“Oh, she’s thriving!” said Ruby.
“She’s upstairs with Gothel now!” said Martha.
“Shall we stay and take care of our little witch, then, Sisters? She needs us now that she has no one else to care for her. At least until we can see her cook, Mrs. Tiddlebottom, settled in.”
Ruby and Martha exchanged amused glances at the cook’s name.
“Mrs. Tiddlebottom?” The three sisters laughed.
“Yes, her name is Mrs. Tiddlebottom. Contain yourselves.”
“We won’t stay too long, will we, Lucinda?” asked Ruby. “We still have the matter of Circe.”
“Don’t worry, Sisters. We won’t stay long, I promise. I just want to see that Gothel is in good hands. Shall we leave Pflanze here to keep an eye on things?”
Martha looked around to see if anyone was listening, as if Gothel would pop out from behind a curtain. “Do you think Gothel will share the flower with us, Lucinda? Have you seen it anywhere? I’ve searched everywhere.”
“Shhh. I didn’t sense it from overheard, either. Let’s not bother Gothel with that right now. Let’s go upstairs. I assume Gothel is resting?”
“She is! She’s upstairs with Pflanze. Oh, Lucinda, she is in terrible shape. The long sleep has exhausted her,” said Ruby.
“She lost her home, and her companion Jacob,” said Lucinda.
“Not to mention her sisters,” said Martha.
“We will do what we can to help her. We know all too well what it is like to lose a sister,” said Lucinda.
“But we will get Circe back, won’t we, Lucinda?”
“Yes, my dear, one way or another we will get her back.”
“The flowers!” Gothel sat up in bed, panicked. “The flowers? Where are the flowers?”
Lucinda flew into the room. “We’ve found only one flower, Gothel. Only one. Likely the one Jacob had planted here years ago. It seems they did not flourish as Jacob hoped they might, but these are disenchanted lands.”
“But what about my sisters? Where are they?” asked Gothel.
“Jacob thought to put enchanted soil from the city of the dead in their coffins, just enough to keep them preserved. But I’m sorry to say all the flowers that were placed with them in
their coffins have died.”
“How am I going to save my sisters?”
“I’m not sure, my little one. Our main concern has been your health.”
Gothel was still befuddled from her long sleep. She was having a hard time clearing her head and a very hard time communicating. All she could manage was panicked rapid-fire questions as they popped into her head.
“The blood! Where is it? How long have we been here? Who did the unpacking?”
“We did, Gothel. We didn’t want Mrs. Tiddlebottom to come across something that may frighten or confuse her.”
“Who is Mrs. Tiddlebottom?”
“Your new cook, dear. She’s completely trustworthy. We’ve made sure of that.”
“Should I even ask?”
Lucinda laughed. “No, nothing like that. No magical interference, I promise.”