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children, she added: "Come into the parlor, please. We've been
waiting for you."
"And we have been waiting for you!" Dov declaimed, his cheeks still
hot with embarrassment. "It's all over, Mom! Your days of deceit are
at an end."
"Of course they are, dear," Edwina said placidly, still petting Mister
Nibbles. "Shall we have a nice cup of tea to celebrate, now that you've
finally arrived? I knew Mister Nibbles would manage to detain you for
a time, but I didn't think you'd be this late. Either you took your sweet
time treating Dov's leg or else my baby boy still runs to the ER over
any little scratch." She turned her back on them and ambled into the
parlor.
Dov and Peez exchanged a look that was half bewilderment, half
apprehension. "I guess we've learned a valuable lesson here," Peez
muttered. "Caffeine is no substitute for genius. She knew we were
coming. She knew enough to sic a spy squirrel on us and hold us up so
she could make tea! She probably stockpiled enough magic from her
own batteries to counter any spells we could throw at her before you
even accessed her accounts. Not a lot of punch left to a surprise attack
once you take the surprise part away."
"Don't be silly, Peez darling," Edwina called from the parlor. "I was
very surprised. Really, I was. Now come in here before all the scones
are gone. I've got your favorite flavor: orange-cranberry."
Reluctantly, suspiciously, Dov and Peez entered the parlor just in
time to see Edwina in a tug-of-war over the last orange-cranberry
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scone with Teddy Tumtum. Mister Nibbles was chittering angrily at
the bear, who was seated on the sofa within easy grabbing distance of
a large platter of scones, muffins, and assorted tea cakes.
"I might have known," Peez said bitterly, seating herself in a high-
backed chair as far from Teddy Tumtum as possible.
"You and me both," said Dov, taking the chair closest to his sister. He
had just caught sight of the glint of silver. Peez's treacherous teddy
bear was wearing Ammi around his furry neck.
"Give me back that scone, Teddy Tumtum," Edwina said. "It's not as if
you're actually able to eat it. You've just been tearing them to pieces
and getting the crumbs all over my nice, clean house."
"And my nice, clean head," Ammi added.
"I don't care." The bear was sulky. "This way she can't have 'em
either."
"Now you're just being needlessly vindictive," Edwina chided him. She
let him keep the scone while she filled two teacups from the steaming
pot and passed them around. "What next, dare I ask? Tying her
shoelaces together? Lighting bags of dog poop on her front steps?
Freezing her power assets through the Internet?"
She looked meaningfully at her children.
"You were right, Peez," Dov said.
"Once I found out that the two of you were together at last, I
suspected you'd try something. I wasn't sure what, but thanks to some
inside information and advice"-Edwina lavished a grateful look on
Teddy Tumtum and Ammi-"I was able to narrow down your possible
points of attack."
"And you didn't try to stop us?" Peez asked. "You didn't make any . . .
withdrawals before Dov secured your system?"
"I suppose I should have, but I was just so fascinated, watching you
and your brother at work together, that I lost track of time. Silly me."
"So that means that we-that we still control your magic?" The cup and
saucer in Dov's hands were clattering wildly.
"Well of course you do, dear. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Edwina sipped her tea. "I suppose I owe you an apology," she went on.
"Or not. I admit that I deceived you, telling you that I was at death's
door when in reality I haven't even begun to ask for directions to his
house."
"You don't think we deserve an apology for putting us through that?"
Peez could hardly believe what she was hearing. Inside she was a
turmoil of conflicting emotions which coalesced into the long, piteous
cri de coeur that escaped her lips: "Mooommm! That's not fay-yerrr!"
"I didn't want fairness; I wanted results. And I got them." Edwina
gazed at her children and smiled. "I also want to retire, travel, visit
old friends, make new ones, and enjoy every last day of the rest of my
life. I couldn't very well do that when the two of you were still at each
other's throats, now, could I? Well, I suppose I could have, if I didn't
mind watching the business I put together from nothing get torn to
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pieces before my eyes like-like-" Her gaze wandered the room as if [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]