"I'm certain it's not Mark's doing," Helen said, laughing lightly. "He doesn't seem the sort to be prone toward joke horticulture." Their roommate is quite serious, actually, and one of the best assets to the village. Helen shuddered to think what might come of them if he disappeared and she tried her best to glean as much as she could from his farming techniques. It might well serve to save their lives someday.

"But if there's a way to differentiate it, Mark will know. It's his bailiwick."