Waverly's Arc

Chapter 1 of 13

Waverly kept her back to the front desk while she sorted the morning mail, but her attention fixed on the man asking about delivery times. His questions came too quick, too specific. When did the flower shipments arrive? Which routes did the suppliers use? She set down a stack of letters and turned to face him. The stranger wore riding clothes caked with red dust, fresh from the trail. He leaned against the wooden desk like he belonged there, his eyes scanning the maps pinned behind her. One finger tapped the counter near a stack of invoices. Waverly pulled the papers closer and asked if he needed a room. He smiled and said no, just information. She told him the inn didn't track vendor schedules for guests. His smile thinned. He thanked her and left, but she watched him pause outside the window, studying the post office next door where Lovelock's supply crates waited for pickup. Waverly moved to the desk and began marking the routes on her delivery map with red string, tracing every path the flower shipments took into town. Someone was hunting for patterns in Lovelock's business, and she needed to know why before the storm arrived. She pulled the ornate wooden box from beneath the desk and opened it with a key she wore around her neck. Inside lay a collection of carved tokens, each one a different color. Waverly selected the amber piece and set it in the window facing the florist shop down the road. Lovelock would see it when she opened her doors and know to stay inside today, to send no shipments out. The box had belonged to their grandmother, and the token system had kept their family safe through worse than nosy strangers. Waverly locked the box again and tucked it away. Then she pulled out fresh paper and began writing messages to every courier in her network. She needed eyes on this man, needed to know who sent him and what he planned to do with information about flower deliveries. Her fingers moved fast across the page. The storm was still three days out, but this threat had already arrived.