Henry was wonderful, but now that things were beginning to sink in a little, Luna had the feeling it’d be good to have the company of someone who was in the same boat as she was – assuming, of course, that this unicorn’s mate was also a human, and not, say, a mermaid or a siren or some other kind of mythical being.
“Who’s your mate?” she blurted out, too eager to stop and think. “Do they live here in the town?”
Strawberry Man – Luna really had to find out his name – looked surprised for a moment, but then he smiled. “I’d sayyou’ve probably already met. Her name’s Sylvie. The owner of this bakery.”
Luna nearly gasped in her surprise, but Henry just ran a hand over his face in evident self-frustration. “Of course. A unicorn’s not about to give its finest produce to just anybody.”
The man laughed. “Well, Idolike to help out other people around the town as well with their plants and food in general. But in terms of actually using my powers to make food taste better, I save that all for Sylvie. Not that she actually needs my help to make her cakes taste amazing.”
Luna could definitely believe that! The amount of skill and love in each and every cake, tart, and treat was self-evident. But… the ingredients were also flavor-enhanced by the touch of a strawberry-toting unicorn?
You know what, I think I’ve had enough revelations for one day. I’m not going to question anything anymore. I’m just going to go with the flow.
Also, I can’t keep calling him ‘Strawberry Man’ in my head. I’ll definitely end up saying it out loud, and I won’t even be able to blame it on the curse.
… I cannotbelieve I am under a magical curse.
“By the way, I’m Luna,” she blurted out. “This is Henry.”
The unicorn man laughed. “And I’m Gale. Sorry about that – my manners went right out the window.”
“Well, I could’ve introduced myself as well,” Luna said truthfully, trying not to let her relief at finally having a name for him show.
“Just how many shifters do you have here, anyway?” Henry asked. “I already met one yesterday.”
Gale looked surprised. “Oh, you met Kieran? I thought he was doing some work in the next town over yesterday.”
“Kieran?” Now it was Henry’s turn to look confused. “No, I met Caleb. The dragon.”
“Excuse me –dragon?!”
Possibly Luna’s contribution to the conversation wasn’t the most helpful, and maybe this didn’t count as going with the flow, but…DRAGON?!?!
But also…
“Hang on… Kieran?” she blurted. “Natasha’s husband? Natasha who runs the B&B I’m staying at?” She was aware that her jaw was dropping, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. “Are you saying that Natasha’s husband is a shifter, too? Is there anyone here whoisn’ta shifter?!”
Gale at least had the good grace to look a little sheepish. “No, it’s just the three of us. Well, four now, I guess. And yeah, Kieran turns into a griffin.”
Luna silently mouthed the word ‘griffin’ to herself, while Henry musingly said, “Well, that explains the weathervane at the B&B,” like it was the most normal thing in the world.
They’ve got a whole menagerie going out here!
It seemed like as good a time as any to scoop up Fillmore for a cuddle. His weird little face was the most normal thing in the world at this point.
“You know,” Gale said. “If you’ve got a curse you’re trying to break, maybe eight heads are better than two. If you don’t have any plans tonight, maybe we should all catch up and try to work this out? It’s been at least five minutes since the last time we had to break a curse around here – people are starting to get restless.” His smile indicated a kind of private joke. There seemed to be a lot of that going on in Girdwood Springs, but at least now Luna was starting to understand why.
She supposed that shehadwanted a town with a secret! She’d just never expected it to be quite likethis.
“Are you sure?” Henry asked, blinking as if he was surprised. “You don’t even know us. I definitely wouldn’t want to put anyone to any trouble.”
Gale waved his free hand. “Not at all. Honestly, the people here in Girdwood Springs have been good to me. When I came here, I was having problems of my own – but now I can’t imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else, so I should repay the karma by helping others out where I can… and, I’ve got to say, I’m curious.” He paused to think for a moment. “Caleb’s mate Kira works from a ranger’s hut in the woods – that might be a good out-of-the-way place to test out a curse.”
Henry nodded. “I know how to find it – Caleb mentioned it to me.”
“That sounds like a plan, then,” Gale said. “We can all meet up there after the festival has finished for the day, since most of us will be working. Try not to get intotoomuch trouble in the meantime!”
“I’ll do my best,” Luna promised. Hopefully there would be no more disasters, no matter how small! But she thought she could deal with them, knowing that there were people who could help her out.
