I realized I was walking as if I were a hundred years old and tried to straighten, so I didn’t look so pathetic. “Sure. I’m good.”
Lea narrowed her startling blue eyes on me. “I don’t think so. Come on inside. I’ll brew you a special tea that will make you feel better.”
I shook my head. “I really should get these inside…”
She came out onto the sidewalk, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be silly. They’re fine for a few minutes. Come on. You’re making me hurt to look at you.”
I threw a glance at Croakies and balanced the need to unburden myself of the killer shoes against the desire for the help and kindness the other woman promised. “Maybe just for a few minutes,” I said.
“Good.” She offered me her hand. “I think I might have some muffins too. We’ll make it a little tea party.”
5
Um…Is There Coffee?
It turned out that Lea was easy to talk to. By the time we’d consumed two cups of tea and as many muffins apiece, she was wiping tears of laughter from her face from my retelling of being shoe mugged.
Lea got up for a tissue, drying her face and blowing her nose. “Oh my goddess, that’s hilarious.”
I grinned at her, feeling much better as her special tea worked its way into my system and made everything feel better. Including my mood. “It was touch and go there for a while,” I admitted.
Then I remembered what Grym had said to me, and my smile slid away. “Detective Grym wasn’t impressed by my methods. He told me he wouldn’t ride with me again.”
Lea’s expression turned to annoyance. “That wasn’t very kind…” she said, running a fingertip along the rim of her teacup.
I sensed a “but” in there, so I cut it off at the pass. “But you think he was right?”
“Not to take it up with you, no. I’d say you did the best you could under the circumstances. It’s not a criticism of you. But Alice should have known better.”
I knew she was right. But I couldn’t help feeling as if I was a failure. Shaking my head, I said, “I should have known more about how my magic worked when I took the job.”
Lea fixed me with a kind look. I hadn’t told her about my upbringing. Not the whole story. I’d just glossed quickly over it, too embarrassed to admit how little my parents apparently cared about me to leave me with someone who wouldn’t help me with such an important part of my life.
I didn’t even really know what had happened to them. All my grandma would tell me was that they’d both died when I was two years old.
Lea was looking at me as if she knew everything about my life. I’d known her less than an hour, but I was starting to understand that she was a very intuitive person. “We’re all the product of our upbringing Naida. We can’t control our situation. We’re only responsible for what we make of it. I have a feeling you’re going to make as much of this Keeper gig as you can. That’s all anybody can ask of you.”
I nodded. Her words didn’t give me a pass. In fact, they were kind of a challenge. In a nice way, she was telling me to pull up my big girl panties and be the best Keeper apprentice I could be. She was right. And it was just the kick in the knickers I needed.
I smiled. “I’m going to prove Detective Surly Shorts wrong if it kills me,” I told her.
She grinned, her beautiful gaze sparkling with humor. “That a girl. Now, tell me about the flip flop slaps again. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that one.”
I lay on my cot in the big room and looked around, my eyes wide open. I’d been so tired when I’d hit the cot that I’d fallen quickly and deeply asleep. But then I’d had terrible dreams about men in old-fashioned uniforms exchanging bullets for arrows with a bunch of horseback riding Native Americans, and I’d jerked awake, the stench of gunpowder and the screams of charging men sifting through my mind.
My heart still pounding against my ribs from the dream, I shoved upright and looked around, the feeling of danger and death sliding away as the artifact library wrapped its soothing presence around me. Despite its massive size, the big space felt like home in a way my grandma’s house never had.
Surrounded by thousands of magical artifacts, I felt as if I was among friends. As strange as that was. A soft breeze bathed my cheeks, and I looked up to find the hat feather that had visited me earlier, hanging in the air before me.
I smiled when it cocked itself to one side as if in question. “I’m okay.” I shoved at the hard cot. “This is just really uncomfortable.” It could be because my body was a study in bruise art from the shoe beating incident.
Those stupid flip flops had packed quite a punch. Literally.
The feather dipped and swirled across the air in front of me. Music swelled from nowhere, filling the space with an old-fashioned waltz that the feather seemed to like. The dancing artifact was soon joined by a pirouetting hat pin. The two of them dipped and soared through the dimly-lit space.
Watching them, I could almost envision two people dancing the waltz in a glittery ballroom. I laughed, enjoying the show.
With a soft sifting of air, the straw hat flew from its spot on the stacks and dropped onto my head. I went very still, blinking in surprise for a beat, and then felt myself beginning to move to the elegant notes of the Walz.
The notes grew and swelled, and I found myself swaying with unaccustomed grace through the moves.
I laughed with delight as I frolicked to the music. Pleasure infused me. The music sped, and I
