“Huh?” The driver looked into the rearview mirror at us.
Imogen latched on to my hand as his gaze met hers. She squeezed my fingers and squeaked, “The castle.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Noah started driving.
If he knew there was a “castle” in town, why had that not been part of the tour? I gently pried my fingers from Imogen’s grasp and asked Noah, “If you’re the only driver, are you inundated with more clients than you can handle?”
“Golly, no,” he said. “In the past month, it’s just been you two.”
Imogen’s voice quivered as she asked, “How do you make a living at driving then?”
“I don’t,” Noah said.
The car slowed. It seemed too soon to have arrived anywhere. All I could see out my side window was grass and the start of what appeared to have once been an orchard. I craned my neck to see what was going on ahead of us.
Sheep stood in the road. An expansive swarm of them.
“Looks like we’ll be sitting for a while,” the driver said.
“It’s sheep….” Imogen’s eyes went wide.
“Can’t you shoo them away, or simply drive slowly?” I asked.
“You want me to murder innocent sheep?” Noah’s voice grew louder with every word.
“No, I want you to do your job,” I said. “If you creep forward at a safe pace, surely they’ll move out of the way.”
“I won’t do it.” He put the vehicle into park. “Squish one of their itty bitty toes, then what?They die.”
“That sounds awful,” Imogen said, “but do sheep even have toes?”
“Cloven hooves,” I said.
“They die,”the driver said again, this time with more feeling.
I raised my hands in the air in defense.
The car remained still. Seconds passed. Then minutes. Any advantage we had in reaching the museum first was slipping away. Silas could show up at any moment, having already gleaned information from another source. But if there was only one driver in town….
“You will be our designated driver for the extent of our stay,” I told Noah.
“Okay,” he said.
“We will leave our belongings in your trunk.” All of my magical possessions were on my person, leaving my suitcase to carry only clothing. It was a safety precaution necessary for travel. I warned Noah, “Do not touch our bags.”
“I swear on my belly button.”
Take that, Silas—you might have reached the tavern first, but the only driver in Inorog was mine.
“Very well. Imogen will contact you when we further require your assistance,” I said.
“Just use the app,” Noah said.
“We will,” Imogen said.
I reached for the door handle.
“I’m a bit concerned with where this conversation—and entire situation—is going,” Imogen said. “Shouldn’t we talk about further commitmentsafterwe reach the castle?”