“Mother said our grandparents were dead,” she pointed out.
“Mother could have lied about that,” I said, just as my stomach rumbled. I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my tone if I tried. “She lied about way more. What’s one little lie about them?”
I waved my hand and a bowl of red and green apples appeared. Without hesitation, I grabbed an apple and sunk my teeth into it, the juice flowing between my lips and making me groan. I’d forgotten how different the taste of my apples were to the ones we had in the kitchen. I made them sweeter, less tart.
I’d always believed the ones my mother put on the table came from the tree in our orchard, but as I glanced around the empty field where our farm had once been, I realised that they were my mother’s created apples. It made me wonder if she made them sour on purpose.
Courtney cleared her throat. “I’m hungry.”
I blinked at her. We had a bowl of apples before us, but that obviously wasn’t meeting her expectations at the moment. I nearly rolled my eyes. Why was I not surprised?
“What do you want?” I asked.
I didn’t want to sound annoyed with her, but that was something I couldn’t help. Courtney—and, at times Bella—brought that annoyance out in me. Even when I was trying to be the mature big sister, somehow I was reduced to annoyed witch who wanted nothing more than to use my magic and get my sister to shut her mouth.
“Cake.”
I laughed. I probably shouldn’t have, but I did. Of course. Courtney had a sweet tooth like none other. As the oldest sister, I should have said no. Mother would have said no, not until after we all finished our supper. But I was not Mother, and Mother was not here. Who was I to tell her no?
“Sure,” I said.
I lifted my hands and moved my fingers through the air, visualizing the table and the food that I wanted.
That my baby sister wanted.
The wooden table expanded and grew longer to accommodate the new food that was about to appear. And then, as Courtney requested, there was strudel, chocolate cake, and lemon slice.
Just like Mother taught me.
I sighed, pain rippling through my chest. I ignored it. I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat, trying to shake off the feeling of guilt, of sadness and loss and anger and confusion. There were so many emotions, I could not label them all, but I certainly felt them running through me. As much as I resented Mother, as much as I looked forward to the opportunity to travel to the magical realm now that she was gone, she’d still taught me everything I knew. It was difficult for me to imagine living without her.
Courtney grabbed a lemon slice and stuffed it in her mouth. She didn’t say anything, and I didn’t expect her to. A thank you would have been nice, though.
Bella slid along her couch so that she was closer and reached out for my hand. She placed her book to the side.
I moved also so that I could take the hand she offered and squeezed her fingers.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” I said without thinking. I wasn’t sure if we wanted to reminisce so soon after Mother’s untimely demise. It felt good to say the words out loud, though, especially to my sisters. If anyone would understand, it would be them.
Bella nodded, tears sliding down her face, before she wiped them away. Her nose twitched. I knew she wasn’t comfortable with emotions, especially in front of other people, even us as her sisters.
Courtney kept eating from the table, ignoring the sticky emotions clogging the air. I envied her in that moment. Either she felt nothing, or she was doing a good job at masking them through her eating.
I closed my eyes and let the moment wash over me. I still had my sisters. And despite the isolation, I’d had an incredible life. I—no, we—had been safe. We’d been loved. But we were on our own now. And we had to figure out what that meant to us. We had to figure out what our next step was.
I opened my eyes and offered Bella a quick smile to thank her for her support. But it was time to move onto the next phase of our lives, and sitting in this field wasn’t going to stay safe very long. We needed a house. Something to hide us away, something to put a roof over our head and offer us the same protection Mother had. I still did not understand why she couldn’t just tell us everything was a lie, but I did understand the desire to protect us. I appreciated it, even.
“So, what sort of house shall we build you?” I asked my sisters as I swallowed the lump that rose in my throat. I hoped my voice did not come out as weak as it sounded. I sucked in a breath and pushed the grief down once again.
Courtney took a sip of water and picked up another piece of chocolate cake.
“I want a massive bedroom with no books, a huge stereo system, and a kick ass fridge that refills with everything I want to eat,” she said, her words tumbling over each other with obvious enthusiasm.
I laughed. “You always wanted that fridge,” I said. “Ever since we were little.”
Courtney’s lips twisted up. “Yeah. And Mom always stopped me from creating one, so now that I have the power, I’m getting me a fridge!”
I hung my head, letting my sister’s energy move through me as I envisioned the home they wanted. The wooden structure, the walls, the floors. The beds.