Page 47 of The Nowhere Witch
He was, though.
“Tippi, maybe you should take the day. I don’t want any of this nasty business sullying your reputation.” He made a shooing motion, as if trying to get me away from the building as fast as he could without touching me.
“That’s not my cloud. I should probably stay.” I didn’t have a black cloud. It was bad weather. If I left and it cleared, it would be my cloud forevermore. What if I left and a gust of wind pushed it along with me? My reputation would be sullied in all of Xest, and I couldn’t take another hit in that department.
“No, no, you should go and rest up.” He inched forward, still trying to shoo me. “You should take the night off—full pay, of course. I insist. You look tired, and you don’t need this additional stress.”
There were only two choices: (A) walk away with some dignity, or (B) refuse, run back into the bar, and have them drag me out while I left nail marks in my wake. It was tempting for sure.
“Okay. Maybe you’re right.” I nodded for a few seconds, not moving as I looked upward. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though, right? I come in for my shift?”
“Of course.” He nodded, but not vigorously. It was a little bounce, like his chin had hit a speed bump it was forced to get over.
I edged a few feet away, walking backward, nodding and waving at Zark as he watched.
He hadn’t taken a step toward the door. He was standing and watching me, smiling and waving back, as if enjoying the shade of the dark cloud above.
I had to move. If I didn’t, I’d look like I thought it was my cloud. Maybe if I walked very slowly. I crossed the street and made my way down the block at a pace that would lose to a turtle. I didn’t look up until I was a mile away. I didn’t need to. I knew it was still over me by the brightness of the street ahead of me and the lack of shadow where I walked. Still, I glanced up. There it was. The black cloud. I turned around and looked back toward Zark’s. The sun was shining brightly. I looked ahead to nothing but sunny skies.
The only place the sun wouldn’t shine was over me.
Shit. Itwasmine.
* * *
Bautere was staring upward as I approached.
“You’ve got a dark cloud,” he said as I neared.
“It’s not mine.” It didn’t matter what anyone said; I wasn’t claiming this thing. No way.
“It came with you.”
“I don’t care. It’s not mine,” I said, walking to the center of the clearing. “Why? Are you afraid of practicing with me?”
I’d hiked up here first thing this morning, just to be out of the broker building before the sun broke and the black cloud became obvious. Now even the great Bautere didn’t want to come near me. I’d wander around the wall next, not that I knew what to do about that either.
Bautere laughed deeply. “No, you’d have to bring something a lot darker than that cloud to scare me. Are you ready?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Was I ready? I was never really ready. Wasn’t sure I ever would be. That was the problem.
He crouched and then lunged at me.
I shot up at the last second, soaring a good ten feet in the air. Instead of rotating in midair, I fell again, crashing into the snow and rolling to a stop.
I sat up and smiled. I’d failed again. But not completely. For a moment there, I’d felt like I was flying. Black cloud be damned. I could do this. Iwasgoing to do this.
“Looks like the witch is finally learning to wield her magic,” Bautere said
“I guess I am.” I got to my feet, ready to try again.
* * *
I weaved through another alley, making my way to Zark’s without an audience. After how much progress I’d made at practice, I’d walk out of this alley, and the sun would shine down on me. And if it didn’t, it was because it wasn’t shining on anyone. There was no way I still had a black cloud lingering.
The first step wasn’t good. Nor were the next ten or twenty. It was sunny everywhere but where I walked.
It would go away. I’d keep walking and it would disappear. Walking was even easier today, as I was clearing the way like I was Hawk. No one wanted to get anywhere near me.