Gentle Green

Chapter Six

Her surroundings were silent, save for the ticking of a grandfather clock at the corner. Its brass fixtures and wooden casing, stained mahogany, set off the tall, white shelves nearby. They lined up in neat rows across the tiled floor of Alola's spacious library.

Her father had volunteered to help renovate the building, delighting the local librarian. The two had been best friends since, and their daughters had become playmates. She and Guyaba often used to play hide-and-seek among the bookshelves, much to the vexation of the other visitors and older students from the schoolhouse.

Now, Sua's mind was too preoccupied to even think of looking for her friend. She still couldn't believe that she'd managed to make up an excuse for her fading bruises. Thankfully, Gin had believed her when she said that a herd of startled bovis had accidentally run across her path, knocking her around in their panic.

And luckily, her mother had gone along with the tall tale.

"He wouldn't tell anyone, would he?" Sua mumbled as she rifled through the pages of a book. She'd taken the hefty thing from a section of the library holding new acquisitions, hoping it contained the answers she sought. "I'll never live this down if the others find out. Or worse. People might think on it deeper and sense something suspicious."

"What something suspicious?"

Sua almost yelped when she heard Guyaba's voice.

"You surprised me, Gui," she hissed. She kept her thumb on the page she was reading so she wouldn't forget. "What on earth are you doing back here when you should be up front manning the desk?"

Her friend shrugged her shoulders and pulled out the ladderback chair beside the one she was sitting on. Guyaba plopped her bottom down and cupped her chin in both hands.

"Daddy told me to take a break."

"Did he?" she asked, "or did you sneak away like usual?"

Her friend scrunched her nose, which only meant that she had snuck off without telling her parent.

"It's not like there are a lot of people here now that the show's in town," Guyaba replied, referring to the traveling fair that moved from town to town across the continent. Whenever they stopped by with their theater plays, musicians, puppeteers, candy stalls, barbecues, and auction booths, the local shop owners would close up to treat themselves to some entertainment.

"I know what you mean," Sua said. "Even Ubi begged us to close shop so she could watch today's puppet show."

"Is that why you're here instead of at the inn?"

"You know Mama rarely says no to her younger daughter, Gui." Sua rolled her eyes. Between her parents, Sarisa was always the indulgent one, while her father had been the disciplinarian. "And since there's going to be a pop-up kiosk for the next few days, you can bet that we'll be closed again for dinner too."

Not that she could blame the locals for flocking to the fair's foreign cuisine. She would have loved preparing the same dishes for the bar, of course, but shipping the rarer ingredients would not only take time but also result in extra expenses. On the bright side, she'd only need to cook for her family and their guest every night.

Less work, more portions.

"We're straying from the topic." Guyaba leaned closer, perhaps to make sure that her father wouldn't hear her and realize where she'd gone. "You were saying something about 'suspicious.' You're not referring to our local celebrity, are you? Because, I swear, I won't be able to take it if he turns out to be a bad person."

"Um," Sua furrowed her brow. "Who?"

"Sa Gin, of course." Her friend pointed toward an alcove reserved for readers who preferred reading in peace. Sua gazed over and realized that her guest was also on the premises. "He's been coming and going the past week, skimming through piles of newspapers dating as far back as two decades."