Page 44 of The Other Side

It was a lovely summer’s day. Osian spent time in Drum’s garden, mowing the grass, weeding the flowerbeds. He actually liked not using magic, though the work left him tired. He wanted to ride but it was a long walk to Fi’s. He was almost afraid to attempt glamour after what happened last night, but if he couldn’t conjure up a bike, he’d have to rethink his day. Moments later, he had a silver mountain bike in front of him. That was good, but that he’d not been able to glamour Blackthorne Farm puzzled him. He could only think it was Belem’s doing. He hoped Belem had no idea where he was, but he wasn’t counting on it.

~~~

When Drum walked through the squad room at High Burton police station, he heard someone baa. Once one person had done it, others joined in so by the time he reached the sergeant’s door, there was a flock of sheep baaing behind him. Morons. But… Drum turned. “Don’t worry, I know how to handle unruly livestock. Now move along before I bring out the shears.”

At least that got him a chuckle. He knocked on the door.

“Come in. Take a seat,” Sergeant Wilson said.

Drum took off his cap and sat down.

“Have you had time to reflect on our discussion of yesterday?”

Did you ask me to? “I said and did nothing inappropriate.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You paid the Varley twins to wash your vehicle.”

Oh God. The bloody village grapevine. “It was my own money. I’d suggested that rather than try to blackmail a farmer, they might like to offer a service to the community. I started them off.”

“Unacceptable behaviour. It blurs professional boundaries, raises accountability issues for police property, and creates potential safeguarding concerns.”

Go fuck yourself. But Drum stayed calm. “I don’t believe professional boundaries were blurred. It didn’t undermine my authority. The vehicle was parked in a layby. Locked. In a safe spot. There was no risk to them or to the vehicle.”

“Don’t do it or anything like it again.”

“No, ma’am.”

Had anyone said anything nice about him? The café owner? Lily?

“And this is a problem.” She turned her laptop around and showed him a picture of him manhandling the sheep, clutching its back to his chest. Hard to say whether Drum or the sheep appeared the most startled. It looked highly inappropriate. Not a photo he’d want anyone to see. Fucking hell. This was what came of helping out Fred Breakwater?

“You should not have allowed this to happen.”

“What part of it, ma’am? I was called out to a livestock incident. I needed to get the sheep back into the field before they caused a road traffic accident.”

“It would hardly have been a major pileup on a country road.”

“One vehicle crashing would have been too many.”

She huffed. “And you had to manhandle the sheep?”

“At first, I asked nicely.”

She didn’t even crack a smile. “The farmer took this photograph. Posted it on social media. Made the force look ridiculous. Inspector Gordon is not pleased.”

“With respect, ma’am, I can’t prevent people taking pictures of me. It’s not against the law. I have no legal power to stop them, or to delete images or confiscate equipment.”

“Don’t quote the law at me.”

“Sorry, ma’am.” He wasn’t but… Yeah, he was.

She gave a heavy sigh. “Try to avoid any more incidents of this type.”

She was an idiot. He went where Control sent him.

“How are you adjusting to the realities of the job?”

Back on schedule, were they? “It’s fine. I’m getting to know the area.”