Prompt #1 - Part 2 Dara and the Manuscript

Continued from the previous post...

Dara slammed the cell phone on the counter and folded her arms across her chest. Of course Patrick wouldn’t be making it home for his mother’s birthday dinner. He’d asked Dara to pass along the bad news and give his mother a kiss for him. As if.

The diner was unusually slow today and she flipped the “closed” sign even though the hours on the glass said she’d be open for another hour. The people of Burberry could get their fried chicken from the grocery store if they needed it bad enough.

 In the back office, she’d put the mayor’s gift in a decorative bag with fluffy pink and blue tissue paper sticking out the top.

The mayor’s birthday dinner didn’t start until seven which surprised Dara since she couldn’t imagine the Biddies Bridge Club members usually stayed up past seven-thirty. The mayor’s entourage was invited to every family event. Annoying, but useful in that they were loyal to the mayor and therefore loyal to her by association. Inherited minions.

Thanks to Patrick being gone again, she’d have to deal with the entire lot on her own. She huffed and plopped into her desk chair and reached in the bag removing the manuscript.

Who was this Sir Henrique Malachi? The swirly handwriting on the parchment was illegible in some places but she found a date on the second page, along with a title.

1893, The Future of Burberry

“That’s odd,” she said to the manuscript. “I helped the mayor with the town history, and I know for a fact that Burberry wasn’t around in 1893.” She tapped the paper to emphasize her point. It was literally one of the few facts she knew about the town.

She flipped past a few more illegible pages of scribbles, then stopped on a page titled Walker Witches. Surely, not the same Walker women who poisoned her at that gross tea shop at her bridal shower?

The Walker women will serve tea and find love in strange ways.

She sat back in her chair and laughed. Not Ris. But the other two, Amira and Ally, had suspiciously bagged a couple of hotties.

This can’t possibly be about the same women. She flipped a few more pages and sat up straight.

TO BE CONTINUED… GO TO PART 3 HERE