Set in Stone: The Rose Secret

Chapter 4: Tackle 🎣

I stormed off down the plaza towards my house after parting with my friends. I was now in the heart of Bluntwood where all the stores were located. All of the stores exhaust made a smoky glow to the sky.

I passed through a crowd of tourists and their sun cooked faces. Every year about this time a wad of tourists would show up in this town which would not please the townspeople. The tourists bought all the food and supplies this town had leaving the supply-demand at a higher rate. It was like 2$ for an egg and 18$ for a loaf of bread. I am glad my family is wealthy but when you have twenty five other people living with you, you need about five fridges worth of food!

I neared Don and Jerrys Tackle Shop, a historic location in Bluntwood. I needed to sit down the heat was killing me. I always knew that the tackle shop was heavily air-conditioned so I found my self, walking into the revolving door. A burst of cool air refreshed my face. The store was empty except for rows and rows of fishing poles and gear. I noticed Krista my cousin, was working at the cashier booth. She was signing papers. Krista was three years older than I was. She had thin brown hair which was tied in a loose pony and had a freckled face. "Hey," I said.

"I'm busy, I don't have time for cousin small talk"!, Krista yelled. "Sorry" I mumbled.
"So"... I snarled. "What"? She growled peering up from her work. Her crescent moon glasses perched on her petit nose. Her teeth clenched together and her eyebrows furrowed. She stomped over to me. Her arm reached to mine and she clasped her hand around my wrist. "What are you doing with this"? She questioned. I fought out of her grip and gave her a devilish look.

"What" I yelled. She dug in my pocket and lifted out the knife. It was drenched in blood. It was never covered in blood before! Had I cut myself? Then I noticed it was just ketchup. "What the heck is this?" She screamed. "A grilled cheese cutter" I answered. She rolled her eyes.

Krista was a goody two shoes. She was really close to my dad and I wouldn't doubt that she would tell my father anything. She acted like she was his perfect daughter. I was jealous! She didn't like me either.

"Just let me go Krista" I yelled. "No. You must first answer my question, why do you have a ketchup covered knife in your shirt pocket" she urged. Now the one person who had just started browsing tackle store had left quickly out the revolving door, not wanting to get involved in our business. "Look what you've done, all my customers are gone" she grumbled.

"What customers" I joked. She rolled her eyes, again. "Please Talk" she said bracing my arm. "Please though, why do you have a knife"? She murmured. "Blue gave it to me as a Halloween prank. You do know Halloween is in less that a month, right? She just gave it to me about half an hour ago. I haven't had time to bring it home and put it away yet" I told her.

She thought for a moment, fixed her shirt cuff and scurried to the front desk. She then ignored me. "Bye Krista" I yelled. She didn't even turn.