CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Bianca jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Her eyes became round as saucers when she saw the broomstick leaning towards her and jiggling excitedly. An incoherent word left her lips when the broomstick raised its bristles to wave at her.
“Y-you...you’re alive!” Bianca sputtered.
The old woman tut-tutted. “Boris is a broomstick.”
“But...he can move...”
“Of course he can move. Boris is a flying broomstick,” the woman said. “Boris has his moods but by and large, he’s pretty well-behaved.”
“I’m a witch,” the old lady added, as if that explained everything. “Everyone calls me Yaya.”
Bianca smiled weakly. “Of course.” In Wolves Hollow, no one batted an eye when a witch and her broomstick walked into a diner for lunch.
Bianca gathered up the menu and scurried back to the counter. “Oh, thank God,” she breathed, seeing Carly behind the counter.
“What happened? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Carly remarked.
“I just met Yaya and Boris,” Bianca whispered, her eyes darting towards their booth.
Carly took a quick look and shrugged. “Yup, that’s them. They come in every now and then.”
“Yaya ordered a burger for Boris,” Bianca said, her eyes round and wide. “I didn’t know broomsticks could eat burgers!”
“Oh, Boris eats anything,” Carly said, laughing. “He’s not fussy.”
But how does a broomstick eat? Bianca wanted to ask.
She didn’t want to sound like an ignoramus, so she kept her mouth shut.
Once the food was ready, Bianca took the food quickly over to Yaya and Boris. She was eager to see how Boris handled the hamburger.
“Enjoy your lunch!” she said cheerfully.
Yaya grinned. “Here you go, Boris.” She placed the hamburger on the floor, and Boris bounded over happily.
Bianca watched in utter fascination as Boris pounced on the burger and his bristles began to move furiously. In less than a minute, Boris finished his burger and let out a satisfied burp. All that was left of the burger were a few crumbs on the floor. Boris propped himself against the booth and waited for Yaya to finish her lunch.
“Would you like another burger, Boris?” Bianca asked. She wanted to see him do that again. She had never seen a broomstick eat before.
Yaya clucked her tongue. “No, no. He’ll get too heavy to fly if he keeps eating like that.”
“Must be fun to fly around on a broomstick,” Bianca remarked.
“Most witches don’t go around on flying broomsticks these days,” Yaya answered with her mouth full. “But flying around on my own broomstick beats taking public transport! Boris and I have been to so many places and gone on so many adventures together,” Yaya said wistfully.
Bianca was about to reply when the tinkling door chime signaled another customer.
A stunning, statuesque blond woman waltzed in and headed towards a table at the back of the diner.
Yaya glanced over her shoulder and sighed. “That’s the price you have to pay, Sariah,” Yaya mumbled.
Bianca didn’t know what Yaya was talking about but she didn’t have time to ask. She had to attend to the new customer.
She went to the woman’s table with the menu and greeted her breathlessly.
Bianca simply couldn’t take her eyes off the woman. She was dazzling, seemingly aglow with light. Her golden hair gleamed and moved as if stirred by a gentle breeze. Every feature on her smooth, flawless face was perfect. Arched brows, expertly drawn eyes and glossy lipstick completed the look.
The woman looked like she had just walked off a movie screen or the pages of a magazine. There was an unreal quality about her.
As Bianca stared at the woman, she began to notice that the air around the woman seemed rather hazy. Bianca rubbed her eyes and blinked. The outline of the woman looked blurry and fuzzy, as if someone had colored outside the lines.