The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (read aloud books txt) 📕

dried herbs, flowers, and small vials filled with different liquids. They each had a small hand written label attached to the bottle’s neck with a piece of twine. She had bottles for pain relief, colds, and even a bottle marked “love spell”. Fig walked over to his little cat bed in the back, by a blue chair, which looked like the one Thea had back home, only without the dingy buttons, and curled up for a nap. Thea spent the better part of an hour dusting off her booth and studying all the items locked in her cabinet; she was cross referencing everything to her book and relearning what it all was.

She also found a silver key with a knotted design along the top, with a purple ribbon attached to it. She promptly put this with her other key in her bag. As she was looking at the bottles, she saw one that had another tattered piece of paper which matched the other in her bag. It said “Beware the woman with the flame tattoo….” Apprehension coursed through her veins. Who had written the notes? What was she supposed to do if she met ‘the woman with the flame tattoo?’ disquiet thoughts filled her head.

She saw Eleonore set up her booth across the way; she was doing business with a tall woman with long flowing red hair. She shook herself from her reverie and opened up for business. Thea sold a few items, stumbling through the transactions. Her prices must have been the same for some time as people seemed to simply hand her coins for items that they had bought before.  Many of the clients asked her where she had been. Thea would respond with a vague “Oh, just traveling,” as she put the gold coins into her bag.

As the day went on, Thea bought some cheese and wine from a booth and brought lunch over to Eleonore. The two munched on their meal, watching people walking by. Eleonore pointed out the women she used to clean for. “Oh she has a huge house with nothing in it. It’s beautiful from the outside, but she can’t afford anything to fill it with. She never has her friends over and always says her husband is away on business… she doesn’t have a husband. She keeps up the appearance though. The one with the brown wavy hair there in the purple dress,” she said gesturing. “She cooks the most wonderful food.” Eleonore continued going through the crowd and smiled watching Thea trying to remember everyone that she should have recognized. A few people walked up to Thea’s booth. She wiped her mouth and excused herself to go assist them.

“Hello,” Thea said to the woman. “How can I help you?” The woman was an average size wearing a pair of knee length pants and dark black boots with a clean white shirt. Her skin was a beautiful hue of caramel and her eyes were bright blue. She had chocolate brown hair loosely tied with a ribbon over her shoulder.

I’m looking for some rosewater, please,” the woman said impatiently.

“Just a moment,” Thea responded, slightly put off by the woman’s curt attitude, as she shuffled through the cabinet. She found a bottle labeled “rosewater”; the pink liquid was almost transparent in the sunlight. She turned back to the woman and unsuccessfully tried to wipe the unease off her face. By this time, Fig had jumped up on the counter and was watching the woman very closely, his hair on his tail started to rise. Thea placed it on the counter next to him and took the five gold pieces that the woman had left for her. “Thank you for your business,” Thea said with a falsely cheery smile.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” the woman questioned.

Thea looked at the woman for a moment and tilted her head to the side.  “No, I’m sorry. Have we met?” she asked hesitantly. The woman lowered her chin and smirked at Thea. Fig stood up, all of his hair on end. He let out a deep growl. She leaned in closer to Thea and whispered to her.

“We’ve been looking for you, Thea.” Suddenly, the woman with the caramel skin turned in a circle and changed into a dark crow that flew into the sky, squawking ominously over the village.

Thea stood, awestruck, staring at the sky where the crow had been. Terrified, Thea looked over to Eleonore to see if she had witnessed what just happened. Eleonore was pale as if she had just seen a ghost when she darted over to Thea’s booth. Thea and Fig ran over to Eleonore, wide eyed. “Who was that?!” Thea stammered.

“A witch,” Eleonore said in a hushed whisper. Eleonore looked back and forth down the street and saw the other people whispering and pointing towards them.

“She said they were looking for me,” Thea said in a small voice. Eleonore’s eyes got big and full of fear.

“You better go hide, dearie. A witch looking for you is never a good sign. Head towards the far path, not back towards Flynn.”

Thea, full of fear, went back to her booth and quickly packed up her bag with the bottles she had in her cabinet and a few of the herbs. She now had a heavy bag full of bottles and gold coins. She locked what she couldn’t carry into the cabinet and had her booth closed up in the matter of minutes. She hurriedly bought some meat, cheese, and bread from a few of the vendors, though the people didn’t seem eager to help her after they saw the witch. Everyone seemed scared of her now. She hugged Eleonore and thanked her for her help as Eleonore responded with a quick pat and rushed push.

The cat led the way out of town into the dense woods. She couldn’t figure out how the witch knew her or what she could