Charms & Clouds

by Emilia Spring

  Silently I reached out for a high five. Gianna looked startled, but she gave it to me. We were figuring this whole thing out.

  “I’ll wash, you want to dry?” I started running some water as hot as I could stand, adding dishwasher soap.

  Gianna made a face, but then she nodded. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then disappeared back towards her room.

  I opened my mouth to scold her, and then stopped. She’d just said yes, so I doubted she was shirking her responsibilities. And I was right, because a few seconds later, Gianna reappeared with a stool.

  “It's easier,” she said with a shrug. She put the stool in front of the counter where I’d laid out a towel and stepped up so she was closer to my height.

  I nudged her gently, smiling, and even though she looked startled at first, she smiled back.

  “Did you like dinner?” I kept the question light, non-threatening. I started washing the first dish, making a face at it.

  “They're nice,” Gianna said after a few seconds of thinking. “They didn't make fun of me.”

  Rage burned through me. “Are people at school making fun of you?” I kept my voice calm.

  There was just enough of a silence on Gianna's end that I knew the answer. “No,” she said, not at all convincingly.

  Was this how ‘normal’ parents felt when their kids were being mistreated? No wonder mothers were compared to bears. “If you have any problems,” I said firmly, “You can come talk to me.”

  Gianna shrugged. “It'll just make it worse.”

  The way she said it reminded me that this was probably not her first go around.

  “Did Emmaline try and interfere?” I connected the dots.

  Gianna looked at her hands, taking a plate that I offered her to dry. She wiped it dry carefully, and then placed it on the rack. “Sometimes,” she said. “People just said it was weird.”

  Kids could be mean. “Well, you don't have to listen to them,” I said. “You're you, and it's okay to be you.”

  Gianna gave me that look out of the corner of her eyes like I was mad. To be fair, to her I probably came across that way. She’d had a lot of time in this village with people believing she was something she wasn't. Shunned for the sins of her family.

  We worked in silence for a moment, the hot water almost burning my hands. I wanted to add some cold water, but that was admitting defeat. Yes, I was ridiculous. I know.

  “I talk to them, a lot,” Gianna said, almost offhandedly.

  “Who?” I asked, my attention half sidetracked by a particularly stubborn bit of rice stuck to the risotto pot.

  “My parents,” Gianna said matter-of-factly.

  “I do remember talking to Rosetta.” She had said as much when Sam and the others were there, something I was proud of.

  Gianna nodded. “It's not often long,” she admitted. “Just a few minutes to say good night.”

  My heart leapt into my throat, and I tried not to choke on it. How much did it have to be worth to a child to be able to say good night to parents that weren't there? Were there other kids out there that envied Gianna's abilities?

  Then again, there had to be a downside to it. “Do they remember everything?” I asked, remembering how Rosetta's memory had been a little bit faulty.

  Gianna's face darkened a bit. “Sometimes,” she admitted. “They always know who I am, and they always love me.” She looked down at the object she was drying. It was a fork. “But sometimes the details are fuzzy.”

  “Well, maybe as you get stronger, it will get easier.” I was fairly certain that was how it worked.

  She looked at me, surprised. “You really think so?”

  I nodded. “I think so,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. I didn't really know much about magic, but it sounded good. Right?

  Gianna shook her head at me, but I saw a smile there.

  “Finish the dishes so I can go to bed,” Gianna said bossily.

  I mock-saluted her with the bowl I was rinsing. “Yes ma'am.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I dropped by Zane's place again, but he wasn't home. Instead, I left a short message with my cell phone number taped to his front door. It was risky, but, it was worth doing. I gave him the number to Glass Oceans, since it routed to my personal phone most of the time.

  Gianna was home on school holiday, spring break or something like that. She was with Avery this morning, at the glassblower’s shop. Journeyman was supervising, which meant both of them were under the supervision of a responsible adult.

  I bit back a grin.

  I headed to Glass Oceans, since Gianna was going to be occupied with Avery for a while. I would eventually drop by and watch, because I wanted to see how Gianna was doing. She’d seemed to blossom after dinner, not to the point that she was willing to go with me to the main house and actually socialize, but she actually smiled whenever I talked about one of the girls she’d met.

  I still couldn't stop thinking about what she’d said about being bullied at school. I was going to have to address that, and talk to her teacher.

  This mother thing wasn't quite that bad, I decided. It was strange, yes, because in my opinion, I wasn't old enough to be a mother. Or responsible enough. But there I was, and there I would stay. Gianna was a good kid, and I wanted to do everything I could to help her.

  I unlocked the glass door to the shop, pushing it open.

  “I'm starving,” Theodore said immediately.

  “No you're not,” I retorted before the door was shut. Then I locked it. “I know for sure you had enough food left.”

  I could hear him sniff. “I could have died and you wouldn’t have known.”

  “I'm pretty sure if you’d died, we wouldn't hear the end of your whining,” I said. Why was I surrounded by drama queens?

  “Your kind words are reassuring.” He sniffed, like I should have been grateful that he deigned to talk to me.

  Ignoring him, I went over to the aquariums we had set up, checking on the breeders. I did the tests by rote now, recording the results in the little notebook on top of each tank. The freshwater was almost ready for fish. I would have to put in an order tonight.

  The saltwater was lagging a bit behind. The salinity was right, but I hadn't yet got the water levels down to where I wanted them to be. I wasn’t sure chemically how it worked – ammonia, or fish poop, was in the water, which turned into nitrites, which turned into nitrates, which weren’t harmful to fish like ammonia or nitrites were. Something something chemistry. I didn’t want to make my brain spin by looking at the actual pathway.

  Maybe I'd suggest that to Gianna, as some research for her science classes.

  I shrugged, very aware of the fact that I was playing this by ear. Still, I carefully wiped water splashes off the aquarium lids and rims, taking a look at how the lids were doing. They all had lights, but they were the ones that had come with the tank. In order to support corals, the saltwater tanks would need stronger lights. Freshwater could show off the colors, since I wasn’t really planning on getting live plants that survived in freshwater, at least not right now.

  I’d already done some thinking about the first fish order. We were going to go with cichlids, for fresh waters. They were a type of fish that came in very bright colors, from very different environments. The only downside was that they could be aggressive at times, so it would be slow stocking the larger tanks to ensure we balanced them well.

  I looked thoughtfully at one of the larger tanks. If we wanted to carry any predator fish, especially the saltwater type, it would have to be a fish-only, maybe fish with live rock. Predator fish would eat coral. Maybe later, I decided. I wanted coral in both of my big tanks. I couldn't go quite crazy yet.

  No matter how much I wanted to. The door opened without warning. Immediately I straightened up, alarm making my heart race.

  “You lock it?” Theodore asked, sounding for once as alarmed as I felt.

  “I did,” I muttered to him. I scrambled in
my pocket for my cellphone, curling my fingers around it as Zane came into view.

  “Apparently not well enough,” Theodore muttered.

  “Hello,” I said, not sure what else to say. I’d left my number, but I hadn’t quite expected him to show up.

  “Why do you keep coming after me?” he asked. “I heard you were asking questions.”

  My mouth dropped open, then closed with a click as my jaw shut. “I just want to find out what happened to Clara.”

  “Then leave it to the police,” Zane said sharply.

  “Could you just answer a couple questions?” I tried to be respectful but firm.

  “Why?” Zane asked, looking at me with dark eyes. “Why should I?”

  I wanted to say because he should want to find out who murdered his former boss, but that didn't seem to be his priority. No, his priorities seemed to be saving his own butt.

  “What do you want to know?”

  I leapt on the chance. There was a chance he was going to shut down, but there was also a chance I could get some information out of him. “How did you get appointed to the Council?” I asked, retroactively realizing that may not have been the smartest question to start off with.

  His lips twitched, and his eyes were stony. “They had an empty spot, and I was nominated. Anything else?”

  “How long had you known Clara?” I asked, picking the next most important question.

  He frowned more intently at that, as if he couldn't quite figure out why I wanted to know the answer to that one. “About seven years,” he said. “Is this relevant to something?”

  “I don't know,” I admitted.

  “So you don't suspect me of anything.” Zane tilted his head to the side, his face dark.

  That was weird phrasing. I eyed him warily. “No?”

  “I would recommend you be careful about what questions you ask,” Zane said, and it wasn't exactly a threat in his voice, but it definitely wasn't something nice, either.

  I nodded mutely.

  Then he was gone, the door slamming shut and locking behind him.

  “What kind of witch is he?” I asked Theodore. I wasn't sure Theodore would actually know the answer, but it made me feel better to ask somebody.

  “Fire witch,” Theodore said absently. He was towards the end of his tank facing the front door, apparently contemplating Zane and what had happened. “He doesn't like you.”

  I looked at Theodore. “No duh. Not everyone does.” I was about to go back to work, when I paused. “What do you know about him?”

  It was a little bit creepy to have an amphibian staring at you. “Not much,” Theodore said into my mind. “Emmaline mentioned him once or twice, but not very regularly.”

  I looked thoughtful. “And how long did Emmaline have you?”

  “Until about four years ago,” Theodore said promptly.

  I reached out and patted the top of the tank. “Thank you.”

  He sniffed, dignified. “Stop making me work.”

  “If I didn't give you something to do, what would you do all day?” I quirked an eyebrow at him.

  I could practically hear him roll his eyes. “If you got some more creatures here, I would at least have somebody to talk with.”

  I grinned. “Well, you’ve got some luck. I’m putting in an order tonight for freshwater fish.”

  “Amphibians?” He sounded almost hopeful.

  I bit back a grin. “No,” I said. “Cichlids, some zebras. Maybe some neon tetras.” I had been doing a lot of reading about schooling fish, about how it was important to try and get different fish for each level of the tank. Some liked swimming at the top, some stayed near the bottom.

  He sounded disappointed. “I’m much better than those weird fish.”

  “You’re a lot chattier than they are,” I muttered.

  “I heard that.”

  “Can you really talk to fish?” I asked him, changing the subject and starting to prep to leave. I wanted to run by the library and do some research on Zane. The whole ten years thing was hanging in my mind, and I wanted to see if I could find out more about him from before that time.

  “I am an amphibian,” Theodore said, slowly, as if I wasn't the smartest fish in the sea.

  Although to be fair, compared to a magic fish, I probably wasn't the smartest fish in the sea.

  “Well, if there's anything we need to do, let us know.” Maybe he needed a translator or something.

  “Feed me,” he said imperiously.

  “You're not due until dinner.”

  “But that’s forever away.” He gave me the axolotl version of a pout. It even looked like one, the pink white of his skin and smile looking genuinely sad.

  I sighed. It was like having two children, except the one inside an aquarium insulted me. Then again, the other one outside of the aquarium did that too.

  “You'll last,” I told him. I was keeping an eye on his body condition, based on the internet. Axolotls could apparently be finicky. Given Theodore's tendency to be a drama queen, that was easy to believe.

  “If I perish before you get back here, don't be surprised.” Theodore sounded petulant.

  I shook my head as I checked on the birds, and ensured they had enough food.

  Definitely a drama queen.

  I parked Ruth just outside of the library, knowing I was pushing it close. I had thirty minutes before I had to leave and get Gianna. Since Charlotte was almost always at work, I could drop by and do some research.

  I pushed open the door and waved to Charlotte at the front desk.

  “Is there anything you need specifically?” Charlotte asked, not looking up from whatever she was doing.

  “Do you have like, birth records and stuff?” I asked.

  She lifted her head, surprise stamped on her face. “Is there anything in particular you're looking for?”

  I hesitated, and then nodded. “Information about Zane.”

  Something flickered in her eyes, but she nodded. “My predecessor kept very good records,” she said, standing up and coming out from behind her desk. She showed me to one of the nonfiction shelves. “These will be the ones you want,” she said, picking out two thick books. “It's not exactly plant-based ink, but I make do.”

  I took them from her. The two books covered the last twenty years of Pine Lake's history.

  “You'll probably have to go through a lot, but there should be some information in there that will be useful for you.”

  I looked at the tomes, somewhat regretting my decision. If her library was like any other, it wasn't really useful to ask to borrow them. They were valuable enough that they couldn't leave the library space.

  Instead, I sank down into a chair at the closest table, starting with the newer volume. It covered the last 10 years, and that was the timeframe I’d heard from both Riley and Theodore.

  It didn't take very long to find something about Zane's accolades. He’d helped get a new park built on the human side. He’d volunteered at church. Did witches even go to church? For some reason I found that sort of hilarious.

  He was also listed in a couple community grants, and had received accolades for helping out families. Interesting.

  After skimming the book a lot faster than I thought was possible, impressed with the neat handwriting, I switched to the older one. However, that was different. I didn't find any mentions of Zane until a few months before the second book began. He’d apparently recently arrived in town, but hadn't yet started his campaign for good. Whoever had written this first tome didn't seem very interested in him. Had he not been in town? Or had he not done anything of note?

  I finished with the books, marking down the month and year where they had records for him.

  “Charlotte?” I gently put the books back, then headed towards her desk.

  “Yes?” Charlotte lifted her head to meet mine.

  “Is there anything else about Zane?” I glanced at the rest of the records.

  She hesitated. “If there's anybody you
could ask, Aspen might know.”

  I looked at her, surprised. “Aspen?” Out of everyone, Aspen was the aunt I would've least guessed knew something like that. Then again, there was the whole time scrying thing.

  “She was my predecessor,” Charlotte said finally. “She trained me.”

  Oh, right. I vaguely remembered something about that being mentioned at dinner.

  “It’s not really talked about,” Charlotte said with a shrug. “She wasn't the right type of witch for me to apprentice with.”

  “You didn't train with other green witches?” I asked.

  Charlotte shook her head. “I took kind of a non-traditional route,” she said with a twist to her lips.

  I bit back a grin. I knew what that meant.

  “So is your magic…” I struggled to find the right words.

  “I'm still a grass witch,” she said with a smile. “I just have a few other talents too.”

  I thought back to the scene in the warehouse, the one Charlotte hadn't been present for, when Aspen had put up the reel of Sage’s life, replaying the past from somebody's memories.

  “Interesting,” I said, distracted. Maybe next time, during the next family dinner, I would take her aside and ask her.

  But for now, I wanted to check in with Oscar. His behavior had been sketchy enough, and if Riley wasn’t going to pursue him, I would.

  The fact that the school day was over, and Gianna would have to be with me, well, that was something I could deal with later.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I made sure Gianna stood behind me as I peered around the corner. We weren’t probably the most subtle spies in the history of spying, but we were having fun.

  We’d followed Oscar from his house, driving just far enough behind him that he couldn’t see us when he arrived at the restaurant. His wife, Tiernan, was with him. We watched them sitting on an outside terrace. They looked relaxed, even though I could see the line of Oscar’s shoulders tighten at something Tiernan said.

  “This isn’t really the education I expected,” Gianna muttered.