All The Kinds Of Love

•6•

"Dot, what the hell?!"

The three witches bent to pick up the fallen tray.

"You're going to have to replace the food on it now." Hester glared.

"At least you could turn the leftovers to chocolate." Anadil remarked.

Dot angrily turned a potato chocolate and left the room, muttering curses under her breath.

"Now," Hester continued. "As I was saying, Caspan has been behaving like a fool all day.

"He drops, forgets, crashes, you name it, he does it. He's worse than Dot."

"But why would the Queen appoint a bumbling idiot as minister?"

"Well, that's my point, you see. He's such a bumbling idiot, it almost seems..." Hester paused deliberately.

"Put on?" Gasped Anadil.

"It's not solid evidence, but it's a start." Hester concluded. "Now, what are we going to tell Dot if she asks about us holding hands? We both know she saw it."

"She's making things up, her imagination is running wild, being half Ever is making her hallucinate." Anadil replied matter-of-factly.

"Excellent, thought you'd say that. Perfect plan." Hester grinned.

The two witches waited impatiently for their friend to return, both trying very hard not to go against Hester's decleration.

●●●

"Hort, sweetie, you know Hester and Anadil?"

"What about them?"

"Well, I was talking to Aggie the other day, and she thinks they're dating." Sophie said simply.

"WHAT?! Those two, the most heartless, emotionless, ruthless witches in the Woods? Dating?"

Sophie nodded. Hort paused.

"You know, I can kind of see it."

●●●

After Hester and Anadil had explained their ideas - and, of course, the Ever hallucinations - the three witches decided on a new plan.

"Well, since Caspan's been acting weird, we should focus on him, surely?" Dot said.

"I'll keep trailing him." Hester decided. "Ani, keep looking for information in the offices."

"And me?"

"Funny you should ask..."

"Let me guess: somehow keep an eye on all the others?"

"Well, since you suggested it..."

"Generously nominated yourself for the job, you could say..."

"Yes." For the umpteenth time since reaching Crossmaw, Dot sighed resignedly.

●●●

Anadil slipped into Moroch's study for the second time and went straight to the filing cabinet. A rat appeared from under her dress and picked the lock with its tiny claws, and Anadil opened the first drawer.

Bingo!

Six dossiers, each marked with a minister's name.