Magic Under Stone by Jaclyn Dolamore

Author:Jaclyn Dolamore
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Published: 2012-05-18T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The shortest day of the year passed us by, celebrated with music and popcorn and a pie made from jarred summer cherries. The mornings were positively frigid, and the stove wouldn’t hold a fire overnight, so I came downstairs every morning to find Celestina bundled in a coat thrown over her long underwear, getting it started so we could all have tea.

“I know you’re afraid of magic,” I told her one particularly frigid day. “I certainly understand why. But you should learn to warm yourself. It’ll make the morning more pleasant.”

She didn’t resist for long. That cold kitchen, with all the water too frozen to drink, could’ve motivated anyone to sorcery. I showed her how to draw the warmth from the stove, very slowly, using her breath. It took her several mornings to master, but I saw her eyes light the moment she had it.

“We’re going to turn into a houseful of witches,” she said with a grin.

Her words turned out to be even truer than I expected.

One day in January, after a week of surprisingly mild weather, with just enough snow to make everything lovely, I heard a soft knock on the door. Erris was outside with Violet, and Celestina was in the kitchen. I was just coming downstairs with some of Ordorio’s books—I’d been extracting what kernels of information I could from them.

I supposed I was as good a person to answer the door as anyone. And the jinn hadn’t been much for knocking in the past, so I had no reason to assume it was him. Still, I took an umbrella from the stand by the door and held it behind me.

A small woman stood, clad in a black velvet hooded cape, clutching a bag and an armful of books. She smiled. “Dr. Greinfern sent me. I’m the help you requested.”

“Annalie?” I bent my head to look beneath her hood. “Mercy me, it is you! Well, come in out of the cold! And the light. How can you be here?”

I had only ever seen Annalie Parry in a room lit by the glowing, firefly-like orbs of the spirits that followed her everywhere. There was no sign of them now. She was out in the daylight like an ordinary woman, although with gloves and a hooded cape, which she now pushed back, revealing her thick chestnut hair caught in a loose knot at her nape.

“I didn’t really go to Karstor’s because he was worried about me. He wanted to see if he could lift the curse, but I didn’t tell you in case it failed. I’m still sensitive.”

“That’s ... that’s wonderful!” I hardly knew what to say. She was the last person I’d expected to see. “Did you take the train up?” What a ridiculous question. Did I think she’d stolen a ride on the back of a magical bird?

“Yes. Goodness. I hadn’t been on a train in so long, but it was nice. I sat near the sweetest family. They own a big strawberry farm down south and the little girl told me how to make strawberry cake.

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