“Thanks, Miss.” She gave me a hug, but then realised what she’d done. “Sorry, Miss, I didn’t mean—”
“That’s okay. Just don’t get your hopes up.”
Beth and I started back down the dorm.
“What’s that sorry looking object?” I pointed to the small, ugly, gold-coloured trophy on top of the bookcase.
“That’s the inter-house sports cup, Miss. Nomad are the holders, and we’re going to win it again this year.”
“How come it’s in here?”
“The winning house is allowed to keep it in their dorms. It spends alternate months in the Nomad girls’ and boys’ dorms.”
“It’s not very attractive.”
“True, but it’s what it represents that matters.”
“Just as well.”
***
I was just about to magic myself back to Washbridge when I noticed I had a text message; it was from Grandma. It must have come through while I was in the classroom when I always had my phone set to silent. She wanted me to drop in at her house to meet Madge Moleworthy.
Great! Just what I needed.
“About time.” Grandma met me at the door. “I thought you were never coming.”
“I didn’t hear your message—”
“You’re a bit young to be going deaf, aren’t you?”
“I was about to say that I didn’t hear it because I was at CASS.”
“Doing what?”
“I teach there every other week. I did tell you.”
“Oh yes, I remember now. I still can’t imagine why they invited you to teach there when they could have had the benefit of my experience. My fee would have been quite reasonable.”
“They wanted someone with a lot of experience of living in the human world. And, anyway, they don’t pay me.”
“Are you insane? Why would you do it for free?”
“Because it’s a nice thing to do. It’s my way of giving back. You should give it a try.”
“Pah.” She scoffed. “I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
“You said in your message that you wanted me to meet Madge Moleworthy.”
“She’s in the kitchen.”
“Hold on. What if I don’t like her?”
“There’s nothing not to like. Come on. My tea is going cold.”
“How lovely to meet you, Jill.” Madge gave me a hug. “I’ve heard so much about you from your grandmother. It’s so kind of you to let me stay in your house while you’re away.”
“I haven’t actually—err—think nothing of it.”
“Did you want a cup of tea, Jill?” Grandma asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Right. You can make us another one while you’re at it. Mine’s gone cold.”
After I’d made the tea, we all went through to the lounge.
“Biscuit?” Grandma offered the tin to Madge and me.
“Not for me, thanks. I had a muffin at CASS.”
“You’ve been to CASS?” Madge dunked a ginger biscuit in her tea. Gross!
“I teach there once a fortnight.”
“Oh? Your grandmother told me that you were a detective.”
“My main job is a private investigator in the human world. The headmistress at CASS asked if I’d teach human studies once every couple of weeks.”
“Can you believe they don’t even pay her?” Grandma chipped in.
“It’s probably worth it just to visit CASS.” Madge was trying to fish the remnants of her biscuit out of the cup of tea. “I’ve never been there myself, but I hear it’s wonderful.”
“It’s a marvellous building, and the area surrounding it is—”
“Yes, yes, that’s all very interesting, I’m sure.” Grandma interrupted. “But Madge needs to know the arrangements for moving into your house.”
“I’m planning to travel to the human world a week on Sunday,” Madge said.
“Jack and I get married the day before that.”
“That’s alright then,” Grandma said. “You can meet Madge at your house on the Sunday morning.”
“I can’t. We’ll be on our way to our honeymoon first thing on Sunday.”
“Can’t you travel later?”
“No, we can’t. All the arrangements have been made. Why don’t I give you my key on the Saturday, Grandma, and you can let Madge have it?”
“You seem to be under the impression that I’ll be coming to the wedding.”
“You are, aren’t you?”
“Probably. Unless I get a better offer in the meantime.”
After I’d finished my tea, I made my excuses and left. I still wasn’t thrilled at the idea of someone living in our house while we were away, but Madge seemed harmless enough.
Before magicking myself back to Washbridge, I nipped next door to Aunt Lucy’s. Much to my surprise, the twins were both there. So too were Lil and Lil.
“Jill?” Pearl looked surprised to see me. “Come on in. I’ve just made tea. Would you like a cup?”
“No, thanks. I’ve just had a drink at Grandma’s. I thought you were working today, Amber?”
“I am, but Pearl said she was going around to Mum’s, so I nipped out for a few minutes. I’ve left Mindy in charge.”
Aunt Lucy was seated on the sofa, with the two babies on either side of her; they were both fast asleep.
“Those little angels are very peaceful,” I said. “You obviously have the magical touch.”
“Hmm. That’s a sore point.”
“What do you mean?”
“When the twins were babies, I occasionally used spells to make my life a little easier.”
“What kind of spells?”
“Nothing too drastic. I used magic to rock them in their prams, or to make the cuddly toys move around. That sort of thing.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
“These two don’t approve.” She glanced first at Pearl and then at Amber. “They’ve said I can’t use magic around the Lils.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call them that,” Pearl said.
“What else am I supposed to call them?”
“Lil and Lil.”
“Okay.” Aunt Lucy sighed. “The twins won’t allow me to use magic when I’m babysitting Lil and Lil.”
“Why not?” I turned to the twins. “It seems harmless enough.”
“Not according to current thinking,” Amber said. “All the experts say that babies should be raised without the use of magic.”
Pearl nodded. “We never use magic around them at home, so we don’t want Mum to do it either.”
“Fair enough.”
“I’d better be making tracks.” Amber finished her tea, and then bent down and gave her Lil a kiss. “Bye, cutykins. Mummy will see you later.”
“What time are the machine guys coming?” Pearl called after her sister.
“In about an hour.”
“Do you remember all the things you need to check with them?”
“Of course I do. Bye, everyone.”
Curiosity had got the better of me, so after Amber had left, I asked Pearl who the ‘machine guys’ were.
“It’s our latest brilliant idea for Cuppy C.”
Oh no.
“I thought you’d given up on the crazy initiatives now that you have the babies.”
“We still have a business to run, and anyway, this is not some crazy initiative, as you put it.”
“What are you planning this time?”
“We’re trying to streamline the order-taking process.”
“Why do you need to do that?”
“At busy times, there can be really long queues in the tea room, even with Mindy working there.”
“I haven’t seen many queues.”
“Yes, Jill, but you aren’t there all the time like we are, are you?”
“True. Why don’t you just employ more assistants?”
“There isn’t room behind the counter. That’s why we came up with the idea of using machines to take the orders.”
“What kind of machines? You aren’t thinking of using robots, are you?”
“Of course not. We’re not stupid. They’d be bound to go wrong. We’re going to get those self-order machines you sometimes see in fast-food restaurants.”
“I know the sort of thing you mean. They’re very complicated. It took me ages to work out how to use them.”
“They’re not complicated.” She laughed. “Well, for you, maybe, but most people find them easy to use. And they’re really quick. You place your order, and by the time you get to the counter, it’s waiting for you to collect.”
“Aren’t they expensive?”
“That’s what we thought until Ron came to see us.”
“Ron?”
“Yeah. Ron Gunn. He supplies reconditioned machines for a fraction of the cost of new. We’ll only need a couple of them, so they’ll pay for themselves in no time.”
“Reconditioned? Isn’t that a bit dodgy?”
“Not at all. They’re fully guaranteed.”