Chapter 11

We needn’t explain anything to Ms. Maggot because she somehow knew everything.

“Can I get you something to eat? Breakfast, perhaps. The bugs in your eyes talk about your missed breakfast,” she said in a jolly manner.

“You seem to know a lot, Ms. Maggot. It feels like a threat to an ordinary person. We shall take the coffee, please,” I answered.

“Nice choice. You can’t visit a beekeeper and not ask for honey,” she stated, making us all laugh, expecting it to be a joke.

“I’m really sorry for the loss of your father, Miss Lyle. He was a different man. Different from any other man I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you, Ms. Maggot,” I responded.

“And you? Miss Duskwick?” She called Willette Maggot, and Willette gazed back at her with a smile. “She was always in your father’s thoughts. The Duskwick princess. He always thought of her as someone who would be of value in the future. If only he were here so I could answer that question he always asked me so badly.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Every time he sat right here,” she pointed at a metallic chair that wiggled repeatedly as she served me a small cup of coffee, “he would ask me, 'Maggot, why do you think that young Duskwick is so important to me?' And I would always tell him to wait until the right time when the reason would be revealed to me. You know what’s very disappointing?” she asked, and I eagerly awaited her answer.

“What?”

“The right time has arrived, but he is no more. I wouldn’t say he would be happy about it, but he would understand the power of fate. He, above anyone, would believe my eyes. But you know what? Enough about the nagging; I want to take you up to the Smallhaven mines so you know what’s been moving along.”

We walked with her past the back door that led inside the tunnels of the Smallhaven mine.

“Wow,” I muttered. “Don’t tell me the workers from this mine go through your home?” I questioned.

“They have no idea about it. This is the back of the haven mines, and there is a door that only I can open from this side, and on the other side, it’s a wall. All the boys here call me Mama. You wouldn’t want to know the theory behind it. Do you two girls have anything going on?” she asked, and I looked puzzled at what she meant.

“What do you mean by anything?” I asked, staring back at Willette, who wasn’t willing to say a word at all.

“Never mind my dirty thought,” she snapped, picking up a white stone from under a brick that she placed in a tiny hole, creating a door in the wall, and we walked inside. "Down here is where I keep the gold, and right through the other door where you hear the noise is where the boys are digging now. Do you mind?" she inquired, handing me a key and pointing to the locks.

"Sure!" I snapped, taking the key in my hand, then unlocking what I expected to be a door.

"This is the Smallhaven safe. As you will read in the accounting books, down here is a collection of sixty thousand kilo gold bars, a million pounds, eight hundred thousand shillings, nine hundred fifty thousand pences, and a few farthings. The upper safe has your mother's jewelry that is worth eight million pounds."

"Is this where my parents kept their money?"

"No. This is the money collected around Smallhaven. Every business has its accountabilities."

"I will need to take those books back with me to Duskwick if you don't mind, Ms. Maggot," I said.

"Sure. It's your business after all, dear. I will just get them ready for you to take."

"Thank you."

It didn't take us so much time around Smallhaven, and before midday, we were back in Duskwick. I went straight to the study, where I spent the rest of the evening going through the business books of Smallhaven, with Willette seated reading a book I had no idea about.

After I was done, we both went out for dinner. I ordered a seat to be added for her right next to mine, which didn't earn Mr. Edward's approval, but he did not try to compromise my requests.

After the quiet dinner, we both took the stairs to the bedrooms. She bid me goodnight and headed to her room, while I went to mine.

When I arrived in my room, everything from the day rushed back into my head. I couldn't bring myself to sleep, so I sat in thought with my lights on, catching Willette's attention. She later approached my door from the outside, snapping.

"Can't sleep?" she asked as I startled out of my thoughts, heading to open the door for her.

She stayed standing at the door entrance while I went and threw myself into the covers.

"No! I can't," I answered.

"You mind if I kept you company? Can't sleep either."

"Sure. Please. Lock the door, though," I agreed, and she walked slowly to my bed stand after closing the door.

"It's very heavy," she said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"The responsibility. It's very heavy. And it all fell on your shoulders. May I ask you something if you don't mind, Tara?"

"Go ahead."

"How old are you?"

"Ha!" I chuckled, surprised by why she was asking. "I'm fifteen. How old are you, Willette?"

"Fifteen is underage for a girl around Duskwick. Me? I'm seventeen," she answered.

"How did you manage back in Eklane?"

"Back in Eklane," she started, sitting on the bed. "I had so many workers. I barely accounted for the money itself. The only thing I wanted was to help the children who had lost their parents in the Maga. It's the orphanage Mr. Flynn and I had started."