And then: “Gno!”
As if a switch had been flipped, they suddenly started moving more smoothly and efficiently. They worked the wet, grassy soil with whatever tool they might have, or with their bare hands, tending the tinyseeds.
Hatter stood beside me watching the industrious little crew. Even the gnome with the gun was shooting tiny holes into the dirt, though I wasn’t sure what good that woulddo.
“Huh. So this is a thing. You couldn’t have given me a head’sup?”
“It doesn’t work every time, honestly.” The annoyed look he gave me wasawesome.
“Stop scowling. Most of these garden gnomes are actually garden gnomes. Their first instinct is to garden. They’re going to track down, sort out, and replant every one of these seeds into neat little rows. Mr. and Mrs. Denver might have a nice little veggie garden if the seeds make it through winter. This should keep the gnomes busy untilsunrise.”
“And by then they’ll be stoneagain.”
“Not only stone, but by then, they will have forgotten all about this. Very short attention spans. They only remember one day at a time, though they have some kind of long-term memory that allows them to remember they’re only alive in October, and during that time they have to live under the rules of Ordinary and follow what their leadersays.”
I strolled toward thetruck.
“Now that Abner is gone, they don’t have a leader,” hesaid.
“I know.” I got into the truck. Time to cruise the neighborhoods where other gnomes might be wandering. “That’s why we need to find out who killedAbner.”
