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I landed in the Kansas City International Airport two days later with a single suitcase and a ball of anxiety in my stomach. It had been so long since I felt the pressure of what to do with my life that I didn’t know how to navigate the possibilities.
“Olivia!” A chorus of voices greeted me as I stepped outside. My aunt Janis was hanging out of the back window of an old station wagon in the pick-up lane. She waved again to make sure I saw her. Janis was old enough to be my grandmother. There was a twenty-year age difference between her and my mother. She was the more free-spirited of the two. With her long henna-dyed hair and hippy skirts, Janis was the favorite aunt who never failed to make me feel welcome.
I forced a sunny smile and headed to the idling car. All four women climbed out of the station wagon to wrap me in a group hug. Along with my aunt, Alyce, Bea, and Helen were four of Kansas City’s most powerful witches. Ranging in age from sixties to seventies, they hadn’t hesitated when I’d asked to stay with them until I got on my feet. I couldn’t tell them about my job as a Shadow—the magical oath I took bound my tongue—but they were smart enough not to believe I’d spent the last ten years singing for my supper.
Helen pulled away first, wrestling the suitcase from my hands. She shoved it into Bea’s arms. “Make yourself useful and stop catcalling men young enough to be your children.”
Bea huffed but took the suitcase. After stashing it in the back of the car, she nudged my shoulder. “I signed you up for a dating app, but we’ll need to take some pictures.” She scanned my t-shirt and jeans with a grimace. “You can borrow my clothes.” I didn’t have enough cleavage to pull that off, but I didn’t argue.
Janis shooed her away. “Leave the poor girl alone. She just got here. You can corrupt her later.”
I winked at Bea over the top of the car before sliding in the front seat next to Helen.
Alyce clapped her hands. “Oh wait. We got you a homecoming present!”
Home. I’d have to get used to that.
Alyce leaned inside the car and reached for something on the floor. I looked at Helen.
“He was your aunt’s idea,” she said.
“He?” I spun around to peer over the seat.
Bea shrugged. “We think so. It’s hard to tell. We couldn’t get him on his back to check.”
Alyce climbed back out of the car and walked around to my still open door.
The guy in the car behind us honked his horn and yelled. “What are you doing? You’re holding up the line!”
Helen flipped him the bird, and we all laughed.
“The little guy bit me.” Alyce held up a bandaged finger before thrusting a shoebox onto my lap. “No rabies though.”
Something definitely moved inside the box. “I’m afraid to open it,” I admitted.
“Don’t be a wuss.” Helen scolded me.
I cracked the lid and peeked inside. “You bought me a rat?”
“He’s a packrat,” Janis said from the back. “We found him in the walls of the shop. He made a terrible racket, scratching and scratching.”
The four women owned and operated a fabric shop they’d cheekily named the Stitch Witch. And apparently, this little guy had taken up residence.
“He kept stealing sequins and bits of thread. He even swiped a thimble,” Alyce said. “We wanted you to have him.”
“Um. Thanks.” I closed the lid. With his rounded ears and earnest black eyes, he was kind of cute. But what the hell was I supposed to do with a rat?
Helen pulled away from the curb, cutting off the guy behind us who had tired of waiting and was trying to drive around us. He honked his horn again. This time, all four women flipped him off.
“Did you know,” Janis started. “That pack rats set up their nests like we set up our houses. They make rooms for everything. Their urine crystalizes into little cement-like walls.”
I pulled my visor down and looked at her in the mirror. “And you thought I should have one?”
She smiled. “You need a home. He needs a home. You can help each other get settled.”
“Now that you’re here, where do you want to go first?” Helen asked as she pulled into traffic like a Nascar driver.
I glanced at the box on my lap. “I guess we need to stop at a pet store for supplies. Henry here can’t live in a shoebox.” Helen raised a brow when I pulled a wad of cash out of the manilla envelope I’d stuffed in my purse. Henry was going to get the best damn hamster cage they sold.
