by Sarina Dorie
“Are there any special holiday traditions your family observes?” I asked.
“None,” he said. “Please pass the turkey.”
“Didn’t your family celebrate Christmas at all?” Imani asked.
“No. Not before Womby’s. Pass the stuffing.”
Hailey closed her eyes as she swallowed a bite. “Oh my God, this is the best biscuit ever. And the best gravy. And the best stuffing.”
“Why didn’t you celebrate Christmas before Womby’s?” Maddy asked.
“If you must know, I was an orphan. My life held little joy before attending Womby’s.”
“You were an orphan?” Hailey squealed. “I didn’t know that!”
Everyone stared at him with wide eyes. He cleared his throat and ladled vegetables onto his plate. Never before had he divulged this much about himself voluntarily. It made him more human.
I considered what he’d been thankful for. Earlier he’d chided me for having so much, and not wanting to share it. There must have been times he’d been snubbed from celebrations as a teen. He’d probably been one of the “bad” kids like Hailey, a rebellious troublemaker who was at risk of failing. I could paint a picture in my mind about why this meal meant so much to him.
We passed the food around, everyone talking about their favorite foods and favorite traditions.
“I’ve always heard about caroling,” Maddy said. “Do you ever do that, Mrs. Lawrence?”
“It’s more of something people do with their church groups, and I don’t belong to any church. There’s a group that comes by every year. If the weather doesn’t drive them off, you’ll get to see some caroling. If they do come around, I’ll bring them out some cookies. You girls can help me.”
Hailey leaned toward Maddy. “Not you. You’ll have to stay inside. No one can see you, or else they’ll try to kiss you.”
Maddy’s cheeks flushed as azure as a cloudless sky. I’d never seen her do that before.
“Whatever,” Imani said. “It isn’t like you’re inconspicuous with those ears.”
Hailey snorted. “I can wear a hat. What’s she going to do, wear a mask and a chastity belt?”
Imani lifted her nose in the air, as snooty as any Celestor. “I bet you don’t even know what a chastity belt is.”
Maddy ducked her chin down in embarrassment. Apparently, she did.
Thatch set his fork down and crossed his arms. Disapproval radiated off him like a solar flare.
“It’s Christmas,” I said. “The rule is you have to be nice to each other.”
Thatch waved a biscuit at her. “And if it is too difficult to pretend to get along for twenty-four hours, I can see to it that your lips become glued together so you cannot speak again while you remain here.”
“If our lips are glued together, how are we supposed to eat?” Imani asked.
“That’s your problem, not mine,” he said.
My mom laughed. “That would be pretty horrible with all this food around.”
Hailey sighed dramatically. “Mr. Thatch specializes in torture.”
Dinner was the best I’d had since Thanksgiving. I overate and leaned back against my chair afterward, my belly aching. Thatch graciously accepted seconds of everything.
“You must have hollow legs,” Mom teased him.
By the end of dinner, he had unbuttoned his vest. He was so tall and lean, I didn’t see how it made any difference. It wasn’t like he had a Santa belly.
A timer went off, and my mom hustled over to the oven. “The pies are ready. Who wants dessert?”
The teenagers groaned.
“I want it so bad!” Maddy said. “But I can’t eat another bite.”
“There will be plenty of time later,” Mom said. “Mr. Thatch? Apple? I also have pumpkin.”
“One slice of each, if you please. And a cup of tea if it isn’t too much trouble.”
He had definitely stayed past the twenty-minute limit he’d set for himself.
The girls retired to the living room to finish decorating the tree. They watched It’s a Wonderful Life. Lucifer behaved surprisingly well. He even allowed Maddy to seat him on her lap and brush his black fur. Maybe siren magic influenced male cats, not just human males. I remained at the table, not ready to move yet.
Thatch craned his neck to see around the corner into the living room. “Don’t let them watch more than an hour. It will interfere with their magical development.”
“It’s a two-hour movie,” Mom said, handing him his pie. “It isn’t going to kill them to watch two hours tonight before they go to bed.”
“It might,” he grumbled.
Thatch stayed for another twenty minutes, sipping his tea and chatting quietly with Mom and me until he finally pushed himself from the table. He donned his overcoat and hugged the tin of cookies.
He inclined his head. “Thank you for the lovely evening and delicious meal.” He shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable before finally patting my mom on the head. It was comically awkward, but far friendlier than he acted toward most people.
“You’re welcome back anytime,” Mom said.
He left through the back door, promising to return at five the next evening.
The carolers came at seven, and the girls watched through the curtained window.
Following in a long line of past Christmas traditions, I had procrastinated wrapping presents until now. I slipped away into my mom’s room to hide while the teenagers were preoccupied.
I hadn’t counted on Hailey coming that day, which threw off my gift preparations. I felt bad I didn’t have anything to give Hailey that was as nice as what I’d gotten for Imani and Maddy. I was lucky I had bought a set of stationery the day before for myself that I hadn’t opened yet.
I placed the presents under the tree while my mom and the girls finished decorating the last boughs. The girls were all in bed at nine, no different from a school night. Maddy and Imani fit on separate ends of the couch, their legs side-by-side in the middle. Hailey slept in my bedroom.
Mom made me sing the blessings song with her to the girls, the same Gaelic lullaby she used to sing to me as a child. I expected the girls to roll their eyes and say it was lame, but they didn’t. A protective web of green light wove around the girls as we sang. I hadn’t ever noticed that the song created a kind of ward.
Hailey must have been on her best behavior because she endured being sang to without complaint. I felt self-conscious as her eyes scanned my dresser topped with one of my old My Little Ponies and a painting on the wall I had made years before of Alice in Wonderland. I hoped I had hidden everything I didn’t want her to get into or burn. Mom kissed Hailey on the forehead. Hailey smiled.
I headed out of the room after Mom, turning off the lights as I went.
“Miss Lawrence,” Hailey whispered.
“Yes?”
“I didn’t want to say this earlier. I couldn’t. Not with everyone at the table.” She coughed.
“What is it?” I came back in and closed the door so the girls in the other room wouldn’t hear. It was dark except for the Christmas lights coming in from outside. I padded closer. “Is something wrong?”
“Thank you for sharing your room with me. I didn’t mean to, you know… .” She took in a deep breath and sighed. “I heard you and Mr. Thatch arguing. I didn’t mean to butt in and ruin things for you.”
“No!” I shook my head, mortified. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—you weren’t meant to—I was mad at Professor Thatch, not you.” Craparoni! I could have kicked myself. I thought I’d been quiet.
“I know. It’s no biggie.”
I sat on the bed. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“No, I mean, it’s all right. I get it. You were surprised. And I can be a butthead in class. I don’t always mean to start fires, and when I do, sometimes they get out of control. I promise not to use any magic while I’m here. I don’t want to call any Fae after your mom c
reated such a safe home for us.” She cleared her throat. “I just wanted to say thank you. I’ve never gotten to spend Christmas anywhere before. Anywhere besides detention, I mean.”
I squeezed her hand. It was so strange to see her in my bed.
“I’m not going to be graduating this year. I don’t know what they’ll do with me, if they’ll kick me out or hold me back. I know what it means if the school kicks me out. I either have to come back to this realm and be mortal, or I have to figure out how to survive in the Unseen Realm. But I’m not any good at magic besides Elementia stuff. I’ve never been any good at wards. This might be the only Christmas I ever celebrate, you know, before I get snatched.”
The acknowledgment of her impending doom and her resignation broke my heart.
She threw her arms around my shoulders. “I wanted to say thanks.”
Tears filled my eyes as I hugged her back.
“You’re my favorite teacher,” she said. “That’s why I tried to help you find the ruby. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
As much as I wanted to believe the kind sentiment, I couldn’t keep the doubt from my tone. “Then why did you push me into the Pit of Horrors?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t. That wasn’t me. I swear.” There was genuine hurt in her eyes.
I didn’t know who else had known I was going down there. Vega might have suspected, but she’d gone out with Thatch that night. I didn’t know who would want to try to kill me at the school … besides Mrs. Periwinkle the librarian because I was related to the woman who had stolen her youth. Or Professor Bluehorse for being related to the woman who killed her husband. And Pro Ro for attacking his turban and Mrs. Keahi the secretary for reasons I hadn’t yet learned.
Actually, I knew a lot of people who would want to push me into a pit. Possibly I knew people who would enchant me into using magic in the Morty Realm so I could be snatched by Fae.
“I know it was rude to eavesdrop on you and Imani in the bathroom, but I wasn’t going to repeat what you’d said. I didn’t even think you’d agree to Wiseman’s Oath. I’m sorry I tried to blackmail you.”
I felt a thousand times worse for complaining about her earlier.
At least I now had an idea of how to make it up to her.
My mom lay in bed reading a book when I came into her room after talking with Hailey. Abigail Lawrence’s long hair hung loose and wavy from the braid she’d taken it out of. The auburn locks contrasted with her key-lime nightgown. All she needed was a Santa hat to look like a Christmas elf.
“Mom, do you think any of the grocery stores will be open tomorrow morning?” I asked. “I need to pick up a couple more presents.”
Mom shook her head at me. “There’s snow on the ground. You are not driving to the store. What do you need?”
It took a while to explain my plan, in part because I had to tell her about everything that had happened at school since she’d visited me. I told her about Hailey blackmailing me and being unable to play in school athletics because she couldn’t afford the proper sports equipment, and the circumstances of how Thatch and I had rescued Maddy. It wasn’t just Hailey I wanted to do something nice for, but Thatch as well.
Mom sighed, placing a hand on her heart. “You are such a sweet girl! Of course I’ll help you.”
We were up for another hour sneaking around the house collecting items, and then wrapping them and tucking them under the tree.
I was exhausted by the time I changed into my pajamas in the master bathroom. “Mom, how much magic did you put in those cookies?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.” I threw my clothes into the hamper and washed my face. My skin felt strange, new and soft like baby skin. Thatch’s spell to cure frostbite had done more than heal me. It had given me the perfect complexion. “You put something in the cookies, and it made everyone complacent, even Mr. Thatch.” I peeked out the bathroom door at her.
She waved me off with a laugh. “That wasn’t the cookies. It was the cocoa.”
Of course.
I picked up the hairbrush and attempted to detangle my hair.
“How is it you can get away with magic in the Morty Realm, but I can’t?” I asked. I would give anything to shield my magic as well as she did.
“Herbalism and hedge witch potions don’t use as much magic as alchemy. There’s only small amounts of magic involved. Mostly it’s the ingredients that do the work. I tried to explain that to Missy, but she always wanted everything big and showy. She hated being a Witchkin and resented magic, but at the same time, she wanted to use it. You can’t have both worlds.” She sighed and placed her book on the nightstand.
Talking about my late sister always made my heart contract in my chest.
“The only reason I slid under the Fae’s radar is the wards,” Mom said. “I use very small amounts of magic, I don’t draw attention to myself, and I always carry electronics with me when I’m outside my wards.”
I’d have to remember that next time. Always carry my cell phone with me, and it would protect me from any soul-sucking Fae. I was definitely going to the store to purchase a new MP3 player on December twenty-sixth.
She patted the bed next to her. I sat, and she took over brushing my hair. She was far gentler with the snarls than I was. I closed my eyes, lulled by the calming strokes. I had loved it when she’d brushed my hair as a little girl.
“So… .” She used the wheedling tone I recognized from when she wanted me to confess something. “Tell me about you and Mr. Thatch.”
I repeated her earlier words back to her. “I don’t know what you mean.”
She poked me in the side, and I laughed.
She cleared her throat. “Are you … in love with him?”
“Mom! God!”
“Well?”
“He’s mean and crabby.” Or he tried to act that way. It was hard to tell what was façade and what wasn’t. “I respect him as a colleague and admire what he does for the students. I think we might be friends. I don’t know about anything else. He’s just not… .” I had trouble defining in words what he wasn’t. And then it came to me.
He wasn’t Derrick enough.
When Derrick used to smile at me, his eyes had lit up like I was his entire world. He hadn’t pushed me away like Thatch did. He had known he was in love with me, and it had shown in his every action. I smiled thinking of that time I’d gotten annoyed with him because he’d stolen two pieces of bacon for the stew I’d been attempting to make—only he’d pinched it to feed it to me. He’d gone to the Oregon Country Fair with me to search for Missy’s kidnapper and tried to protect me from the Raven Court because he would have been willing to do anything for me.
Thatch had his moments of niceness, but he didn’t want me like I wanted him. When he gazed at me, his eyes were filled with sorrow and sometimes irritation, not love. I brought him painful memories.
Every time I had dated in my life, I had always known no one could live up to Derrick’s perfection. Thatch couldn’t either.
No one but Derrick would do. I didn’t want to let go of the dream that I would see him again, and we would be reunited. He was my true love. I was certain. But he also wasn’t here. I didn’t know if I would ever see him again.
I sighed in exasperation. “Sometimes I like Mr. Thatch. I think I could fall in love with him. Then he does something completely contrary, and I hate him. Most days, I’m pretty sure he hates me.”
“No, he doesn’t. He wouldn’t have stayed for dinner if he hated you. He isn’t the type to dine with his enemies.”
How Count of Monte Cristo of him. “I think anyone would stay for dinner if the choice was your cooking or school food.”
“He stayed because you asked him.”
“No, he stayed because you manipulated him. You used cocoa magic on him and then bewitched him with feminine wiles to trick him into staying for dinner.”
“He wan
ted an excuse, the poor man. What happened tonight? He was going to stay, then he changed his mind. What were you arguing about outside?”
“Which time?”
She smacked me on the shoulder with the hairbrush. “Seriously? How many times did you argue with him? Was this about the girls staying here? I told you it was fine.”
I rubbed the place on my shoulder where she’d struck me. “That was the first time we argued today. He was mad at me the second time because I did something stupid.”
She waited.
“Promise you won’t blow up.”
She didn’t answer. She knew me better than to promise that.
“I used magic.” I didn’t dare tell her someone had hexed me into doing it, or else she would have a heart attack and worry about me even more than she already did. Better to leave a few details out. “I was cold outside, and I didn’t think a warming spell would cause any problems because there were already wards on me, and there was electricity around me. But I did it when the power flickered out. A Fae—a winter fury—suddenly appeared. She started talking to me in another language, and then she froze me. Thatch rescued me. He healed me and then yelled at me. Mostly because of that.”
Mom clutched the hairbrush to her breast. “Why would you do something so thoughtless? That Fae could have drained you and killed you.”
My shoulders sagged under the weight of guilt and shame. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t use magic in the Morty Realm again.”
“You better not. You put everyone in danger with that move. The fury could have snatched up the girls if they had gone outside to see what was taking so long. It’s a good thing you have Mr. Thatch looking out for you.”
I hunched lower into my invisible introvert’s shell. “I know.”
“You are in his debt. Did you thank him? Did you tell him how much you appreciate him?”
“No.”
She smacked me with the hairbrush again. “Clarissa, that man is going to think I raised you with no manners.”