What's The News? • Lemoxie

Chapter Ten

Lemony instinctively ushered us out of the building and locked the door behind us, but I already felt the spores taking root in my throat. It made it difficult to breath and all six of us were already coughing, meaning we all were infected. "Where's the closest source of horseradish!?" I asked, covering my mouth from the spores that could be released into the streets.
"Partial Foods, but it's closed!" Cleo answered.
" I can pick a lock, " Lemony told us. "Let's get moving before our hour is up."
"Vehicles!" Ellington added. "We can get there quicker-" Here she took a break to cough "-If we take the jeep and the motorcycle!"
" My jeep isn't open air! That's like a death trap on wheels if we put spores in there! We're going on foot! "

We ended up doing what I said even though it took longer to get to Partial Foods. We had to stop several times to cough, as the fungus was making it quite difficult to breathe, and by the time my associates and I stood at the front of the locked door of Partial Foods, we were coughing violently in the late afternoon sun.

"We're on a time limit," Ornette said between breaths.
"Does anyone have a bobby pin?" Lemony managed. Ellington produced one from her hair and handed it to Lemony, who fiddled with it until it resembled a lockpick. "How long has it been?"
"Almost thirty minutes. We should be fine if we find some relatively soon. " Cleo answered as the door opened. Apparently Polly Partial doesn't know what an alarm system is, thank God for us. We all split up amongst the isles to search for horseradish or any culinary substitute. Ones that came to mind were wasabi and mustard.

I went to grab plastic spoons to use, making mental note of the price so we weren't stealing.
Cleo looked down at the box in my hand. "Good idea," She said, followed by a cough. I felt so bad seeing my friends so helpless and not being able to do anything about it... I watched Lemony put something into his bag but all I could tell was that it held something, possibly something important.

"Anyone find anything?" Kellar shouted in between coughs.
"Would peppers work? They're spicy. " Ornette asked.
"Doesn't matter. I found a bottle of horseradish sauce!" Ellington replied.

We all gathered around and squeezed a spoonful onto enough spoons and took the antidote. I immediately felt the stalks shrivel from the fast-acting dilution and waited for my breathing to return to normal.

"I know we still had a good amount of time left," Cleo said, " But I think it's a miracle we're alive... " We all voiced our agreement and hugged.
"I feel obligated to call my father and my uncles and my sister." Ornette told us, pulling her phone out of her pocket and walking away.
"And I need to call Jake and my parents." Cleo added, doing the same in a different direction.

"Kellar, can you call my dad for me after you call your mom and Lizzie?" I asked. " I want an explanation for some of the things I've been told. "
Kellar nodded and walked away. Ellington followed, leaving me and Lemony alone.

"What did Stew mean by Ethan being one of your associates in VFD?"
"Exactly that. He was one of the four people assigned to this mission."
" Four? Who are the other two? How come I haven't seem them yet? "
"Josephine and Gustav were waiting at the drop off point so she'd be able to fly all of the samples back to headquarters. There was a second part to the mission, however."
" Tell me. "

He opened his bag to reveal a small sugar bowl. "This sugar bowl contains an immunization to the Medusoid Mycelium. I was told to deliver it to a capable chemist once it was fetched from right here in Stain'd-by-the-Sea."
" Why a chemist? "
"So there'd be a way to get rid of the Medusoid Mycelium forever. As long as it exists people like Stewart Mitchum will go after it to hurt others. This is a very dangerous world, Moxie Mallahan."
"Danger means there's a story worth telling, Lemony Snicket. And as long as there's a story worth telling, I'll be the one telling it. Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"Xenophobia is a word which here means -"
"I meant about the mission."
Lemony sighed. "I'm returning to the city as soon as the mission ends." He told me.
" Oh. "

"Oh. " was all I could say. What else did I expect? Seriously?! We were just reunited and he's leaving already! I can't go back to how it was before...

"What about us?" I mumbled, barley loud enough for him to hear me.
" Me being around keeps you in danger! You've been stabbed. You've been poisoned. "
"I lived! I'll live, Lemony!"

" What are we supposed to do? " He asked quietly. Neither of us had to answer that because out conversation was interrupted.

"Guys, we got what we needed. let's pay, lock up, and go." Ornette said.

"Jake asked me to come see him so I think I'll just walk. Here's your keys, Moxie." Cleo told us. I accepted my keys and parted ways from the chemist. We reached Black Cat Coffee and I got into the driver's seat of my jeep.

"Ornette, Ellington, are you two fine at the lighthouse, right?" I asked. They both nodded.
"What are we doing about Stew? He's still out there and he's not going to confess to murdering my brother!" Ornette said. I pulled out my tape recorder with a smirk.
"We can make him say it any time we want to." I replied.
"That's genius, Moxie!"
"I know."

I drove us to the Stain'd Lighthouse and there were police cars parked outside. My father was talking to Mimi Mitchum, now Spats since she reverted to her maiden name after the inevitable divorce, and telling her where he was late last night. I rolled my eyes before taking a deep breath. "Good afternoon, Officer Spats." I greeted in my polite voice.
" Miss Mallahan. What are you and your lowlife friends up to? "

"I'm so sorry to bother you when you're so clearly on an important case! It's just that this tape recorder has a confession from who killed that poor boy outside my home! You, as a respectable officer, simply must take a look at it!" I continued, trying as hard as possible not to laugh. Even after her ex husband moved to the city, Mimi was a bad cop.

"Moxie, what are you doing?" My dad asked.
" I got this, Dad. " I answered him. "Officer Spats, I'm afraid your son is a two time murderer!"