Day Nine - Midday

     Casper makes good on the shortcut into the churchyard he found yesterday, ducking around a thick tree to check for onlookers and comically tiptoeing to hide behind the fence. He peers over. He must look awful suspicious, if there were anyone to see him sneaking about, poking his nose around corners. He feels plenty suspicious, what with his secret note that he has to deliver secretly to ‘Mr. Smith’ for Balor’s secret plans to get him the hell outta here. Not that he’s supposed to know what any of this nonsense means, oh no, he’s just the messenger. Heaven forbid someone shoots him for something he doesn’t know about; all the whispering in town behind the scenes is making him twitchy as is.

Day Nine - Morning

     Casper’s up and broken his fast on whatever weird herbs Balor’s growing well before the man of the hour himself gets around to doing his gardening. This leaves Casper waiting and by his own devices longer than recommended if you don’t want things to start mysteriously disappearing. Not that he’d steal from Balor; the costs outweigh the benefits and he’d rather stay in the big guy’s good graces as much as possible. After rummaging through the third shelf of the seed cabinet, it becomes clear there’s nothing of use (or value) to steal. Several draw string pouches like the one used to hold those golden eggs he brought to town, but these are filled with seeds.

     The larger cupboard in the corner is scarce more exciting than a bag of dirt, of which there are few inside. Why anyone would keep dirt around is beyond anyone’s guess, but Balor must have some use for it, otherwise it wouldn’t be here. There’s something about it that makes his nose burn, so Casper gladly lets it be.

     By the time of Balor’s arrival, Casper has resorted to playing noughts and crosses on the top of the seed cabinet with different coloured beans while every twitch and fidget jostles the beans out of place from the crosses scratched into the wood. “Keeping entertained, I see.”

Announcement #4

     Hello all you lovely people, I've but a brief announcement for you today. As of this Friday, that is, September the 13th, the hiatus for The Demon Boy is ending. It will signal the end of Day Eight and I can't say much more than that without handing out spoilers. My apologies, but you'll just have to read it yourselves when it comes out.

     - Regards, The Author.

Day Eight - Evening and Night

            Casper swats a stick at the weeds along the manor road. It’s not his stick, the one he abandoned when he jumped the fence to get away from that damned priest. He wishes he hadn’t left it behind. The new one is okay, but it’s not the same; there’s something about it that doesn’t fit in his hand the way it should. There’s no reason for this small discrepancy to bother him to such a degree, yet bother him it does.

            He breaks the stick over his knee and throws the pieces as far as he can into the bush. They land with an empty thud on the unseen forest floor. It doesn’t solve his problem, but it makes him feel better. (Sort of.)