Page 36 of Ella and the Enchanted Bookshop

He didn’t answer immediately, and I could hear another voice on his side of the phone. A moment later, he sighed. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. But listen, don’t go home until Margaret says you’re ready. Even if that witch comes back.”

It was the first time someone had ever called my stepmother a witch out loud, but I wasn’t about to correct him.

“Do you need anything?” he asked, his words hurried now. “Anything I can send?”

“I’ve got Margaret here, so I don’t think she’d let you send anything even if you wanted to. I’m already drowning in tea, toast, and her own special tonic. Any more generosity, might just be more than I can handle.” I laughed, but it turned into a cough.

“Fair enough,” he said. “But I’m serious. Listen to her. She’ll take care of you. She always took care of me.”

I decided to ask her about that later as I hung up. But she wasn’t in the room at the moment, and I was tired from the call. So instead, I looked curiously around the room for the tenth time that day.

The second Margaret had told me the house I was in belonged to her, the room had made absolute sense. There were books shoved into every corner–old books with cloth and leather covers. And yet, it didn’t look cluttered or overly full, just cozy and warm. There were a number of pictures on the wall as well. Most of them were fantastical scenes involving magical creatures from familiar fairy tales. These were my favorite to look at because if I looked away and then back quickly enough, I could have sworn some of the characters moved.

Still, as I improved, I began to dread returning to my own home. Because I was rather sure that when all of this was over, a storm was about to break.

But maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing, I thought as I sipped the cinnamon chai tea Margaret had brought me. I’d already decided that something had to give. I just hadn’t been able to decide how to go about doing it. Maybe I needed an event like this to catapult me into the next phase of my life–a phase that wasn’t dictated by my stepmother.

I had two major hurdles to figure out, though, before I cut myself free completely. The first was Nevada. She’d been my horse since I was twelve, when I’d helped my father with her delivery in the barn. Casey had threatened to keep her, and I had no doubt that she would. There had to be a way to get my horse out of my stepmother’s hands and safely into mine.

The second problem was the other horses. Sure, Derrick was taking care of them now. But what would Casey do when I left? Would she hire Derrick full time and give him free rein? I doubted it. While she was perfectly capable of doing anything she wanted with the horses, whether that be grooming, healing, or teaching, she didn’t like to get her hands dirty. And yet, despite not wanting to get into the nitty gritty of life with horses, she wanted to feel like she had total and complete control of everything that went on at the ranch.

Even when she didn’t.

But Casey wasn’t all-knowing. Nor was she all-powerful. So I would just have to keep praying and brainstorming ways to break free from her grip. Because I would break free. And so would my horse.

18

Old Books & Earl Gray Tea

While I didn’t love being sick, Margaret’s house was by far the most relaxing place I’d been since my parents had died. Margaret not only brought me tea and soup that never grew cold, but she made sure I had as many books as my heart could desire. And as she’d been helping me pick books since I was just old enough to toddle into her store, her picks were always spot on. I’d always loved reading, but it had been years since I’d had the chance to lose myself completely in a book without worrying what time it was or what chores had to be done.

And it was marvelous.

Asher texted a few times to ask how I was, but wherever he was at, he was so busy he barely had time for a few sentences a day. Belle, however, came to check on me before and after her shift. Even Jaelyne tried to sneak in, but Margaret kindly kept her at a distance so she wouldn’t catch whatever I had.

“What about you?” I teased Margaret once, hoping she wouldn’t hear the anxiety in my voice. “You don’t seem worried about catching anything.”

Margaret scoffed. “As though a virus would dare infect me.”

Even more amazing was that Margaret’s special fairy tale book had appeared on my bed the day after I arrived. And it had a new addition to the story.

The illustration had a girl in a beautiful gown.

Knowing she would need something suitable to wear to the king’s ball, the girl searched through the old wardrobes of her house until she found an old but elegant gown. She took great care to clean, alter, and embellish the gown until its silk shone once more, and she knew she was ready for the ball.

I’d almost forgotten about my new costume. But even more delightful than the addition to the book itself was the realization that I had been able to influence the story. My action had moved the plot forward. This was a welcome discovery, and I couldn’t wait to get better and to see in what other ways I could push toward the end.

Not that I knew what happened at the end of my story. But I did know that the one being told in the book had a happy ending. And I wanted a happy ending too.

Unfortunately, Casey did eventually return, which did not constitute a happy ending. But she didn’t come to Margaret’s house until she’d been back in Buchkarte at least twenty-four hours.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” she told Margaret in a stilted voice as she looked me up and down. I was sitting up in my bed with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. “She looks very comfortable.”

“She wasn’t when she was brought here,” Margaret said in an equally cold manner. “Poor girl had lost consciousness in the barn.”

Casey pursed her lips. “What do you think, Ella? Do you think you lost consciousness, or that you fell asleep? Because when I checked the security cameras, it looked to me like you took yourself over to the hay pile and laid down.”

“Because I couldn’t stand any more,” I said, unwilling to let Casey unnerve me.