If only I could make myself relax, then all of my problems would be solved. I’d easily conquer this mission, win the boss’s favor, and win my bet with Silas. Instead, I was in the middle of nowhere, stuck competing against my worst enemy with a handicap I didn’t understand.
“The less you think about it, the easier it becomes,” Ambrose said.
I heard a whisper and some movement on the other end of the line. Someone else was with Ambrose, likely my mom.
“If you could take some time away from your stressors, a leave of absence from—” Ambrose started.
“Nope,” I cut him off. “If you’re going to preach my mother’s wishes at me, I’m going to call someone else next time I need guidance.” For good measure, I added,“IfI were to need guidance.”
“Wait,” he said. “Sure, she’s worried about you, because she’s your mother, and because you jumped right back into work without taking even a moment for yourself first.”
What did they expect me to do? Return from the dead and wallow in my mother’s treehouse while I should be out in the world making a difference?
“It’s an important job,” I said. “The stakes couldn’t be higher.”
“You need a way to cope,” he said. “To calm yourself and maintain control. I like deep breathing, though time has been the most helpful to me. Control protects us. It saves us. Some fates are worse than death.”
Worse than death? Like being both dead and not, my consciousness trapped in crystal for seventy years, unable to escape—yeah, I knew a thing or two about terrible fates.
“Let me—” Mom said in the background. Scuffling sounds ensued. She said into the phone, “Lily, hi. Are you all right? Where are you?”
I sighed, and turned my head up to the sky. “I’m in Roldaria. You should be able to see my location on your cellular telephone application, remember?”
“I’ll have to ask one of the girls for help,” she said. “I’d ask Fernando, but he’s been out on one of his adventures again. Who knows when he’ll roll back up looking for snack cakes.”
Fernando wasn’t around? Strange. I could have sworn I’d seen him here, when I’d passed out last night. But of course that was crazy. He’d have no way to get here. He was likely hanging around one of Mom’s coven sisters, either the baker or the chef. Fernando always did love a good meal.
“I’m glad you’re available,” I told Mom. “There’s something I need to ask you. Do you remember a man named Cornelius Kurnbottom?”
“Hmm, no, that doesn’t ring any bells.”
“He runs a museum here in Roldaria. I have this vivid memory of a man when I was little, coming to the shop, arguing with you about…something. I’m not sure. But I could swear it’s him.”
“Well, a lot of people have come through the shop over the years.”
“Not a lot of people have the nerve to argue withyou.”
She was quiet a moment. “Let me think on it.”
“All right,” I said. “I should go. I love you.”
“Be safe.”
“You, too,” I told her, though we both knew neither of us would be. “Tell Ambrose that if I hear your words coming from him again, he’s getting a toy train for Christmas.”
“I can hear you,” he said, because apparently they were treating this like a conference and using the speaker. “They don’t bother me anymore. You’ll have to work on a better threat.”
I shook my head. Something tickled my wrist. The feather that had been attached to me glided slowly toward the ground. I picked it up and admired the gorgeous orange-red hue. I said, “I’ll do that.”
CHAPTER 11
As I walked through the door of the hostel, a thought niggled at the back of my brain. There was something about my mother’s reaction to the Cornelius Kurnbottom situation that left a sour taste. It wasn’t that she was holding something back…it was that she didn’t know the name after I’d been certain she would. Perhaps if she could see his face, she would recognize him.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Imogen appeared from around the corner and smashed me in a violent hug.
I patted her on the back with as much reassurance as I could offer while wanting to pull away.
“I was so worried,” she said, almost letting me go, but still gripping my upper arms in her hands. “When I woke up and you weren’t here, I feared maybe you went back to the castle and the sheep got you. I even walked halfway there before one of them spotted me. I wished I had the courage to go the rest of the way, instead of running back here. I was working on mustering my bravest inner warrior when you showed up.”