“You’re not coming in,” said Mike, “not like that.”

Jess knew exactly what he meant. On her way here, she had caught a glance of her reflection in several glass windows and had been unimpressed with what she saw. Her hair looked as though she had been dragged through a bush backwards, complete with leaves sticking out haphazardly. Her dress was no better, though she needed no reflection for that. Mud spattered her thoroughly.

Jess’s shoulders slumped. “Come on Mike. You can’t just leave me out here.”

“Ye’re filthy.”

“I know.”

“Ye’ll track mud into the shop.”

“I’ll clean up afterwards.”

He crossed his arms and looked her straight in the eyes. “There’s a duck.”

Without looking down, Jess answered. “Her name is Matilda.”

“No pets allowed in my shop.”

“Matilda isn’t a pet. She’s a future student.”

“She’s a what?” Mike asked, incredulous.

Jess sighed. “It has been a weird night, ok? Please just let me in.”

“Does the duck have to come in with ye?”

Jess looked down at Matilda. She was sat on the floor with her feet tucked under her. Her head was tilted so that one shining black eye was observing Jess with interest.

“Are you coming in?” Jess asked the duck.

Matilda gave a soft quack. The feathers on her neck lifted and smoothed again.

“I’m pretty sure that means yes,” said Jess in a defeated tone.

Mike stared at her for a moment with narrowed eyes. His left ear twitched. With a shake of his head, he moved away from the door and retreated upstairs to his own room. “Make sure ye clean up before sleeping,” he said over his shoulder as he softly walked up the staircase despite his hooved feet.

Jess looked down at Matilda. She had no idea how she was going to look after her in such a tidy shop. There was no running water available for her to swim in. Jess wasn’t even sure whether the food they had would be suitable for her. Regardless, she had accepted the white duck as a student so leaving her outside the door wasn’t an option. It wouldn’t take long for a passer-by to decide that Matilda would make a suitable family meal.

“After you,” Jess said, motioning for Matilda to enter. The duck waddled forward, pausing at the threshold. She extended her neck, swivelling her head to look around the room, before running inside with an excited series of quacking noises.

Jess followed, making sure to lock the door behind her. She dropped into a crouch, before sitting directly on the floor so that she could remove her boots. Her back ached and her feet were an uncomfortable mix of cold dampness with fiery patches on the soles where the rugged landscape had taken its toll. Despite this, she smiled softly, watching while Matilda continued to explore. The little duck pitter-pattered all around the perimeter before disappearing behind the wooden counters.

“Don’t get into trouble back there!” Jess warned. The little duck’s face reappeared briefly around the other side of the counter before disappearing once more.

With her boots removed and gently placed beside the door, Jess straightened to acquire some much-needed clean clothes. On her way, the heavy key was returned to its customary place behind the shop counter, revealing Matilda. She looked up from the wooden edges that she was examining with her beak and waddled behind Jess, following her to her room.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Jess said, blockading the way into her room with her foot. “You wait out here. I won’t be long.”

She had no idea how clever the duck actually was. If it was able to communicate with the strange little dryad from the woods, she certainly didn’t want it sharing details about her choice of underwear. She’d accepted Matilda as a student and the fact that the damned creature had followed her home was already bad enough.

With the door safely shut, her muddy gear was unceremoniously dumped into the corner of the small room, and she hurried on a soft woollen nightgown in its place. It wasn’t the best choice of clothing to quickly wipe down a floor, but it was easy to throw on and, more importantly, easy to clean afterwards. Jess missed her washing machine dearly. The arduous process of hand washing everything she wore had quickly become her most hated chore. Worse still, the chronic absence of hot running water meant that showering regularly was out of the question. Delaying washing her clothes, or simply trying to wash them less frequently wouldn’t work. She just had to get on with it whether she liked it or not. Stinking up the place with hideous body odour was completely unacceptable – for her sake and everybody else’s.

Now suitably redressed, Jess cracked open the door a smidge to see where Matilda was. The little duck was no longer outside. Jess padded out into the shop front on bare feet, but still couldn’t see where Matilda had gotten to.

“Matilda?” she called softly. If she wakes up Mike, he’ll pitch a fit.

There was a creak that seemed to come from the stairs. Jess beelined towards it, but when she looked up there was no trace of the bird. Not even a feather.

Regardless, Jess knew she needed to grab some cleaning materials from upstairs so that she could deal with the small muddy tracks that she had left. The kitchen area upstairs was also suspiciously void of ducks, as was the hallway.

She poked her head out of the kitchen, checking to see whether Mike’s door was ajar. He was always careful to shut it, but something about the way that the duck had disappeared had put Jess on edge.

She can’t open doors though… Can she?

The thought was an unsettling one. Rather than pondering the question further, she grabbed an old washcloth and some cleaning soap.

As she descended the stairs, the thrum of tiny feet across hardwood sounded.

“Matilda?” Jess called softly as she rounded the bottom of the staircase. Again, the little duck was nowhere in sight. Jess leaned around the counters and peered around. Still nothing. There was no sign of Matilda behind the barrel in the corner either.

With an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, Jess went to go retrieve some water for cleaning with. There were no signs that the little duck had made it into the storeroom either.

“Where are you?” Jess called out. She’s got to be around here somewhere.

Not wanting to be wasteful, Jess filled her cleaning bucket to only be a third full and made her way back into the shop front. The lack of light made it hard to see the muddy footprints against the dark wood, but she had a rough idea of the steps she had taken. She knelt to set to work when rapid pattering footsteps could be heard behind her. She whipped her head around to try and catch the duck in the act, but the room still appeared to be empty.

“Matilda?” she called out again. She could hear the worry in her voice.

Get a grip Jess. It’s just a duck for Heaven’s sake.

She left the cloth where she dropped it and leaned over the counter to peer behind it again. Nothing. She frowned deeply, sure that she’d heard the footsteps from back here.

“Alright Matilda. I’m starting to lose my patience now,” Jess said, “out you come. Come on.”

The faintest noise could be heard around the other side of the counter in the far corner. Jess darted to catch sight of the elusive duck, but once again she had missed the creature.

With a sigh, she turned away from the counter, losing patience for the little duck’s games. She dipped her hand into the bucket to retrieve the cloth, before realising that she had left it discarded on the floor. Much like the duck, the cloth was nowhere to be seen.

“Matilda, you get out here right now with my cloth, young lady.”

Calling the duck a lady didn’t quite feel right in Jess’s mouth, but she was too annoyed to go back and correct herself.

“If you don’t come out here with the cloth you took, I’m going to go straight back to the woods and tell that friend of yours that you’re no longer welcome at the school.”

There was a noise of fluttering feathers from behind the counter.

“You’ve got until the count of five,” Jess warned, rising to her feet, and planting her hands firmly on her hips. She began to count down.

When she reached ‘two’, the mischievous white duck poked out her head. In her beak was the damp cleaning cloth, hanging limply.

“You,” Jess said, “are a very naughty duck.”

The duck dropped the cloth and quacked softly.

Jess sighed. “It’s a good job you’re cute.”