“Right. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Of course. Here’s my card. My number is on there.”
“Great. Thanks very much.”
I waited until Mrs V had led Brian out of my office, then I ripped the business card into pieces and dropped them in the bin.
“You should get in on that scam.” Winky appeared from under the sofa.
“What scam?”
“Feng whatty. You should set yourself up as an expert.”
“Grandmaster.”
“Whatever. Get some cards printed and off you go.”
“I don’t know anything about Feng Shui.”
“What does that matter? Just shuffle the furniture around a bit and then collect the cash.”
“That would hardly be ethical.”
“You’re thinking about it—I can tell you are.”
“Of course I’m not. I do have some scruples you know.”
“Since when?”
Twenty minutes later, I was still weighing up the pros and cons of becoming a Feng Shui grandmaster when a phone rang.
It wasn’t mine.
“Judy, my little darling,” Winky said. “All the better for hearing your voice. It feels like ages since I saw you. Is it really only yesterday? That just shows how much I’ve missed you. Tonight? Yes, of course. Your place or mine? Okay, I’ll see you then.” He blew a few kisses down the phone and then ended the call.
“Judy?” I said.
“You shouldn’t be listening to my calls.”
“It’s hard not to. And anyway, I thought you were seeing Daisy? You were on the phone to her on Friday.”
“I am seeing Daisy.”
“What about Judy?”
“I’m seeing her too. And Trixie.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Why not? I’m young, free and single now. I can see whoever I like.”
“Yes, but not at the same time. Do they know about one another?”
“What do you think?” He grinned.
Even though I didn’t approve of his three-timing, it was good to see Winky back to his old self. He’d been devastated when Peggy had left. Her owners (not a term he would agree with), had upped and moved to the other end of the country. Peggy hadn’t known it was coming, and she’d been as torn up about it as Winky. Watching them say their last goodbyes had brought tears to my eyes.
What? It’s true. Deep down, I’m just an old softy.
After Peggy had left, Winky had been down in the dumps for a long time, but now he’d bounced back with a vengeance.
Chapter 4
Rather than magicking myself directly to CASS, I decided to call in at Cuppy C first. Pearl and Mindy were behind the tea room counter.
Just before they’d left to have their babies, the twins had taken on Mindy as a fulltime assistant. Although Mindy had once been persona non-grata, it was now generally accepted that she’d been acting under the influence of Miles Best, her very much ex-boyfriend. Since dumping that loser, Mindy had been an all-round much nicer person. Plus, she had the experience of working in a cake shop and tea room, which she’d gained working in Best Cakes.
“Blueberry muffin, Jill?” Mindy greeted me with a smile.
“I’ll just take a caramel latte, please.”
“Aren’t you feeling well?” Pearl quipped.
“I’m on my way to CASS in a few minutes. They always have a good supply of biscuits and cakes in the staff room, and they’re all free.”
“Cheapskate.” Pearl laughed. “How come you’ve dropped in here for coffee if that’s free over there too?”
“To see you, of course.”
“And the real reason?”
“The coffee over at CASS is pretty ropey.”
“There you are.” Mindy handed me the coffee, and then went to serve the next customer.
“Let’s have a quick chinwag.” Pearl gestured to the table nearest to the counter. “I can nip back if we get busy.”
“How’s Lil?” I said.
“Beautiful as always. I don’t like to say anything in case I upset Amber, but my Lil is so much prettier than her Lil, don’t you think?”
“I—err—they’re both beautiful.”
“It’s okay, Jill, I realise you have to say that. It’s true, though, my Lil is so much more attractive.”
“How’s being here part-time working out?”
“Okay. It’s nice to get out of the house, and I enjoy chatting to the customers, but I miss Lil something awful.”
“It’s only a few hours, a couple of days a week, though. And you know she’ll be okay with Aunt Lucy.”
“Yeah, Mum’s great with her, but then Lil is so well behaved—you barely hear a peep out of her. I feel sorry for Mum having to look after Amber’s Lil, though. She cries all the time.”
“How is Mindy doing?”
“Great. Amber and I had our reservations at first, but she’s proven to be worth her weight in gold. Don’t say anything to her, but we’re thinking of making her the manager. She’s practically acting as one already, particularly on the days when we’re not here.” Pearl glanced across at the counter where a queue was starting to form. “I’d better get back to work. Have a good day at CASS.”
***
I was the only one able to magic myself back and forth between Candlefield and CASS. Everyone else was forced to travel on the airship. That’s why I always made a point of magicking myself to the same quiet corner of the west wing where no one would see me arrive. That way, I didn’t rub everyone’s nose in it.
The staffroom was two floors below my landing spot, and always my first port of call before going to my class.
“Morning, Jill,” Reginald Crowe was seated in his favourite chair, right by the door.
“Morning, Reggie. That looks nice.” I gestured to the half-eaten muffin on his plate.
“It’s delicious. Highly recommended.”
Reggie was the school’s caretaker and general handyman. I’d originally met him on the airship on my first ever visit to CASS. On that occasion, he’d helped to calm my nerves about the flight, and since then, he’d become a firm friend. It had to be said, though, that he seemed to spend more time in the staff room than he did working.
As always, there was a fabulous spread of scrumptious cakes. I had no idea who paid for them, but they were all free to the staff, and that was good enough for me. I didn’t get paid for teaching at CASS, so I considered the cakes to be payment-in-kind.
“Morning, Jill.”
“Morning, Mrs Eastwest.”
“I do wish you’d call me Phil.”
I just couldn’t bring myself to call Philomena Eastwest anything other than Mrs Eastwest. It would have been like calling Mrs V, Annabel. Mrs Eastwest was a thousand years old, or at least she looked it. Even so, she seemed to have boundless energy. When I’d first met her, I’d assumed she taught English, History or something similar. It turned out she was the P.E. teacher. In her youth, she’d apparently been a top track and field athlete. Today, her frail body meant she wasn’t able to participate in physical activities, but that didn’t stop her barking out orders to the kids. Her body might be failing her, but her mind was laser sharp. I’d sat in on one of her P.E. sessions, and she hadn’t missed a thing. When any of the kids slacked off, Mrs Eastwest was quickly on their case.
“Aren’t you having a bun, Mrs Eastwest?”
“Certainly not. It’s strictly fruit for me between meals.”
“Me too.”
She looked at the muffin I’d just put onto my plate.
“It’s blueberry,” I offered in my defence.
“How are you enjoying working at CASS? It must be rather boring compared to your main job?”
“I enjoy it. The kids keep me on my toes.”
“I bet. Which class are you taking today?”
“Some of the first-years. Class one-alpha.”
“The first-years are the best. At that age, they’re still nervous, and respectful of the staff, but that doesn’t last long. Just be sure to watch out for Fleabert Junior.”
“I don’t recall anyone by that name.”
“He was here for the start of term, but then got called home for some reason. Apparently, it related to some incident in the human world. I don’t know the details, but I believe the rogue retrievers were involved.”
“Surely, it couldn’t have been anything he did, could it? He’s only what, thirteen?”