A fat green-tail jackrabbit’s ears were on high alert against the perfect blues of the clear skies. Behind a bush, a black paw stealthily, silently stepped forward in the direction of the jackrabbit, but it crushed a dry branch by accident. The paws pounced lethally forward as the jackrabbit had already disappeared among the many rocks and holes within the rocky hills. Nearby, a few sheep herders were out tending to their sheep.

Up on top of a hill, one of the sheepherders, an old handsome man in his 60s, with peppered hair, was cooking on an open fire in front of his aged log-cabin home. Logs were stacked on the side of the house. He is Grandpa Ivan Hearty, and also the village chief. A small toddler girl, about Henry’s age clung to his feet.

“Move away Mila, the fire is hot. Grandpa will play with you in a little bit.”

“No!” Mila stomped her feet. “No! No! No!”

He paused then grabbed her little arms with the utmost urgency. “Oh no! I need your help! I don’t have enough carrots for our visitors. Go grab some carrots from the garden.”

Mila nodded, accepting the mission, and ran off to the garden, which was located behind their home. Grandpa Ivan chuckled. Even if I just had one son, I do have a way with children, he thought to himself.

The smell of goat curry wafted in the air as he added cubed potatoes, orange carrots, and yam, all from their garden. He looked at his goat flock with puffy eyes, but then his attention turned to the spot where he heard a whirling noise.

A transport portal, so they’re here, he thought. He adjusted his creamy, wrinkled linen button-up, slightly stained with dirt and some curry from an accidental spill, and looked toward the noise. His wrinkled but tough hand, sprinkled with sun spots quickly wiped off any excess dirt on his shirt.

A skinny man stepped out of the transport portal in flip-flops, he had skinny arms, long skinny legs, and a long skinny face, with glasses on his skinny nose. He carried a worn leather bag, and a red stethoscope was halfway out of the bag, the skinny man, Sir Issoton approached the old shepherd.

Grandpa Ivan looked surprised. I was told there would be four of them. Where are the children? he wondered.

“Are you Grandpa Ivan?” the man spoke, his voice barely audible.

“Yes- ”

Before he could finish, a mana thread rapidly slithered from Sir Issoton’s pointer finger, it went behind Grandpa Ivan’s eyeball. Grandpa Ivan’s eyeball turned white and he was unconscious but the mana thread held on to his head, gently lowering him to the ground. Then more mana threads wrapped around the old man. Sir Issoton held a grimoire and whispered a spell. Upon the last words of his spell, Grandpa Ivan was cocooned by mana threads, and he started to shrink, smaller and smaller.

The strange man then grabbed Grandpa Ivan, now the size of a small pill. Sir Issoton leaned his head back and dropped Grandpa Ivan into his mouth. Then he was upright once more, and he grinned happily. Well, that went smoothly, he thought.

He looked down at this watch. “10 more seconds.”

After 10 seconds passed, Sir Issoton started to moan, his face and body started to morph, and eventually, he had transformed into Grandpa Ivan.

“Look! Look!” Mila carried two huge carrots, both about her length, in her arms as she ran back.

The fake Grandpa Ivan looked at the girl, and his wrinkled eyes smiled. “Great job Mila!” He patted her head as she smiled smugly.

A few minutes later…

“Excuse us! We’re looking for Mr. Ivan Heartys, the village chief,” Jamie said as she poked her head around the empty wood cabin house.

Henry was by the curry pot and had scooped some curry for himself. He had situated himself on top of an old log and already made use of the nearby basket of fresh baguettes. He dipped his baguette into the curry. The curry was extremely agreeable to the boy since Henry continued to eat as if he hadn’t had breakfast and a snack earlier.

“They left everything unlocked,” Jamie said and turned around. “Henry, I know that I checked that already, but that’s not your food!”

“It should be fine, Ivan knows we’re coming today. He probably prepared it for us,” Master Edwards said. He looked down at his gold watch.

“Over here!” Mila shouted as she and the fake Grandpa Ivan walked up to them from the bottom of the hill.

Grandpa Ivan shook Master Edwards’ hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Lord Edwards. We can’t thank you enough for coming. Everyone’s more relaxed now that they know your party is here.”

“Likewise, thank you for taking us in. And, I know it isn’t much, but I am truly sorry for your loss.”

He turned and nudged Jamie forward, “I’m not the lead, this is Jamie from Pure Earth, she will be investigating the missing girls and your son’s and daughter-in-law’s case. That there is Benny and Henry, and the pup, they’re her…assistants.”

Master Edwards held both of Grandpa Ivan’s hands, “Again, we’re deeply sorry for your loss.”

Jamie and the boys bowed their heads to express their condolences and Grandpa Ivan nodded in response.

“Yes, while life can take abruptly, sometimes it can give you hope. I’m just thankful, I still have Mila. She was there when it happened, but was knocked unconscious. She doesn’t remember anything. Mila say hi.”

Mila clinging onto his pants, looked at them shyly, “Hi…”

Jamie looked at the little toddler. So they think a shapeshifter killed her parents and took the girls, Jamie thought.

“Come,” Grandpa Ivan beckoned them toward the fire. “This was my late wife’s special lamb curry, passed down through seven generations now.”

They sat around the open fire, each with a bowl of hot and perfectly spiced curry.

“It’s beautiful here,” Jamie said as she tore more steaming bread and dipped it into the steaming hot curry.

“Yes, we’re getting more rich Center folks nowadays too. Look there.” He pointed west of them, toward some more rolling hills, “Those new cabins were built by my late son and his wife. They were also low-level mana users. Just the two of them built all those homes.”

Jamie forced a smile and nodded. I don’t know what to say, she thought. This whole situation is a tragedy.

“They occasionally checked on the Center folks and even ran errands for some. They were in the middle of opening up a little business supporting the Center folks.”

“Can you provide a list of the people they were helping?” Jamie asked.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Yes, I can write one up.”

Mila smiled happily as she sat next to the boys, she petted Jamie’s pup. Grandpa Ivan looked at her and smiled, showing his perfect teeth.

“I was thinking of getting Mila a pet, I think she could do with a shepherd dog. Ours is too tired to work nowadays, she’s napping now.”

“Maybe Jamie can give you her pup,” Master Edwards suggested.

Jamie’s eyes widen. “It’s a wolf! A toddler can’t raise a wolf.”

“I guess not.” He shrugged and placed his curry bowl down. “Boys, why don’t you go play with Mila.”

“I want to see sheep!” Benny said.

“Mila, take them to Uncle Maxim’s flock, they haven’t been sheared yet. So extra fluffy.”

“Okay, Paw-paw!”

The kids headed off as Jamie finished her second bowl. So good, she thought.

When the kids were out of earshot, Grandpa Ivan leaned in, “So it happened yesterday. A few young girls went missing. They never came back for supper. They were out scavenging for periwinkles yesterday.”

He sighed and continued. “My son and his wife were out selling some of our last year’s flock to make room on our farm. I was starting to get concerned when it was lunchtime. The Bimpkins found Mila and their bodies, I-”

Grandpa Ivan started to cry and couldn’t finish speaking. Master Edwards gently rubbed his back.

“We’ll figure this out, Ivan. We’ll leave you be, we’ll eat in town for dinner, so don’t worry about providing a meal. As for stay, we’ve rented cabin #32, so drop by if you have any new information.”

Grandpa Ivan nodded, tears still streaming from his sunkissed face.

“Jamie, let’s get the boys and we’ll look around.”

“Her Uncle’s farm is just down the hill, sharp right. Watch out for the small ditch on your left.”

“Thank you, Ivan, see you tomorrow.”

Grandpa Ivan watched Jamie and Master Edwards trod down the dirt pathway, lined with the occasional stone or brick. His wrinkled hands wiped the last teardrops and he smiled slyly.

***

“There is something peculiar about the old man,” Jamie said as they were halfway down the hill.

“Yes, I thought so too.”

“The curry wasn’t poisoned though, and I felt no malice.”

“Yes, just continue testing like you did today should we be offered food, but it is best to eat in town. Make sure you occasionally check for any mana tracers on you.”

“Got it.”

Jamie and Master Edwards found Benny and Henry floating a few sheep in the air when they arrived. Mila giggled and clapped her hand in excitement. “Higher! Higher!” she yelled.

The Uncle was nowhere to be seen.

“Master Edwards,” Jamie said and pointed at the ground. There was one huge footprint, with claw-like tips.

He looked. “Odd, just one.” He paused. “Oh wait a minute, I shouldn’t be supporting you. You need to figure things out on your own. I’m only here in case there is an attempt on your life.”

“Oh yeah, of course.” Darn-it! Jamie thought. This is going to be harder than I thought.

Jamie bent down to look at the tracks. “I have no idea what a shapeshifter’s footprint looks like.” She paused, hoping Master Edwards would give her a clue.

He did not.

“Hmm, I’ll take an impression and then see if they have a library or something I can research what shapeshifter's footprints look like.”

Jamie pulled out her grimoire, put on the small glasses, and looked through her grimoire. “Ah! Here it is,” she said and stopped on a page. She whispered the spell and released a marble-sized mana ball.

The mana ball landed in the footprint, it enlarged itself until it perfectly filled the entirety of the mysterious footprint. Jamie raised her palm at it and the mana footprint was sucked into her palm.

Master Edwards looked back at the boys and Mila, still floating sheep, surprisingly none of the sheep minded being a few feet in the air. “Boys, let’s head to town. Let’s transport Mila back.”

“No, want to play,” Mila said adamantly.

Jamie lowered herself to Mila’s eye level. “Sorry, but we’re on a mission and it could get dangerous.”

“Please!”

Master Edwards and Jamie looked at each other as if to say, “Well, her parents did just pass away.”

Master Edwards placed his index finger on his temple. “Odd, I can’t communicate with Ivan.”

“Weird, you spoke to him yesterday using telepathy.” Jamie furrowed her brows. What’s going on? The old man felt off and now this. Telepathy requires a conscious mind, and the old man seemed fine when they spoke.

“I’ll teleport us back since I know the destination,” Master Edwards said.

****

“That girl sure can throw a tantrum. I’m glad we left her with her Grandpa,” Jamie said as they entered the town's market strip.

It was a massive market, the village felt more like a city than a small rural village. The shops were packing up for the day. The shop owners closed their doors, flipping the "open" sign to "close". The stall owners were covering their stalls with bright orange mana-cover blankets. A stall owner would place a small and orange round piece in the middle of the stall, it resembled linen, they pressed on it and whispered a spell. The blanket grew in size and once it was done, the owner walked around and pulled at the edges to secure it.

Master Edwards pointed to a tavern with people going in and out. “Over there, that’s the bar we’re supposed to meet the families at.”

They entered the tavern and the bartender showed them to a private room in the basement. There was one main room and a side room for additional privacy.

“I want to interview one family at a time,” Jamie said.

“Why is that?”

“I’ve found it is hard to get real information in a group setting. Some people are more comfortable when it is one-on-one.” Jamie said.

Jamie pulled out a blank scroll and quill. “I’ll write down some questions while we wait.” Jamie pursed her lips, although she was not a detective in her world, she had always wanted to be one due to her love for murder mysteries.

Her questions were along the lines of, who do you think took the girls and why? Did anything unusual happen that day? Does your daughter or the girls have any reason to run off? What else can you tell me about the girls?

The families arrived shortly and Jamie took notes based on her interview questions for the rest of the evening, one family at a time.

As the last family left the small side room, Master Edwards popped his head in to see Jamie massaging her temple. “Dinner time.”

“I want to check out where the Heartys were found.”

“It’s dark out now. Let’s eat and look early tomorrow.”

Jamie looked out of the small basement window, she could see the bright full moon now. “Okay.” Her stomach growled, she blushed and attempted to disguise it by loudly shuffling some scrolls around.

They walked back upstairs, the tavern was bustling with folks having a good time with beer mugs in hand, a 180 change from the market strip.

“What’s going on?”

“Alcohol.”

Benny and Henry were already eating, they waved them over. “We’re having asparagus bisque and sourdough bread,” Benny said.

The waiter came over, “What can I get you?”

Jamie looked at the young boy. “What would you recommend?”

“Roast duck is in season. It pairs well with rolls.”

“I love duck! I’ll have that, please, and whatever beer you think is good.” She looked over at Master Edwards to see if he noticed. He just smiled. “One beer shouldn’t hurt.”

Jamie grinned. One beer later, Jamie was completely intoxicated.

“What did you give her?” Master Edwards asked the waiter.

“It’s our signature brew, 10.5% alcohol.”

“Hmm.” Master Edwards looked back at Jamie. She had linked arms with the village men, and a few young women, they were dancing to a jolly song about herding sheep under wolf attacks.

The joy didn’t last. Master Edwards felt a blood lust. He held his palm up but it was too late. A mana thread had made its way into the tavern through an open window, it wrapped around Jamie’s right ankle and quickly pulled her through the tavern brick wall.

“Darn-it!” Jamie screamed as she was dragged away, with an empty beer mug still in hand.