The Magician's Daughter by Caryl Lewis

Author:Caryl Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

That night, when they arrived home, Dad chatted endlessly and excitedly like he used to do years ago. He walked back and forth, up and down the bus, laughing and smiling and going over every moment. Even Ta-da had looked pleased with himself. They stayed up really late talking about how beautiful Beryl had looked, and how they had both felt the magic fill up the room.

The following morning, Dad was humming to himself as he made toast while Abby sat at the table looking at the blank pages of the spell book in the first third of the book.

‘Dad?’

‘Mmm?’ He looked over at her as he theatrically smeared a thin layer of margarine on the toast. He read the seriousness on her face.

‘What is it, Abby?’

‘Don’t you think it’s a bit sad?’ she asked tentatively.

Dad came to sit opposite her, putting the plate of toast in the middle of the table between them.

‘What’s a bit sad?’ he asked, biting the corner off his slice.

‘That the spells disappear after they’re shared?’

Abby watched him think a moment.

‘No, I actually don’t think it is. In fact, I would say that it is wondrous. Imagine, if magic was there for everyone all the time, it would cease to be …’

‘Magic,’ said Abby.

‘Exactly!’

‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I’ve had everything I have ever wanted in life: you, your mum. This, this is just the icing on the cake. Even if it doesn’t last that long. Let’s just enjoy it.’

Abby felt her throat tighten and the prickle of tears in her eyes.

‘It was brilliant, though, wasn’t it?’ he said, his eyes still dreamy.

Abby looked at him. It was, it really was …’

‘People need this, Abby. They need us. I thought maybe things had changed, but magic, magic is timeless. Ageless.’

He was right. Abby had seen little children squeal in delight over the years and she had seen it in Beryl yesterday. It seemed there was something in people that needed it. That craved it.

‘When I see an audience leaning in like that, everything gets stripped away. Their problems, their worries, their defences, every challenge they’re facing … and their hearts open, and they’re ready to be dazzled.’

Abby leant over and touched his hand.

‘Imagine if we could live our whole lives like that,’ he said gently. ‘So it looks like we have two spells left, so we’ll have to make the most of them, do them justice. Make them count. The great magicians, they turned up in a town, made a mark and left. That was how it worked. That’s what made them legendary … the stuff of dreams.’

It was then that they heard a voice.

‘RONALD!’

Abby looked at Dad confused.

‘RONALD!’ the voice came again. Dad pulled back the curtain and then they saw Linda running up the hill. She was waving something. Dad frowned. ‘What on earth is that strange woman doing?’

She was trying to run in heels, and after a long while, Dad and Abby saw her mouth incredibly rude words. Then she bent down, took off her shoes and sprinted over to the bus.

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.