The Wild Card [Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands]

Chapter 18

When Regis returned from taking refuge on the mainland, he was not at all pleased to learn that his absence had cost him the rights to the new islands that had appeared in the wake of the tropical storm. There was little he could do about it by then, but he did send Sabrina to Will's room to deliver a sealed note, demanding to see him before sunrise the following morning.

As requested, Will appeared half an hour before dawn, slipping quietly through the back door in order to not attract notice. He went directly to his uncle's office, where Regis sat glowering impatiently. Gesturing for Will to take a seat, he exclaimed, "Well? What progress, if indeed any, have you made? Every day that I don't have that dratted woman's deeds in my hands is another day of financial losses!"

Will remained standing. "I'm fine, thank you, uncle. No, the storm wasn't as bad as we all feared. My ship did sustain some damage, Mirabelle lost her barn, Julia's pet was killed, and Denny's home was all but destroyed. But all in all, we pulled through. Thanks for your concern. I hope you were comfortable during your stay on the mainland."

"Yes, yes. My condolences et cetera. Don't attempt to censure me, boy. Now tell me, are you any closer to persuading that conniving little female to sell, or are you not?!"

Looking impassively at Regis for a long moment, Will replied coolly, "Patience." Then he turned and left.

Hidden behind a large palm in the hall by her father's office, Sabrina covered her mouth to stifle a small gasp of shock and dismay.

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

Colette hurried through her chores that morning. The geologists had finally given the all-clear for the villagers to explore the islands—with all due caution, of course—and she had made plans with Will to do just that. Taro had immediately engaged Gannon to build docks on some of the islands, providing Kirk a place to drop off and pick up visitors. The carpenter had also built footbridges connecting her island to the others nearest to her—all of which, Taro had been pleased to inform her, fell within her boundaries. They were kicking off their exploration with her new islands, since she was excited at the prospect of room to expand.

The sun was already scorching, so after she finished with her chores, she changed into shorts, a white cotton tank, and sandals. Will knocked on her door just as she was finishing braiding her hair and pinning it up, so she quickly filled a couple of water bottles and put on her sunglasses, and off they went.

There were four new islands that fell within her property lines. The first and nearest to her main island was just a tiny thing, rocky and uneven and not really of any use for ranching. But it was central to the remaining islands, so Gannon had built four bridges: one from her main island to it, then another three to the other new islands. Because of that, Colette laughingly called it Link Island.

They crossed the bridge on the west side first. This island was small, too, but consisted mostly of level, bare rock. "It's no good for pasture or crops," she mused as she strolled back and forth, looking at the ground, "but the level rock should be good for constructing some outbuildings."

"Such as? You couldn't really build another barn here—you'd have to drive livestock back and forth over the bridge every morning and evening, since you wouldn't be able to let them graze here. Even if there was room, I don't think you'll ever have much grass growing here," Will commented, tapping the hard surface with the toe of his boot.

"No... but I could build a greenhouse. I've been thinking of doing that, anyway, so I can grow crops that are too fragile for the extreme weather we get here on occasion, as well as to extend my growing season and to start seedlings. This would be a great place to do that, I think. There's not much blocking the sun here, so it should get plenty of sunlight. I'll have to discuss it with Gannon. Getting the materials here over all those bridges might be difficult, so we'll have to see."