Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

The afternoon sun was warm on my back as we stepped out of the portal and into a narrow alley between two quaint buildings. One had the delicious aroma of baked goods wafting from it, while the other exuded a scent of chamomile and mint. I took a deep breath, glad we didn't have to hitch a ride with the devil this time.

"Okay, Moonbeam Cove," Jessie said, brushing off her skirt as she led the way. "This place has a shop that might help us with the glass shard."

Robbie followed close behind me, ducking under a low-hanging sign as we emerged from the alley. "I can't believe places like this exist," he said .

"Right?" I said.

People approached us on the sidewalk. Three women with big hats and tiny statures. Like, under four-feet-tall tiny. As one of them glanced up at me, her eyes flashed like a gem for the briefest moment before they hurried past me.

"There are probably a lot of magical beings here, huh?"

Jessie laughed. "You have no idea."

Across the road, a big man exited a shop. He was so large he had to duck down and squeeze out the door. I looked away, but then caught sight of a very furry body from the corner of my eye. When I glanced back at him, there was no fur. He was just a normal-looking guy, even if he was a bit large.

"Do magical creatures have ways of hiding what they are from the world?"

Jessie waved my question away with her hand. "Of course. We haven’t all survived this long without having a few tricks up our sleeves."

"I want to meet a bigfoot," Robbie said, nonchalantly.

"I want to meet the Loch Ness monster," I added .

Jessie laughed at both of us. "We all have to have goals."

I found the fact that she didn’t tell either of us whether the creatures were real or not suspicious. I’d have to ask her about them some other time. For now, the mysterious bottle had to be our focus.

Jessie guided us down the cobblestone street, past a series of storefronts that seemed to buzz with an energy all their own. It was quiet, the kind of slow-paced atmosphere that made you want to saunter rather than walk.

Jessie's stomach grumbled loud enough for all of us to hear. "How about we grab something to eat before finding the shop?" she suggested, eyeing the Moonbeam Cafe and Bakery with a look that bordered on longing.

"Food does sound good," Robbie agreed, and I wasn't about to argue with my stomach either.

The cafe was a cozy little thing, the air inside thick with the smell of cinnamon and sugar. We found ourselves drawn to the glass case displaying an array of cookies, each labeled with quaint, whimsical names.

"Try the Giggle Snickerdoodles," the woman behind the counter said with a wink. "They're today's special."

"Enchanted?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Guaranteed to lighten your mood," she assured us.

I exchanged a glance with Jessie and Robbie, and we shrugged in unison—why not? We each grabbed one of the sugary treats and settled at a small table by the window.

The effect was almost immediate. After the first bite, a warm sensation bubbled up from my belly, spreading through my limbs until I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Soon, all three of us were laughing over nothing at all, the cookie's magic making our previous worries miles away.

"Okay, that's better," I said between giggles, brushing crumbs from my lap. "What's next?"

"Let's check out some shops," Jessie said, still chuckling.

"Great idea. I want to get something for Tilly and Simon," I said as we left the cafe, still riding the high from the enchanted cookies .

Two stores down, we stumbled upon a tiny pet boutique with a sign that read "Whisker Wonders." A bell jingled as we entered, and I quickly spotted something very cool—an enchanted toy designed for indoor cats. The shopkeeper, a friendly woman with a cat-patterned apron, explained how it worked.

"Place this in your room, and it'll create a virtual outdoor space for your cats to explore."

"Perfect." I pictured Tilly and Simon's delighted faces as they 'ventured' outside without leaving the safety of our room. It was a little pricey but seeing them happy was worth every penny.

"Anything else?" Robbie asked as we left the store, my new purchase in tow.

"Nope, I think we're set," I replied, tucking the toy into my bag.

We made our way down the street. There was a place where you could fix your carriage. Another one called "Pest Be Gone," which had a number of creepy-looking rubber critters hanging from the ceiling, and one called "Love Spell One." We avoided all of those but stopped at a shoe store called " Fabulous Foot Finds."

"Can we stop in?" Jessie asked, as excited as a little kid.

Robbie and I exchanged a smile, and I said, "why not?"

Because, seriously, why not? Yes, we had an investigation, but there was no reason we couldn’t have a little fun in some magical shops. I might be out of my twenties, but I still had plenty of new things to discover in this world.

"Look at these." Jessie pointed to a pair of sleek, midnight-blue shoes. "That tag says you can move like a ghost in these."

"Quiet as a whisper?" I asked, intrigued by the concept. The shopkeeper nodded with a knowing smile.

"Try them on." Robbie grinned with a curious look on his face. "I wish they were in my size."

Slipping off my old sneakers and stepping into the shoes, it was like my feet had found their silent partners. I walked around the small shop, my steps muted against the wooden floor.

"Can't hear a thing," Jessie confirmed with a grin.

"Sold," I said, still marveling at the stealth my new footwear afforded me. We chatted with the shopkeeper for a moment longer before making our way out, my old shoes now tucked away in my bag.

"Next stop, The Enchanted Bottle," Jessie announced as we stepped back onto the cobblestone street.

Moonbeam Cove's charm hadn't faded as the day waned; if anything, the approaching dusk lent an air of mystery to the town. When we reached The Enchanted Bottle, the sight that greeted us was like something out of a dream. Bottles of every shape, size, and color lined the shelves, catching the last rays of sunlight filtering through the windows. The gentle clinking of glass as a breeze slipped through a partly open door was the only sound in the quiet afternoon.

"Wow," Robbie said, taking it all in.

"I feel like I’ve had this dream before," I responded softly.

"It’s definitely magical," Jessie added, hands on her hips.

We inched forward. None of us seeming to want to be the first person to go in. The ship simply felt like the kind of place that would be disturbed by our presence.

"Welcome," a voice called from somewhere deeper within the maze of bottles.

"Thank you," I replied, stepping inside. Dust motes floated lazily in the beams of light, and the scent of old paper and herbs lingered in the air.

"I’ve never seen anything like this," Jessie murmured, her gaze fixated on a bottle shaped like a crescent moon.

"Me neither," I agreed, gently running my fingers along a nearby shelf. Each bottle seemed to hold its own story, its own secret magic.

Jessie nudged me forward. The clinking sound grew fainter as we approached a counter clouded with dust. There, an old woman sat, her eyes milky and unfocused, yet her presence filled the room with a palpable magic.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice threaded with an unspoken power.

Gray hair spilled down her back and shoulders, long and thick. I couldn’t tell if her hair had once been blonde or black, because both colors seemed to be woven in with the gray. She wore jean overalls and a pale-yellow shirt, both of which were well worn. There was just something about her… something I couldn’t pinpoint.

"Hi, yes. We have a shard from a bottle we're hoping to learn more about," Jessie said, her usual buoyancy subdued in the presence of the shop's owner.

"Viviana Ingram," the woman introduced herself without standing up. Then, she pointed to a sign on the wall behind her head that had a price. "My fee is up front."

Robbie fished out some bills from his pocket and placed them on the counter. I followed suit, and then handed over the shard with care. Viviana's fingers danced over the surface, tracing the contours like a map.

"Give me a moment." Viviana pulled a sheet of paper and a pencil from beneath the counter.

We watched, a silent trio, as her hand moved with certainty, lines forming and converging into the shape of a bottle. When she finished, she slid the sketch across the counter toward us. "This is what it looks like."

My jaw dropped. The image was beautiful, full of details and shadowing. It was as if she’d taken a picture of a bottle and ran it through some kind of software. The only problem? It looked like any potion from our classroom. I couldn’t even be sure, looking at it, that the potion had come from our classroom. It was just too common.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about it?" I asked, hopeful.

"Old magic," she replied simply, tapping the paper. "Not harmful." She squinted at it then picked up the shard, her touch gentle as if it might crumble under too much pressure. "It didn't house a harmful or dangerous spell." Her brow furrowed, and I could tell she was searching for more in the glass.

"Nothing else?" Robbie asked, leaning forward with visible hope etched across his face.

"Nothing more I can sense," she replied with a shrug.

"Thank you," Jessie said, not giving away her disappointment. She took the shard back and wrapped it carefully in a piece of cloth and tucked it into my bag, along with carefully folding the picture and putting it in my bag too. There was a knot in my stomach, a mix of frustration and curiosity.

"Come on," Robbie said, nudging me gently as we started walking back through the shelves. "Let's get out of here."

"Come back anytime!" She called after us.

"Thanks," I told her as we headed out the front door.

"Maybe there's something in Ms. Ingow’s notes," Jessie said as we stepped outside. The air of Moonbeam Cove felt dense with unspoken stories.

"Maybe," I echoed, but my mind was already turning over every scrap of information we had. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Okay, it's about time to head back," Jessie said, her voice firm as she pulled the black stone from her pocket. We stood huddled together in the alley where we’d arrived, the quiet of Moonbeam Cove wrapping around us like a thick shawl.

"Back to Rune Academy." Jessie closed her eyes and held the stone out in front of us. The air shimmered for a second before a portal cracked open, its edges sparkling with unknown energies.