Page 46 of Bloody Business

Mushroom Mansion

Julep didn't want togo to the parlor.She exited the house through the heavily guarded market door and followed the kids through the glowing streets.

She was still dazed.Infanticide wasn't a topic she thought they would cover today...orever.

It wasn't that she was sheltered.It was just that...who thought that deeply about that sort of thing?It simply didn't come up.People talked about what was for dinner or what was fresh at the market.

She was normal.Goblins were weird.

Gal and Zac weren’t disturbed.Gal had her arm linked with Julep's and was talking soothing nonsense as they strolled home.

“I think we should detour through The Mushroom Mansion.I haven't seen it in ages, and Julep never has.”

“Fine,” Zac said, his attention on scanning the area.Tulip was aware that they had discreet bodyguards.Artur had explained his security measures before.She'd never realized how alert Zac was, or how much he behaved like a trained guard.

“Here we are.”Gal strode up to the ticket window beside a large door lined by giant glowing mushrooms.The sign said, “Mushroom Mansion”.

Gal paid the entry fee and opened the door with a flourish.“Prepare to be dazzled!Also, there's a gift shop at the end if you want to buy some mushrooms.They have the most delicious mushroom soup!”

Zac made an appreciative noise.“Mushroom butter tarts!Those are my favorite.”

The inside of the Mushroom Mansion glowed with pale blue, green and pink light.Two stories tall, it had upper galleries filled with mushroom habitats exhibiting every mushroom known to goblins.

The opening was studded with white stem mushrooms with dark brown caps ranging from footstool size to taller than a man.

Stone pathways of ferns and moss showcased clusters of the mushrooms in a dazzling variety of colors.Delicate blue caps on wet looking mushrooms gleamed under the ferns.Orange cup mushrooms grew in tasty glory next to meaty mushrooms with dark red caps.

Logs were planted upright in the rich loam, their trunks studded with ruffles of white or yellow tree fungus.

The Mansion had two stories, and one of the upper galleries sported a new display, which Gal proudly pointed out.“See?Uncle donated a sample of the mushrooms and ferns you collected.They put your name on the plaque!”

Julep wasn't sure it was a good thing, but the mansion was probably full of poisonous mushrooms, so one more wouldn't matter.At least they included the blue ferns.

“These smell amazing,” Zac said, leaning in for a closer sniff.“I can see why someone would be tempted to eat them.”

“It makes you want to collect them and keep them in the house like flowers,” his sister agreed.

“Bad idea.They're a narcotic.Occasional exposure is fine, but if you kept them around you would find them addictive, slowly become sluggish and fat.They stimulate the appetite.”

Zac looked thoughtful.

“On that note, I'm hungry!Why don't we stop by the gift shop and buy some soup?”Gal suggested brightly.

The soup and butter tarts were amazing.There were even little cookies shaped like mushrooms.They were okay, but nothing like Gog's tarts, and Julep wasn't interested in the squishy green mushroom candies, although the teenagers loved them.

They bought a variety of fresh and dry mushrooms for Gog while they were there.

---