Page 20 of The Tea Witch’s Secret

Chapter 12

Lian

The heat coming from the oven was filling the kitchen with a warm glow, and it felt even cosier because of the heavy rain outside. I wouldn't like to think about how bad it would be if Eva and Max weren't here influencing the weather and stopping anything too dramatic from happening. Despite having lived with them for my entire life, I had no idea how their magic actually worked or what they could achieve, beyond the basics of Max being able to sense weather patterns, and Eva being able to influence the weather, whatever that meant.

I looked out of the window, watching the fat drops as they splatted against it. I didn't know much about farming, but I had to imagine this couldn't be good for the crops. Or maybe it was. I knew even less about that than I did about the intricacies of the weather. Not for the first time, I found myself wondering why our parents hadn't thought to teach me how to read the same charts that Eva and Max could. Surely three heads would be better than two even if I couldn't do the magic?

I pushed the thought away. I was in the kitchen with Pepper waiting for the mooncakes to be ready, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on potential mistakes our parents made. But if I ever had children, and if they happened to be weather witches, then I was going to do things differently.

The thought took me off-guard. I wasn't used to thinking things like that about my parents and upbringing. It was unfair of me. I came from a long line of weather witches who had done things the way that they had for a reason, I shouldn't be the one to start questioning them when I hadn't inherited their magic.

I looked down at my hands and the cup of tea they were wrapped around. The cup was made of a thinner material than mine were, and was bigger with a handle. The steam rose from it, bringing a fragrant smell that wasn't like when I brewed tea from my own supply. It was different. Milder in a way.

I was curious to try it, and not oblivious to how much it meant that Pepper was serving me tea from her personal supply. There was something intimate about sharing this, and even though I was the one who started the exchange of tea, it made me feel warmer inside than I expected.

Was Eva right? Did Pepper like me?

I ignored that train of thought too and focused on the tea instead, taking a sip. It was smooth and mellow, not unpleasant at all, and actually very drinkable. "This is different."

Pepper smiled at me from the other side of the kitchen. "I know, right? Yours has a slight smokiness that this one doesn't."

I nodded at her description. "It's aged for a long time in the mountains. I prefer the bitter flavour, especially when paired with something sweet."

"Well, the mooncakes should be done baking soon," Pepper said, cracking the door to the oven open and peering in. "No, they're done now. Out they come."

I left my seat while she pulled the tray with mooncakes from the oven and joined her by the workbench. The mooncakes looked almost perfect. There were darker spots on some of them, but most of the pastry was a lovely golden brown. They had held their shape beautifully, apart from a few that had split and were leaking their filling.

"Not bad for a first attempt?" Pepper asked, looking at me for guidance, but I could tell that she was disappointed that they hadn't all come out perfect.

I nodded, pointing out a few of them. "Those are excellent and could be shared or sold. The others are, umm, for personal consumption."

Pepper chuckled, a sound that was quickly becoming familiar. She seemed to be one of those people who had a lot of joy in her life. It was nice to be around someone so bubbly without being overbearing or too loud.

When I thought about it, she was the perfect mix of calm and excitable.

"Can we try one?" Pepper asked, already reaching for a knife.

"They're actually best at room temperature and after resting a day," I replied, smiling when I saw her disappointed face. In this instance, I knew exactly how she felt. I was always impatient too. "But we can have one when they're still warm. Baker's privilege."

She raised her eyebrows. "Now you're speaking my language."

"I've been speaking your language the entire time," I pointed out, a little confused by what she meant.

"It's an expression. It means that we're seeing eye to eye, that we share the same opinion," she said, not looking at all annoyed that she had to explain something so basic to me.

"Ah, I understand. Thank you for explaining that. It's hard to become fluent in a new language," I admitted, feeling a little inferior to Eva, who picked it up so much quicker. Max struggled more, but that was mostly his lack of confidence.

Pepper moved the mooncakes on a rack so they could cool, her hands moving with a deftness that could only have come from years in the kitchen. "How many languages do you speak?" she asked curiously.

"Fluently? Two."

"And not fluently?"

"You caught that?" I asked.

She laughed. "It was obvious in the way you said it. So?"

"Four, almost five," I said with a sigh. I was still two languages behind Eva, and she was good at writing too. While I could speak several of them, my writing had a lot to be desired. I would get better at it with practice, but I never seemed to have much time for that.