Chapter Eight

Alice's farm was a twenty-minute walk from Earl's place, and even before they reached her property, bits of her destroyed barn littered the dirt road. She didn't seem physically hurt but definitely looked shaken.

"I can't even… Looks like a nasty storm blew it away," she said, almost babbling. "But there's not a cloud in the sky today. And nothing else was destroyed. Never seen anything like it."

"What were you doing when it happened?" Bev asked.

"I'd just been out tending to the animals," Alice replied. "Came back inside for a spot of lunch. And all of a sudden…boom! I saw the barn collapse from the kitchen window. Then it started raining wood and debris. Big cloud of smoke."

"So it's on fire?" Bev asked.

"No." She shook her head. "It was like…I don't know, a big gust of wind came and blew it apart or something."

"And you didn't see what it was?" Bev asked. "Didn't see anyone around?"

"Not a soul." She wrung her hands nervously. "Thank goodness I'd put the horse in the pasture already. Can't imagine what I'd do if I lost Gus. It's bad enough his barn was destroyed—"

"If you need a place to board him, there's room at the inn stables," Bev said. "Sin won't mind."

Alice gave her a grateful smile. "You're a gem, Bev."

They turned the corner and walked up to the farm. More of the barn littered the ground here, and, at the end of the dirt path, there was…well, it wasn't really a crater, but it certainly looked like something had exploded. The ground had been swept away in an almost perfect circle, and while there wasn't a fire, there appeared to be skid marks on the ground.

"Well, I'll be," Earl said, looking at Bev. "Doesn't look to be the same thing that happened to my shop, does it?"

"What happened to your shop?" Alice asked with a frown. "Haven't been to town much this year."

"It burned down the other day." Earl picked up a piece of wood nearby then another. "But this looks to be something else entirely, doesn't it, Bev? Maybe just a coincidence?"

Bev nodded, but she'd learned coincidences didn't happen all that often in Pigsend anymore. "What can you tell me about this morning?"

"Oh, um." Alice rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I put Gus out to pasture early. Fed the goats. Said hi to Bathilda as she was walking her property." She sighed. "Then went back inside to make a spot of lunch. Next thing I know…" She gestured around. "As loud as a cannon, I'd reckon."

"Anything strange in the barn?" Bev asked.

Alice shook her head. "Nope. It was empty. Just hay. I'd mucked the stalls this morning so there weren't even droppings."

"And you didn't see anything after the explosion? Anyone running away?"

"No, I told you. Just me and the goats and the horse." She shook her head. "A real puzzler."

"You said it," Bev said, kneeling to inspect the skid marks on the dirt. Biscuit was sniffing around, more interested than usual. Bev didn't want to talk to him outright in front of Earl or Alice, lest they think her touched in the head for talking to her dog, but he seemed as focused as he'd been with in the jug back at Earl's workshop. Something magical was around.

Bev gave Alice a once-over. Biscuit didn't seem interested in her, just the remnants of her barn. But the laelaps lifted his head, nose twitching as he turned to look behind Bev. She followed his gaze and blinked.

Was that the grannies?

"Hello, dearie!" Janet called, waving happily.

The three were picking up pieces of the barn as they went, already carrying armfuls of splintered wood.

Gladys reached down for another small piece. "We heard there was another incident."

"Oh, good, Earl's already here!" Rita replied. "We're ready to get to work."

"Who…are they?" Alice said, turning to Bev.

"They're guests at the inn," Bev said. "Somewhat handy. Helped Earl get his workshop back together after it burned down."

"They're ancient," Alice said.

"They do good work." Earl shrugged.

Biscuit trotted over to greet the grannies with his tail wagging wildly. They scratched him behind the ears and at the base of the tail, which moved so fast it was hard to see.

"Goodness, what a mess," Janet said, putting her hands on her hips. "Rita, why don't you see about picking up all these splinters? Gladys and I will search for some wood to start framing. Earl? Did you happen to bring any nails?"

Earl jumped. "No, no, I didn't. But I can check with the blacksmith. Cleaned my stash out rebuilding my workshop."

"Hop to it, dearie," Rita said, dropping her armful of splintered wood and waddling over to pick up more. "We've got plenty of daylight to work, and I'm sure this lovely farmer—er… what was your name, love?"

"A-Alice," she stammered.

"Alice needs to get her farm back up and running," Rita finished. "Bev, why don't you take her inside for a nice cup of tea, eh? She looks a bit pale. Might need a pick-me-up."

"Oh, um…" Bev really needed to be getting back to the inn. She hadn't even put in her meat order for the day, and it was wearing on. "All right. Come on, Alice. Let's see about that tea."

~

Alice's farmhouse was rather large considering she lived alone, with a well-stocked kitchen and plenty of seating. Alice put on a kettle and joined Bev at the small, circular table, as she shook her head. Biscuit curled up by Bev's feet but seemed awake to listen to the conversation.

"I wish I could tell you I saw something strange, Bev, but it was all normal. No one's been in my yard at all today. Or if they were, they did a good job hiding from me." She stared at the window as the grannies conversed with Earl. "Are you sure they can handle—"

"Quite sure," Bev said. "Earl's seen what they can do up close, and you know how picky he is about his craft."

"Too right." She folded her hands. "He inspected the barn about two weeks ago, too. Wood was holding up against the elements, nails seemed to be in good shape." She met Bev's gaze. "What kind of thing can blow down a whole barn without being seen?"

"I haven't a clue," Bev said. "But I hope it's not the same thing that set Earl's workshop on fire."

"Guess you're back on the job, huh, Bev?" She smiled weakly. "Got another mystery to solve."

"It would appear so." She gazed out the window at the lush trees lining the property in the distance. Back during the sinkhole debacle, Bev had found a magical river underground. The queen's soldiers had installed a deflection device that had effectively stopped the river from flowing into town.

She started. Did that have anything to do with the recent explosions?

"Has anyone been around lately?" Bev asked. "Anyone who might be irked at you for some reason? Or anyone who might want to destroy your barn to get back at you for something?"

"Well, maybe Bathilda," Alice said with a chuckle. "One of my goats got onto her land the other day, and you would've thought I was about to steal her mother's pearls."

"Bathilda?" Bev frowned. Alice's neighbor was as friendly as they came—save her desire to get Bev's rosemary bread recipe. She sold her crops at the twice-weekly farmer's market on this side of town. It had been a few months since Bev had seen her, since said market was on hiatus until there were crops in the spring. "Is that recent?"

"Well, I hadn't seen her since before the solstice. Pretty good at keeping my livestock on my own property, but you know how goats can be. Have one who's a little bit of a wizard getting in and out of pens. He was halfway onto Bathilda's property before I found him. She wasn't too happy, waving around her broom and trying to shoo us both off her land. I didn't think much of it." She lifted a shoulder. "Maybe Bathilda just hates goats? She grows nothing but produce on her land, so maybe she was worried he'd get into the early plants."

It was possible. Hadn't Earl said something about Bathilda paying him for something? "I see. Well, if you think of anything, let me know. I'm going to go outside and check on Earl and the grannies."

"Is that what you're calling them?" Alice chuckled. "That's a good name for them. How long are they in town?"

"Oh, who knows?" Bev said. "They're being awfully dodgy about why they're here."

"Unless they showed up without me knowing, can't say I've ever seen them around these parts before," Alice said. "If that's what you were thinking."

Rita waddled by, grinning at her sister as she carried a large, heavy-looking piece of wood.

"There's something off about them, but I haven't quite figured out what it is yet," Bev said.

"Well, if they can rebuild my barn, I'll be grateful to 'em. My horse is getting on in years. Was all I could do to get a shoe on him yesterday."

Bev nodded as Janet walked by. "If you need a place to house him tonight, the inn stables are open. Just drop him off and I'll make sure he's well taken care of."

"Thanks, Bev."

~

Bev and Biscuit left Alice in her house, joining Earl as he spoke with Gladys about what they needed—which appeared to be framing wood and paneling.

"Usually have more on hand, you know, but most of it got burned up in the shop," he said. "So I need to take a trip to Middleburg."

"Oh, we'd be happy to go," Rita said, walking by with another large piece of wood.

Janet joined her. "Never been to Middleburg."

"How far's the trip?" Gladys asked.

"About an hour, by wagon," Bev said. "I've got one back at the inn you could borrow. And Sin needs a bit of exercise."

Rita cooed. "That lovely mule in your barn?"

"Sweetest thing I've ever seen." Janet nodded.

"Why in the world are you calling her Sin?" Gladys asked.

"She used to have a reputation, so I hear," Bev said.

"Doesn't have one now."

"Took as many carrots as we could feed her."

"Just a sweet thing."

"Well, if you've won Sin over," Bev said, "feel free to use her and my wagon. I'm sure she'd like the trip."

Earl, Gladys, and Janet made plans on where and how they'd meet up, while Bev kept an eye on Biscuit, who was sniffing the ground again.

"Earl, before you go," Bev said, "did you say you were doing something for Bathilda?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah. Nothing in the workshop, though." He nodded toward her farmland in the distance. "She wanted me to build her a pen."

"A pen?" To Bev's knowledge, Bathilda didn't have any livestock. "For what?"

"I'm not really sure," Earl said. "But she wanted it in a hurry. Paid me well for it, too."

"Have you seen her since?"

"Just the once when she came by to drop off payment," he said. "Why?"

"Might walk over and see if she heard anything," Bev said. "I suppose I'll see you lot for dinner tonight?"

"Of course," he said. "What's on the menu?"

"Oh, it's pork shoulder tonight, dearie," Janet said with a bright smile. "We already popped in to pay the butcher."

"Be a lamb and add some apples, if you have them," Rita said.

"I do love pork and apples," Gladys said with a grin.

"I think I might have a few left over," Bev said. "Pork it is."

~

Bev hopped the relatively small fence over to Bathilda's yard, and Biscuit followed his nose. Bev scanned the property for the fence Earl had built, but she didn't see any sort of livestock pen. Then again, there was a thicket of trees in the middle of the property, so it could've been beyond that.

"What do I care about a livestock pen?" Bev muttered to herself. "Stay close, Biscuit. Don't run off."

Although they got along well enough, Bev was sure Bathilda wouldn't want a mischievous laelaps mucking about on her property, even if it was still too early to plant anything outside. He wasn't as bad as a goat to her early crops, but she didn't want to chance a bad encounter.

And yet, the moment the words left her mouth, Biscuit seemed to have scented something and took off toward the thicket of trees.

"Biscuit!" Bev called as she dashed after the surprisingly fast small creature. "Biscuit, get back here!"

She'd thought they'd come to an understanding on following directions, but it was clear that understanding only held when there wasn't something more interesting around. Whatever he'd scented, he was very keen on it.

"Biscuit!"

He stopped, sniffing what appeared to be a large pile of dung, allowing Bev to finally catch up to him.

"Biscuit, you have to listen when you're—"

Something whizzed through the air, barely missing the laelaps and Bev. An arrow landed in the ground nearby, and Bev whirled around as a small figure carrying a crossbow came running up to her.

"Get off my—Oh. It's you, Bev."

Bathilda only came up to Bev's elbow, but she looked fierce enough to take on a person twice her size. She had white hair and leathery skin that had seen many years tilling in the fields. Her sweet smile was gone, and in its place was a scowl that made her almost unrecognizable. She wore thick leather boots and had a leather apron similar to the one Gilda wore in the blacksmith's shop.

She lowered the crossbow, though her misgivings hadn't seemed to disappear completely as she glared at Biscuit, who was circling Bev, sniffing the ground. "What in the world is that thing?"

"It's my…dog," Bev said, deciding not to mention he was a magic-detecting creature. "Sorry. He got loose."

"I see." She sniffed. "Well, if you've got him now…"

"Actually," Bev picked Biscuit up as he was starting to wander again, "I wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Yeah?" Her snarl was back. "About what?"

"Alice's barn, just now." Bev tossed a thumb behind her. "Collapsed."

"Did it now? Perhaps she should've taken better care of it."

Bev laughed, a little nervously. "She said it sounded like a cannon had been fired. You must've heard it."

"Nope." The farmer didn't meet Bev's gaze. "Didn't hear a thing. Can't hear much anymore, you know. Getting old."

"You didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on her property, did you?"

"Nope. Too busy tending to my own business." She twitched her arm like she was eager to use the crossbow, especially as Biscuit's nose pointed toward the thicket again. "Is that all?"

"No. Earl's workshop was destroyed, too. Burned down. Everything inside, gone." Bev waited for a reaction, but all she got was more scrutiny from the farmer.

"What do I care if his place burned down? I wasn't there."

"No, but he said he'd made you a fence, right?"

"Perhaps he did, but it's none of your business."

"Earl asked me to find out who might've been responsible for his place. And with Alice's barn just now—"

"It sounds like we have an epidemic of shoddy craftsmanship in town," she said with an uncharacteristic sneer. "Earl should take better care of how he stores his flammables, and Alice's old barn has been on the brink of falling for years now. Not surprised one big push knocked it over." She adjusted the crossbow in her hands. "Now if that'll be all, please kindly remove your dog from my property before I remove him myself."

Bev frowned. Bathilda had never been so short with her. "Well, if you remember—"

"I said goodbye, Bev. If I see that dog on this property again, I won't hesitate to shoot him, so I suggest you get a handle on him."