Page 21 of Of Potions and Honey
They went through the recipe line by line, twice. Neither Mira nor Yoni came up with an answer. At least, not until Yoni, on the third attempt, thought to ask a question.
“What’s in the magnesium powder you’re using?”
Mira looked up from the page. “What?”
“Are you using pure magnesium, or is there something mixed in?”
“Oh.” Good question. She should probably know that. “I think there’s something else in it, let me check.”
Mira hurried to get the container from the cabinet – this time without dropping anything. She turned it to check the label.
“Glykis powder, to bolster the nourishing effect on the plants.”
She returned to Yoni looking faintly amused, which might as well translate to hearty laughter.
“Then that’s your problem.” She pointed at a line near the bottom of the page. “The lavender essence will react with the glykis. That’s what changed the colour. If you’d rather keep it neutral, get pure magnesium powder next time.”
“Oh!” Relief flooded Mira. “So it won’t hurt the potion?”
“Not that I know of,” Yoni said. Mira beamed at her.
“You have no idea how reassuring that is!”
Yoni suddenly seemed guarded. “I suppose. So… Is that all?”
“Yes. No other weirdness going on.” Mira paused as she put down the container with the powder. “Out of curiosity, why did you help me with this?”
Yoni looked puzzled. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Mira shrugged and decided that she probably couldn’t make things worse. “You just seemed… Like maybe you didn’t want to be bothered.”
For a moment, Yoni seemed off-balance, though she quickly caught herself again. “Think of it as self-preservation,” she eventually said. “Your uncle’s fertiliser was the best I’ve ever used. I would like that back. It’s good for business.”
“Oh.” Mira couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by this prosaic explanation. She forced a smile anyway. Maybe some more time would soften up this curmudgeonly neighbour of hers. “Thanks anyway. That has really helped.”
“Mhm.” Yoni took a decisive step back. “If that was all, I need to get going. I was just wondering about the order.”
“Right! Actually, since you spent your time helping me with the least pressing problem possible, do you want to take the rest of the batch? For free, of course. If the pink doesn’t hurt the plants, the rest of it works just fine.” She chuckled sheepishly. “Just ask my primroses.”
“I…” Yoni fell silent for a moment. “Yes. Sure. Then I’ll know at least if I can use it.”
Ouch. That stung. Mira went to grab the remaining bottles off the shelf regardless. Yoni distributed them throughout her enviably large pockets.
“Thank you. I’ll let you know if I need more.”
She turned and left the shop, with Mira hurrying after her. At the foot of the stairs, Yoni stopped for a moment.
“Good luck. With the shop, I mean.”
Stunned by this unexpected expression of positivity, Mira took a moment to answer.
“Thank you!” she called after Yoni, who did not react and simply crossed the street to her own house. Mira watched as she disappeared inside, feeling oddly buoyed by the last half hour. Now she knew what the problem was. She knew that her potion was good enough for someone else to use. And she had another person to add to the precious few who seemingly wanted her to succeed, too. Among everything she’d struggled with since she got here, she had to admit: that felt pretty good.
“That is a lot of bottles.” Harper looked up from the order form. “I take it you’re finally opening the shop?”
“Yep.” Mira tried to sound more sure of herself than the question made her feel. “I have a solid basis, I think. Time to take the plunge.”
If she were to be truthful, no, she absolutely did not feel like she was ready to take the plunge. But she couldn’t keep stalling any longer. Her money was rapidly running out, and the cheque from her last story was the only thing allowing her to be here right now and order another crate of bottles to actually put things in for selling. She couldn’t deny that it was time – sheneeded to get a move on, or else admit defeat, move back to Willow Harbour, and hear about this episode until the end of her days.
