Cole’s shoulders shook. “Looks like you’ll have to stick around for the prize ceremony or Mina will never forgive you.”
“If I end up with a bar of soap, I’m going to be annoyed.” Alan glanced over at Gemma. “No offense.”
She waved his words away. “Don’t worry. I’m fairly certain the festival committee knows that the winner of the weight-throw would be disappointed to get anything other than a pie.”
Cole lifted their linked hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “If I had won, I’d be honored to get a bar of your lavender soap.”
“Honestly, both sound better than the medallions. Maybe Powell actually managed to do something good for the village.”
I looked up at Alan. “One accidental benefit doesn’t make up for everything else he’s done.”
???
The pie wasgone. Alan had shared his winnings with not only me but also Cole, Gemma, Hannah, Phillip, and Sam. After our bellies were full, everyone wandered away, leaving Alan and me alone in the golden glow of sunset. We had retreated to a secluded corner of the green after the prize ceremony, and I didn’t feel the need to urge Alan back to the area where people were still celebrating with boisterous singing and dancing.
Alan laid back on the blanket, his hands under his head. “Cole and Sam seem to be completely free of the charm’s effects.”
I tucked myself against his side, my hand resting over his heart. “Gemma is getting there, too. I’m actually surprised that Cole broke free sooner. The charm must have reinforced his opinions more often, which should have left more lasting effects. I thought Gemma would be more like Kayla—though I guess you might have been closer to her, since Cole was.”
“No. We got along fine, but we were never close. I suspect the reason Cole worked past the magic so quickly was because he also knew me so well for years before Powell came. We ended up having a fairly direct conversation this afternoon when we went to grabfood. He started out accusatory, but it didn’t take much to make him question his assumptions.”
“What do you think Powell will do now?”
Beneath me, his shoulders moved in a shrug. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since the weight-throw.”
“Nor have I.” For the most part, I had only been aware of Powell’s absence distantly. I hadn’t thought beyond my satisfaction that no confrontation had occurred. Now I wondered if my distraction had been a mistake.
Powell couldn’t replace the broken charms without a trip to Haiwella, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t act. My desire to help Alan reestablish himself among the citizens of Skorsa had skewed my priorities. I wanted to see Powell brought to justice for what he had done, but my primary concern had been on righting the wrong he had caused. Had I erred when I encouraged Alan to attend the festival before talking to Conrad and the village council?
“Mina?” Alan shifted, going up on one elbow next to me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m worried that we made a mistake, giving Powell warning.”
“The charms are broken. What can he do?”
I sat up. “I don’t know, but I want to find out.”
“Now? How?”
“Let’s see if he returned to the forge. He would have wanted to check on the charms, right?”
Alan groaned but got to his feet, offering me a hand when he did. I let him pull me up. We walked around the green and through the village. Alan took us directly to the front door of the shop, frowning when the knob turned in his hands. “It should be locked. Powell has definitely been in.”
He cracked open the door slightly, blocking me from the entrance with his body. After a quick peek, he threw the door open completely, letting me see the empty room. On the far wall, the doors of the display cabinet were open, the shelves empty.
I grabbed Alan’s arm. “He discovered the missing charms and took everything of value. He’s fleeing.”
Alan slipped free and walked deeper into the room. “Let’s see if he took anything else.”
I waited near the door until Alan moved to the side entrance to the forge. Then I closed the door behind me and followed him. I stopped in the dimness and waited until Alan threw the doors at the back of the room wide open, letting twilight bathe the space in shadows rather than pure blackness. He moved from one area to the next, touching random tools and counting under his breath.
Finally, he turned back to face me. “Nothing else is missing.”
Behind him, the open doors framed his house. I nodded toward it. “We should check inside.”
The search through the house showed that Powell had come by. It looked like he had packed a bag with a few changes of clothing and some food. He was probably hours from Skorsa by now.
“We need to find Conrad,” I told Alan once we finished our search. “If Powell is fleeing, then the authorities need to be alerted to watch for him as soon as possible.”
