Chapter 41
Ollie parked his ladybug in front of the bakery, eyeing the building.
It was medium-sized and built of light beige brick, with a brown roof.
Written in curving pink letters on a dark-brown sign above the striped light and dark pink awning that stretched the width of the building, were the words Yeasty Risings.
Underneath the awning, on either side of the centered, brown-paned glass door, were large display windows illuminated by warm light and filled with bread and a few other baked goods.
“Are you sure we are in the right place? A bakery isn’t exactly known for selling herbs separate from the baked goods,” Jahla asked as they got out and headed for the door.
Ollie knew this was the place. Mainly as he had googled Yeasty Risings and shown it to Red to make sure it was in fact where he was supposed to go.
“Red said that most apothecaries front as something else to keep hunters away. Which, I mean, makes sense, as a bakery is far less suspicious than, say, a crystal or New Age shop.”
She hummed. “I can see your point.”
A bell chimed when they opened the door of the bakery and entered, Ollie’s stomach growling as he was hit in the face with the delicious smell of fresh bread.
The floors were tiled in pink, and the walls were wood-panelled.
He licked his lips as he eyed the rows of dark wooden shelves filled with prepackaged fresh baked goods and loaves, with cute pink signs scattered all around.
At the back was a pink counter with wood paneling, the wall behind it dominated by a large display of fresh, unwrapped bread in glass cases, seemingly built around two double doors.
A woman stood behind the counter near a baby-pink cash register, looking down as she was writing something on a piece of paper.
“Okay, new plan. Get the stuff we need, and buy some bread,” he said as his stomach rumbled again.
His friend snorted. “Speaking of…what exactly do we need? And where or how are we supposed to get it?”
They were all good questions. He mostly knew the answer to how and what, but not…
where it was. Ollie frowned and looked around again.
That was when he noticed that, while there had been a large display window to the right of the door, the shopfront only occupied the space to the left side of it.
While some may assume that side held the kitchen, knowing why they were there, he could only assume it was much more than that.
With that mystery solved, he tugged the small folded list from the front belly pocket of his overalls and showed it to her.
“I have it all written down. Can’t say I understand how at least one of the ingredients is even real, but it’s on there.
Oh, and my cat added the burner, small cauldron, mortar and pestle, and three glass bottles to the list himself, believe it or not.
He just blew on the paper and they appeared. ”
It had been cool, yet for some reason it felt like a party trick or something.
“And the where and how?”
“I’m pretty sure whatever we need is hidden on the right side of the building, but as Red told me to just ask for Tabitha, I’m guessing we won’t be grabbing any of it ourselves.”
She stared for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion, before asking, “No last name, just Tabitha?”
“Yep!” Ollie shrugged. “To the counter.”
Walking towards the counter, he examined the woman standing behind it as she continued to write.
His heart admittedly started to race with both excitement and nerves at the idea that he might be about to meet another witch.
The woman was tall, with long blonde hair pulled into a braid, and appeared to be near his age, with an oval-shaped face, a sharp pointed nose, and heart-shaped lips.
Perched on her nose was a set of baby-pink framed glasses, and she was wearing jean overalls, along with a white and pink striped long-sleeved shirt.
While he knew he should have a mountain-high number of questions going through his mind, at the moment, he had nothing. Just pure nada—empty space.
The woman looked up as they reached the counter and let out a soft gasp. Her bright-blue eyes seemed to widen in shock as she stared at him, before a look of sadness quickly joined in.
“Um…hi?” Ollie said hesitantly. “I’m Ollie Cross, would you happen t-to be Tabitha?”
“You’re Amelia’s son.” A bright, blinding, yet slightly watery smile stretched across her face. “You look just like her.”
“You knew my mom?!” Ollie blurted. “Can you—”
“No.” He flinched as she cut him off, the word so sharp and final.
The harshness of the single word was softened only slightly as she sent him a clearly apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry. I’m sure you have many, many questions for me, but I’m afraid I can’t answer a single one of them.
All I can say is that you will know what you need to know when the time is right. ”
Jahla scoffed beside him. “That is some bullshit. Like, how is him floundering so much better than just outright telling him what he needs to know?!”
“Jahla—”
“Don’t Jahla me. You’re thinking it too.”
He was, but they still needed to buy things from her, and it wasn’t like she owed him anything, let alone an explanation for all the shit being hidden from him. So maybe insulting her wasn’t the way to go.
Tabitha let out a soft laugh. “Ah, you young ones, always so impatient. Rude or not, I will say, it’s not a bad thing to have someone by your side who is willing to speak up for you. Now, while I can’t answer your questions, I can fulfill whatever is on that list in your hand.”
Ollie smiled hesitantly and handed it over when she held her hand out.
She glanced down at it, her smile dropping as she read, before looking back up sharply.
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable giving you what you need, considering I know exactly what this creates.
There are some dangers that one should avoid until ready. ”
“My, um…cat didn’t seem to be worried?” Ollie explained slowly, as he didn’t know what else to say. In his mind, as long as Red didn’t seem worried, then he figured things would be fine.
She stared for a moment before sighing and saying, “I’ll be right back.” Then she disappeared through the double doors behind the counter.
He glanced over when he felt eyes on him, wincing at finding Jahla’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “Yes?”
“How dangerous is this cluster ghost?”
Ah…that was the question. “I mean, if you are asking if it can hurt me, the answer is…yes. As for how much and how dangerous, we don’t exactly know. But it should be fine, as long as I don’t let it touch me.”
“And being the unathletic individual that you are, how exactly do you intend to stay away from it?”
“I’m not that out of shape,” he huffed. “Besides, Noble will be with me.”
Jahla opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, but if you get hurt, I’m hiding a book.”
“What book?”
She smirked evilly. “That is the question, isn’t it?”
Ollie sputtered, “S-stop threatening my books!”
“I will when you stop putting yourself in danger,” his friend chimed.
Ugh, he supposed Jahla hiding one was better than her previous threat of burning…
but still!? He started to argue more, but stopped when Tabitha returned.
In her hands was a boxed double burner, and stacked on top of it was a grocery-sized paper bag and a small cauldron, with another smaller paper bag sitting inside it.
Setting the things on the counter, she said, “That will be two hundred even. I’m sorry about the price, but unfortunately, some ingredients have become harder to get lately, and others were always difficult to begin with. Though, being a Cross, I imagine money isn’t an issue for you.”
“Not really.” Ollie smiled and shrugged, before remembering something. “Oh! I almost forgot, I want bread too. A loaf of Italian, one of white, and lastly, one of honey wheat.” He looked at Jahla. “Do you want anything, my treat?”
His friend pursed her lips, glancing towards the display for a moment before saying, “One Italian, and a loaf of honey wheat as well.”
Tabitha nodded before she quickly grabbed and bagged the loaves for them. After typing into the cash register, she said, “New total is two hundred and twenty-nine dollars and fifty cents.”
He quickly paid while Jahla picked up the potion-related things. Then he grabbed their two bags of bread, grateful that Tabitha had separated their orders, before they both turned to leave.
But as they were walking away, Tabitha called out, “Worry not, my young friends, you both will get the answers you need when the time is right. Some will come sooner than others. Stay safe!”
He frowned when Jahla stiffened oddly beside him at her words.
Jahla ignored Ollie’s stares as they got things settled in the car, doing her best to take slow, even breaths while her heart beat out of control.
“Something wrong?” Ollie asked after buckling his seatbelt.
She faked a smile. “No, nothing at all.”
Her friend stared for a moment longer before he nodded and pulled out of their parking spot, starting the drive back to the library.
Jahla tried not to feel bad about not being completely honest. But it wasn’t like she had lied. It was nothing, because she was not a witch. Who knew what Tabitha was talking about. The woman was obviously suspicious anyway, with how secretive she was being.
And like, Jahla didn’t have any questions that needed answering. Just…weird dreams…that sometimes seemed to come true—fuck! She was sounding more and more like Ollie in denial with each new day.
But like, she wasn’t a witch!? She couldn’t be! Witches had grimoires. She didn’t have one, so the conclusion was that she obviously wasn’t one.
Jahla glanced at Ollie, hesitating before covertly asking, “You weren’t a witch before you found your grimoire, right?”
Her friend’s head tilted slightly. “I…I suppose I had to be, right? I mean, I still saw plenty of ghosts before it first showed itself to me. Or rather, when Red led me to it. But then, I also don’t know when it first appeared or came into existence.
Like, did it show up when I was born, or around the time my magic should have woken up but didn’t?
Really, the only thing I know for certain is that it waited for me for a long time, and is very pissed off about it. Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I was just curious about the order of events.”
Curious as to how fucked she possibly was…ugh…