Page 12 of Black and White, Twice the Might

A bell jingles as we walk in, and two men look up with smiles that quickly turn to concern when they see Sly helping the witch lady.

They both come over to us.

“Are you alright, Molly?” the older man asks.

“Just feeling my age today.”

The young man snorts. “That’s what you get for being like a thousand years old, Molly.”

The witch lady, Molly, cackles out a laugh. “Cheeky pup. But I made some new friends who are helping me. We are just about to have coffee and cake.”

The two men look at us.

“Thanks, Molly means the world to all of us,” the older man says.

Enoch looks at them. “Do you have any books on the history of haunted houses or Halloween?”

The younger man nods. “We do upstairs. Do you want me to get them for you to look at? I’ll even let you look at them in the tearoom.”

“Yes, please, thank you. I promise not to drop crumbs on them, and if I do, I’ll buy them.”

I snort out a laugh. “With what?”

Enoch grins. “Okay, he’ll buy them.”

“I’ll go and get them for you. Molly, go sit down and rest,” the young man tells her.

“Come on then,” Molly says, patting Sly’s arm.

We walk into the tearoom, and Molly leads us to an empty table, and we sit down. Thankfully, this is a table for six, so we all fit.

A middle-aged man walks over to us, looking at Molly. “You alright?”

Molly cackles out a laugh. “Just making new friends.”

The man nods. “What can I get you all?”

After he explains what cakes he has, we all order one and drinks.

Molly looks at us and smiles. “I’ve never come across a light and dark witch pairing before.”

“Neither have we, but it works for us,” Sly replies.

She looks at Xander and Enoch. “You don’t need to fear me,” she tells them gently.

Enoch looks down, but before any of us can say anything, the man comes over with our drinks, then goes back to bring our cakes.

“Thanks,” we all say.

“Welcome,” he replies, smiling at us all and walking away.

She looks at Enoch and Xander again, frowning. “Who hurt you with light magic?”

The boys don’t answer, but Enoch scoots closer to me. I answer for them. “Our father used his magic on them. I didn’tfind out until Sly and I made an unexpected visit home to see them.”

“Nasty business,” she says, shaking her head, before looking at Sly. “What justice did you mete out?”

I stare at him, and I notice the boys are as well.