Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths by Holly Bell (good book recommendations TXT) 📗

had come from a wealthy background. It was hard to tell from his mother’s current status. Yet she was too polite to ask. Instead, she enquired,

‘How did you get into your line of work?’

‘Oh, natural aptitude. No fear of heights, loved being outdoors, took to diving, and so on. Then did a bit of stint as an instructor and found I liked it. From there, I worked out that I could see the world, do things, have experiences that I couldn’t otherwise afford, by working for travel organisers of a certain kind.’

‘My word, it makes me think how little I’ve travelled by comparison. Is there anywhere you haven’t been!’

Dale laughed. ‘Oh Amanda, plenty of places, whole continents even. Different operators cover different things in different areas. I started out in Europe and then moved onto Asia mostly and a bit in the Gulf and Africa. That’s all. There are many parts of the world I have yet to visit.’

‘The Americas, for example?’

‘Only been to New York for a week back in my student days. But I loved working where I did and the companies that employed me,’ Dale explained warmly. ‘What about you, Amanda? Was a career in furniture restoration a foregone conclusion? That you would follow in your grandfather’s footsteps?’

‘Yes and no. I was curious and wanting to be involved since I can remember. I took to it I suppose, but Grandpa was forever asking me if I wouldn’t like to do something else, and I did do my degree partly in other things but no ... I always knew it was for me. And it suits me as … the excitement of your career suits … well suited you, yes?’

‘Excitement? It certainly is a component, but I’m not a daredevil,’ Dale assured her. ‘Really. You can’t conduct people through risky endeavours if you are. You have to be prepared, aware, as health and safety conscious as possible. And yes, it did suit me. There’s something about, ... well, let me give you an example.’

‘Fancies! Fresh off the cooling tray, straight onto the plate for you, my lovelies,’ declared Sandy, serving them a platter of mini sponge cakes, topped with jam and marzipan and covered in buttercream icing.

‘Thank you, Sandy,’ Amanda smiled up at him. ‘They look irresistible.’

‘Don’t you hold back, then! Enjoy.’ He bustled off back to the kitchen.

‘You were about to tell me, Dale …?’

‘Oh yes. There was a woman in her 60s. She’d been ill with something since childhood. A new treatment was developed for her condition and … it cured her. She’d always loved the snow. We were going to do a skydive. I remember seeing her face as she looked out over the expanse of the Arctic from the plane. It was the most moving moment of both our lives.’

‘What a wonderful experience, Dale. How could you give it up?’

He shrugged. ‘For my clients, it was a once-in-a-lifetime or occasional activity, but for me …. Well, I started to wonder if it was really a way to live.’

How true, she thought. Over the past year, Amanda had had her share of close shaves, faced danger, and had the care of souls in her hands. And it was no way to live, not every day. Anyway, it was rather different. She was born to be the village witch, trained since she was six or seven. It was what you did. Not for the thrill or the accolades. No one knew what she did. Amanda switched her attention back to what Dale was saying.

‘I knew there were other ways to live, ways that would be an exploration of a different kind for me. And that was when Mother began considering starting a business.’

Amanda couldn’t help thinking that here was quite a different person from flower shop Dale. This man had something of a … a swashbuckling air about him. Like Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, Antonio Banderas in The Mark of Zorro or someone from Pirates of the Caribbean. He seemed heroic, dashing, entertaining, confident. Yet he told it all with diffident simplicity and the light of passion in his eyes. He was speaking again.

‘There’s still so much out there of all kinds that’s unknown that holds … who knows what?’

Did he mean … of a supernatural nature? Was Dale trying to tell her something? His smile was singularly sweet as he looked at her.

Amanda nodded cautiously. ‘Indeed.’ She glanced up at the wall clock.

‘You must get back,’ he said. ‘And so must I. I’ve left Mother at the helm and ….’

‘She didn’t mind you taking some time out?’

‘Oh, not at all. She’s taken a liking to you,’ Dale assured her.

‘Ah.’

‘Would you like to meet for another instalment sometime?’ he asked tentatively.

‘Yes, yes, I would. I’ve so enjoyed hearing about the little I have. But I think you’ve only scratched the surface.’

‘A taster,’ he agreed. ‘So you’ll text me? When you’re free again?’

‘I will.’

Whilst saying she had travelled a little with her grandparents, Amanda had carefully left out her adventures here in Sunken Madley: the magical battle she had fought, the forays into the past, and the murders she had been instrumental in solving, never mind her brushes with death.

Amanda noticed how graciously, with every indication of interest, he had kept offering the narrative back to her. There was something about him … a spark ... could it be magical? Still … as long as that appalling relative of his was around …

Chapter 14

The Book Launch

Thursday dawned. Amanda laid party clothes out on the bed before work at The Grange. She clocked off at mid-day and went home to get ready.

Tempest was idly watching her from a pillow. He understood why humans were so obsessed with clothing. Without it to differentiate between them, they all looked much the same to him.

Amanda had just zipped up her new dress. She was checking her reflection in the mirror when, inevitably, her grandparents arrived.

‘Got your invitation, bian?’

‘Yes, Grandpa,’ she smiled at him in the mirror.

‘Remember to take