When I pulled to door open, I was startled to find Luther standing there, his fist raised to knock.
“We have a doorbell, you know.” It was the first thing that popped into my head.
“We also have cell phones,” Eli added, pushing past him, “and had you bothered to use them, we would have told you that we’re busy.”
Luther’s eyebrows shot up as he glanced down at me. “And I thought you were the one who wasn’t a morning person.”
“That doesn’t count during Pirate Days,” I said, following Eli’s lead and scooting around him. “What can we do for you?”
“Sybil sent me to get you.”
I looked around the drive but didn’t see any sign of a car. “In what?”
He rolled his eyes. “I took the fast route. I apparated.”
“Of course you did.” I sighed. “What does Sybli need? We really were just on our way out.”
“She wants to talk to you about taking lessons, and she’d hoped to give you the first one today since the diadem needs cleansed. She thinks it’s important that you know at least the basics of curse-breaking since there’s no guarantee that she’ll always be available.”
I started to protest because regardless of what they thought, I wasn’t a complete noob and would know to set aside anything that was beyond me.
He must have guessed what I was going to say, or maybe my impatient brain yelled it loud enough for him to hear. “Objects can wait. People cannot. Eventually you’re going to have to be able to deal with people like Mrs. Hightower on the fly like we did. You won’t be able to just set them aside for later like you can the object that cursed them.”
That much was true, and he did have a point. We needed to know how to deal with such things, but I didn’t see why it had to be today. I said as much.
“What if you run into somebody at this fair of yours that’s cursed?” he shifted sideways to block my way down the porch.
“Then I’ll call you and Sybil,” I replied.
“But you can’t do that every time.” His eyes were getting stormy. Apparently, he wasn’t used to people telling him no. I figured if he was going to be working with us, now was as good a time as any to start getting him used to it.
I stopped and crossed my arms, scowling at him. “Nope, we can’t. But even if we ran into somebody cursed today, I hardly think we’d be able to deal with it on our own with just one lesson, anyway.”
I wasn’t going to Sybil’s and that was that. I didn’t ask for much and worked fifty hours a week pretty much all the time, so this was mine and Eli’s day. Then something occurred to me and I appraised him.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
“What?” he asked, his expression shifting from irritated to befuddled.
“Heights. You know, far distances from the ground.” I pointed up.
“Of course not,” he replied, his confusion almost comical. “You’ve seen me in bird form. Have you ever seen a bird that’s afraid of heights?”
Eli had come back and joined me on the porch, and I knew when he narrowed his eyes at me that he’d figured out what I was thinking. “No, Shmoo. Absolutely not. That’s a terrible idea.”
“I know it is, but Jake and Eliza are meeting us there. What’s one more?” I let a little bit of pleading seep into my voice. Considering my strange relationship with the man, it probably was a terrible idea, but my desire to ride the rides with somebody I knew didn’t have cooties was overriding my common sense. Plus, I did like him even if he was infuriating.
Eli’s expression turned from wary to speculative. “You’re only saying that because you want to ride that hideous tower and the ride that slings you upside down.”
I refused to admit that he was right, but we both knew it.
Luther shifted so that he was standing between us. “Would one of you like to explain to me what you’re arguing about?”
Eli pretended he didn’t hear him. “It would get us out of here faster if we brought him to our side.”
I jumped onto his line of thinking. If expediency was what it took to convince him I was right, then I’d run with it. “It would. Plus, consider it contributing to a positive work environment.”
Before I could say anything, Eli turned to him. “How would you like to spend a day with us and Jake and a couple other friends at the festival? You have to ride the high rides with Sage, though.”
“Sybil was clear,” he said. “She wants you at the house for a lesson in twenty minutes.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I replied. “Tomorrow is early enough. You can come with us or you can go back to her place or to wherever it is when you’re not there, but we’re going to the festival.”
He sighed. “She said you’d dig in. I told her I’d convince you. It really is for your own good.”
“Oh, so is Sybil the one insisting,” Eli asked. “Or is it you?”
“It might be me,” he said, his brows drawn down. “But I want you to know this stuff. I worry that we’re not going to be there every time you need us.”
Eli turned his hands palms up. “That’s easy then. We promise to dedicate two hours Monday morning to learning about curses if you come and ride the rides with Sage so she doesn’t pout and sigh the whole time we’re there.”
“Look,” I said, letting go of my frivolity for a minute, “we’re not undercutting the importance of what’s going on. We know it’s life and death. But you’re the one who told me I can’t live under that pall. This is something we do every year, and one more day isn’t going to make any functional difference in how we’d be
