Nicola picked up one of the spell books from the bookcase James was sitting on and began desperately sifting through it in the hope of finding some kind of reverse frog spell. To her huge disappointment she couldn't even recognise the alphabet this was written in let alone the language. She put it back and picked up a second book in the vain hope this one might be written in plain English but the second she opened it..
"Hey, who are you? What are you doing!" a voice yelped at her urgently from behind.
Nicola spun round to see a nervous looking young woman pointing a wand at her as if it were a loaded gun. Instinctively Nicola put the book down and raised her arms in the air.
"Um, ok..." the girl looked confused at this gesture but lowered the wand to her side apparently satisfied that Nicola wasn't a threat "Who are you and what are you doing with my mother's spellbooks?"
"I'm, um..." Nicola paused for a moment, not sure whether it was better to lie or tell the truth. If this was Meredith's daughter it was best to tread carefully, but something about her demeanour made her seem completely unthreatening. The young woman was around Nicola's age. She was actually very good looking in a mousy, geeky kind of way with long, wavy brown hair and pretty eyes. She looked like she was probably hiding an incredibly hot, curvaceous body under the baggy, unflattering clothes she was wearing too. Most importantly for now she had a kind face and an expression of anxiety rather than hostility.
"I'm Nicola. I was just being nosy, sorry. I'll put it back"
The girl let out an audible sig of relief as Nicola placed the book back on it's shelf "Fine, good. I'm Maddy. I live here with my mother. I thought you were....well, it doesn't matter what I thought now. But what are you doing here?"
"My friend and I are testing potions for your mother" Nicola answered, being economical with the truth for now.
"Uh, your friend?" Maddy asked nervously, looking behind her as if under threat again. Nicola nodded towards the frog on the bookcase.
"Ah, your friend got the bullfrog potion?" Maddy seemed somewhat relieved again "Not to worry, it will wear off soon."
"Actually I think it might be permanent" Nicola admitted anxiously "I had a bit of an accident with one of your mothers wands"
"Oh dear" The girl seemed genuinely sympathetic "I wish I could help but I'm afraid my magical abilities aren't up to much as my mother loves to remind me on a daily basis. Why are you testing potions for her anyway? How much is she paying you?"
"Nothing" Nicola explained feeling she could be completely honest with Maddy now "We broke something in her shop and now we owe her thousands of pounds to replace it. We're working our debt off"
"Really? What did you break?"
"One of those crystal balls near the front of the shop" Nicola answered. Maddy let out a seemingly involuntary giggle before looking sheepish at the glare Nicola shot in her direction.
"I'm sorry, it's just that those things are nothing more than paperweights. Badly made novelties, it would cost my mother pennies to replace one of those."
"I knew it!" Nicola spat.
"All the truly magical items we possess are in this room. That's why I'm so surprised mother left you in here alone."
"If I touch anything I get to stay in this dump for a full year" Nicola shrugged "No offence but I want to go home. Preferably before I lose my job"
Maddy giggled again. This girl was starting to annoy Nicola now.
"I'm sorry, genuinely sorry" Madeline quickly corrected her attitude, taking a sympathetic tone once again "But you won't be going there any time soon, if ever. I'm not sure what mother told you but we visit your home only very rarely. It's hard to explain but the place where we reside you would probably recognise as a completely different reality to your own"
Nicola thought about this for a moment. As crazy as it sounded she knew she had witnessed, been effected by and even used magic herself today and that shop really had seemed to appear from nowhere. As bad as this sounded she decided the best course of action was to remain pragmatic rather than lose her shit. After all, Maddy was still holding a wand.
"So why did you visit London?" Nicola asked.
"Probably to pick up an order. That would be the only reason I could think of"
"What, you mean like for ingredients you can only get on Earth or something?" Nicola realised how crazy that sounded out loud but didn't care at this point.
"Actually, more likely.." Maddie looked at Nicola then down at James.
"We're the order?!" Nicola gasped in outrage.
"Probably. Well, not specifically you but you obviously both fit the description of what mother was asked to obtain" Maddy nodded "The product testing is probably just a stalling tactic to stop you figuring that out. And a bit of fun for my mother"
"But who would have ordered us? And what for!" Nicola demanded, struggling to control herself now. As she thought about it that cheaply made doorstop did just seem to fly out of her hand as if of it's own free will. This whole thing had been a con, just as she had initially reckoned.
"I'm afraid I have no idea" Maddy seemed to be telling the truth "I've probably said more than I should already anyway. I'm sorry, I'll leave you be"
"No, wait a second..." Nicola begged.