Ian patted Mika on the shoulder, looking enormously pleased with himself. “Best idea I ever had,” he said proudly.

“Thank you,” Ken said to Mika, his eyes twinkling. “He’ll be insufferable now.”

“Why don’t you tell us about some of the other spells you can do?” Ian asked enthusiastically. Ken and Lucie looked slightly pained, like they were afraid Ian was too nosy, but Mika didn’t mind. “What, say, is your most spectacular spell? Can you make yourself breathe underwater? Can you transform yourself into a fish, or a bird, or another person? Can you—”

“Where’s the pond going to live?” Altamira interrupted, peering so closely at the koi that her nose practically touched the surface of the water. “Are you going to put it in the attic?”

“I was thinking it could stay outside,” said Mika, looking over at Ken. “If that’s okay with you?”

“Of course,” he said at once. “We can put it in the back garden. The greenhouse, too. There’s a lovely sunny spot by the back wall, and the pond could go in the shade by the sunflowers.”

“But—” Ian started to protest.

“We can talk about spells later,” Lucie said firmly, taking him by the elbow. “Let the poor girl settle in first.”

So Mika floated the pond and the greenhouse around the house to the back where, just as Ken had promised, they found the perfect spot for each. As soon as Mika settled both into the ground and broke the spell that had kept them suspended in the air, she felt an almost physical weight lift off her. She rolled her shoulders, easing out the muscles.

After that, it only took a couple more trips to ferry the rest of Mika’s possessions up to the attic. Then she went back outside to move the Broomstick into the barn while Ken and the girls stayed upstairs to unpack Mika’s books (or so they said; Mika knew the girls, at least, just wanted to play with Circe), and Lucie and Ian went to start on lunch.

By the time Mika returned to the attic, her arms full of half a dozen potted plants she’d decided to bring in from the greenhouse, Ken had departed and the girls were rolling a ball across the attic floor for Circe to fetch.

Mika worked around them. She found homes for the plants by her bed, desk, and on the balcony, set her cauldrons and her tools on the desk, and unpacked her clothes. Just as she finished, Circe wandered off to explore the house and garden. The children stayed behind.

“While you’re here,” Mika said, “Would you like to see me cast one of my favourite spells?”

The girls’ faces lit up. “Yes, please!”