“Never apologize for trying,” Kendra said. She accepted the slice while Jack dove into his own portion, shoving enormous bites into his mouth. Kendra took a more reasonable bite. “Acceptable,” she determined. “You will do better next time.”
“Thanks?” At least Calisa hadn’t driven her out of the room yet. That was an improvement. And she knew she could do a better job with baking a cake when she wasn’t distracted by monumental discoveries about the nature of the universe.
Crossing to the teapot, Kendra declared, “I would like sometea.”
Obligingly, the teapot rattled, and steam curled from its spout. And then it rose into the air, tipped forward, and poured fresh tea into a cup.
“Delightful,” Kendra said.
Calisa felt her jaw drop.
Kendra didn’t seem remotely surprised. She merely added salt to her cup and sipped neatly before carrying her tea and slice of cake to her preferred seat, the one with the sea-foam blanket.
Swallowing hard, Calisa watched the teapot float back down onto the tea tray. She was one hundred percent certain she hadn’t imagined it and equally certain that Auntie Zee wouldn’t appreciate it if she freaked out about it in front of a guest. Instead, she looked at Jack and raised both eyebrows.
“The teapot was a gift from a guest,” Jack said, as if that explained it.
She wondered what excuse he’d have tried to make if she’d seen it float before she’d discovered the portals. “Must use impressive batteries.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Calisa saw movement out the window. She turned quickly, hoping to catch the statue inmotion, but instead she saw Melidor, scurrying in between the rosebushes. In her wake, flowers bloomed. “Jack, could you cut me another slice of cake, please? I want to offer it to Melidor.”
After Jack cut another slice, Calisa carried it outside, cradled in a napkin. She smiled, trying to look as friendly as possible, then worried she was smiling too hard and toned it down. By the time she was off the porch, she was certain she looked like a doll with a painted grimace. But she kept walking forward and holding out the cake. “Melidor?”
Melidor jumped up from between a patch of irises and a clump of out-of-control grass. “Fire? Where?”
Calisa halted. “No fire. Just cake.”
Sighing, Melidor squatted back down between the irises until only the top of her very green hair was visible. She murmured wordlessly in a singsong voice.
“I brought you a slice of cake, if you’d like it,” Calisa said, crossing to her, cake outstretched. “It doesn’t look gorgeous, but it tastes good. Vanilla and raspberry.”
“I like raspberry.” Melidor snatched the plate and fork out of Calisa’s hands.
Calisa considered how to tell her that she’d broken into her room without permission, crossed through the portal, and talked with her mother….Yeah, that’s not going to go over well.Maybe she could ease into it. “I wanted to apologize for…before. You know, hurting the plants.” She was fairly certain that Melidor had forgiven her already, but it never hurt to apologize extra. It might work as a good conversation opener. Establish trust and all that.
Melidor waved the fork. “You had to hurt in order to save. It’s like that sometimes.”
“What’s like that sometimes?”
“Life.”
“Ah, yes. I guess it is.”How can I tell her?If she did, chances were good that Melidor would complain to Auntie Zee, and if the innkeeper found out that Calisa had opened those doors and, worse, gone through one…I can’t risk it. Not yet. Not until I understand more of what’s going on.
Melidor crumbled bits of the cake and dropped them onto the dirt between the plants.
“Do you not like it?” Calisa asked. “I can make a different flavor next time.” Assuming Auntie Zee let her stay to make another one.
“I’m sharing.”
“With the plants?”
“With the worms,” Melidor said. She knelt and pressed her cheek against the soil. When she lifted her head, she had dirt clinging to her cheek and dusting her eyelashes. “They’re grateful.”
Normally, Calisa would have walked away slowly after that kind of display, but now she wondered if Melidor actually could talk to worms. “I’ve never talked to a worm. Do they have a lot to say?” She hoped she sounded sincere. Itwastrue; it was just that the words felt ridiculous on her lips.
Melidor looked at her as if she were the absurd one. “They’re worms.”
