𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑬𝑹 𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 • 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐦 (wolfblood)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨

After five more minutes of driving down the wrong road, they came across a small village that reminded Lia a lot of Stoneybridge. They pulled up outside a cute little corner shop called 'The Mottled Poppy' which also doubled as a petrol station out the back. The kids happily jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped, glad to be able to stretch their legs after being cramped up in the back of the car for nearly four hours straight. Lia loved getting away from the North of England, mainly because they didn't do it very often, but the journey to anywhere other than somewhere in the North was excruciating.

They ran inside the shop, eager to find some snacks and entertainment for the journey. As soon as they walked in, the owner must have heard the bell ring above the door because he walked out and stood behind the counter with a smile, "Two for one on all bags of sweets. Special offer."

Tom clapped, spinning to find the rack of sweets, "Result!"

The man chuckled, "You going anywhere nice?"

"Blackpool." Lia responded, followed up by Shannon, "We're going to go on the big dipper."

"Biggest in the country!" Tom grinned, his arms already full of food which made Lia laugh and help him out as the two other girls high-fived each other. The bell chimed above the door once again as Dan walked in, "Morning," he greeted, then held up the folded map in his hand, "We've got ourselves a bit lost."

"Not got sat nav, then?" The man questioned, clearly a bit confused as to why he wouldn't. Dan shrugged as he walked up to the counter, unfolding the map and setting it down, "Never had to use it."

The man chuckled, "Nah, me neither. Let's have a look, then."

"I think we took a wrong turn on the A66." Dan started to explain as Lia walked up to stand beside him, taking a look at the map herself. She'd hardly scanned it before something else caught her attention. She had to blink twice at the vase of flowers to make sure what she was seeing was real, but sure enough, the petals of white poppies were bleeding into a deep red.

Dan had clearly noticed this too, and laughed in disbelief, "What on Earth will they think of next? Is it electronic?"

"No," The man responded quickly, his eyes trained on the poppies, "It's... it's a local thing. Will you excuse me?"

"Is everything alright?" Dan asked the man with a frown at his sudden change in behaviour. Lia picked up on this too. The man seemed... uneasy. Frightened, even. Or it might have been excitement, judging by the rapid beat of his heart. The man blinked, recollecting his thoughts, "Yeah, the... pump's playing up. Overcharging. Let me sort it out. Here," he began, sliding over a pot of coffee and bringing up some mugs from the counter shelf, "Have some coffee, on the house." He then quickly made his departure into the back of the store. 

Lia frowned, but shook her head. Village people were always a bit odd.

Emma had entered the store at some point, but Lia hadn't heard the bell. Emma grinned as she joined them at the counter, happily filling a few mugs with warm coffee. Lia accepted one gladly - she didn't have time to have her usual coffee that morning, so she was grateful for the energy boost, even if it was ten o'clock in the morning.

Over their coffee, the man helped them get back on track. Thankfully, they hadn't strayed too far off course, and their journey was only going to be fifteen minutes longer. At least, it would have been, but once they had paid for everything and hopped in the car, it wouldn't start. Ten minutes had passed, the two men tinkering with the engine, but nothing they tried was working. Dan shook his head, turning the key back and pulling it out with a sigh, "I don't understand it. This car is like a tank, it always starts."