Chapter Eighteen

Allen promised Bev that he'd smooth things over with Vicky as soon as she cooled off a bit, so Bev returned to the inn, ready to help in that endeavor, but the scorned lover was nowhere to be found. Apolinary was alone, working on the same tunic she'd been at before the chaos began.

"Where's Vicky?" Bev asked.

"Upstairs crying her eyes out," Apolinary said, pulling the thread through the tunic. "Poor thing could barely string two words together. You know, they've been on and off a lot, but I think this time, they're off for good."

"Allen doesn't seem to think so," Bev said, a little annoyed at her neighbor for being so cavalier about his girlfriend's feelings. "Assured me he'll be able to smooth things over with her."

"Allen might want to rethink that," Apolinary muttered.

Bev left the seamstress to her work, as she had dinner to get started. She popped over to the butchers—giving Ida all the details on the fight, which had been audible from across the street—and returned to the inn to work on her bread and side dishes.

The front door to the inn opened, and Bev leaned out to see who'd walked in. But it wasn't Allen; Vicky's brother had returned from wherever he'd run off to after class. He ignored Apolinary and walked right up to the basket of scones that had been untouched all morning, snatching one and taking a big bite.

"Hey, Grant?" Bev asked. "Mind coming in here for a minute?"

Based on his expression, he most certainly did mind being called into the kitchen but obliged anyway. "What?"

Bev cleared her throat. "Just curious where you were last night."

"Nowhere." Munch, munch. "None of your business anyway."

"What about Vicky?" Bev asked. "She didn't come to the town meeting."

"That's because she's all torn up about Allen. Good riddance if you ask me." Munch, munch. "Got any more of these scones?"

"In the basket," Bev said. "Those were from the town meeting last night. Any chance you or your friends—"

"We ain't got nothing to do with these buildings getting destroyed," he said, his lip curling in a snarl. "And you'd better stop asking or else—"

"Or else what?" Bev asked, a fake smile on her face.

At the hearth, Biscuit raised his head and growled.

Grant glanced at the laelaps and swallowed the rest of the scone. "Nothing. Just leave us alone. We didn't do anything."

And with that, he turned on his heel and disappeared through the door, grabbing the last two scones on his way out.

"If he turns into a giant creature that destroys the inn tonight, I'm gonna be real mad," Bev said to Biscuit, who let out a low sniff. "Vicky's one thing. But if it's her snotty little brother…"

~

Hours passed and there didn't seem to be any new destructive forces in town, so Bev was reasonably confident Grant wasn't the monster. Or maybe he'd had the courtesy to transform in a large open field.

The grannies, however, arrived with great news—with Earl's help (and yet another trip to Middleburg for more wood), they'd finished rebuilding Apolinary's shop. The seamstress was overjoyed to hear that, and looking at the amount of fabric scraps on the floor of the inn, Bev was pretty happy about it, too.

"Good timing, too. We've got to get to work on your schoolhouse, Bardoff," Rita said, patting the teacher on the back. "Those children need somewhere to learn, don't they?"

"If I even have children left to teach," he said glumly. "I don't know if you noticed, Bev, but our numbers keep dwindling. I doubt Grant and PJ would've shown up had Vicky and Apolinary not been here."

"Apolinary, PJ said he was your nephew?" Bev asked.

She nodded. "Holly's my sister."

"Such a small town," Gladys said. "Lovely when everyone's related, isn't it?"

"Makes it so much easier to know who's who!" Janet replied.

"On occasion," Bev said. "Sometimes, I think people would rather not acknowledge their family." Etheldra and Ida came to mind, as did the farmer Grant Klose.

"Speaking of family," Rita said, looking up at the stairs, "where is that lovely assistant of yours? I'd love to tell her she and her brother are able to move back into their apartment tomorrow."

"Upstairs," Apolinary said.

"Oh, dear, has she taken ill again?" Gladys asked.

"Of a broken heart, yes," Bev said.

"Well, that just won't do, will it?" Janet stood. "Let me see if I can't convince her to come down and eat. Can't mend a broken heart on an empty stomach."

"Hear, hear!" Rita said.

"I don't think—" Bev started, but Janet was already halfway up the stairs. Bev didn't think it was possible to get Vicky out of bed, but five minutes later, both Janet and Vicky emerged, the latter looking miserable but still willing to come down.

"I don't want to talk about it," Vicky said to Bev as she took an empty bowl.

"You certainly don't have to," Bev said gently, handing her a second slice of rosemary bread. "But if you want—"

"I don't." She sniffed. "We're done. I mean it this time."

Bev nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself, and letting Vicky eat her dinner in silence. The grannies took up chattering with Apolinary, who was awfully grateful to them for their help. Bev scanned the room, noting Grant hadn't reappeared since his storm-out earlier in the day.

Almost on cue, the door opened again, but a different kind of destructive force walked in. Allen had washed himself, his dark hair was slicked back, and he wore a sleek, black tunic that made him look much more sophisticated than his usual, flour-covered attire. Even his shoes were shiny, and he was sporting a white rose pinned to the chest of his shirt.

At his arrival, every conversation in the room went silent as gazes swept between Vicky and Allen and back again.

"Vicky, can I have a word with you in private?" he asked, his voice echoing in the now-silent space.

"Absolutely not," Vicky said, glaring at him. "I told you. We're done, Allen."

Immediately, some of the confidence went out of Allen's chest. "Oh, come on, Vicky. Just let me talk to you for five minutes—"

"No. Go home." She folded her arms across her chest and lifted her gaze away from him. "I don't want to see you again."

"Kind of hard, considering we live in the same town," Allen began, but a quick shake of Bev's head quieted that dangerous train of thought. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going, but I promise, if you'll come with me…"

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Allen," Vicky said, standing as her voice grew louder. "You had your chance, and you blew it."

"Just because I didn't tell you where I was going?" he scoffed. "I'm allowed to leave the town, Vicky—"

"Not for days, Allen! I hadn't a clue where you were, if you were dead, in trouble, arrested—"

"Arrested! For what?"

"Who knows? I could think of a lot of different scenarios without any information."

"Well, that's silly," Allen said. "I was fine. And I'll tell you everything, but you have to come with me—"

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Damn it, woman, I'm trying to propose if you'll stop being so damn pigheaded!"

The inn went silent once more. Even Bev was taken by surprise by the admission, which, based on Allen's expression, the young baker hadn't intended to make public. His face had gone beet red as he played with the hem of his tunic, seemingly looking for an exit or a way he could melt into the floor.

"You're trying to…what?" Vicky asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You heard me." He rubbed the back of his neck. "And I don't really fancy an audience, so—"

"Tough." Vicky sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you want to marry me, you need to ask in front of everyone."

He swallowed hard as he took in the interested faces staring back at him. Bev counted seven, including herself, Earl, Etheldra, Bardoff, and the grannies. Etheldra wore a look of superiority, and Earl and Bardoff looked like proud fathers as they waited.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone."

"Yes, go on, dearie," Gladys said.

"We're all waiting," Janet said.

Rita sat back. "Make it good."

Allen turned to Bev for help, but she shook her head. He was on his own on this one, and Vicky had a point. If he wanted to marry her, he needed to ask properly.

"Oh, hold on a second." Bev held up her hands. "Ida won't want to miss this. Stay right there."

Allen let out a frustrated sigh as Bev opened the front door. Ida was already standing in the front of her dark shop, perhaps having heard the commotion from all the way in the back.

"Is he doing it?" she asked Bev.

Bev nodded and waved her over. Ida tossed down her apron and dashed across the street in three strides.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," Ida said, smoothing down her shirt. "Oh, Allen, don't you look dashing!"

"I really didn't want…" Allen let out a breath. "Never mind." He puffed out his chest and took two steps toward Vicky before dropping to one knee. Ida let out a sob and clung to Bev's hand. "Victoria Hamblin, will you make me the happiest man in Pigsend and marry me?"

Vicky cleared her throat. "More."

"What?" Allen blanched. "What do you mean, more?"

"Tell me why you want to marry me." She no longer sounded mad or even coy. There was a serious look on her face, as if she were hanging on Allen's every word.

"Because you infuriate me," he said. "And drive me crazy with your demands. But when I think about a life that doesn't include you…" He shook his head. "It's not really worth living. You're the brightest thing in my world, Vicky, and I'd be a fool if I didn't make you mine."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Inside was a golden ring, beset with…

"The bauble!" Bev gasped then covered her mouth as Ida shushed her.

Allen's magical bauble, vibrant green and alive, shimmered as it waited for Vicky's answer.

"Oh, Allen," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "Of course I'll be yours!"

She dove into his arms, and for a moment, they were a tangle of laughter, tears, and the awkward putting-on-of-the-ring. But even Bev couldn't help wiping away a tear as Ida bawled openly beside her.

"How in the world did you afford this?" Vicky said, looking down at the bauble. "This is an emerald, isn't it?"

"I—uh…" Allen caught Bev's gaze, and she grinned. "Family heirloom. That's why I was gone. Had to go find a special jeweler to get it put on the ring. Had to find the damn guy first and that took three days longer than I'd anticipated." He shook his head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going, but I feared if I said anything, I might spill all the beans. And I wanted this to be perfect for you." He clasped her hand and gazed into her eyes seriously. "It won't ever happen again."

"Too right it won't!" Janet said.

"Congratulations to the happy couple!" Gladys said, jumping up from the table. "We need a toast!"

Rita slapped the table. "Agreed! Your finest vintage, Bev."

"Not sure I have anything like that, but—"

"I picked something up," Allen said. "Just uh…it's at the bakery. One minute." He leaned in to kiss Vicky. "Be right back."

He dashed toward the door, and Vicky squealed as she showed off the ring to Apolinary, who seemed just as excited about it. The grannies oohed and aahed over it as well, but seemed to keep their distance. Could they tell what was in it?

And would this ring set off the shifter again?

"Here!" Allen was back with a bottle of wine. "Not sure there's enough to go around, but—"

"We'll make do," Rita said. "Bev, where are your best glasses?"

Bev pointed the grannies in the right direction as she sidled up to Allen, who was working on getting the cork out of the bottle.

"Three days, eh?" Bev asked.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he said. "Can you forgive me?"

"If Vicky can, I suppose I can, too." She nodded to the marble-like gemstone. "It looks a little smaller than I remember."

"Kind of." Allen lowered his voice. "I met with the barus again."

"Allen!"

"Ssh." He glanced around to make sure no one had heard her. "I'd taken it to a regular jeweler, but they said it was too big to put onto a ring. So I had to find the barus again to ask how I could get it small enough to fit a ring. He said it was the first time someone had asked him to remove magic. But he did it." Allen coughed. "Cost me more than a month's salary to get it, but Vicky's worth it."

"Did you find him in the dark forest?" Bev asked.

"No, he wasn't there. That's what took me so long. I had to go looking for him." He cleared his throat. "Had some near-misses with that Dag Flanigan fellow. He's skulking about, looking for some kind of…" He swallowed. "You don't think he's looking for the same thing you are, do you? This…whatever's destroying things in town?"

"Let's hope not," Bev said as the grannies reemerged with the glasses and began divvying up Allen's bottle of wine. Everyone took a glass and raised it.

"To the happy couple," Rita said.

"To the happy—"

ROOOOOOOOOAR!

The whole room shook as a deafening sound echoed from outside. Glasses landed on the table as the whole crowd dashed outside to see what could've caused that noise.

Bev's heart stopped as a large shadow shot toward the sky. The moonlight illuminated unfurling wings and a long, whipping tail as it flew higher in the sky.

"Is that a…"

But as soon as it appeared, the monster shrank in size, disappearing into the night. If Bev squinted, she could almost make out a small shadow falling back down to earth—toward the dark forest.

"Bev?" Allen said.

"I'm on it." She put her fingers to her lips and whistled. "Biscuit?"

The laelaps appeared in the doorway, nose twitching and tail wagging.

"Let's go."

~

With her trusty glowing stick, Bev and Biscuit ran through the otherwise quiet town toward the north, where the dark forest waited. She didn't fancy running through it in the dark—or in the daytime, either—but this was her one chance to find out what in the world was going on.

Voices echoed from the dark forest ahead, but there was a single shadowy figure in the moonlight. Bev held up her glowing stick as Biscuit growled at her feet. Taking a deep breath, she slowly approached.

The figure heard her, straightened, and spun around. "Who's there?"

Bev almost fell over. "R-Rita?"

The red-haired granny emerged from the darkness, her face void of its usual cheery smile. In fact, she looked almost evil with the shadows covering part of her face. Bev gripped the glowing stick and kept close to Biscuit, who had a thin ridge of hair down his back as he let out a nervous growl.

"What are you doing out here, Bev?" Rita asked, some of her cheer coming back—but it sounded forced.

"I could say the same for you," Bev said. "Where's your sister and cousin?"

"Right here." Gladys and Janet appeared behind Bev, almost out of nowhere. They, too, looked much more sinister in the darkness.

"Quite late for you to be out and about," Janet said.

"You should go back to the inn where it's safe," Gladys said.

"I could say the same for you," Bev said. "I'm here because we all heard and saw a giant creature out this way. And I was following it so I could find out who it is."

"It's none of your business," Janet said. "You should go back to town."

"Leave this to us."

"Why? What do you have to do with it?" Bev asked. "You know something, don't you? Are you the ones causing all the problems?"

The three shared a look of surprise before turning to Bev.

"Heavens, no," Rita said.

Janet nodded. "In fact, we were hoping you could tell us who it is."

"Why?" Bev asked.

"Because we're dragon shifters, too," Gladys said, her expression shifting into one of concern. "And we want to help them."