Chapter 22 Faye
FAYE
“You aren’t trying your hand at magic, are you?” Lucy teased as she and Faye headed down the street towards the Alchemy she loved how beautifully Foxford was decorated for the annual Autumn festival, and all the cosy jumpers and candlelit nights instead of the fading summer sun trying to cling on in September.
“No, you can keep your grimoires. I’m looking for a couple of cookbooks to give me a fresh perspective – something unique and delicious that will impress the judges at the competition,” she explained, ducking out of the rain shower and into the shop.
Mr Toade greeted them from behind the counter, surrounded by books. “The perfect dynamic duo to brighten my day!”
“Afternoon, Mr Toade,” Lucy and Faye replied in unison.
Faye felt they were back in school during exam season; that was probably the last time they had been here together.
Even after all these years, Mr Toade still looked like he was in his seventies, with his never-changing white beard.
He never wore glasses, but a magnifying glass was always in his hand.
“Ms Hawthorne, would you mind if I spoke to you privately? I have a new text that might need to be secured in the vault,” Mr Toade said quietly, ensuring that the other customers browsing the stacked shelves couldn’t overhear.
“I’d be happy to take a look,” Lucy said, glancing at Faye, who wasn’t sure whether to stay or go.
Without hesitation, Mr Toade pulled a large book from beneath the counter.
“Where was the book sent from?” Lucy asked, frowning as she examined the dark green leather with twine stitching around the edges. Faye, who knew nothing about grimoires, felt it looked menacing. She listened to their discussion with fascination.
“It arrived in the post yesterday,” Mr Toade said, “but there was no return address or note inside. Usually, when I receive texts like this, some information is included. I could tell from some symbols inside that this wasn’t suitable for the shop.”
Lucy took some gloves from her bag and the book from him. The High Priestess was always prepared.
“I don’t recognize the family sigil on the front,” she remarked.
“I’ve never seen the language inside, either. I was going to bring it over, but you beat me to it.”
Lucy carefully opened the front cover, and Faye noticed her friend’s expression darken.
“You see? And the odd thing is…” Mr Toade paused, glancing at Faye.
Faye took the hint. “I’ll start browsing. Take your time.”
“Are you looking for anything I can help with?” he asked as Lucy mouthed a ‘thank you’.
“Cookbooks, old or new – whatever you have.”
“Heidi’s Book Hut might have more commercial books,” Mr Toade commented, his frown pulling his thick grey brows together.
“I’ve already checked, but I want to find something unique – maybe some old forgotten gems I can bring back to life,” Faye explained.
“Try downstairs in the ancient wars and trials section. I think we have some outdated recipe books behind that,” he suggested.
“Great – the first place I’d think to look for cookbooks,” Faye quipped.
Mr Toade chuckled. “I prefer to keep my customers on their toes. You never know what you might find when you can’t find what you’re looking for.”
Faye left them to it and headed down the staircase.
She thought she might put a foot through the rickety stairs, which wasn’t surprising, considering it was one of the oldest shops in town.
The shop specialised in magical texts and histories but also offered fiction and other genres preferred by non-magical folks.
There wasn’t anything Mr Toade didn’t have.
She discovered stacks of recipe books haphazardly piled between volumes on ancient lands and the histories of the forgotten kingdoms. Chaos was the aesthetic of choice here, books stacked from floor to ceiling.
There was barely enough room to navigate without risking a tsunami of them crashing down.
Not wanting to make too many trips into the crowded stacks, Faye gathered whatever she could and placed the pile on a long table near the stairs.
Luckily, it wasn’t exam season, so there was plenty of space to sit and browse without disturbing stressed students.
“Sorry about that. You’ve my undivided attention,” Lucy said, reappearing at the end of the table.
“Was everything okay? Mr Toade seemed troubled.”
“I’m going to take the book back to the vault with me once we’re finished here,” Lucy replied. “I need more time to assess its contents. I haven’t seen the language before, so it’s unfamiliar to me – or the grimoire is protected against outsiders to safeguard its contents.”
“When you saw the symbols on the inner pages of the binding, you looked worried,” Faye said.
“It’s a puzzle, really. The symbols are from a bygone era, and I didn’t think any texts had survived from then.
Even the Vatican Archives, with its vast collection, doesn’t have anything from that period due to the burnings,” Lucy explained, her voice tinged with fascination.
“The appearance of these symbols is a mystery in itself.”
“Were the symbols dangerous?” Faye had never considered how perilous her friend’s job could be.
“I can’t be certain. I won’t know until I’ve thoroughly examined it. It could be a forgery – a clever imitation of a more ancient and valuable grimoire. I’ll need to run some tests on the ink and paper. Someone might have suspected it was a fake and sent it to Mr Toade.”
“Why would they send it to him when they could have just sent it to the library?” Faye asked.
“Toade’s a collector with dozens of connections all over the world. Being a leprechaun, he can also see past protections on grimoires, so they might have thought he could read them,” Lucy reasoned. “I’m just puzzled as to why they didn’t add a note or return address.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Maybe the previous owner just wanted rid of it, and Alchemy & Anarchy was the closest store that accepts such second-hand texts.”
“Maybe.” Lucy shrugged, looking through some of the books Faye had collected. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to give him some answers. I do love a puzzle.”
“I don’t want to keep you if it’s urgent,” Faye offered, settling down at the table.
“No way. If the book is as old as I think it is, it can wait a few more hours,” Lucy assured her, taking some of the books to look through.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” Faye said, happy to have her help. “I made a good start without you, but there are still loads of recipes to go through. Anything that sounds tasty, toss it my way.”
“With the dust on these, we might need some allergy medicine,” Lucy chuckled, opening a hardback that looked like it was about to break apart.
“I’m already ahead of you,” Faye said, pulling a bottle of allergy tablets from her bag and sliding it over to Lucy. Hayfever was her nemesis, and with her love of flowers, allergy medicine was a constant companion.
“I’m so glad we’re able to do this. It’s hard to carve time out between the library and the kitchen,” Lucy said.
“And you still aren’t escaping the books,” Faye chuckled.
“I’m happy to help! Books are my happy place.
Speaking of, I hear Peter’s better in the kitchen than we gave him credit for,” Lucy said.
“Benedict couldn’t believe it when I told him I saw Peter behind the counter.
He was sure his brother didn’t even know what an oven was.
Apparently, he would use magic to cook when he was alive. ”
That was a blatant misuse of magic, but what was done in the privacy of a witch’s home wasn’t a big issue if no one was getting hurt.
“Didn’t you blow up a toaster?” Faye teased, flipping through a book that showed some promise, though she didn’t need to know how to catch and break down a phoenix. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that different from breaking down a chicken.
“That wasn’t my fault. I had Benedict’s fire coursing through my veins,” Lucy said defensively. “Now, what exactly am I looking for? I might be able to translate grimoires, but recipes are gibberish to me.”
“I’m just looking for something… unique. I’ll know it when I see it,” Faye said, getting up to search the small section in the basement dedicated to baking and cooking. Most titles didn’t match what she had in mind, and some even made her feel a bit queasy.
“One Hundred Ways to Poach Reptiles?” Lucy winced at the sight of the crumbling book.
“No.”
“Twenty-Minute One-Cauldron Stews?”
“Nope.”
“From Spell Scraps to Sumptuous Suppers?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Devilishly Delightful Desserts?”
Faye turned round. “Perfect.”
Lucy winced as she scanned the first page. “There’s a content warning that some recipes are poisonous.” She bookmarked a few pages.
“I can substitute the poisonous ingredients with less deadly alternatives,” Faye reasoned, adding the book to their stack.
“Good thinking. We wouldn’t want to kill the judges,” Lucy said, continuing to read through the recipes.
“Only if I lose,” Faye teased.
“Some of these do sound tasty.” Lucy bookmarked a few pages as she went. “It’s not long now to the competition. How are you feeling about it?”
“Less than a month. The days seem to be speeding up. I’m still testing, but hopefully, I’ll find some new ideas here and can decide on my final recipes.
There are two rounds, so I have to make sure each is better than the last. Since chefs get eliminated after each round, I want to make sure I give them something exciting so they want to see what I come up with for the next,” Faye said.
“With Peter helping with the shop, I’ve had much more time to focus on testing.
I feel like I’ve come up with enough new recipes to fill a cookbook, but I haven’t found my showstopper yet. ”
“It must be nice to have the extra hands,” Lucy said, flipping through more texts.