Chapter 14

Luna woke up and prepared a picnic basket for the day saying, “Lets go to the river house, that herbs problem has you worried hubby.” I did agree.
We collected the keys from mum and dad’s house, inviting them along. They agreed, Mum added some more items into the picnic basket. We forgot they had not seen inside the house. Dad did bring a stud finder from his garage. I stopped at a chemist to get some gloves, we did not need to put our fingerprints over Sims if any bad herbs were found.

It took over an hour to get to the river home due to traffic restrictions. Mum and Dad were impressed with the smart home. We started looking in the basement for a door and could not see any. Dad and I went to the boat shed and saw the massive boat in the dock. Looking around the walls of the boat shed I noticed a worn patch in the paintwork. We looked closely and could feel air coming out. We spent the next 45 minutes looking for the access, when dad accidentally kicked a post and bingo it opened. We put on some gloves. I found the electric light switch and bingo, did we light up some stairs leading directly to the house. Every fifteen meters there seem to be a door. We did not enter any door yet. Walking down the concrete steps then along the pathway we came to the end and in a roundabout way I gauged we were at the basement. We looked for a door. I looked at the floor and found they used kick taps to open the door and who did I catch, None other than Luna who was resting on the wall/door. It slid into the wall sideways. We kissed hello.

We closed the door and found the kick switch. Look like they did carry stuff and by using the foot to open the doors it was easier. They were good one as looking at the boards you would not be aware of the connection. It was a simple tap not a major kick. We started back along the passageway to the various doors. Just for safety, no-one stood in front of any door opening. You never know what safety feature he may have installed. The first room were jars of herbs marked in the witches language. I looked at Luna and we nodded, we needed her Dad. Going back out to the kitchen we had a drink whilst I rang Merlin. He replied that he and Raven will be there within the hour. I did mention the traffic closures.

They arrived within the hour and greeted my parents as good friends. Mum and Raven went for a good look around and I think a private talk. We showed Merlin the lock system and the first room, before he could hold a jar I gave him some plastic gloves. He smiled at my actions and nodded appreciating the jester. Merlin said, “Wow, Thanks for calling me Joe, If you had opened this jar the smell would lay you out flat in this confined space. Beware he has traps.” He looked at the jar, I estimated he had at least 3,500 jars on the walls. Hopefully he did mark them correctly.

The next room, as I tried to open I could feel heat and bright light. I stopped opening and Merlin saw the cupboard in the wall. On opening it contained dark glasses and lab coats. We put on the glasses and on opening we saw the hydroponic setup. Man it was big. I wondered how he paid for the power. Dumb, dumb me, he was stealing the power as we found out later checking the electrical board.