Chapter 3

Sera decided right then and there that Lady Seraphina was crazier than Mad Old Ringler, who talked to his chickens as though they were his children. But then she looked back over at the blue barrel and frowned. It sounded crazy, but it was hard to deny the evidence. There were a million questions swirling through her head, but there was one question that nagged more than all the others.

“I’ll pick up what quickly enough?”

Phina chuckled. “Magic, fairy-godmothering and the like. Assuming you agree to my proposal, which is as follows: I would like you to become my apprentice, a ‘fairy goddaughter’ if you want to follow the northwestern school of thought on such things.”

“A real apprentice?” Sera squeaked. “Doing what?”

Phina smiled. “You’d be helping me with my duties, take lessons in magic and the rules of fairy-godmothering, doing the busywork for me. All the things any other apprentice would do, just with more magic.”

Sitting there blinking, Sera realized that this woman was entirely serious and, to her own surprise, that she was thinking of taking this strange offer. There were certain things that Sera felt she had to ask first, though, just in case Phina didn’t realize a few things. “Why me? I make bad things happen. I’m bad luck. Wouldn't someone less accident-prone would be a much better choice?”

“You’ll see why I picked you eventually. As for the clumsiness, it’s what made me notice you in the first place.” Phina leaned forward and her voice grew quieter. “You see, there aren’t nearly enough fairy godmothers in the world, so I’ve been under a lot of pressure to find an apprentice.”

She laughed quietly. “I never expected to find one here in Tolerable. If my father hadn’t insisted I visit, I might never have met you, and that would be a shame. Of all the girls I’ve met so far, you’re the only one who has the necessary traits.”

Sera blushed at this statement, flattered. Leaning forward she asked, “What traits are those?”

“Oh, curiosity, a quick mind, and being seen as different or odd. All fairy godmothers have something odd about them. Like Arsanda Mills.” The portrait of a cheery young woman appeared on Barton’s wall and Phina pointed at it. “She spent the first twenty years of her life simply writing nonsense words. Granted, those words became a language used by formal scholars all over the country, but my point is that it was very strange hobby that proved she could be a very good fairy godmother.”

Sera opened her mouth to ask another question, but Phina stopped her. “It's time for you to go home, and if I’m going to be teaching you it would be best if you invited me to dinner so your uncle won’t be quite so anxious about you spending time with me. Shall we go?” She stood up quickly and waited for Sera to say something.

Stunned, Sera got up. “I never actually said yes yet.”

“But you will,” Phina said brightly. “And hopefully I’ll have time to prepare your contract before we get to Mr. Beanwell’s farm.”

Phina walked out the inn door and down the road, away from the lovely carriage and towards the Beanwell farm. As Sera followed, dazed, she got the distinct impression that something important had just happened.  Looking back for a moment, she saw that Barton had followed them out. He waved goodbye and went back inside.

There was silence as they walked down the dusty road. Sera’s curiosity overcame her. “What exactly do fairy godmothers do?”

“Hmm?” Phina was staring absently down the road. Sera wondered exactly what she was thinking about. When she realized Sera was speaking to her, Phina shook herself and said, “Sorry, dear, just working out your contract. You can read, right?”

Sera rolled her eyes. “Yes, I can. Mrs. Stemley was very insistent that I should go to school with the other children, so I went to school. And the books are much better company than some of the children around here.”

Relieved, Phina smiled. “Well, then.” She snapped her fingers and in a blue flash a writing desk appeared and began to float down the road in front of them.

Sera's eyes widened in amazement and her mouth fell open. “Do I get to do things like that?”

“Only once you’re a fairy godmother, Sera. Fairy goddaughters aren’t permitted to use any form of magic.”

“Why not?”

Phina winced. “Well, you are capable of using magic, you’re just not allowed. The magic fairy godmothers use is odd and unpredictable, so until you know the rules it’s just safer not to let you try it.” She began to fiddle with her hair. “It’s the unpredictability that’s made real fairy godmothers so rare. There just aren’t enough people willing to put up with the strangeness.”

Sera sighed. Something else she was bound to mess up. “Well, let’s see what I’m getting myself into,” she said, pulling the hovering piece of furniture closer to see the page on it. It seemed much more simple than she had expected, stating the usual terms of a seven-year apprenticeship, also asking her only to help those in need and to keep the things she would learn a secret. Sera quickly signed the agreement with a neat “Serendipity” and handed the paper to Phina.

“Wonderful. Now I can start teaching you,” Phina said happily.

“Teaching me? Teach me what?”

Phina laughed. “You didn’t think you would just start, did you? Like the contract said, you have to go through your apprenticeship first. There are rules to learn and happy endings to study before we’ll let you out on your own.”

Sera was still trying to make sense of her afternoon when she walked in the door of the farmhouse, her new teacher following behind. As usual, Forester the cat was pestering Farmer the dog. Green had just sat down at the table and looked up, forehead wrinkling in confusion. Taking a deep breath, Sera said, “I’m back. This is Lady Seraphina, the visitor to town. She asked if she could eat with us and I told her it was fine.” She looked sheepishly at Green. After all the trouble she had caused, he might make her muck out the barn first.

He gave her a tired smile and stood to greet their guest. “Lady Seraphina, welcome. There's not much, but you can share the meal if you wish. Sit!” he said sharply, startling Phina into sitting down. Sera giggled when the two animals Green had been talking to stopped fighting for a moment before ignoring him and snapping at each other again.

Phina smiled and relaxed, realizing what had happened. “Please, call me Phina. As for food, it is no trouble. I brought quite a bit with me.”

Sera tried to puzzle out where exactly Phina could have put any food to bring. Then she remembered the writing desk and magic. Resigned to not understanding anything that happened, she pulled her chair from the wall and pushed over it to the table.

Green pulled another chair to the table for himself. Phina pulled her chair closer to the table and gestured for Sera to come over to her. As Green tried again to pull the two noisy animals apart, Phina whispered, “The food is outside. I want you to bring it in without Green noticing. This will be a good practice for you.”

A bit confused and more than a little irritated, Sera tiptoed outside. A blue suitcase sat primly by the door. Sera dragged it inside quickly, opened it and gaped. Roast chicken! They hadn’t had roast chicken in months. And there were potatoes and fresh apples and more. It was a wonder it all fit in the case so neatly. Who put food in suitcases anyway?

As extremely determined animals, Farmer and Forester could fight for hours if Green didn’t stop them, and pulling them apart took all of his concentration. This time it took him a good twenty minutes to separate them, by which time Sera had set the table, hidden the suitcase in the barn and sat down quietly in her chair to wait.

Green finally pulled Forester off Farmer and threw the silly cat out the window. His eyebrows rose when he saw the feast on the table and he glanced at Phina, but he said nothing about it. He sat down, prayed over the meal, and they all began to eat.

On most days, Green did not say much and this meal was no exception. Normally Sera would babble to fill the silence, but she was too focused on working out what had happened that day to say anything. Phina seemed perfectly content to delicately pick at her food in silence. The most noise came from the clay cups clunking onto the table after someone took a drink.

After the meal was over and the dishes put away, Sera volunteered to walk Phina back to the village, grumbling as she thought of the wonderful carriage that could have saved her the walk. So far being a fairy godmother was nothing like what Sera had expected.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the house, Sera asked, “Why did I have to do that?”

“You signed the contract, but you don’t really know what a fairy godmother does, do you?” When Sera shook her head 'no', Phina continued. “We’re not just old women in fluffy dresses who rescue deserving people from a life of misery. That’s part of it, yes, but our duties are mostly just what you saw. Little things, like replacing a wine cask or offering a poor farmer a feast.”

Smiling ruefully, she said, “And we’ve done our job the best when the people we help don’t even know to thank us. It’s frustrating, but it also gives a lot of hope.”

“What about the stories? If little things are all you do, how do those tales get told?”

Phina laughed. “I said ‘mostly,’ not all, Sera. Getting people to fall in love is the best part.” Her face became stern. “But don’t think I’ll let you start with that. I’ll give you an assignment when you’re ready, but love is a tricky thing. You have to be sure of what you’re doing, and things can still go horribly wrong.”

“Well, I’m certainly used to that,” Sera said and sighed.

“Exactly. That’s what makes you perfect for this job,” Phina said cheerfully. “Now you can go back home. I’m going to visit my family for a few days, but when I return I expect you to be ready to begin your lessons.”

Sera trudged home, the summer sun almost gone completely. When she got back to the farm, Green was waiting for her. At first she thought he was going to ask her about Phina but he simply said, “Strange woman, that,” and went inside. Sera thought a moment, shrugged, and followed.

Author's Note

Chapter transition okay? There's a lot of exposition in this chapter. Is it smooth or does it stand out as clunky? Anything off about the flow of the story here?