“What a delight. Come sit. I just took a fresh batch of scones out of the oven."
Honey and Roam settled at a table by the fireplace, nibbling on still-warm scones and sipping mugs of mulled cider. Honey inhaled the heavenly scent, the spices and apple mingling perfectly.
"Tabitha, your cider is simply divine," Honey remarked. "I don't know your secret, but no one makes it better."
Tabitha smiled modestly. "Well, truth be told, it wasn't my creation. This recipe was all Lily."
Surprised, Honey and Roam exchanged a glance as Tabitha explained. "A few years ago, this place was struggling, believe that or not? You’d never know it today. Lily took pity and shared her family's mulled cider recipe. It turned everything around." Tabitha's eyes misted with tears. "She saved my livelihood. I owe her so much. I'd bring her gifts every harvest to show my gratitude."
Roam leaned forward intently. "Can you tell us about the last time you visited her?"
Dabbing her eyes with her apron, Tabitha nodded. "I brought her a basket of my best cinnamon sticks. We had a lovely chat before I headed home."
"And you didn't notice anything strange or suspicious?" Honey gently prodded.
Tabitha slung her tea towel over her shoulder and lowered her voice. ""Well... I don't like to gossip, but I did see her arguing with Gregg Abbot outside the orchard when I arrived. Something about apple trees and dead sticks. Gregg seemed quite upset when he left."
Honey met Roam's gaze – both knowing it was time to visit the wandmaker.
Fire and Water
Thedoorofthewand shop was locked. Cupping their hands, they both gazed through the window into the dark store.
“He’s not in there.” Honey huffed. “It looks pretty barren. Do you think he’s gone out of business?”
“I reckon not. We would have heard about that.” Roam pushed away from the window.
“That would be so sad. I’d hate to lose one of the oldest crafts in town. Right? That would be a tragedy.” Honey followed Roam away from the shop.
“No. We’re dealing with a tragedy. But I don’t think we can wait around. We’ll come back later. Let’s go check out the fires sites, again. Maybe we missed something. Transport us, please.” Roam said.
Honey flamed up in a bright pink puff cloud and enveloped Roam in a circle of sparkling glitter and flames.
They landed softly at the edge of the dark woods just outside the orchard and trudged through the brush, searching for clues among the burnt patches where the mysterious fires were set. Nothing about the fires had come up with any of the neighbors or suspects.
At the site of the last fire, the one that was burning the day Lily died, Honey knelt and sifted through the ash and charred soil. "What is this? A seed?" she held up a partially burned seed. “It looks like a seed to me.”
Roam squatted and swept away the debris from the middle of the fire pit. "Apple seeds..." Roam murmured, examining them. “But why burn the seeds?”
"And why didn’t we notice these little containers..." she murmured as she pushed the leaves off a small tin can close to the pit. Honey lifted it to her nose. "They have traces of water inside. The water," she gasped. "It's from the falls, smell. It smells like the mist.”
His head snapped up, eyes blazing. "The water from the falls. Someone was using it to augment the plants. But why would they burn the seeds if they wanted them to grow?”
"Someone found a way to corrupt the water’s power.” Honey spoke her thoughts out loud as she turned the tin can over in her hands and saw the burnt bottom. “They didn’t burn the seeds. They boiled it.” Honey met his gaze, stunned.
“What? That makes no sense.” Roam shook his head. “These seeds are burnt.”
“Yes. You’re right, but wrong. What I mean is those seeds were probably just dropped. They boiled the water.” Honey explained.
Roam's eyes widened as he caught onto her implication and repeated her revelation. “The fires were used to boil water.” Roam swore under his breath. "Making dark magic from something good."
Honey took their discovery one step further. "The boiled water makes the poisons from the plants even more toxic."
"Diabolical, but it fits," Roam said grimly. "Apple seeds, almonds, hydrangeas - all contain cyanide compounds. With the corrupted falls water, they all become lethal."
Honey turned to Roam with sorrowful realization. "The killer has turned the town's life source against us. And is still free to use it on anyone of us. They could corrupt the whole waterway if they wanted to."
Roam shook his head, disgust twisting his features. “We need to go back to see Miles.”
