The Wild Card [Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands]

Chapter 17

"It must have been the storm that did it," Felicia was saying as Colette stepped down from the bridge and joined the group gathered outside Taro's house.

"But how could a storm, even a cyclone, do all that?" Mirabelle asked, incredulously, as Chen nodded agreement.

"Do all what?" Colette asked as she joined them.

"We have some new islands. They just... appeared!" Felicia replied, gesticulating excitedly. "No one knows how."

"Really? Where are they?"

"There's a whole bunch," Natalie exclaimed. "A whole little chain of them along the north end of the archipelago. Kirk said he saw four larger islands and a couple of little ones. Can you believe it? And some of them are so close to the north end of your island, they're practically touching!"

"You didn't even notice?" Julia laughed.

"No, I didn't," Colette admitted. "I guess I haven't looked beyond the stable and barn since the storm—I've been too busy cleaning up."

"Was there much damage to your crops?" Pierre interrupted anxiously.

Colette grinned. "Some, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. So don't worry—you'll still get your farm-fresh veggies as soon as they ripen!" Everyone laughed as the gourmand sighed with relief.

"Father says that same team of geologists from the university are coming out tomorrow," Felicia said a moment later. "He says they're bringing a few other scientists as well. A meteorologist and... I think he said an oceanographer? Apparently they're all beside themselves. Nothing like this has ever happened before—all these islands and the volcano appearing out of the blue, and of course the way the cyclone suddenly changed direction and blew out to sea, away from the islands and the mainland."

Colette didn't blame the scientists for their excitement—she was pretty thrilled at the thought of new islands, too. So far the only new island she'd been able to visit was the volcanic island. She hadn't had a chance to get even so much as a glimpse of any of the others.

Will was on the phone in the hotel lobby when she strolled in later that morning, standing in the midst of a pile of boxes. He saw her and smiled, gesturing for her to wait a moment. Before long, he finished his conversation and handed the phone back to Carol.

"Thanks for waiting, Colette. I was talking to the boatyard. They'll come for my boat tomorrow, and with luck, I'll have it back within two or three weeks."

"That's good to hear. Do you need any help removing your things?"

"No, thank you. This is the last of it. Carol has kindly offered me the use of her basement to store my possessions for now."

"Then if you're free, would you be interested in doing a little exploring with me today?"

"Exploring? Where?" he asked, looking both curious and interested.

"Well, I'd like to go and have a look around Meadow Island, for one thing," she replied slowly.

"Meadow Island? Surely there isn't much to explore there?" Will said, raising an eyebrow.

"I-I'm not sure... I'll explain after we get there. If you're game, that is?"

"All right, let me stow these boxes below, and then I'll join you. Can you meet me at the dock in, say, half an hour?"

"Perfect. I need to take care of a few things anyway, so I'll meet you there."

First, she headed back to Taro's to enquire about land rights. She'd taken a look, and some of the new islands were indeed very close to her farm.