Page 27 of Woods of the Raven

She looked at him with wide eyes.

“You thought he was just an amazing baker, made beautiful things, had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things weird and had a green thumb?” He chuckled.

“Well…yes.”

“There’s still magic in the world,” he told her. “You just have to look and see.”

Quick nod from her.

“There’s magic in things you love, like lavender, honey, or sweet black cats,” he mused, stroking Argos, who began purring. “Or in friendship and windy days.”

I smiled at him because he and Rita and I had stood outside in the wind on many occasions together.

“But that doesn’t mean that some folks, like Xan, can’t get up to some mind-blowing magic now and then.” He winked at me.

“Stop. People think I’m nice. You’ll scare them.”

He scoffed. “Not these two.”

Delia sighed. “I heard the horse, but…”

“What?” Troy’s breath caught, and he turned to me. “What did she say?”

“It’s fine,” I soothed him. “Both girls have been hearing him, but we fed him today, so everything’s good.”

His exhale was deep.

“You know about Skokse?” Delia asked her uncle.

“Oh yeah. After my father died, I heard him a lot at night, running past my window. My mother thought I was nuts,” he said, smiling at his niece. “But Xan’s grandfather told me what to do, and the next night, I stuck my hand out the window with a piece of apple, and he took it. Never been so scared in my life.”

Delia was beaming at him. “Do you see the lady on the bridge too?”

“No. I’ve never seen her, but I do hear the dogs baying.”

“The dogs?”

“You don’t hear any dogs,” I insisted with a scowl. “You hear the geese as they fly north. That’s what that is.”

He grunted. “I know the difference between the sounds of baying, and the sounds of geese,” he countered. “I don’t care what dogs you keep here because I know they can’t pass the property line between mine and yours. And also, just having them around keeps my hens safe all fall and winter, and I don’t have to worry until spring, and by then Rufus can take care of them.”

I laughed, thinking of his golden retriever, who was more goofball than watchdog, except when it came to the chickens he loved. On the long, cold, dark winter nights, he had to stay in, and coyotes and other wildlife would have gone into the henhouse if not for Gwyn, Osko, and Dar. As animals sensed things humans did not, just having the dogs prowling near Troy and Rita’s property line was enough to keep everything away.

“Have you ever seen these supposed dogs, sir?” I baited him.

“No, sir, I have not,” he bantered back. “But maybe one day. I’m very hopeful.”

I shook my head, and he chuckled. Delia got up and hugged him.

He looked at me with both shock and wonder on his face. They were having a breakthrough, and I was thrilled to have helped in any small way.

Once they left with their two witch’s ladders, Cass said she was going to head home as well because her uncle had made it a rule that everyone be there for dinner.

“Okay,” I told her. “We’ll ride together.”

“Oh no, I don’t want you to—”

“Cass, I would never let you ride home in the dark alone,” I said flatly. “That could never happen.”