You can read the story so far from the beginning here
“If you’ve used a till like this before, you’ve probably got more idea of what it does than I do,” Tom said.
Alison Keasden managed a pale smile. “I’ve worked in a few shops, and this looks pretty standard.” She ran a hand over the till that had been plugged in for testing in the back room. “I don’t think that I’ll have any problems.”
“We open next week,” Tom said. “And there’s still a lot to do. All the fixtures are in place, and it’s kept clean, but I want to get everything stocked up and set out.” He sighed. “Lord Peregrine is determined to open a fortnight before Christmas and it’s going to be bedlam.”
“Most people shop online, don’t they?” Alison said. “Especially on the run up to Christmas.”
“There is always a rush for last minute presents,” Tom said. “Besides, we’re stocking a load of wrapping paper, cards, decorations and some Christmas food trimmings.”
“Do you think that we’ll sell them?” Alison asked.
“I’ll be surprised if we don’t run out of wrapping paper and tape,” Tom said. “That stuff always runs out. But it can last till next year if we’re careful how we store it. It’s the food side that worries me.”
Alison moved over to a stack of flats of cranberry sauce. “There’s a lot here.”
“And we’re only a small village,” Tom said. “The use by date is long enough that we can still sell it next Christmas, if we store it right, and we’ll have a bit of a sale in January…”
“Lord Peregrine got carried away again, didn’t he?” Alison said, relaxing a little. “Has he ever owned a shop?”
“Nope, and he’s not known for his caution either,” Tom said. “But the shop is likely to stay open for a few years, even if it doesn’t make much of a profit. It’s about him owning the gossip hub of the area.”
“I thought that was Farm Shop, up the hill,” Alison said.
“Lord Peregrine’s setting himself up as a rival for the gossip,” Tom said. “To be fair, he’s working with Jed and Marlene so that the shops don’t compete, or at least don’t compete too much, and he may be on to something.” Tom straightened up a pack of kitchen towels. “We’ve got a few months to find out what we can do, to find where we can be strongest. I suspect it will be food that brings people in, but we’ll have to find some sort of niche.”
“This village is miles away from anywhere,” Alison said. “That’s why I came here.”
Tom wandered through the store kitchen and out of the back door. “It’s all farmland out here,” he said. “And above that, you get the moors. There’s the houses on the road up to your cottage, and there are farms around, but it feels empty.” He looked morosely over the weed tangled patch at the back of the shop. “But we’re only an hour’s journey from Leeds, one of the biggest English cities. Lots of people drive out through the countryside. It can get busy.”
“They’d have to know we’re here,” Alison said. “We’re still off the main roads.”
“And Hilary has a background in marketing,” Tom said. He sighed softly. “I have a feeling that Lord Peregrine will make this work. He wants to bring his people back to the village.”
“You mean, like you?” Alison asked. She took an unconscious half step away from Tom. “Are there a lot of, you know…”
“There’s hardly any of us,” Tom said. “There used to be more, but it sort of faded over the years. Of course, Cabus remembers more. He’s been here centuries. As a vampire, he’s not as long lived as a fae like Lord Peregrine, but he’s more willing to talk. Hang on!” He darted forward as the colour drained from Alison’s face, taking her arm and guiding her into a chair. “Sit down and I’ll get you a drink of water.”
“That’s why I came to the countryside,” Alison said quietly. Her eyes were wide and her hands trembled as she took the glass from Tom. “I ran away from being hunted.”
Tom knelt in front of her and looked at her directly. “You won’t be hunted here,” he said. “That I promise.”
***
Samgan prowled around the library. He was feeling stronger every day and now he was starting to feel restless. Even more, he was feeling his debt to Hilary bite. It wasn’t just the healing. He knew how close to death he had been and she had pulled him back. He knew Paul had been there, and Paul was also owed a debut, but it was different with Hilary. She kept caring. She treated him with grace, more than anyone else ever had. Even before he started work, she was abiding by their agreement. He had a glass of milk set next to his plate at breakfast every morning. Hilary had come home with a large bag of clothes which she had washed, pressed, and insisted that he took. She had apologised that they weren’t knew, but that she thought he would need new ones soon as she fed him enough to gain weight. Samgan thought back to the patched rags that he’d often been left with. The jeans and shirts in the drawers in his room were far finer, without rips, tears, or stains. She had even insisted on getting him new boots.
Lord Peregrine had suggested that he took over the garden, as a way of earning his place in Rowan Cottage. That wouldn’t be work, it would be pleasure. The soil was good and the garden was well laid out. Samgan inspected a shelf near the window. There were a lot of gardening books in here, many of them old. It was a witch’s cottage and rare herbs had always been grown here. If he could get decent seed then he could make the garden flourish. There was plenty of space to feed the cottage with vegetables. He took an old herbal from the shelf and flicked through a few pages, stopping at an illustration of agrimony. He could grow that easily enough.
It would grow even easier if he could sort out the twist in the magical flow. There was a risk that food grown here could be tainted, and Hilary couldn’t use herbs grown near dark magic in healing. Something needed to be done about it. He’d heard Hilary and Paul talk about it, about moving the stones, but they were cautious. They hadn’t found all the details from the notebooks yet.
Samgan stepped closer to the bookcase that hid the stair down to the possessed cellar. There would be more information down there, he was sure. He’d felt the flow of energy down there, and the malevolence. He smiled thinly. He wasn’t exactly a dandelion seed himself. He owed Hilary so much. Clearing the flow of magic would go towards payment of that debt, even if it didn’t clear it completely.
He ran a hand over the bookcase, then paused as he heard Tom come in. Hilary would be out of her office and starting dinner soon. He wouldn’t discuss anything with her, as she would only worry. He stalked over and put the herbal back in its place on the shelf. Hilary and Paul were going to Leeds the day after tomorrow. They would almost certainly be gone most of the day, and Bracken would be busy down at the Village Stores with Tom. He could make his move then. He could start easing his soul and repaying his debt then.
