Chapter 20
Twenty
For the first time in forever, Mira found herself humming while she was getting dressed. It was finally the weekend, the weather was getting ever warmer so she could finally wear one of her nice summer dresses, and downstairs in her kitchen, a picnic basket was waiting.
This was part of why she was excited to wear a nice dress again, something she hadn’t found an occasion for since she had moved here.
Shortly, she was supposed to meet up with Yoni, and they would go on their usual walk to the spring.
This time, though Mira had taken care to get Yoni’s favourites from Matteo, and presently, she was attempting to make herself look as presentable as she possibly could for a walk in the woods.
“Hm.” She pursed her lips, studying her mirror image critically as she swapped out the braided belt for a leather one. “You are prettier. But you-” She adjusted the leather across her waist. “-look better with the boots.”
Leather belt it was, then, because for all her vanity, she could not in good conscience make her way to the spring in sandals. She refused to embarrass herself so thoroughly on what may well be her first real date with Yoni.
Of course, neither of them had called it that, and Mira would not say those words out loud.
They had agreed to take things slow, and just see where time would take them.
Still, now that they were both aware, she wanted to make a good impression.
Which admittedly included venturing into the forest with freshly washed hair, but she was allowed a little bit of foolishness in the name of impressing a woman, wasn’t she.
So maybe she was just a tiny minute or two late when she finally made it to the spot past the empty house behind hers, where the path diverged from the road and Yoni was waiting.
Mira paused ever so briefly when she saw her, before she realised what had thrown her off.
Yoni was wearing her hair down. She couldn’t recall ever seeing her like that before.
Granted, she had still tied it back with a wide band, but the style suited her.
It went well with the leisurely trousers and the soft fabric of her shirt, both of which Mira had also never seen on her.
She wasn’t even wearing her usual apron, and not a speck of dirt on her hands or face.
Maybe they had both put in a little more effort today.
“Hey.” Mira adjusted her grip on the basket, suddenly glad that she was carrying it. Would a hug be too forward? With her picnic basket as a shield, she didn’t have to test that. “You look nice today.” She gestured at the headband. “That colour brings out your eyes.”
There was the tiniest delay before Yoni replied. “Thank you.” Another pause. “You’re wearing a dress into the woods?”
A little self-conscious, Mira tugged on her skirt. “Well, it’s not a difficult trail, and it’s getting warmer. And besides, I wanted to dress up a little.”
“For me?”
The incredulous tone made Mira laugh. “Of course for you. Mostly. I also like the dress, and I haven’t had a chance to wear it since I got here.
” She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you dressed like that today just because you suddenly, out of the blue, felt like it.
There isn’t even any cat hair on your trousers. ”
Yoni pointedly looked away and refused to acknowledge the comment. “We should get going, so we get to the spring in time for lunch.”
Despite that, they kept a leisurely pace, one that allowed for a pleasant, slow conversation.
Contrary to what Mira had feared, there was no trace of the awkwardness of the conversation in the greenhouse.
It was rather like being back at the inn, talking about whatever came to mind.
Gardening. The books they were reading. A pie recipe Yoni had been trying out, and failing at rather miserably.
Baking, according to her, was a mystery devised to torment humans.
“Matteo seems to manage just fine,” Mira pointed out, “and so does Clara.”
“Yes,” Yoni replied primly, “they have glimpsed some sort of cosmic truth, I’m sure.”
“It’s a pie.”
Yoni rolled her eyes. “It is witchcraft.”
Mira chuckled. “One of my aunts always says that you can be a gifted cook or a gifted baker, but most people aren’t both. Maybe she’s right about that.”
“Now, you did mention Matteo…”
Mira sighed dramatically. “Some people do get all the talents, and it just isn’t fair.”
“Like writing stories and writing poetry?”
Now it was Mira who huffed and pursed her lips. “I thought I demonstrated that I do not, in fact, have both of those talents.”
“Some might disagree,” Yoni replied lightly. “Perhaps you should try again, just to be sure. A poem about cats maybe, I’m sure it would be very popular next Talent Night.”
“I am not doing that again!”
Yoni clicked her tongue. “And disappoint poor Cassia?”
“I only promised the one!”
“Does she know that?”
“Don’t you dare bring that up with her!” Mira tried to suppress a grin. “I’ll let her know you said you’d perform it with me. A duet, if you will.”
In an instant, Yoni looked properly frightened. “You cannot do that to me! Fine, not a word to Cassia, you devious witch.”
Mira nudged her with her shoulder. “As you wish, my lady.”
By the time Mira began to feel a little peckish, they were getting close to the spring. That was about the time she heard the voices up ahead. A few moments later, two people came around a bend in the path ahead – a woman with a pinched expression, and a man with red hair.
They stopped talking the moment they saw Mira and Yoni.
If Mira hadn’t known better, she would’ve said they looked spooked.
The pairs passed each other on the trail with curt nods, and the unmistakeable clinking of glass from the man’s battered messenger bag.
He grabbed it a little tighter as he shimmied past Mira with a mumbled ‘scuse me’ and hurried along the path, followed by the woman who threw an odd glance over her shoulder before they disappeared down the path.
Yoni stared after them with something approaching disdain. “What is the matter with tourists these days?”
“Must be in a hurry to get home,” Mira replied.
What she didn’t say was that she wasn’t at all sure that these people were tourists anymore.
Why they were here instead, she had no idea, but it didn’t seem like they were sightseeing; not multiple times on several different weekends at least. Though she didn’t want to spoil her time with Yoni with speculation. She plastered a smile on her face.
“That means we have the spring to ourselves though.”
Amusement crept back into Yoni’s tone. “Are you planning anything uncouth?”
“Uncouth? Me?” Mira pressed a hand to her chest. “Such unfounded accusations!” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Only when I’m sure that nobody is watching.”
“You-” Yoni sputtered. “Not in the woods! There are so many bugs here, do you know how unpleasant that is?”
That piqued Mira’s curiosity. “Is that experience talking?”
“I-” This time, even Yoni’s strong tan couldn’t hide it – she was blushing fiercely. “How about we discuss that some other time? I’m hungry, and we’re almost at the spring.”
That they were. When they got there, the clearing lay in the midday sun.
The flowers dotting the grass, fresh pink, yellow, and white, looked like candies strewn about, though the smell was one of heavy soil and fresh greens instead of vanilla and sugar.
With the birdsong in the air and the gentlest of breezes rustling in the canopy, it was as close to a perfect day as Mira had experienced since she had moved to Emberglen.
She stopped at the edge of the clearing to take a deep breath, eyes tightly closed to feel the sun on her skin more clearly.
“I should’ve come here so much sooner.”
Yoni laughed. “You can come here any time you want now, plenty of time to enjoy the place.”
“Mhmm.” Mira opened her eyes again. “I want to sit by the water, it’s the nicest spot.”
However, as they crossed the clearing, Yoni’s face fell. Mira, being somewhat more vertically challenged, took a moment longer to see what Yoni saw, and realise why.
“The water’s so low.”
They stared down into the pool, and down it was now.
The waterline had dipped even further, drying out the shore and leaving white lines and dried algae behind.
It looked like almost half the water was gone from the pool, even though the trickle that came through the rocks seemed to be as strong as it had been last time.
“It shouldn’t be like that,” Yoni said. “It rained so much Thursday night.”
“It’s been pretty dry in the weeks before that though,” Mira replied. “Might be it needs time to refill.”
“Maybe.” Yoni took a deep breath. “Maybe we should… sit somewhere else.”
“Yeah. That oak tree’s nice, too.”
So that was where they spread the faded old picnic blanket that Yoni had brought.
They sat down and began to unpack their downright decadent meal.
There were the two kinds of pastries Mira had brought, along with fresh pickings from her garden.
She’d also picked up fresh bread the day before, and had brought along a jar of Kian’s orchard honey to go with it.
Yoni’s contribution was a modest nut mix, a chocolate bar that was beginning to melt a little, and a generous flask of sweetened tea that smelled of herbs from her greenhouse. She studied the selection.
“If I had known you were going to bring that much, I would’ve put in a little more effort.”
“I said I’d get the food, so don’t worry about it.” Mira pointed at the pastries. “Savoury and sweet. I got cheese and bacon, and the strawberry ones.”
“My favourites.” There was a tiny waver in Yoni’s voice, but her smile was bright. “Thank you.”
“I had to, you know?” Mira tried to lighten the mood a little. “If I want to impress someone, I can’t just put in minimum effort.”
“Impress me, huh.” Yoni sounded thoughtful. “It’s been a while since someone tried that.”
Mira peered at her. “Is it working?”
Yoni pretended to be thinking very hard for a moment, tapping her chin with her finger. “I think that depends on how many of those strawberry pastries I can have…”
Mira laughed and pushed the plate closer to Yoni. “However many you want.”
All of them, she thought, as long as you keep coming here with me.