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.

I looked over at the girls, who stood frozen by tent, their mouths hanging open in astonishment. "Hey, it's okay! Come on back. Don't let his size scare you, he's a big sweetie!"

"It's not so much how huge he is that scares me," Laney called in a shaky voice, "as the size of his teeth and claws!"

I just laughed. "Bruno's my buddy. He won't hurt you unless he thinks you're a threat or food. And he likes honey and salmon and berries for his supper, not pretty girls! That's how we got to be friends, I'd share my berries with him and give him some of the fish I caught. At first he was a little grumpy, and he'd give me a swipe to tell me to get lost. But after a time we became good pals, didn't we, boy?" I said, turning back to the bear. "See? He's really nice!" I exclaimed, stroking his thick, shaggy fur.

After a few minutes, Eileen slowly approached us, and reached out a tentative hand to pet him. "Oh!" she exclaimed as she stroked his side, "He's so soft! I thought he'd be all rough, but he isn't!" A minute later, Georgia found the courage to join us and likewise exclaimed at his luxurious coat as she stroked him gently.

Finally, still fearful and hesitant, Laney crept up to him and gave him a teensy pat. When all he did was slowly swing his great head around and give her a mild snuffle of approval, she was encouraged to pet him a little more. He appeared to greatly enjoy the attention being lavished upon him as the four of us petted and scratched him.

After a few more minutes, I gave him a final pat, saying, "Well, old man, it's time for you to move on. Here," I added, pulling the leftover honey cake out of the basket and giving it to him. "Take this and go on home now. I'll go fishing one of these days soon, and I'll catch some nice, fat fish, just for you to eat. Good night now, Bruno!" I said, giving him a slap on his hindquarters to send him on his way. He waddled off, his mouth full of sticky-sweet cake, grunting and snorting as he left. He disappeared into the bushes, and soon the sound of his crashing through the underbrush faded and all grew still once more.

The girls were awestruck that they'd actually touched a huge brown bear like that. I explained that all the wild animals were just that—wild—and that if you wanted to make friends, you had to earn their trust. "But," I said, "it's worth it if you can do it. They're so sweet when they come up for attention, and I've even had them bring me things. Bruno once brought me a salmon he'd caught, and another time a boar brought me some mushrooms. Mikhail enjoys befriending the animals around here, too, especially the foxes and sparrows."

"Oh!" exclaimed Eileen, "I'd love to make friends with those cute little foxes!"

"And the little sparrows!" Laney cried.

"Oh, I'd just love to be able to cuddle those cute widdle bunnies!" Georgia added.

I laughed and said, "Well, then take it slow and let them get familiar with you. Give them things that they like to eat, and pet them if they'll let you. Watch out for the larger wild animals, though. Like I said, even old Bruno would take a swipe at me now and then, as did some of the other bears if I got too close. None of them ever hurt me very badly, but I suppose they could have. And boars can be very temperamental!"

We put out the fire for the night, then changed into our pajamas and climbed under the quilts. Georgia had brought a kerosene lantern that her father had loaned her, and we lit it and turned it down low, hanging it from one of the larger branches overhead. "So... " Laney said with a sigh, signaling the start of the traditional nighttime confidences, "as you all probably have noticed by now, I... I really like Ash. A lot, I mean. I've been trying for ages to get him to notice me, but, well, for a while he only had eyes for you, Alice."

I turned beet-red and started to stammer out an apology, but she cut me off, saying, "Oh! I'm not mad or blaming you or anything. I know you didn't do anything to encourage him. Honestly, you don't have to—just being you is all it takes. But then something happened, and he seemed to stop being so ga-ga over you...." She trailed off, looking at me curiously.

"Oh, yeah... that," I replied, looking away and biting my lip. It was still an unpleasant memory, though we'd more or less gotten over it, and I shuddered just thinking about it. "Well... as you said, he'd kind of gotten a crush on me. And... and then, one day after I had started seeing Mikhail as well as Cam, I stopped by Ash's to say hi.... Then, umm... Ash kind of... kind of tried to force himself on me. I mean, I don't know how far he would have gone, but it scared me—he's so much stronger than me, and I couldn't get away from him. And then just as I was getting really frightened and starting to panic, Cam happened to pass by. He saw what was going on, so he jumped over the fence and grabbed him and yanked him off of me. So... afterwards, Cam had a talk with him, and then he apologized and we had a talk. Ash was really embarrassed, but, well, it's taken me a long time to get over the shock. To be honest, even though he's been nothing but a perfect gentleman ever since, I still get nervous if... if I'm alone with him. I still don't really understand what happened, and even he seemed bewildered by his behavior. He talked about how jealous he was and also how angry because I was seeing both Cam and Mikhail. He said he hated that I was seeing his best friend and not him, but also because he felt like I was stringing Cam along. So... I guess... it's just really complicated. But I do believe he's really a nice guy. I don't think anything bad about him. He just kind of... went a little nuts. And... well, it's not the first time something like that has happened to me. So I think it's something to do with me, not him. I don't know why it happens. I mean, I never try to attract attention or chase after boys like a lot of girls I went to school with. But... they just seem... drawn to me? And once in a while, one will kind of... lose it. In high school, one guy...." I kind of choked up and had to take a few deep breaths before continuing, "... one guy actually killed my kitten because I wouldn't go out with him."

The other girls gasped in shock, and Georgia put her arm around me, patting my shoulder comfortingly. "And... and another boy would follow me everywhere, all the time. My dad finally called the cops on him when he found him up in the tree outside my bedroom window... carrying lingerie, a rope, a camera and... and a great big hunting knife. So... as scary as Ash's reaction was—and unexpected, because he'd never seemed even remotely interested before—it wasn't the worst I've been through, by far. So.... Anyway Laney, I think he's over it now. I-I'm sorry. I really didn't want...."

She reached out and squeezed my arm, saying, "Alice, it's okay. I'm glad you told me about it. I've... I've noticed that, about you, I mean—the effect you have on people, especially men. To be honest, I kind of... didn't really like you at first, because I could tell Ash was so taken with you, and because I thought you were just a big flirt." I cringed, stung by her words. "But that was just at first!" she exclaimed hastily. "I definitely don't think that about you now. And while I'm sad for Cam that he's kind of stuck in limbo with you and Mikhail, I'm sad for all of you—and I'm not blaming you for it. It can't be helped, I know that. Now that I've gotten to know you better, I know you're really just the nicest, sweetest girl ever, and although I don't know why you attract so much attention, I also know you don't do it on purpose. It just sort of... does itself. I mean, even Reina likes you! Reina doesn't like anyone!" she said with a nervous laugh. Then sighing, she said, "Well, now that I know a little more about your past, I can see why the whole relationship thing has you so stressed out."

Georgia lay thoughtfully for a minute, then rolled onto her side, saying, "Well, just so all y'all know, I'm kinda in the same boat, in a way... as Laney, I mean. I really like Kana—I have for some time now. So seeing you just waltz on in and have him instantly fall head over heels in love with you without you even trying... and then having you reject him when I know he proposed to you, and seeing how crushed he was afterwards... just to find out you'd agreed to let him date you after all, in addition to Mikhail and Cam... well, let me tell you, that was hard. I was real out of sorts for a while. But same as Laney, as I got to know you, I found you really were a nice person, not at all what I thought at first. You just seem to draw people like moths to a candle, and you can't help it. It's just the way you are. But you are just so sweet and kind and, well, no one can stay mad at you—no one in their right mind anyway! 'Sides, now Kana's finally gotten over you... and even better, he seems to be noticing me at last!" she said with a happy little wriggle.

I laughed, saying, "I know—I tried really hard to get you two together! That seems to be a weird side effect of my 'talent', if you can call it that—I'm a terrific matchmaker!" We all laughed at that, then Eileen turned to me with a wistful look.

"If you're really such a great matchmaker," she said, "maybe you can help me!"

We all looked at her in surprise. "Who... ?" Laney started to ask.

"Oh, no one you know," Eileen quickly interrupted. "He's from another village, and he's really a wonderful artist. He's a sculptor, and he's so talented. And really cute, too! But he hardly even knows I exist," she added, sadly.

We all commiserated with her, then Laney looked at me and said, "So tell us Alice, who do you like better—Cam or Mikhail?"

Taken by surprise, I laughed nervously, and said semi-jokingly, "Hey, Cam didn't ask you to try to find out for him, did he?"

Opening her eyes wide, she said, "No way! And even if he did ask me to do that, I wouldn't—he can just find out for himself. I know I wouldn't think much of a guy that asked girls to find out if his crush likes him back instead of asking her himself like a man!"

With a sigh, I said, "Well, there'd be nothing to tell, anyway."

The others looked expectantly at me, so I explained, "I think you all know by now that I knew Mikhail years ago, right?" They all nodded, and I continued. "So Mikhail and I met when I started taking violin lessons from his guardian. A year later, when I was only thirteen, we fell madly in love with each other. But when I was fifteen, his guardian told me I was a distraction and that I was holding him back from what could be a brilliant career. So he told me was taking him away that very night and that he didn't want me to see him or try to contact him, not even to say goodbye. So... they left. And apparently all those years, Mikhail thought I'd just dumped him without so much as a word—I guess his guardian let him think that, thinking he'd get over me faster that way. When we met up again, when he came to Konohana... I learned he'd spent the eight years since that night just hating me. But apparently he somehow loved me, too, all at the same time. And then when he found out what had really happened.... But by then I'd already started to kind of see Cam, and I really liked being with him. So... basically, I'd taken the very first baby steps in the first relationship I'd had since my first love left, only to have him suddenly come back into my life. I hate the situation we're in. Both of them say that they love me, and I... well, I love both of them. But somehow I have to choose between them."

I started to cry then, laying my head down on my arms, tears trickling down my cheeks as I groaned, "I just don't know what to do. They even came to an agreement that they'd try to cease hostilities, just to try to make it easier on me. But whoever I pick, half of my heart will be broken to pieces. So... what do I do? I just don't know... no matter what, someone's going to get hurt in the end. All I want is for everyone to be happy."

Georgia rubbed my back, Eileen stroked my hair, and Laney reached across and put her hand on my arm. "Don't cry, Alice," she said, "it'll be okay. I... I can't imagine being in your predicament, being in love with two men at the same time I mean, and having to pick one. But no one's rushing you—or they better not be—so just relax and eventually it'll all be clear what you should do. And it might not be easy, but it'll still feel like it's the right decision." I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes, and smiled weakly at her.

"Still... " Georgia sighed, "it's an awful romantic story! Separated from your first love, you find a new love—only to find your first love again! Two handsome, dashing young men competing for the hand of the lady they both adore! It's like a romance novel, or a movie!" I giggled then, and we all started to laugh.

Afterwards, I wrapped my kimono around me, pulled out my violin, and started to play. First I played songs that the others could sing along with, then as they began to get sleepy, I switched to soft melodies to lull them to sleep. They eventually dropped off, one by one, into a deep sleep. Then, still feeling no compulsion to close my eyes, I slipped silently out into the night, sat on a rock a short ways from the tent, and played softly to the stars until I finally felt sleep catching up to me. I returned to the tent, placed my violin back in its case, and fell asleep moments after I burrowed down into my bedding.

I woke up early the next morning, accustomed as I was to rising early. The sky was just turning light in the east, and the earliest of the early birds were beginning to sing their matins in the treetops. I crept out of my bed, quietly dressed, folded up my pajamas and bedding, and slipped out into the chill of the early morning, my violin case in hand. The grass was dewy, the air crisp and cool and scented of trees and moss and flowers just beginning to open to the new day. I quietly climbed up to the very peak, and sitting on a rock overlooking the valley, I watched the sunrise.

As I listened to the morning birdsong, I soon began to mimic their tunes with my violin until I had a lively little chorus of assorted songbirds gathered in the trees and shrubs and on the ground around me. Finally, I ad-libbed a piece consisting of all the different birdsongs I'd imitated in one spritely improvisation. When I was done, I jumped as the sound of enthusiastic applause came from behind me, startling the birds away. Laney, Georgia, and Eileen stood nearby, looking delighted as they clapped vigorously.

"That was amazing!" Georgia exclaimed, her eyes shining.

"How did you learn to do that?" asked Eileen, eagerly.

"Oh, do it again!" Laney pleaded.

I turned red, but pleased by their response to my playing, I made up some more birdsong-inspired tunes. Afterwards, feeling hungry and cold, I suggested we set about making a fire and cooking some breakfast, so we returned to camp.

We had brought our swimsuits with us, and after breakfast we changed into them and strolled over to the spring. The water was crystal clear but very cold, so we had a only quick dip, then we spent the rest of the morning lying in the warm sun near the edge of the spring. When the sun was high in the sky, we returned to camp to change back into our clothes, ate some sandwiches and fruit, and started to pack up. We sorted our things out and went our separate ways, Laney and Eileen returning to Bluebell, while Georgia and I headed towards Konohana.

The walk took longer than expected, what with carrying all our equipment, and we arrived back in town in the late afternoon. We stopped off at my house, depositing our packs on my porch. We went inside, and I grabbed some glasses of iced tea for us. We collapsed on the porch steps, hot and sweaty and tired and very grateful for our cold drinks. We talked and giggled over our campout, and we agreed we should try to do that again sometime soon, maybe after Kana's arm had healed completely. I suggested we should at least make an annual tradition of it—spending a night up on the mountain even when we were old and gray to get away for a night and to catch up on girl-talk. Georgia agreed enthusiastically, then, draining our glasses, we set out again.

I left my things on the porch and helped Georgia carry her things the rest of the way to the town hall. She tucked them into a corner of her room, planning to return them on horseback the next day. I said goodbye and popped over to see if Mikhail was back from his walk. I hadn't seen him on the way home, but he often went off the beaten path on his walks. He wasn't in, so I went to check the message board before returning to my farm to water my crops and check on my animals. Dirk appeared to have done a fine job, even thinking to top off their water troughs.

Pleased with the results of my inspection, I saddled Nimbus and headed off at a trot through the tunnel to Bluebell. She hadn't yet been ridden through the tunnel and appeared mildly apprehensive as we entered. A sudden flurry of bat wings and shrill squeaks startled her, causing her to pull up short, whinnying in dismay. I dismounted and stroked her face reassuringly until she was calm again, then led her until we were well past the midpoint. Then I mounted her again and walked her the rest of the way through with no further problems. We trotted into town, where I first stopped at the message board to check messages. Then I visited the villagers, dropping off a few requested items as I went, saving Cam for last.

When I arrived at the café, he'd already closed shop and was getting his day's receipts in order. I invited him to go for a ride, so as soon as he finished, he headed over to Grady's to see if he could borrow his usual horse, a buckskin gelding named Cowboy. Meanwhile, I bought a bottle of wine and some bread and cheese from the café before meeting up with him just outside the town plaza.

Side-by-side, we rode all the way up to the mountain peak, then leaving our horses by the spring, we walked to the clearing at the very top. We sat on some large rocks there, watching the sun set as we chatted and sipped and nibbled. After the sun had gone down, we slowly rode back to Bluebell, parting ways with a long kiss at the meadow near the tunnel entrance. It was a lovely ending to a wonderful day.