Now HIRING!
Please enquire inside during work hours.
Or contact Hairy.
Below his name was a number. Maybe I shouldn’t assume Hairy was a male though…
I continued on, walking to the very last shop.
An older woman with curled white hair gasped at the sight of me.
“Sorry,” I grimaced, “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”
She blew out a breath. “You just caught me off guard. We don’t often see people outside this early.”
“It’s pretty chilly,” I replied. Hard to remember summer was nearly here. Winter must be freezing.
“Always is in the valley until the sun rises over the east ranges. Then we have sun all day long.”
The woman started setting out chairs and tables. “What brings you to the valley?”
Not an easy question to answer. “My mother was from here. I’m meeting with Hercules Thana to learn more about her. She was his sister.”
She paused, expression sobering at the clear past tense I used in reference to my mother. “If you want answers, Herc is the man to give them to you. Your mother was a Thana?” She squinted at me. “Oh, yes. Definitely. A hearty welcome to you!”
“Oh, uh, thanks. This is a lovely place. Everyone seems to know Mum’s family.”
Her voice muffled as she returned inside to bring out more chairs. “Everyone knows everyone here, as I’m sure you can imagine. The Thanas run the town though. The town is built on their tribal lands, and they maintain everything here with our council fees and do a beautiful job of it. My husband and I have lived here over twenty years now.”
Her response helped to relieve the last of the niggling uncertainty about last night. She was the second person who’d only had great things to say about the Thanas.
“Is this a café?” I asked. Food was the next item on my agenda.
“Sure is.” She gestured at the uniform stone building—which confirmed nothing.
My stomach rumbled. “How much is it for breakfast?”
A supermarket would be more cost effective on my budget, but I could swing five bucks.
The older woman winked. “You’re a Thana. First meal is on me.”
“Wow, Ella F,” I muttered. Driving to the manor during the day was so much less witch coven.
In the soft morning light, the gnarled trees had morphed to mature maples that glimmered deep purple. A low stone wall bordered the road, containing the lush and wild forest beyond.
A different guard was on duty today.
I wound down the window as she strode over.
“Andie is it?” the beanpole woman enquired. “Shoot, you do look like Herc’s daughter.”
“Rhona is his daughter?” I replied. Did he mention that?
The woman nodded. “She just got back from a course in Bluff City, which is why people were so confused last night. Sorry about that, by the way. We heard what happened and feel really bad you got caught up in things.”
That was nice. “Thanks, it was freaky, but I just feel embarrassed now.”
“Don’t be. It would be terrifying to stumble into that without knowing a damn thing.”
I smiled at the woman, and she winked, slapping the red button to open the gates.
“Might see you around,” she called.
“Might do,” I said quietly, driving on.
Damn, talking to someone my own age was really nice. Maybe the loss of my friends in Queen’s Way affected me more than I thought. Though, really, did I want friends who left as I struggled to care for my mother? Her cancer wasn’t their burden, but some support would have been everything.
I pulled into the same spot as yesterday, noting a few people working in the gardens. The Thanas were rich as shit.
Hopefully they didn’t think I was here for a chunk of gold.
The doors were open at the top of the wide stone stairs, and light streamed into the manor.
I stared down at a rug that could probably pay my rent for a year.
“Andie.”
I jerked. “Christ, Eleanor. Make a noise or something.”
She pursed her lips against a smile, shrugging a shoulder. “Toe walker. Can’t help it. Don’t want to help it.”
Fair enough. I’d focus my efforts to not having a heart attack then. “Listen. Thanks for taking me to Herc last night. I was pretty pissed off, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“Don’t apologise. You took the whole thing well, considering. Between you and me, the guy from the other team got in shit for kicking the lid over the pit. That’s against the rules.”
Ice coated my insides. “It is?”
“He should have secured a net and put up a flag, so we knew you were in there.”
Frowning, I recalled the way he’d cursed and shut the top of the trap. “He did it when he heard you guys coming.”
Eleanor cut me a look. “I’m guessing he realised you weren’t part of the game and freaked out.”
That theory didn’t jive with Flannel Man’s behaviour. I recalled his hot breath in my ear, and the firmness of his body pressed against my back. His voice was entirely calm—aside from the moment he’d apparently changed his mind about shoving me in the pit. But the arrival of the group didn’t freak him out. Annoyance was a better word.
“Maybe,” I hedged. “Is Herc around?”
“In his office,” she answered. “Nice to see you, Andie.”
I knocked on the office door a moment later. “Morning.”
Herc looked up, and my heart panged for my mother all over again.
A warm smile spread across his face. “Andie. I thought we’d talk in the gardens, unless it’s too cold for you. I’m cooped up in this office too much and take any excuse to get outside.”
“Mum was the same.” Her daily request when she could no longer walk was to be wheeled into the gardens. She’d always refused to prune the plants and trees, and now I could see why. Allowing something to grow naturally was beautiful.
I walked beside him through the manor, trying to sneak covert glances at the grandeur when he wasn’t looking.
“My immediate family lives here,” he said, casting me an amused glance. “We also rent out the other rooms. Living in a mostly empty manor never appealed to me. I like the sound of people around the place.”
“It must help with running costs too.”
Or maybe this place came with an inheritance.
“It does. I also work from home. So it’s more the company that drives me to open my home to others.”
He gestured out a glass door that led to a conservatory. We continued through the other side into a wildflower garden I’d associate with a forest cottage. I trailed my fingers through the fireweed and purple harebells.
“Breathtaking,” I said before recalling I wasn’t alone.
“I see you feel the call of nature. That’s common in our family.”
I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”
He met my gaze. “This manor—actually, this entire valley and the land surrounding it are our family’s tribal lands. We have acted as guardians over them for centuries. And that’s just what we’ve found written proof of.”