You can read the story so far from the beginning here
Hilary stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “Good morning.”
Bracken frowned. “You is far too exhausted,” she said. “I will make breakfast. And it shall be more than porridge.”
“Hmm?” Hilary slumped down in her chair at the kitchen table. “Just some toast will be fine.”
Bracken placed a large mug of hot tea in front of Hilary. “You will have a proper breakfast with meat,” she said firmly. “And a glass of orange juice.”
Hilary sagged a little. “I can’t argue with that,” she said. “Last night wore me out. I’ve got plenty of room for a large breakfast.”
Bracken shot her a worried glance. “You continue to be uninjured?” she asked.
Hilary rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t sleep very well, which is to be expected. But I’m fine. I’ve got a bit of work to finish of for one of my online clients and then I think I’m free until Christmas. I can get to work on those notebooks.” She took a cautious sip of the tea and sighed with pleasure. “I haven’t even stacked the notebooks properly.”
“They’re still in the library,” Bracken said. “But I have not taken the liberty of touching them.” She shuddered, remembering the darkness in the cellar. “Though I a have read other books that aren’t real.”
“That’s okay,” Hilary said. “And while I know that you prefer to keep up to everything, I think you should stay out of the library for a little while.” She thought for a moment. “Though if you want to go in quickly to pick up one of the romance books, or even one of the old cookery books, that’s fine. I just worry about you being in there for any longer than you need to, at least until this is sorted out.”
Bracken sniffed as she checked the warming oven. “You worry about me,” she said quietly, her eyes bright with a hint of tears.
“Of course I do!” Hilary said. She racked her tired brain to find the right words to explain her growing fondness for the young brownie. “You are very dear to me. You are a wonderful worker, you keep the house splendidly, your cooking is becoming better than mine and I think of you as a friend. I like spending time with you. I’m always going to worry about you.”
Bracken swallowed. “Last night, when it was very dark, I feared for you,” she said. “And I consider being a friend as an honour.”
There was a clatter outside and Paul flung open the kitchen door, letting in an icy blast of air. “Good morning,” he said cheerfully. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Hilary. “How are you feeling?”
“I could be worse,” Hilary said.
“In other words, you’re exhausted after a night full of nightmares,” Paul said.
“I am making a breakfast with meat,” Bracken said. “Leave the shoes at the door and the breakfast will be ready after your shower.”
Paul grinned at the brownie. “Are you giving me orders?”
“Orders are important,” Bracken said firmly. “I shall put the bacon in at any moment.”
“I’ll be quick!” Paul said, sliding his running shoes off in the corner next to the door and jogging past to his room.
“Well done!” Hannah said. “You have to take charge in the kitchen sometimes.”
Bracken blushed. “It is important to set standards,” she said. “And he will want a breakfast like a werewolf.”
“Thank goodness that you know how to cook like a genius,” Hilary said. Bracken waved an embarrassed spatula at her and started adding sausages to a large frying pan.
Paul jogged back into the kitchen just as Bracken was dishing up a full English breakfast. “This looks amazing!” he said. “And I’m glad of it after last night.”
“I don’t know if I thanked you properly,” Hilary said. “I was almost finished by the time I got up to the library.”
“I just felt the edges of whatever it was, and it rattled me.” Paul dropped into a chair opposite Hilary. “And it wasn’t what I was expecting when I moved here. I didn’t realise the magical currents would be so strong.” He glanced away from Hilary. “And I didn’t realise that I’d be sharing a roof with another witch.”
“I had no idea who you were,” Hilary said. “Lord Peregrine told me that you were coming the day before you turned up. Not that it’s the first time he pulled that sort of stunt. I didn’t know that Tom was going to be a lodger until just before he arrived and I didn’t expect a werewolf.”
“That explains the portion sizes, if you’re used to feeding werewolves,” Paul said. He sighed gratefully as Bracken slid a coffee in front of him. “Thank you, Bracken. It’s just what I need.”
“And there will be a large breakfast with meat,” Bracken said, turning back to the large frying pan and laying out strips of bacon.
“What’s going on?” Paul asked quietly. “I can tell that the magical flow is corrupted, and that there’s some sort of upheaval around the werewolves, but there’s more to that, isn’t there? I’ll be working in the heart of the village, so what do I need to be worried about.”
It took time for them to work through the breakfasts that Bracken put in front of them and Hilary spent a lot of it briefing Paul. “It comes down to the notebooks,” she said, spearing the last chunk of sausage on her fork. “And Samgan, though the two may be linked.”
“I’ve dealt with some pookas in my time,” Paul said. “I can imagine that the twisted magical flow would be affecting him.”
“So that’s where we stand,” Hilary said.
“Are you okay working with me?” Paul asked. “I know that we’ve barely met, but our magic seemed to mesh last night.”
Hilary thought for a moment. “Do you know, I didn’t think about that,” she said. “I’ve never managed to let another witch pass wards through me, not even a witch that I’ve known and trusted for years. But last night it worked.”
Paul nodded. “I’ve never known magic blend so easily,” he said. He tapped the rim of his coffee cup. “We should be fine working together. And in those circumstances, I’m happy to help with the notebooks.”
“I’ll be glad of the help,” Hilary said. “There’s so many of them!”
“I’m fascinated by the magical flow,” Paul said. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I’ve worked in most parts of the country.”
“I’m not sure that I’m fascinated,” Hilary said. “I’m more terrified by whatever’s in that cellar.”
Paul grimaced. “That’s reasonable,” he said. He hesitated. “You know that the notebooks about whatever’s down there are probably in the workroom, don’t you?”
“Possibly,” Hilary said. “But the shelves were set up quite separately and the desk that Annie seemed to work on had new notebooks waiting. We could be lucky.”
“Did you swipe the notebooks left on the desk?” Paul asked.
Hilary shook her head. “But at least I got all of those on the shelves,” she said. “And the twist in the magical flow feels a little older. Like it predates Annie, but I couldn’t tell you why I feel that way.”
Paul nodded. “There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of data, at least until we work through those notebooks.” He stood reluctantly. “I need to get down to the new stores. Lord Peregrine told me that there are a lot of deliveries arriving today and I should be on hand to help Tom out.”
“Mr Tom already took his lunchbox with him,” Bracken said. “I have prepared an extra one for you, in a bag as there wasn’t a box.”
Paul took the offered bag and peered inside. Bracken had done her best and wedged a small cardboard box at the bottom of the shopping bag. Neatly packed, a small bag with two sausage rolls nestled against a large, wide-mouthed flask and a large sandwich wrapped in greaseproof paper. An apple and an orange were tucked next to a small plastic box filled with half a dozen cookies and a separate, slightly smaller box held a cheese muffin. “You are an excellent cook,” Paul said. He looked thoughtful. “You may end up working two jobs, that is, two situations. You want to stay here and work, but I think that you’ll also enjoy working at the new stores. You’ll get good wages.”
Bracken lifted her chin proudly. “I get excellent wages here,” she said. “I asked for a place to sleep, my food, a glass of milk and a coin at Christmas and I get much more.”
“Bracken is worth her weight in gold,” Hilary said. She turned to the brownie. “Paul’s right. I think that you could run the kitchen at the new stores, and you would deserve a wage. People will pay to eat food that you’ve cooked.”
Bracken darted an anxious glance at Hilary. “But I has wages already.”
“It’s okay,” Hilary said. “We can work it out later. After all, we need to treat you fairly. And I won’t see anyone take advantage of you.”
“She stood against Lord Peregrine for me,” Bracken whispered to Paul. “She is very fierce.”
“Good,” Paul said. “Someone has to be.” He put a gentle hand on Hilary’s shoulder. “I know that I’ve got a busy day, but I’ll be happy to help this evening when I get back.”
“I’ll be glad of the extra eyes,” Hilary said. “There’s so many of them. It will probably take me until this evening to get them all date order.” She watched Paul grab his coat, pick up his lunch and stride confidently out of the kitchen. She still had bags full of notebooks to sort through and all sorts of problems in her cellar, but for a brief moment, things didn’t seem quite as overwhelming.
