Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
When one of the teenagers in Golden River colours began to set up a microphone on a low platform, people began to notice.
Slowly, a crowd began gathering around their stall, growing outwards from where the bright yellow stall was vying for their attention, and Mira had to all but elbow her way to the front.
That might have elicited some annoyed retorts, but she couldn’t quite tell.
Her heart was pounding, and her pulse was rushing in her ears.
She also couldn’t find Yoni. Where was she?
Hovering close enough to the stall that she could see everything, Mira waited. Not long now. As soon as they-
She jumped a little when something wet touched her palm. Suppressing a gasp, she turned to look down and found Poppy, tongue out, looking up at her like the very picture of innocence.
“Hey. Everything all right?” Kayden leaned down to keep his voice low. “Have you seen what’s under that tarp?”
“No. I heard glass when they moved some boxes, though.” Which had done nothing but make her anxiety worse. What if it was the water? But what if it wasn’t? “Doesn’t matter now. We’ll find out in a minute, I think.”
And indeed, a minute later everything seemed to be set up, and from somewhere behind the screens, Mayor Lloyd appeared. He exchanged a few words with Mr. Sheffield, then stepped behind the microphone.
“Hello?” He tapped the device, which echoed across the square.
“Splendid.” He cleared his throat. “Welcome, everyone, to the annual Emberglen town fair! It’s lovely seeing all of you enjoying yourselves!
” He gestured behind himself, where the employees had begun to remove the screens.
“Now, this year, we have something a little different. Many of you have shopped at our very own Golden River store since it opened. It has given several of you much needed employment opportunities, and brought a selection of goods into our little town that have improved many of our lives. Today, though, they are not here to sell you anything. Indeed, in just a moment, Mr. Mumford Sheffield, local store manager, will tell you a bit about just what all Golden River has brought to us, and what else they intend on adding to our lives. And after that, I have been told there will be a special demonstration of a wonderful new product, free samples included.” That got an approving murmur from the crowd.
“Now, I won’t further waste anyone’s time, and will simply let our dear Mr. Sheffield do the talking! ”
Mira scowled as the mayor stepped aside. Really? Adding to their lives, were they?
“Do you think that manager wrote that for him?” Kayden whispered. Mira shrugged.
“If he didn’t, he might as well have though.”
She watched Mr. Sheffield closely as he straightened his cravat, stepped up to the now vacant microphone, and discreetly cleared his throat.
“Hello, hello!” He spread his arms wide.
“Allow me to also say welcome to all of you. My, it’s good to see such a crowd!
How wonderful that you are all enjoying our quaint little Emberglen so much.
” His smile showed a little too much of his bright white teeth.
“And on such a beautiful day, too! Oh, hopefully we will all enjoy many more such days together. We at Golden River believe in community, and for this community, we have amazing plans. Not only do we plan on expanding our store, mindful of our local peers of course, we also have exciting news to share!” He made a grand gesture towards the forest behind him, hidden by rows of houses as it was.
“We love our communities. We want to see them grow and prosper. Our hope is to offer more opportunities in Emberglen and beyond, to ensure that we all thrive together.” He made a deliberate pause here, scanning the crowd.
“Now, for that purpose, we are introducing a new product. It will be locally produced, providing even more employment opportunities, and will be shipped to all our locations, so everyone will soon know about this beautiful place and all that it has to offer.”
“Yes, whether it wants to or not,” Mira muttered. She heard Kayden snort, and Poppy gently woofed while she pressed herself against Mira’s leg, as if she could sense her anxiety. Maybe she could. Who knew with Poppy, really.
Mira’s heart skipped a beat when Mr. Sheffield turned to the lumpy shape behind him, where a teenager with a very forced smile was holding on to the tarp. She stuck her hand into her pocket and clutched the bottle, as if it might fall out if she didn’t hold on to it.
“So now, without further ado, allow me to present to you: Our very own Golden River water!”
The teenager removed the fabric with a clumsy flourish, revealing an artistically stacked number of boxes, decorated with a large version of the label that Mira had already seen, lumpy fountain and all.
An excited murmur ran through the crowd as he did.
Whispers rose around her, and a strange buzzing settled in her ears.
It was the water. They were draining the spring. How dare they-
“Now, this fresh taste of the mountains comes to us from a spring in the Honeywood foothills.” Mr. Sheffield took one of the bottles strategically placed all over the stack and held it aloft.
“A unique, and dare I say uniquely healthy, source of water that we wish to share with all of you today, and soon with all our valued customers! As of today, these will be sold in our stores everywhere, and you will have the privilege to receive a taste completely free of charge!”
Mira took a deep breath, heart in her throat. Now or never, while she’d have everyone’s attention.
“I would love a taste!” She quickly pushed forward until she was able to step up onto the platform, a smile on her face, before anyone could stop her. “That sounds so good!”
“Uh.”
Clearly, Mr. Sheffield hadn’t anticipated this. Nor had the crowd, who were murmuring again, this time with a little confusion mixed in. Perhaps they thought she was – badly – acting for promotional purposes. Just as well.
“Miss… Gardener. I would of course be more than happy to provide you with a sample.” Mr. Sheffield’s smile never faltered, though he clearly didn’t quite know what to do. He waved at the employee still holding the yellow fabric. “Ah, if you would…?”
The nervous teenager flinched, then grabbed a bottle with shaking hands, nearly dropping it in the process. He handed it to Mr. Sheffield, who made a show of twisting off the cap.
“There you go, Miss Gardener! Please, enjoy!”
Mira’s smile was wide, even though she was screaming internally. This was a lot more visible than she had anticipated. “Thank you!” From the corner of her eye, she saw Kayden at the edge of the platform. She held the bottle out to him. “Would you hold this for a second?”
He did, watching her intently as she took the bottle out of her pocket and leaned towards the microphone.
“See, I know I will enjoy this. And let me tell you all exactly why!”
Mr. Sheffield moved closer, pulling the microphone sideways. “What are you-”
“I know I will enjoy it,” Mira continued, loud enough for the microphone to still pick up and amplify.
She grabbed the bottle back from Kayden.
“If you’re wondering why, it’s because I drank this before.
Most of you have.” She tipped the small bottle and dripped three drops of lavender essence into the Golder River-labelled one, holding it up high. “Because this is our water!”
Flecks of red appeared in Mr. Sheffield’s face. “This is unacceptable!” He made a move as if to grab Mira. “You need to-”
“Woof!”
All four ears up, Poppy shoved herself between Mira and the angry manager. Eternally grateful for her presence, Mira turned back to the crowd, who were now openly whispering and muttering.
“In a moment, this will turn pink. The long and short of it is that the water from the Sweetwater Spring currently contains large amounts of glykis. I just added lavender essence. This causes a reaction that will dye this bottle pink if it is indeed drawn from our wells.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Now the mayor was getting involved, too, shoving his way back onto the platform.
“Miss Gardener, you cannot just come up here and ruin-”
“They are ruining our town!” For a moment, Mira forgot the eyes on her. The uneasiness coming off the crowd. How dare he. How dare he still pretend that nothing was wrong? “They are siphoning our water. Draining our wells! You know this has been a problem for months, and this is why!”
Mira thrust the bottle at him – still clear. Her stomach dropped. Both Mayor Lloyd and Mr. Sheffield were staring at it – and a smug smile appeared on Mr. Sheffield’s face.
“Now, I don’t know what this young lady thinks is happening. Perhaps this glykis business is in fact your problem. However, we at Golden River-”
Mira never learned what we at Golden River did or did not do. Because as he was speaking, something bloomed inside the bottle, tiny at first, but soon it was unmistakeable even from a distance. The water inside was turning bright pink.
“Hah! See?” She gave the bottle a little shake in the mayor’s direction. “I told you! Do you believe me now?”
“What in the-”
There was an odd squeak from Mr. Sheffield’s direction. “Preposterous, whatever this is, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Really.” Mira shook the bottle again, spilling a little water at her feet. “Then why’s the fountain on the label?”
“Branding, you silly girl!” Mr. Sheffield huffed. “Of course you would not know how this works. Hardly anyone here does, do they.”
Mira raised an eyebrow, and a wave of whispers went through the crowd. For a moment, she felt oddly bolstered by that; big mistake, insulting the local shopkeepers like that.