“Personally, I think that it would be a curse to hear what’s going on inside people’s silly heads,” Komal laughs. “People are dull enough when they speak with their mouths. Imagine having to endure their thoughts. I’d rather poke out my eye with a rusty spoon.”
“She doesn’t read minds, Komal. Have you even been listening? She has visions of the future. And all I can do is mix a few measly herbs together and bake a decent cheese fondue.”
“Your teasarespecial,” Mina reassures her friend. “And your cheese fondue is literalmagic?—”
I wish I had friends who made cheese fondue …
Six weeks. I’m only going to be here for six weeks, and then I’ll never see these strange ladies again. Why would I?—
I clear my throat.
The three girls whip their heads back toward me. My heart thunders in my chest. “Hi again, sorry for interrupting. I’m new to the village. My name is Winnie. I’m going to be working up at Black Crag Castle. I wondered if you could help me find something to read?”
The blind girl beams. “Sure, Winnie. I’m Mina Wilde, purveyor of books. These are my friends, Komal and Isis.” The two girls wave. “What do you like to read?”
Komal beams at me and I feel as though I’ve been kicked by a unicorn. And Isis sounds like the name of a village medicine woman, which is exactly what she looks like, right down to her wide emerald eyes and the clanking crystal necklaces hanging around her neck.
“True crime, psychological thrillers, anything with a bit of murder,” I say. “And … um … romance.”
I admit it. I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic. I used to devour one or two romance novels a week – give me all the burly mountain men, clever professors with kinky proclivities, spoiled billionaires, wild motorcycle gangs or sexy vampires, as long as the hero isbroody, grumpy and possessive, with a schlong that has to be checked as oversized baggage on aeroplanes, I’m in.
I’ve been in a reading slump ever since the whole Patrick/Claire thing, but maybe this kooky bookshop can change that. And I can return the paperbacks after I’ve read them for the secondhand section.
“We love romance novels, too. Especially the smutty kind.” Mina gestures to the shelf behind her desk. “You’ll find all the new releases here, and another shelf of favourites in the room opposite. We even have a book club that meets here at the bookshop once a week?—”
“It’s notjusta book club,” Isis pipes up. “It’s the Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven.”
“The … what?”
Komal laughs. “No one could agree on whether we were meeting to read smutty books, do a bit of amateur sleuthing, or investigate strange supernatural goings-on in Argleton. So we decided to be all three.”
“We just say the Nevermore Coven for short,” Isis adds.
Nothing they’re saying makes sense to me. “What do you mean by strange goings-on?”
“You’re working at Black Crag Castle?” Komal tightens her ponytail.
“I am.”
The three women nod sagely.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Isis claps her hands together, jangling the crystal bracelets around her wrists. “Black Crag Castle and its owner, the mysterious Lord Valerian, are at the centre of some of the strange goings-on in Argleton.”
I want to ask more, but the shop bell tinkles as a busload of tourists crowd through the door, exclaiming over the perfectly quaint interior. The redhead looks at her phone. “I’d better go. Spell the Tea is probably swamped already, too. Dora will kill me if she has to help them pick out healing crystals on her own. See you ladies on Wednesday!”
She winks at me as she hurries past, disappearing in a cloud of patchouli.
“And I’d better get to yoga class. Beth will be pissed if the only Indian girl is late. It makes her look like she’s culturallyappropriating. I’ll see you on Wednesday, Mina. A pleasure to meet you, Winnie.” Komal bounces off, her gym bag slapping her thigh.
“See you both on Wednesday!” Mina calls after them as she swipes books off her desk and shoos the raven off her till. “We host the Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven meeting every Wednesday night here in the shop, 7 pm till late. It’s mostly local girls about our age. Would you like to join us?”
I can’t help but grin back. I might only be here for six weeks, but it would be nice to make some new friends. “I’d love to.”
“Great. Then I’d better help you pick out some smutty books! We can’t send you to Black Crag Castle without a lifeline. Working for Lord Valerian will be … interesting.”
Worry stabs at my stomach. “How so?”
“He’s a bit of a recluse, hardly ever leaves his castle. I’ve met him once, and he’s …” Mina shrugs. “It’s hard to explain. You’ll just have to wait and meet him yourself.”
