The Storm Prince by Natasha Hastings

Author:Natasha Hastings [Hastings, Natasha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2026-01-09T17:30:00+00:00

As much as Thomasina longed to fly again, as well as hunt for more Wild Magic, there was still too much to do at Burgess & Hawke’s to allow her and Anne to get away.

The very next morning, when Thomasina opened her window, she was alarmed to find a long queue of customers snaking from the front door down the whole length of Homerton Avenue, and only trailing off round the corner. A babble of excitable voices rose up and, peering out gingerly at everybody,Thomasina caught scraps of conversation.

‘Those girls in there can perform miracles!’

‘And Cressida said her hand was entirely cured—’

‘… better than any surgeon could have done, I’m sure!’

‘I don’t want to open the shop today,’ Anne said at breakfast. ‘There’s just –’ she broke off in a yawn – ‘far too much to do.’

Thomasina nodded, reaching for the list of potions they’d been asked to make. Although they had helped eighty-seven people, there were still another ninety-four names on the list. And goodness knows how many more there’d be by the end of the day, with such a long queue waiting outside the shop!

‘We might have to close up after ten customers,’ she said hopelessly. ‘There’s just no way we’re going to be able to make any headway through this.’ She held up the list to Anne.

‘But all those people have come wanting our help,’ Anne said, biting her lip and rubbing her forehead in exhaustion. ‘Some might have travelled miles, from outside London. We can’t let them down.’

‘Goodness gracious me,’ Miss Maplethorpe said, opening the door to the workroom. ‘Have you seen that rabble outside?’

‘We won’t be able to give them all the time they need,’ Thomasina said.

‘How about this: I’ll go outside and work my way along the queue, taking the orders and adding names to the list if needs be, and you two can get on in here with making the tonics and sweets for them?’ Miss Maplethorpe said. ‘That way, you won’t even need to open the shop.’

‘An excellent idea, Miss Maplethorpe,’ Anne said. ‘And make sure you let them know we don’t guarantee to cure their ailment. We want our sweets and tonics to be soothing and helpful, but we can’t cure everything.’

Miss Maplethorpe frowned. ‘They won’t like that, Anne,’ she said.

‘We’ve got orders coming out of our ears,’ Thomasina protested weakly. ‘We barely have time to keep the shop running!’

Miss Maplethorpe’s face softened. ‘There, there, my dears. You’re both run ragged,’ she said fondly. ‘You’ve taken on too much, the pair of you. Opening a shop in the middle of London is tough enough as it is, without all those new recipes and concoctions you’re making together. No wonder Burgess & Hawke’s is as popular as it is – I don’t know anyone who works as hard as you two!’

Thomasina felt herself blush with shame as Miss Maplethorpe gave them a sympathetic smile. Because of course their faithful friend didn’t know what the pair of them were really doing – using

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