“Sit.” Siene motioned to the black sofa next to the door. She walked to
the back bookshelf and pulled forward an old book with her forefinger.
She skimmed the pages as she walked back to him. About halfway through
the book she retrieved a fragile-looking, folded paper with timeworn
brown edges.
She sat next to him. “Show me your palm.”
Ben held out his hand. “Why? Are you going to read it?”
“Do I look like a fortune teller?”
“You did predict the cab accident,” Ben replied.
She rolled her eyes and gently unfolded the paper. Carefully, she dropped three brown, shriveled ovals into his palm.
Ben’s brow furrowed. “What are these?”
“Beans.”
“I can see that.” He looked up. “Is this when I ask you why they were hidden in the book?”
“No, you’re supposed to guess.”
Ben lifted an eyebrow. “Do you really want to play games, Siene?”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Actually, yes. You’re the
hot-shot genius. I’m curious to see if that big brain of yours can think
outside the . . .” She felt a wicked smile form on her lips “. . .
outside the spit glands.”
He shot her an annoyed look and used his forefinger to move the beans
around on his palm. They were shrunken but all the same size and shape.
Kidney beans, he guessed. Very old kidney beans. He glanced at Siene.
“Beans hidden in a book. Did you get them from a prom date instead of
flowers and this is your way of telling me that you’re still thinking of
the prom king?”
She saw amusement replace the annoyance on his face. Okay, maybe
inside all the gray matter the man had a sense of humor. She’d try
sparring with him later. Right now, she had to make a seemingly very
obtuse point. “Did your mother ever read you fairy tales when you were a
child?”
“Yes,” Ben replied, still holding the beans in his outstretched hand.
“Which ones?”
“The usual. Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, the Shoemaker and the Elves.”
“What about Jack and the Beanstalk?”
Ben glanced down at the beans in his hand and then back at Siene. “Of
course, and I suppose you’re going to tell me these are magic beans.”
Skepticism lit his eyes and Siene knew he wasn’t quite there yet. “I
know I’m asking a lot, but for a minute, just send all the Einstein
stuff to the back of your gray matter and go with it.” His expression
told her he thought she was nuts and she suspected ninety-nine percent
of the world’s population would probably agree with him. “I guess laymen
might say they are magic.”
“Laymen.” Ben paused before shooting her a probing stare. “People off their meds like you, you mean.”
She held up her finger. “You agreed to go with it.”
“No, I did not.”
“Let’s pretend you did. These beans are the last ones left. It
drives my brother, Reed, crazy that I keep them in a book. He thinks
it’s the first place a Taltoian would look.” She held the book up so he
could see the title.
“Taltioan?”
“I’ll get there in a minute.” She lifted her chin. “Look at the book.”
White paper showed through the frayed corners of the cover and the
embossed lettering worn low by the passing years made the words hard to
read. He leaned closer and squinted. Tales by the Brothers Grimm. His head snapped up. “Is this an original edition?” He turned the book over and then back. “It looks very old.”
Siene nodded. “They are my great-great--maybe another great, maybe
not, it really doesn’t matter at this point--Uncles Jacob and Wilhelm.
The book has been passed down through the generations.”
Ben’s wide-eyed gaze flared. “You are crazy. You expect me to
believe these are the magic beans they wrote about? That if you plant
them, a stalk will grow as high as the clouds and if we climb it, we
will meet a giant who has a goose that lays golden eggs?”
“Yes, and other things. A golden harp…”
Ben stood. “This has been an adventure to say the least, and I will
admit you might have a very valuable book that could command millions,
but you being related to the Brothers Grimm, “ he looked down at his
hand, “And these are magic beans, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
He handed her back the book and held up fingers in a vee. “Two
reasons. One, I suspect if there actually was a goose that laid golden
eggs, some billionaire would own it and two, a giant, by sheer atomic
weight and mass, cannot stand or live on a cloud.”
Siene shrugged. “Whether you believe me or not, it’s still true.”
“Which part?”
“All of it.” She slipped her hand under his. “I better take those
back now.” She carefully placed the beans inside the paper and back into
the book.
Ben remained still for several minutes as though processing the
information he just heard. “It appears your uncles, if they truly are,
are not the only ones who can tell tall tales.”
She put the book back on the shelf. “They wrote the stories to protect the artifacts.”
“Artifacts. Like those in a museum?”
She looked at him and smiled. “No, the ones in my uncles’ stories.”
“Which stories?”
“All of them.”
– Excerpted from The Mirror by P.K. Eden, The Wild Rose Press, 2024. Reprinted with permission.
P.K. Eden is the alter ego of multi-published and award winning authors Patt Milhailff and Kathye Quick whose debut novel FIREBRAND was lauded as comparable to the Harry Potter series, garnered 5-Star reviews, and won numerous Reviewer’s Choice Awards.
Born long, long ago in a place not so far away, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Kathryn Quick
has been writing since the Sisters in St. Casmir’s Grammar School gave
her the ruled yellow paper and a number two pencil. She writes
contemporary and career romances, romantic comedies, historical romances
as well as urban fantasy.
Kathye
has twenty fiction books in print with various publishing houses and
one non-fiction compilation of her town’s history at the behest of the
Manville Library Bord. She was honored to have been named an Amazon top
100 Romance Author for Ineligible Bachelor published by Montlake Romance. Other works include a three book Grandmother’s Rings Series – Amethyst, Sapphire and Citrine,
a rom-com series that follows three siblings as they use their
Grandmother’s Rings given to them by their mother to find their
soulmates.
Because she has been fascinated by King Arthur and his knights for almost forever, her series Beyond Camelot, Brother Knights, is
her vision of how the majestic kingdom may have survived after Arthur.
Two books are written in this series with the third and final still in
concept.
She
is a founding member of Liberty State Fiction Writers and has been a
part of Romance Writers of America and New Jersey Romance Writers.
She
is married to her real-life hero, Donald, and has three grown sons,
each having romantic adventures of their own. Her two grandkids,
Savannah and Dax, happily cut into her writing time but she still
manages to get a few pages done each day.
Website & Social Media:
Website ➜ www.Kathrynquick.com
Twitter ➜ https://x.com/KQuickAuthor
Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/KathrynQuickBooks/
Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/kathrynquickauthor/
Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217228581-the-mirror
***
Thanks
to novelist and editor, Dr. Nathasha Brooks-Harris who invited Patt
Milhailff to write for several TRUE CONFESSION lines of magazines where
she learned tight and entertaining writing and resulted in the
publication of more than two hundred short stories and articles.
One
of Patt’s most gratifying experiences was when she moderated a standing
room only workshop at the African American Romance Slam Jam in 2004 and
has since enjoyed speaking engagements at libraries, book clubs and
other forums.
She was awarded 2009 Author of the year and 2010 Mentor of the year
by Romance writers of America, New York City Chapter, a terrific
organization that helped her to obtain valuable lessons and insight
while on her writing journey.
Patt is also featured in A Dream Deferred, A Joy Achieved,
a non-fiction novella by Charise Nesbit a co-producer at Tyler Perry
Studios, about foster care, as well as being included in two of Times
Bestselling Author Zane’s anthologies.
Patt is one half of the writing duo P.K. Eden along with Kathye Quick, authors of Firebrand, that received a five star Affaire de Couer Reviewer’s Choice Award.
She is also a member of Liberty States Fiction Writers the home of a magnitude of talented writers and fellow authors and is the author of nine novels.
Patt was raised, and educated in New York City, residing in New Jersey, and has since relocated to Delaware.
Social Networks for P.K. Eden:
Follow on Twitter: https://x.com/PKEdenAuthor
Follow on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/P.K.EdenAuthor
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p.k.edenauthor/
