Trouble at t' Mill

Cola entered her office and closed the door quietly behind herself.

"He's gone?" Lotte asked handing her a warm cup of carrot tea. Cola nodded and looked around. Only a couple of hours ago this room was fill to bursting with boxes and bags of the Head Bucks things. It seemed more than empty now. The chairs that were left were arranged higgledy-piggledy all over the place. She bent down and picked up a solitary piece of paper from the floor.

"We're broke." Cola said quietly.

"Only if Gilchrist calls the loan in. I'm sure he won't do that soon." Lotte countered.

"We need to find over twenty pounds to pay him back." Cola took a deep breath. "Everything we had that was remotely valuable has been hocked or was Herbert's to begin with." She looked down at the piece of paper she had picked up.

"Ten AC-DC tour tee-shirts asstd. One model of Iron Maiden's Eddy (3" high)." She read. She turned to Lotte, quizzically, "This isn't our list is it?"

Lotte took the paper from her and read it, shaking her head. "Nope." She handed it back. "Is it Dab's list that he was working from?"

Cola nodded gently, "It has ticks next to each item. She turned it over and read the bottom two items. "'Encyclopaedia Connitanica - Twenty Six Volumes'. That's ticked. 'Journal of Herbert Rodgers, Buck of the Worlds' That's not ticked." She sighed

"There's a bound copy of the journals somewhere."

She told Lotte what Dabs had said as he was leaving.

"So we just had the notes?" Lotte said. Cola nodded. "And there's another copy somewhere?"

"There was another copy somewhere. It could have been lost anywhere in the past nine years." Cola added, sounding depressed.

Cola sighed again and placed the list on her desk. "We'll keep our eyes out. But I don't expect we'll find it anytime soon."

"Oh dear." Lotte said.

There was a single knock on the door - it opened to let Phump in. He was bouncing, as usual.

"Hello Miss!" He grinned, seeming out of place in the depression of the room. He was just glad to be gainfully employed. "I've got a quick message from Ben the Badger in the Mashed Potato fields - he wants to see you urgently!"

---*---

Cola shut the door behind her. She turned to the guards.

"Fudge, I'm going to the field. You can join me." He nodded and did that forelock thing again, "Matt, Lotte will be staying here so can you continue guarding this door."

She was just about to turn and go when a wheezing rabbit clutching something to his chest ran up to her. It was the widebuck, Al.

"Miss, I'm really sorry." He began, "You know how children are, and I didn't realise that they had taking this one away it's not as if they could read they were using it as a step so that they could climb up on the table oh you should see them they won't sir down again in a hurry. I hope I'm not too late."

Cola's eyes widened - she hadn't caught most of the monologue and the bits she had caught seemed a little incoherent. Al held out a book. She took it from him and read the spine. It was the Indexes volume.

Her heart had stopped for a second but started again. It was just the indexes.

"Why have you still got this?" Cola was incensed, Dabs was missing a book!

"I said, my kids were playing with it. I'm very sorry that you didn't get it to start with, but, no harm done." He grinned widely and realised that everyone was staring at him, "Well I'm off now. See you later!" He said and he turned tail and rushed off.

"Matt," Cola asked, "Could you please give this to Lotte." She grimaced the grin of the doe with too much to do in too little time.

Once Dabs realised he was missing a volume, even the indexes, he'll return and start casting scorn again.

Cola swore under her breath and headed off to the fields.

---*---

Ben the Badger was seated on a bench at the edge of the fields. Cola sat next to him and Fudge stood a respectful distance away, not too far that he couldn't get back to Cola in case of trouble, not so near as to look as if he was listening.

"Where is everyone?" Cola asked, "It's not a bank holiday that I haven't heard of is it?"

Ben shook his head and handed her a small piece of paper.

Written in bad handwriting was "We are on strike until the Doe goes. We want a leader who does not waste our hard earned wages. We want to be told where the warrens treasury has gone. Someone is to blame for no money. It is the Doe." Cola whistled.

"They're talking about me, I take it?" She asked the badger.

"I assume so." Ben said quietly in his booming voice.

"Hold on." Cola said, annoyed, "What makes them think there isn't any money?" She'd only spent the money today. She'd not made it public knowledge, or so she thought, that she'd taken a large loan from Gilchrist. So how did the workers know? And what made them think there was no money for them?

Okay so there was no money for them. But she'd find something by payday.

"Payday isn't for two weeks is it?" Cola continued. Ben nodded.

"I don't know any more than the note, Miss."

Cola was getting angry, "If they don't work we don't have any way of making money." Ben nodded. "If they don't work I'm not paying them."

Bens eyes shifted down. "You'll need to find two weeks wages for them. And they aren't the only workers who'll need paying."

"Yes," Cola said quietly, "But they are the workers who earn the burrow most money."

Cola stood up, suddenly very weary. "I'll take this." She said holding the paper. "And I'll get back to you."

"What do I do in the mean time Miss?" Ben asked, "There's no one here to oversee."

"Go home, Ben."

"Begging pardon, Miss, but will I get paid?"

Cola lowered her eyes for a second then stood up straight with her hands folded behind her back.

"Of course you'll get paid, Ben, there is no shortage of wages. Someone has been spreading lies, trying to undermine my authority"

"Yes, Miss." Ben said, unconvinced.

"Trust me Ben," Cola said, "You will get paid." She took one hand out from behind her back and patted him on the back. "Now run along home until I've quashed this."

She quickly put her hand back and watched Ben trudge off to his Set.

Cola's fingers hurt from being crossed so hard, and her heart ached from having to say things she didn't believe. As soon as Ben was out of sight she slumped to the floor and held her head in her hands. Glad that Fudge still kept his distance whilst she sat there feeling sorry for herself.

---*---

Half an hour later Cola turned up back at her offices. She wasn't smiling and didn't feel in much of a good mood at all.

Lotte was going through some papers on the desk. She looked up when Cola entered.

"Hiya! Bad news: we're nearly completely out of Quorn. We'll have to organise a hunt."

Cola dropped into a chair.

"Worse news. We've got a strike on our hands."

Lotte's eyes widened.

"They say we haven't got the money to pay them."

"Oh." Lotte said, "Well, I suppose we haven't."

"I know that. You know that. How do they know that?"

"Well it's not a secret."

"But it's not as if we've told anyone."

"Except our messenger buck?"

"Phump?" Cola said amazed. "Who would he tell?"

"The point is he wouldn't know Not to tell anyone."

"Oh this is ridiculous." Cola said. "We're not looking for a mole or a leek. We're looking for money!" She thumped at the desk. Her hand thumped down on the book that Al had delivered late. "Look at this!" Cola said, "The only thing we have left is a useless Index for a set of Encyclopaedias we don't own anymore!" She was angry, as much at herself as anything. She grabbed the book and flung it open. "I mean look!"

Her mouth clammed shut.

The book had opened at the front page.

Written on the first page, in large letters was "Journal of Herbert Rodgers, Buck of the Worlds, My Five Years from 1990 to 1991"

Cola's mouth dropped up and down.

"Oh, "Lotte said, "I've been meaning to say, 'Isn't it strange that Dab's didn't realise he was missing the Indexes and that his list only mentioned twenty-six volumes and didn't mention the Indexes at all?' But you were busy.."

Cola sat back in her chair. He mouth opened and shut a couple of times.

"It's the journals" She said; Lotte nodded.

Cola giggled. Her giggle turned into a laugh and her laugh turned into sobbing.