Read Online A Question of Magic by E. D. Baker - Free Book Online Page B

things that only a Baba Yaga can do.”
    â€œThat’s pretty much it. Except, well, I can tell the cottage to move.”
    â€œThat’s amazing! I bet you meet a lot of interesting people.”
    â€œEvery day,” said Serafina. “But you’re the only friend who comes to see me. Aside from the people coming to ask me questions, the cat and the skulls are generally the only ones I have to talk to. Oh, and then there are the fairies … I never knew they were real until I became Baba Yaga. I think I can see them
because
I’m Baba Yaga. Why, the first time I saw them—”
    â€œYou’ve
seen
fairies?” Dielle asked, her eyes wide.
    Serafina nodded. “A couple of times. They’re very shy.”
    â€œWhere do you see them? Are there any here now?”
    Serafina laughed. “No, I don’t see them now and I don’t see them very often. When I do, it’s only when I’m outside.”
    â€œThen let’s go out!” Dielle said, hopping to her feet. “I’d love to see a fairy! Maybe if I’m with you when you see one, I’ll see it, too!”
    â€œAll right,” Serafina said, laughing, “but give me a minute to finish my cider!”
    â€œYou can take it with you!” Dielle said, herding her toward the door. “Here, I’ll take mine, too. We can drink while we’re walking.” Snatching her mug from the table, Dielle hustled Serafina out of the cottage.
    â€œI don’t think fairies like to go where there are lots of people,” Serafina said, glancing in the town’s direction.
    â€œThen we’ll go the other way,” said Dielle, turning toward the woods. “We’ll find a place that the fairies would like.”
    They took a well-traveled path into the woods, then followed a deer trail until they reached a meadow filled with wildflowers. “This looks like a good place, wouldn’t you say?” Dielle said, climbing onto a big rock.
    â€œI’d like this spot if I were a fairy,” said Serafina. She had already finished the cider in her mug and was thirsty from their hike, so when she saw a sparkling brook at the edge of the meadow, she knelt down to fill her mug, then did the same for Dielle.
    â€œDo you see any fairies?” Dielle asked, looking at Serafina expectantly.
    â€œNot yet,” Serafina answered with a laugh. “But I do hear voices.”
    Dielle cocked her head to the side and listened. “I do, too,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t think we went far enough into the woods.”
    Serafina wandered toward the sound. Soon the trees thinned out, revealing two men and a wooden boat on the shore of a lake. One of the men was seated in the boat, while the other stood with one foot in the boat and the other on the bank. The man in the boat was struggling with the oars as the boat drifted away from shore.Serafina heard Dielle come up behind her as the legs of the man who was standing spread farther and farther apart. Suddenly he fell in with a splash, his arms and legs thrashing.
    Serafina started to laugh, and when she turned to Dielle, she found her friend laughing so hard that the water she had just sipped from her mug was coming out her nose. The two friends staggered away from the lake, collapsing on the edge of the meadow, where they laughed at the man falling into the water, at the sounds they made when they laughed, and for the sheer joy of laughing.
    â€œMy sides hurt,” Dielle moaned, wrapping her arms around her stomach.
    â€œSo do mine,” Serafina gasped. She squeezed her eyes shut and took great shuddering breaths. When she opened her eyes, she was facing a yellow blossom bending so low it almost touched her face. A tiny man with pale green wings sat astride the blossom, watching her.
    Serafina tried not to move, not wanting to frighten him. “Dielle,” she whispered.
    â€œWhat?” Dielle asked, and hiccuped