《First Bite》4. Trouble
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Ali grabbed the fire extinguisher as she ran through the door.
The barn was used for storage and research. With one of the main sources of steady income being from alcoholic beverages Ali rushed forward to the barn door ready to spray.
When the smell hit her like walking into a wall.
It took a moment to get past her nose and throat wanting to revolt to get into the barn.
She found Bryan Tipton already activating the rooms air filtration system. And walking over to the main electric box in the corner of the barn to turn it off. Like his siblings he had the same blond hair, build and personality only with less common sense or more OCD she still wasn't sure.
"YOU ABSOLUTE NUTTER!! Wanker, don't fool around NEAR THE BLOODY CALVADOS BARRELS!!" Ali yelled, work up because of him fooling around in the room with over three years of her life work.
"What the heck was that? I just moved the other barrels out after the last deliveries this morning. I came in turned on the light then bang and the stench." Bryan shouted back while keeping one hand firmly covering his nose.
What ever else he was going to say was stopped by a surprise jump kick to his side staggering him back a few steps.
"Damn it Bry. " Mary said picking herself off the floor while her nose scrunched from the smell in the barn.
Ali didn't bother with them for the moment she checked around looking for any further damage. The barn had been expanded and widened to work as a storage point for bottled drinks ready to be shipped off as well as a place so that Bryan could work on the recipe for a version of apple whiskey know as Calvados but their own brand to be named later when the first casts were ready. The end of the barn was like Bryan said the barrels and crates fill bottles of cider ready for delivery.
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Ali breathed out the breath she was holding, well over three years hard work setting up the farm. Then having to run back and forth between London to deal with her research there and her livelihood in Cornwall flashed through her mind. And then another two years developing the recipe for the Apple whiskey.
Then she rounded to deal with Bryan.
And everything slowed down everything except her heart beats which sounded in her head like a drum.
The entire place seem vibrant, colors mixed and separated.
Over the past six years she had this happen to her mostly just at the drop of a hat but it was also helpful for her to see what she missed but now she was so angry at Bryan that it didn't matter.
Then her teeth hurt, with a dull pulse like they always did for the last six years every time she got angry. And after what nonsense just happened the thought of punching Bryan face flashed through her mind.
Then things went black.
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When the light cane back and Ali started to see she thought she would be lying on the floor or in a bed somewhere.
She was still standing at the same place in the barn but it was different, colder in a way than before, the Bryan and Mary who were arguing moments before were now gone and the barn looked like it did when she and Bryan made room in his work space and table right by the entrance of the barn.
Just a few days before.
She felt so slow and numb as she started towards the door which was closed and back on properly. Just as she got halfway towards the barn door to push it open.
A man in a hooded jacket holding a large metallic flashlight opened it and walked into the room while looking around.
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The van was parked outside of barn which only happened at night or early morning it was always working most days the only reason why it was there when she arrived at the farm this morning was it was getting its regular service check after the last delivery which should have been earlier in the morning.
The man looked around the entrance of the barn until he spotted the light by Bryan's table for his experiments.
He then started making adjustment to the wires by the light switch by the door.
Ali at that point swung at the back of his head.
She spun off balance for a moment before falling to the floor. Shocked that her hand went through him like trying to punch smoke.
What brought her out of her haze at the situation was the small cut he made to the wires as looked like he spliced in something to the light switch
Ali mouth was wide open in shock at the reality that now struck her with glaring certainly if not for the fact that they turned off the gas at the main and kept the rest of the alcohol that needed fermentation elsewhere then this could have been worse a huge deal worse than it was at the moment.
She pulled herself up and started to follow the man out but it was getting harder and harder for her to move around. The man becoming more smoke like in the distance as he moved away from the barn towards the main road.
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Ali came back to herself with a start everything spun for a moment as she remembered how to breath.
The shock of it all hit her like a brick to the face.
Which left Ali standing by the barn door feeling like she just ran up all the hills Cornwall and then fell down a few.
She wanted to sleep, she wanted to scream and punch something or someone.
Ali leaned on the side of the barn and threw up.
She looked up at all three members of the Tipton family in her employ coming togeter by the barn Shawn looking around at the damage, she watched them for a few moments and then looked over at the light by the testing station.
She then threw up again.
Mary been Mary took it the wrong way.
"For the last time, I'mnot giving anyone the sack. But Bryan is right someone messed with the wiring in the barn and the gas." Ali said from the couch in the farm house with a lovely ice cream tub resting on her head as the pain in her head started to match Mary's voice.
Bryan on the other hand had a smile on his face from the moment she said he was right.
Bryan as a rule shouldn't be right.
Ali could tell from his face it was like Christmas and his birthday came at the same time, the cherry on top was his sister was in the wrong for hitting him.
Neither Mary or Ali looked at him as he stretch out like a king on one of the chairs with a cider in his hand.
Which added insult to injury she couldn't yell at him for drinking on the job because they had to shut down and wait for the police to arrive.
Which they did after a while.
With the man in the tweed suit accompanying them.
Somewhere, somehow this was all Bryan fault.
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