Chapter 5 Aunt Bell
The tall man frowned at Aunt Bell.
" Are you not a witch?" He asked, eyes darting between Violet and Aunt Bell.
"I am, but Sir Ashby isn't cursed"
The tall man looked like he had seen a ghost; his eyes drifted around the room without settling on anything.
"I tell you, he is. You didn't see him before the curse." He murmured.
On the counter, Sir Ashby wrapped his tail around the coin; he raised it and let it go, watching intently as the coin spun until it fell flat.
Violet watched him the entire time. She placed another coin in front of him, and he perked up. He tried setting the coins on fire, and when it didn't, he went back to spinning the coins.
"He just wants to play," Violet whispered under her breath.
"Tell me about him before the curse," Aunt Bell said. She watched as the man leaned forward. His arms between his legs.
"We used to go on heroic quests together; I was the hero of the west, and he was Sir Ashby the unyielding"
The look in his eyes was back again; the memories of his life of adventure and honor filled his eyes with a faint color of gold, impossible to fake.
" We would destroy bandits and thieves; he was strong and brave; he's been cursed, cursed"
Aunt Bell watched Sir Ashby play with the coins and slowly climb Violet's arm.
"Look," she pointed.
The man's eyes widened as he watched his dragon play with Violet and the coins.
He barely came out of the pocket for weeks, and now he played with coins.
Sorcery. They must have cast a spell on his dragon.
"Sir Ashby isn't cursed; he's bored." Aunt Bell picked out another coin and gently placed it in front of the dragon.
He jumped down Violet's arm and began to stack the three coins.
"Tell me, what do you spend your time doing?"
The tall man thought for a few moments; he thought about the mornings he spent sitting outside his home watching birds and trees; he thought about the evenings in front of his fireplace, reading books or sipping tea.
"Sir Ashby is bored, and so are you," Aunt Bell revealed.
The tall man opened his mouth to speak but closed it almost immediately.
The witch was right; he was bored. He did not like life with no adventure, and the silence wounded him in ways he did not understand.
He looked at his dragon friend, observing as it rolled coins and climbed the little witch's arm. Sir Ashby was bored too; he had convinced himself that it was a curse and not proof that they both missed the life they had
"We have just the thing for you," Aunt Bell said as she began to walk around the shelves. Her eyes searching each line. She squinted, and the lamps in the shop increased their brightness.
"Here we go," she exhaled. Pulling out a dusty scroll.
"This is a magical scroll. It updates itself whenever a new adventure arises nearby."
The scroll unfurled with a soft rustle. For a moment, its surface remained blank, then fresh ink bled through the parchment, forming words that hadn't been there a moment ago.
The Tall man's eyes brightened as she handed the scroll over to him.
"Ashby, look! There's a strange creature, terrorizing Thistleville. We should help." The tall man spoke with so much excitement that the floorboards underneath his feet creaked.
He rose to his feet, and Sir Ashby leaped onto his shoulders. His tail flipped behind. He pulled his head close to the scroll in the tall man's hands and looked up at him; he let out a low rumble.
The Tall man looked at Aunt Bell. A wide grin spread across his face.
"How much?" He asked
"Four silvers," she said.
"Four silvers?" The Tall man looked down at the scroll, his smile replaced by uncertainty.
"It's a magical scroll." Aunt Bell reached for it, but the tall man pulled back immediately.
He sighed as he reached into his pockets and pulled out a stack of coins.
He placed them in Aunt Bell's palm, glaring at her. Aunt Bell smiled as she put the coins in her pocket.
"Wait," she said. She walked back to the shelves and returned with a small sack.
"For Sir Ashby, it'll help with his boredom." She handed the sack to him.
"I am grateful," he said
"Bye, Sir Ashby. Violet waved at the tiny dragon.
Sir Ashby shrieked before climbing into the tall man's pockets, exactly where he had been when they first stepped in.
He bowed graciously and turned, his heavy boots pounding against the floors as he left.
Almost instantly, brooms that leaned against the walls stood upright. Stood upright, they moved towards the trail of dirt the tall man had left behind, brushing it outside.
Violet felt something settle in her chest as she watched the tall man walk away with a smile on his face.
"Are your customers always this..." Violet paused; she couldn't seem to find the word she was looking for.
"Oh, I get all sorts of customers; you'd be surprised how much people need help." Aunt Bell walked around the counter towards the back rooms.
"Come on, Vi, let's prepare dinner," she beckoned.
Violet looked outside the window; the man and his pocket dragon had disappeared.
The shop was unusually quiet; there were no sounds of loud chewing and obnoxious clicking of hooves.
Right Basil.
Violet walked towards the shelf he had rushed behind and found him sound asleep, his ears flat against his face; he didn't look as annoying when he was sleeping.
"Vi, where are you?" her aunt's voice called from the back rooms.
She stepped back slowly, walking towards the kitchen; this little town wasn't going to be as boring as she anticipated.
She'd only been here two days, and he had met a talking goat, a shop that was alive, a silver wolf,f and now a retired knight and his pocket dragon.
Maybe the exile would turn out to be an interesting vacation and not a punishment. Violet had no idea the strangest thing she would encounter hadn't walked through the door yet.
