The rest of the afternoon passed quickly with only a few easy deliveries. Adam the driver dropped off some boxes, but it was all normal boring things that went into the storage room. Then it was over, and the time I'd dreaded was here.

I stashed the feather on my bedside table, then I crashed down on my bed. No matter how old I was, it always felt the same when I needed to call home with bad news. Not that this was bad news, really, just that my mother would take it that way.

Finally, I hit the contact button and speaker phone. It rang three times before she picked it up.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey honey, just give me a second. I have brownies in the oven… and I don't want them to burn." That surprised me. My mom could bake most things, but brownies were one of those specialties she only made when she was worried. I heard a ding, and a few sounds.

"Alright, I'm here. Those need to cool anyway, so you had good timing."

"How come you're making brownies?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.

"I felt like chocolate would be a good thing. Have you figured out when you're coming to visit? The town's harvest festival is coming up in two weeks, and I haven't heard anything." She snorted. "It doesn't help that Cerulean has been in a mood since he visited you."

That was a ton of information in not a lot of time.

"The harvest festival is why I'm calling, though now you have me worried about Cerulean…"

"Let's focus on your trip home first."

"Well, I can't really make it." I paused and scratched my ear. "Like I said before, I don't have enough time off to make the trip worth it with the flight. I really wish I could be there, but it just doesn't work out."

I heard my mom sigh on the other side of the phone. "That's okay, honey, I get it. Plus, it's only until you get some more vacation time."

"So, what's going on with Cerulean?" I asked quickly, changing the topic. I didn't really get vacation time with this job, only weekends off until the contract was up. The winter holiday would be a much harder conversation that I didn't want to touch right now.

"No idea what's gotten into that boy. Him and Umber have been at the farm nonstop getting corn in for the festival, plus a load of giant pumpkins."

"They got pumpkins to grow?"

"For once." My mom chuckled. "Umber is so proud."

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"And you're worried because they're spending time together? Isn't that one of those things you are always harping on Cerulean about? Spending more time with the family?"

She paused on the other end of the phone. "I do, but this feels different. One sec." I heard her place something over the end of the phone.

"Hey Sis," said Umber.

"Woah, didn't realize you were home," I said with a smile. "Shouldn't you be admiring your pumpkins?"

"I could smell the brownies all the way from the fields. I had to come get one." He paused for a second and took a breath. "So, those sunflower seeds you got? Can you get more? They're pretty rare, and I've been looking for something like that for ages…"

I blinked, not expecting the question. After handing them off to Cerulean, I hadn't really thought much about them. "I don't know, but I can check. Like I said, someone didn't pick up an order, and I thought of you." I swallowed at the lie. Worry crept in, wondering if Umber had realized they were magical somehow.

"Well, if you can, I'd really appreciate it. Mom's staring at me, so I'm gonna give the phone back. Too bad you can't have one of these brownies."

"Jerk…"

"None of that, now," said my mom as she took back the phone. "Well, he was here for all of five minutes and half my brownies are gone."

"You love all of us stealing your baked goods."

That got her laughing, which was my goal. It gave me a moment to reset my brain away from giving my family magical goods, and the problems likely to be associated with that.

"Well, I want to eat one of these before any more go missing. Keep in touch. I miss you."

"I miss you too, Mom. Send everyone my love. Oh, and the cupcake was perfect. Let dad know the journal has me thinking."

"I will, honey. I will."

Then she hung up on me.

I turned off my phone, wondering. She'd ended the conversation pretty quickly there. That, plus the brownies, felt off. Yet, I didn't know who to bug. Without thinking too much, I sent a text to my dad. "Hey Dad, thanks for the journal. Hope all is well."

He wasn't one to check his phone often, so it might take forever to get a response.

Yet, my phone beeped almost immediately.

"I hope you get good use out of it. Love, Dad."

Now I knew something was up. My worry grew, but there wasn't anything I could do. Hopefully, my brothers would keep me in the loop.

I got up from my bed and headed to the door. The Cat was outside.

"Hey, I was just looking for you," I said with a smile. "Can I get some more of those flower seeds for my brother?"

The Cat blinked at me twice. "We can try to order them, but magical seeds can be hard to find." The Cat paused. "Did your brother mention the magic?"

"No, but he said he's been looking for seeds like that. Weird, right?" I asked.

The Cat nodded in response, but then continued on his walk around the balcony.

***

I couldn't believe the shop let Sable catch me eavesdropping outside her bedroom door on the conversation she had with her mother. If I could be embarrassed, I would be. Instead, though, she hadn't realized I'd been listening in, and wanted to order more of those magical sunflower seeds.

First, one of her brothers had a spark of magic, then her next brother had more than a spark. Now, the farmer has been searching for extremely rare magical sunflower seeds that concentrate and spread magic within a set area, like he knew what they were.

Who was Sable's family?

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