Page 2 of Black and White, Twice the Might

She picks out the biggest one for him as well, and it goes into another plate. “Jam and cream?”

Xander nods. “Please, thanks.”

She picks two pots up and puts them on the plate, and then adds them to the tray.

“Sly,” I say to him.

“The chocolate gateau, please,” he says, smiling at Patty.

She plates his cake, again, the largest slice she has. “Would you like cream?”

“Totally, chocolate gateau and cream, is just a must,” Sly replies.

Patty laughs. “It is.” She picks up a small jug of cream, and they both get put on the tray. “And you, sir?”

“The Chelsea bun, please.” Again, she picks the largest one she can find. Do we look like we need feeding up?

She adds my cake to the tray, moves the food tray, and adds cutlery and napkins. “What drinks would you like?”

The boys get cold drinks; I get a latte and Sly an Americano. I pay, thanking the lovely lady, and pick up the cake tray. Sly can carry the drinks one.

The boys head outside and find a table near the back of the garden. It’s a little chilly out here, but we’re tough; we can cope. Plus, I love this time of year. Autumn and spring are my favourite seasons. They mean I can wear my cardies and jumpers again.

“This garden is lovely,” Enoch says. “Look, they even have a little waterfall.”

We all look where he points. The garden is like a peaceful oasis, even though there are people sitting out here, laughing and chatting.

We sit down and spend a few moments handing out food, drinks and cutlery, and all dig into our cakes. I take a bite of cake and groan. This cake is amazing. Mind you, happy sounds are coming from the others as well.

“So, I was thinking,” Enoch says around a mouthful of cake.

I stare at him. “Excuse me?”

He rolls his eyes and swallows his cake. “I said I was thinking. I could research Halloween and haunted houses as a history project.”

“That’s a good idea. I’m sure that will be a fascinating subject,” Sly tells him.

“Should you not do something like the Romans or Victorians?” I ask because, really, the history of Halloween?

“Nope, as long as I can prove history, I can research anything,” he tells me.

“And the Romans and Victorians, everyone does them,” Xander points out, putting jam and cream on the other half of his scone.

I shake my head. I know when I’m going to lose something when they all stick together. “If that’s what you want to do, have at it.”

I get a massive grin from my little brother. I’m not his parent, just his brother, so I try not to come on too strong, and as long as they are studying, I let things go. Because we move around a lot, they are both home-schooled. I make sure they do Maths and English, but then they can choose whatever else they want to study. If my brothers had their way, they would study magic. I don’t hold with forcing a proper curriculum on them. They should learn what interests them, but the home-schooling program doesn’t have a magic course.

“Just think,” Xander says, pulling me out of my thoughts. “If we find somewhere nice to live around here, you can start your chocolate business properly.”

Now there’s a thought. “That would be nice, having a permanent workspace,” I agree, and it means I could expand my range and be more consistent with work. A lot of my equipment is in storage, along with pieces of furniture we’ve brought over the years. I’ve no idea if it will go in wherever we find to live, but we fell in love with them anyway and bought them. Pretty sure wherever we end up, we can make the pieces work.

“So, while we’re here, we’ll look around the whole of this area for a house, cottage, whatever,” Sly announces.

I see the hope in my brothers’ eyes, and a spark in Sly’s. “Then we have a plan.”

CHAPTER 2

Isigh as Sly closes the bedroom door. We’ve deposited the boys back in their room and reminded them to keep the noise down. It’s the same thing we’ve said for the past week.