Chapter 4 Danni
DANNI
The wind gusted around me again and I shivered and pulled my bathrobe tight around me. I looked up and down the street, wondering if anyone had noticed my strange entrance or the fact that a magical door had appeared and then disappeared almost as quickly right in the middle of the town.
At first I didn’t see anyone…but then the door to the grocery store opened and out stepped a woman with large, bat-like wings attached to her back.
I frowned—what the hell? Was that some kind of a costume?
She saw me watching her and gave a friendly nod before continuing down the street. Okay, well… it was getting close to Halloween. Maybe they liked to celebrate early here.
My theory seemed to be confirmed as another door opened and a man with a very large, realistic looking bull head mask came out.
I supposed he was dressed as a Minotaur, though I swore I’d never seen such a life-like costume before.
He was even drinking a cup of what looked like hot chocolate with whipped cream on top.
When he got some of the fluffy whipped cream on his upper lip, a long, realistic-looking tongue curled out of his mouth and swiped it off. Wow.
Not knowing where else to go, I headed towards the end of the street.
The guy dressed as a Minotaur had come out of the shop called “The Lost Lamb” and the smell of caramel, which I had noticed earlier, had gotten stronger when he did.
Maybe they were some kind of bakery. If so, I could buy something and casually ask some questions to find out where I was.
But did I have any money? I felt in the pockets of my robe and found a crumpled five along with the envelope and the piece of paper with the door drawing directions.
It was going to be awkward walking around in public in nothing but my ratty nightshirt and bathrobe and slippers, but I didn’t really have a choice. I tightened the belt of my robe and headed for The Lost Lamb.
A small bell jingled as I stepped inside, and I was instantly surrounded by delicious smells. Caramel…vanilla…and the sweet, warm aroma of hot chocolate all teased my nose. I was relieved to feel the toasty warmth inside the little shop.
It seemed I was the only customer. There was a glass case filled with goodies and to my surprise, some of them were super-sized.
I saw cinnamon rolls as big as hubcaps sitting right beside regular sized ones.
A row down, I saw a cupcake as big as a real cake.
But it was obvious by the cupcake paper and the way the top was decorated that it actually was a super-sized cupcake.
Weird. There were also Frisbee-sized chocolate chip cookies next to normal-sized ones and some almond croissants as big as my head.
I was just about to ring the little silver bell on the counter beside the old-fashioned looking cash register when a man dressed in an extremely realistic demon looking outfit came out.
He had reddish makeup on and two curving horns coming out of his forehead.
Also, his golden eyes appeared to glow. I wondered how in the world he’d managed that. Special contacts, maybe?
“Oh, hello—how can I help you?” he asked in a deep, pleasant voice.
“Oh, um…hi.” I waved weakly. He was extremely handsome and I was reminded all over again that I was a middle-aged, overweight woman dressed in a bathrobe and slippers and not exactly looking my best.
“Can I help you?” he asked again, frowning a little.
“I’d like a hot chocolate,” I blurted, hoping it didn’t cost more than five dollars. I only had that in my pocket because it was change from a delivery I’d ordered a few days back.
“Coming right up!” The handsome devil smiled at me. “You must be new here—I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“Yes, I am. Very new.” I nodded and then tried to think of how I could ask where the town was without sounding crazy. Nothing immediately came to mind so I just stood there mutely, watching as he poured out a thick, creamy-looking hot chocolate.
“Whipped cream?” he asked. “Most of our human customers love it.”
Human customers? He really was taking his Halloween costume seriously!
“Er, sure.” I nodded. “Whipped cream sounds great.”
“All right.” He sprayed a mountain of whipped cream onto the top of the cup and then stepped to the cash register. “That’s one silver please.”
As he spoke, he worked the register with his hands. But as he did, a perfectly formed, forked tail wrapped around the hot chocolate cup and raised it towards me.
I stared in surprise. How had he gotten a fake tail to act so realistic? I followed it to see if it was really attached to him and it really did seem to be sticking out of the backside of his trousers, just above his muscular buttocks. What the hell?
“That’s one silver, please,” the devil guy repeated.
“Uh…” I was still mesmerized by his tail as I pulled out the crumpled five and held it out to him.
“I’m sorry—we don’t take human money at The Lost Lamb anymore.” The tail sat the cup of hot chocolate down on the counter.
“Human money?” I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
The devil guy sighed and shook his head. Then he turned and yelled towards the back of the shop,
“Celia, sweetheart? I think we have another one. Can you come help?”
A woman wearing an apron covered in flour came bustling out from the back. She looked to be around my age and she had bright blue eyes and golden-brown hair tied up in a neat bun at the back of her neck.
“What did you say?” she asked the devil guy, but then she caught a look at me. “Oh dear—are you new here, hon?” she asked.
“Um, yes.” I nodded. “I’m sorry I look like this,” I added. “I know this sounds crazy but I was in my house alone a minute ago.”
The woman raised an eyebrow.
“Let me guess—a magical door appeared, and you walked through it and found yourself here?”
“Yes!” I stared at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
“Because it’s been happening more and more frequently around here.” She dusted the flour off her hands and reached across the counter to shake with me. “Hi, I’m Celia—the owner of The Lost Lamb. And this is my Heartmate, Malik.”
“Oh, um, nice to meet you.” I shook her hand, feeling bewildered. “Uh, can you tell me where I am?”
“This is Hidden Hollow,” Celia told me. “It’s a magical town set in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and—”
But just then the door jingled again and two of the strangest looking people I’d ever seen came in.
One of them was a centaur—an honest-to-God centaur.
I couldn’t fool myself into thinking it was a costume.
The lower half of her—because yes, it was a woman—was a real horse.
Her tail swished back and forth as she clomped into the bakery.
She had long, chestnut hair, the same color as her horse half’s flanks and she was wearing a loose-fitting top that barely covered her large breasts.
Flying right beside the lady centaur was a tiny woman no bigger than my hand.
She had iridescent wings on her back that were fluttering so rapidly they looked like a rainbow blur.
She and the centaur were having a discussion just as if they were old friends or possibly work colleagues…
which I guessed they probably were. If this really was a magical town, why shouldn’t centaurs and fairies work together?
“So I think the speaker made some valid points,” the flying fairy woman said in a high, piping voice. “The variants in the spell are doubtless going to have a huge effect on the magical outcome.”
“I don’t know,” the centaur lady said, frowning. “I think magical intent is more important in these instances.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed, looking at them. “What the hell is going on here? Where is this place?”
“I believe my beautiful Heartmate told you that this is Hidden Hollow,” the devil guy—who I now realized was probably not wearing a costume—said helpfully.
“No, no, Malik—she’s not actually asking where we are. She’s in shock!”
Celia bustled out from behind the counter and took me by the arm. She grabbed the hot chocolate and shoved it into my hands as she pulled me back towards the door.
“Look, I’m really sorry I can’t explain everything to you right now, but there’s a big convention in town,” she told me. “I think one of their lectures just let out so we’re about to be swamped.”
As she spoke, more fairy-tale creatures started pouring into the bakery. There was another Minotaur and then I saw a huge, green, muscular guy with tusks growing out of his bottom teeth. Was that an Orc?
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “Is this real? How can this be?”
Celia sighed and shook her head.
“Yes, it’s real. No, you’re not dreaming,” she recited rapidly. Behind her, a line was forming and her demon husband was beginning to take orders as fast as he could.
“But…but…”
“The person you need to talk to is Goody Albright at the Red Lion Inn,” she told me.
“I’m really sorry—I would take you over there but Sarah went out for a minute and I can’t leave Malik to deal with this crowd alone.
So just go to the Red Lion and ask for Goody A.
You can’t miss it.” She ushered me out the door, which now had a line standing outside, and pointed up the street.
“I’m sure I’ll see you later,” she added. “Hot chocolate’s on the house.”
Then she hurried back inside, leaving me to stare after her with the hot chocolate clutched in my hand.
What the hell was I going to do?