Wild Roses [Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns]

Chapter 3

Lily thought to herself that she was dreaming. She had to be... what she was seeing couldn't be real. But if it was just a dream, why did it feel so real? She felt the cold of the autumn night seeping into her bones, heard the distant squeaking of bats and the nearer hooting of owls, smelled the scent of damp, dead leaves, even felt the breeze ruffling through her hair.

The pale light of the full moon overhead reflected off the pool before her, and rising from the center of the clear water was a woman. A beautiful, tall, willowy woman, with long green hair elaborately braided and twisted into knots with the ends still reaching nearly to her feet. She slowly opened her eyes and looked straight at Lily, her serene ivy-green eyes full of compassion.

"Who are you?" Lily heard herself ask.

"Don't be afraid, little one," the lady said in a soft, musical voice. "You are safe here. But why are two such little girls sleeping alone on my mountain? Are you lost? You are Alice's daughters, Liliana and Camellia, are you not? Where then are your mother and father?"

Lily sniffled, then sniffled again before bursting into tears as she told the beautiful lady all about her mother's illness and her feverish wish for wild roses, and their quest to find one for her, in the hopes that it would help her get better. The lady listened, and looked thoughtful at the end. "Alice did me a great favor in the past, so I have blessed her and chosen her for my own in appreciation of her efforts. As she is mine, so are you and your sister, and likewise you fall under my protection. The oracle's potion isn't what kept you safe from the bear—it was due to my protection and because your mother has befriended all the animals of the mountain. Since you and she share the same blood, they can smell her within you and know that you are her cubs.

"So your mother is unwell, and has such a strong desire for these wild roses that she cannot forget it even in her illness. And you wish to oblige her in the hope of soothing her afflicted spirit, but as these flowers have been unfortunately eradicated from these environs, you cannot do so. Well, dear child, that is an easy enough dilemma to remedy." And as she spoke, she waved a hand towards the opposite side of the pool, and Lily could see green shoots bursting from the ground, growing into young plants, then tall shrubs, and finally buds appeared and opened into blooms—just like the ones in her father's book. What must have been several years' growth had taken only moments.

Staring at the lady in awe, Lily stammered, "Wh-who are you? A-are you the Green Lady that the oracle saw?"

With a light, musical laugh, the lady replied, "I am the Goddess of the Harvest, and this pool of water is my home—or one of many doors into it, rather. I am the patroness of these two towns, though I daresay many have forgotten it.

"Now, sleep, my child—sleep and be refreshed. Here is a friend to keep you warm through the night." As she finished speaking, Lily heard crashing sounds, and a moment later the same big brown bear from before lumbered out of the brush and over to the rose shrubs, sniffing curiously at them. Lily stood and pulled her sleepy sister to her feet, dragging her over to where the bear was drowsily nestling down. The girls collapsed against him, instantly feeling warmer as they burrowed into his thick fur. The last thing Lily saw was the green lady's radiant smile, then she knew no more.

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

Cam woke early, well before sunrise—unusual for him even when he'd gotten to bed at a reasonable hour. He was confused at first, wondering where Alice was. Then it all came back to him in a flood—her illness and eventual admission to the clinic, the whole long day and late night. And the girls were still with Alisa, who must be getting worried by now. So he dragged himself out of bed, stumbled to the kitchen to start the coffeemaker, and while the coffee brewed, he pulled on his clothes and splashed cold water on his face. He quickly gulped a cup of coffee, then headed back up the road to town.

Rutger was just unlocking the door to the town hall when he arrived. The mayor greeted him with some surprise, knowing that he was no early bird. Cam explained why he was there, and Rutger waved Cam back towards Alisa's room.

Cam knocked on Alisa's door, and a few minutes later, she opened it, dressed but still drowsy. "I came to pick up the girls," he explained. "I'm sorry for leaving them with you so long—it was the middle of the night when I got back, and I didn't want to wake you."

Alisa stood there blinking, her mouth slightly open in confusion. After a moment, she said, "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen the girls since the day before yesterday."

Cam tore into the house, nearly falling over himself in his frantic haste. Why, oh why hadn't he just woken everyone up last night? Then he would have found out they were missing that much sooner, at least. Where could they have gone? What were they doing? It wasn't like Lily to just wander off like that—Cami, sure, she was only four. But Lily was so... so dependable. Maybe he'd depended on her just a little too much—after all, she was still a little girl.

As usual, the dogs came trotting up as soon as he entered the house, sniffing him all over in case he had any new, exciting scents clinging to him. He singled out Lad, the most reliable of Alice's dogs, and fastened a lead to his collar. After Lily had been born, Lad had all but adopted her, hovering protectively near her as she played and explored all around the farmyard. When Cami had come along, he'd taken to her just as well. He had a good nose and was a smart dog—Cam figured that of all their dogs, he was the most likely to be able to track the girls down, even if he wasn't actually trained for such work. He grabbed Lily's stuffed rabbit from her bed and held it for Lad to sniff, then he told him to go find her.

Lad cocked his head and looked at Cam for a moment, his ears perked up. Then with a bark, he turned and ran for the door, pulling Cam along behind him. He nosed his way up the driveway to the road, then sniffed along the road until he reached the mountain path. Cam felt a little sick—if his girls had been up on the mountain all night, what might have become of them? They hadn't returned home, so maybe they had fallen and been hurt—or worse. Remembering the time Alice fell, and catching sight of her limp and unconscious on her horse's back as Mikhail had led her down the mountain into Konohana, his stomach knotted with the fear that history was repeating itself.

But Lad was tugging eagerly at the lead, so he forced his fears back for the time being and ran after him. He nosed around a little on either side of the path, but he continued on up the mountain without wandering very far off the path. When he reached the part of the path near the trail down to the river, he suddenly stopped and stiffened, growling a low growl, his hackles rising as he sniffed around the path. Then after a few moments, he again barked, and ran up the path.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the treetops to the east when he reached the peak. Out of breath from running all the long way up the mountain, he tied Lad's lead to a tree and went to the pool of water to sit for a minute before continuing on. However, when he reached the pool, he saw a sight that left him slack-jawed in astonishment.

On the far side of the pool, near some of the young trees that surrounded the pool, he saw his young daughters, sound asleep, nestled into the thick, shaggy fur of a huge brown bear. The bear raised its head to look at him, snuffled a little, then laid his head back down, watching him with patient eyes. And surrounding the little grove where they slept was a mass of wild rose shrubs—thickly covered with pale pink blooms.