“You can’t leave me in here!” Maggie screams when she realizes I intend to walk out while she’s still in the cage. “This is illegal! This is torture! You can’t—”
“You’re not as loud as Doris, so this is actually an upgrade. Let me know when you’re ready for real talk.”
The walk is pleasant enough despite the rain. All the flowers outside are soaking up the water, bursting with color. The trees are beginning to turn, pops of orange and yellow and red flashing among the lush green. As I pass by Marla’s, I look through the window and see people I’ve met, laughing and eating as an older woman in an apron hurries around with cast-iron skillets full of steaming scrambles. I almost want to splash in a puddle, it’s all so homey. The inn is bustling, thanks to a bachelorette party, and Nathan is happy to make me a mocha. My five dollars also gets me a biscuit, and I realize that this is a wonderful system.
Then I realize that I wasn’t necessarily invited into this system.
“Is this okay?” I ask Nick. “Am I taking someone else’s biscuit?”
“You’re one of us now. We’ll always have a biscuit for you, girl,” Nathan assures me as he brings out my drink in a to-go cup. He winks at me. “Have fun talking to Hunter today.”
For a minute, I’m shocked that he knows my business, but then I remember—Nathan himself made my business quite public last night when he set up the appointment.
“If I don’t like his quote, is Cisco really just as good?”
“Honey, you’re going to like his quote just fine. He truly is a gift. And not just visually.”
I blush as I head back to my place—somehow, with Abraham gone, it really does feel likemyplace. I’m the only one left to run it. At least no one is standing at the door to the video store, waiting for me to open up. I probably need to make a sign to let folks know we’re closed and under construction. And that makes me think of fonts, which makes me think of Hunter and flirting with him over fonts.
As soon as I’m back in the apartment, Maggie is screeching at me in true Doris style; I should not have dared her to be more annoying. I sit at the table, just a few feet away from her cage, glad we don’t have any neighbors to hear her caterwauling. The moment I unwrap the biscuit, she stops.
“Nathan’s?”
“Yup.”
“Did you bring me one?”
“Human food is horrible for cockatoos. It’ll make your liver explode. You have your pellets, and I’ll give you fresh fruit and veg each day, plus some nice mealworms. Yummy yummy.”
“But I can still taste biscuits, and Nathan’s are the best.”
“Then tell me about the Blakelys. And why Colonel said you had some enemies—enemies who gave me the stink eye last night.”
I peel off a chunk of biscuit—not too much, because it really is absolutely terrible for her health—and hold it up to the light.
She fluffs up her crest. “I always dreamed my granddaughter would be a sweet and respectful girl.”
“And I was told from the start that you were a stubborn old witch, so here we are.”
After a long pause, she sighs in defeat. “I made a decision. An important decision meant to keep Arcadia Falls safe. To protect this place. Needless to say, some people didn’t agree with it.”
I hold out the crumb of biscuit, and she gently pecks it from my fingers and gobbles it down. “Got any bacon on there?”
I tear off a piece of bacon and consider it. “Okay, next question. What was this altruistic decision of yours that other people didn’t like?”
I dangle the bacon just beyond the cage bars, and she tries to poke her beak through but can’t.
“Well?” I press.
Maggie jerks her head back, turns around, and shows me her tail. Grandmothers, it turns out, are just as fussy as cockatoos. I hate that she’s my only source of information—
Or is she?
I fetch myLittle Websterdictionary, which has been sitting on the bedside table. I haven’t used it since I stood in front of the video store, trying to see past the bleached-out King Ralph stand-up and into a better future, but, well, if my magical grandmother can’t help me, maybe I can skip the grandmother bit and go straight to the magic.
“What was Maggie’s decision that made folks mad?” I say out loud, in case that helps.
I flip through the book and put down a finger.
