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The boat bumped gently against a rock. “Alright, I think that’s as far as she’ll go,” Nicko declared. “We’ll walk the rest of the way to Aunt Zelda's.”
Marcia was still trying to calm her queasy stomach. She had never enjoyed boat rides and she wasn’t about to start now, thank you very much. Just thinking about the constant rocking and the fishy smell made her nauseous. She clambered off the boat and leaned against a blessedly firm, stationary rock.
“Feeling a bit seasick, Marcia?” Silas asked as he walked by her. “Maybe next time you should find a way to Magyk yourself over there.”
Marcia could only sigh. She didn’t have the energy to tell him off. She thought of Septimus and Jenna taking their secret way to Zelda’s cottage and wondered if they would let her come next time.
After trudging through the marsh, they saw a figure staring off into the distance.
“Hey, it’s Marwick!” Sam called. “Over here!”
“Ah, Marwick!” Sarah said, heading over to him. “Hello!”
“Hello. You’re pretty early,” Marwick said as he led them the rest of the way to the cottage. “She hasn’t started making the food yet.”
“ Zelda ’s making the food?” Marcia sniffed. “Let me get over there. I don’t want to eat ten cabbage dishes for dinner.”
Seasickness forgotten, she tromped through the marsh at twice the speed she had before.
“Does Marcia know how to cook?” Silas wondered as he watched her go.
“Hmm, I don’t know. Why don’t you help her?” Sarah smiled.
“Wait, me ?” Silas protested. “Why don’t you—”
“I’m sure you can do it, Dad,” Nicko said. “As long as you keep it simple, cooking isn’t hard.”
“Says the guy who eats grilled fish every day!” Jo-Jo frowned.
“Hey, I don’t eat it every day!”
“I’m sure you can do it, Silas. Now go help her!” Sarah said, and gave her husband a push. He staggered forward, stopped to regain his balance, then plodded after Marcia.
“Are you sure about this?” Sam asked. “Why don’t you help, Mum?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Sarah said. “I’ll step in if it gets bad.”
Silas had no idea why he was helping with the food. And with Marcia, no less! Why couldn’t Sarah have done it? Her cooking skills were by far the best—at least, better than Marcia, who tried to use Magyk for everything even when she knew that you couldn't make a Midwinter Feast with Magyk!
To their credit, Silas and Marcia had tried to keep things simple. A nice hearty stew, some traditional unleavened MidWinter bread, and a nice, simple, salad (with a bit of cabbage for Zelda, even if they both refused to cook it in any way). Silas had watched Sarah cook, and while he knew it wasn't easy, these things did seem rather hard to get wrong.
Or so he had thought.
Apparently, you very much could mess up a stew. They thought they knew what to do, the both of them, Silas who watched Sarah, and Marcia who thought she knew everything. (Perhaps she did have a reason to think she could cook, but Silas was not Marcia, and rather doubted she would tell him if he asked.)
The two had confidently added water, meat, and vegetables to a pot, then boiled it for a good long while, just as Silas had seen his mother and his many older brothers do (well, some of them, at least). Marcia had attempted to speed up the process with some sort of Charm, but even though he couldn't cook, Silas was a firm believer in a handmade Midwinter Feast.
During the boiling time, Marcia insisted on making the bread, while Silas did the salad. As he made the salad, he surveyed Marcia as she worked. Silas thought it was going very well, from what he could see. There was flour, salt, and water. He had thought normal bread required yeast and time, but this was unleavened, so he supposed Marcia knew exactly what she was doing. It was unusual, but not altogether unheard of, Silas supposed.
Silas also thought his salad looked rather nice. He had cut the cabbage in four before hitting it, in order to break it apart. Salads had small pieces, so this surely made sense. In went washed carrots, and an onion (which he had cut, but forgotten to peel, according to Sarah’s later assessment.) He added two cloves of garlic, and a bunch of greens he found lying on the counter. These turned out to be for Zelda’s potion and tasted rather horrible.
Turning to the soup, he took the cover off and gasped at what he saw. The vegetables were separating into tiny pieces, and the water had most definitely not turned into broth. He tentatively tested the meat. It was tough and stringy, and had barely any flavor. Marcia saw his concern and walked over. Upon seeing the soup, her expression darkened. “Perhaps the bread and salad are enough?” she whispered, appalled.
They turned to survey the rest of their handiwork. The bread was burnt and lumpy, and the salad was, to his dismay, simply a bowl full of the most unappetizing vegetables he had seen in a long time.
“You know what?” Silas said. “I think we should let Sarah do the cooking.”
“I agree,” Marcia said faintly.
Zelda had been thrown out of her kitchen! The nerve of Marcia! Zelda’s cooking was perfectly fine; thank you very much. Septimus, Marcia’s own apprentice, had always loved it, so she didn't know what the problem was! Silas, Jenna, and even Nicko had always eaten what was on their plate. But Marcia had just stormed right in, and ruined her plans for a lovely meal. They could have been having stewed cabbage, hot marsh soup, and Zelda’s famous cabbage bread, but no, Marcia wanted a roast pig, and cooked apples, and heaven knows what else.
At least Septimus was on her side. Zelda didn't understand why anyone else hadn’t stuck up for her. But Septimus, the dear, had told Marcia point blank that her cooking was worse than Zelda’s. It was sweet of him, but alas, even Sarah, who Zelda thought had better taste, had agreed Marcia should cook over Zelda.
And so, Zelda hatched a plan. She skated over to Septimus, and whispered in his ear. He smirked playfully at her before darting away, heading straight for the entrance to the Dragon Boat’s temple. He darted inside, and Zelda smiled, imagining everyone’s delight when they found out that she had found a way around Marcia’s poor taste, and made sure they all had some stewed cabbage at their Midwinter Feast.
“Hey, Jen,” Septimus grinned. Jenna turned to her brother, who was striking a pose on the snowy banks of the pond. “Watch.”
He threw his arms out with a flourish. The snow in piles in front of him slowly rose up in spirals, arcing towards the sky. They swirled together like a whirlpool, slowly forming a figure in the center. Then all the snow fell into a formless heap.
Jenna burst out laughing. “Was that supposed to do something?”
“It was supposed to be a really cool sculpture!” Septimus insisted, face red. “I swear!”
“A really cool sculpture of what? A blob?”
“I—no!” Septimus protested weakly. “Stop laughing! I just screwed it up!”
Jenna fell into the snow, still shaking with laughter. Annoyed, Septimus kicked some snow over her. “There. You can be the snow sculpture.”
“Hey,” Jenna gasped between breaths. “How dare you attack the defenseless Queen.”
Septimus responded by kicking more snow in her general direction. Jenna shoved some back on him. Septimus shoved the snow on her again.
Suddenly, a cry pierced through the air.
“Attack!”
A volley of snowballs rained through the air, hitting a stunned Septimus. The rest of the Heap brothers and Marwick appeared, armed with more ammunition.
“Watch out, ExtraOrdinary Apprentice,” Edd said with a grin. “We’re coming for you.”
“Wha—hey!” Septimus said. He scrambled to take cover from the incoming attack, leaving Jenna buried in the snow.
“You’re really just leaving me here, are you?” Jenna called after him.
Nicko strode over to her and pulled her out of the snow. “Good Queen Jenna. Will you allow us to recruit you to our cause?”
“Gladly,” Jenna grinned, brushing snow off her dress. “Let’s get him.”
Sarah set the last stack of plates on the table and smiled. How long had it been since they had gotten together as a family? With all eight of her wonderful children, and Zelda and Marwick and even Marcia. Sarah smiled as she set the plates out. Marcia had done so much for them, it was only natural to think of her as family as well.
Soon the kids began to trickle in. Jenna came in first and wiped her shoes on the mat. “Ooh, it smells good,” she remarked.
Edd and Erik walked in laughing. Nicko and Sam walked in after. Simon walked in, a small smile on his face. Finally, Marwick entered with a dripping wet Septimus.
“Oh my!” Sarah gasped, hurrying over with a towel. “Septimus, what happened?”
“Some people got too excited throwing snowballs,” Septimus muttered, glaring at his brothers.
“Maybe don’t take on all seven of your siblings at once,” Marwick said with a smile.
“They were the ones that started it!” Septimus insisted, but took the towel and started drying off.
As everyone made their way to the table and sat down, Silas and Zelda emerged from the kitchen carrying plates piled high with food. Sarah smoothed out the tablecloth and let them set the dishes down. Marcia walked over and set down a large pitcher full of water.
“Is this everything?” Silas asked. “Wow. We sure have a lot of food.” He surveyed the dishes and spotted a strange-looking one. “Wait a minute. What’s this?”
“Oh, I cooked a special cabbage soup for the occasion,” Zelda said cheerily.
“Cabbage? But I never saw you in the kitchen!”
Zelda smiled. “I have my ways.”
She gave Silas a wink, then went to help Sarah set the table.
Soon, everyone began to take their seats. Silas set down the last piece of silverware, pulled out a chair and collapsed into it. “Can we start now? I’m starving.”
“Now wait just a minute, Silas,” said Zelda, who was seated next to him. “We should say our thanks first.”
She stood up and cleared her throat. The room fell silent as they all looked at her.
Zelda clasped her hands. “Well, I just want to say that I’m glad we could all be together like this again. As a family.” She smiled at Marcia and Marwick, who both looked a little uncomfortable. “And you two, of course.”
“Oh, is Marcia part of the family now?” Silas asked.
“Be quiet, Silas,” Sarah admonished him.
“And thanks to the efforts of Sarah, Silas, and Marcia, we can enjoy this wonderful feast!” Zelda added.
Silas and Marcia pointedly did not look at each other.
“Alright then, let’s dig in!” Zelda smiled.
Soon, the room echoed with talk and laughter. Jenna recounted Septimus’s Magyk failure to a very amused Marwick as her aforementioned brother huffily shoved food into his mouth. Edd, Erik, and Nicko excitedly discussed the most efficient way to throw snowballs. Simon had struck up a conversation with Marcia about Magykal cooking techniques.
Sarah surveyed her family as they chatted amiably amongst themselves, and couldn’t help but smile in response to the warmth that flooded her chest. Her family was together for the first time in years, enjoying themselves and eating delicious food. It felt just like a dream. Sarah wanted to savor this moment forever…
She felt a nudge on her shoulder. “You should eat, Sarah,” her husband said. “Your food’s getting cold.”
Sarah laughed.
“Alright.”