Page 16 of Of Potions and Honey
“Ah. Habits, I suppose.”
They set off, with Poppy taking the lead. When they passed the last house on the street, empty and its front garden looking even worse than Mira’s, she briefly spotted a bushy tail between the weeds. It twitched before it disappeared and Marigold, presumably, went to stalk the rodents breeding underneath the porch.
“You can catch some of mine, if you feel like it.”
There was a faint meow, but the cat didn’t show itself. Kayden chuckled.
“See, that’s already the first step to making friends with Yoni.”
Mira gave him a sidelong glance. “What, making friends with her cat?”
“Of course. The way to a woman’s heart goes past her cat.”
“Did you try that?”
He guffawed. “What, me? No, I’ve got no interest in that sort of thing. I just noticed that every time someone did after she became single again, that cat has made her opinion known loud and clear.”
“Seems a bit of a strange dating strategy to me.”
He put his hands in his pockets. “It’s working for Yoni, so who am I to judge.”
They turned right just a minute or so beyond the last house on the street, onto a wide dirt path that led past the dilapidated fence to their right towards the treeline ahead. A faded woodensign, the once bright red paint peeling, indicated that this was the ‘Blackbird’s Trail’, and another one underneath, smaller and painted yellow, showed the distances to the connecting trails further in the forest. One of the signs had been crossed out by way of a thin piece of wood shoddily nailed over it.
“Does anyone still maintain those trails?”
“Some of them,” Kayden said. “Mostly the ones close to the town. Every now and again we still get people coming here forthe fresh country air.”
His tone left no doubt about what the thought of that particular type of tourist. Mira couldn’t blame him. She knew the type – the exact kind of people who would recount their trip to this ‘quaint little hamlet’ to their friends like it had been some sort of charity mission. A twinge of guilt reminded her that she, too, had thought about Emberglen this way, though not with quite as much pity.
“Maybe some of them really do like it here,” Mira mused. “It’s so nice and quiet.”
“Mhm. Bit too quiet, if you ask me.”
He sounded serious now. When Mira looked at him from the corner of her eye, he was looking straight ahead, to where Poppy was sniffing along the edge of the path.
“Because of all the people moving away.”
“Not just that. Everyone who stays…” His shoulders lumped a little. “It’s hard not to think about what’s going to happen, is all. Sure, they talked big game about that Golden River store ‘revitalising the town’, but so far that hasn’t exactly happened. They brought a manager from the city and hired some younger folks right out of school, all part-time, that’s about it.”
“Sounds like Golden River,” Mira greed darkly.
“Right, you used to work for them. I’m guessing we shouldn’t hold our breath for this salvation to ever come?”
“I highly doubt it.” Mira shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t even know why they’re here, it’s not the usual location for a store.”
“Maybe they just liked the view that much.” Kayden blew out a sigh. “Well, they have some fancy treats that Poppy likes, so there is that, I suppose.”
“I thought she prefers wood sprites.”
He snorted. “Not these days, she doesn’t. She’s learned her lesson about going after the wildlife.”
As if on cue, Poppy, roughly twenty yards ahead, gave a bark, then another, as she paced back and forth on the path.
“Poppy!” Kayden called, and the dog stopped, all four ears perked. “Heel!”
It took a second, but Poppy obeyed, joining them as they approached a bend in the path.
“What’s the matter with you? You know it’s not dinner time yet.”
