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Shortly before the Thanksgiving holidays, Sylvia chases Colin down at the bike rack.  "Hey," she says, grabbing his sleeve to get his attention.  "Are you in a rush?"

"Hey there."

He checks his watch.

"No, I'm not. Got any problems?"

"No problems, really, but I was wondering--your mom knows a lot of girls, right?  Other women?  Grad students and professors and that kind of thing?"

He raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, I guess she does. Why do you ask?"

She has to think about her approach.  "Did you know the suicide rate goes up during the holidays?"  She's not sure that came out right, but she presses on, regardless.  "All kinds of lonely vitamin-D-deficiency cases start thinking about how they don't have the big Christmas tree and the family and someone to kiss under the mistletoe.  You'd be pretty miserable if you were alone at this time of year, wouldn't you?"

"And you want to do something about that."

He lowers his voice. "With your skills?"

"What?"  She sounds surprised, then annoyed.  "No.  That'd be unethical, or at least creepy.  I'm talking about a friend of mine.  He's been alone for a while, and I'm kind of worried about him, you know?  I don't want him to be lonely at Christmas."

"Ah. Oh."

Colin thinks about it.

"I don't know. I'd have to ask her. But why don't you invite him yourself?"

It hits him just as the words roll out.

"You want to find him a date. Why didn't you say so?"

"Well, I dunno," she hedges.  "I can't really set him up with a date.  I don't think he'd show up.  But I was hoping your mom knew some interesting people, interesting women, who wouldn't mind maybe getting a friendly phone call from someone who might not be--"  She puffs out her cheeks.  "--ideal dating material."

He raises his eyebrow again. "You're making it sound creepy too. Why he's not dating material?"

Sylvia chews a thumbnail.  "He leads a secluded life.  In a care facility.  And he's not much of a talker."

"In a care fa- oh. That friend of yours."

He runs a hand through his hair, sighing.

"Are you sure this is something he would enjoy? I mean, if he's lonely, all he's have to do would be find someone to chat with. How should I explain it to my mom? 'Mom, Sylvia asked me if you could ask your friends to call a man at this number to make him feel less lonely, but they can't ask to meet him.'"

He sighs again. "I'll try. But it'll be difficult. She's going to think it's a cruel joke of sorts."

"It's not like that.  It's not like he couldn't eventually meet someone if he wanted to."


"I'm not trying to set anyone up on a blind date.  I'm looking for a woman who's--"  She tries to imagine Smith's ideal.  "--smart, pretty, absolutely honest, compassionate, unconventional, and she can't be, like, a pacifist or too high-maintenance.  Do you know anyone like that?"

"In a word, you want her to be perfect. But why should this perfect woman want to spend some time with him?"

Sylvia has no idea.  But she takes a guess.  "Because she's looking for a man of mystery?  He's got that.  Mystery.  Tons of it."

"Mystery. Ok, I'll try. But don't hold your breath, I can't really promise anything. I'll let you know." he says, mounting on his steed.

Sylvia sighs.  "Use those magic powers?  Look into your crystal ball and find someone?  I'm not asking for true love, just someone who's willing to give him a try."

"I didn't think of that. It'll need some research. Isn't your mom good at that too, though?"

Sylvia looks guilty.  "Yeah, but then I'd have to tell her about him."

"With all that happened so far, if she hasn't freaked out yet I don't think she ever will. You think she can't handle that you're seeing someone who's helping you with your powers, and has saved our lives from the witches' dream of doom? I think you should trust her."

"Yeah, yeah," Sylvia says, irked by what she thinks is another one of Colin's scoldings.  "I'll tell her.  I just haven't gotten around to it yet."  She pauses.  "I guess you're right.  She is the one who'd know about casting love spells and all that."  She catches her lower lip between her teeth.  "Huh."

Colin smiles.

"Well, I'll try anyway. Now that I think of it, there is something I should be able to do about that, but you know, I can only do what I'm allowed to do. If we don't find anything, we should all visit him for Christmas. We owe him big time, after all."

Sylvia makes a dubious noise.  "Eh, I don't know how he'd feel about that."