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Once Stanley and I had prepared ourselves to meet the world, I collected my broomstick and we left the apartment. We stepped onto the pavement and were immediately assaulted by a collection of brightly coloured creatures who dashed over to us and immediately started to yell at me. The tallest one came up to my knee.
I blinked as I focused on them. I’d only ever seen garden gnomes in gardens before, and it took a moment for me to recognise them as gnomes as they continued to shout at me. The gnomes were dressed in a variety of colours and most of them were sporting colourful hats too. I would have smiled and said hello if they weren’t yelling so aggressively at me.
The nearest gnome raised his fist and cried out, “What are you going to do about it, Cassia Winter? You’ve got our complaints. When are you going to deal with them?”
Another gnome joined in, “My prize lilies are ruined! Just ruined!”
“Never mind your lilies, what about my herb garden? It was the talk of the town last week. It isn’t now. It’s been ruthlessly destroyed!”
“My cauliflowers have been crushed!”
“My tomatoes have been pulverised!”
“Justice! We want justice!”
Little fists were waved in my direction and I took a step back.
I said, “Your complaints are being dealt with.”
“When? We want justice now!”
Stanley raised his voice above the din and declared, “Astrid, the guardian, is dealing with your complaints. She’s sitting right there in the café.”
Everyone’s heads turned towards Mooncrest café at our side. Luca and Astrid were sitting at a table near the window. Astrid was talking and waving her hands around. Luca was reading the complaint papers in front of him.
Before I could stop them, the angry gnomes marched into the café and over to Astrid.
Stanley chuckled and said, “Let’s see what happens.”
“No, I don’t want to. Stanley, that was a bit mean of you. I was about to tell the gnomes I’d deal with everything later. I don’t like to pass work along to someone else.”
Stanley lowered his head. “I’m sorry. Astrid did say she wanted to deal with the issues.” He raised his little head and his eyes widened. “I’m so very sorry. I’ll go in there and talk to the gnomes. Are you mad at me?”
“How can I ever be mad at you? I love you too much, you silly thing.”
We looked towards the café and saw a horrified-looking Astrid staring at the shouting gnomes. For a split second, I felt a pang of satisfaction. I quickly dismissed it and hoped the gnomes would stop bellowing at her soon.
We turned away from the café, hopped onto my broomstick and were soon flying towards Cezerus Ranch. Blythe had given us directions and it wasn’t too far away. She said the ranch was a commercial business and had many leisure facilities including a meditation centre and outdoor exercise areas.
As we soared towards the ranch, Stanley said, “You should have told Blythe about Astrid and how she spoke to you yesterday.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t intend to get in the way of Astrid and Luca’s relationship. I don’t do things like that. But I won’t have Astrid telling me I can’t ask Luca for professional help.”
Stanley pointed out, “It was Blythe who asked for his help anyway. You should have told Astrid that.”
“I don’t think that would have made any difference to Astrid. It’s clear she doesn’t like me. I’ll make sure I keep my distance from her. If I do need to speak to her, I’ll be polite.”
Stanley made a ‘humph’ noise. “She wasn’t polite to you. Cassia, I don’t like her at all. I could sense the hate that was aimed at you. It was strong. Be careful around her.”
“I will. Anyway, I’ve got you to look out for me.” I scanned the horizon. “Blythe said the ranch is out this way. Can you see anything yet?”
“Not yet.” Stanley lifted his head and his grey fur ruffled in the wind. “I love flying.”
We flew on in companionable silence until we came to a large area with manicured fields set around a collection of one-storey buildings. I could see some centaurs galloping around one of the fields.
Stanley shook his head sadly. “Why run when you can fly?”
We flew towards the largest building where a group of centaurs were talking. We landed in front of them and an older-looking centaur came over to us.
He held his hand out and said, “Cassia Winter? You’ve got a look of your gran about you. I’m Nilah Cezerus. Thanks for coming by so quickly. How much has Blythe told you about my son?”
I shook Nilah’s hand and tried not to look at his bare chest. It was hard not to as they were covered in old scars.
I released Nilah’s hand and said, “Blythe explained about the doctor’s findings regarding the cause of death, and that you disagree with it.”
A note of bitterness came into Nilah’s voice. “I certainly do disagree with his findings! Selo was in the best health. He was strong and healthy, just like everyone in my family. Someone did something to Selo. Someone caused his death.”
“Why would someone do that? Did he have enemies?”
Nilah nodded. “He certainly did. The other centaurs were jealous of his athletic abilities.” His voice rose. “They wanted to take him down. I could see it in their eyes. They had no respect for the magnificent creature he was!” His front leg pawed angrily at the ground and his nostrils flared.
I asked, “Do you suspect anyone in particular?”
Nilah suddenly raised himself on his back legs and his front ones swept furiously through the air. “All of them! They all wanted him out of the way! Justice! I want justice for my son!” He landed abruptly and his large hooves narrowly missed Stanley’s head.
I whipped Stanley up and said firmly, “You’ll have to calm down. I can’t talk to you like this.”
Nilah’s nostrils flared even more, and I could have sworn I saw a flash of red in his eyes.
He didn’t get the chance to say anything else because another centaur came swiftly to our side. He was younger and smaller than Nilah, but the family resemblance was clear to see.
The centaur said, “Father, go inside and take some time to yourself. You’re in no fit state to talk to Cassia like this. Why don’t you try the meditation area?”
Nilah let out a loud cry and flung his hands up. “Meditation won’t help me! The only thing that will help me is bringing Selo’s murderer to justice!”
The centaur spoke again, “I know that. Cassia needs all the facts so she can do her job. Shouting isn’t going to help at all. You go inside. I’ll deal with everything.”
Nilah settled down and placed a hand on the centaur’s shoulder. His voice was noticeably calmer as he said, “You’re right, Lifin, I’m no use to anyone at the moment. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He squeezed Lifin’s shoulder before walking away.
Lifin watched him go and then turned to me. “Hello, I don’t know how much information you have yet, but I’m Nilah’s youngest son. Selo was my one and only sibling. I know who you are, Cassia, and why you’re here. I was hoping I’d meet you in better circumstances.”
“Is your father going to be alright?” I asked.
“He will be when he calms down. We’ve got some great meditation classes inside. Would you like to see where Selo died? I’m presuming that would be important to you.”
“Yes, please.”
Lifin gestured to a wide track at our side. “It’s not far down this way. This track is part of a ten-mile run. Selo ran along it several times a day. He sometimes took clients too.”
“Ten miles?” Stanley asked. “Is that how far we have to walk?”
“No,” Lifin replied. “It’s only a mile down this way. I share your horror, though. I’m not the athletic type. I prefer office work. I run the admin side of the family business.”
We walked along the track. I ignored Stanley’s wishful looks at my broomstick as I held it firmly at my side.
I asked Lifin, “How long has your ranch been here?”
“We’ve had the land for over a hundred years, but we set up the commercial ranch about twenty years ago. I don’t know how much you know about centaurs, but my ancestors had a reputation for behaving badly. They would ride roughshod over any land, no matter who it belonged to. Father was the same for a while in his youth. He got himself into many fights, hence the scars on his chest. When Selo and I came along, he calmed down. He wanted to make amends with the residents of Brimstone and thought about how he could help them. He set up this ranch, and when I was old enough, I helped too.”
“Did Selo help?” I enquired.
I didn’t miss the look of irritation in Lifin’s eyes as he said, “A bit. He was more interested in running wild around our land. He said he had to keep training for the contest.”
“What contest?” Stanley and I asked together.
Lifin replied, “The contest to win ownership of the 1,000 Acre Forest to the south of here. It’s a yearly event amongst the centaurs. Selo’s won it for the last fifteen years. The victory went to his head last time and he was sure he’d continue to win. So, that was his excuse for not helping more on the ranch. He said he had to keep in shape for the big race by constantly training.”
We walked under the shade of a tall tree.
I said, “What was Selo like?”
“Hotheaded. Arrogant. Irresponsible,” Lifin replied. “He was my brother, and I loved him, but he was getting out of control. Father was worried Selo would ruin the reputation of the ranch and the good relationship our family had built up locally. I was concerned too.”
We carried on in silence for a few minutes. I considered what Lifin had told me. It sounded as if he or his father had a motive to kill Selo. I shook my head to clear those thoughts. I was jumping to conclusions. I didn’t have all the facts yet.
Lifin stopped at a bend in the track. He pointed to overgrown bushes at the side. Some were crushed. He said, “That’s where Father found Selo’s body. Half on the path, and half in the bushes.”
I put my broomstick down and moved closer to the bushes. “Blythe said your father went looking for Selo when he didn’t return from his early morning run. What time was that?”
Lifin folded his arms across his bare chest. “He wasn’t out for his early morning run. He was returning from his night run. Selo had been out racing with his pals in the night. He did it often. Father doesn’t know. He’d be furious if he knew.”
“Why?”
“Selo and his friends didn’t restrict their running to this track at night. They ran wherever they wanted to, no doubt causing mischief along the way. I suspect they ran as far out as the outer lands.”
I said, “Do you know the names of these friends?”
“I can find out for you.”
“Thanks.”
I wandered around the area looking for clues. Stanley looked too. We didn’t find anything.
After ten minutes, I picked my broomstick up and said, “We’ll start making enquiries. Those names would really help me, along with anything else you think is relevant.”
Lifin nodded. “I’ll get back to you soon.”
I carefully said, “Do you have any suspects?”
“There are many centaurs around here who had grudges against Selo.” He gave me a small smile. “I’ll give you a list of those too.”
Stanley and I said thank you to Lifin before taking off on my broomstick. As we flew back to the apartment, we discussed the case. Stanley agreed that Lifin and his father should be considered as suspects.
We arrived back at the apartment and I headed for the kitchen area. Another cup of tea was needed.
A few seconds later, Stanley said, “Erm, Cassia, I think you need to see this.”
“What?” I shouted as I reached for a cup.
“Cassia, you really need to see this. Now.”
There was an urgent tone in Stanley’s voice, so I quickly went over to him. He was standing by the door and staring at the broomstick which was leaning against the wall.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Stanley raised his paw at the broomstick. “I think we’ve brought someone home with us.”
