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Rosie laughed good-naturedly.

“Of course—the hay pancakes are only for our local Creatures. You couldn’t digest them—unless you have some kind of special magic stomach.”

“I don’t know what kind of magic I have,” I said honestly.

“Oh, boy.” She shook her head. “Let me guess, you found a magic door and wound up here by accident.”

“Something like that,” I admitted.

“But you’ve never done any magic or had anything magical happen to you before?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Exactly.”

“Sounds like you need to go see Goody Albright—she can probably help you find out what kind of witch you are,” she said.

“That’s our next stop,” Bartley told her. “But first—tuna and pancakes.”

“But not on the same plate,” I said quickly.

Rosie laughed.

“Of course not! Hang in there—I’ll send one of my guys over with your order in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

She left and a few minutes later a big, muscular man with dark hair came over. He had a small bowl of tuna and a huge plate with a hubcap-sized pancake on it.

“Here you go—enjoy!” He smiled as he sat the dishes on the table. “Oh, and Rosie wanted to know if you want anything to drink?” he asked me.

“Coffee with cream and sugar please,” I said. As long as I was eating an insane amount of carbs for breakfast, I might as well go all the way.

“You got it.” He nodded and walked off again.

I opened my silverware and reached for the syrup to pour a puddle on top of my pancakes. The first bite was absolutely magical—light and fluffy and buttery and the syrup gave just the right amount of sweetness. It was so good my eyes rolled up in my head and I heard myself saying,

“Mmm-mm!”

At that moment, the muscular guy came back with my coffee. He smiled as he sat it down.

“I’ll tell Rosie you’re enjoying your breakfast,” he remarked as he left again.

I would have answered him, but I had my mouth full of golden fluffy deliciousness.

The coffee was excellent too and from the way he was going to town on the tuna, Bartleby was also enjoying his breakfast as much as I was enjoying mine.

We finished at about the same time, but when I tried to pay the bill, Rosie waved a hand at me and smiled.

“No charge for first time customers,” she said cheerfully. “Think of it as a welcome home gift.”

“Oh, but Hidden Hollow isn’t my home,” I protested.

“Not yet, but it will be.” She winked and laughed as she walked off.

Bartleby and I made our way through the crowded diner and back out onto Main Street.

“Well, it was nice of her to give us breakfast on the house,” I remarked as we strolled down the sidewalk side-by-side.

“Yes, Goldie’s a treasure,” he agreed. “She keeps a stock of my favorite tuna just for me.” He licked his chops. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it. That idiot Natalie won’t feed me anything but dry food and that disgusting Fancy Feast.” He shuttered. “It tastes like wet dog food.”