Page 69 of Of Potions and Honey
“Yes, and you reassured me that your company had nothing to do with the drought.” The mayor poked his finger in Mr. Sheffield’s direction. “This is some pretty damning evidence that maybe you were not quite honest about that, mhmm?”
Mr. Sheffield thrust out his chin, cheeks flushed. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Really?” It was Harper, who had elbowed her way through the crowd, Yoni in her wake. “How about we go and check that warehouse of yours down on Applebarrow Lane? Maybe we could get some more samples from there?”
“I will not allow this!”
“Oh, don’t worry.” There was an odd sparkle in Mayor Lloyd’s eyes now. “There won’t be any allowing. Tomorrow morning, I will be launching an inquiry with the authorities in Heartfield into the matter. I’m sure they will come to a proper conclusion, won’t they?”
“You go and do that!” Mr. Sheffield grabbed his hat off the table and jammed it onto his head. “The company will hear about this, believe you me! You lot!” he barked at the employees. “Clean this up! No free samples!”
And with that, he jumped off the platform and pushed his way past the throng of whispering people, followed by stares and obvious questions. Mira stared after him, still holding the bottle. That was it? Just like that, he was running away?”
“As for you, Miss Gardener.”
Flinching, Mira turned to find the mayor fixing his gaze on her. “What?”
“This was a shameful spectacle. Whatever this investigation will conclude, this is not over.”
Mira swallowed thickly. “I just-”
“Save this for later.” The mayor stepped up to the abandoned microphone. The din of voices in the square died down a little when he cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, dearest guests, I am so very sorry about this undignified scene! What transpired here just now is truly unworthy of our beautiful town. I do hope you don’t think that this is all we have to offer.” He made a sweeping gesture over the heads o the crowd. “Perhaps you’ll enjoy our evening program more! After this, we have a charming little performance on the village green put on by our first- and second-graders, and after dark, there will be a bonfire and music put on by…”
This, Mira decided, was a good moment to slink away and hopefully disappear into the crowd before Mayor Lloyd couldthink of reprimanding her some more. When she jumped off the platform, she found herself immediately ringed by several humans and one very excited dog.
“Now, that went well, didn’t it?” Harper said cheerfully. “I have to say, that was a pretty good idea.”
Yoni raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure Mayor Lloyd agrees.”
“Milton can stuff that where the sun doesn’t shine,” Harper said acidly. “He had every opportunity to solve this problem for months. If anything, it’s his fault it went this far.”
Something heavy draped itself across Mira’s shoulders.
“Don’t you worry.” Cassia herself did not sound very worried, either. “There’s no way you’re getting in trouble for this. Lloyd’s too much of a coward for that.”
Mira gave her a sideways glance. “We did technically dump a bunch of mineral powder into the spring.”
“Oh, who cares?” Cassia waved that off. “That stuff is harmless. Right?”
“Completely,” Yoni said curtly. “Unlikesomeindividuals, we had no intention of messing with the water.”
“Well, besidesthat,” Harper reminded her. She clapped her hands. “What an afternoon! We haven’t had a fair this exciting since that one time the fire jugglers were here!”
“I think perhaps we could have done without that excitement,” Kian muttered. He looked at Mira. “That was your idea?”
“I didn’t come up with that alone.”
Kayden elbowed her. “Mostly you did though.”
“You helped.”
“And we will go down with you, yes,” he joked. “Come on. Take credit. We have a reason for an inquiry now thanks to you.”
“And I will make sure that Milton follows through on that.” Harper sounded much too chipper. “Now excuse me, I need to find Penelope, I’m sure she’ll want to hear all about this!”
She went off to do just that. Cassia and Eren followed, and Kian went to retrieve his daughter from a neighbouring stall. Eventually, Mira was left standing there between Yoni and Kayden.
“You know, this is mostly you,” Yoni said quietly. “If you hadn’t put the pieces together, we’d still be wondering why we’re filling our water jugs drop by drop in the morning.”
