived this quake, too. The only thing that had collapsed was the ruined remains of the tiny old lighthouse on the islet just east of Colette's farm—and it had been falling apart stone by stone for decades, anyway.

As soon as she was certain no one was hurt, Colette rushed back home to check on her animals. Her cow and hen were alarmed but uninjured when she checked on them. She spent a lot of extra time caring for them that morning, stroking them and speaking soothingly to them, until at last they seemed reassured.

After checking on her animals, she hurried back to town to check on Will, wondering how he'd weathered the quake in his boat. As it turned out, since he was moored off the shore of the island farthest from the epicenter, he hadn't noticed anything amiss—he'd slept right through it. Once she told him about it, though, he quickly joined her in assisting the village with the cleanup.

Although no houses had been damaged and no one had been badly injured, there still had been considerable havoc wreaked inside the homes and businesses of the village. Carol had four tourists staying in the hotel that night, too—a young married couple, and two friends who had been spending their summers at the hotel for years. The married couple canceled the rest of their visit and returned home on the morning ferry, but the other two stayed on.

As she helped Carol clean up the mess left by the earthquake, Colette asked, "What about tidal waves? Don't you get tidal waves after an earthquake in the ocean?"

"Sometimes, yes, depending on conditions," the innkeeper replied, straightening the paintings on the lobby wall. "But we're fortunate here—the scattered islands diminish the waves before they can gather enough strength to form anything too destructive. So generally, we just get somewhat larger waves until everything settles down. It's supposed to make for good surfing, or so I'm told. Don't be surprised if we get a few surfers arriving on the ferry tonight, hoping to find some good waves still!"

Colette laughed, but as she opened her mouth to reply, there was a sudden clamor outside. Glancing at each other in surprise, Carol and Colette hurried out to see what was going on.