Chapter 80: Encyclopedia

It was raining again in the morning, so Finn felt no need to tend to the garden. It seemed nature was taking care of it for her. Dr. Sherman had said he could get an audience with The General the following day, so she decided to continue her research until then.

She brought a cloak to shield her from the brunt of the rain, and hurried to the library after breakfast.

On the way, she passed a group of children in the street playing and laughing in the puddles. She smiled, thinking sadly again about the few orphans that Jessie still struggled to find homes for. She wondered if Tom and Bran had improved on their smiling any more. It really was as if they had never tried smiling in their lives.

The library was nice and dry inside, and she found a place to hang her dripping cloak. The patter of the rain outside made for a soothing atmosphere for research.

She passed the morning slowly, wading through several large but ultimately fruitless tomes. The rain stopped and she came back around to the herb encyclopedia she'd left off in the night before. She found her bookmark and began perusing the names, looking for more from the recipe from Jimmy.

Her eyes began to cross and she rubbed her temples with her fingertips. Stretching, she turned another page and began to scan it with her eyes until she saw the intricately drawn picture of a single purple flower.

It looked just like the flower she'd been growing for Jimmy.

Almost jumping out of her chair, she grabbed some paper and began taking notes.

"Fullest Lily, blooms best with abundant water and ample nutrition. Has single dark purple flower per plant, which can bloom several times in a row, and green leaves. Uses include building up of defense against disease and strengthening of weak muscles. Named due to legend which suggests it repels halflings.

"Caution--If keeping in garden, be careful not to let flower seed, as seeds will rapidly propagate and multiply, taking over large areas within a matter of hours with ample water. If unwanted seed pod forms, contain immediately in waterproof container."

Finn's mouth dropped open. Was THAT why Jimmy had told her to bring him all the pollen? To prevent it from propagating and taking over when it bloomed? It--

She realized it had rebloomed the day before, and she'd forgotten to harvest the pollen this morning. A panic began to build in her chest as she quickly stuffed her things into her bag and left without remembering to put the books away.

Sprinting the whole way home, she wondered if the book was exaggerating when it said the flower's seeds could take over large areas within hours if there was ample water. At least it had stopped raining. She hoped that was enough.

Sliding across the wet cobblestones, she careened around the corner of the garden, half expecting the entire garden to be completely taken over by little seedlings.

Instead, what she saw was less shocking but no less concerning. The flower had wilted, instead of simply folding in on itself as it had the last time. At the base of where a final petal still clung to its place, a large bulb of a seed pod bulged, looking ready to pop at any moment.

Gasping slightly, Finn rushed inside, past a startled Mrs. Sherman and Mayra, grabbed an empty jar, and ran back out to the garden.

She gently severed the stem, doing her best not to jostle the pod, and lowered it slowly into the jar. She clamped the lid on tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. She was going to have a chat with Jimmy today.

__________

"And you didn't tell me that this flower you had me plant could instantly take over the entire garden because...?" Finn demanded.

Jimmy was unperturbed by the highly agitated female before him. "I told ya to bring me all the pollen. Long as you did that, there'd be no problem. Ain't my fault if you don't listen well."

Finn wiped her palm down her face. "It seems to me," she said more calmly, "that some of the responsibility of a speaker is to emphasize which parts of the instructions are of particular importance for the listener."

Jimmy spat at the ground, "Everything I say's important. Wouldn't waste my breath on stuff that wasn't."

She inhaled deeply and looked at Mayra, who had again accompanied her to visit the strange little quarter-halfling.

Mayra smiled at him. "We know, and we value your knowledge. We were... curious, really, as to why you would give Finn a plant like that though."

Jimmy leveled an irritated look at her. "Because it smells so bad I don't want to take care of it." Both girls stared at him in confusion.

"It doesn't smell like anything," Finn responded. Most flowers had strong or subtle scents, but the lily had not had one she could detect.

"Not you to, no. But I'm part halfling and it stinks. I grew it in a pot so I could keep it far away from me, but that meant I didn't tend it as well. That's where you came in. Now I can get the pollen I need without having to raise the blasted thing." Jimmy's attitude was one of longsuffering at needing to explain himself.

"It... stinks to halflings?" Finn said slowly, a dim bell ringing in her mind.

"Oh, surely. I'm only part blood and I can only stand to be around it for a while at a time before I start gettin' a powerful headache. A full blood? Might faint straight away for gettin' too near it."

"Oh my. Oh dear. Mayra... the orphans!! Um, Jimmy? Could you think of any reason a bunch of halflings would want to secretly get into Klain?" Finn swallowed, putting the pieces together in her mind. It had been so obvious. Why hadn't she seen it before?? Mayra's face reflected confusion as she tried to keep up with Finn's train of thought.

"Now, that's a question." Jimmy chewed at the corner of his mouth, "Ain't many free halflings around. Grandmama was an escaped slave, but according to her not many could manage that, what with their families all bein' held captive too."

"Who are they slaves of?" Mayra asked tentatively.

"Rhone, if I'm not mistaken. Grandmama's been gone a lot of years, but I believe I recall that correctly." Jimmy was growing bored of the conversation and Mayra could tell by his tone that he was liable to disappear again soon.

"What do we do with the seeds??" She asked, indicating the jar Finn still held.

"If I were you, I'd save 'em. If you've got an infestation on your hands, could come in handy." Jimmy shrugged. "I told ya not to trust non-humans, and no exception there. Grandmama was a crafty woman."

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Finn mumbled under her breath.

"Now despite your rudeness I'm gonna give you a free tip. The petals of that flower make for a strong perfume that'll make you stink to high heaven, but'll be a great detector for the little devils you seem to think you have running about." With that, Jimmy abruptly disappeared, as was his custom.

Mayra turned to Finn. "You really think the orphans...?"

"I'm sure of it!" Finn declared. "It's all too much. The way the boys reacted when they got near the garden when the flower was planted, their strange behavior, their refusal to say anything about what happened to their families, the fact that none of them are siblings, the myth book even described halflings as joyless! That batch of orphans that Klain took in aren't orphans, or even children at all! They're adult halflings!"

"What do we do? Who do we tell? Who would even believe us, Finn??" Mayra's voice rose an octave as she spoke.

"I'll tell the General when Dr. Sherman takes me to see him tomorrow. I'm going to sound completely insane already, so I might as well get it all out at once. Maybe I can invite him to the orphanage so he can see for himself that the boys still there are not normal. Not human. I'm sure he'll see it! He's got to, especially since halflings are Rhone slaves... they could be spies!"

"Are they working with the Provider?" Mayra wondered aloud.

Finn blinked, "I have no idea. Maybe? There's still so many pieces to all this that I can't wrap my mind around all of it. I need... I don't know what I need. I need to think but there's so much. Let's get home and I'll write it all out and see if I can get some of it put together so I'm not just rambling nonsense at the poor General."

Mayra nodded, "I'll help, if I can. You're cleverer, but I'm a little odd so maybe I can help you fit the odd things together."

Finn laughed and hugged her. "I'm glad you're with me in all this. It would be miserable alone."