The Root of Magic by Kathleen Benner Duble

Author:Kathleen Benner Duble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2019-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, TOPHER. WELCOME TO KISMET.

“Welcome to Kismet?” Willow says. “But Topher already lives here.”

Angeline smiles. “Of course he does. This would look great right here, don’t you think?”

She holds the sign up and Grace holds the other end. Neither of them will meet Willow’s eyes.

“I need a chair. Can you get me one?” Angeline asks.

Though Angeline has obviously heard Willow, she doesn’t offer any explanation as to what the sign means.

Willow shakes her head in irritation. She can’t keep being impolite, pushy with tons of questions. Still, she stands there, her anger growing. Why will no one in this town give her answers?

She wants to know what is going on but can’t see how to figure it out when people keep ignoring her. So she does as Angeline asks and gets a chair, thinking hard as she drags it across the wooden floor and then goes to get another for Grace.

The girls climb up and hold the sign, then look to Willow for approval, though why they care what Willow thinks is another dumb mystery.

Willow nods that the banner is straight, and they attach it to the wall with tape.

Not far from her, Willow sees Taddie filling a balloon with helium. Then she sees that Wisp is with him. He has come in with their mom, who is standing and talking to a lady with jet-black and slightly gray hair twisted in a long braid that hangs down her back. The woman is reed thin and dressed in hospital scrubs. Willow gazes at her curiously, realizing she must be Topher’s mother.

She hears a giggle and looks over to where Wisp and Taddie are standing together. Wisp glances back at their mom, making sure she is not watching, and he takes a breath of the helium. When Joe Joe comes to help, Wisp says, “Hello, Joe Joe,” in a helium-induced Munchkin-like voice. Taddie collapses to the floor in a fit of laughter. Willow cannot help herself. She too laughs at Wisp’s high jinks.

“Your brother seems to like it here just fine.”

Willow turns. Dark-haired, scowling Grace has spoken at last.

“Yeah,” Willow says. “He likes Topher’s brothers.”

“What’s your problem, then?” Grace asks, her mouth twitching like the tail of an unhappy cat. “It’s obvious you want to get out of Kismet.”

“No problem,” Willow says, surprised by Grace’s rudeness. “I’d just rather be with my own friends back in my own home.”

Grace’s dark, shadowed eyes glint. “Well, I wish you were back there too.”

“Grace,” Angeline snaps, coming up beside them.

Grace jumps. And though Angeline may believe that Willow hasn’t seen, Willow has. Angeline has just given her friend a wicked pinch on the thin skin of her underarm. Now Angeline reaches out to take hold of Willow. Willow flinches. But Angeline links her arm with Willow’s anyway, as if they have been friends since kindergarten. Firmly, she pulls Willow away from Grace.

“She doesn’t like strangers,” Angeline whispers to Willow in a conspiratorial voice once they are out of earshot. “Her family has lived here for generations.

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