Special Goodies (Caspian)

Lacy’s parents had gone out for the day leaving her in charge of the shop. Of course it had been a slow day and after ringing up her parents, they decided that the elderly couple that owned the bookstore needed another one of their special apple pies. But these weren’t ordinary apple pies. These pies promoted longevity. They had special ingredients, which no one but the family, knew about. They still tasted like a normal apple pie of course. So after she hung up with her parents, she walked over to the door and flipped the sign to ‘closed’. She gave a small whistle and held up her arm. Soon enough, Alula was flying from her perch at the back of the store to land on Lacy’s arm.

Lacy softly pet the snowy owl’s head before walking upstairs to her parents and her house. Once finally in there, Alula flew off Lacy’s arm to another perch sitting in the main walkway. From there Alula could easily keep an eye on Lacy wherever her human companion went. And as Lacy went into the kitchen, Alula turned on her perch to watch what she was to do. Lacy of course got out all the ingredients she needed for a regular apple pie before going to their special cabinet and gathering some basil and lavender. It would seem odd ingredients to add, but those were what helped with longevity. And with a small amount, you wouldn’t even realize they were there.

Luckily Lacy didn’t have to make any piecrusts as her and her mother had made some a few days ago that were still fresh. As she layered a baking pan with one, a flutter of wings sounded behind her and she turned to give a smile to her owl that was now sitting atop the kitchen table and fluffing her feathers as she groomed herself. She turned back to her task and grabbed a bowl before dropping a tiny bit of the basil and lavender in as well as apples, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and a bit of lemon juice. Once all those ingredients were mixed well together, she poured the mixture into the piecrust, and very carefully started layering on the top.

Once everything looked perfect she placed it into the oven to let it bake. Since she had some time, she turned back to the table and looked at her owl for a moment before heading to the fridge and grabbing some of the small owl treats that they kept in there. As she sat down at the table, Alula hopped over to her and watched her open up the little box. Lacy smiled at her companion and started throwing a treat into the air one at a time. Each time Alula would fly to go catch one before flying back. After a couple minutes of this, Lacy started to close up the box, but Alula wasn’t finished as she leaned and tried to nip Lacy on the hand to get more. Of course the nip didn’t hurt, Lacy had been nipped before and she was used to it. But that still didn’t stop her from snapping the box closed and tapping the owl on the nose. ”You’ve had enough. Any more and you’d be spoiled.”

She smiled at her companion as the bird ruffled its feathers before flying off back to its perch. Lacy washed off her hands just as the timer rung out for the pie. As she opened the oven the rich sweet scent of apple pie filled the room and Lacy had to close her eyes and just breathe in the smell. She quickly boxed up the pie and started to walk out the door. At the last second she remembered to grab her wand and so she ran back into her room and slid it into the hidden side pocket of her jeans. Although she probably wouldn’t need it, it was always nice to have it for a ‘just in case’. As she started backing out the door she called out to her companion. ”I’ll be back in just a little while Alula. Stay out of trouble!” She only heard a hoot back before she closed the door to her house and walked down the stairs. She double-checked the shop before stepping outside. She quickly muttered a simple locking spell on the door and looked around to make sure no one saw before walking the few steps next door.

It was amazing to have the bookstore next door to their little shop. She hadn’t been there in awhile, her own shop had been to busy, but the last time she had gone she had been in there for almost a couple hours just reading the backs of books to find one to take home. Not only that, but the elderly couple were extremely nice and always enjoyed their pies, of course Lacy and her parents gave it to them free of charge. It took only a couple seconds before Lacy was stepping inside the bookstore and looking around. Usually the lady was sitting in the front, but Lacy was surprised to not see her there. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and she shifted the box with the pie to the other hand. ”Sherly? George? Anyone?” She hoped nothing had gone wrong, she didn’t know what she would do.