The Fifth Timekeeper by Jon McConnell

Author:Jon McConnell [DMcConnell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tiny Fox Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 32

Straight, No Chaser

Finn dropped a sugar cube into a thick-bottomed tumbler. He grabbed a small bottle and poured a bit of its contents in next. “Two dashes of regular bitters...”

He grabbed a second small bottle. “...and a dash of orange bitters,” adding a spoonful of soda water to help break down the sugar cube before seizing a tool that resembled a miniature baseball bat—a muddler. He leaned into it, crushing the sugar cube to a powder, then whipped the handle back and forth, vigorously mixing the ingredients into a grainy paste that coated the bottom of the glass. He spun the muddler before he set it aside, the way a cocky drummer twirls a stick.

He splashed out some amber liquid into the glass. “Two ounces of bourbon…”

Finally, he delicately lowered two cubes of ice into the drink with a mixing spoon and gave the concoction a stir, listening to the ice clink against the glass of the tumbler like a little wind chime. He shaved a curled peel of skin from an orange with a paring knife and spritzed the drink with its oils before dropping it into the cup. He slid the drink across the table to Declan McCurdy with a self-satisfied smile, folded his arms and waited.

Edison cocked his head as he watched from his seat on an upside-down crate, blinking slowly behind the lenses of his glasses, looking rather dapper in one of his costumes for their next challenge: a tan suit over a dark brown vest with a matching fedora. “You forgot to wipe the peel on the rim.”

“And don’t just drop it in like that, Finn. This is a traditional masterpiece, not modern art!” McCurdy sniffed the drink, holding it up to the light that shone down from the rusted pendants in the Wharton barn. He poked the peel into the drink with a giant finger. “Be classy about it; tuck it into the side of the glass. Against the ice—not on top.” He smacked his lips before curling them into a smile. “Presentation aside, you did good, kid.”

Finn nodded, arms still crossed as he leaned against the barn wall. “The taste is most important, right?”

He’d been mixing cocktail after cocktail for the past hour, familiarizing himself with an art that he wasn’t even legally allowed to partake in. He couldn’t even test the drinks he made, which is where McCurdy came in, being the only one of legal age. Finn cast his eyes toward the Time Bender and then back to his mentor, whose face was rapidly beginning to take on the same hue as his reddish beard. If Headmaster Bruce had any idea what was going on in this barn…

Or bar, rather—tonight, at least.

Mixing drinks was a welcome distraction for Finn; it kept his hands and mind busy, and didn’t allow him to sneak too many peeks across the barn to where Everly was. She was still cool and aloof, as if nothing were amiss at all. She and Valerie had taken

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