Lenora took us to an Orowen suburb called the Burning Bend. The house she showed us was made of stone and it stood alone on a nearly bald patch of slightly upraised nd. The structure was two stories tall, had a stone walkway leading up to the main door and the windows were completely dark. And since the sun was almost down, the pce looked even more gloomy.

  It wasn't hard to guess that no one lived here. The ndlord lived in a smaller house on a slightly lower ground a few hundred metres from the first building.

  Lenora took us down to the second house and knocked at the door.

  The door didn't open but an old man’s gruff voice called out from inside. “Didn't I tell you I'm not renting the pce to–”

  “Yes, I got two other people who are going to live with me,” Lenora said. “The condition is met. Will you let us live there now?”

  There was a brief moment of silence before a small window opened within the door and a bundle of papers slid out of the gap. “Read the papers, sign it and slide it under the door tomorrow when you come with your luggage,” the man said. “You'll get the keys to the pce once you sign the documents.”

  Lily, Smokewell and I exchanged gnces. “Just like that?” I said.

  “What, you want me to throw you a banquet cuz you rented the pce?” the man scoffed. “Just come tomorrow.”

  “Um, we don't have much luggage, so can we move in today, maybe?” Lily said.

  “I told you to come tomorrow morning!” the voice snapped.

  “Okay, okay, we'll come tomorrow,” I said.

  We left with the papers. Lenora and the three of us stopped at a restaurant on the way for dinner. We read the documents while we were having desserts.

  Lenora paid for the food because she still felt too grateful for the advice we'd given her to leave her husband. We parted ways after our bellies were full and slept like logs till the sun was shining in our faces.

  Next morning, I packed everything up and so did Lily. I packed Yazara's golden bones in a separate bundle and stashed it in my suitcase.

  We had one st round of ale with Asmod before we got up to leave. The short man shook our hands with his usual fatherly smile. “Just don't forget to show up when you need any kind of help,” he said.

  “Oh you won't be getting rid of us anytime soon, Asmod,” I said, smiling back.

  “I hope not,” he said.

  Then Smokewell stepped up to the man and bowed her head. “I appreciate everything you did for us. The girls and I wouldn't have been safe in our current predicament without your help. So remember that you can ask for help whenever you want too.”

  “Yes, yes I will,” he said, nodding.

  And then we left for the Burning Bend. “I forgot to bring this up st night,” Smokewell said as we got off the tram that took us to the suburb. “You two are fine with living in this middle of nowhere pce?”

  “Wouldn't it be better to maintain a low profile for now?” I asked. “Our names are off the list. But we shouldn't try to do something just yet that might call attention to us. One of the reasons why I didn't try contacting Hammer to help us with the housing situation. Now that he is the heir to his father's fortune, he is going to have people keeping an eye on his activities. We need to establish some kind of stability for ourselves before we start getting more indebted to other people.”

  “Stability like starting a business?” Lily said.

  “Yes, that idea is still on the back burner,” I said. “But we don't have to worry about it at this moment. Let's focus on getting settled in our new home first.”

  “Speaking of getting settled,” Smokewell said, “What about Miss-newly-divorced-sunshine-and-rainbows? Are we really going to share the pce with her?”

  “How about you try being nicer for once?” I said. “Lenora has been nothing but nice to us. And she is the one who showed us the pce. Let's try being nice in return, shall we?”

  “I wasn't talking about that, you nimrod,” Smokewell said. “I was asking if I'm supposed to talk in front of her or not? What about when she catches me talking to you both?”

  I sighed.

  “Yes, Miss Elsa, I was wondering about this too st night,” Lily said. “Because when we met her for the first time, she was about to--well you know what she was doing. And we told her Madam Smokewell is actually the Spirit of Darkness. Are we still sticking to that storyline? But if we do then there’s also the news that came a few days ago. About the green blood theory being false and there not being a Spirit of Darkness.”

  “You do know where this is headed, right?” Smokewell said. “We'll only have one real answer to give her.”

  “We are witches,” Lily said. “That's the only real answer that we can give her.”

  “And that woman had been soiling herself at the thought of being cursed or bewitched when we first met her,” Smokewell said.

  I groaned, rubbing my forehead. “What are you two suggesting then? We just tell her that we are witches?”

  “No, I have a better idea,” Smokewell said.

  “I have an idea too!” Lily raised her hand. “I'll go first.”

  The cat hissed at the girl. “Have you forgotten who taught you witchcraft? If I say I go first, I will go first,” Smokewell said.

  I groaned again. “Madam, with all due respect, I know whatever you are going to say is going to be unhinged so I'll let Lily go first.”

  Smokewell hissed at me next. “Who are you to decide?!”

  Without another word, I pulled out my hand mirror from my reticule and shone the reflected sunlight on a tree bark. The unsteady spot of light grabbed the cat's attention right away and she jumped at it just as quickly.

  Lily got the signal to put forth her idea. “We'll put a hex on Lenora,” she said. “Each time she tries to bring up the topic of Madam being able to talk, she'll get diarrhoea.”

  “Bad idea.” I put the mirror back in my reticule.

  Smokewell was back to being a human in a cat's body. She gred at me. “You dare distract me with–”

  “Just tell your damn idea, already,” I said.

  “My idea is quite simple and way more effective than Lily's juvenile hex,” Smokewell said. “I'll just snatch her soul and trap it in this.” She brandished her ivory opium pipe. The blue light was still swirling within the well of the pipe.

  “No, we aren't doing that either,” I said, unamused.

  “That idea has merit, I won’t lie,” Lily said. “There are ways to reanimate a soulless body with witchcraft. We can turn her into a flesh puppet so no one will get suspicious. I know it's a despicable thing to do but its a choice between the risk of getting arrested and, well, doing the right thing.”

  “Oh, I like your thinking,” Smokewell said. “We can make her do all the housework too.”

  “We aren't doing any of that!” I snapped.

  “And who are you to decide?!” Smokewell hissed again.

  “We are not going to curse or de-soul someone who literally helped us find a house to live in, period. We are still humans here. Let's act like humans.” I said.

  Smokewell scoffed. “Speak for yourself. I don't have to follow human etiquettes anymore.”

  “No you don't.” I pulled out my hand mirror again.

  Smokewell started chasing the reflection of the sunlight again.

  ****

  As we’d decided, Lenora met us at the stone walkway of the house in Burning Bend. In the broad daylight I got to see the sign at the entrance of our neighborhood: Ashmeadows.

  I still couldn't get the logic behind these names. There were maple trees lining the road. Birds were singing their songs through the leaves. Everything looked bright and sunny up to that barren plot where our new house was situated. Why were all the names so…edgy?

  “I hope we didn't keep you waiting for too long, Miss Lenora,” Lily said.

  “No, I only arrived a few minutes ago.” She shook her head. She was wearing a floral summer dress and a straw hat. “I submitted the papers and look what I got.”

  She waved three keys on a ring. She handed two of them to Lily and I and kept the third one for herself.

  We lugged our bags up the steps and to the door. In the broad daylight, I got to take a better look at the house. It was all made of stone but it looked a lot less spooky now. The windows looked like they would give great ventition. Lenora unlocked the door.

  The lower floor had the kitchen, sitting room and the pantry. The level above it had the bedrooms and bathroom. There was also a balcony.

  From what I'd seen yesterday, I expected the house to be covered in grime and dirt and riddled with cobwebs. Yet there was barely any sign of filth anywhere. The furniture was spotless, the rugs were clean, the dishes and pots in the kitchen looked ready to use. The air was fresh. There was no musty scent of old, restricted pces. It was as good as it could've been.

  And the rent was just three hundred steambolts a year.

  “The one problem I'd point out is that,” Lenora said as we explored the rooms, “we'll have to commute a bit for groceries.”

  We went out the backdoor and looked out at the grassless backyard. “But who knows, maybe with the ndlord's permission, we might even be able to pnt vegetables here in the back.”

  I gave a nod and looked at Lenora. She looked really happy. Really relieved. The relief that one has of coming back home after a long day.

  Lily stepped up next to me, Smokewell was in her arms. Their faces were uncertain.

  “You know, Elsa?” Lenora said. “There was another reason I wanted to see you.”

  I swallowed hard. “What was it about?”

  “I was thinking about you all after I left Clyde's home,” she said. “I wanted to see you all. I wanted to ask all the questions I'd had. A part of me was still convinced that I could curse people to death. I was even reckless enough to try it out again. Of course, I failed. I was just a regur human being. That's when I thought of you. Thought of your cat that could talk. Thought of how your friend, Lilian, had used her doll to knock Clyde unconscious in a heartbeat.” Lenora turned to us and regarded us with undivided attention. “Then that news about the green blood theory being false came out. Which means the Spirit of Darkness was also false. That just means one thing, doesn't it?”

  Oh no, she was getting too close to the–

  “You are all fairies, aren't you?” Lenora said.

  “Wait what?” I said.

  Lenora's expression faltered. “F-Fairies. You appeared when I was at a depressing time in my life. You helped me out and disappeared. It's just like the stories my mum used to tell me.”

  “No.” Lily shook her head. “You can't be any further from the truth.”

  “Then…what are you?” Lenora asked.

  Lily hesitated. Smokewell still looked uncertain. I sighed and said, “We are witches, Lenora.”

  The woman paused. I was surprised to see that she looked more disappointed than offended or disgusted or even scared. “You…you really aren't fairies?”

  “No, Lenora,” I said. “We aren't fairies from your mom's bedtime stories. We are witches. We have a bck cat with us for God's sake. Why do you think we carry her around with us? She isn't even cute.”

  “Hey!” Smokewell snapped.

  “I brought my own broom with me. You think I have it with me to clear the cobwebs? No.” I shook my head.

  “You can fly on a broom?” Lenora asked with wide eyes.

  “No. She can't even make it hover,” Smokewell said.

  “We are witches, Lenora,” I said. “Not fairies, not elves and certainly no monsters. Just witches.”

  Lenora paused and looked between me and Lily and Smokewell.

  This time, Lily broke the silence. “Does that fact…make you uncomfortable to live with us, Miss Lenora?”

  A faint smile, curled Lenora's lips. “I don't think so. Even if you aren't fairies, I'm still indebted to you. And still very grateful.”

  “Really?” Lily said.

  Lenora nodded. “You are good people. I can tell.”

  Lily winced. “Oh no. Now I feel bad for considering turning you into a flesh puppet.”

  “Turning me into what?!”