Page 32 of The Accidental Witch

“Bong-bong-bong!” Hervé chimed, mimicking the overhead speakers of a plane when they made an announcement. “Ladieeez and gentleman, Hervé would like to welcome you to ze savage but beautiful beast’s home, Castle Statleon, located in ze lovely Long Island. The weather is a crisp thirty-two degrees with the sun recently setting at five-o-four. For your safety, and ze safety of zose around you, please remain seated until we come to ze complete stop.” Then he laughed, sounding quite pleased with himself.

Robbie would have laughed but she was too busy grunting from the sudden stop and the jarring of her bones. But she squeezed his handle tight anyway. “Oh, Hervé, you saved me! That was amazing!”

Wiggling out from under her, he bowed, dancing in the snow. “I am useful, no, Robbieee?” he asked teasingly.

Gasping for air, she nodded with a smile when suddenly she heard people calling her name.

“Roberta!”

Tottington. Yes, sir, that was her steady Freddy yelling her name in panic. Cold flecks of water fell on her face and, as opposed to how she’d felt before when she would have sworn she was on fire, now she was freezing.

Shivering, she felt a blanket thrown over her before Nina kneeled down on her haunches and gripped her chin. “What the fuck happened, kiddo?”

Shivering so hard her teeth chattered, she gathered the blanket around her neck. “Waffles!” she pushed the word out. “Where is Waffles?”

“She’s fine. She’s who tipped us off that something was wrong,” Marty said, rubbing her arms to warm her. “She came scrambling back to the castle and scratched on the back door, barking like a loon.” Brushing the snow from her face, she cupped Robbie’s cheek. “What happened, Robbie, and why did you take off your jacket? It’s freezing out here.”

Rising to her feet as Tottington and Marty helped her, Robbie’d landed right back where she’d left, by the big skeleton Nina was so proud of, her jacket nowhere in sight. “I took it off because it was so hot.”

“Hot?” Wanda said, wrapping her jacket around her shoulders, tucking it under her chin. “But it’s freezing, honey.”

Robbie nodded, pushing her hair from her eyes. “But I wasn’t here anymore. I was somewhere hot, there was sand and…” Realizing she sounded nuts, she stopped talking.

Greer came out of the darkness like a shot, running through the light dusting of snow on the ground. “Robbie! What the hell happened?” He stopped them from going any farther, cupping her cheeks with his hands, his eyes full of concern as they scanned her face.

As she looked up at him, her skin warming beneath his touch, Robbie shook her head. “I don’t know. One minute I was walking Waffles, and the next I was somewhere hot and sandy with big dunes as tall as skyscrapers and then…”

“Sand dunes?” He took a step back, letting go of her face to run his hands over his hair. “Shit. The Lost Lands…”

“The what?” everyone said in unison.

He held up a hand to thwart more questions. “Let’s get Robbie inside and warmed up and we’ll talk about it there, okay? I’ll explain it all.”

As they followed Greer back into the castle, the lights burning brightly from the windows, the Halloween decorations shining under the gentle snowfall, Robbie wondered what the Lost Lands were.

But she knew it wasn’t good from the look on Greer’s face. For sure, it hadn’t felt good.

As they trudged back into the castle and Arch came running with towels he’d warmed and hot tea for her to drink, Carl motioned for her to sit in one of the living room chairs by the roaring fire in Nina’s eight-foot fireplace.

He pulled off her boots and peeled her wet socks from her freezing feet, wrapping them in a warm towel with a gentle pat and a smile. “Rest…”

“Mistress Robbie!” Arch fussed, reaching out for her hand and pressing it to his round belly. “Dear heavens, you’re positively frigid.” He handed her a cup of steaming tea before cupping her cheek. “Do drink up. It’s herbal and will surely warm you to the core.”

Tottington knelt down in front of her, in his perfect suit and all, taking her hand, his eyes worried. “You frightened me half to death, Roberta Tisdale. We were calling you and calling you until we were positively hoarse.”

As she began to warm, she smiled at him, unused to seeing him so vulnerable. “You’d better cut it out or I’m going to think you like me, Tater Tot,” she said, leaning forward to plant a very uncustomary kiss on his cheek.

He gripped her hand, pressing it to his other cheek. “You worried me so, Miss.”

Her heart warmed, as did her fingers and toes. “I’m okay, Tottington. Really.”

He smiled before rising, right back into manservant mode. “Let me get you a fresh towel to dry your hair.” He escapedbefore he let too many of his emotions show, which was typical Tottington, but it made her heart clench in her chest.

Greer sat on a chair next to her, grabbing her hand, his eyes roaming over her face. “First, are you all right?”

“You know what? I am. You’ll be happy to know I used my magic, Teach, and lived to tell the story,” she said on a chuckle.

His eyes went wide, his grin bright, but then it dimmed. “Tell me everything. All of it.”

---