Page 4 of Hexes and Hiccups
Tessa gripped onto Daisy’s hand with determination. Though Daisy wasn’t a practicing gossiper herself, she knew very well that Tessa was. Not in the cruel way most people assume when they hear the term, but rather with the idea of knowing more than she already did. As an empath, Tessa sought out - Daisy shook her head, stopping her own thoughts short.
Let’s be real,Daisy thought to herself.Tessa was a gossip just like the rest.
Holding back her laugh, Daisy allowed her friend to pull her through the crowd, slipping in and around the onlookers. As they peered around the throngs of people, Daisy’s eyes finally landed on the salon’s window, where words had been written in an unavoidable red. Daisy’s lips moved as she read over the sentence.
Anne Fairfax drops cats off in the middle of nowhere to get rid of them.
Daisy gaped and felt the color drain from her face, her knees wobbling for a moment. “That can’t be right at all,” she whispered.
Beside her, Tessa looked as still as a statue. “It’s just a complete lie. A vicious rumor.”
“Who painted this here? In broad daylight like this? For everyone to see?” Daisy shook her head. “This is more than simply ruminating over a rumor o-or a ploy at gossip.”
Tessa pressed her lips together. “All these people have already seen it.”
“You know as well as I do that Anne wouldneverdo something like that,” Daisy said, her voice beginning to rise. “She volunteers at the local animal shelter and runs their adoption expos in town center! Every time I see her, all she can do is talk about the strays, and eventually try to convince me to adopt one myself.” Daisy shook her head again, her hands clenching into small, angry fists. “Whoever did this is low.”
“Low?”
“Unrespectable,” Daisy said. “A delinquent!”
Tessa shrugged. “Sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like the note Riven had.”
Daisy’s anger was bursting at the seams. Not only was the culprit behind turning Riven to stone directly harming her best friend, but they were also turning against the most kind-hearted people in Willowbrook. There wasn’t a chance that Anne did such a terrible thing. She was an older woman who spent all her free time in animal shelters. How could she just turn around and do something cruel at the same time?
The laughter and whispering from the crowd of onlookers finally caught Daisy’s attention. Perhaps that was the culprit's goal. To destroy a good reputation, or bring out the bad side of people. Everyone in Willowbrook knew Anne and her ways, but then, with a simple phrase written on a random window, they were quick to change their minds. Daisy could hardly hold herself back any longer, undeniable heat rushing to her cheeks.
Tessa, beginning to notice the anger, grabbed onto Daisy’s wrist. “Hey, now,” she murmured. “I know that look. Don’t do anything –”
Daisy yanked her hand away, already stomping towards the window. Though she was small, she stretched her arms out infront of the red lettering, blocking it all out as much as she could. The murmurs and laughter trickled out, the onlookers watching her with perplexed expressions.
“Every last one of you should be ashamed of yourselves!” Daisy exclaimed, making sure to look at as many people as she could. Most of them were familiar, patrons in her shop or simply people she passed on the street. They shrunk back slightly. “We all know Anne! She is a kind woman, one who would never do something as heinous as thisgossipsuggests!”
Murmurs spread throughout the group as a few stragglers left.
“Participating in this gross gossip is just wrong,” Daisy snapped. “The next time one of you is looking to adopt a stray and wants to turn to Anne, I hope you remember the feeling you have right now. This is just –”
Daisy felt her words stop short as something to her left caught her attention. Stuffed within the window’s opening was a note, the edge poking out whipping around from the wind. Daisy’s eyes narrowed, her attention caught. Flipping around, Daisy reached for the paper and snatched it out. The same words written on the window were on the sheet, resembling the note they found in Riven’s hands. Along the border of the torn note were the same golden ribbons, shimmering in the bright sunlight.
It was another page from Riven’s book! Daisy quickly put the note in her pocket, careful not to tear it further, her eyes looking over the red lettering across the salon’s window once more. While Riven wasn’t entirely left out in the open for all of the town to see, the rumor about Anne was. Even though they were a part of the same book, Daisy couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on. Why would the culprit leave gossip like that out in the open, something that would certainly tarnish someone’s good reputation?
“What’s going on over here?”
Daisy’s spine straightened immediately.Anne!Whipping back around, Daisy watched as the crowd began to part, the gossipers scattering before Anne got too close to see them. Tessa shouldered by the remaining onlookers to stop Anne from coming to the window, but she was far too late. Anne, like everyone else, was curious about what was written upon the window. And it didn’t matter how much Daisy waved her hands over the red letters - all of it remained blatantly visible.
Anne stepped onto the sidewalk, leaning forward slightly because of the crook in her back. She was dressed in a slight blue dress, a shawl pulled over her shoulders. In the sun, Anne’s rust-colored skin burned brightly. Her brown eyes grew wider as she peered around Tessa’s narrow frame, easily seeing over Daisy’s head.
Daisy winced as the older woman’s face began to change, the despair hitting her much harder than she’d expected it to. Anne raised a trembling hand to her lips, tears already welling up in her gaze.
“What on earth?” she croaked. “Who would say such a thing? I-I’d never –”
Tessa wrapped her arm around Anne’s shoulders, trying desperately to steer her away from the salon windows. “Everyone knows it to be not true, Anne,” she cooed, the comforting magic radiating off her in waves.
“But it’s written on the window for everyone to see!” Anne shook her head as she began to weep. “Right on Main Street! Oh, heavens, if the city board were to see this, they wouldn’t let me volunteer at the shelters for another second! Oh, heavens!” Anne leaned against Tessa’s chest as the cries racked through her. She had been rendered inconsolable within seconds.
