5

Casting a glance over her shoulder, Dolores beckons you towards a slighlty quieter part of the room. There, she clears her throat, and speaks in a much lower tone.

"You know that your grandmother and I used to spend quite a lot of time together when she lived in Silvertree. We gardened together often, and I even let her grow a few things in my yard. I didn't visit her house quite as much, though; she always said it was such a mess she wouldn't have anywhere for people to sit. But she did ask me around there a couple of times. The last time was very soon before she moved away."

She pauses as some people walk by. From the way she watches after them to make sure they're out of earshot, it's clear just how anxious she is not to be overheard.

"I'm sure you know, Huknock, but your grandmother was always a very private person," she goes on, her voice barely above a murmur. "She kept mostly to herself, and she shared very little about her personal interests. But there are some things that are difficult to hide from neighbors, especially in a town as small as ours. It was fairly well known that she would come and go at strange hours of the day and night, and she was forever in the Town Archives looking up this or researching that. I never liked to ask what she was doing, and I got the impression she wouldn't have told me if I did. But that last time she asked me to come over to her house—well, something just felt different."

Dolores exhales slowly, and fixes you with a serious look.

"She was certainly right when she said the house was a mess. But as soon as I walked in the door, I could see it wasn't just ordinary mess. Every surface I could see was covered in vases and flowerpots, and I think even teapots, and she was growing plants in every single one of them. It was like she was using anything she could find just to grow more plants. And in amongst all of that there were books, and notes, and photographs; it was like walking into a laboratory. But she didn't say anything about it, just asked me to come with her upstairs. She was agitated; not like I'd seen her before. Anyway, once we were in her study she asked me if I would take care of some books for her—not very many, just a couple of books about gardening and something about folklore, I believe. And I said I would; again, without asking why. It just seemed obvious it was important to her. But there was something else she told me as well, which until very recently I had completely forgotten about. It was actually all of this business with the developments that jogged my memory. And when I remembered…well, I thought about keeping it to myself. But then I realized it might be best to let you know. When she was giving me those books, she said to me: 'If anything ever goes really wrong in Silvertree, then everything you need to know is hidden somewhere in those books.' Of course, I asked her what on earth she meant by 'really wrong', and how any answers could possibly be in those books. She just said: 'You'll know when it happens.'

You stare at Dolores, utterly confused. What could your grandma have possibly been referring to? Did "really wrong" mean if your magic was ever discovered? And what could she have hidden in those books that would have given Dolores everything she needed to know?

"I hope that I haven't frightened you with anything that I've said," Dolores tells you after a few moments' silence. "For what it's worth, if I'm very honest, I always thought that your grandmother had a tendency to be…overly cautious, perhaps, at times. She has a brilliant mind, there's no doubt, but I remember that she was quite superstitious at times. I am myself, I should add; though I believe it doesn't help to be too fearful if it gets in the way of living your life. Your grandmother wasn't one for taking chances, though. And although I really don't know what it is she was afraid might happen, I personally got the feeling that was giving me those books as a very last recourse. Knowing her, if there was something she thought might eventually go 'really wrong', then she probably had a few other ideas for what to do about it besides leaving those books with me. And if she thought it was very likely to even happen at all, then I think she would have been a little more specific with her warning. I don't think anything catastrophic will be happening in Silvertree; but I wanted to let you know what she told me, if only so it doesn't die with me."