“I’m sick of practicing,” Erika whined. “Let’s go get some cotton candy.” The Blacksmithing sign remained untouched, much to her annoyance.

Her sister, Meredith, sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Give me patience, she thought. Why am I always stuck giving her lessons? The headmistress should be overseeing Erika’s woeful attempts at sign manipulation. It wasn’t fair, but that was life. “How ’bout we make a deal?”

Erika smiled. She liked making deals. Usually she got the better end of a deal, except where her sister was involved. She’d have to be careful. “What kind of deal?” Her eyes narrowed.

“You finish your lesson and I’ll buy you cotton candy.”

“That’s it?” Erika pouted.

Meredith smiled. “And I won’t tell Mother you skipped your last three practice sessions.”

Erika’s heart skipped. How did Meredith know about that? She had been gone for over a week.

“Deal?” Meredith asked.

“Deal.” Erika turned and resumed staring at the Blacksmithing sign, beads of sweat forming on her temples as she tried to will the letters to rearrange themselves into the font Meredith had chosen.

Meredith sat down with her back against the lamppost and took out her book. With her sister’s lack of practice, they’d be here until the sun set. At least she’d be able to finish her book.