I was in a surprisingly good mood as I got settled in behind my desk at the office, despite it being Monday morning and despite having had to work a few hours on the weekend.

Sure enough that lesbian witch couple contacted me around noon on Saturday, and I spent an hour with them in their hotel room while we put together an offer on the property they liked. I submitted it to the agent responsible for the listing, and expected to get a reply back today or tomorrow. Odds were there'd be a counter-offer, but something told me the buyers and sellers would reach a deal before the end of the week.

The other reason for my positive attitude was Erin had returned to work again today and seemed to be her old self again. She still didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her the week before, but I figured she was probably just a bit under the weather. Maybe a touch of flu, or perhaps something she ate at lunch that day disagreed with her.

And of course I couldn't help sharing my latest story with her, about the couple and their coven.

"I knew you'd be perfect for this work Vikki," she responded with a smile. "And you're right, they wouldn't be the first coven in and around town."

She added a moment later, "I don't actually know if witches get territorial? I hope not. But just incase they are, I'm glad yours picked a property in the south-west. The other coven I'm aware of are north and east, just past the conservation area."

"Good to know," I grimaced. "If I get another coven looking for land I'll try and steer them north-west, or south-east to avoid the other two."

Erin and I shared a little laugh, then the two of us got back to work again. I had some paperwork to take care of and a few other rather boring tasks, but my mood remained good throughout the morning. Then as it got closer to noon I took a phone call that led to another prospect.

An older gentleman some distance north-west of town was interested in putting his farm up for sale, but he had no idea what the place was worth or what was involved in actually listing the property. We talked for a bit on the phone, but it was obvious he really wanted me to come out there and see the place for myself.

So I checked with Erin, then took note of the address and let the guy know I'd be out there to meet with him this afternoon.

After I got off the phone with the guy I went back to my boss's office and apologized, "I know I really need to get my own car, it's just a question of finding the time to do some proper car shopping and arranging the financing. I hate having to keep borrowing yours, but I really appreciate you letting me use it Erin."

"It's fine Vikki," she replied with a smile. "I can always call on Sherry if I need a lift."

That made me sigh, "I know, but it makes me feel bad that I'm inconveniencing both you and your wife."

Erin shook her head, "I told you it's fine hon. Neither Sherry or I mind."

"Well thank you," I told her. "And please thank Sherry for me too. I owe you both."

My boss just smiled, before her attention returned to her computer. And I returned to my desk to finish up what I was doing. The rest of the morning was fairly uneventful, the only notable change was my coworker Jason actually came in and spent some time in his office.

Then at lunchtime he and Erin went out to get something to eat together, while I stayed behind. I'd brought a sandwich from home, so I ate at my desk while I did some preparations for my afternoon meeting.

I had a look at the location on the map app and got a satellite view, then checked for any recent sales in that area to try and get a ballpark feel for what farms were worth around there. Unfortunately there really weren't any recent sales to go by, and the last property tax assessment was several years old too.

Erin and Jason were both back by the time I was getting ready to go. I gathered up everything I figured I'd need. Phone, tablet, some literature and paperwork I could leave with the guy, plus an electronic gizmo that used lasers and sound waves to quickly measure the size of a room.

I stopped at Erin's office door on my way out, "See you later boss. Thanks again for letting me borrow the SUV."

"You're welcome Vikki," she replied. "And good luck."

I smiled then headed out. The trip took about twenty minutes before I pulled off the dirt road and onto a long unpaved driveway. I ended up parking the SUV on some grass next to a pair of beat-up old pick-up trucks.

As I emerged from the vehicle I turned and looked around to get a first look at the property. I saw an older two-story farmhouse, a barn that had a distinct lean to one side, and some outbuildings that had definitely seen better days. Visible inside one of those aged wood buildings was an old red tractor, and I had a feeling about half of that colour was paint while the other half was rust. I didn't know enough about crops to say for sure what was growing in the fields, but at least I knew he wasn't raising livestock.

It wasn't a great first impression, but to be fair it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been. In fact it seemed fairly typical for older farms in the area. We were far enough away from town and the highways that you didn't get rich city people looking to convert these properties into hobby farms, or developers looking to bulldoze them and turn them into subdivisions.

With my leather folio in hand I finally approached the farmhouse, and as I got near I could hear dogs barking inside. That was fairly common too, but I was still wary as I knocked at the door. It opened a few moments later, and fortunately the dogs weren't right there alongside the homeowner.

"Hello there," I greeted the older gentleman with a polite smile. "Are you Mr. Walker? I'm Vikki Lawrence, we spoke on the phone this morning."

He nodded, "Right, that's me. C'mon inside Miss Lawrence."

"You can call me William by the way," he added as he led me through a small cosy living-room and into the kitchen.

Next to that was a mud room, where a pair of German Shepherds were still barking up a storm. The only thing holding them back was a rickety old child-proof gate that stood less than a meter high. It would have been trivial for the dogs to leap over it, in fact it looked like the thing might just fall over on its own if they leaned against it too hard. Still, the dogs didn't try to jump it, nor did they even push at it.

A moment later I was startled by the older woman I hadn't even noticed sitting at the kitchen table, when she snapped at the dogs "Frida, Sable, shaddap and lay down!"

Just like that the two dogs went silent. They almost looked guilty as they backed away from the gate. There were a couple dog beds in there, and they pair of them flopped down quietly next to each other.

"Sorry about that dear," the woman said. She gestured at the table, "Have a seat. Can I offer you a drink?"

I sat down at the sturdy table and shook my head, "No thank you."

William took a seat across from me as he did the introductions, "Miss Lawrence this is my wife June."

"Pleased to meet you," I responded. "And please, call me Vikki."

The two of them looked like your typical older rural couple. I'd guess they were both in their sixties, but both appeared to be in good shape despite their age.

When it came to William the first two words I could think to describe him were spry and slight. He was a smaller man, probably only a little taller than myself, and I couldn't see any extra weight on him at all. He came across as fit and wiry, and was dressed in faded jeans and a loose button-down shirt. He had a pair of untied work boots on his feet and an old baseball cap on his head.

June was a little taller, and had a little more meat on her bones. It seemed more like muscle than anything else though, and I had no doubt she was just as capable and experienced handling the farm as her husband. And considering the way she handled the dogs, I had a feeling she was probably the boss of the whole operation. She was wearing a pair of light blue slacks and a white blouse, and had some fuzzy slippers on her feet.

With the introductions all out of the way we finally got down to the business at hand. I got my tablet out to take notes as I ran through some preliminary questions, stuff like the size of the property, age of the buildings, that kind of thing. We spent ten or twelve minutes discussing the farmhouse, mostly basic stuff like how many bedrooms and bathrooms and how it was heated. It wasn't until we got to the topic of money and whether or not they were in a hurry to sell that things slowed down a bit.

"That's the thing," William sighed. "I'm really not in a hurry to sell? Like I said on the phone I'd like a proper appraisal, I'd like to know what the place is worth? If it's worth our while then June and I might be more inclined to move quicker, if you know what I mean?"

June added, "The property's been in William's family for three generations. He grew up here, and the two of us have lived here for the past twenty-five years. So I'm sure you can understand neither of us are really eager to sell the place. Unfortunately none of our children seem interested in taking over the farm..."

Then William leaned a little closer and lowered his voice as he stated, "It's those damn werewolves next door."

"Bill!" his wife hissed. "I told you not to mention that! Now she's going to think you've gone senile!"

He made a face but kept on talking, "Every full moon they're out there howling, racing around raising up a ruckus. They don't think twice about jumping the fence and running around on our land too. Drives our poor dogs wild. I can only imagine how much of a headache they'd be if we raised livestock like some of the farms 'round here. Fortunately they're not that interested in our corn, but still! They ought to know better than to trespass on other folks' land. They sure ain't all that warm and welcoming when it comes to anyone setting foot on their property."

By that point June looked kind of resigned, so she didn't try and interrupt when he paused for breath before starting up again.

"They were at it again last week," he stated indignantly. "Last Monday night to Tuesday morning, howling all night long and stirring up the dogs. I went over there to have words with them after that, told them I'd had enough of their nonsense. Spoke to the woman that owns the place, and she had the gall to offer to buy me out."

His wife sighed and rolled her eyes. She gave me an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Miss Lawrence. I suppose that's what it boils down to? One of our neighbours offered to buy our farm, and William wants to know if the price they offered was fair."

"That's not it at all," her husband scoffed. "I don't care how fair it is. I'd even take a hit on the price and sell it to someone else, just to spite that woman and her mangey wolves. There's no way I'm going to let her have it, I don't care how much she's willing to pay. Those damned wolves might drive us off our farm, but I'm not going to let them get their paws on it. Not a chance!"

After that little tirade an awkward silence settled on the kitchen for the next minute or so.

I finally spoke up, "All right William, June. Thanks for the extra background information. How about I go ahead and get some measurements and photographs? Then I'll head back to the office and speak with my boss, and we'll have an appraisal for you by tomorrow."

The farmer nodded, "Thank you Vikki. So if we do put the place up for sale with you, can we specify that we don't want to sell it to any of those wolves next door?"

It took me a moment to figure out a safe answer, then I explained "We can't put anything like that on the listing? But if you receive an offer from them, I believe it's within your right to refuse it. And you can always take the property off the market at any time, for any reason, if you've received offers you don't want to accept."

That was enough to satisfy him, and I spent the next half hour or so taking measurements and photos while making some more notes. When I was finished I had one more question for the couple. It was more about satisfying my own curiosity than anything else, but I had to know.

"By the way," I asked as I gestured to the left and right, "Which of these farms is the one with the werewolves?"

Mr. Walker shook his head and pointed back past the old barn, "Their land backs onto ours. I told you we have some woods back there? The property line runs through the trees, they own the cattle farm on the other side of the woods."

"Ah I see," I nodded. Then I thanked him again, and bid the couple a good day.

During the drive back to town I found myself wondering about the whole werewolf situation. Not that I had any intention on getting involved in what ultimately sounded like a dispute between neighbours, but I could see how it might frustrate someone. Needless to say I doubted William would get much help if he went to the police to complain about werewolves trespassing on his land.

It did leave me with a question though, that I hoped Erin would be able to answer. And as soon as I got back to the office I went to speak with her about it.

"Hey boss," I greeted her. "I have an oddball question for you, about disclosure?"

She looked up and gestured for me to take a seat in one of the guest chairs. As I got comfortable she asked, "What sort of question? I'm sure you know the laws, if the property owner is aware of any problems or potential liabilities they're obligated to fully disclose that to any prospective buyers."

I nodded, "Yeah I understand that. But what if the potential problem is supernatural? Like for instance, what if the seller has a problem with the local werewolf pack trespassing on their land? Do you disclose that? Or not?"

Erin stared at me for a few seconds, then leaned back in her chair with a thoughtful look on her face. "Oh my. I suppose that is a bit of a quandary now, isn't it?"

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