Page 27 of The Lone Wolf Café
Instead of her usual lacey black dress and purple corset, she wore a simple violet-colored dress with a large, wide hood that fell over her shoulders. It had a low neckline, a lace-up front, and long sleeves with holes for her thumbs. Pressed against her throat was the same black tourmaline necklace she always wore, and a black witch hat sat lopsided atop her short, shaggy hair. She wasn’t wearing her cloak – it was an unusually warm day for Maine in October, with the temperature already well into the sixties.
A faint blush crept up my neck and onto my cheeks. She looked adorable, and I suddenly felt self-conscious about having worn the same old, frayed clothes for the past three days.
“Good morning,” she greeted in a soft, neutral tone. She gave a faint nod of her head, but didn’t smile.
“Uh, hi.” I felt my heart flutter in my chest.What is she doing here?Some faint, lonely part of me hoped she wanted to spendtime together. Even with her aloof behavior, she was the closest thing I had to a friend in this town.
Rowena reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a small cream envelope. “I brought your paycheck. It’s not much since it’s only for the past two days, but I figured you needed funds to run errands on your day off.”
“Oh! I do,” I exclaimed, taking the envelope from Rowena. Even if she wasn’t looking for company, I was thrilled to finally have some money. “Thank you for bringing me this.”
Rowena nodded, her expression soft but neutral. She then turned and walked back to her own cottage, the door clicking shut behind her. The thick, patterned curtains on her front window rustled, but since it wasn’t dark outside, I couldn’t see her silhouette.
I wondered what she did with her time off. Based on her reclusive personality, I imagined her nestled in her reading chair, cocooned in blankets with a cup of tea on her end table and a heavy book in her lap.
I smiled warmly at the thought as I meandered down the dirt road into town. Since I spent so much time caring for my rambunctious sisters back on Hollenboro, I always treasured my rare, quiet moments with a cup of coffee and a good book. Literature was scarce on our small island, and while I didn’t have a strong reading proficiency due to my rudimentary education, I still consumed all the books I could get my hands on. They were one of the few windows into the outside world I had. As a child, I’d spend hours lost in the pages of far-off fairy tales, reading the same few books to my sisters every night until the pages yellowed and the spines fell apart.
A light breeze tickled my nose, and I inhaled the crisp pine scent of the forest. This was perfect weather for such cozy activities, and I knew the desire to curl up indoors like a wolf in its den would only intensify as the winter months came. Iloved being warm and comfortable, and something about doing so while the snowy winds whipped outside filled me with a soothing, homey sense of contentment.
I passed the other witch cottages, dotted across the forest with their earth-toned silhouettes obscured by the fiery fall trees, and caught glimpses into the lives of my neighbors. One window had a row of crystals lined on the sill, their smooth, faceted surfaces glittering in the sunlight.That must be Juniper’s house.Another window had the curtains pulled back, and I saw a woman hunched over a stove, stirring a huge, boiling pot, while a young boy played with a dog-shaped plant elemental.
Further down the path, I passed two teenage girls, both dressed in festive orange-and-black Halloween outfits with witch hats perched on their heads. Their void-colored shadow elementals, both in the shape of emerald-eyed cats, happily trotted next to them with their wispy tails held high.
The elementals eyed me with cautious curiosity as I passed, and both witches completely ceased their conversation and lowered their heads. But once they were behind me, I could hear them whispering under their breaths, and I knew gossip about Wisteria Grove’s newest witch was likely spreading like wildfire.
As I walked closer to town, the path below my feet morphed from dirt into stone, and it occurred to me this was the first day off I’d had in a long time. I wasn’t formally employed back on Hollenboro, but ever since I was a child, I’d spent nearly every waking hour caring for my father and sisters. Every chore, every errand, every activity I did was for their benefit.
I missed them dearly. But I was also grateful that, for once in my life, I had a day that belonged to just me.
My first stop in town wasSpells & Stuff General Store, and the front porch was crammed with even more Halloween decorations than when I first arrived in Wisteria Grove. Piles of pumpkins, both real and plastic, were topped with skeletonswearing sunglasses and giving a thumbs-up. That, combined with the fake, splatted witch decoration that hung above the front door, made me conclude that Adrian had a quirky sense of humor.
“Good morning, new witch!” he shouted from behind the front counter as I walked inside. I noticed a large piece of rose quartz hung from a chain on his neck, and black plastic earrings shaped like little spiders dangled from his ears. Behind him on one of the shelves was a large, carved stone statue of a raccoon. At least, Ithoughtit was a statue – until the rock elemental lifted its heavy head and nose to sniff the air.
“Good morning!” I shouted in response as I walked past the counter. The whole shop interior smelled like cinnamon, and I noticed a huge display of fall-scented candles in the middle of the store. I begrudgingly brushed past the display, knowing that fancy scented candles weren’t in my budget, and focused on the main aisles. My green eyes flicked up and down the shelves, studying the various chemicals, potion bottles, and dried herbs in the spell ingredients section.
Nothing was labeled, and I had no idea what the strange wares were for. I figured in such a tiny witch town, the customers already knew every item by heart. I picked up a bottle of inky black liquid, which was completely opaque and had the viscosity of maple syrup, and plopped it back on the shelf in frustration.
I had a mental list of the things I needed to survive the next few weeks in Wisteria Grove. At the top of that list was cleaning supplies. And thankfully, after about ten minutes of walking hopelessly up and down the aisles, Adrian stepped in to help me.
“I know it can be a lot to take in,” Adrian explained as he gestured for me to follow him. As the town’s only general store, we have a lot of inventory. Which means it’s also kind of a mess.”
“Well, thank you for the help,” I replied with a smile. “You’re Adrian, right?”
“Indeed. I’m the owner of the general store. I’m also our resident alchemist, and I can help with just about any spelled concoctions you need.”
I chuckled, remembering our brief conversation in the café. “Just not love spells, right?”
“Exactly,” Adrian replied through clenched teeth, as if my words reminded him of some recent, unpleasant experience. He sifted through the shelves, rambling on about how a wayward love potion once turned the object of his desire into a squirrel. Finally, he grabbed a few bottles of slightly more ordinary-looking liquid from one of the top shelves and handed them to me.
“Relax,” he chuckled as I held one of the bottles up to my face, studying it intently. “It’s just some herbal remedies mixed with white vinegar. Nothing too crazy. So, where are you from, witch?”
I winced.At least he thinks I’m a witch.I replied that I was from one of the magical communities off the coast, and that vague answer seemed to satisfy him.
“Speaking of cleaning…” I piped up, suddenly aware of how musty and uncomfortable my three-day-old clothing was. “Do you have laundry soap? I can’t quite afford new clothes yet, and—” I gestured to my burnt-orange overall dress and white undershirt “—I really need to wash these.”
“Laundry soap?” Adrian raised an eyebrow. His tone implied that I’d just asked for something preposterous, and it made my blood chill in my veins.
Oh no. Did I say something wrong?
