The cat turned and looked at me. "Yes, magic. This is a magical shop, is it not?" His green eyes glowed and stood out against his black fur.

"It is a bookshop,” I answered slowly. The shelves had changed a little, and things moved on their own, but it was still a bookshop.

"Right now it is a bookshop,” the cat sat down, “but it won't be one tomorrow. This needs to set overnight. So pay attention. Fill the crock to the line inside with the blue paint, and try not to get it everywhere.”

“Shouldn't we do this in the kitchen?" I asked before I could stop myself. The cat glared at me. So I closed my mouth and opened the paint. It was mineral paint and it didn't look mixed. "Should I mix this?" I showed him inside the container.

"Yes."

I closed it back up and started shaking it. Then rolled it around on the counter. At least it was only one container. The cat's tail twitched each time it rolled in front of him. His paw moved only once when it came close to him. I needed more information about this magic we were going to do. "So what type of magic is this?"

"Important magic."

Okay. He was not in a talking mood. I opened the lid to check to see if it was good. It was all one color now. I carefully poured it inside the clay pot making sure not to spill it. Getting paint off of the wooden counter would be a pain and I knew the cat wasn’t going to clean it up. "Alright, what’s next, Jedi master?"

"I am not a Jedi. And next are the oils. Three drops of rosemary. Then all of the peppermint."

That was easy enough. I could follow those instructions.

"Now, stir it with the spoon." He moved much closer, his face right next to the edge of the rim as I stirred. I tried to be careful to not spill any of it. The whole area stunk of peppermint. Thankfully, I liked the smell. It completely covered any smell from the paint. His whiskers twitched and he nodded. "Alright, now onto the black powder."

"Is this gunpowder?" I asked, hesitating.

"No. Dump the whole bag into it carefully. It stings if it gets in your eyes." The cat moved backward from the crock, putting a good distance in between it and the black powder.

"While stirring?" I hesitated.

"You can stop stirring."

That was a relief. I hadn’t been sure how I wasn’t going to get it all over the place if I had to stir it. The black powder was a little more difficult since it was a leather pouch with only so much structure. But I got it all on top of the blue paint mixture and tried to make sure I didn't breathe any of it in. Who knew what was in it? I moved to grab the spoon.

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"Don't!"

I flinched at the tone and froze. The spoon was raised up but I didn't move. I wasn't sure if I could. The cat darted forward and leaned over the opening. His nose touched the powder piled up. Bright light pulsed from his nose and slowly covered the black powder. When it pulled away it had turned a deep silver color.

"Now you can stir it."

My muscles all relaxed at once and I almost stumbled. The cat had turned the black powder into something that looked like glitter. I moved the wooden spoon slowly and the silver sunk into the blue. It almost looked like nail polish. The silver did not dissolve. Instead, it floated. Little silver flecks in the blue paint. I tried to keep the smirk off my face. "You know, glitter might be cheaper."

"It's magic,” grumbled the cat. His eyes stayed on the mixture as I kept stirring.

"Whatever you say," I said. After all, he was a talking cat, maybe it was magic? I kept my unease to myself. The hair on the back of my neck was raised. He had frozen me in place. I wasn't sure how to feel about this. Not to mention whatever he had done did seem like magic. The magical bookstore seemed safe somehow. Whatever he had done didn't. I ignored the goosebumps.

"You can put it in the fridge now. We will need it tomorrow. The magic needs to rest to combine with it."

"Will it do anything to the food inside the fridge?"

The cat shook his head no. “Put the lid on it.”

Cats shouldn't shake their heads. It was so wrong. "Okay, just checking. 'Cause I don't know much about this magic stuff."

#

I studied her as she carried the crock into the kitchen. She was being super careful with it, taking slow steps to make sure she didn't spill or drop it. This one was weird. The magic didn't seem to scare her much, and me not at all. The bookshop was seen as amazing. Then I froze her. I didn’t mean to. It happened automatically. I spoke and it happened.

Starting over would have taken too much time. Not to mention we didn't have any more paint or peppermint oil. The supply closet was running low on several items, some normal and others magical.

Whenever the shopkeeper changed, things slowed down. The place needed to get used to the new energy, and so did I. There was just a neverending list of things to do, places to go, and things to keep in order. I couldn't help but glance at the book she hadn't noticed yet. It was on the chair I was sleeping on earlier. Soon she would need to see it and maybe understand what we were responsible for.

But not yet. It was good that she liked the shop. And she did make good bacon.

"I am going to be placing a Walmart order. Make sure you add anything you want to the list. You have twenty minutes." That should do it. Right on time she popped out of the kitchen.

"For real? Anything I want?" she asked.

"Even more of that purple hair dye. Just make sure it is in stock." The smile on her face lit up the whole space. More sunlight streamed in from the skylights, which were new. She was already making so many changes and she didn't even know it. The longer it stayed that way, the better.

I had to admit, the new light in the room was nice. I liked it. Which was strange. I didn't like anything, not anymore. More and more the years were weighing down on me. Everything was about the book. I snuggled into the chair a little bit more and closed my eyes. The delivery would get here soon enough. The fear had vanished with the bribe. I didn’t want her to fear me. And that was new, too.