Second Night by Gabriel J Klein Page A

broth.
    â€˜Does it need more salt and pepper?’ asked Maddie.
    Sara took another spoonful. ‘A bit more, I think.’
    â€˜What about some sage?’ Jemima suggested.
    â€˜That’s what’s missing,’ agreed Maddie.
    â€˜And dumplings,’ said Sara. ‘I make seriously wicked dumplings on a good day and this is a good day. I can feel it in my bones.’
    â€˜Challenge!’ cried Jemima. ‘Daisy’s been teaching me all her secrets in case she dies and there’s no one left to feed Sir Jonas.’
    Sara laughed. ‘Challenge accepted!’
    They raced each other to the pantry, squabbling goodnaturedly over flour and bowls. Jemima grabbed the weighing scales. ‘Me first!’
    Caz rocked the chair, amused and comfortable with the cats. ‘You are the three Norns stirring the white water in the cauldron of Fate,’ he told them.
    â€˜So which one is which?’ asked Jemima, detecting a story.
    Caz looked at his mother. ‘You are Urth , Ma,’ he said, rolling the r and softening the th to a whisper. ‘You are Eldest and Norn of the Past.’
    â€˜What am I?’ asked Sara eagerly.
    â€˜You are Elder Sister so you must be Verthandi , the Ever-Present.’
    â€˜That’s nice! Say it again. I want to hear how you pronounce it.’
    â€˜Verthandi,’ he repeated, lightening the er almost to air before the soft th .
    Sara put her head on one side. ‘Will you always call me that?’
    â€˜If you want.’
    â€˜I do want.’
    â€˜Then I will always think of you as Verthandi even if I don’t remember to say it. How’s that?’
    She grinned. ‘It’s good.’
    â€˜That leaves me as the Norn of the Future,’ said Jemima. ‘So what’s my name?’
    â€˜You are Skuld .’
    Jemima pulled a disappointed face. ‘That sounds too much like school to me.’
    â€˜The d on the end makes it nothing like school, not even by implication.’
    â€˜I’d rather be a sibyl than a Norn.’
    â€˜Technically they are one and the same thing.’
    She shrugged and smiled. ‘Whatever, I’ll stick with Sibylla.’
    Caz watched his sister mixing the dough, listening to her happy laughter now that her concern for him was eased. Maddie took his empty cup and filled it. The sugar bowl was empty. She gave him the box. He smiled his thanks, dropping the crystal cubes into the coffee one at a time, letting the bubbles rise and burst… another cube… more bubbles… another cube.... more bubbles.
    Is our family cursed? he wondered yet again. Whatever it is that leads me to World Tree could also take my sister. I should be telling her what a bargain with the Goddess might really mean, but she would never believe me. I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t believe me either.
    Sara interrupted his reverie. ‘What do they look like, these Norns? Are they beautiful?’
    â€˜They’re supposed to be crones.’
    â€˜So I am a crone who is stuck in the past,’ observed Maddie.
    â€˜Only because you let us keep you there,’ he answered quietly. ‘You’re wasted on us, Ma. We’re no fun for you. One day you’ll admit it and decide to get on with your life.’
    â€˜Then maybe I should take more notice of Verthandi,’ she said, smiling at Sara.
    Caz looked from one to the other. The scent of conspiracy hung in the air. ‘What’s going on?’
    They laughed.
    â€˜Women’s stuff,’ said Jemima demurely.

CHAPTER 14
    Alan waited until the breakfast was cleared away on Monday morning before he tried out the key to the mysterious cupboard in the office. Daisy and John were busy in the herb garden. The horses were due to be shod and Maddie was in the yard waiting for the farrier. Blue was ordered to stay in his bed beside the stove in the kitchen.
    The atmosphere in the office was heavy with chemical smells of