The Magic Misfits: The Second Story by Harris Neil Patrick

Author:Harris, Neil Patrick [Harris, Neil Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B078W5PMV1
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2018-09-25T06:00:00+00:00

By the flickering light of Ridley’s finger, Leila noticed a dozen or more symbols carved into one portion of the wall. “Wow,” Leila whispered. She ran her fingers over the carvings, as if she could read them that way. Many of them were simply the suits from playing cards: diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades. Inside a few of the hearts, someone had carved what looked like initials:

“If these were left by the Emerald Ring,” Leila wondered aloud, “what do K and A stand for?”

“I don’t know,” Ridley answered, “but a few of these initials look like they were crossed out. Weird. Guess someone had a bad breakup.”

Leila considered the wall. “Or one person carved the initials, and someone else crossed them out. And the first person came back and carved them again. And the other person came back and crossed them out again.”

“Hmm. If that’s true, it could be one reason that the magic club broke apart. Love.” Ridley spoke that last word as if she were chewing a large mouthful of tripe stew.

“Do you think it could have turned into hate?” Leila asked, wondering what role her dad must have played in this old game.

Ridley sighed. “Love doesn’t need to transform into anything other than itself in order for people to get hurt. At least, that’s what I’ve gathered from reading my mom’s novels. I’ve never been in love.”

Leila snickered. “Me neither.”

She glanced at the initials and the symbols, imagining the drama that must have unfolded in this very room. Had her dad and Carter’s dad practiced their first magic tricks here? Had they argued about who should belong in the Emerald Ring, and who shouldn’t? Could this be the room where the old club had broken apart?

“Look over here. These symbols are different.” Just below the poster advertising a show featuring Alexander: The Man Who Knows, a few more carvings stood out. They were more detailed than the simple playing card suits. One looked like a stick with leaves growing from it. The second was a star inside a circle. Another looked like a chalice. The last symbol was half-hidden on the wall underneath the poster frame. Leila removed the poster, revealing the carving to be a sword.

“I’ve seen these before,” said Leila.

Ridley’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Wand, coin, cup, and sword,” she said. “They’re suits from a deck of cards. Tarot cards. Fortune-tellers use them to divine your future.”

“Sandra brought over a pack this morning!” said Leila. “I think my dad keeps a couple tarot decks in his office. He doesn’t use them. He just likes the illustrations.”

“It would make sense, then, if Sandra carved these symbols here a long time ago,” Ridley noted. “The question is: Why?”

Leila glanced down at the back of the poster and gasped. She turned the frame so Ridley could see the black ink scribbled onto the cardboard. It was a sentence. A message. Ridley leaned close as Leila crouched and sat on her heels.

Leila handed the poster to Ridley and

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