The Magician's Assistant

6

After escorting Gramps to the town's tavern to find a room for the night, Rachael parted ways with him and headed back to the store she had left a few hours prior.

Luckily, John was still there, finishing up a few mundane jobs around the building. Apparently, he had gotten completely sucked into trying to fix a squeaky door hinge, and hadn't actually noticed that the sun had set, and Rachael was long overdue.

Rachael explained what had happened, and chatted with John for a little while, before heading back home.

Rachael came to the front door of her home, and pulled out here key. Before she could unlock it, the door swung open on it's own.

Rachael's mother was standing at the other side of the door. She had a very similar appearance to her daughter. Her hair was long and brown, and her eyes were a hazel color. She looked younger than she actually was, but old age was still slowly creeping in.

"Rachael, welcome home," she said, smiling warmly.

"Good to see you, mom. Sorry for being so late,"

"We were starting to worry about you. You missed dinner, but we saved you some leftovers,"

"Thanks. I've had one hell of a day,"

Rachael's mother frowned.

"Didn't I ask you not to use that word in here?" she said, crossing her arms.

"Sorry. One heck of a day,"

Rachael's mother's expression returned to normal.

"That's better,"

Rachael walked over to the kitchen with her mother in tow. She glanced at the grandfather clock that sat near the front door. It was almost nine.

"I'm surprised dad didn't greet me too," Rachael said.

"He's reading Alex a bedtime story,"

"Are they still working on that novella?"

Rachael's mother nodded.

"Almost done with it, I think,"

Rachael found a plate of food waiting for her on the counter. She grabbed a biscuit and began to eat.

"How was work? Are you still thinking about quitting?" Rachael's mother asked.

"It was slow today, until this old man came in," Rachael began.

Rachael told her mother everything that had happened to her since Gramps first walked into the store a few hours prior. She told almost every event exactly how she remembered it, with the exception of the bushranger's attack.

When it came time for Rachael to tell her mother about the bushranger, she hesitated for a moment before continuing. She left out most of the details surrounding the creature's attack. She simply said that she'd seen it, and Gramps promptly destroyed it with magic.

"Goodness! I didn't think we had any of those awful zombie things living around here," Rachael's mother said.

"Well, that particular one certainly isn't living here anymore," Rachael said.

"That's definitely not what you expected when you signed up to run a shop,"

"You can say that again,"

"Still, you never said if you wanted to quit or not,"

Rachael didn't respond for a moment.

"Still haven't made up your mind?" Rachael's mother asked.

"That job's really getting old, but I just don't know what else to do with myself," Rachael said softly.

Rachael's mother put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"We can find you something better. Dad can get you into the lumber business whenever you want,"

"I just always feel like I'm wasting my time there. John could run that place on his own, and he'd probably like it,"

"I know it's not very busy there, but I'm sure he still appreciates the help. He is starting to get old,"

"To be honest I don't think he knows what to do with himself when I'm there. He loves to come in on his days off and ask for something to help out with,"

"I hear his brother's inn is looking for a barmaid. You'd probably be great at that. Though it is out of town,"

"I guess, but I really don't feel anything calling to me,"

"You'll find something,"

"I hope so,"

For a minute or so, Rachael silently ate. No one really had anything else to say.

"I'll go tell your father you're home. I'm sure he's fallen asleep in that chair again," Rachael's mother said.

Rachael laughed.

"Probably passed out as soon as he saw Alex was asleep," she said.

Rachael's mother walked out of the room.

Rachael finished her meal, cleaned up after herself, then headed to her room. She didn't realize how tired she was until she lied down on her bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.