***
The long-waited Egg festival loomed over our heads like a gloomy rain cloud. But it didn't start that way. It began with excitement and hurry. Festival days were considered as holidays here, so everything was closed. We got to sleep in, which led to Abigail panicking over the limited time she had to get everything ready.
Her parents definitely hadn't overestimated her passion for this stuff. She had planned her outfit a week beforehand and in it she had considered everything. The weather, movability, comfort, looks. Everything.
The air became warmer and warmer every day. Yesterday's weather reporter had promised sun and light wind at the east side of the city. That meant I could finally bring out some lighter clothes and finally leave out winter's thick layers and long sleeves.
The festival was held in the town square, so basically it stood right in Pierre's front yard. We only had to walk outside to join the rest. Abigail stopped for a moment to scan the terrain until she found what she was looking for. Then she grabbed me by the sleeve, dragging me all the way through the park.
"Come on! Sam's already waiting, there." She insisted on pulling me all the way over to the lone boy on the opposing side of the carnival. Coming closer I noticed a dark shadow next to him.
"Oh, Seb! I thought you'd be coming later."
"Woke up early." He shrugged.
"We're so gonna win this year! I've been sabotaging Vincent for the last three months. That's already one enemy down." Sam said with a gleeful smile. He pointed at a small boy across the area who stood alarmingly still. I couldn't see him well from this far, but I could make out a pair of dark under eyes on him.
"Sam! What did you do?"
"Oh cheer up, it's just makeup... I think. Oh, come on! I did what I had to do." This statement was followed by a violent sneeze.
"Oh, sorry. Pollen." He sniffed. There was a slight stiffness to his voice. He had to blow his nose a few times and cough to get back functioning again.
Abigail glanced at me and made a very stern look. "I'm so going to win this." It screamed.
"Sam!"
There was a pinkish haired woman on the other side of the grounds waving at us. She vaguely reminded me of the little boy Sam had pointed to earlier. The hair was the same, and the posture. She called again for Sam.
"Ugh, what now?" He shouted. I couldn't hear the answer, but Sam's response came loud and clear; "Do I have to? Really? Okay, okay. Coming! -I said I'm- argh, whatever."
While Sam mingled with his family and Abigail wandered aimlessly around Gus' delicacy table -including, but not necessarily limiting to, only that it was the only thing there was, eggs - I tried to pull Sebastian aside for a moment.
"Have you thought about it?" I asked in a hushed voice when I was sure no one else could hear me. I wasn't entirely sure why it all had to be so secretive. It wasn't like I was selling drugs or trying to kill him.
"Thought about what?" Hands in pockets he slowly made his way around the area with me soon in toe. The sun had given a bit pinkish rush over his cheeks and nose, which kind of suited him, I thought.
"Don't act stupid. Ya know... please?"
This time he tried to hide his frown and he stood in place when he thought about it. And yet, he lifted his shoulders a little and sighed; "Alright. If you then promise to stop bugging me about it and leave me alone. Just don't try to get me killed."
"Deal."
The joy of forthcoming money overrode the nerves slowly creeping in for the following race. About an hour later Mayor Lewis gathered everyone to the main center to begin his speech. It was as dry as it was lengthy, but people seemed to eat it up.
Children and older gathered closer, Abigail included. Quickly behind her stood Sam red nosed and stuffy. Sebastian stood apart from the others on the side near me. Abigail was waving at me to follow her, since the mayor's speech had started to turn towards today's shenanigans.
"You coming?" I turned to the boy who, to my surprise, laughed and shook his head.
"Absolutely not." He leaned back against a near tree still wearing a slight smile of amusement. That was so weird. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Was it arrogance that drove him, I could possibly see that. But did he really think he was above us by refusing to do fun things?
"Abby would kill me."
Well, that hadn't been something I had expected. Somewhat confused I turned my back and went with the others. Apparently, I made it just in time, since the mayor had started counting. 5, 4, 3... Once he got to 1, even seconds before the whistle echoed through the lawn, the kids went crazy.
The rules for the game were simple. There were none. You just had to gather and find as many eggs as you could. Abigail had been thorough when explaining the spirit of the festival. Run and don't look back, as she explained it. Hide, you got to think like the egg, live like the egg. That's how you found them.
Or got Sebastian to hide some and point them out to you while you run. That seemed to work out too.
I panicked and crawled. I ran and jumped around. Wandering around aimlessly I couldn't help but wonder if I seemed as clueless as I felt. Like an absolute idiot. This race was absolutely not made for me.
I managed to find and keep 4 eggs in total once the whistle blew again, one of them I managed to snatch before one of the kids got to it. Ya know, little legs and everything. The win was inevitable.
In the large straw basket, the pathetic gathering wobbled around as I carried them back to the center. I didn't think all of them even counted.
One that had been hidden up in one house's drainpipe smelled a little off and I just hoped the mayor wouldn't notice anything.
Walking past some Saloon I found a rugged old man standing oddly around. His posture was a bit left leaning even while leaning against a hard brick wall. A shaggy brown beard covered most of his face, but he was smiling, that was clear. There was a small glint of excitement in his eyes when he nodded my way and then slyly shook his head towards the bushes next to him.
Once he decided to tap his foot slightly under the leaves, I finally understood what he was doing. Just behind the wilderness sat a tiny sky-blue egg. I gave the man a knowing smile and scooped the egg up as I passed by.
"Wow, look at all these eggs!" The mayor cheered, carefully eyeing and counting every basked as he went.
Five eggs. That's how many laid in my basket. At least it was better than four, but I couldn't help gazing at Abigail's gatherings that were even creating a mound over the edge. The winner was crystal clear and there really was no need for any math equations to solve for that.
The mayor did it anyway. His slick mustache twitched as he examined and weighed every finding. Even mine he came and eyed down. With a slight glance at me he shrugged and turned his back, continuing to the next one.
No weighing, no handling, none of that weirdness. Just like that. He did seem to be awfully keen on doing it to every other basket. Then why not mine? Strange man.
"This year's winner will be hard to pick." He commented with a disgustingly gleeful expression. He held a supposedly tension filled pause as he scanned the audience and grinned. With broad and proud movements, he raised his left hand and loudly announced Abigail's victory.
The crowd broke out in cheers and the mayor uncovered a simple straw hat. He reached high and showed it out to the sun before placing it over Abigail's bright hair. The hat was humble and plain, but she wore it like a crown.
"Abby! You were amazing! How on earth did you do... THAT?!" I exclaimed as she danced closer.
"Practice." she said with a sly grin.
Sam had already gone to show off his treasure to Sebastian. He hadn't moved from the tree which he was still leaning against. Arms crossed, there was a slight grin on his face as Sam proudly displayed the loot.
"How many this time?" Sebastian asked Abigail who too lifted her basket up on display.
There were twelve eggs in total. The scene before me looked ridiculously like a tired single father with his two tiny children trying desperately to tell him how their day had been. I fought back a creeping grin as Abigail prattled on, "It is better than last year, but I know I can do better-"
"Hey. Hey! New girl!" It took a moment for me to recognize the waving man in the crowd. Lewis called me like a dog. Whistling to get my attention.
"What does he want?" Sam tried to stretch his neck over my shoulder.
"Dunno."
"Ugh, sorry guys. Gotta go." Sebastian shoved his phone back into his pocket, glaring at a girl who seemed to be waiting for him. His tone and expression had changed drastically from what it had been just a moment before.
The girl stared with her big eyes and nodded her head towards a couple across the park. I recognized the woman; it was hard not to with her flaming red hair.
"Yeah, yeah. Coming." Sebastian flicked his hand like he was trying to get rid of a fly. The girl left.
"I didn't know Robin was your mum." I commented. "The guy next to her must be your-"
"No." Sebastian shut the conversation down immediately. I wasn't ready yet.
"That was at least a sister."
"Little sister." Sam smirked.
"Half-sister." Sebastian corrected. A slight agitation was visible across his face and a dent on his cheek conveyed that he was biting the inside of his mouth.
"Well, get going then. Look, they're waiting." Abigail gave him a slight push. "You wouldn't want to walk alone now, would you."
"New girl!"
"Ugh, alright then." Swearing under my breath I waved the remaining two goodbye and slowly groveled across the park.
"Took your time, eh? Clint here told me you've been keeping the man busy. That's good." He tapped the cane against the sidewalk and beamed. There was something really artificial about him. "Maybe I'll have to recheck the taxing on that matter, at some point. If this business of yours actually takes hold. Heh."
He did seem to have a bit of a crowd going. The blacksmith by his side nodded at every statement the mayor made. There were two other women, Caroline with her friend. Even the local doctor had stopped by to say hello.
"Caroline you were so kind letting her stay at yours, knowing the space issues and everything." The woman spoke. Her other hand was hanging oddly to the side, but then I noticed a small tuft of pink hair creeping from behind.
The little child peeped a little look, and then hid again.
"I heard from Robin that the construction is nearly done at the farm, yeah. Got the feeling she's quite proud of it. Either way, I'm barely just holding onto her stuff. It's like she never even sleeps!"
"Reminds me of someone, heh. Guess blood is blood after all."
The next time the little boy dared to come out I gave him a little wink. Unfortunately, this only made him retreat again.
"Speaking of which, have you heard from your grandfather lately. How's he been doing? Still kicking, I assume." Even Gus had joined the conversation. With a fatherly grin he patted me on the back.
"Grandfather?" I shuffled my feet, desperate to find something else to do. "Which one? I don't think you know him... Both been dead for decades."
"You're not-? What?"
I could feel my cheeks flush worse by the second. Lewis just rolled his eyes with a lousy frown. I had to get out of there as soon as I could.
***