No response.
“Anyway, I’m going to fix you up. Then you’ll feel better.”
As if it wanted to disagree, the house popped a floorboard beneath my butt.
“Ouch!” I cried as it smacked me.
Poa was dislodged, and she tumbled off, then stalked toward the door, hissing at the house as she went. The house seemed to hiss back, popping a floorboard under the carpet she walked on. It jostled her to the right.
“You’re both going to have to learn to get along.”
The house groaned, and Poa hissed again.
“Whatever.” I threw my hands over my head and closed my eyes. “I can do this.”
I climbed to my feet, determined to get started on cleaning up the house. I’d got answers today, though not as many as I wanted. I still didn’t know how the house had come to be alive, and I hadn’t actually convinced it to chill out on me. Until its attitude improved, I wouldn’t be able to get contractors up here.
Which meant I was on my own.
“I’m going to work on this carpet, okay?” I told the house. “If we get this up, your floorboards will be able to breathe. Then we can discuss some refinishing options. You might like a nice coat of varnish.”
The house didn’t respond, and I felt crazy for talking to it. But it couldn’t hurt, right? All living things wanted to be in control of their destiny, but a house would have a hard time doing that. Whoever had enchanted the place hadn’t thought of that, perhaps, and it was the main reason the place was in such a bad mood: no control over its destiny, and then it had fallen into a state of disrepair.
Well, I was going to fix that.
I spent a sweaty afternoon pulling up the carpet using some more tools I found in the shed. Fortunately, I’d read a spell the other day that helped me increase my strength and speed, so it went more quickly than it would have otherwise.
I still had a long way to go, but at least I managed to get all the gross carpet out of the house and into the back garden. Disposing of it would be another matter, but I’d cross that bridge later. I covered the carpet with a couple of old tarps I found to keep it from becoming waterlogged in any potential rain, then returned to the house to inspect the floors. They were beautiful, wide beams that needed some refinishing, but they would be gorgeous when I was done.
“That’s better, isn’t it?” I asked the house.
It didn’t give me any indication that it was happy with the change, but the floorboards had stopped popping up. The place still stank, and a door slammed in my face even though there was no breeze, but I decided to call it a win.
By the time late afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted and still needed to coordinate someone to pick up the discarded carpet. I also needed a break from the house and its slamming doors.
I left through the front door. For the first time since I’d been there, I spotted a woman outside of the little cottage on the hillside to the east. She was too far away for me to see details of her features, but her white hair and posture suggested that she was older. Perhaps she would know how the house had come to be enchanted. If she’d lived here a long time, it was possible.
Instead of heading down to the boathouse, I cut across the hillside toward her. Poa joined me, coming out from a hiding spot beneath a log. It took me a while to get to the cottage due to the uneven terrain, but I made it before the woman had retreated indoors.
Up close, she looked to be in her late seventies. She tended to a garden of autumn flowers that bloomed in a gorgeous profusion of yellows, oranges, and reds. The cottage behind her was a tiny postcard-perfect stone building with smoke wafting from the chimney.
“Hello!” I called out, hoping I didn’t startle her.
She looked up, then smiled. “Hello, there. Are you the new girl?”
“The new girl?” I smiled. “I guess I am.”
“I thought so. Margot mentioned someone had moved in with that moody werewolf.”
I nodded. “He’s definitely moody. I’m Isobel. This is Poa.” I pointed back to Lavender House. “We’re trying to fix that place up, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”
“Certainly, dear. I’m Judith. Would you like some tea?”
“That sounds amazing.”
“Excellent. Come in.”
I hesitated in the doorway. “I’m pretty dirty.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Let me take care of that.”
I watched as she squinted her eyes and muttered an incantation, her magic swelling on the air. It was faint, but a moment later, I was clean enough to come into her house. I’d still need a shower, but I was much better.
She gave me a pleased smile. “I’m not particularly skilled with my magic—never been much of a witch, as hard as I’ve tried—but I’ve really worked on that cleaning spell.”
“Well, it worked great.” I grinned at her. “Thanks.”
“Now come in.” She gathered up the blooms she’d collected, and I followed her into the little cottage, immediately swept away by how beautiful the place was. It was cozy and welcoming, with pastel landscapes on the walls and comfortable-looking furniture. She gestured to the kitchen table, which sat in front of a large window overlooking the sea. “Have a seat. I’ll put the kettle on.”
I did as she said, watching as she put the flowers in a vase and then filled the kettle. There was something so comforting about being near her. I’d say familiar, but I was sure I didn’t recognize her. She had a faint magical signature, and I wondered if she was a witch like me. If she was, she didn’t have much power. Or she hid it well.
“Have you lived here long?” I asked.
“On and off my whole life.” She smiled as she picked up a tin. “Chocolate biscuits?”
“Yes, please.”
Judith laid out a tray of biscuits and tea, then carried it to the table. After she’d set my cup in front of me, she poured a saucer for Poa and added a generous splash of milk before putting it on the floor in front of her.
Poa looked up at me. See? She knows how to treat a cat.
“She says thank you,” I told Judith.
Poa got to work on her milky tea, and I waited for Judith to finish pouring her own cup. It felt rude to rush her, no matter how excited I was to possibly get answers.
Judith passed the plate of biscuits to me and said, “Now, tell me how I can help you.”
“The house is enchanted to have a personality,” I said. “Almost like it’s alive. I was wondering if you knew anything about the previous inhabitants.”
Interest flashed in her eyes. “Enchanted, you say? I’d always thought it was a ghost or a curse to make it uninhabitable, but that’s very interesting.”
“Have you been inside?”
“A few times, long ago.” She smiled. “But no, I don’t know the last people to live there. It’s been a very long time since it was inhabited. Seventy years or more.”
Darn. I’d been hoping for more information.
“There’s a chance my mother knew, though. Perhaps I could look in her old papers and see if she had anything that could help you. She collected bits of local lore.”
“Oh, that would be amazing. Thank you.”