[Open - Irish Coffee]

[irishcoffee]

Maggie finished the chalk easel for the front of the cafe, embellishing the announcements of specials with sunny wildflowers and scrolled ivy leaves. As she walked it out to put on the sidewalk in front of the store, she stopped to let the sun warm her face.

It had rained in Faelan's Folly for a week - starting with storms full of thunder and ear-splitting lightning strikes until tapering off to yesterday's lighter clouds and soft soaking rain to last night's light drizzle.

She'd spent most of her off time during the week near the monument, the flat stone just off the park grounds that was, for all intents, the heart of the Folly. There were rumors about it, of course, some of them right on the mark. Not that she'd ever confirm it.

The monument was also where she rechared, reset her magic and reconnected with the elements that bowed to her. At midnight last night, she knew it was time to get back to business, back to herself, and move herself forward.

Maggie pulled water from a nearby puddle, rinsed the chalk from her fingers, and settled in to help her morning regulars get the caffeine they needed to start their day.

Comments

[wizard4hire]

"It depends on how modern your car is," I admitted. "And how attached you are to things like your radio, power seats, and that sort of thing."

He was so exhausted though that it might not hurt her car too badly. Still, I'd hate to stick her without a radio just for giving me a ride somewhere. If it wasn't that far of a walk I could probably probably make it just fine. It would give me an idea of the lay of the land as well as what this place was like.

[irishcoffee]

"So we're walking then," Maggie smiled. "I don't drive much, but when I do, I like to have music, and windows, and an ignition system. It's really not that far," Maggie stopped at the door and turned back to him, "unless you have any way of traveling faster than the average person?"

[wizard4hire]

"As a matter of fact, I do," I said, finishing off the last of my sandwich and standing up from the counter. I felt better than I had in a long while, or at least in memory. Considering what my life had been the past few days, hard to believe it's only been several days, that's not difficult.

"I take much, much larger steps than the average person."

[irishcoffee]

"Now that's just cheating," Maggie laughed. "And no fair taunting the short of stature for their smaller strides. It's not like I chose to be petite."

Still, even with those strides, she kept up easily, bare feet plodding along next to him as she guided them through the streets that slowly gave way to a more residential feel.

[wizard4hire]

"I would never do anything like that," I said, holding my hands up in a defensive gesture. "Not until I know you well enough to make sure it really annoys you."

Which makes me think of Murphy and upsetting her and our date and... no. I'm not going to think of that because that would make me think of Ana too and that would just... I think that would kill me right now. Literally kill me. So as we walk I made sure to keep my mind occupied in other ways, like trying to memorize important shops and things like that.

By the time we were close to where I was going to live though, the shops had faded and it was mostly just houses.

"How many people arriving do you get, usually?"

[irishcoffee]

"It varies," Maggie shrugged. "Some weeks we'll have several, sometimes we'll go a month or more without anyone showing up. I've been welcoming newcomers for years, even tried tracking it a few times. No patterns that I could find, so I stopped and just do my best to make the transition easier."

She directed them around a corner and the houses were starting to get more and more spaced out.

[wizard4hire]

I nodded, filing it all away in the back of my mind. No offense to Maggie, but I'm going to see what I can come up with on my own in terms of patterns and the like. It will probably be a bust but I can't help but try. I'm not the most talented or powerful wizard and certainly not the smartest, but I am damn stubborn.

"Do they always show up in the same place, at the cafe?"

[irishcoffee]

"Inside it or around it, yeah," Maggie confirmed, then shrugged. It made no point in hiding what nearly every other DI had figured out. "All of you come to me first."

One more turn and they were headed down what looked like a path into nothing but more trees.

[wizard4hire]

"Why?"

I'm sure that I could have phrased that better but I don't have the energy to do so. I appreciate her setting me up with everything but I really want to know about how and why I'm here. I'm not really hopeful on that though, I've been in this situation before.

[irishcoffee]

"Because this is Faelan's Folly, named for one of the first residents. Faelan Donnelly," she said pointedly, wondering if he'd remembered her last name in the crush of everything she'd told him today. "Some say Faelan is the reason the town exists as it does and because of that, the new residents, or Drop Ins as we call them, come to us."

[wizard4hire]

"You must be super popular then," I say.

I know what it's like to be blamed for something magic that's meant to protect people. Granted, sometimes I really do mess up and should be blamed but none of that is just because of who my ancestors are. Well, some of it is but I pissed off those people on my own anyway.

[irishcoffee]

"Oh very," Maggie laughed. "Sometimes I even make it all the way down the street without someone glaring at me. Most of the DIs are pretty good about it. It's the ones like me, who're born here, and are by the nature of the place, stuck here, but some of the kids left by their parents can make life fun."

There wasn't any depression behind it. Just a feeling of accepting what is. That was when they stepped through the trees into a clearing and the house came into view.

[wizard4hire]

"House looks nice," I said as it came into view. There wasn't a lot to say to her comment. She seemed to have accepted it and was making due with what life gave her. It was a pretty mature way of looking at it, not at all the way I'd go about it I don't think.

[irishcoffee]

"Go ahead in and take a look around," Maggie encouraged. "See if it'll suit what you're looking for. If not, come back out and let me know. I think there are a few other vacants around here we can investigate." She smiled. "The shop can mind itself for a while longer."

[wizard4hire]

I wondered if that was sort of a literal thing, like she had magical things that could look after the shop. Maybe brownies or something that would watch after it?

And once again I realize how stupid my life is that I automatically think of that.

I head up the steps and unlock the door before sticking my head in. There don't seem to be any immediately visible squatters or dead bodies, which is a good thing. I don't have many standards for free housing but "no dead bodies" is one of them.

"Looks nice so far," I say, stepping inside to glance around. I made a semi-thorough check of everything. I don't want to keep her waiting long but I don't want to miss something important. Everything checks out though so once I'm done I head back out.

"I think it will do just fine."

[irishcoffee]

"Then consider it yours," Maggie smiled. "There should be a map inside of the town itself, as well as keys to the house and garage. I'd like to say we're utopian enough to not have any crime here, but I think it'd get a little boring if everyone was squeaky clean. My number's probably by the phone somewhere, so if you need anything, just call or text," she stopped, remembering the electronics thing, "or stop by the shop. I'm usually there during the day."

[wizard4hire]

"I'll stop by the shop if I need anything," I told her. First thing I'll look for is an older style rotary phone since whatever is in the house is too new for me to use. I'll also need to get rid of the fridge, oven, microwave, hot-water heater and lots of other things. Then find replacements for them all. More stuff to keep me busy and prevent me from thinking too hard about certain things.

"Thanks for all the help though."

[irishcoffee]

"It's what I live for," Maggie smiled cryptically, her face giving no indication that it was, in fact, the truth. "I hope you enjoy your time here, Harry. It's a lovely place to live but just like everyone else, it's also what you yourself make of it."