Miriam breathed a sigh of relief as she came back down the stairs from Eilidh’s apartment. As much as she enjoyed her employers company sometimes she was desperate to get some time to herself.

Of course serving in the store didn’t really count as time to herself but it was time without Eilidh’s demands. As far as vampires go, Eilidh was pretty laid back but she still had what Miriam called the vampire me me me’s.

At first glance, Miriam wasn’t the typical image of a vampire’s daylighter. She was a slight human with long red hair and a mass of freckles that she hated and everyone else thought were cute. She was intelligent, bookish, and looked more like a librarian than a vampires servant. Oops, sorry, we’re not allowed to call them that nowadays. I should probably call her a vampire assistant.

*****

Miriam was tired. She’s been working all night and had only managed to get a couple of hours sleep. And now she had to run the store all day until Eilidh rose again. At least sunset came early during winter in Redbough.

She really did need to freshen up though. There were no customers in the store so she took the opportunity to turn the door sign to closed for thirty minutes and headed to the back of the store to her rooms for a shower and a change of clothes. She’d have an hour or so before customers started coming in. Usually they were human customers during the day with one or two witches or werewolves. They were far more reasonable than the night creatures. They wouldn’t mind coming back in half an hour and the coffee shop next door was open to occupy them.

Miriam’s rooms were originally an old office that had been converted into a kitchen/lounge/bedroom combo with an en suite. She was happy with her wee home, she liked living and working next to Eilidh. She didn’t go out much. Every now and then she would visit her friend Morgan who ran The Tavern in the Village, on the other side of Redbough.

Morgan had an amazing herb garden and healing clinic behind the bar. She was wiccan and leader of her coven. Most of her customers, or patients, were human but she was also able to treat any of the other races if they needed her help. Morgan didn’t discriminate.

Miriam threw on some clean jeans and a warm green sweater, retied her ponytail, and shot a quick glance around the living area. She’d have to run a vacuum over the floor when she got in tonight but her home was tidy enough for now.

Time to get back to work then.

*****

There was a crowd of two when Miriam turned the sign around to open but they were both regulars who greeted Miriam with a smile and and a friendly hello. Gerald, an elderly werewolf who had a fascination with hedgehogs went to the animals and nature section, while Chloe, a witch, headed straight for the free coffee in the reading nook.

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That meant Miriam had time to clean up the counter space before she had to serve anyone. Assuming either of her current customers actually bought anything. They usually came in just to have a chat.

Eilidh was a tidy creature so there wasn’t much for Miriam to do as far as tidying went, she just needed to wash Eilidh’s favorite mug. She didn’t like to be idle so she tried to think of other chores that Eilidh might like her to do. It was important to her that she did a good job. It was never a good idea to piss off a vampire but Miriam truly cared about Eilidh and wanted to see to her needs. She’d felt that way ever since they met in…wait…when did we meet?

“Mary dear, do you think this is appropriate for 10 year olds? We think my grandbaby’s going to turn during the next full moon, or maybe the one after that. Anyhow, I’d like to give him some idea of what its like. I know its usually the parents job but its just him and his mum now and she’s human, if you can believe that?”

Miriam was used to Gerald forgetting her name and she didn’t want to embarrass him by correcting him again, so she just said, “Sure. I think thats a great book for a 10 year old, but won’t his pack help him?”

Gerald shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows? It’s not like it was back in my day when the pack all lived together as humans as well as wolves. I just want to prepare Stacey, the first turning is always the hardest and I know he hasn’t hit puberty yet but I think the earlier he’s prepared the better.”

“Miriam! You’re out of coffee!”

“Alright, Chloe, I’ll be there soon”

Gerald was already wandering off into the werewolf section so Miriam figured she had enough time to change the coffee pot before he came back to the counter.

*****

Chloe kept up a running dialog about the importance of having two familiars in case one became ill and Miriam was keeping half an eye on Gerald so she didn’t notice when the young witch came in.

If Miriam had noticed her, she wouldn’t have set off any alarm bells. The witch had long blonde, straight,hair and she was wearing maroon leggings with a yellow Arcane Academy of Magical Arts sweatshirt. She was carrying a large purple backpack over one shoulder and she looked like everybody’s kid sister.

Miriam also didn’t notice when the witch leaned over the front counter and put Eilidh’s favorite mug into her bag.

Miriam did notice when the witch left the store but only because Chloe had paused for a breath and she heard the bell above the door. However, she just assumed that Gerald had changed his mind about the werewolf book and had gone home. Although, it was a bit strange that he hadn’t said goodbye.

So Miriam was surprised when she returned to the counter to find Gerald standing there patiently waiting to be served.

“Sorry, Gerald, I thought I heard you leaving. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

“No problem, Maryanne, I’m in no hurry and I know how Chloe gets when she doesn’t get her coffee.”

“I heard that, you shaggy old mongrel. You watch better watch yourself or I’ll turn you into a toad.”

Gerald and Miriam laughed at that, but neither was sure if Chloe was serious or not.

After that, the store started to fill up and the rest of the day flew by for Miriam. It was 3pm when she made herself a coffee and remembered that she was going to wash Eilidh’s mug, but it wasn’t on the counter.

Huh. I must’ve washed it earlier. I gotta get some sleep, I’m losing it.