Mishka was confused as she drove home. How can Bruce's cousin handle his entire show in his absence?
"Wouldn't it be better to just cancel or postpone when an emergency crops up?" I would much rather do the work myself to make sure that everything is perfect," she told herself as she drove along on her own.
"Maybe Lyle is just as much of an expert in fashion?" she asked herself. "Well, hopefully there's nothing actually seriously wrong with the company's interests in the city. Hopefully nothing is wrong with Bruce himself. Would Lyle tell the truth if there was though?" Mishka wondered in concern.
"The show and the visit was fun though. Lyle is a lot of fun," she told herself as consolation.
"But when am I gonna find Bruce in? Today was supposed to be my surprise for him to show him that I wasn't joking when I promised to pop in," she sighed in disappointment.
"Well, there's always next time," she consoled herself after a while.
"Now I have to find Gillian so we can check out that camera in the basement," she thought as she drove in at the gates of her own home.
She went straight to the basement after entering the side door.
"Milla said that Grandma was here last night after I went out to dance class," Mishka murmured as she looked through the nursery when she arrived there.
Nothing seemed odd except for the fact that there were quite a few bunches of herbs on the table and on the shelves.
"It all actually has a wild smell, not the sweet fragrance of flowers that I usually find here," Mishka murmured into the quiet.
"Where is everyone anyway? It's Saturday, so some of the servants went to town with Grandma, then the others must be somewhere in the house. Let me call Gillian anyway," she announced to the quiet room before removing her phone from her jacket pocket.
***
Gillian was relieved when Mishka finally called her. Now they would perhaps have a clue about Mishka's grandmother's mysteries.
"Mom, I'm going now!" Gillian called out.
Joan came down the passage in a hurry to see her daughter off.
"You must remember to be very careful, otherwise things will get even worse for Mishka in her home and with her family," Joan warned.
"Yes, not that she has much of a family with Grandma Myrtle there. You should also remember to do your bit about getting her out of that house, Mom," Gillian begged her mother.
"I will do my best, of course. But you and Mishka should just be careful not to get yourselves in trouble with her grandmother and her dad, otherwise they will have valid reasons for complaints," Joan warned again.
"We will be as discreet as possible. Besides, today is Saturday, so Mishka's grandmother went shopping with the cook and so on. The other staff are working for only half the day, so they are busy with their own staff right now. They won't be interested in watching our movements," Gillian responded with a quick kiss on her mother's cheek.
"Be safe!" Joan called after Gillian as she rushed out the back door to the garage to find her car.
She drove straight to Mishka's place.
"I will stop by to buy confectioneries for tomorrow on my way back," she told herself. Because Joan was so busy with music, she seldom found time to bake treats for Sunday afternoon tea, so Gillian bought these from the confectionery on Saturdays.
"What if I see something on the video that's gonna freak me out even more than when I saw Grandma Myrtle chanting in the nursery the other day?" Gillian asked herself when she was already close to Mishka's home.
"We better have some shots of brandy with us in case that happens," she said out loud. "Mishka has already mentioned that her grandma is fixated on a new TV programme which is about witches and other scary stuff.
So, she could be one herself then if such things don't unnerve her?" Gillian asked herself as she drove in at the gates of Mishka's family mansion.
"Come in quickly before anyone starts coming home from their outings," Mishka cautioned when Gillian showed up on the doorstep.
"Great, we can watch the video footage quickly, but shouldn't we have some kind of a ritual just for the sake of protection?" Gillian asked as they walked down the hallway.
"How do we do that?" Mishka asked with her eyes stretched wide in alarm. "Do you actually think that we could run across something real enough to be a danger to us?" she asked.
"Well, for instance, we could be shocked by something, so we will need brandy for that," Gillian responded.
"Okay, I understand. Let's get the brandy," Mishka agreed.
"Then, in case we see something evil we will have to say a prayer up front to make sure that it doesn't affect us," Gillian continued.
"You mean a religious ritual? But won't we need a priest for that? We can't do it ourselves," Mishka responded as they walked in the direction of the bar.
"Hey there! Do you need a priest? Is someone getting married or something?" Milla asked from behind them.
Mishka and Gillian spun around in surprise.
"Milla, didn't you go to town with the others to buy stuff for the house?" Mishka asked.
"No, I stayed home in case your father needed something to eat," Milla replied.
"Is my dad at home then?" Mishka asked in surprise.
"Yes, he's resting at home today," Milla responded. "So, why do you need a priest?" she asked again with a curious look in her eyes.
"Uhmm, we just want to initiate something," Mishka mumbled.
"Oh, are you having a ritual?" Milla asked with her eyes wide from curiosity.
"It's just for fun because we're making a video recording," Gillian responded.
Mishka shot a quick glance at her, with a cautioning look in her eyes.
"Yes, but we're just practicing. We're not shooting a video today," she remarked without taking her eyes off Gillian.
"But you still need a priest?" Milla asked.