Page 26 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"What are you suggesting?"

I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. "I have no idea."

"I could climb through your bedroom window," he suggested, a cheeky expression on his face.

"You can't do that."

"Can't I?" He grinned. "I believe that's a challenge I'm going to have to accept."

"Brew..."

"Katie," he responded somewhat sternly. "Just leave it unlatched for me."

I shook my head, mostly amused that he was even thinking of trying that. "All right. Fine, if you want to climb through my window, be my guest."

"Don't think I won't, Kitty-Kat."

I laughed, mostly because I knew that was exactly what he was going to do. Rooibos Brewster would never have it known that he backed down from a challenge, even if we were the only people who knew it had been made.

Chapter14

Katie

My back achedfrom a long day out in the bitter cold, and I couldn't wait to get into bed and finally rest. I flopped down onto it, with Banjo seizing the opportunity to jump up with me.

"Hey, get your muddy paws off of that," I chided, trying to rescue my blanket before it became necessary for me to spend half a day in the laundry room.

He gave me the saddest eyes of betrayal and I gave up on my attempts to save my bedding. We did this every evening and I never won, I didn't know why I was even trying at this point. He let out a happy rumble and buried his face into the folds of the blanket, his tail wagging while he took up most of the bed.

I stroked his head, enjoying the way it made the magic inside of me glow. There was nothing quite like being recharged by the love of my familiar, and I wouldn't be able to work such long days without Banjo by my side.

"You're a good boy," I said, scratching the base of his tail. It was his favourite place for getting scratches, and I loved being able to give that to him.

Something thudded against my window but I ignored it, writing it off as the start of heavy rain or a lost bat or bird. The noise sounded again, and I remembered the challenge Brew had set himself.

Maybe it wasn't a bird after all.

I got up from the bed and Banjo instantly shuffled to take up my space. He did it with his eyes closed too, as if that would trick me into believing he did it in his sleep. I knew better, but I was also far too curious about whether Brew was keeping his promise.

I opened the latches and the cold wind blew the window open. I shivered as I looked out, surprised to find Brew standing at the bottom with a goofy grin on his face.

"What are you doing there?" I called down, worried that someone might see him. Luckily, Grandpa Jon was likely already asleep and Oliver's training grounds were on the other side of the house.

Brew waved. "I came to see you. Come down!"

"Are you already admitting failure?" I teased.

"Absolutely not." He reached up and used the overgrown ivy and ledges on the side of the house to climb his way up. It was a good thing my bedroom was only on the first floor because it looked dangerous and I was already starting to regret the challenge I accidentally made.

I reached out to him and pulled him in through the window before he fell. Banjo looked up but didn't move from his position on the bed. Instead, he wagged his tail when he saw it was Brew.

Rubbish guard dog.

"You could have used the door," I said. "I was only joking when I said you could climb through my window, you could have hurt yourself."

Brew shrugged, sitting up. "You said to come up so that's what I did. And I didn't want to rouse suspicion."

I snorted. There were definitely some holes in his logic. "I think a strange figure climbing in through my window is a lot more suspicious than you walking in through the front door. You're here all the time."