The Girl and the Witch's Garden by Erin Bowman

Author:Erin Bowman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2020-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen The Magi’s Guide to the Origin of Affinities

Piper didn’t help with dinner prep. She didn’t eat anything either.

She fled straight to her room and cried into her pillow until her eyes were puffy and red. Her mother was even more awful than she’d realized, and the tears came freely, as though she were drawing them from a bottomless well. Despite how endless her grief felt, the tears did, in fact, slow, and Piper was left replaying her conversation with her mother, coming back to one detail time and again.

Assuming her mother wanted the elixir for herself, it didn’t make sense that she was still hiding Teddy’s current situation from the other children. With Grandma Mallory out of the way, Sophia could have given them the key and sent them after Teddy to complete the trials, but she’d hidden the key instead. Why?

Piper touched her locket through her shirt. She was missing something. The pieces were all there, but they didn’t line up properly.

She wished she could speak with her grandmother and ask her what happened. She was so easy to talk to—she had a way of making Piper feel at ease. Just a few weeks ago, they’d eaten a birthday lunch together to celebrate Piper having turned twelve. Melena had sipped on a cup of tea while Piper devoured a slice of cheesecake topped with Snickers pieces, fudge, and whipped cream.

“That’s not cheesecake, dear. It’s a monstrosity,” Melena teased.

Piper frowned mid-bite and pulled the fork from her mouth, making sure to lick the tines clean. “What?”

“Cheesecake doesn’t need novelty candy bars on top of it. It’s perfect plain, though I would tolerate a strawberry or cherry glaze.”

“Grandma, it’s delicious,” Piper insisted. “And it’s my birthday, which means whatever dessert I pick is perfect.”

“Touché,” she replied with a smile. “So nothing is new, truly? A whole year since I’ve seen you and you have nothing exciting to report?” Her eyes worked over Piper, as if she thought she might find a secret scrawled across her skin.

Piper considered sharing how Bridget had pulled away this past year. First by not asking how Atticus was doing, then by inviting new friends to sit with them at lunch, then by always being busy with these new friends, until Piper found herself out of the circle altogether, eating lunch alone, and wondering how a friend she’d known since kindergarten could abandon her in a matter of weeks. But Piper’s grandma didn’t want to be bored with those details.

“Nothing is new. Dad’s still sick, Mom’s still avoiding me, and school is still … school. But at least summer vacation starts in a few weeks.”

“Don’t you fret about your mother,” Melena said. “It’s her loss, running away like that. If you ever need to talk to someone about … anything, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks, Grandma. But I’ve got Dad to talk to.”

“I know you do, dear.” She reached across the table and patted the back of Piper’s hand. “But I’m here too.”

And now,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.