The Enchanted Pages

"Losing screws ain't ya Reggie? Quit the jokes!"

"Ain't being funny Ed, those rags are from Snowbell!" Reggie retorted as he pointed at the knitted drapes of Fern's saddle.

The townspeople were silently trying to attend to their occupations again as they attentively watched the scene unfold, like frightened mice watching over a cat.

Ed and Emily slowly turn to Bard who's taking the piercing accusation cautiously as if it were a fatal wound.

"Ya right on the money about'em rags, but I ain't no killer."

Bard's stern look challenged Reggie's composure as he felt in the right to accuse him as a murderer. Reggie then grabs a journal from his waist and holds it up in the air.

"This was left behind at the bar and it has the registry of the folks and notes of the tragedy."

Bard tries to reach for it, but Reggie shifts his arm away as he leans over Bard's face and whispers out the deadly note.

"The moon rises red as the blood of my upcoming, but he delays more and more. Betrayed I felt to burn the whole place down and damn him as an example. Bard Clark."

Fern felt Bard's helplessness as he reared up catching the attention of the group and making Reggie stumble back, flinging the journal.

Ed grabbed the journal off the ground as Bard tried to ease Fern again with Emily running to his side. Ed's eyes widened as he read the note.

"Bard...I know you ain't no killer, but why is it inked in ya hand?"

Bard hands over the reins to Emily and walks over to Ed slowly and notices that it does match his handwriting.

"Well, ain't this a cold joke...You're right, but I don't write my a's that way."

"Huh, they do look a bit funny now that ya mentioned it..."

"Give that back!" Reggie abruptly stood up and yanks the journal off of Ed's hands.

"Look, I remember printing my name on the registry. If that journal got it, check it."

Reggie irked by the common sense of the commentary, begins to skim the pages in hopes of proving his point, but alas, his printed name was spelled normally as B-a-r-d C-l-a-r-k and not  B-a-r-d C-l-a-r-k.

His wincing face proved Bard's point.

"But what about the fact that everything else is your print?"

"Reggie, have ya ever heard of forgin'? Also, it just doesn't make sense for Bard to even show up here. If he truly did kill someone, he'd be hidin' don't ya think?"

Ed's remark seemed to settle in Reggie's thought process as he stood up and handed over the journal to Bard with his eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry Bard for the commotion... I might've said some stuff and that's why the townspeople may look at you weird, but I'll clear it up."

Bard gently takes the journal from Reggie and gives him a firm handshake.

"No worries, it's good to see you too."

"Yay! No more fighting!"

"Quiet down Emily!"

The tense air lifted in cheer and the town's energy picked up as the bustling lives of everyone began to pace around as normal.

Bard places the journal on the inside of his vest and carries Emily up on Fern's saddle to start moving. Ed had mentioned that he still needed some more fruits to pick out and Reggie followed along as they all chimed in conversation.

For the most part, it had been question upon question as Bard had been gone for some time and saw the most foreign thing, snow. He explained how beautiful it was and a bit of the knitting culture it had.

The sun was now setting down and the group sat by the fountain in the middle of town.

"So, if ya ain't the killer, who was it?" Reggie jokingly asked, but Emily smacked his head as she overtowered him by being on Fern.

"Not funny!"

"Well, I did come back because of the tragedy. Everyone was so scared that nothing was done about it and moved out. I'm not sure who did it...Charles Shay didn't seem to have enemies. So, did you see the person who carried this journal?"

Ed grasped Bard's arm, interrupting his question to Reggie. "Wait, did you just say Charles Shay? I don't know if it's true, but I heard from some folks saying that he's a witch hunter."

"C'mon Ed, witches ain't real, but no I didn't see who left it behind."

.......

I was too drunk anyway.

Reggie's troubled look and hands on his face made everyone question what he truly meant to say.

Bard skimmed through the journal and the folded registry paperwork, puzzled that the pages were mostly blank. Fern sneezed harshly and Reggie leaned over Bard in disgust of its snot, accidentally causing him to fumble into the fountain.

"Ugh, Emily pull Fern away!"

"Geeze Reggie, ya done it now." Ed ticks his tongue as he soaks his arm for the journal and stands up to lay it out to dry on the edge.

The group in unison stepped back from the journal as it started to make a frizzling sound with the water evaporating and the pages revealed words and wicked imagery of beasts.

Bard extends his arms to get a closer look at the completely dry journal in disbelief.

"No way...this is a witch's journal."