Thru the Badger Hole by Taki Drake

Author:Taki Drake [Drake, Taki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thru the Badger Hole
Publisher: All Chaos Press
Published: 2018-01-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17 – Settling In

It was a good thing that Madrik had that moment of peace. The next day started an accelerating process that left him very little time for relaxation or introspection for a considerable amount of time. The first clue that he had that life had changed once again was the sound of Brechal’s roar as the bar manager headed down the staircase.

“Dammit, woman. This is supposed to be a bar! Not some sort of fancy-dancy café.”

“That is just too bad if it offends your sensibilities, big guy. Some of the people that are going to come drink in this bar are going to enjoy having touches that are amusing or interesting in their drinks. Little umbrellas are a perfectly normal sort of thing to put on the sweeter drinks. Which you would know if you ever had made a drink for somebody who likes sweet things.!

“I have tended bar all over the place. I have never put an umbrella in a drink, and I am not going to start.”

“Fine, obviously we are going to have to find a bartender that is able to handle all the drinks that offend your tender sensibilities.”

Madrik emerged into the barroom to a scene that he could not have imagined. Towering over the smaller woman, Brechal glowered down at her with his face full of rage. Standing right next to him, face practically planted in his chest, Wynn held her position as if she was a rock braced against the pounding sea. Madrik would never have guessed that the woman who had fled in fear through the door yesterday had that much stubbornness.

The bar manager paused only briefly to assess the situation. Trying to defuse possible tension, he came in saying, “Good morning everyone. It looks like a great day to get lots of things done.”

Brechal responded, “Only if someone keeps her little fingers out of the bar set up.” With that statement, the bartender turned and retreated behind the counter. He failed to see the small smile that came and went on Wynn’s face as she watched him walk away.

Madrik hurried into speech, saying, “There a lot of things that we have to sort out today and I want to make sure that we are on track for opening the bar as soon as we can. I need to find something quick to eat and then I would like to have a short meeting and to establish basic ground rules.”

The waitress responded with a short nod and returned to zipping around the room like a demented dragonfly. Madrik noticed that there was a different feel to the room now. The tablecloths were still on the tables but had been changed overnight to a more neutral look. This pleased him because the flowered ones from yesterday were not in keeping with what he expected for the bar. He did notice that there were other touches around the room, small in nature, that nonetheless made the room feel much more welcoming and convivial.

The chalkboard had been leaned up against the propped open door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.