Chapter 49

Dinner that night was spaghetti with meatballs, one of Naomi’s favorites. Too bad she felt too guilty to enjoy it.

“What do you mean you’re moving away and can’t say where? How will we reach you?”

Naomi winced and hunched her shoulders. “It’s not like you could call me anyway. There aren’t any phones.”

“What?!”

She winced again. “It’s a real rustic place. The phone companies haven’t gotten there yet.” The idea of the Verizon guy walking by Agatha’s cabin asking ‘Can you hear me now?’ while Umbreks stalked him in the shadows gave Naomi a moment of amusement before her father brought her crashing back to reality.

“I can’t believe you’re just going to move to some grass hut to be with a guy you’ve known for less than a month. What are you thinking?”

Naomi glanced at the two other family members sitting at the table. Her mother was being supportive while Bobby looked like he wanted popcorn.

“Dear, I think Naomi is willing to sacrifice so much because she loves this man.”
“Are you engaged?” he demanded.

Naomi shook her head. Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“Knocked up?”

“Harold!”

“Dad!”

“Well?” her father persisted.

“No,” Naomi said and pushed a meatball around on her plate.

“Then what’s the rush?”

“He needs me. He’s in a difficult situation, and he misses me.”

Naomi’s mother face softened at the last reason, but her father still looked upset by the whole situation. “Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing is all one big mistake? You’re going to ruin your life.”

Naomi’s back stiffened. “Tavik needs me, Dad, and I want to help him. I know going there is a major risk, but I want to do it. I want to be with him.”
Her father turned his head to his plate and moved his food around. “I don’t want to lose my little girl.”

“Harold, you’re not losing her. You’re letting her go.” Naomi’s father grimaced and swirled his food.

“Have you decided what to do with your apartment?” Bobby asked.

Naomi sat back in surprise with the new mundane consideration. She hadn’t really thought about it. She should box everything up and see if anyone wanted it. She looked over at her brother’s face and saw the solution sitting across from her. “Can you afford it?”

Bobby wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he nodded. “A couple of guys and I could totally handle it. It’s two bedrooms right?” Naomi nodded.

“Will you be taking many clothes?” her mother asked.

Naomi shook her head.

“I could give them to the women’s shelter. They’ll be put to good use.”

Naomi nodded. Leaving shouldn’t be this simple, should it?

“What about your job?” her father asked.

“I’ll give immediate notice tomorrow.”

“Not even two weeks?”

“No.”

Naomi’s father shook his head. “Bad business. You won’t get an excellent reference that way.”

“I won’t need it. Tavik has a job for me,” though she didn’t want to tell her parents that her job title was Lady Alyssa.

“What about a place to stay? Do you have a grass hut to sleep in?”

Naomi smiled wryly and pictured the castle. “Yeah, it’s a pretty nice place.”

“When will you be leaving?” her mother asked.

Naomi thought about it for a few moments. She had everything she needed and stuff was pretty well taken care of. She shouldn’t prolong the inevitable. She steeled herself and answered, “In two days.”

Everyone blinked at her.

“So soon?” her mother asked. Her voice wavered. Naomi nodded again. She twisted her hands in her lap. Her father shoveled more food into his mouth, probably to stop himself from commenting.

“Are you sure, sis?” Bobby asked.

Naomi’s eyebrow arched. “It’s time for me to grow up,” she said. Bobby stared at her slack jawed with his words thrown back at him. He looked back down at his plate uncomfortably.

Naomi let herself back into her apartment with a relieved sigh. She hadn’t been sure if she were ever going to get out of her parent’s house. The interrogation had continued, and her father drilled her on everything. She had to start lying outright to placate him.

Mr. Squibbles was curled up asleep on the sofa. She stroked his back to wake him. He jerked up. “Wuh, I didn’t eat the scroll!" He looked around quickly and finally up at her. He blinked a moment. "Oh, it’s you. How'd it go?”

“About as well as could be expected. I want to try the repair spell tonight. Are you up for it?”

He nodded and climbed into her hand. “Are you sure you have everything?”

She pointed at the ingredients set up in the kitchen. Mr. Squibbles hopped onto the kitchen counter and crawled through the ingredients to make sure they were correct. When he was satisfied, he told her the instructions for the spell. She wrote it down, and they were ready to begin. First, they needed a small cauldron as Mr. Squibbles put it. She took out a large pot and placed it on the counter. She tied the gauze around the horn to hold it together and put the river stone into the pot and placed the horn on top of it. She reached for the stove dial.

“How hot should I make it?”

“The milk needs to simmer.” Naomi turned the dial to low. It was time to begin.

She glanced at her sheet. First was the milk. She poured it in over the stone while saying, “What was once broken will be unbroken. This horn will be whole once more as running water erases, and mother’s milk nourishes.” The stone and horn disappeared from view in the milk.

She picked up the acorns next. She dropped them in one at a time. “As large strong trees come from eye-sized seeds, the horn will grow whole and strong.” The acorns plopped into the milk. Now it was time for the nail.

“Iron cold and hard will become hot and molten. Meld and fuse what is broken.” The nail disappeared into the milk.

She took a moment to smell the roses. She lowered them petals first into the pot. “Let beauty and dread recombine to make something dangerous and kind.” The stems stuck out of the milk.

She picked up the three feathers from the craft store. “With lightness of air and force of gale, strengthen and repair.” The feathers floated on the surface of the milk.

She picked up the handful of dirt. “The earth accepts all and nourishes all. May it nourish this horn and give it strength once more.” Naomi added the earth, the milk turned brown, and the feathers sank into the sludge.

There was only one ingredient left, and while Naomi had plenty of it, she was a little scared of adding it, considering how unicorn horns reacted to blood. She picked up a sharp knife and held it against her arm. “With life there is death, but without death, there is no life. I give this cauldron life because it already holds death.” She slid the knife against her arm. The knife was very sharp, and the gash opened easily with a sharp sting. Her blood welled up, and she turned the cut down toward the pot. The drops fell, and she watched them slip under the surface, leaving red halos behind.

She clutched a paper towel to her bleeding arm and peered into the pot. The concoction bubbled and looked very unappetizing. “Are you sure this is going to work?” she asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mr. Squibbles whiskers twitch. He sat silently on her shoulder. “Well?” she goaded.

“The unicorn said it would work. He would be the one who would know.”

“You have no idea, do you?”

“Let’s just let it sit for the night. We can check it in the morning.”

Naomi left the pot on the stove and turned the heat down to the lowest setting. She left Mr. Squibbles with the magical box and wand controller with the firm order not to stay up all night. If people started trying to sell him useless gadgets, it was past his bedtime. As she got ready for bed, she tried to feel hope, but she had serious doubts that it’d worked. She hadn’t seen or felt anything particularly magical while doing the spell. There hadn’t been any whoosh of air or sparkly dust or trumpet sounds. All it’d done was burble. If it didn’t work, there was always super glue.

Continue to Chapter 50.