Chapter 2 (A Bookshop Moves to Tadfield)
One year after Almost-Armageddon. Inside Madame Tracy's Tea Shop, across the street from what the residents call "the new bookshop." Which actually looks as if it has been around since the 17th century. As indeed many parts of it have been, barring a miraculous restoration following a fire. But it hasn't been established for at least 50 years in Tadfield, thus is resolutely referred to as "new."
Madame Tracy and some of her gossips are working their way through a leisurely afternoon tea, chatting in low tones about the recent car boot sale.
My word, when I saw Mr. Pickersgill coming, I wanted to shut up shop. He will dicker unto death . . .
Adam, Pepper, Wensley, and Brian are seated at a table near the back, Pepper is behind the service counter. They're all using tablets to collaborate on some absorbing project or game. The munificent Mr. Crowley, now the major shareholder of the local bank, has given a tablet to every teen in the Tadfield school system. Not all parents are pleased. Crowley is also the major investor in all providers of telecommunications services to the Tadfield area.
A short, plump, balding older man wearing a camel hair coat enters the shop. The Them glance briefly at him, as one would at any new arrival, and return to focusing on their tablets. The man orders a cup of tea, goes to sit at a table by the window, with a view of the bookshop. Pepper puts his tea and a napkin and spoon on his table, goes back behind her counter.
Adam takes another brief, but keen, surreptitious glance at the visitor, then enters a message:
Don't turn to look, but he's not human.
?! (times 3, Pepper's with emojis)
Anathema has taught Adam how to see auras during this summer holiday. She and Newt are taking a vacation from Malibu and are back visiting Jasmine Cottage.
His aura. Same as Crowley and Aziraphale. (Whom the entire rest of the villagers refer to as Mr. Fell and his "business partner," Mr. Crowley.) Not as bright. Dirtier.
The three pretend to continue using their tablets, but their focus is no longer on their project. Brian casually adjusts his tablet to a slightly different position and snaps a few photos. Pepper can see the bookshop entry from her counter position. She types into her tablet.
He's watching a man go into the bookshop.
Some time passes. The bookshop visitor exits and walks off to where he's left his car. The man ignores the his untouched and now cold tea, rises abruptly, exits the shop, and walks off toward the center of town. Adam looks at Brian and Wensley, raises his eyebrows. Brian gets up to leave, but Wensley says,
Your bike squeaks, Brian. I'll go.
Wensley goes outside, puts his tablet in the bike basket, unlocks his bike but doesn't ride. Instead, walks it and pretends to be to be absorbed in some riveting game on his phone as he ambles about a block behind the mysterious visitor.
The visitor goes into what passes for the local posh hotel.
Went into the Victoria.
Wensley continues to push his bike around the block, then pockets his phone, gets on the bike, and peddles home.
The mysterious visitor watches him from a hotel lobby window. One of those kids from the tea shop. Pretends to make a call, but instead snaps a pic of Wensley. Exits the hotel and continues back in the direction from whence he came, turns a corner down a side street that eventually becomes a tangle of lanes, and proceeds to his actual lodging. Even such remaining quaint picturesque villages as Tadfield have a few dodgy areas along their outskirts. He's takes an obvious guide book from his coat pocket, which he pretends to consult occasionally. Just another summer tourist out for a stroll.
