Page 63 of The Witches Catalogue of Wanderlust Essentials (Natural Magic #2)
Z ani and Will said goodbye to Cosimo in Ondalune’s garden. They had parked their dirigible high above the bluff, though it was unlikely that anyone would have noticed, cloaked as it was.
“Try not to be so reckless.” Cosimo placed a kiss on Zani’s forehead.
“I can’t promise anything of the sort.” She grinned. She patted her satchel and glanced up toward the dirigible. “You know me, Cosimo. ‘Have bag, Will, travel.’” She had already settled on this as her new motto in life. A motto that made her quite giddy with joyful anticipation. “What more could a girl ask for?”
“Take good care of her.” Cosimo placed his hand on Will’s shoulder. “She’s a little headstrong, but Zani’s a great kid. I’m glad she has you to look out for her.”
“I’m the lucky one.” Will met Zani’s eye.
“As am I.” Cosimo nodded knowingly, staring out toward the ocean.
“Are you sure you’re okay staying here alone?” Zani asked.
“Yes.” Cosimo placed a hand on one of Ondalune’s sculptures. “I actually don’t feel alone. I finally feel at home. And I am looking forward to sleeping tonight. Maybe doing some crossword puzzles and napping in the hammock tomorrow. Do you know how long it has been since I’ve been able to sleep and dream?”
“I’m happy for you, Cosimo,” Zani said, following his gaze out to sea. “For both of you. Don’t be a stranger.”
She could see Will was getting eager to go and so was she. The sooner they got back to the dirigible, the sooner they could start planning their next adventure. And Zani already had ideas. There were so many places in time and space on her list.
“So long, travelers.” Cosimo raised a hand in salute as Zani climbed onto Will’s back. Cosimo turned back toward the sea, so he wasn’t watching as they left. He didn’t see them walking back through the wall of Goldie’s kitchen, and out into their dirigible.
* * *
The dirigible was parked somewhere over the South of France, on a warm summer day. Down below, the street markets bustled with artisans selling handmade linens and clothing, and produce stands covered with fragrant summer melons and berries. The restaurants lining the streets were filled with tourists eating salty chips and creamy gelato. A group of children played a game of leapfrog on the traffic barriers at the end of the pedestrian street.
Zani and Will were sprawled out in the dining booth, post feast. There was a pile of maps on the banquette seat, and an even bigger pile of travel gear on the table and surrounding chairs. Zani was finally cleaning out her bag properly, once and for all, with Will’s enthusiastic help. He couldn’t get enough of all her gadgets and gizmos.
It was like a bomb had gone off inside the dirigible. Her gear was strewn across every available surface in the main cabin.
“What the heck does this one do?” Will asked, while holding up a poker chip.
“Give it back. That’s my lucky poker chip.” Zani snatched the item back from him.
“But does it do anything?”
“No, it’s just an Ordinary poker chip,” Zani said. “I’m no cheater. Sometimes a poker chip is just a poker chip. I won a lot of money that night.”
“Hmm,” Will said, waving a hand over some other items and deciding which one to choose. Finally, he settled. “Okay, but what about this?” He picked up a crumpled napkin. “This is just trash, right? You want me to toss it for you?”
“Heavens, no!” Zani exclaimed. “That’s my Mapnapkin!” She smoothed it out. “You see, the beauty of it is that it appears to be an ordinary takeout napkin, but it’s actually an enchanted map with hidden inner layers that reveal all the top secret ‘locals only’ places to eat near you. Works everywhere.”
Will’s eyes grew large with excitement. “Are you kidding me? Do you know where to get more of these? You could make a killing selling them to porters!”
Zani studied the pile and chewed her lip thoughtfully. “You know, Will,” she said, “I really have a lot of great stuff in my personal travel collection. It’s actually giving me ideas about starting a business.”
“That sounds like a spectacular idea!” Will said, shaking a tin of Brevity Mints. “Aren’t these the same type of mints that Amrita offered us?”
“Yep,” Zani said. “Brevity mints are perfect when you want to get to the point, or keep a meeting from going on and on.”
“I still can’t believe that she was playing matchmaker behind the scenes. How many couples can claim the Director set them up?” Will boasted. “Little did she know I was already crushing on you. You wouldn’t believe how mercilessly Maida and Arthur teased me.”
“Maida is going to be impossible when we tell her about our plans to travel together.” Zani smiled. A tiny smile. She was not actually all that worried about this. No amount of teasing or ‘I told you sos’ would take away from the happiness she was feeling. The fact that her best friend was going to be thrilled was frosting.
Her great-aunt was another story.
“I’m sure Maida and Arthur will be happy to have the Mudpuddle back to themselves when we go.” Zani smiled. “But I’m not sure my Aunt Minodaura will be as happy about our travel plans as Maida and Arthur.” She sighed.
“I think she’ll come around,” Will said. “I’ll win her over. I’m really good with elderly aunts. They all love me.”
“So you’ve said.” Zani rolled her eyes. “But I was thinking … Maida offered me a shop and an apartment on the Mudpuddle property.”
“Where the garden shed used to be?” Will sat up straighter.
“Yes.” Zani nodded. “She thought there was space for a shop and a couple of small apartments there.”
“She offered me a space for an apartment, too!” Will said. He shook his head. “Her matchmaking efforts are hardly subtle.”
“Not even a little bit,” Zani agreed. “But I think she might be onto something. I’d love to have a little shop with all my travel goods, maybe make it the headquarters for a catalogue company. And it might be nice to have a more permanent address. Not to live there full time, mind you, but to get mail.”
“And where would you like to live ‘full time’ then?” Will smiled his secret smile at her and his eyes began to skrinkle at the corners.
“On my dirigible, of course.” She rolled her eyes, as this should have been more than obvious, and flopped back against a cushion.
“ Your dirigible?” Will raised a brow. “Don’t you mean my dirigible?” He scooted closer to her.
“Fine,” Zani conceded. “I guess Burnside left it to both of us. Would you mind if I lived aboard our dirigible?”
“And how long were you planning to stay aboard said dirigible?” Will lifted a strand of her hair and wrapped it around one finger.
“Let’s just say the foreseeable future,” Zani said.
“As much as the future is foreseeable.” Will nodded seriously. “And what about the past?”
“Well, obviously I’d want to live here in the past. It’s not like I’ve got anywhere else with as good of a view.” Zani nodded.
“And the present?”
“You’d have to pry me out with a bootjack,” Zani said.
“So let me get this straight.” Will sat up again, gazing down at her. “I’m stuck with you in the past, the present, and for the foreseeable future.”
“That sounds about right, Porter.” Zani smiled.
“Well, then.” Will leaned forward to kiss her. “We better quit wasting time.”
* * *
Will and Zani agreed it would be best to speak with Minodaura first, before returning to Primrose Court to speak with Maida about their plans. So, bright and early the next morning, they set their course back a day, and pointed the airship toward the Montauk Lighthouse where they knew Minodaura was back in residence.
“I’m afraid I may have been too hard on my aunt,” Zani admitted as the dirigible broke through the misty coastal fog. “I had no idea what sort of things she’d been through. Plus, she was kind of a daredevil in her youth. I would never have imagined that.”
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” Will quipped.
“Stop.” Zani poked him in the ribs. “You sound just like my handkerchiefs,”
“I just meant, sometimes you can’t know all the things in the moment.” Will steered the airship along the coastline. She could just make out the lighthouse in the distance. “But the truth comes out in the end.” He smirked.
“Enough already!” Zani snapped a tea towel at Will. “I’m just not sure what to say to her. I know she’s been hoping that I’ll move back to the States and help run the family warding business, but that’s just not what I want to do with my life.”
“I actually think she’ll understand,” Will said gently. “Just so long as you’re honest with her.”
“I sure hope so.” Zani sighed. She crossed to the windows to stare out at the rocky shoreline. It looked only slightly less bleak than she remembered it.
Suddenly, something caught her eye, and she sucked in a breath.
“Will!” she cried out. “Stop the ship! Go back!”
“What is it?” Will pulled up on one of the levers and tipped the captain’s wheel to the left. He was getting so much better at flying the dirigible, but the ship still jerked and creaked and griped about the sudden change of direction. A teaspoon slid off her saucer of tea and clattered to the ground.
“Can you get any lower?” Zani leaned out the window to scan the rocky beach as Will brought them in closer.
“How’s that?” he asked.
“Just a little more…” Zani called back to him. The figure was wearing a simple black dress. She lay motionless on her stomach. She had no shoes on and her stockings were torn. The waves lapped at her exposed toes. Zani could hardly breathe now, worried as she was that the girl was badly injured, or worse. “There’s a girl down there Will, I don’t know if she’s okay. She isn’t moving.”
“That’s about as low as we can get without bottoming out on the sand,” Will said when they were about fifteen feet above the rocks. “We’ll have to use the rope ladder to get down from here.”
“Okay,” Zani said, “I’ll be right there.” She leaned back out the window to let the girl know that help was coming. “Don’t move!” she yelled. “We’ll be right down!”
Suddenly the young girl rolled onto her back and popped up, her broom at her side. She held her wand aloft as she glared up at the dirigible. “Stay right where you are, you scurvy pirate!” she snarled. “And you’d better pray that nothing’s happened to my sister, Minodaura!”