as he'd done with Elsie earlier. "School's not too scary, and if you get lost, you can always ask the big people for directions."
It was the big people that worried her. She leaned over and touched her nose to his. "Thanks, Aervyn-Scarevyn." That one made him giggle. "We'll see. I might still have germs."
Caro plunked her own plate on the table and snorted. "If you're well enough to eat a bacon biscuit, you're well enough to go to school."
There was no bullshitting Caro. Lizard contemplated her plate and decided it was no contest. She hadn't had bacon for days. "Fine. But if half of Berkeley College starts puking, I'm not making them all soup."
I think we're on the road to recovery here. I have no idea how you and Melvin managed not to get sick - Leo sat right on both your laps. Thank goodness for small mercies.
Ginia has sent some cure-all soup that seems to have actually worked its magic - that and a nap and I'm feeling almost human. I'd say the need to nap makes me feel old, but I'm well aware you'd give me grief for that :-). Let's just say I'm not at my agile best yet.
I've begun to think on next steps for my students. Lizard will have her hands full just starting college, I expect. She'll have a busy schedule with that and work, although Lauren is being very flexible with her hours. We'll see if our delinquent can wrap her head around being an academic success. There's no doubt she's got the tools - and plenty of ways to sabotage herself, should she so choose.
On the upside, Witch Central is getting back on its feet driven as much by Lizard's cooking as by Ginia's herbs. That will make her friends she didn't even know she had.
Elsie's immediate future is a little more nebulous, at least to me. She needs some time to explore, I think - a chance to discover who she's becoming. Some of those chains she's carrying loom large...
And I'm not sure my head is entirely wrapped around all of it yet, so I'm going to pick out a book and crawl back into bed. Before I do, I have a question for Melvin. My pendant has been vibrating - I assume because it's now more closely connected to those worn by my students. Does he care to enlighten me as to what that might be about? If I'm supposed to be doing more than what I am, it would be helpful if the messages were a little clearer. (Okay, perhaps I'm still a little cranky.)
Enjoy your robust health and the ability to eat actual food,
Jennie
Elsie leaned against the door of Knit a Spell, very grateful to have finally arrived. It had been the longest three-block walk of her life, but she'd have been willing to sell half her soul to stay out of bed. Ginia's soup had made her feel like she might survive the trek.
Eventually, some witch would track her down and make her go back to bed, but when they did, she intended to have a ball of really awesome yarn in her hands. One of the stupendously expensive ones that she touched often, but usually managed to resist buying.
Today, Elsie Giannotto had no resistance left - and she coveted gaudy yarn. The vividly bright kind that didn't match anything in her wardrobe.
She also didn't have a lot of room left for denial. Clearly, she had a yarn addiction. She'd had feverish dreams about knitting, the kind that made her wake up clutching imaginary knitting needles and wondering where the glorious creation she'd been making had disappeared.
"Hello, sweetheart! Are you going in?" Marion's big hand landed on her shoulder. "Oh, my. You still look under the weather, dear - are you sure you should be out of bed yet?"
Elsie grabbed her hands, trusting Ginia's word that she was no longer contagious. "Please don't make me go back. I need something to knit."
Marion's laughter was rich and long, turning heads up and down the street. "You have it that bad, do you? Well, come on