“Come closer, Mouse.”
I edge warily toward him.
“Closer.”
Sipping air, I keep my attention on his shoes. If they move, I’ll run.
“Open your hands.”
I cup them, keeping my head bowed.
“What else are we out of, little Cinder?”
“M-magic.”
A coin plops into my hand. One for the witch.
“Flour.” I gulp. “Sugar.”
One for the shop.
“Lentils.”
Wrong answer. Coins jingle softly.
“Anastacia wants a new dress.”
“She had one last week.”
“I’m only conveying the message, sir.”
Another coin clinks into my hand. It’s not for a dress. A new gown would cost more than a handful of coppers. It’s for more sugar, since he can’t give Stacia what she really wants. “Get the girls something nice while you’re in town.”
Code for “stop by the milliners’ and waste money we don’t have on fripperies to keep my daughters happy.” I close my fingers around the money and exhale for the first time since I entered this room. “Breakfast is ready when you are, sir.”
“Feed it to the dog.”
I blink and back away slowly. If I hadn’t made it, he’d have struck me for being lazy. I did, and he refuses to eat it. If he did eat it, he would berate me for being a poor cook.
There is no winning. I no longer try. I’m only surviving the day.
* * *
“You can’t doany better on the price?”
I eye the inadequate stack of foodstuffs, then the shopkeeper. One small sack of flour. A half-pound of lentils. One pound of sugar.
If I can’t talk the shopkeeper down, I won’t have enough money left to buy the magic Cilla and Stacia crave. They’ll make my life miserable until I find a way to get it.
“I can give you credit until next week.”
If I accept the credit, I’ll be in a better position now but an even worse one come Sunday.
“Let’s make it a quarter-pound of lentils and half the sugar.”
At least this way, I’ll be able to return home with a few vials of potions.
“How are you faring out there at Emmett’s Folly these days, Ellie?”
