The Peacock's Poison

by Ruby Loren

  Lawrence coughed and looked confused. I took a step closer and he seemed to glare at me with recognition.

  “I thought I’d check to see how you are,” I said to him, not sure how much of this was getting through.

  Lawrence looked at me in suspicion. I knew he was confused, and still suffering from smoke inhalation - as he’d been exposed for longer than I had, and also possessed lungs damaged from years of smoking - but I thought he knew full well who I was and was every bit as disdainful as he’d been in the fire.

  Still, in the time after I’d saved him, it had occurred to me that there could be another positive to having dragged him free of the smoke.

  “Did you see who set the fire?” I asked, hoping he might be able to sign it out, or something.

  Lawrence grunted and Auryn pulled a regretful face at me. Apparently that question had already been asked a few times.

  Lawrence looked blankly at the wall before coughing another horrible cough.

  “Get better soon,” I said, uncertainly and then left the room.

  To my dismay, Claudia followed me.

  “Did you know, too?” She hissed once we were outside of the hospital room and she’d shut the door behind her.

  “About the will?” I said, guessing that was was what she must mean. Even if she hadn’t known about it before the fire, the police would have undoubtedly told her as part of their questioning.

  “Yes, the will!” she said, looking furious. “I left it open on his desk that day, so he’d know I knew what he was up to, but I didn’t mean for the office snoop to stick her nose in. And then reporting me to the police! That’s just telling nasty tales.” Claudia took a step closer but I held my ground.

  “I never saw the will,” I told her. “It was someone else who told the police about it.” I cocked my head at her. “But you saw it! Did it make you angry enough to… oh, I don’t know… sneak into the office with a full pack of cigarettes and light them up?”

  The police had asked me to keep that a secret but I suspected Claudia had also discovered the truth during her questioning.

  “What would my motivation for killing the old man be? You clearly know about the will. I get nothing.” She shook her head. “I should have known he’d pick the Averys over his own flesh and blood! He always preferred the zoo to his real family.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, discovering I truly meant it. “I know it’s none of my business, but Auryn was shocked and upset when he talked about the will. I know he never wanted to take anything away from you and your family.”

  Claudia shrugged. “At the end of the day, it’s the old man’s choice.” She looked at me, her dark eyes intense. “And old men have to look after themselves don’t they?”

  I nodded my head. “Will Lawrence be coming back to the zoo?”

  Claudia shook her head. “Not unless he pays someone to drive him and get him ready. I also think he’s still in shock, and who knows if he’ll recover at his age, or even speak again? He’s not as independent as he likes to make out and now he won’t be getting any further help from us.” All of a sudden a look of guilt flashed across her face. “Don’t let him persuade Auryn to help him either, will you? I started working at the zoo because grandfather thought it would be a good way for me to meet someone I might be interested in, and also because my family thought someone should be keeping an eye on the old devil, but I know Auryn is a good man. What grandfather is doing to my family is wrong, but I don’t blame Auryn for it.” She smiled a little. “After the revelation of the will, I actually need this job more than ever,” she confided.

  “Perhaps he’ll change his mind after the near-death experience?” I halfheartedly suggested.

  She shook her head. “I think you’ve just seen for yourself how little he’s changed, and you’re the one who saved his sorry life. He’s made his mind up and that’s all there is to it. It’s time for us all to move on with our lives.”

  I nodded, wondering if all along I’d been influenced by Lawrence’s bad behaviour when judging his granddaughter. Claudia seemed highly intelligent and reasonable, now that we weren’t competing for chocolates/men.

  “I have a career to focus on,” she said, perhaps thinking along the same lines.

  “So do I,” I reassured her and we parted ways, perhaps not friends, but at least not enemies any longer.

  13

  Chocolate Fudge Cake

  Jordan had been calling me pretty much daily since he’d got back to the five publishers and arranged the meetings. He always filled me in on the way he thought each of them were developing their offers and how he kept them on their toes by persuading them that the other publishers were going to win the bid if they didn’t make a certain change.

  The meetings had been scheduled, but Jordan had insisted we should meet for coffee first, to discuss our battle plan. I’d accepted and we’d arranged to meet today at the zoo itself.

  “So, this the place!” Jordan said when he arrived. He looked around like a kid in a candy shop.

  “I’ll give you the tour,” I said with a smile. I’d booked the morning off, so I that could show Jordan around. Auryn hadn’t minded in the slightest and had even hinted that he’d love to meet the agent himself. I hoped Auryn was right in thinking that having my comics published and using me to sell them would be good publicity for the zoo, rather than the opposite. I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t make everything come apart at the seams.

  “He’s coming in with me,” I told the crowd of festively dressed reception staff and event workers, all trying their best to persuade visitors to the zoo to take a trip to the Winter Wonderland. I noticed they also had the arts and crafts day advertised. New posters were up everywhere, advertising the fact that Tiff and I would be giving ‘an arts and crafts business seminar’.

  Jordan spotted my name on the posters. “You’re giving a talk?”

  All of a sudden, I remembered he was my agent and that I’d signed a contract with him!

  “It’s okay,” he said with an easy smile, reading my face. “I’ll let you off this time. Run it by me next time, but stuff like this is great. Are you getting paid?”

  I smiled and shook my head. “I don’t think so. Tiff and I are really doing it as a favour to Auryn to help him make the most of the event. It’s just a little add-on extra.”

  Jordan looked at the poster. “That they’re charging money for! That will add up. How many people are going?”

  I told him I wasn’t sure, but I thought perhaps a hundred or so for the seminar, so far.

  He pointed to the White Trees Christmas Events branding at the bottom of the page. “They’ll be getting a cut. I know you want to help your friend, but you shouldn’t let anyone take advantage of you.” He fixed me with an understanding look from his hazel eyes. “Okay?” he said and I nodded, meekly.

  We chatted about all kinds of stuff as we walked through the zoo. Every now and then, he’d stop and point to an animal and ask if such and such really happened.

  We made it as far as the penguins when he gave me a questioning look.

  I cleared my throat. “It might have happened, although I changed the gender and appearance of the person who may, or may not, have recently let them out.”

  “And the slipping down the hill?” Jordan asked with a grin.

  I blushed a little. “Nearly happened,” I told him.

  We continued our walk around the zoo, chatting away like old friends. I found out just as much about Jordan as he did me. He’d tried to be a writer, but had ended up in the publishing industry as an agent and discovered he loved it. He loved animals and wanted to get a dog, but thought he spent too much time moving around visiting clients to get one.

  I’d told him I thought the right dog wouldn’t mind travelling, and he’d said he might just have to consider it.

  We rounded the corner past the meerkats and continued along until we reached the emus.

  Jordan ground to a halt.

  “Is that a turk
ey? Wait… is it the turkey?”

  “It’s Bernard,” I confirmed. “He really did try to take on two peacocks at once. I got in the middle of it.” I showed him the still-healing cuts on my hands.

  “You know, you paint the peacocks as the bad guys, but so far in the comics, they’ve been attacked by both Lucky and a turkey. Are you sure they’re not the victims?” he said.

  I snorted and then blushed, pushing my sparkly gold glasses higher up my nose to recover. “You’re free to make your mind up. If we’re unlucky enough to meet one of them, I think you’ll change your mind.”

  We made it all the way around the zoo. Jordan was able to observe the peacocks chasing people waiting in the queue for the Winter Wonderland.

  “I suppose that’s one way to keep everyone waiting entertained,” he remarked.

  I sighed. “There’ll be complaints, and then one of the keepers will have to come and pretend to know how to control the birds. They don’t care as much about food as they do chasing people, so you can’t tempt them away. The best method is to wind them up, so they’ll chase you far enough away that they forget to go back. It’s also the worst method,” I said. I’d always wondered how many hilarious videos of Avery zookeepers being chased by peacocks had ended up on YouTube so far. At least it gave people something to laugh about.

  My attention was snagged by the sound of giggles. A large group of office and shop girls sat outside their new makeshift offices on a couple of picnic benches. They were all looking in our direction, or more specifically, Jordan’s direction. It only served to remind me that my literary agent had got a heavy helping when it came to good looks.

  “There’ll be gossip starting in no time,” I said, mostly to myself.

  “Oh?” Jordan raised a dark blonde eyebrow at me.

  “You know what women can be like, I’m sure,” I said to the attractive agent. “You know… when there’s a nice looking man around, who’s new to the zoo. They probably think you’re going to be working here,” I said, feeling more embarrassed by the second.

  “Let’s give them something to talk about,” Jordan said with a glint in his eye. “Thanks for showing me around the zoo,” he said and I was relieved when he simply opened his arms for a hug. I gladly accepted, but before pulling away, he kissed me on the cheek.

  “There,” he said with a grin.

  “Thanks so much. I bet that will boost my street cred no end,” I said, sarcastically.

  He kept smiling and I returned the look, but inside, I was worried. Word did get around the zoo fast, and often things were even exaggerated. I was going to have to make sure Auryn knew that Jordan was my agent and nothing more. But that would mean talking to Auryn, and perhaps even admitting that I thought doing anything that might be perceived as romantic with another man might be wrong.

  “Come on, how about we go for that coffee and finish talking about the publishers, where it won’t immediately become gossip?” I said, planning to take him into town and away from the zoo.

  I happened to look back over at the Winter Wonderland and saw Barnaby standing there. He didn’t raise his hand in a greeting, but kept looking over.

  I mentally shrugged. He was probably on his best behaviour if his boss was turning up today.

  Jordan and I walked back through reception. The breeze suddenly shifted and a stale puff of acrid smoke was carried our way.

  “Is something burning?” he asked, pulling a face.

  “No, but it was…” I explained about the fire in the office and how I’d gone in to get Lawrence out.

  “You went into a burning building?” Jordan said, shocked. He shook his head. “You really are action woman, aren’t you?”

  I wasn’t too sure he meant it as a compliment.

  “Have none of your friends told you to try to avoid doing such dangerous things? One day you could be really badly hurt, or worse!” He looked genuinely distressed.

  “I just do what my conscience tells me to. Bad things happen all the time. If I can do something to make it better, I think I should,” I said, simply.

  “As admirable as that is, I’d quite like it if you did stay in one piece. I like you better that way,” he said with a beautiful smile.

  The second time Tiff called me, I knew I had to pick up. I’d told her that Jordan was coming this morning and had initially thought she’d forgotten when she’d called during our business talk over coffee. Now she was calling again, I knew it was urgent.

  “Sorry, I’d better take this,” I said to Jordan, who waved me away with a smile. I privately thought he probably needed a moment or two to get over how easily I’d managed to put away a giant slice of homemade fudge cake and the largest hot chocolate, flake, and whipped cream concoction the independently run coffee shop could do.

  It was a big one.

  I wasn’t sure whether Jordan would think treating me to coffee as a little perk was such a good idea after today.

  “Tiff, what’s up?” I said, immediately worried something had happened at the zoo.

  “It’s Auryn.” She sounded pretty miserable. “He came for a chat with me and he was really nice about it but… I don’t think we’re meant to be after all.”

  I felt my stomach drop a couple of feet. Which in my case meant it felt like it hit the floor. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Tiff. You are such an amazing person. I know you’ll find Mr Right!”

  “Thanks, Madi! I think I need a couple of girly film nights, and I’ll be okay again. Would you mind that?”

  “The popcorn is practically already in the popcorn maker,” I told her with a forced smile. I hoped she wouldn’t hear that it was forced. The knowledge of what I’d done behind her back was wearing me down. Could I really carry on like this, always knowing I hadn’t told her the truth?

  I took a deep breath, finally seeing which decision was the right one.

  It just wasn’t a pleasant one.

  “Tiff, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s something I am not proud of and I wish I could take back, but it happened, and because you’re my best friend, I need to tell you.”

  “Go on…” Tiff said sounding suspicious.

  I bit my lip for a moment, wondering if I was about to ruin the best friendship I’d ever had, before I launched into an only slightly edited version of what had happened between me and Auryn.

  When I finished there was silence on the other end of the line.

  “I’m so sorry, Tiff. I never meant for it to happen,” I repeated, feeling terrible. But then I was terrible, wasn’t I?

  “I need some time to think,” she said and hung up.

  I lowered my phone and shut my eyes. Well, that was that! My best friend now hated me, and I absolutely deserved it.

  I heard the shop’s bell tinkle and looked round to discover Jordan had come outside.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  I was forced to look away, worried that I might start crying any second. I clenched my jaw. I wasn’t going to do that in front of him, or anyone. They would be tears of self pity, anyway.

  “It’s complicated,” I told him.

  He nodded and leant against the exterior stone wall. “It always is. I don’t suppose there’s anything I can do to help?”

  “Not unless you’re secretly a time traveller,” I told him, the ghost of a smile flickering across my face.

  “Everyone makes mistakes. It’s what you do to learn from them that matters,” he said, sounding like the fountain of all wisdom.

  “The thing is… I’m not so sure that it was a mistake, and that’s the worst thing of all,” I confessed.

  Jordan looked curious, but he didn’t pursue it, and for that, I was grateful. After a couple of moments, I was able to leave my wallowing firmly at the door and suggest we go back inside to finish our business discussion.

  “I’ll buy you another slice of cake. That will make it better,” Jordan said, sympathetically. I hadn’t told him what had happened, but I thought he had a shrewd
idea of the kind of trouble I was in.

  “Thanks,” I told him, reflecting that the agent already knew me far too well. Cake would definitely always make things better.

  It was only when I got home that night that I realised - horror of horrors - it was the arts and crafts day tomorrow! I’d been looking forward to the event for ages, mostly because I would get to hang out with Tiff for the whole day, as we had our seminars and were both judges.

  Now it was going to be like torture.

  I slumped down on my bed, too depressed to bother with a comic tonight. Reluctantly, I grabbed my phone and sent Auryn a text, letting him know I’d told Tiff what happened. I’d managed to explain to her that Auryn hadn’t known she felt so strongly for him, but I thought it had probably only made things worse, because it then became all too clear that the reason he’d spoken to her earlier in the day was because of me and my big mouth. I was well and truly in the dog house, and I didn’t think I’d be getting out any time soon.

  My phone buzzed as a text came back. My stomach did a somersault, and I prayed it wasn’t Tiff saying she never wanted to speak to me again.

  It was Auryn.

  If you want to come over to talk, or anything. You’re always welcome at the house. Xx

  I smiled sadly at the text. It was sweet of Auryn to offer, but I still didn’t know how to behave around him, and until I’d made a decision that I thought was the right one, spending any more time alone with him was an unnecessary risk. In my head, I was putting our dalliance together down to the post-funeral itch. After a funeral, there was a tendency to seize on the fact you were alive and, well… make decisions you ended up regretting later.

  I shut my eyes and tried to focus on something else.

  When I’d returned to the zoo in the afternoon, I’d met Barnaby’s boss. Sara was a svelte woman with perfect ash blonde hair, cut so sharply I thought the bottom edge must have been done with a razor, rather than scissors. She’d been wearing one of the most expensive business suits I’d ever seen.