What Rosa Agreed To

The inside of Morrigan's cottage was much nicer than the outside.

It was warm and slightly cluttered in a comfortable way, with low ceilings and a fireplace that had a very good fire going in it and shelves covering every wall from floor to ceiling, full of jars and books and objects that were interesting to look at but that Phineas had been quietly warned not to touch.

The baking turned out to be an excellent fruit cake and a tray of small spiced biscuits that tasted of something Zeb could not identify but that made him feel immediately that everything was going to be fine.

"Cardamom and a pinch of calm," Morrigan said, when he asked what was in them. "Completely harmless. Just a habit."

They sat around her kitchen table and ate cake and Morrigan asked them questions about themselves in the way that very competent people ask questions, listening to the answers properly rather than just waiting for their turn to talk.

She seemed particularly interested in Cora, who had been asking careful questions about the herbs and the labels and what made them magical.

"You have a methodical mind," Morrigan said to her.

"I like to understand how things work," Cora said.

"That is a useful quality," Morrigan said. "Most people prefer to be surprised by things rather than understand them. Surprises are all very well but they are not particularly useful in a difficult situation."

"The difficult situation being a tower with no door," Phineas said helpfully.

"Among other things," Morrigan said.

Rosa had been quiet during most of this, eating her cake and looking around the cottage with the expression of someone who was very interested in their surroundings and was trying not to show it too obviously.

"You keep looking at my garden through the window," Morrigan said to her.

Rosa went slightly pink. "I was not."

"You were," Morrigan said. She did not say it unkindly. "You have a problem, Rosa. You see interesting things and you want to be closer to them. This is not a bad quality. It is just one that requires management."

"I am working on it," Rosa said.

"You have been in my tower three times," Morrigan said.

"I said I am working on it," Rosa said. "It is a slow process."

Morrigan looked at her for a long moment. Then she said something that surprised all of them.

"Come back on Saturday," she said. "Properly. Through the gate, down the path, knock on the door. I will show you the garden. All of it. With explanations."

Rosa stared at her. "Really?"

"The problem," Morrigan said, "is not that you are interested in things. The problem is that you do not ask first. So ask. Come back Saturday and ask properly and I will show you everything."

Rosa opened her mouth and closed it again. For possibly the first time since they had met her, she seemed genuinely lost for words.

"She will be there," Cora said. "We will make sure of it."

"We might come too," Phineas said. "If that is alright. The biscuits were excellent."

Morrigan looked at him. Something that was definitely more closely related to a smile crossed her face this time.

"I will make more biscuits," she said.

They walked back through the village in the late afternoon, the football pitch visible ahead of them, clear and green and completely tower-free. The penalty spot was back exactly where it had always been.

"The match is still on," Zeb said with deep satisfaction.

"You are welcome," Rosa said. "I assume."

"You caused the problem," he pointed out.

"And I solved it," she said. "With assistance." She looked at him sideways. "Same time Saturday? For the garden visit?"

"Obviously," Zeb said.

"I will bring snacks," Phineas said.

"You always bring snacks," Cora said.

"Yes," Phineas agreed happily. "That is because snacks are always a good idea."

Rosa laughed. It was a good laugh, loud and genuine, the kind that made other people want to join in. Zeb found himself grinning despite himself.

Above them the sky had gone the warm orange of a good late summer evening and the village smelled of cut grass and someone's dinner cooking. The curtain in the top window of the tower was gone because the tower was gone, and the window with it, and all that was left was the sky.

Clear and wide and full of possibilities, for anyone who thought to look up.

***The End***