Previous: Meeting the Mayor

“Have you gone mad?!” Holly shouted as she and Hazel stood alone in the main room of the cottage. “You’re going to let him flog you?!”

Hazel flinched. Holly wasn’t usually one to shout. “Pretend. He’s going to pretend to flog us.”

Holly folded her arms. “Right. And I’m going to sprout wings and fly around the sun. You can’t possibly believe him!”

“He has no reason to lie. If he was going to flog us, he’d just do it without the pretense. So, yes, I do believe him. And he’s promised to help us find Father. We need this, Holly.”

Previous: Witnessing Trouble

“He’s not really going to tar and feather you, is he Hazel?” Holly asked.

“Perhaps we should think about leaving,” Hawthorn said, “before we find out.”

“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?” Hemlock said. “Why am I the only one not in on this?”

Holly told him of the morning’s events while Hawthorn continued to glower at Hazel.

I first met Damon L. Wakes over on Goodreads. I was looking for books to review, back when I first started blogging and had delusions of grandeur that I’d be able to review books somewhat regularly. He approached me about reviewing his collection of flash fiction stories, OCR is Not the Only Font, but also recommended to me an indie book by a completely different author, Goldilocks by Anna Rose. I ended up reading both and liking both quite a bit. I think OCR is Not the Only Font is the first book I ever reviewed on this blog.

Previous: Early Ambitions and Ablutions

Holly could only stutter incoherent half-protests as Hazel herded her out the barn door and prodded her towards the house.

“All right,” Hazel said in a low voice once they reached the steps of Francis’ home. “You wait here while I go inside. If I’m not back in five minutes, you come inside too. Otherwise, I’ll come back out and let you know it’s safe to go investigate the shed.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

Previous: Harvest Home

Francis was a kind and generous host, even if he did seem a little soft in the head. They ate their sandwiches with ham and mustard (eggs and mustard for Holly) until they were all full and nearly falling asleep at the table.

“I’ve only got a single spare room,” Francis said, “so you need to decide amongst yourselves who gets it. The rest of you can stay in the barn out back.”

To Hazel, Hemlock said, “You and Holly take the bed, Hawthorn and I will sleep in the barn.”

“Absolutely not,” said Hawthorn. “I refuse to sleep out in the cold and filth with unwashed animals.”