The team was packing ready to leave for the international cargo terminal. Mariette was staying. The small town was her home now. As she moved to the door Daphne caught up with her.
“Mariette, can I talk to you about something.”
“Sure Daphne, just don’t try to get me to go back to the U.K. I am quite happy here.”
“That’s great, because what I’m going to say depends on you staying here.”
“What’s this about, Daphne?”
“The natural magic flow, it has been here for a long time, more than a thousand years. It has shut down now, but it has left residual magic in the land, the soil, everywhere in Lecky’s old kingdom.”
“Yes, that sounds right.” Mariette was interested.
“The magical ownership has reverted to the federation of First Nations in the USA. That’s not their real name, it isn’t polite for us foreigners to put our nose into the First Nations business. My mum, the owner and manager of Greengrass Potions, would love to get supply contracts with wizard farmers willing to work on that land. Anyone who works the land properly will do very well.”
“I don’t know that much about farming.” Mariette wasn’t sure about this.
“What Mum needs is someone she can trust, who will negotiate with the local people, they will all be First Nations. You don’t have to know that much about farming, you will pick that up quickly anyway. Once the contracts start to pay, Greengrass Potions and Greengrass Botanicals will set up California branches, based here. I want you to consider being our representative in California.”
“Wow, that’s a whole lot different to the muggle jobs I’ve been doing here.”
“Mariette, the training you got at Hogwarts will really start to pay off if you accept.”
“Doesn’t this have to go through your mother.”
“Don’t worry, Mum and I are on the same page about most things.”
The DC10 cruised north-east, the Great Circle path would take them to Hudson Bay, across the Greenland Strait, then southern Greenland, across the North Atlantic, then into Gatwick from the north-west. Daphne had been kept up to date by her mother on the Malfoy project. So far there was no progress. She was gradually sliding into depression as each hour passed and the U.K. got closer. Daphne was never depressed. The signs of a happy future life were not good.
Daphne wrote random notes filled with details of each day’s drama. She could write about twenty columns covering the last week alone. All she had to do was find a reason to do it.
Maybe California would be good for Daphne as well. That Leo Blake person was so upsetting. She could do without him looking in her direction every chance he got. Los Angeles, that had a promising sound to it. It had some good things to consider, mainly it was a long way from London. There was a lot happening there in the muggle and magical world. The wizard papers and periodicals over there could always use new material.
255Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXe2XdER2M2
