‘Cat,’ Bisma said again, looking into Nori’s blue eyes. Her hair was a mess; Mei had done it this morning but Nori had pulled it all out from the two intricate braids. ‘Come on, cuh-cuh-cuh …’
‘Baji, I’m hungry,’ Nori whined, throwing her book to the side.
‘Baji, I’m hungry, too,’ Azalea whined, joining them in the main room with Deeba on her hip. She plopped onto the sofa, lifting her feet up and balancing Deeba on her knees, bouncing her up and down.
‘Higher!’ Deeba cried, the word lispy.
Bisma got up and went to the kitchen to find some snacks. She looked around at the hanging pots of fresh herbs and glass jars overflowing with flowers to the stacks of mismatched plates and delicately painted teacups. Finding some fruit, she sliced and prepared fuzzy pink apricots and smooth green pears, licking the juice from her fingers. She brought the fruit to the table, and they all gathered round.
‘Hey, that’s mine!’ Luna cried, as Azalea swiped a pear slice from her hand and cackled.
Bisma gave her a stern look, and Azalea shut her mouth, though a smirk remained on her face.
‘Baji, my shoes,’ Mei said, coming over sadly with something in her hands.
Bisma set down her sliced apricot and held her hands open for the shoes, which she lifted to find that the fronts were broken through; Mei’s feet were too big for them now and she would need a new pair.
And that meant Bisma would have to go into town. She hadn’t been to town since Eva left. The realization startled her. The pasttwo weeks had passed by in such a blur. It felt like only last night Eva had left them.
‘I’ll go to town and get you a new pair,’ Bisma said, standing. She groaned as her back cracked; she felt she had aged two years in the past two weeks.
There was no time to worry about her decaying bones; she needed to check the coffers to see how much coin they had. While the Unwanted Girls were mostly self-sufficient, they did need money for things they could not easily make, like shoes, or fabric for new clothes, or pans for cooking.
Bisma sold her poisons, and the other girls kept productive with what they could: Azalea sometimes did stitching, Luna would read to a kind elderly woman in town, and Eva used to sell painted pottery.
‘I can go!’ Luna said, brown eyes lighting up like struck matches. She jumped up. ‘I can stop by the bakery, too, and pick up some bread instead of baking a loaf.’
Bisma gave her a look, and Luna’s cheeks reddened with a blush.
‘Real subtle,’ Azalea cackled.
They all knew why Luna was so enthusiastic to go to town, and to the bakery, no less.
‘No, I’ll go,’ Bisma said. She needed a moment out, anyway. Besides, it was a good excuse to take her cart. Bisma was a skilled garden-witch and could grow a number of berries, leaves, and plants, and so she sold potions in town and earned a good bit of coin that way.
There weren’t many witches in Old Town, which helped her business, for it meant the vegetation she grew was not so easily accessible, and the potions she brewed were unique. Magic itself was special to the people of Fairendelle, the kingdom in which they lived, but—luckily for Bisma—it was not so rare as to be feared. In her home, at least, it was a delightful and pleasingrarity; Bisma enjoyed how her sisters squealed in awe whenever she grew a plant from the dirt.
In fact, most magic was not extraordinary; it merely helped people in their trade. There were some witches who excelled at cooking (kitchen-witches); some who were masters of stories (quill-witches); others who were good with animals (shepherd-witches); and so forth.
In the villages of Fairendelle, none were so powerful that it made them significant, though in bigger cities, such as Whitebridge, there were some quite powerful and famous witches, and in Castletown—the crown city—the most powerful witches served the king on a special council.
In Old Town, however, Bisma and the few other witches were not given such respect.
Bisma was struck by the realization that she hadn’t gardened since before Eva left.Good grief.She needed to get back to that. She didn’t have any open orders—she’d delivered all the ones before her birthday—but she needed to go to town to receive more orders to then make more money. As Baji, it was her responsibility to provide for the girls.
Finishing off her apricot, Bisma stood and brushed a stray curl from her face. ‘Alright, I’m going to town,’ she declared, making sure each of the girls heard her. ‘Luna, you can’t come because you are in charge while I’m gone.’
‘What!?’ Azalea groaned, huffing out her full cheeks. ‘Why is Lunaalwaysin charge?’
‘Because I’m the oldest after Bajiandthe most mature,’ Luna replied, lifting her chin. She twirled, her pink dress flaring out.
‘And because we like Lulu better,’ Nori said innocently. She exchanged a mischievous glance with Mei, who laughed. Even Bisma’s lips quirked at that, while Azalea was not the least bit amused.
‘Baji! They’re disrespecting me!’ Azalea said, turning to Bisma with her jaw dropped. Then a hard look entered her brown eyes. She turned back to the younger girls. ‘In six years whenI’mBaji, I’m going to remember this.’
The girls hardly cared. Luna snorted.
‘Baji, I’m coming, too!’ Nori asked, scampering away to grab her little boots. She pulled them on, her hair falling in front of her eyes.
