Pulling The Wool: A Magic Garden Mystery (Book 1) Read Free Page B

they worked together was in fact a public-access community project, which together, shared the building with the local public radio station. Alana and Stewart also did the morning news segment on the radio station. Unfortunately bigger news stations didn’t see the worth of having actual news in Thackery, with their proximity to bigger markets. Nonetheless, both Alana and Stewart did a fine job together of keeping the residents in the village up to date with everything.
    “What happened yesterday?” Fern took a sip of her coffee as she waited for Alana’s response.
    “Well, we finally discovered why the group of teenagers were acting strange in town over the weekend.”
    “Ah, yes, I remember. Some of the older folk were quite scared.”
    This past weekend, a group of local teenagers, displayed very odd behaviour in the middle of the day, on the high street. Shouting and pointing out objects, which weren’t to be seen, their strange act puzzled everyone, until Willie was called in to send the boys home.
    “You’ll never guess what it was?”
    “Tell me!”
    “So eventually, one of the younger boys, finally gave in and agreed to speak to Stewart about it. Incidentally - the boys have completely returned to their normal selves and are, justifiably, quite mortified at the scene they caused.”
    “So, what was it?”
    “He took Stewart out into the local forest, where they found… magic mushrooms !”
    “ What! Magic mushrooms?”
    Alana grinned, shaking her head. “Yup. The boys thought they’d try them, not knowing what they were. By the time they walked back into town, the effects of the mushrooms had taken place. Can you believe it?”
    Fern started to laugh. It was ridiculous!
    “That’s crazy! But I guess it explains their hallucinations and why they were insisting on seeing things in the street, which weren’t there.”
    “Exactly. Also, now that we’ve uncovered the cause, we’ve had to put a sign around the area warning people about them. Of course, we also need to report our findings on this evening’s news.”
    They were quiet for a moment whilst they sipped on their coffee.
    “How’s Stewart doing? I haven’t seen him for a couple of days now.”
    Alana and Stewart were neighbours growing up, always in and out of trouble together – now they had their own press pass to justify it. The two of them provided an excellent source of information and gossip for Fern. Stewart however had no idea about Fern’s powers, having sworn Alana to secrecy.
    “Stewart…is being Stewart.” Alana laughed off her comment. “You know what he’s like - always digging around, looking for a hint of a story.”
    “He seeing anyone lately?”
    Alana dismissed Fern’s question with a wave of her hand. “No, he’s still single. Tells me he’s too busy to worry about relationships.”
    Fern smiled politely. Stewart was charming and attractive, yet she’d never seen him with a girlfriend. Whilst she had her suspicions about that, she was too polite to ask so she changed the subject.
    “Anything else just as absurd as the mushrooms?”
    Alana shook her head. “No, not as absurd, but did you hear about the altercation between Jim and Ben on Saturday night?”
    Fern shook her head. “No, what happened?”
    “Well, let’s just put it this way. Both men had a few pints too many. After the pub shut for the night, they began an argument – neither of which can remember about what it was about – but apparently it turned a bit nasty.”
    “Oh no! What happened?”
    “Apparently, Ben punched Jim in the nose.”
    “Oh my goodness! Was Jim okay?” Fern’s eyes widened in surprise.
    “Not really. According to Jim, he was lucky his nose wasn’t broken. Anyway, he’s now demanding a formal apology from Ben on the radio.”
    “And is Ben going to do it?”
    Alana nodded her head. “Yes, he’s agreed to it. He actually feels very bad over the incident and has already apologised several times.”
    “Wow.