Page 61 of On The Edge

“He’s a natural. I think he could do woodwork; it could make him a good living, especially when he goes back to Ireland.”

Cat felt a dull pain at the thought of losing another friend on the island. “Is he leaving so soon?” She tried to hide the disappointment in her voice.

“I reckon so, he can’t stay here forever.” Jess shrugged and popped her phone in the desk drawer. “Jeez, these winter months are quiet! I'm so bored!”

“Well... actually, if you're bored... I had some ideas I wanted to float past you.” Cat brought out her trusty notebook and felt a flicker of new excitement.

After Cat finished her tea, she was ordered home by Jess, who was sure there was to be a snow storm coming.

“But they didn’t say anything about a storm on the news this morning.”

“Maybe not, but I feel it in my bones.”

“What does that mean?” Cat snorted, chuckling at Jess’s serious expression, “are you a witch who can see the future?” She collected the empty cups and walked to the back studio.

“Actually, I am from a long line of healers,” Jess nodded with superiority. “And we all know that healers were “witches”, once upon a time. She air-quoted and rolled her eyes. “Well, greedy powerful men decided they were!”

“OK, in that case I better go!” Cat kissed her friend on the cheek. “Don’t want you to put a curse on me!”, and she ran off before Jess could pinch her.

Cat called into the library on her way back to her car and spoke with Mrs Grey about possible relations. The old lady clapped her hands at once and went to get the pen and notepad that were a permanent fixture on her desk.

“So, I can check with my very informed friend, and I might do some searching myself. Otherwise, why don’t you come over to mine tomorrow and we could look together? I can show you how to research, I have my family tree on my dad’s side completed right up until the 1500s!” The librarian nodded, looking very proud of herself. Cat couldn’t help but admire her; she seemed so organised, but couldn’t understand how she worked so efficiently in the clutter of all those books.

They arranged to meet the next day, and Cat, feeling elated from the day’s events, decided that she would bake a cake for Mrs Grey as a thank-you gift. She got back into her car gratefully on the clear icy afternoon, and started off homeward bound at a snail’s pace.