"As I rolled out of bed my head was splitting. I wasn't much of a drinker but the drinks the night before seemed to go down like water. Now I had huge...hangover."I'm sick," I said to Bev. "I can't go anywhere." Your not sick," she said. "I've got just what you need to get you going."She handed me a large glass that appeared to be tomato juice. My mouth was extremely dry and my body felt dehydrated. Something cold and wet was appealing. I took several big gulps before I realized it was laced with. If I had had any doubts about Mrs. Hansen’s abilities, they disappeared quickly. In a few days there was a new shopkeeper at the herbalist shop and she would be paying Linnea some rent while she would keep the profits. I had been there with Linnea collecting everything Linnea might need and while doing that I did my best to check if there was anything hidden. Meaning anything magical, but there was no luck with that. I hadn’t really expected to find anything but I had needed to check.That. That happened on a Thursday afternoon when Olivia came home about five-fifteen from being at a friend's house. Vicky had just gotten home from work and had gone up to change when her daughter rapped softly on her open bedroom door."Hi, sweetie, how was your day?" she asked her daughter the usual question."Oh, okay, school was fine. But I need to talk with you about something. Something I want to do."Well, those words aren't uncommon for a parent to hear, after all, it could be about taking. No bulge in the jacket but everything else fairly screamed 'security'. Surprised? Not.I reached out my hand, "David Malcolm. Yes, this is my first visit." We're happy you could join us, David," he said, shaking my hand. Strong handshake, definitely security; the handshake wasn't meant to intimidate but it wasn't exactly reassuring either. "What brings you to us today?"Marketing research? Checking their advertising demographic?"I'm in town on business, thinking about opening an office locally,.