“Home, sweet home,” Penelope said as she entered her small wooden cabin. Blue Falls had a lot of houses built into the trees and hers was no different. There were some gorgeous carvings, inside and outside. The previous owner had sold her the house because his family had outgrown it, but it was perfect for her.

“Quaint,” Han said as he took his bag from the trunk.

She walked in without waiting for him. He would just have to find the guest room and whatever he needed for himself. After today, she needed a long hot bath.

She’d just gotten comfortable in the suds when he knocked on the door.

“What?”

“Are you doing evil magic in there?” He sounded completely serious.

“No, I’m taking a bath, Han.” Penelope felt ridiculous that she even had to clarify this.

“Which room is mine? Is it the one with the pink pillows, or the one with the light-pink pillows?”

“Han, both rooms have the exact same pillows. Yours is the one with the painting of the bear.” Penelope resisted a sigh.

“Those are definitely different colors of pink.”

Penelope listened to his footsteps, hoping he had found the spare room and she closed the door. Once she was relaxed, once again, she heard him making a lot of noise in the kitchen. It sounded like a pot hit the floor and she heard him swear. Was he cooking? Why was this bear just making himself at home? Penelope wished she could do some sort of spell, where she would disappear under the water and be someone else. Instead, she moved her hands in circles rewarming the lukewarm bath water. She sat in the tub until she was wrinkled and tired, and then she got out.

She wrapped a towel around herself and went out towards her bedroom. She had decided she wasn’t going to change her routine, or the way she lived, just because he was intruding. She walked out and almost bounced back onto the floor when she hit a solid chest. She struggled to keep her towel over her, as she looked up into his eyes.

“What the hell are you doing?” She glared at him, as she tried to regain her composure.

“I’m sorry,” he spluttered, which she took pleasure in. “I wanted to see if you cared for toast with your dinner. I brought some things from home and made a chicken pasta and salad for dinner.”

“Um, toast would actually be nice,” Penelope said. She was taken by surprise that he made her dinner. This was not something she was used to. It smelled delicious. She went to her room to get dressed, wondering what kind of domestic situation she had somehow stumbled into.

Once she’d put on a pair of pajamas, and made a point to put on a bra, she came back into the kitchen. He’d poured her a glass of wine.

“Look, the way I see it we have to be with each other. If we’re stuck together all the time, we might as well be friendly. I see no reason we can’t get along,” he said.

Penelope couldn’t think of any reason to disagree. She sat down at the table and he heaped pasta and salad onto her plate. She reached for the toast and realized she was completely starving. As she dug in, the flavors of the chicken and the pasta hit her tongue. It was divine.

“Where did you learn to cook? I don’t know many werebears who would take the time to learn.”

“My father died when I was younger. He was killed by a fae who was out for blood. After that my mother always taught me everything she did. If she cooked up a roast, I was right there learning. If she was skinning a deer it was the same. She was my mother and my father.”

“That’s nice. I mean not that your father died, but that your mother cared. My mother didn’t care about anything.”

“Ah, Bianca,” Han said. “I’ve been told horror stories about her, since I was a cub. Your mother was the topic of many campfire stories.”

“Yes, well, I’m trying not to be like her.” Penelope was uncomfortable talking about her mother. She didn’t know who her father was and hoped he wouldn’t bring that up.

After dinner, she felt like she couldn’t fit anything else in her stomach.

“That was delicious. I might have the magic, but you have the magic in the kitchen.” Penelope instantly felt stupid for saying that, but he beamed at her.

“Glad you like it. I enjoy cooking so I’m happy to do it when I have the means.”

“Make yourself at home.” Penelope said. “The remote is over the fireplace. I’m going to turn in. If you need sheets, towels, or other linen, they are in the closet across from your room.”

Penelope went to bed thinking about Han’s smile. It was nice to have him in the house even if he was there to make her feel like a prisoner. She needed to be careful, because she wanted him to be temporary. Still, those green eyes flashed in her mind before sleep claimed her.

The next morning, she woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. Han must have gone to the store, because she certainly didn’t have anything in the house. She pulled on her robe and walked into the kitchen.

“I hope you like scrambled,” Han said and pointed to a heaped plate of eggs. He stood at the stove making more.

“I do.” Penelope piled a plate with bacon and sat down. She would get fat if this kept up. Breakfast for her usually consisted of coffee and fruit. They sat and ate in silence for a while.

“What’s the plan today,” he asked, finally.

“Oh, you mean because you have to go everywhere with me?”

Han nodded. She shoved more bacon into her face. It was hard, knowing she’d not be able to go anywhere alone. Some magic shops wouldn’t take kindly to him coming in, but if she didn’t let him it would be suspicious. She was going to have to change her whole way of living.

“So, I want to go into the forest and get some smaller samples of the troubled plants. I think we should talk to the nymphs and see if they can shed any light on what’s going on.”

“Yeah, I guess they would know.”

“Once I get the trees back here, I’ll want to go and buy some healthy ones, somewhere. I might be able to find a difference in their life force, if I have them next to each other.”

“Okay so digging up trees, talking to trees, and buying trees. Got it,” Han said.

“Yes,” Penelope laughed, “but first coffee.” She went over and fired up the coffee pot so she could get a little energy.

“Can’t you just power up from the inside or something?” Han asked, watching her.

“No, witches need coffee too, Buddy.”

After Penelope had finished a second cup and eaten some more bacon, they headed out. She had Han drive them back to the trees they’d seen outside the fae’s dwelling. When they got to the edge of the woods, they pulled off the side of the road and she pulled out some gardening shears. She got up to the first tree and could see it did indeed look gray. The bark felt smooth and spongy. It had a soft quality like fabric and not wood. She opened the shears and snipped off a bit to put in a bag she’d brought along.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Voices echoed around them and Han moved in front of her. Dae appeared with her bow and arrow, drawn in front of him, followed by Sima. The two guards for the fae king advanced on them quickly.

“It’s the witch,” Sima said lowering her bow. “And Han,” she added wiggling her fingers at the werebear and grinning widely.

“Hi, Han,” Dae said making the same face. They were flirting with him. She’d never seen the guards act anything but tough. It was strange.

“Hi, Ladies. Penelope here is just getting some samples of the trees so she can maybe figure out what’s wrong with them,” Han said.

She liked it when he said her name.

“To do magic for good, you know.” She added and pumped a fist in the air for emphasis.

“Oh yeah, we don’t know what’s wrong with them. Other than the nymphs are gone. We’re thinking they probably give some type of life force to the plants.” Dae said twirling a yellow piece of hair and staring at Han. They weren’t even being sneaky about it. Sima was practically panting. Her eyes were focused on his face and she had one hand tangled in her locks twirling them frantically.

“Han, you could probably talk them into coming back, if we knew where they were,” Sima added.

“Wait, the nymphs are gone?” Penelope asked, “Like, they are all gone?”

“Yes, and the tree spirits. It’s like the forest has become a ghost town.” Dae said.

Well so much for talking to the nymphs, Penelope thought. She moved out into the middle of the woods and placed her hands together. She closed her eyes and tried to see if she could sense magic. There was something faint that she couldn’t quite pick up. She opened her eyes and turned back towards her audience.

“Someone has put some powerful magic on these plants and then covered it up. Whoever is doing this to them has to be strong, because they’ve cloaked the magic from detection. I can only feel a tiny bit.”

“Who would do that?” Dae asked. “We’ll need to tell our king.”

“Yes, do tell your king,” Penelope said. “I’m going to take some more clippings and try to see what can be done to reverse this. It depends on the type of magic.”

Reluctantly Dae and Sima left Han’s presence, with a promise to see him later. He agreed and smiled at them, causing a pang of jealousy in Penelope’s stomach. She wondered where that had come from.

She worked on the plants that night until almost three a.m. She didn’t make any progress in discovering the type of magic on them. It didn’t make any sense for someone to hurt the trees. Finally, she called it a night and told herself she’d look at it with fresh eyes in the morning.