Have you read Pixie Part One - The Party?
***
In the morning Folium threw on her favourite two-piece and took Virtus down to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast before heading back up to the Dark Tunnel. As they came into the room Delia and Praesidium were at the dining table. Delia was frowning at the newspaper.
“What’s up mum?” Folium asked, taking a huge bite out of a mangrove apple.
Delia sniffed and pushed the newspaper towards her.
Vice Mayor in a Vice
It seems our Vice Mayor, who has so far successfully been angling for a promotion to Mayor, has been neglecting her duties to our city. Yesterday, disaster struck the Saltus City Port. The seemingly untamable vines that have plagued our city over the past weeks caused their greatest havoc yet. A ship from Arborton appears to have gotten caught in the vines and sunk, causing a huge environmental disaster. As the former head of Conservation and current head of Infrastructure, one would think Vice Mayor Delia would have worked harder to eliminate the risk of an accident like this. Perhaps she’s been focusing too much on her campaign. This reporter expects her ratings will plummet after this careless…
Folium couldn’t read any more. She stuffed the newspaper in the bin. “Don’t listen to this rubbish, they don’t know anything.”
“I know, I know. But these vines are impossible to keep under control! I’ve got everyone I can spare out trimming the vines, but they grow too fast.”
“Well Virtus and I think the vines are growing so fast because the snail eggs are being destroyed. The snails normally eat the vines.”
Her mother blinked at her. “Makes sense I suppose. Oh but of course no one’s going to be able to investigate it with the sunken ship! The vines won’t be fixed before the elections and everyone will blame me and then I’ll… I’ll… I’ll lose!” Delia wailed.
“You’ll be fine mum. We’re going up to the Dark Tunnel now to do our own investigation. I’ll let you know what happens.”
Folium let Virtus slide up onto her shoulder and they hurried out the door. Panting, they arrived at the Dark Tunnel. The cart tracks they’d noticed yesterday were getting fainter.
We should see if these tracks lead us anywhere before they disappear, Virtus suggested.
Good idea.
They fluttered down the road. After a while the farm they’d noticed the day before came into view. The cart tracks went past the farm but…
Is that a cart by their stable? Folium asked.
Sure is…
We shouldn’t jump to conclusions…
I know, I know.
They fluttered up to the front door. The house looked in need of repair. The verandah roof sagged to one side and a broken window was hastily boarded up with timber off cuts. A rusty fairy lantern glowed by the door. As they approached they could hear a baby crying. Folium was just deciding whether or not they should bother them when the door flew open. A rather thin looking boy in heavily patched clothes floated in front of her.
“What do you want?” he asked rudely.
Before she could say anything an identical girl appeared next to him.
“Yeah, what do you want?” she asked, equally as rude.
“Oh um…”
“Pup, Ella! Get away from the door. What have I told you about talking to strangers?” A young man appeared behind the children, ushering them back inside the house. “What do you want?” he asked, eyeing Folium and Virtus suspiciously.
Upon closer inspection Folium saw that although he was young he was definitely showing signs of early ageing. His thick black hair had streaks of grey through it and there were deep frown lines around his mouth and on his forehead. He was also thin and had extremely patched clothes.
“Um hi, I’m Folium, and this is Virtus. We’re from the Saltus City Planning Department.”
“Well it’s about damn time, only you’re about two moons too late!” he shouted.
Folium fluttered backwards at the noise. “What-”
"I was expecting they’d at least send someone from the Conservation Department though.”
“The Conservation Department?”
“Of course the Conservation Department!” he roared.
She jumped. “What have you been expecting the Conservation Department for?”
“The snails! It’s been almost a year! Do you pixies never go through your forms?”
The snails? Maybe he knows something, Virtus said.
“Uh… apparently they don’t. Anyway, I’m here to help. Can you tell me about these snails?”
“They’ve been eating my crops! I can hardly grow enough to feed my family, and the little we do grow I have to sell to repay the debt we owe. We’ve been starving! I’ve been applying for funding to build a new fence to keep the snails out but no one’s getting back to me. Come look.”
He flew out of the house, slamming the door behind him. They followed him around the side of the house, past the stables where the wagon sat. There were three Shield Bugs in the stables munching on leaves.
“Look!”
Around the back of the house there were long rows of fields. Those closest to the house were about half full with vegetables. As they floated down the stretch of fields Folium saw the edible vegetables only lasted for about a quarter of the fields. The rest of the vegetables wouldn’t be ready for a while still. The orchard at the end was planted with mostly young fruit trees, although some mature trees were dotted around.
“I’m sorry no one came sooner.” Folium said.
“You’re damn right! Doesn’t matter now though, those stupid snails are gone!”
“They’re gone? Where did they go?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” the man said, folding his arms and staring out at his crops. “My crops are growing back now, and in a few more moons I’ll have most of the farm back up and running and be able to provide for my family again.”
“But surely you must have some idea where the snails have gone?”
“Even if I did know, why would I tell you? The Council’s been no help to me”
“Look, mister…”
“The name’s Maverix.”
“Maverix. I’ll talk to the head of the Conservation Department for you, we’ll get you a new fence…” He side eyed her. “But I need to know where the snails have gone.”
“I don’t bloody well know!” he roared, flinging his arms in the air. “Now get out of here and get me my fence!”
“But-”
“Now!”
Folium sighed. She obviously wasn’t going to get any more out of this guy. Nodding to Maverix she left, fluttering back up the fields toward the house. As she passed the stables she slowed down slightly to get a better look at the cart. She saw the wagon was in rather bad shape, like the rest of the property.
Can you hear that? Virtus asked.
There was a faint squeaking sound. As she looked around she saw a cart coming down the road toward the farm. Quickly she flew behind the stables. The creaking of the wheels grew louder. They were almost at the farm when Folium heard whistling behind her. Her heart leapt into her mouth. Maverix was coming back.
She dashed in between the Shield Bugs who took no notice of her, continuing to munch on their leaves. The stables smelt strongly. As the cart came past the farm it stopped.
“Maverix.”
“Orig. Wait a moment, I’ll get it from inside.”
Folium heard the front door open. The door closed and a metallic clinking went past.
“It’s not as much as I hoped, but I’ll get more to you next week,” Maverix said.
“Never mind, just as you can. See you next week.”
The creaking started again as the cart headed off. Whistling Maverix went back inside. Folium peered around the stable wall. The cart was trundling off toward the Dark Tunnel. She crept out and quickly crossed the road to the shelter of the trees, following the cart.
The driver pulled on the reins and the Shield Bug slowed to a stop outside the Dark Tunnel. The driver swivelled around in his seat, checking the road behind him, before quickly jumping down. He strode to the back of the cart, grabbed a large barrel, and rolled it into the Dark Tunnel.
What on earth is he doing? Folium asked.
Dunno, let’s get a closer look.
Folium fluttered forward quietly. She was almost at the tunnel mouth when-
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
She jumped, Virtus jolting on her shoulder. A rumbling came from the tunnel and she just managed to duck into the trees again as the driver appeared, rolling the drum. She watched as he loaded it back onto the cart, turned around, and headed back toward the farm.
Quick, let’s see what he’s been up to, Virtus said.
Folium didn’t need any prompting. She dashed through the last of the trees and slipped around into the tunnel. It took a while for her eyes to adjust. The broken eggs were still there, but between them Folium could make out the odd new egg. She slowly floated further into the tunnel.
Hmmm… I wonder if he missed those eggs on purpose, Folium mused.
Looks like he was doing something over there, to your right.
A patch of the tunnel floor was disturbed. They fluttered over and saw the slime had been scraped off the floor.
Did that guy come get a barrel of snail slime? Virtus asked.
Looks like it. I wonder where he’s taking it.
Who wants snail slime?
Dunno, but we should follow him. Hopefully he isn’t too far away.
They dashed back out the tunnel and hurried down the road past Maverix’s farm. The cart tracks were easy to follow on the soft road, but as they hit the streets of the city the dirt only tracked for a few metres before disappearing. They followed the road until it came to a three-way intersection.
Crap, where do we go now? Folium asked.
Well right is down to the ports, straight ahead is to the industrial district, and left is up to the city centre.
I don’t see him taking just one barrel of slime to the ports, and he’d look very unusual rolling the barrel around the city.
The industrial area then?
Suppose, Folium said, as she went straight ahead.
They flew down the wide roads, past rows of large industrial buildings. It was busy with huge wagons going to and fro. They stared as a huge wagon passed which glowed green. As she watched, it turned into one of the buildings over the road. And there, behind it, was the cart, parked on the side of the road.
There was no one on the cart so she hurried over. The barrel was gone. She looked up at the building it was parked outside. But it wasn’t parked directly outside one building, it was parked between two. Zya Beauty and LM Developments.
That’s not suspicious at all, Virtus said.
Before Folium could reply, a small pixie with white hair and a long skirt came out of the LM Developments building.
“Folium! Are you here to bring me some good news?”
It was Lily-Mae. Folium shuddered. She hadn’t done any work on the report yet and Lily-Mae was not someone to keep waiting.
“Oh… Lily-Mae, hi,” she had to think of something quickly. “I… I was actually here to tell you there’s been a slight delay to the report. There’s been some issues up at the Dark Tunnel and with the ship sinking at the port we’re stretched a bit thin at the moment.”
Lily-Mae raised her eyebrow at Folium. “Yes I’ve heard about the ship. I knew Alia was useless when she wouldn’t move my shipping dock, but I didn’t think she’d be daft enough to let something like this get out to the public. I haven’t heard what’s happening at the Dark Tunnel though?”
Folium wasn’t sure if she should tell Lily-Mae what was happening. On the other hand she might reveal some information to help Folium in her investigation. She came to a decision.
“Someone’s destroying the snail eggs. I think they might have been doing it for a while.”
Lily-Mae crossed her arms, considering the information.
“Well, I suppose that’s not very good for the endangered status of the snails. On the other hand, if there’s no snails left in the tunnel then surely I can build my new road.”
“I have to find out what’s going on with the snail eggs first.”
Lily-Mae waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.
“I’ll tell you what’s happened, they’ve gone from endangered to extinct. Not a lot you can do about that. What you can do is grant me permission to build my road. No doubt I’ll have to pay your department a huge fee that you could no doubt use?”
She wasn’t wrong. The money could definitely be used to hire consultants to close out some of Folium’s long-standing cases. But Virtus was her companion, she had to find out what was happening to her species. And what if Lily-Mae was the one behind it so she could get her new road? But she didn’t want Lily-Mae thinking Folium suspected her.
“I suppose you’re right. I’ll have to talk to the Transportation Department to get a preliminary licence, then you’ll be able to have your engineer submit the plan. Leave it with me and I’ll be in touch when we’re ready.”
Lily-Mae smiled. “Excellent! I knew I liked you, a real do-er you are. Keep this up and you’ll go far in this city.” And with a smile she fluttered back toward her factory.
Just before Lily-Mae got to the door a burly pixie with a short beard emerged from the Zya Beauty building.
“Ah Orig!” Lily-Mae called. “Busy morning?”
“Of course, ma’am,” Orig replied.
“I’ll need you to come to my office later today,” Lily-Mae said, a look of understanding passing between the two. “And tell Zya I’ll see her at Delia’s campaign event tonight.”
“Yes ma’am,” Orig nodded, before heading back toward Folium and the cart. “What do you want?” he asked Folium rudely as he approached the cart.
“What? Oh nothing, I was um… just here to see Lily-Mae.”
“Move along then,” he said angrily, making a shooing gesture at her.
What’s up with all these rude pixies! Folium muttered as she fluttered away.
Forget about them. Let’s get back to the office and review what we’ve found.
***
Folium snapped the office door shut behind them. She hurried around her desk, placing Virtus on the corner. She pulled up her chair, pushed her figurines out of the way, and grabbed a notepad.
Alright. So, who’s our first suspect? Folium asked.
Lily-Mae of course! Virtus said. She’s got the most to gain from this. If she could get her road built she’d massively increase her profits, and we know she loves money.
Folium scribbled some notes. And she obviously knew that Orig guy. Did you see that look that passed between them? They’re definitely up to something.
Yeah, that was very suspicious. But Orig came out of Zya’s factory. And he was the one who actually went into the tunnel.
Folium nodded chewing on the end of her pen. Hmmm… I guess that makes Zya our second suspect. She sure isn’t fond of snails at all. And it looks like she needs snail slime. But what for?
Virtus shrugged.
Folium went back to looking at her list. Then there’s Maverix.
He’s certainly happy the snails are gone, although I can’t blame him, Virtus said.
Yeah, I feel bad for him. I’ll need to talk to Teri about that, she’s really dropping the ball at the Conservation Department, Folium said, scribbling on a post-it note and sticking it on her monitor.
But he obviously knew Orig too. He was pleading poverty but by the sounds of it he was paying Orig for something.
Folium scribbled some more then sat back to read over the notes. Of course there is Orig himself, but he’s clearly working for one of our three suspects so I think we can rule him out as the mastermind behind it.
I don’t know, we don’t know anything about the guy. He could have a motive we don’t know about yet.
I suppose, said Folium, adding him to the list.
They sat in silence mulling over the information they had.
It’s not enough, Virtus said. We can’t make a definitive arrest. I think we’ll have to do a stake out.
Folium considered, nodding slowly. I suppose so. But we have mum’s campaign party tonight and I promised we’d be there. We’ll head out tomorrow night.
***
Read Pixie Part Three - The Gem now!