“Did you buy a car?”
“No, but Dante has one. I’m sure he’d be happy to come and get you.”
“That’s sweet, but we’ll probably just call a cab. I think we’d like to freshen up first and meet your young man when we’re rested and relaxed. Maybe we can all go out to dinner.”
“That sounds good.”
Now she had to prepare the love of her life for the people who thought nothing in her life was out of the ordinary.
* * *
Kizzy called her dad. “I found it! I found the other book!”
“Seriously? Where is it?”
“I’m at Noah’s house in South Boston. He thought it was a book of alchemy, and it is! Unfortunately, without the other book or books, he couldn’t have created gold from the ingredients alone. And we couldn’t perform some of our spells without the ingredients he has listed here.”
“How big is this book?”
“Not as large as ours, but it’s got about 150 recipes. I’m not really able to give you exact numbers, because they didn’t put any on the pages.”
“So, Noah had it. Where did he get it? How do you know you can trust him?”
Kizzy was annoyed her father would even ask that question. But if she bristled at him, he would just figure she was covering something up. “Here, why don’t you ask him yourself?” She hit the speaker button.
“Uh… Hello, sir. This is Noah Fierro. I guess you have a question for me?”
“I have several questions for you, young man. First of all, where did you get that book?”
“I found it in an old bookstore on Cambridge Street.”
Silence met their ears. At last, the elder Dr. Samuels said, “I know the place. I wonder how it got there?”
“I don’t know, sir. Sometimes old books are found at estate sales. It could’ve come from one of those.”
“Yes, that would make sense, if someone had the book and didn’t guard it closely, then died without heirs—or perhaps the relatives had no idea what it was. Either way, he or she should’ve had someone clued in… By the way, how are you feeling about all this?”
“Sir?”
“I assume my daughter told you. We’re not exactly a normal family.”
“Yeah. I understand, and I’m perfectly okay with it.”
“Wow. Just like that?”
“I admit it was a bit of a surprise. But it’s okay. I trust your daughter. In fact, I love your daughter.”
“I see. And if something happens between you two, are you going to tell anyone about us?”
“Absolutely not.”
There was a quiet moment on the other end of the line. Kizzy knew what her father was thinking. Now that Noah knew, breaking them up wouldnotbe a good idea. She was quite happy with that turn of events.
“Guard that book with your life.” Dr. Samuels hadn’t addressed the comment to anyone in particular, but she knew he was speaking to Noah.
“I will. It may not have been passed down to me, but Kizzy has let me in on some of the secrets it might hold, and I recognize the importance of it.”
“Not everyone is as lucky as we are, Dad,” Kizzy said. “There are three of us. And someday, there may be more. Each generation has someone to pass it down to, usually.”
