Chapter 35

Yula finally acknowledged Naomi’s presence by turning to her. “Naomi, you can’t be serious about this.” Naomi looked up from where she sat on Tavik’s stomach. She’d been picking her nails while the two women argued.

“I would get serious if I could get some help hauling Tavik’s heavy ass out of here,” she answered.

Agatha nodded and went to grab a leg again. Yula hung back shaking her head. “What have I gotten myself into?”

“Think of it as a grand adventure,” Agatha suggested.

Yula’s mouth narrowed to a thin line, but she retook her place with the other leg. Naomi looked up at them, still sitting on Tavik. “Are we really going now?”
Both women nodded. Naomi heaved herself up and bent to grab Tavik. “You’re both ready?”

They nodded.

“Now I don’t want either of you to stop to argue again,” she said.

The two women looked at each other narrowly.

“I mean it. No one says another word until we’re out of this tunnel.”

“Naomi, let’s go,” Agatha said.

Naomi bent down and heaved up her portion of Tavik. The three women huffed and puffed down the rest of the secret passage without a word passed between them. When they arrived at the end of the passage, Naomi looked around but could not find Mr. Squibbles with any horses. Her brow scrunched as she searched harder in the dark.

“Up here,” called Mr. Squibbles.

Naomi looked up and dropped Tavik again this time out of shock. Floating above them was Agatha’s cottage. The underside of the house faced them, but Naomi couldn’t see anything making the cottage float. There weren’t any balloons or wings.

“What in the world is that?” Yula exclaimed.

“That is my home. You are welcome to come inside,” Agatha said. Thick ropes descended to them. Naomi grabbed one numbly and looked up at the flying house.

“We’re going to the northern plateaus in this?” she asked.

“Do you have a problem with my home?” Agatha asked.

“I have a problem with it floating.”

“Pish posh, it's perfectly safe. Cottages are very buoyant don’t you know.”

“You don’t say,” Yula said in a dazed fashion still gawking at the floating house.

“Are you all coming up or not?” Mr. Squibbles demanded.

“Who is that talking to us?” Yula asked searching the open door and windows for a figure.

“That’s Mr. Squibbles. He’s a mouse and Agatha’s familiar. I hope foul language doesn't offend you.”

“What?”

Agatha tied a rope around Tavik, and Naomi watched him be pulled up to the flying house without any viewable help. The rope she still clasped gave a little tug on her hand.

“Just get a good grip, and the rope will do the rest,” Agatha said. Naomi clasped the rope tightly but nearly let go when it began to pull her up. She white knuckled the rope and squeezed her eyes shut. She expected the house to crash to the ground any moment and her with it.

She scrabbled through the doorframe into the cottage. Tavik lay in the center of the room. Mr. Squibbles peered up at her. “What took you guys so long?” he asked.

“Yula and Agatha stopped to argue in the passage.”

“I have a feeling those two are going to be fun together,” Mr. Squibbles said in an ominous tone. Naomi had an equally foreboding feeling that he was right. When they were all inside, Agatha began battening down the house for flight. It involved closing and locking cabinets and putting anything loose into a crate or bin.

“Has she ever flown this thing as far as the northern plateaus?” Naomi asked Mr. Squibbles.

“No.”

“How far has she ever taken it?”

Mr. Squibbles looked away. “Like I said, she really likes those woods.” Naomi’s foreboding began to give her an ulcer.

“Squibbles, have I forgotten anything?” the witch asked.

“Other than provisions, a proper plan, and a few marbles, I would say no.”

Agatha grinned. “Good, let’s get moving.” She reached up and unlatched a ship’s wheel which swung down in front of her. She peered out the open front door and spun the wheel around one turn. The house swiveled in the air. Naomi suddenly feared she would be sick. Dramamine was something else she missed from home and vodka. She would have given her left arm for a case of vodka. She knew this whole situation would make a lot more sense with some Smirnoff.

“Take a seat, dear. We’ll be flying through the night,” Agatha said.

Naomi looked at their unconscious hostage. “Shouldn’t we tie him up?”

Agatha cast a glance at Tavik and shrugged her shoulders. “If it makes you feel better, go ahead, but he would be a fool to attack me in my own house. A witch’s cottage is her sanctum. I have a lot of spells laid out in this place that would make even the most blood crazed berserker think twice before taking me on.”

Naomi was glad Agatha felt so secure in her own home, but since she did not have any such assurances, Naomi used the rope that brought them up to tie Tavik. By the time she was done, Tavik looked like he’d been mummified with hemp.

Continue to Chapter 36.