The woods were warm with a light breeze that caused the trees to gently wave. Dappled light lazily danced across the path as Jess approached the hut that Nevin timidly guarded. Or perhaps a better word was ‘haunted’, Jess supposed. After all, he was a ghost of his usual self when stuck out here all by himself.

The woodmen’s huts that were scattered around still appeared unused. Perhaps they would only see use at dawn and dusk. If so, Jess would be unlikely to meet them without some form of intervention.

She tapped her knuckles on the heavy door of Nevin’s hut and was quickly greeted by the door creaking open to reveal Nevin’s face peeking through the narrow gap. His eyes widened momentarily.

“Jess!” he exclaimed, shouldering the door to open it further.

“Morning, Nevin,” Jess greeted him. “How do you fancy helping me with a few errands today?”

Nevin’s face darkened. “Errands?”

“Please Nevin. You’re the best person to help me with this,” Jess said, hoping that flattery might win the teen around. Given the changing expression on his face, she assumed it was beginning to work.

“What kind of errands?” Nevin asked.

“I need a local expert to help me,” she replied with a shrug. Nevin’s cheeks pinked slightly at the implication. Nothing like a bit of skulduggery to start the day. Nevin wasn’t exactly an expert, but he was well-liked. Having a familiar face with her could only help with first impressions if she was hoping to recruit students.

Unfortunately, Nevin’s suspicion wasn’t dead in the water just yet.

“I was hoping that you could introduce me to some folk to let people know that I’ll be opening the school. Word of mouth is so important,” she explained.

Nevin’s familiar pout appeared as he mulled over the idea. This might not be as easy as I thought, considered Jess.

“I suppose I could help,” said Nevin slowly. “Just for a little while.”

Jess’s smile was genuine. “Thank you, Nevin. I owe you one.”

His flushed cheeks deepened in colour, and he ducked his head as he retreated into his hut. Jess was happy to give him the time he needed, and she retreated from the door, eager to step back into the sunlight to warm her skin.

He took only a few minutes before appearing.

“Where to first? Jess asked casually.

“You should meet my Aunt Patty first,” Nevin stated. With his back straight and his shoulders back, he looked more confident than usual. He even met Jess’s eyes without his usual shy, fleeting glances away. To say that she was impressed would have been an understatement.

The walk into the city was an interesting one. Nevin was livelier than usual, gushing praise for his aunt and the way that she often helped other local families. Even with any obvious familial bias, the woman was practically a saint. Despite this, the building they approached took Jess by surprise. It was old and clearly in desperate need of renovation. Many of the windows were missing, leaving only empty frames that were backed with sparse curtains. There were no gardens. No neat pathway or quiet grounds for the children to play in. A neatly painted sign above the door read ‘Miss Pettigrew’s Home for Children’. The pair stepped past a wrought iron gate and walked the five steps required to reach the entrance way. The greying exterior seemed at odds with the tinkling laughter that escaped through the open window frames above. She could hear children counting. The slow measured beats of the numbers punctuated the laughter. A game was afoot.

Nevin lowered his hood before he knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a reply, beckoning for Jess to follow. They found Aunt Patty in the sitting room with knitting needles and a quickly growing woollen number.

She was a harsher-looking woman than Jess had expected. Frosted white hair was scraped back into a severe bun. Her sparse brows frowned as she raised the article she was creating to observe it critically.

Aunt Petty’s face softened momentarily as Nevin approached but the smile disappeared when her eyes locked with Jess’s.

“Morning, Aunt Patty,” Nevin greeted her. He leaned over to give her a quick hug and her face lost its hardness once more.

“Lovely to see you, Nevin,” she replied, resting her knitting and raising a wrinkled hand to stroke his cheek. Her eyes flitted in Jess’s direction and an eyebrow arched upwards. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Sorry for barging in,” Nevin said, blushing. Every ounce of confidence seemed knocked out of him as though he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “My friend here, Jess. I wanted to introduce her to you.”

Jess tentatively raised a hand to wave, remaining at a polite distance. “Nice to meet you.”

“Jess is planning on opening a school. She’s a teacher, or she will be a teacher,” Nevin said, rushing his words. “I told her that you’d be able to help.”

“A teacher, hmm.” Aunt Patty cocked her head to the side. The way that she looked at Jess made her feel as though she was under a microscope with every flaw on show in excruciating detail.

“That’s right, ma’am,” said Jess. Ma’am might be a bit much. Unfortunately, there were few acceptable alternatives that she could think of. Nevin had only ever referred to her as Aunt Patty and referring to her as something so personal seemed premature at this point.

Aunt Patty gave a polite smile. The kind that was tight-lipped and didn’t quite reach the eyes. It was unnerving staring into those eyes. “Best not to dawdle then. Why don’t you both take a seat and tell me all about it.” She motioned to the chairs opposite her. They were scratched and worn but looked to be more comfortable than standing by the door like a lost soul.

Jess shuffled and took a seat, then looked nervously to Nevin for guidance. Nevin was of no use. He was utterly oblivious to her concerns and was staring at the ceiling. The ‘pattering’ of tiny feet, like junior elephants, sounded throughout the house as children stampeded from one end to the other.

Jess looked away from Nevin and back to Aunt Patty. The unexpected intensity of her gaze made Jess freeze like a rabbit in a truck’s headlights. She swallowed hard, fighting down the inexplicable torrent of word vomit that threatened to rise up to break the tension.

Aunt Patty was the one to break the silence first. “Nevin has mentioned you. He said that you appeared as the adventurers do.”

Ah. That would explain the attitude. Bloodthirsty warriors and kids don’t seem a great combination.

“That’s right,” Jess answered. “I did seem to but I’m not sure if I’m one of them.”

“Yes.” Aunt Patty tilted her head slightly as she continued to appraise Jess. “You are rather more vocal than the average adventurer.”

Nevin seemed to zone back in at this point. “She doesn’t have any magic or fighting skill either.”

“None of those,” Jess agreed, wincing internally.

“She doesn’t know anything about the area either,” Nevin continued.

Jess, with her lips tightly pressed together and a wide-eyed expression that begged for release from this hell, maintained eye contact with Aunt Patty as Nevin ploughed through each of Jess’s shortfalls. Her ‘odd’ dress and shoes when she arrived. Her reaction when first meeting Mike. Being rejected by the druidess despite allegedly being a druidess herself. Being rejected by the alchemists despite also allegedly being a bit of an alchemist.

When his list seemed to falter and grind to a halt, Jess asked dryly, “Are you sure you haven’t left anything out?”

He seriously considered this for a moment, prompting the tiniest of smiles from Aunt Patty.

“No,” he stated firmly. “You were good at getting rid of the slimes though.”

“I have heard much about the incident with the slimes,” interjected Aunt Patty. Her voice was quiet but the steely tone threatened to flay Jess alive. “Nevin seems to believe that you’re secretly a great alchemist like those pompous old goats in their misshaped tower.”

“It’s nothing like that,” Jess reassured her anxiously. “We call it chemistry where I’m from.”

Aunt Patty looked unconvinced.

“It’s still understanding mixtures and chemicals, but with less robes and pomp,” Jess added. “More about practical application.”

“Like killing slime?” Aunt Patty asked. Her eyebrow raised.

With a shrug, Jess conceded but added, “It’s used by farmers too. Balances the soil for certain crops. Better growth to support larger populations.”

There was no reply from the older woman, but Jess noticed her eyes flit momentarily towards the door. The conspicuous silence of the house suddenly dawned on her and both Jess and Nevin craned around to see the flash of several wide-eyed faces that suddenly disappeared from view. All except one small tot who winked out of view a few moments later with a look of surprise on his young face.

“There is little point in hiding now!” Aunt Patty called out to the hidden ears that no doubt continued to listen to their conversation.