Read Harrowing Hats for Free Online

It never went well with someone from the outside anyway. “I guess it was kind of easy for you to tell that Cesar didn’t die of natural causes once you found the hat pin in his eye.”
    “Yep. But that was just some kind of weird symbolism—like the hat, I guess. It’s not what killed him.”
    “What did?” Chase wondered.
    “Maybe we should take this inside,” Detective Almond suggested, glancing around like someone was listening to him even though it was only the three of us. His gaze finally rested on me. “Police business. You don’t mind, do you?”
    I realized he was talking to (and about) me. “Of course not. I’m late for work anyway. See you later, Chase.”
    I wasn’t late. The Village wouldn’t open for another hour. I knew Chase would tell me what Detective Almond had to say when we met up later. After all, Chase was the designated protector for the Village, and I was just an apprentice hatmaker. My feelings weren’t really hurt to be left out of the important discussion.
    Tony and I had plenty of time to wander down to the Monastery Bakery and catch up on the last few months. He talked of nothing but the girls he’d dated and his continuing job doing promotion work for Robin Hood. I suppose I was the same about school and Chase.
    I could smell coffee and cinnamon rolls on the morning air by the time we’d reached the Dutchman’s Stage. A few residents were up already, working on their skits for the day or practicing with their animals. Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son, probably had one of the hardest jobs in the Village, since it required him to catch a piglet then let it go and catch it again after the laughter and applause were over.
    Lady Godiva, already in her long blond wig and fleshcolored bodysuit, was working with her horse. She had obviously been recently cast, since the animal seemed to have a great distaste for her. I never knew who was going to be the naked lady when I returned to the Village each summer. It was an often-cast part.
    I saw the new Green Man practicing on his stilts without his costume. Again, another new addition. Most people only made it through a few weeks with that part, too. They either moved on to something easier than portraying a walking tree, or they left the Village for other, more gainful employment.
    I could see the pirate ship, Queen’s Revenge , under full sail across Mirror Lake. I’d heard they’d added mermaids to the pirate scenario. I hadn’t made it to that part of the lake since I arrived, but I was curious about them.
    I reminded Tony of when we were kids and our grandmother had taken us to Florida where there were mermaids swimming underwater in glass cases. I thought it was amazing, and I wanted to be a mermaid for a long time after that. Tony didn’t remember it at all.
    Of course, fairies were flitting here and there on the cobblestones and the grass. Their bright colors and dainty wings were pretty and annoying. They wore virtually nothing while the rest of us sweltered (and were completely covered up) in real-life Renaissance clothing. They were a bunch of flirts and troublemakers. I’ve lost track of how many of them have wasted their time flirting with Chase right in front of me.
    By this time, we were at the bakery. There had been some expansion work done in the past season. It looked like the addition of pastries to the regular coffee lineup had been successful for the Brotherhood of the Sheaf. Their breadmaking skills were legendary—which is no doubt what made their cinnamon rolls the best in the world.
    “Lady Jessie,” Brother Carl greeted me at the door. He smiled and patted my shoulder, an odd gesture, since the black-robed monks were normally very hands off. “It is wonderful to see you again!”
    “Thanks. It’s good to see you again, too. I’m ready for the biggest mocha you have with a cinnamon roll on the side. Maybe two cinnamon rolls.”
    Brother Carl smiled wisely. “Man trouble?”
    “Yes, but not the kind you