“Aunt Gabby?”

“What is it Izzy?” the merchant asked her niece as they walked the trail back to Stonecroft behind Juan and the other workers.

“Did you catch it when he said remodel instead of clean out a room or something along those lines?” Izzy asked.

“I did and I bit my tongue to keep from asking what he meant,” Gabriela replied.

“Have you ever seen the inside of his house other than the shop?” Isabella asked.

“No. I had heard of the cottage not long after we started visiting Stonecroft, but the villagers have always said it was haunted.”

“And you didn’t want to test your luck to see if it really was or not,” Izzy concluded.

Juan and the other two workers laughed.

“Quiet you three!” Gabriela huffed. “None of you ever volunteered to check the haunted stone cottage either.”

“The groans, rattling, other noises, and feeling of being watched as you approached the house always was enough to keep me from going in,” Juan said. “Even my familiar wouldn’t go in.”

“Really? Is that true?” a wide-eyed Isabella asked.

“Si. I wouldn’t lie to you, Izzy,” Juan replied.

“I’m going to be living in a haunted house?” a worried Isabella asked.

“It doesn’t feel as foreboding since Fisher moved into it,” Roberto, one of the workers, said.

“That’s true. Maybe Jase performed an exorcism,” Hector, the other worker, added.

“While he is a talented alchemist, I don’t think exorcisms are a skill Jase Fisher has,” Gabriela said.

“Herbalist,” Juan corrected his boss while looking back and grinning at her.

“Hush you!” Gabriela replied fighting to keep from grinning herself. Juan held his hands up in surrender, so the merchant returned her focus to her niece. “Izzy, something tells me the stone cottage is not haunted.”

“Can you explain?” Izzy asked.

“First, Jase lives there. Second, we’ve been in the shop a few times and never heard, seen, or felt anything unusual,” Gabriela said.

“Except that big cougar,” Roberto said. Gabriela glared at him while Izzy laughed.

“Anyway, the pixies are always there, and they love playing pranks,” the merchant said.

“You suspect the pixies are the source of the haunting?” Isabella asked.

“It’s very possible and sounds like something they would do,” Gabriela replied. “And finally, even though our familiars don’t want to go into the house, they have never really acted strange there.”

“Scents could be why they don’t want to go in,” Izzy said. “Especially now that Jase works there.”

“That’s Mr Fisher or master to you,” Juan teased.

“Juan!” Izzy whined making the man laugh.

“Juan has raised a good point,” Gabriela said. “Be respectful with Jase unless he says otherwise.”

“Ok,” Izzy replied seeing the wisdom in what they said. Though he seemed personable, she didn’t know how Jase Fisher really was.

*

“We should have scared them,” Yam said.

“No,” Willow replied. “We did the right thing.”

“It would have been fun,” April said agreeing with Yam.

“Their familiars might have given the game away,” May countered.

“Nah. They would have gone along with our prank just like they always do,” Yam said. The others nodded at that.

“Oh well. It’s too late now,” April said. “They’re almost to the village.”

“We could always start ‘haunting’ the house again,” May said. “Lily would probably love that prank too.”

“I don’t know,” Willow replied.

“What’s with you?” April asked.

“She wants a human of her own and has set her sights on Isabella,” Yam said.

“Tattle tale!” Willow shouted before flying at her fellow pixie. Yam laughed and led Willow on a chase. April and May joined the game.

*

“Lily, do you have any idea how we can remodel the house?” I asked my familiar. “Construction isn’t really my sort of thing.”

“I do. We can return the living room to its original size and put Isabella’s room there,” my familiar answered looking around the living room and pointing to the steel beam that was used long ago to remodel the house. “Though that would be quite a bit of work.”

“Let’s hold off on that as a last resort. What else are you thinking?” I asked.

“We could rearrange the basement and put a room for her down there,” Lily replied.

“I’m not really wild on that idea,” I said. “I like the shop and storage how we have it now.”

“Me too,” Lily agreed. “Plus, there’s the tech stuff we don’t want her getting into.”

“Do you have any other ideas?” I asked making a note to talk about the technological stuff we had after reaching a decision about living arrangements.

“Three.”

“Let’s hear them then,” I said.

“First, we could add an addition to the cottage,” Lily said.

“That would be even more work than remodeling the space on the first floor,” I replied.

“Yep,” Lily agreed. “Second, we could build her a smaller place of her own close to our house.”

“Again, that’s too much work,” I said. Lily agreed. “I suppose we could try to rent her a place in the village.”

“That wouldn’t work with Ama being there,” Lily pointed out.

“Good point. What’s your other option?”

“We divide the upstairs bedroom into two rooms,” Lily answered.

“That would probably be just as much work as remodeling down here,” I replied. “Plus taking away half of our bedroom or more.”

“Yeah, I’m not wild about that idea either,” Lily admitted. “Plus, if you ever get married, you’ll want the space or at least your wife will.”

“Yeah…”

Lily giggled. “I’m just teasing.”

“I know,” I replied. “So, we remodel down here?”

“Yeah, it’s probably the best idea,” Lily answered. “I’ll recruit some pixies to help us.”

“Promise them ice cream and other sweets,” I said.

“Perhaps I should charge them a finder’s fee too,” Lily mused.

“You know you’ll get plenty. Don’t be greedy,’ I said.

“Fine, fine,” Lily replied giving me a cheeky smile. “What else is on your mind?”

“What about the tech? How should we explain that to Isabella?” I asked.

“Just be honest with her,” Lily suggested.

“That’s your suggestion?” I wondered.

“Yep!” Lily replied nodding her head. “Make it part of the secrets she promises to protect.”

“I don’t have any secrets other than the tech,” I objected. “Well other than the cows and locations of plants.”

“Nobody else knows that but us pixies,” Lily replied dismissively. “Besides, Gabriela and Izzy will expect for Izzy to be signed to some secrecy.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “Ready to start on the remodel?”

“Not really,” Lily happily answered.

“Slacker!” I teased.

“Not me!” Lily protested. “I should leave you alone to do all this work.”

“You don’t mean that,” I said.

“You’re right. I don’t,” Lily happily replied. “Let’s move stuff around and go looking for lumber.”

“Right. Let’s use magic.”

“Just remember your training,” Lily said in a hoarse voice. I gave her a stern look which made her laugh.