Leprechaun Caught My Tongue: Chapter 1
Hemlock Valley Book 6
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Epilogue
Chapter 1
Jacob Martin - Sandwich Shop—E. Dalia Street—March 16th
There was a saying in the demon world: better to hide in plain sight than to have to hide in fear of being caught. That was what I had done my whole life, lived in plain sight. Being a few centuries old had its ups and downs, but one thing was certain: the older you were, the easier it was to deal with the humans. You learned to cope with their weird habits and needs. For instance, the need to dress up on certain days of the year. Why Halloween and St Patrick’s day have become infused with candy and meaningless items is beyond my comprehension.
I remembered when these holidays meant something special.
Like when I was a teenage demon in the late 12th century. The kids thought dressing up fooled us. But it didn’t. We just enjoyed walking among everyone without fear of exorcisms.
Now, we’re dressing up our shops in shamrocks and little leprechauns. Some of my vampire friends tell me I have just become a sour old man. But it’s more than that. Humans don’t appreciate where these traditions came from and what it took for them to develop.
That’s the curious thing. You wouldn’t think me, Jacob Martin, a demon, would appreciate something like Saint Patrick’s Day. But I do.
Because if you believe in what Patrick did all those years ago, then it means you believe in demons too. And that’s where our powers come from.
With everyone celebrating the candy aspect of these holiday’s, our powers diminish. And that’s just not something I can keep living with. I’m too old to watch the powers my family gave me dry up. I had to do something.
That’s why I was heading to As The Emerald Turns book store after work today. I knew one of those two owners could help me with what I was looking for.
My lunch break was almost over, and I knew I had more customers about to walk in, so I cleaned up my sandwich scraps and pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind. It was time to throw on the smile for everyone in Hemlock Valley who needed a good lunch in the middle of their day.
I walked out of my office and back into the front of the restaurant. I bought this sandwich shop two decades ago when I found out about this town. It’s been great for the most part. Except for all of these blasted human traditions.
“Hey Jacob,” Sharon, the head waitress, called my name.
“Yeah?”
“Some guy at the front counter is asking for you.”
I looked over at the counter and it wasn’t just some guy, it was the town’s mayor. Mayor William Thompson, our resident demi-god. Great. This was going to be about the damn parade tomorrow.
“Thanks Sharon, I’ll go talk to the mayor.”
Walking through my sandwich shop, I always took pride in the work of my employees. We ran a tight ship, everyone kept to their duties and our facilities were always clean. It made for a nice work/life balance.
“Mayor Thompson,” I said, giving the best fake smile I could.
“Jacob.”
We shook hands like the men on Earth did when greeting one another and then got to business.
“You don’t have a float in the parade tomorrow,” William said.
“Nope. Didn’t know I had to.”
“No one ‘has to’,” he said in air quotes. “But you know how much the kids enjoy all the shops getting involved.”
I leaned in and lowered my voice. “William, you and I both know what B.S. this whole thing is. It’s all a candy company whoopla now. Not at all what it was meant for back in the day.”
“Be that as it may, Jacob, you know I work very hard to keep our town's image up. What would they think if our local sandwich joint didn’t take part?”
I smirked. “That we were too busy to close for the morning?”
“Not a soul in the town will think that since we will all be out at the parade. Come on, Jacob. This will be good for your demon spirit. Give the big guy something to really get onto your case about.”
My eyes rolled at the sound of his comment, but it was hard to argue with him. His demi-god status made him the top dog in this state, and I didn’t feel like arguing.
“What if I just provide snacks for everyone? Like a table with sandwiches for everyone to grab free of charge?”
“You would rather go through all that effort than the float?” he asked.
I nodded my head, “Yup.”
He grinned. “Perfect. I’ll accept the gracious offer. Thanks Jacob. See you bright and early.”
“How early?” I asked.
“Nine sharp.”
I watched his highness walk out of my shop and realized that to make all this possible, I would need to take part of the afternoon off in order to head to As The Emerald Turns to do my research.
“Hey Sharon,” I called out, walking over to where she was standing. “You still looking for any overtime?”
“Always. You know those kids are bleeding me dry at home.”
“We are going to be sponsoring a snack table for the parade. We have to set up at Nine sharp which means food needs prepped and made tonight or early tomorrow. What time is your shift over today?”
“I’m off in an hour, so plenty of time to prep whatever you want for the parade.”
“Plan on making 200 sandwiches to be cut into quarters. Then we will need to decorate a table. How much time do you think you will need for that?”
Sharon thought for a moment. “I can do the cooking probably in five hours tonight and then I can stop by the store on the way home today and start set up around 7am tomorrow.”
I pulled my wallet out of my purse and handed her my company credit card. “Perfect. Use my card for whatever you need. I need to go run some errands and will be back later one.
“My pleasure, Jacob. Thanks for the overtime.”
I nodded my head at her and then walked out of my shop. Raven and Willa’s book shop was right next door. I would need to do my research now in order to be ready for tomorrow.
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Interesting start.