Chapter 9

  Meredith And The Picnic

  Meredith leaned against the counter and sighed while waiting for customers to enter. She wore a dark purple robe and matching buckled shoes, which she restlessly tapped against the wooden floor. It had been a slow morning, and she had already tidied up the shop more than necessary; she was just bored. Cici napped on the sunlit windowsill and offered no conversation.

  The front door jingled open to reveal a gangly red-skinned tiefling.

  “Victor!” Meredith straightened. Cici perked his head up and gave Meredith a sly grin, which she ignored.

  “Hey,” Victor said tentatively as he gave a slight wave. He furtively glanced around the empty store. “Are you closed? The sign said open, so…”

  “Come on in!” Meredith waved him in excitedly. “We’re open. It’s just incredibly slow and boring today for some reason. What can I help you with?”

  Victor strode towards the counter and pulled a list from his raggedy pocket. He wore the same tan and tattered shirt, pants, and boots as the last time Meredith had seen him. His equally worn satchel was strapped across his chest. Victor slid the parchment across the counter towards Meredith.

  “The doctor needs these ingredients. It’s a lot, and I don’t know them all.”

  Meredith poured over the list and mulled it over.

  “I can help with this. Follow me.” She ordered as she ambled around the counter. Victor dutifully followed close behind Meredith. Insecurity enveloped her as she walked before him; she had almost forgotten how to walk correctly and put extra effort into seeming normal. The pair strode throughout the shop while Meredith plucked several herbs and essences from various shelves and tables.

  “So, you work for a doctor?” She asked as they walked to the other side of the shop.

  “Yeah, Dr. Archibald. I’m pretty much just his errand boy,” Victor muttered. “I can’t say much more than that; I’m under a secrecy spell. I couldn’t tell you if I tried.”

  “That’s….” Meredith searched for the word. “Interesting. I guess it makes sense. His clients must really appreciate his confidentiality.”

  Victor merely grunted in response as Meredith stopped before a table with clumps of red wispy tendrils and turned to him.

  “I have different types of saffron, but the list doesn’t specify exactly what the doctor needs. Do you know?”

  Victor shrugged.

  “We’ll go with the more common variety,” Meredith decided and plucked a bunch. “How’d you end up working for a doctor?” She asked as they moved along.

  “I can’t say,” Victor stated.

  “Oh,” Meredith replied. “How long have you worked for him?”

  “I can’t say.”

  “Where does he work?”

  “I can’t say.”

  Meredith spun to face Victor.

  “What can you say?”

  The young tiefling thought for a moment. Meredith admired the pattern of his ridged horns as she waited, careful not to be caught staring.

  “Anything that has nothing to do with the doctor,” Victor replied.

  “Sounds like a strict secrecy spell,” Meredith deduced.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “I’m just making conversation.” Meredith turned away and began to meander through the empty shop again while picking out the listed ingredients. “But the secrecy piqued my interest. Also, I’m nosy and bored.” They continued for a while in silence. “You know, you’re the only tiefling I’ve ever known.”

  “Really?” Victor exclaimed from behind her. “I’m honored. I hope I live up to your expectations.” He chuckled, his initial awkwardness slowly dissipating.

  “I read up on tiefling history,” Meredith continued. “It’s very interesting but very tragic.”

  “Most history is.”

  “True. Were you born in the hells?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t remember much. I’ve lived most of my life on the surface.”

  “How’d you get out?”

  “Can’t say.”

  “Of course.” Meredith laughed.

  The two continued to chat, with Cici occasionally watching them, until Meredith finished gathering all the ingredients and set them on the counter as she rang him up.

  “That’ll be four gold pieces and seven silver,” Meredith announced.

  Victor pulled the money out and slid it across the counter.

  “Thanks,” he said as he scooped the ingredients into his satchel.

  They both stood there for a moment. An awkward lull fell upon them. They both began to speak, then stopped.

  “You first.” Victor offered.

  “I was going to say, if you’re not in a hurry, you could stay and keep me company,” Meredith gestured towards the shop devoid of customers. “As you can see, business is slow.”

  “Oh!” Victor blushed through his red-skinned cheeks and scratched the back of his head. “I suppose the doctor could wait a little longer.”

  “Great!” Confidence swelled within Meredith’s chest as she clasped her hands together. Helping customers was easy, but making new friends was something altogether new to Meredith. “Let’s go get lunch!”

  “Um…” Victor bit his lip.

  “What’s wrong?” Meredith tilted her head.

  “I only had the money the doctor gave me for the ingredients,” Victor muttered, embarrassed.

  “I’m low on dough, too.” Meredith conceded. “I know! Let’s have a picnic!” Sharing food was a great way to make friends!

  “Are you sure? What about the shop?”

  “Cici can watch it.”

  A soft, rumbling growl emanated from the windowsill.

  “Oh, hush!” Meredith turned her attention from Cici back to Victor. “Wait here.”

  Meredith leaned into the doorway of the house, whipped her wand, and sent the kitchen clattering into motion. In moments, she strode beside Victor with a wicker basket held in the crook of her arm.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Let’s go!” She beamed.

  “Have fun on your date,” Cici grumbled as Meredith and Victor passed through the door.

  “Shush!” Meredith barked as heat rushed to her cheeks. She turned to Victor as she stepped outside. He glanced downwards to hide his own blushing face.

  “Ignore him, he’s just sassy.” Meredith laughed nervously. To her horror, she couldn’t stop talking. “Besides, he’s a cat, what does he know? Is this even a date? I don’t know. I’ve never been on one. I wouldn’t even know what to do.”

  “Me neither.” Victor refused to meet her eyes. Meredith silently stewed over her awkwardness.

  The pair exited the shop. It was a beautiful summer day with blue skies. A gentle breeze lulled the fluffy clouds overhead and clattered the forest leaves and needles against each other. Meredith led Victor under the trees and down the winding dirt path toward Greenwood. She peered at him as they walked in comfortable silence. Victor caught her looking but quickly glanced away.

  A surge of reckless curiosity overtook Meredith.

  “Can I touch your horn?”

  Victor looked at Meredith in shock.

  “How dare you!” Victor exclaimed, his features furrowed into a frown. “That is an incredibly insensitive thing to say in my culture!”

  “Oh my goodness!” Meredith gasped, covering her mouth. How could she say something rude to her new friend? “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you!”

  Victor’s anger evaporated. He smiled and elbowed her lightly.

  “I’m just messing with you. You can touch it.”

  Meredith shook her head in humorous dismay. She had been had! She gave Victor’s horn a slight shove, knocking his head sideways.

  “What about your tale?” She asked.

  “That’s actually pretty offensive.”

  “Are you messing with me?”

  “Not really.” Victor shrugged. “But some people joke about tieflings, cats, and stepping on tails.”

  “That’s not very nice,” Meredith said.

  “Yup.”

  “How do you control your tail?”

  “The same way I control my fingers,” Victor said, flicking his tail towards Meredith.

  She wondered if he cut the hole in his pants for his tail or if they were made that way, but decided against asking.

  Meredith led Victor then onto a grassy slope on the bank of the Norwich River just outside the town. The river babbled softly, the crickets and birds chirped, and the wind whispered through the trees. She decided on a spot, set the basket down, and swished her wand. The basket erupted with a blanket and food that neatly arranged themselves into a proper picnic.

  “I wish I could use magic like you,” Victor stated as the pair sat on the blanket.

  “You can’t?” Meredith inquired. “Even with your elven ancestry?”

  “I can do simple things.” Victor shrugged. “Like this.” He held his hand out, palm facing up. A small ball of fire emerged within his grasp. “But I can’t do much more.” He closed his fist, extinguishing the flame.

  “Don’t you have a teacher?”

  “No.”

  “I could teach you some things!” Meredith offered.

  “I…” Victor searched for the words. “I can’t learn any magic. I can’t say why. Secrecy spell,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  Meredith changed the subject but wondered what the doctor’s secrecy spell had to do with Victor’s ability to use magic. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as the two chatted while lunching on meat sandwiches and fruit. Victor told Meredith of the scattered tiefling population and their various skin tones, ridges, and horn curvature. She wasn’t able to glean any of his personal history, however.

  “Doesn’t it get boring or annoying that you can’t talk about so many aspects of your life?” She asked.

  “Honestly, I never thought about it,” Victor said. “I don’t get to have conversations like this very often. The doctor keeps me pretty busy. What about you? What’s your story?”

  “Well, I’m only here for the summer. I live in a hamlet a few hours downriver. It’s hardly a quarter of the size of Greenwood,” Meredith explained as she gestured towards the town. “I attend the Southern Academy of Magic. My Grandma says the place is bunk. She says the classes used to be a lot harder. But it’s the closest academy, so that’s where I go. I have to go back in the fall, but I wish I didn’t have to; I like it here! Everyone is so friendly! But everyone at the academy is super cliquey. I’d rather be by myself than deal with that. I’ve got Cici, though, so I’m not completely alone.”

  “What’s it like there?” Victor asked as he finished his sandwich.

  “It’s a big stone building; it used to be a fortress,” Meredith replied between mouthfuls of fruit. “Some of the instructors and students live there. I live about twenty minutes away, so I fly to school, which is great because I love flying.”

  “That sounds fun. I wish I could fly. Is it scary?”

  Meredith smiled at him and bellowed out, “Broom!”

  “What are you—"

  Meredith’s broom whistled through the air and stopped right before her. Meredith wiped her hands and then whipped her wand. The blanket slid out from under them as the picnic neatly repacked itself, and then Meredith sent it floating lazily home.

  Meredith stood up and mounted her broom. She looked expectantly towards Victor.

  “Hop on!” She patted the bristly broom’s head behind her.

  Victor rose to his feet but looked uneasy.

  “What about the picnic? Are you sure there’s enough space?” He asked. “Where exactly do I sit? Will it hold us both? It looks so small!”

  Meredith rolled her eyes.

  “We just ate,” Victor continued. “Won’t we get sick?”

  “Come on, scaredy cat! We’ll come back and finish the picnic later. Just swing a leg over behind me and hold on!”

  “To what?” Victor blushed.

  “To me.” Meredith felt warm and strange as she realized how close they would be. She’d never been so physically close to a boy before. “Just, you know—" Meredith indicated by gesturing awkwardly between her side and stomach. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

  Meredith hadn’t realized how much she missed having fun. She had been so busy running the shop, which she loved, but she needed to blow off some steam every now and then.

  Victor tentatively started forward, stopped, then clambered onto the back of the broom with a determined expression and a huff, and wrapped his arms around Meredith’s midsection. Her skin tingled under his touch, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach as his chest nestled against her back. He smelled like ash. The young witch swallowed her nervousness, kicked off the ground, and veered high into the sky above Greenwood.

  “Whoa!” Victor bellowed as he squeezed Meredith. She leveled her broom and slowly drifted forward. Meredith glanced below at the distant ground. A blanket of forest lay beneath them, broken only by the Norwich River and the small settlements that dotted it. The wind gently sighed as it passed them.

  “What do you think?” Meredith hollered over her shoulder.

  “This is amazing!” Victor whooped. “You do this every day?”

  “Almost! Are you ready to kick it up a notch?”

  Victor tightened his grip around Meredith.

  The pair flew for quite a while. Meredith executed various aerial tricks, much to Victor’s delight. After exhausting her repertoire, she resorted to steep dives and flying low just above the trees, perturbing the birds. Meredith sped forward, whipping past the treetops just below their feet. Then, Meredith angled upward and careened through the thick, wet clouds.

  When they emerged above the cloud, Victor bellowed, “I didn’t know clouds would feel like that!” He unwrapped an arm from Meredith’s midsection to wipe the condensation from his face.

  “Wow! It’s so beautiful up here!” He slid his arm back around Meredith’s waist, which once again put her in a tizzy. The young witch coasted above the fluffy clouds, and the pair enjoyed the unique view as the horizon grew orange and noon turned to early evening.

  They flew in silence for a long while, slowly drifting and watching the sun cast magnificent shadows across the tops of the lumpy, swirling clouds when Victor suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no!”

  Meredith’s heart leaped in alarm. “What is it?”

  “It’s late!” Victor exclaimed. “I’ve got to get back to the doctor!”

  “Yikes!” Meredith mirrored his concern. Cici was going to be pissed. “Sorry! I didn’t realize how long we were out. Want me to drop you off at the doctor’s place?”

  “No!” Victor cried out. “Erm, sorry. No. Secrecy and such.”

  “Right,” Meredith replied coolly. She didn’t understand what use such a secretive doctor was. “I’ll drop you off at the shop.”

  They coasted downwards until they reached the shop. Meredith landed, and Victor quickly disembarked. She ordered her broom to park beside the shop door, which slammed open to reveal a rankled cat.

  “Young witch!” Cici stomped out. “Where do you think you’ve been all this time?”

  “By the gods, Cici!” the exasperated witch gestured wildly before she whipped her wand towards Cici and gently floated him back inside.

  “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” Cici howled in dismay as he struggled and flailed in mid-air.

  Another flick of Meredith’s wand slammed the door shut. She turned to Victor.

  “Sorry I made you late.” Meredith apologized again.

  “It’s okay,” Victor said with a half-smile. It was the first time she had seen it, and she hoped he had smiled quite a bit during their flight.

  “I had a lot of fun,” he continued. “You’re nice to hang out with.”

  Meredith’s heart fluttered.

  “You are too!” Meredith beamed back at him.

  “Well…bye!” Victor gave a slight, awkward wave and turned to leave.

  “Bye!” Meredith returned an excited and jittery wave. “I hope you’re not in trouble!”

  “You too!” He hollered over his shoulder as he trotted down the dusty path. She watched him leave for a moment before she turned towards the shop. Cici glared at her from the windowsill. Meredith took a calming breath and stepped inside. The two stared at each other for a moment, neither speaking.

  “Meredith,” Cici started.

  “Cici,” she replied.

  “Do you know how hard it is to work the tiller without thumbs? Or with paws as small as mine?” Cici asked tersely.

  “I’d imagine it would be quite difficult.”

  “Indeed.” Cici’s eyes widened in sarcastic fury.

  “Did you have any customers?” Meredith asked.

  “One. And you know why?” Cici’s voice steadily grew harsher. “Because I couldn’t flip the sign to ‘closed.’ While you were flitting about with your boyfriend—“

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “—I struggled to tend to our single customer,” Cici continued. “Do you know how embarrassing that was? I’m a cat! I have no concept of money! I can’t operate a tiller!”

  “I’m sorry, Cici!” Meredith sighed in exasperation. “I didn’t mean to be out so long; I lost track of time.”

  Cici humphed, gingerly descended from the windowsill, and sauntered towards the door that separated the shop from the house.

  He stopped and said, “I expect a good brushing tonight.” Then he turned and pushed his way inside.

  Meredith sighed and shook her head.