Page 50 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
“And if I put something away,I’ll forget whereawayis half the time,” Melany added.
“I feel that.” I laughed. “Especially when you’re not at home and don’t know all the drawers and closets.”
“Exactly!” Melany plucked the iron teakettle off the wood-burning stove and carried it over to the sink. She swooshed it around once she’d filled it—a weird quirk I also had; like, Iknewthe kettle was full because I’d just watched the faucet fill it, but I still sloshed the water around to double-check.
I smiled. IknewI had good reasons for liking these two.
“If you don’t mind me asking…Pippi, your name’s Pippi, right?”
“Sure is.”
“Thought that was what I heard. You had Sarah singing the Pippi Longstocking theme song last night.”
“I loved that show when I was a kid.” Sarah chuckled.
“But I wanted to make sure it was Pippiand not Pippa,”Melany finished.
“Nope, it’s Pippi. And my mom was a big fan of the show too,” I said to Sarah. “I could sing the theme song with you.” Truthfully, I’d rather never hear that tune again. But I did have every word memorized.
“Don’t tempt her.” Melany opened the wood-burning stove, making sure the big ball of orange flame that blazed without heating the rest of the room (magic) was still going strong before she placed the tea kettle on top. “She’s a horrid singer. You are, love, no offense meant. But thankfully you didn’t need to serenade me to win my heart. As I was saying, you look a bit under the weather, Pippi. Now it’s no judgement, we’ve all been there, but if you’re fighting your way through a hangover, we do have some stuff that’ll help.”
Oh, shoot. Apparently, I hadn’t been doing as good a job at hiding my winces and twitches as I’d hoped. “I’m okay,” I said, even as the healing soles of my feet sent a particularly nasty zap of pain through my entire skeletal structure. “Or Iwillbe okay. We had a bit of anoopslast night and I banged up my ribs and got a few nicks and scrapes.”
“Oh dear,” Melany said.
“Did you go to the clinic?” Sarah lowered herself onto the couch and motioned for me to sit.
I sat, grateful to be off my poor, throbbing feet. “Yes, and that’s probably why I look”—I waved my hand in front of my face—“however I look.”
“Pallid,” Sarah said.
“Pinched,” Melany supplied.
“Goodness. That bad, huh? And here I was trying to go for pretty and placid. But anyway, the clinic made the pain worse.”
“Ah, they gave you a tonic.” Sarah nodded. “Wretched, that is. I was fortunate, orunfortunate, enough to have one six years ago…or was it seven?” She looked to Melany.
“I believe it was ten, love.” Melany crossed the room and plopped into the rocking chair.
“It’s not beenthatlong,” Sarah huffed.
“You were still in your forties.”
“Was I? Ah, but it doesn’t matter much though. We were in Seattle and this Sorcerer teleported right on top of me—knocked me into oncoming traffic.”
“Oh no!” I whispered.
“It washorrific.”Melany shuddered.
“Broke my leg in three places,” Sarah continued.
“And your collarbone,” Melany said.
“Andmy collarbone. I had a wicked concussion too. Would’ve taken me monthsto get back on my feet after that. But because there were witnesses to the Sorcerer having caused the accident, he had to cover my care. So I got to see a Sorcerer healer. Was back on my feet within a day, but I remember the pain of the tonic.” She pursed her lips. “It’sawful. Worth it, sure. Saves ya a lot of hassle and headache as opposed to doing it the Standie way. But I’m surprised you’re up and about if you were given a tonic this morning.”
I shrugged. “If I stayed in bed, I’d just be thinking about how miserable I feel. Y’know?” How bold of me to ask that last question whenIdidn’t even know.
But Sarah and Melany both hummed at my statement, as though agreeing.
