Chapter 31
Sabrina stood at the sink and took her first sip of coffee, staring out through the window into her small backyard. Someday, she’d like to put a little brick patio out there. A place to have a grill, maybe a little table.
She could see it in her head. Strings of lights casting a warm glow. Trip rolling around in the grass. She and Gideon sharing a meal. She sighed happily.
Yes, he was a super grump, but that wasn’t so bad. And when he wasn’t grumpy, he was something special. She smiled and took another sip of coffee, thinking about how she’d confessed her feelings to him last night.
He hadn’t pulled away, so that was something. When she’d put her hand to his cheek, she’d again felt that inexplicable call, the urging of her curse to fix him.
Could she? Honestly, she didn’t know. But her curse had yet to steer her to anything that couldn’t be fixed, which had to mean there was something she could do for him.
She narrowed her eyes, the caffeine kicking in. She had given new life to more things than she could count, so maybe her curse wasn’t such a curse. Except that her guest room, stacked full of broken things and unusable for anything else right now, seemed to prove otherwise.
If she could have thrown those things away, she would have. But that way led to madness.
She knew. She’d tried it once. She’d felt compelled to buy a small wooden box at a garage sale.
The hinges were rusty, and it wouldn’t close all the way.
She’d put off fixing it for so long that she’d gotten angry at herself and decided to toss it out.
As soon as it was in the trash, she’d rolled the can to the curb and put it out of her mind.
Or at least, she’d tried to. Immediately, a pit had opened in her stomach. A dark, sinking feeling that refused to go away. She’d ignored it. Until the sound of the approaching garbage truck created a panic in her.
She’d gone cold and shaky. Her curse gnawed at her insides, filled her head with terrible thoughts and an overwhelming guilt that shoved her to the edge of sanity.
She’d rushed to the curb, knocked the can over, and dug through the trash to rescue the box. When the truck arrived, she was sitting in her driveway, clutching the box, and crying.
Even thinking about it now created a little tangle of worry in her belly.
She blew out a breath. That would not happen to her again. It was much, much easier just to listen to her curse.
She went back to her bedroom to get ready for the day, passing the couch on her way. Trip and Korrie were snoozing together. Trip was on his side, and Korrie was next to him, using Trip’s flank as his pillow.
She chuckled softly at the scene and continued on. She set her cup on the nightstand, sat on the bed, and picked up her phone to send Julia a message.
Anything new on the spellcasting front?
Yes. Not awake. Need coffee.
Sabrina smiled. You can fill me in when you get to the shop.
Julia sent back a thumbs-up emoji.
Sabrina finished getting ready, had breakfast, made Korrie a piece of toast with cinnamon and honey, then got him and Trip loaded into the car.
She was going in early again, with the same hopes for a few sales and the chance to get more work done. Business had definitely picked up since she put the ad in the Vale Messenger, enough so that she planned to call the paper and renew the ad for another week.
Once she got Trip and Korrie set up in the back room, she did a quick inspection of the shop like she usually did. Everything was in good order. She unlocked the door, turned the sign around, and swept up the front half of the shop where some leaves had blown in.
With that done, she went to the back to have a look at the work she’d done yesterday on the music box.
Korrie flew over. “Looks very good to me.”
“Thanks.” She saw flaws, but then who didn’t pick their own work apart? “You want a project today?”
He nodded eagerly. “Yes. What can I do?”
She looked around, trying to decide what would keep him busy the longest. She had a good-size box with the parts and pieces of a smashed-up nativity set in it. With Christmas coming, it would be great to get that fixed and on display. “I have just the thing.”
She found the box on one of the shelves and carried it to the table. “This is a nativity scene that fell off a shelf. It’s all broken. Do you know what a nativity scene is?”
“I do.”
“Great. You have to make sure all the pieces are matched up correctly. You can’t put parts of a shepherd and a wise man together and think that’s good enough. And I don’t want any half-sheep, half-camels, either.”
He grinned. “So don’t have any fun, basically.”
She laughed. “Correct. No fun.”
He rolled his eyes but went to work.
She left him to it and went back to her own workspace where the music box’s housing awaited her.
She examined the work she’d done yesterday.
The face of the sheep in the first scene wasn’t quite right, and the grass in the second scene had dried to a shade of green that wasn’t a great match.
If she could get both of those things repainted and dried, she might be able to start the gilding this afternoon.
In between, she could talk to Gideon and see if the two of them putting their heads together could come up with a backup plan to return Korrie to the box.
Although maybe Julia would arrive with the news that her spell was ready to go.
Then getting Korrie back into the box wouldn’t even be necessary.
Except if that was true, Julia would have told Sabrina that this morning, even without coffee.
Sabrina was already anticipating Julia’s news wasn’t going to be great. She got her paints and brushes out. Just like the day before, a customer came in before she could get started. She went out to greet them and found Gideon standing by the register.
She smiled. “Good morning.”
His expression stayed dour. “Good morning. I’ve finished the motor. The bird is fully operational. Or it should be. I need the key from you to test it.”
She let out a happy gasp. “That’s amazing. Can I come see it? I have the key with me.”
He gave a short nod, his frown apparently permanent. “Have you finished the housing?”
“No, but I’m close. Should be done by tomorrow afternoon. Early evening at the latest.” She didn’t want to say today in case that didn’t happen. She also wanted to be sure the paint and new gilding had plenty of time to dry and set up.
Another nod. He turned to leave. She followed him back to his shop. The motor was sitting on a velvet pad near the register. The brass gleamed, and the little bird on top seemed brighter for it.
“Looks great,” she said.
With a soft grunt of acknowledgement, he nodded. “There was one gear I couldn’t save. The corrosion was too bad, but I was able to replace it with one I already had. Only took a little fine-tuning. Anyway, this music box should work for years to come now.”
“That’s amazing. Thank you so much. Can I hear it?”
“It needs the key.” He glanced at her. “You said you have it.”
“I do.” She tugged the chain free from beneath her top and took it off. She handed it to him.
He pinched the key between his thumb and forefinger, then slotted it into the small mechanics and wound it.
When he removed the key, the bird opened its beak, stretched its wings, and began to sing.
Sabrina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “That’s beautiful. It sounds like a real bird.”
Gideon nodded. “Bontems was known for the lifelike songs of his birds. It’s one of the things that made his automatons so popular.”
“Incredible.” She smiled at Gideon, filled with admiration for his talent. “You did an amazing job. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
A customer came in. Gideon picked up the motor and tucked it beneath the counter. “Can I help you?”
The man nodded. “I understand you repair watches. I have one that just stopped working. Not sure what’s going on. Can you have a look at it?”
“Does it need a battery?”
“I doubt it.” The man smiled as he pulled the watch from his pocket. “It’s an old Longines automatic.”
“Probably needs a cleaning,” Gideon said.
The man held the watch out. “All right. What do you think that will cost?”
Gideon shook his head. “I’m not taking on any new jobs at this time.”
“Oh.” The man kept the watch in his hand but lowered it to his side. “When will you be available for new work again?”
Gideon’s gaze flicked in Sabrina’s direction, then lowered to the counter between them. “I won’t be. I’m … closing my shop.”