Restoring Harmony by Joëlle Anthony

Author:Joëlle Anthony
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Conduct of life, Travel, Nature & the Natural World, Environment, Voyages and travels, Grandparents, Oregon, Multigenerational, Science Fiction, Environmental degradation, British Columbia, Environmental Science, Science, Juvenile Fiction, Family problems, Fantasy & Magic, Islands, Fiction, Family, Action & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues, General
ISBN: 9780399252815
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2010-05-13T06:02:02+00:00

24

THE MAN INSTANTLY DROPPED MY WRIST, AND THE others around the edges of the group began to shuffle off as if they’d just been passing by. The way the crowd dispersed, I’d been expecting a giant, but instead, Randall stepped through.

Even though the bearded man towered over Randall, he stepped back, obviously worried. In a somewhat shaky voice he said, “You’ve got no right. We found ’er first. We’ve got no quarrel with you.”

“And I don’t want to have one with you, because the house always wins,” Randall said.

He was wearing the same suit he’d had on the day he’d taken my pie, and also the day he’d delivered the canning stuff, a dark one with stripes. And his felt hat stood at a jaunty angle. He looked cool and calm.

I stood there too scared to even massage my aching wrist. I’d forgotten all about the Boss. Randall had told me not to busk at the market, and if I couldn’t busk, I definitely shouldn’t be selling whiskey.

“Well . . . ,” Scruffy told the man, “there’s more of us than you.”

He hadn’t even gotten the words out before the few remaining men slunk off, leaving him standing alone. Unless you counted the unconscious Weasel, who lay at his feet, and I didn’t think you could.

“Doesn’t look like your pals are staying,” Randall said.

Scruffy backed away about three or four yards and then he turned and ran, leaving Weasel passed out on the ground.

“Th-thank you,” I stammered.

“Molly, Molly, Molly,” Randall said. “I’m very disappointed.”

“I’m sorry,” I squeaked. “I guess I shouldn’t have-”

“You better give me that whiskey, and I’ll see that Robert gets you the money. After a small commission, that is.”

I handed him the rest of the bottles.

“And then you better get outta here,” he said. “I told you once before about this not being a public market, remember?”

I nodded.

“In the future, if you’ve got anything else to sell, let Robert do it for you.”

“I will.”

Randall didn’t even bother to hide the bottles as he walked off. I ran in the other direction and out onto the street towards home. My swollen wrist burned, and my shredded dignity floated behind me in tatters. How was this Robert going to find me? I was halfway home before I put one and one t ogether.

Robert was Spill.

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