Della had left Brian alone while she cooked supper for them and he was sitting on her comfortable brown wicker sofa with its teal cushions but he wasn’t really comfortable, “Wistful is such a good word for the way I’m feeling now but I can’t figure out why” thought Brian, looking around at the neatly appointed living room, with its stone fireplace, sea green walls and gold bric a brac, it didn’t look like the way he would have thought she would decorate a room but what did he know? Other than the fact that she had more power in her right pinky finger than he had in his whole body, well that didn’t mean much when most people did.
A black cat sauntered up to him and meowed as though asking who he was, “It’s a good question” he whispered to the furry animal who seemed to like him as it jumped up onto his lap.
“Talking to animals?” asked a teasing voice.
Brian turned and saw Della standing in the doorway to the kitchen, she had a white wicker tray filled with steaming dishes. She came in and placed the tray on the coffee table and then placed two plates of shrimp pasta on either side of the silver candlesticks, adding water glasses and a bread basket as the final touches.
Brian resisted the urge to lick his lips at the aromatic scents floating towards him and instead said with a grin, “He started it”
Her eyes widened slightly and she took the cat and sat him on the floor, “how about we eat?” she asked as though trying to change the subject.
The meal was mostly silent but it was a companionable silence and Brian ate slowly, savoring every mouthful as he pondered his choices, “If I don’t tell her then she’ll keep acting as though I shouldn’t know about magic, but if I do tell her….. She might kick me out” he blinked as a new thought occurred to him.
“It’s getting dark… Could I stay here tonight?” he asked, deciding to put his new plan in action.
“Sure! I have several guest rooms, take your pick” answered Della, standing to clear off the table.
“Here” he said taking the tray from her hands, “let me help”
After a delicious dessert of peach pie, Brian excused himself and found a room in the north wing of the house, it was a small room but it had two large windows on each side of the four-poster bed and a desk and bookshelf on the opposite wall.
Brian flopped on the bed and sighed as he thought about his options, “I guess I’ll do it in the morning” he thought, “if I did it now it would be too suspicious”
But falling asleep with large worries on your mind doesn’t make for the most restful night and the lights twinkled in the caves as he relived once again the terror of the night that had changed three lives and made another sure to end soon.
lindacee 