Read Online The Spell of Rosette by Kim Falconer - Free Book Online Page A

she’d last visited. Leather-bound volumes of various shapes and sizes were stacked on shelves that climbed halfway to the ceiling. A four-poster bed with crimson cushions and a purple velvet quilt filled the far corner. Woven rugs covered the hardwood floor, cushions were scattered about, and various herbs hung from the beams over the kitchen, adding a mix of earthy fragrance to the cottage.
    She spotted the mobiles of planets circling above in miniature orbits around bright orange suns. The broad window seat where she’d slept was covered with quilts, warm and comfortable on the far side of the hearth. Rosette had been warm and snug all night, even though the temperature dropped quickly once the sun set. The glowing coals had been a welcome heat. She studied the design of stained glass in the high windows to the east—they had amazed her early in the morning—the sunlight through them making a splash of rainbows when she awoke.
    Her gaze was drawn directly overhead, and she started. ‘Nell!’ She shrank back. ‘What’s that?’
    Hanging from the rafters, its body draped in serpentine loops around the wooden beams, was a huge yellow-and-black-speckled snake.
    ‘ Who is that,’ Nell corrected.
    Rosette swallowed, not taking her eyes off the animal. ‘Who, then?’
    ‘It’s Mozzie.’
    ‘Mozzie?’
    ‘Short for Mosaic. He’s a carpet snake, of course, a python. Don’t you have them in Lividica?’
    ‘Not like that.’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Not like that big. And not in the house.’
    ‘Well, Mozzie lives inside.’
    ‘He was there last night? Watching me sleep?’
    ‘More likely he was under your bed. You’ll get used to him.’
    Rosette didn’t reply.
    ‘He keeps the rodents down, among other things.’ Nell ladled porridge into blue ceramic bowls. ‘Still hungry, aren’t you?’
    Rosette cleared her throat and nodded.
    Nell swept away her books and notes, stacking them on a small desk before laying out the bowls, fresh milk, bread and honey.
    Rosette sighed as she turned her attention to the meal. ‘Very hungry,’ she answered, glancing back up at Mozzie.
    Nell smiled, toasting her with a mug of spiced cider.
    ‘To warm reunions.’
    Rosette raised her mug and smiled, the cider sweet on her lips.
    ‘I see you got away with your travelling charm,’ Nell said, studying her necklace.
    ‘Jarrod got it out of the house for me.’
    ‘Who’s that?’
    ‘Jarrod Cossica—he’s my best friend…What’s wrong?’
    Nell’s brow was knitted. ‘I remember a man with that name many years ago. Is he…’
    ‘Old?’ Rosette laughed. ‘He’s my age—just a boy really. He grew up next door.’
    ‘Not him, then.’ Nell blew on a spoonful of porridge. ‘Is he Cossica’s oldest son?’
    ‘No, that’s Liam. Jarrod is the youngest.’
    ‘I don’t remember him.’
    ‘He’s a foundling.’
    ‘And is this foundling of yours the only one who knows you’re here?’
    ‘Him, and possibly Liam. There are few secrets between them, though he said he’d tell no-one.’
    ‘What about your sisters?’
    Rosette shook her head. ‘Both married. Leea’s on a sheep farm near Dumar. She probably hasn’t even heard yet.’
    ‘And Sasha?’
    ‘Under Mount Pele, with a glassblower. Three kids now.’
    Nell was silent, her eyes drifting to the window. ‘I warned your mother that it wasn’t safe.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Rosette, your mother may have had enemies too.’
    Rosette stopped eating. ‘I don’t understand. She was just a matron, looking after the estate. How could she have enemies? She’d turned her back on witchcraft.’
    Nell raised her brows. ‘Had she?’
    ‘Pardon?’
    ‘Do you really believe she repressed her power to mould herself around John’ra’s life?’
    ‘She didn’t?’
    ‘No, my dear Rosette. She was hiding, and she wanted to hide you, too. I told her it would go ill if John’ra caught the public eye. If he was noticed, so would she be. There was no controlling