Quill

Chapter 11: Is Reignited

Leland stood in front of Tiara, his cart to the side of him. He sported a large, brown hat tonight, tipping it towards Tiara.

   "Good evening, miss."

Tiara stared at him, frozen stiff. The yellowgreen light of the lanterns emitted over the fountain, tinting the two under the dark blue sky.

Leland looked up at the night sky, smiling at it as he looked back down. "Quite a beautiful night, isn't it?"

Tiara only stared back, her nerves shooting through the roof. Her hands trembled, the bag of cookies shaking on her palms.

Leland noticed her uneasiness. "Is someth-"

   "Leland!"

Norman immediately stormed towards the two, standing in front of Tiara. His suspicions of Leland only escalated from here on out.

   "Good evening," Norman forced through his mouth. He looked back at Tiara.

   "You okay?" He said, lowly. Tiara shook her head, backing up a bit, keeping both hands above and below her bag of cookies.

Norman slowly turned towards Leland in a rage, trying everything he could to keep calm.

"Now that you're here Norman, I think I have a lead on Miasma's identity."

His rage slowly subsided. Norman did not expect such an answer. "I've been asking around town all day. It seems that people are suspecti-"

"Mr. Canewhistle. I suspect him as well, Mr. Stonelock," Leland responded.

Norman became calm. This many people suspecting Mr. Canewhistle, it can't be for nothing.

"He spends every day around children. Selling to children, looking for children. There's a way to go about selling confections, and Mr. Canewhistle seems to be doing it in a complete mess of a display. Or, that is how I perceive it."

"No, many others see it that way as well. But we need cemented evidence. We can't persecute a man without a paper trail."

"That is very true. It seems right on target, but there's still a possibility that we could be further from this than we previously expected."

"It's just a relief to see the town banding together over this," Norman said.

"Seconded, Mr. Stonelock," Leland smiled.

"So, what brings you to the shopping circle tonight?"

"Ah, for this!" Leland took a small lantern from the bottom of his cart, showing it to Norman. It emitted a beautiful orange light. "It was for one of my regulars' six-year old daughter. She's sick, and I thought it'd be a nice surprise for my valued consumer to gift to her child. But..."

Leland walked over to the backing up Tiara. "It'd be better suited to this young lady. She's obviously a new resident, so it could be a nice welcoming gift."

Tiara stood still, staring up at Norman.

He looked over at the confused Leland, taking the lantern. "She's....very shy. She's slowly working on getting more out of her shell."

   "Oh! Well, I wish you all the best, miss," Leland smiled, walking back over to his cart. "If I have any more information-"

   "You'll let me know. I've heard that a lot today," Norman continued for him, smiling.

Leland smiled big in return, waving to Norman and Tiara. "Have a great night!"

Norman held a hand up in return, Leland pulling his cart back, then pushing it past the two, moving on to make more sales.