Page 13 of Black and White, Twice the Might

“I covered him in boils, made his hair fall out, cursed him so that everything he touched broke and stripped him of his magic,” Sly replies, matter-of-factly, as if something like that was an everyday occurrence.

“You what?” I exclaim. How did I not know this?

Sly looked at me and shrugged a shoulder. “He hurt our brothers. There was no way I wasn’t going to punish him.”

Enoch jumps up, goes around the table and hugs Sly. He pulled back. “Thank you. One of my biggest fears was that he would find us and hurt us again.”

“I told you I would keep you both safe,” he replies, patting his back.

Enoch gives him a beaming smile and sits back down again.

“What happened to the stripped magic, Dark One?”

“I gave it to Ebby. It belonged to him.”

“Good,” Molly cackles. “What lines are you both from?”

“Goddess, I’m so sorry, we’ve not introduced ourselves. I’m Ebenezer Anderson-Sherwood. This is Enoch and Alexander Anderson. We’re from the Anderson line and Sylvester Anderson-Sherwood, from the Sherwood line. We go by Ebby, Sly, Xander and Enoch.”

“And I’m Molly,” she cackles out.

“Heads up, Molly, Miles is here,” a man calls out, and I see a blur of reddish brown as a fox jumps up onto Molly’s lap.

She strokes his head and bends down, touching her forehead to the fox’s. “I’m okay, Miles,” I hear her say. She straightens up and strokes his head.

“It’s a real-life fox. I’ve never seen one this close before. You’re stunning, Mr Fox,” Enoch says, with a touch of awe in his voice.

“His name is Miles.”

“Do you like lemon cake, Miles?” Enoch asks.

Molly cackles out a laugh. “He does indeed.”

Enoch breaks off a bit of cake and leans over the table, holding the cake out to the fox. Miles gently takes it out of my brother’s hand and eats it, then head-butts his hand. Enoch strokes him. “So soft.”

The young man from the bookshop walks over to us, carrying some books. “Miles loves lemon cake.”

“I’ve just fed him some,” Enoch says, finally sitting back.

“I found you some books. These should help you.” He says, handing them over.

Enoch takes them and smiles. “Thanks, these are for a history project.”

“Nice, and so much more fun than the Romans or Victorians,” the man says.

“Yep,” Enoch replies.

“Enjoy your drinks,” and with that, the man walked back into the bookshop.

“Now, friends, where do you live?” Molly eats some cake and gives a bit to Miles.

“Nowhere at the moment. We’ve been travelling around for a few years,” I say.

Xander leans forward. “But we saw the most perfect house this morning, just on the edge of town. The owner used to make cakes.”

“That will be a good house for you all. You’ll be very happy there,” she tells us.

“I really hope so,” Enoch replies, and I can hear the hope in his voice.