Legend of the Black Rider (Preternatural - book #1)

14: how to absquatulate

Zainab and the kids returned three hours after they parted ways from Sandro. After the cinema, Zainab took them out for lunch and then they had to wait as she handled her business for coming to town. Now they were back at The Crow's Nest and just before 6pm.

Sandro wasn't there yet so Zainab told Dylan to stay close to Daniel and let them go and play in the Courtyard with Bruno while she fixed them a snack and Silvia prepared dinner.

Zainab went into the kitchen and loved the mouth-watering smell of dinner. There were at least five people working in the kitchen: Silvia the Cyclops , RuPaul the goblin, Missy and Doile the Enchantants, and finally Tene and Tassa the two-headed sisters.

The kitchen was big and open. Stoves were built into the walls surrounding them with a fridge in each corner. A massive kitchen table rested in the middle of the kitchen with drawers all around it. Cupboards divided the stoves. A big meat-locker was in the back along with most of the dairy.

"What smells so good?" Zainab asked as she headed to one of the fridges to grab some yogurt and oats.

"It's gnocchi with broccoli-cream sauce and potato-peels for dinner with a side of roasted mango-and-chicken-curry." said Missy as she checked the oven. "And for dessert the guests will have a choice between butterscotch-cheesecake or beet-brownies with tangerine and cream-cheese."

"Make sure there's some for you, too." said Zainab, closing the fridge after grabbing two tubs of yogurt and a container with oats in. "And make sure you don't forget that Celine and Daniel are guests as well, okay?"

They were too busy to answer her with words so they all just mumbled something as a respond.

Zainab left the kitchen carrying the snacks in her arms folded in front of her chest. As she came out into the lobby, she ran into one of her guests and almost dropped what she was carrying.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she scolded them.

"Sorry, Ms. Soldeur," said the guest, a plump woman with green hair, pale skin and sharp ears wearing a bright red dress lined with blue stitching. "I was actually looking for you. Some lady, Celine, said she wants to talk to you. She's waiting for you upstairs."

"Okay," said Zainab, looking down at the tubs of yogurt and oats. "Can you get this to the two kids outside? One of them's skinny and the other one's blonde." The guest took the snacks from Zainab and left with a smile on her face.

Zainab wiped her hands against her legs and hurried up the stairs. Whatever Celine wanted to talk about must be important. Maybe it would centre around what she planned on doing next. Zainab knew Celine for a long time and knew she would never just stay in one place for long. If Celine decided to stay at The Crow's Nest for longer than a month, she'd at least have a game plan for how she'd make it work.

She came to the room she had registered for Daniel and Celine and knocked on the door even though she knew Celine was inside.

"Come in," she heard Celine call to her. Breathing in slowly, Zainab grabbed the doorknob with her left hand, her right hand in a knocking-position against the door. As she stepped inside, she witnessed one last tear roll down Celine's face before she wiped it all away. Her eyes were red and the rest of her face pale. Zainab closed the door behind her to give the two of them some privacy.

"Celine, what happened?" asked Zainab when she saw the sadness on her niece's face. "Why are you crying? Where have you gone off to?"

Celine sniffled and sobbed before looking up at the other woman.