The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan

Author:Keith McGowan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780805086683
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Quantum, she thought. Though it couldn’t be.

The manager caught Connie looking.

“What’s in there?” Connie asked.

“Do you really want to know? A failed experiment of mine, so far.” She opened the door and Connie stepped in, the manager right behind her.

A bird cry made Connie look up. There, a thrush walked back and forth on a rafter, looking down, not at Connie or the manager, but at the black cat pacing below it. The cat was smaller than Quantum, Connie decided.

“I’m training that cat to live with this bird, without hunting it. This particular cat, though, has been very stubborn.”

“Isn’t it the cat’s instinct to hunt the bird?” Connie asked.

“People move past their instincts,” the manager said. “You don’t always follow your instincts, do you? You can choose to do what is right instead of just what feels good. Well, animals can too. I admit, though, some individuals are harder to teach than others. But one day I’ll succeed. I have time.”

She glanced out a window and suddenly her expression changed. “For you, though, it’s time to go,” she said.

She opened the door, waved Sol in, and pushed them out a back doorway onto a small landing with bags of pet food and a mop. A stairway led down into darkness. She came very quickly behind them, even though she had to use her cane. She prodded them down. Suddenly they found themselves in a dark room, surrounded by shadowy shapes.

The manager’s figure hovered over them. They could hear her breath. Her hand reached out.

There was a click and a door opened. Light from outside streamed in, making them blink. The manager pushed them out into the back lot.

“Seid vorsichtig, meine Kinder,” she called to them from the doorway. “Be careful, children.”

Closing the door, the manager walked back upstairs to her shop, leaning on her cane and moving slower.

“Ah, I see Swift needs his bath,” she called out, crossing to greet her newest customer, who was just coming in the front door. It was Holaderry and her dog, J. Swift.

Sol and Connie, meanwhile, got back to the spot where Mr. Blink had parked.

The car wasn’t there.

“That’s weird,” Connie said.

They walked up and down the block on both sides of the street.

“I remember exactly where we parked,” Sol said. “It was here, definitely.” He stood next to an empty parking spot.

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