Sebille nodded. “On the surface, that sounds pretty good.” She must have seen the rage on my face because she softened. “You’ve actually done pretty well, considering how little real training you’ve gotten. But my offer stands. If…when…you become a new Keeper with too few resources, I’d be grateful if you’d call me.”
Okay, that offer was a bit more gracious. I narrowed my gaze on her. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you offer to help me? I’m sure you have better things to do than hang around Croakies.”
Something passed through Sebille’s long, homely face. Something that made me sad. Though if pressed, I couldn’t say why.
“I like books,” she said. “And I know a lot about magic. It happens I’m in between projects right now. I think you and I could help each other.”
And that sealed it for me. Because, beneath the insults and overly-confident manner, Sebille needed a friend. And maybe something important to do.
Goddess knew I needed her.
I nodded. “I’ll let you know. But it might be a few months. Are you okay with waiting?”
Tension I hadn’t even noticed before slid away from Sebille’s face and she looked pleased. “I am. Besides,” she said as she turned to go. “I don’t think it’s going to be as long as you think.”
I joined Alice in the bookstore a couple of hours later, freshly showered and too antsy to lay around in bed any longer. She greeted me with a quick smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and then slid her gaze away, pointing to a stack of new books that needed to be added into the inventory.
I settled happily to the busywork, happy to deal, finally, with something that didn’t put me at risk of being bludgeoned to death or melted by a puddle of evil wizard.
I shuddered violently at the thought.
At six o’clock, Alice locked the front door and turned the Open sign to Closed. She joined me at the table, where I’d just finished inputting the last stack of cozy cat mysteries into the inventory system. I closed the laptop with a sense of having accomplished something good for the day.
I glanced at Alice. “Calling it a day?”
She nodded.
“I’m just going to put these books on the shelves and then maybe call for pizza or something.”
“Brilliant. I’ll go pick it up if you’d like.”
“That would be great.”
But Alice didn’t move. She sat there, staring at her twining fingers, clearly wanting to say something.
I decided to help her get started. “Is something wrong?”
She took a long breath and sighed it out. “Actually, there is. I’m leaving.”
For just a beat, I sat there happily oblivious, my mind refusing to recognize the meaning behind the startling words.
But then it hit me, and I flinched back in shock. After the shock, terror slid in to take my breath right out of my lungs. “What?” I gasped. “You can’t. I don’t know what I’m doing.” I hated the shrieking tenor of my voice, but I didn’t seem able to stop it.
Alice raised her hands in a defensive posture as if my words were bullets. “Not right away, of course. I’ll continue to train you for a bit.”
I relaxed slightly, my heart easing back from doing the rhumba against my ribs. “Oh, that’s good. Don’t scare me like that.” I laughed breathily, but Alice didn’t join me.
She still looked miserable.
“How long is a bit?” I asked.
She looked to the side, her fingers purple from wrangling each other on the surface of the table. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she finally turned to me, still not quite meeting my eyes. “A month. Two at most.”
It wasn’t enough time. Not nearly enough. But I’d known I’d need to shorten my learning curve. I’d just have to tighten it up a bit more. I thought about it for a long moment and then said, “I want Sebille to come work at Croakies, as soon as she wants to come.”
Alice must have felt really guilty because she agreed immediately. “I think that’s a brilliant idea.” She looked a little relieved, I noticed. Which made me wonder if she even planned to teach me anything in the final months.
Silence squatted between us like an ugly frog until I finally broke it.
“Why are you leaving, Alice?”
She shrugged. “I was always going to leave, Naida. That’s why you’re here.”
“Yes, but my apprenticeship was supposed to last a year. And you haven’t taught me anything yet.” I knew it was a mean thing to say to her. But it was unfortunately true. And I was angry that she was abandoning me.
She flinched at my words but shook her head. “That’s not true. You’ve actually done quite well this first week. I believe you’ve learnt a lot.”
“By floundering around out of control, yes.”
“Not entirely. And you’ve made friends who can help you. Friends who seem to already…care for you.” Her expression turned sad. “In just a few short days, you’ve surpassed me in that.”
How sad. Alice felt as if she had no friends. “Is that why you want to leave?”
Her gaze shot to mine. She seemed surprised that I’d be so blunt. But she chewed her lip for a moment and then answered my question honestly. “Maybe in part. But I’m tired, Naida. I’m ninety years old. I’ve spent most of my life as Keeper of the artifacts. I want something more. I want to travel and have some fun.”
I could certainly understand that, so I nodded. I was still irritated with her, but I understood. And she was
