Page 40 of Of Potions and Honey
“There you go, you terrible bother,” Mira cooed. “Will you let me drop this off now, it’s disgustingly heavy, and I don’t think you’re going to help me carry it.”
“Oh, she is helping.” Mira looked up when Eren left the greenhouse. “She’s providing moral support.”
“Of course,” Mira said dryly. She put the pannier down with a relieved sigh. “That’s your tree juice, by the way.”
“My… oh!” He hurried over, wiping his hands on his apron. “You brought that here? Cassia was supposed to pick that up this week after she delivered the produce to Harper.”
“If she was, nobody told me about it,” Mira replied. “This has been sitting in my store room for a week, and frankly I got tired of tripping over it.”
“Sorry. I should’ve left her a note. She’s so busy with the cherries and the peaches right now, we barely talk until late at night.”
“It’s fine.” Grimacing, Mira rubbed her shoulders, trying to ignore Poppy’s whining. “Mostly. She can definitely come pick up the next one though.”
Eren hefted the jug. “I’ll remind her.”
He disappeared behind the house, presumably to store the fertiliser until they needed it. Mira watched him go when something persistently bumped into her knees.
“Woof!”
Mira bent down and began scratching Poppy’s ears again. “Yes, yes. I haven’t forgotten about you.”
Poppy was insistent enough that Mira was still petting her when Kayden appeared around the corner of the house. He had black stains on his hands and a sour expression on his face that lifted a little when he spotted Mira.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Delivering something.” Mira grinned sheepishly. “Don’t worry, it’s a one-off, I’m not taking away your job.”
“You don’t know how much of a relief that is to hear,” he said, but the humour in his tone seemed half-hearted at best. “Seems that I’m not as good at repairs as I thought I was, so I might need those delivery jobs.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I think it’s not the pump, but a problem with the well.” He sighed wearily. “I’d give you a ride back to dinner, but I’m afraid this will take a while. You and Yoni go ahead and eat, I don’t know if I can make it tonight.”
“Oh. That’s a bummer.”
Mira couldn’t help but notice the strained undertone. She badly wanted to ask more, because between this and the ever-lowering water line at the spring, she was beginning to worry. But he looked so tired that she didn’t want to hold him up any more than she already had.
“I suppose at least Cassia and Eren won’t let you starve.”
He chuckled weakly. “No, there’s always pie to be had here.”
“Figures.” Mira picked up her empty pannier and slung it back on her shoulders. “See you later, I hope.”
“Fingers crossed.”
The way back into town seemed longer, even with the weight off. Probably on account of Mira being hungry enough to bite the table by the time she arrived at thePelican. She was a little early, but even so, she’d barely sat down and shoved the pannier under the table when she saw Yoni come through the door and look around.
“Over here!”
Superfluous, seeing as they almost always sat at the same table. But Yoni smiled – thinly, but she did – and came over, sitting down opposite Mira.
“I didn’t think you’d ever be the first.”
Mira chuckled sheepishly. “I came from the Baker orchard, dropped something off.” She sighed. “I met Kayden there, he’sfighting the broken pump again. He said not to wait for him and just eat without him.”
“Oh.” Yoni seemed a little tense all of a sudden. “Is everything all right? He said something about that, but…”
“He seems to know where the problem lies,” Mira replied cautiously. Unsure whether she should blurt out his suspicions about the water levels in public. “Might have something to do with what we saw at the spring.”
