Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
I gasped too and so did Tark because the reaction was swift and immediate. The golden yellow liquid turned into a kind of semi-solid foam and began to expand so fast it shot out of the top of the tube. More and more of it came shooting out—like someone squeezing a tube of toothpaste as fast as they could.
It was like some kind of chemical reaction, I couldn’t help thinking. Only I guessed it was a magical reaction in this case.
“Goodness!” Goodie Albright exclaimed and then she said a word I couldn’t understand—though I felt like I should be able to for some reason—and made a hand gesture. At once, all the glowing stuff that had grown from my blood disappeared and the test tube where it had been was suddenly empty.
“What the fuck was all that?” Tark growled, raising his eyebrows.
“That was proof that your new friend has plenty of magic in her blood,” Goodie Albright said briskly. “I hope you didn’t spill the tea—did you?”
Tark hadn’t. He handed us our cups and I took a sip and sighed with pleasure. It had a sweet cinnamon flavor and the warm liquid running down my throat was soothing and delicious.
“So I really do have magic?” I said, after taking another sip. “If that’s true, how come it’s never come out before?”
“Magic works in mysterious ways,” Goodie Albright said, smiling. “Some witches don’t discover they have magic until they’re well into their later years. You’re lucky my dear—you found yours earlier than that.”
“But what good does it do me if I don’t know how to use it?” I asked. “I don’t even know how to get back home again.”
“Oh, that’s easy enough. Here.” She unpinned a broach from the lapel of her robe and handed it to me. I took it and examined it. It was shaped like a tiny silver key, about an inch long, with diamond chips imbedded in the head of it.
“I can’t take this!” I protested. “It looks really valuable.”
“Then just consider it a loan,” Goodie Albright told me. “As long as you’re wearing it, all you have to do in order to get back and forth between Hidden Hollow and the Human Realm is just draw a door in the air with your finger. The door will become solid and lead you back to the place you want to be.”
“Really?” I looked down at the tiny key cupped in my hand in surprise.
“Really,” she asserted. “And I hope you’ll be a frequent visitor, my dear. If you keep coming back, you should eventually find out what kind of magic you have.”
“Madam Healer said she thought maybe Harmony’s magic was like hers,” Tark offered. He had already drunk two cups of tea and was pouring himself a third. The china teacup looked like a toy from a child’s tea set in his big hand.
“She did, did she? And what caused her to think that, I wonder?” Goodie Albright gave me an appraising look.
“I’m not sure,” I said but Tark had an answer.
“Harmony wouldn’t drink the healing potion until she knew what was in it,” he said. “So Madam Healer explained and Harmony understood her.”
He gave me an appreciative glance that made me blush.
“Well, I mean I am studying to be a pharmacist,” I mumbled, feeling shy. “It wasn’t that hard to understand.”
“On the contrary, my dear, magical chemistry or alchemy as some call it, is an extremely difficult discipline to master,” Goodie Albright said.
“I thought alchemy was turning a base metal like lead into gold,” I said, frowning.
She waved a hand.
“Yes, that’s what it used to mean, back in the Dark Ages. But now it’s come to mean the same thing as chemistry does in the Human Realm. And as I said, it’s not easy to learn. So you may have an aptitude there.”
“How would I find out if I do?” I asked, intrigued.
“Well the person in town who knows the most about it is obviously Madam Healer,” she said, taking another sip of her tea. “She doesn’t just heal people—she also brews most of her own potions. I’d recommend you come back to town and make an appointment to talk to her.”
I liked the idea of speaking more with the snake-lady doctor. She’d been frightening at first, but after getting to know her a little, I could tell she was a very good doctor and an excellent teacher as well.
“Do you think she’d be willing to talk to me? Maybe even teach me a little?” I asked.
“Of course she would!” Goodie Albright exclaimed. “And just so you know, I’ve heard she’s still looking for an apprentice.”
“Oh, but I’m not looking for a job,” I protested. “I’m kind of stuck in the job I have now. In the, uh, Human Realm.”
“Ah, that’s a great pity.” Goody Albright sighed and shook her head. “You have so much magic in your blood, my dear—you shouldn’t waste it on the humans.”