[Deposit, Innocent]

  “Rose, Daisy said she heard four men talking at the reading desk and they plan to kidnap a child.”

  “Doug, did she hear any names.”

  “No they only referred to the child as brat, but she did hear they plan to grab her at the Pinewood Academy sometime soon, possibly very soon.”

  “Can she describe the men to you?”

  “Just four ordinary workmen, all dressed like day laborers, would she recognize them if she saw them again?”

  “She might.”

  “What did they sound like? Did they sound like they were Wyldwood natives.”

  “Three of them did but the fourth sounded more proper king's English, which seemed odd given his work clothes.”

  “Daisy, I’m not even sure if you can, but did you smell anything distinct about the men.”

  “Yes, horse manure now that you mention it. Maybe they work in a stable.”

  “Daisy, thank you so much, if you think of anything else, please let us know. If it’s all right with you I’ll ask Lu to walk all over the town with you and Doug. If you can spot them, Doug can alert Lu.”

  We went back into the library to talk to Eldara.

  “Did it work?”

  “Oh yes it worked but now something else has come up. Daisy heard 4 workmen plotting a kidnapping. She said they all smelled of horse manure, but didn’t look very distinctive. But one spoke with a King’s English accent. Do you happen to remember the group of them? They may not have all come in together.”

  “No Rose, I’m sorry. The last few days have been very busy but I did manage to intercept our cooking lovers. They won’t be back except to maybe borrow the Kama Sutra. But I’ll keep my eye out for them in case they return. If they do, I'll send word to the book store.”

  “You're coming tomorrow night aren’t you? Remember, no presents. You’ll meet all the book club members and I’m hoping the two Paulas will be there.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it, Rose.”

  “Terrific, see you tomorrow night.”

  With that we headed to the town hall hoping to catch Burgomaster Valen to warn the authorities of an impending crime. But it appears that no one remained in the building. Well I thought then I’ll just go tell Bob and Mike at the gate. Approaching the gate I could see that these must be Bob and Mike’s co-workers.

  “Good evening guards, I see Bob and Mike finished their shift. I’m Rose, I’d like to report a potential crime.”

  “Good evening ma’am, I’m Dogberry and this is my assistant Verges. What kind of gate crime do you wish to report ma’am?

  “It’s not a gate crime, it’s a kidnapping of a little girl from the Pinewood Academy.”

  “Do you know for certain that the kidnappers plan to use our gate ma’am?”

  “No, I don’t Dogberry, not for certain.”

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  “Well ma’am, I’m not quite sure what you want us to do.”

  “I’d like you to stop the kidnappers.”

  “Of course, ma’am, Verges we won’t let any kidnappers use our gate will we?”

  “No, of course not sir.”

  “But they might not use your gate.”

  “That would be very wise of them, because Verges and I are the two best night gate guards in Wyldwood, isn’t that right Verges?”

  “Without a doubt sir.”

  “But what about the little girl?”

  “She can use the gate anytime she wants, we never interfere with little girls entering and leaving the gate, do we Verges?

  “No sir we never have, of course I don’t ever recall a little girl trying to enter or leave the gate at night sir.”

  “No you’re quite right Verges, I don’t either.”

  “Gentlemen, you misunderstand me. You must go to the Pinewood Academy to prevent the kidnapping.”

  “We can’t do that ma’am, that’s be a deletion of duty.”

  “A deletion of duty?”

  “Aye ma’am, it’d be deletion of duty if we’d left the gate. We’re gate guards ma’am, the best night gate guards in town. We won’t commit a deletion of duty. We’ll never leave the gate ma’am, you can rely on that. Isn’t that right, Verges.”

  “That’s right sir, no matter how bad I have to piss, we never leave the gate, not till Bob and Mike arrive and that’s a blessing then I can finally relieve myself.”

  “That’s enough Verges, the lady don’t need to hear you relieving yourself, isn’t that right ma’am.”

  “Yes you’re right. Good night Dogberry.”

  “Good night ma’am, worry not no criminal shall ever use our gate, right Verges?”

  “Right sir.”

  After that I decided that my only course of action was to go home and possibly have a drink. Lu was waiting for me with a kiss when I arrived. I filled her in on everything we learned.

  “So do you think you’d have time to walk around town with Daisy and Doug while Daisy tries to identify any of the four men. I’d do it but even if I found them, I’m afraid I’d be powerless against them. Once you get their scent it’d probably be easy for you to track them from a distance, you might possibly even find their hideout.”

  “Of course Rose, I’ll be happy to help. What about tomorrow night should we cancel the party?”

  “No I don’t think so, if the kidnapping is happening at that school as Daisy overheard it’s going to be an early morning or afternoon kidnapping. I’ll go to the school first thing and alert the school officials, then I’ll go speak to Burgomaster Valen and get him to put the guard on it. If we have the party we can alert everyone to the danger. What do you think?”

  “No, I think you’re right plus we haven’t had a book club for a long time and it’ll be nice to see everyone. Are the two Paulas coming?”

  “Yes, I hope they come. I owe both of them so much for that heist.”

  “Well I really enjoyed the heist, even though I didn’t do anything, it was exciting. Becker told me the same thing: she really loves it here.”

  “I’m hoping she brings McCracken, I know Salome would love to meet him.”

  “I kind of doubt that she will, she told me that since the end of the novel they’ve barely seen each other and that she really prefers women to men.”

  I felt a pang of jealousy, when had Lu had so much time to speak to Becker and I was shipping Beckracken. It was silly really. I knew that Lu was as devoted to me as I was to her but it still hurt and made me feel guilty for being jealous. One thing I knew was that you just had to feel the emotions you have and let them pass through you or they become a loop. Once you’re in a loop it’s very hard to get out of it.

  Then I quickly showed Daisy around the place, finally asking her where she’d like to stay in our rooms.

  “She wants to stay in the Annex with me, Rose.”

  “You’re not lying to me are you?”

  “Rose, why would you think that?”

  “Because that’s where you want her to stay, and you hadn’t thought I might check.”

  “Daisy, if you want to stay in the Annex, I’ll be happy to put you there but I need to hear it from you. So just press the palm of my hand if that’s a yes.”

  “God's Rose, thanks for trusting me.”

  “I’m sorry Doug, but the way you acted when we first met made you seem ‘problematic’ to say the least and I want Daisy to know that I value her safety and agency. Daisy, you can always talk to me privately, just press my palm and I'll set up a ouija board. Ok?”

  Press.

  “Ok let’s get you two into the annex, we have another busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  “Well Rose, now that you have the kids to bed. Do you have time for a bath.”

  “I can always make time for a bath with you. Lu. But never refer to those two as kids. Gods knows what Doug is up to in there. Hopefully we don’t hear any banging in the night now that we have a ghost.”