A Matter-of-Fact Magic Book

by Ruth Chew

  Also by Ruth Chew

  MAGIC IN THE PARK

  NO SUCH THING AS A WITCH

  SECONDHAND MAGIC

  THE TROUBLE WITH MAGIC

  THE WEDNESDAY WITCH

  WHAT THE WITCH LEFT

  THE WITCH AT THE WINDOW

  WITCH’S BROOM

  THE WOULD-BE WITCH

  THREE ADVENTURE TALES (AN EBOOK OMNIBUS):

  LAST CHANCE FOR MAGIC

  MAGIC OF THE BLACK MIRROR

  SUMMER MAGIC

  THREE SHRINKING TALES (AN EBOOK OMNIBUS):

  DO-IT-YOURSELF MAGIC

  EARTHSTAR MAGIC

  MOSTLY MAGIC

  THREE WISHING TALES (AN EBOOK OMNIBUS):

  THE MAGIC COIN

  THE MAGIC CAVE

  THE WISHING TREE

  THREE WITCH TALES (AN EBOOK OMNIBUS):

  THE WITCH’S BUTTONS

  WITCH’S CAT

  THE WITCH’S GARDEN

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1975 by Ruth Chew

  Cover art copyright © 2016 by David Hohn

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Originally published in the United States by Scholastic Inc., New York, in 1975.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web!

  SteppingStonesBooks.com

  randomhousekids.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 9780449815861 (pbk.) — ebook ISBN 9780449815854

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Also by Ruth Chew

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Excerpt from Secondhand Magic

  To Emma

  “Laura, make Charlie come into the house. The neighbors will complain.” Mrs. Allen got up from the breakfast table and looked out of the kitchen window.

  The fat yellow tomcat was sitting on the top bar of the swings in the yard. He was yowling.

  Laura ran out of the house. “Charlie, come down here.”

  Charlie yowled louder.

  Laura went back into the kitchen. She remembered that there were three sardines on a plate in the refrigerator. Laura cut off the tail of one of the sardines and took it into the yard. She held it up to the cat.

  Charlie forgot what he was yowling about. He stretched his neck to see what Laura was holding. She waved the fish tail. Charlie caught a whiff of sardine. He jumped to the ground. Laura ran to the back door and opened it. The cat followed her into the house.

  “Mother, somebody has been messing with the swings.” Laura gave Charlie the sardine tail. Then she filled his bowl with Cat Chow.

  “Don’t be silly, Laura. No one can get into the yard.” Mrs. Allen put the breakfast dishes in the sink.

  Laura’s father wiped the kitchen table with a dishcloth. “It’s late,” he said. “We’ll have to hurry if we want to get to work on time.”

  “Load the dishwasher, please, Laura,” her mother said. Mrs. Allen found her handbag in the dining room. She took a quick look at herself in the round mirror in the front hall. Then she followed Mr. Allen out the front door.

  Laura started to put the dishes into the dishwasher. The doorbell rang. She went to answer it. Her friend Jane Gilbert stood on the front stoop.

  “Come in.” Laura opened the door wide. “You’re just in time to help me load the dishwasher.”

  Jane stepped into the hall. “I think you save the work till I get here. Yesterday I made the beds for you.”

  Laura walked into the kitchen. She pulled out a chair for her friend. “Sit down, Jane. You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.”

  Jane watched Laura scrape the food off the dishes and stack them in the dishwasher. After about a minute she jumped up from her chair. She grabbed a handful of spoons and knives. “You’ll be all day, slowpoke. I want to swing.”

  When the dishes were all in the dishwasher, Jane and Laura went out into the backyard. Jane looked at the swings. “What were you trying to do, swing double-decker?”

  There were two swings. One had been unhooked from the metal bar. The chains of the two swings were tied together. One seat hung over the other.

  “I didn’t do this,” Laura said.

  “Who did?” Jane asked.

  “I don’t know,” Laura said. “Somebody must have come into the yard last night. I told Mother, but she thinks nobody can get over the fence.”

  Jane looked at the tall fence. “It is pretty high.”

  Laura started to untangle the chains. “Give me a hand, Jane.”

  It took almost half an hour to get the knots out of the chains. Then Laura shinnied up one of the swing poles and hooked the loose swing back in place. Now the girls could swing.

  Laura pumped herself higher and higher. She felt as if she were flying. The swing sailed up almost into the leafy branches of the apple tree overhead.

  “Be careful you don’t swing over the top bar,” Jane said.

  Suddenly there was a long low howl. The yellow cat was staring out of the kitchen window at the swings.

  Jane let her swing come to a stop. “I’m getting seasick,” she said. “And what’s wrong with your cat? Do you think he’s jealous and wants to swing too?”

  “Something really is bothering him,” Laura said.

  “I almost forgot,” Jane said. “Mother told me to ask you to have lunch at my house.”

  The girls went into the kitchen. Charlie jumped down from the window sill. He ran to rub against Jane’s leg.

  Laura stared. “He must like you, Jane.”

  “What’s so strange about that?” Jane picked up the cat. Charlie purred and purred.

  “He’s trying to tell us something,” Laura said.

  “I told you.” Jane scratched the cat behind the ears. “He wants to swing.”

  Laura went to Jane’s house for lunch. Jane’s mother served the girls big plates of spaghetti and meatballs. They had watermelon for dessert.

  When the meal was over Jane and Laura lay down on the living room rug. “I’m stuffed,” Jane said.

  “Me too.” Laura closed her eyes.

  Just then Mrs. Gilbert rushed into the room. She was holding a calendar. “Oh, dear!”

  Jane sat up. “What’s the matter, Mom?”

  “I forgot that you have to go to the dentist thi
s afternoon,” Mrs. Gilbert said.

  “Why?” Jane asked. “My teeth don’t hurt.”

  “You’re due for a check-up. And your teeth need cleaning,” her mother said. “We have to leave right away, Jane.”

  Laura got to her feet. “Thank you for the lunch, Mrs. Gilbert. See you tomorrow, Jane. I hope you don’t need any fillings.”

  Laura’s house was four doors down the block from Jane’s. She walked slowly home. When she opened her front door she looked for Charlie. The cat usually came running to greet her.

  Laura went through the house to the kitchen. The cat was sitting by the back door. Laura opened it. “Remember, Charlie,” she said, “no noise!”

  The cat streaked out the open door. Laura followed him into the yard. Charlie ran to the swings. He leaped onto the seat of one of them. Laura stared.

  Once more the chains were all tangled together. One seat was above the other. Charlie was on the bottom seat. Someone was sitting on the seat over his.

  It was an old woman. And she was upside down!

  Laura was too surprised to say a word. She just kept looking at the old woman. Now she saw that the woman’s clothes and hair were as neat as if she were right side up. Her long black skirt fluttered as she swung back and forth. But it stayed over her knees. She had straight gray hair under a tall black hat. The hat was pointing straight down, but it didn’t fall off the old woman’s head.

  The striped yellow cat sat on the seat under the one the woman was using. His tail stretched out behind him. His eyes were half closed.

  Jane was right. Charlie did want to swing.

  Laura felt she had to say something. She swallowed hard. Then, in a loud voice, she said, “Excuse me. I think you’ve made a mistake.”

  The old woman stopped pumping. She let the swing come to a stop. Then she turned to look at Laura. “Mistake?” she said. “What is it this time?”

  “This isn’t a public playground,” Laura said. “Those are my swings. And I don’t like what you’re doing to them.”

  “I’m sorry,” the old woman said. “The cat told me I could swing if I gave him a ride.” She tipped her head to look at Charlie. He was under her, but she seemed to look up at him. She shook her finger at the cat. “I can’t trust anybody these days. And it was such fun swinging.” The old woman sighed. She slipped off the swing. But she slipped up, not down. Her feet touched the top bar of the swing set. She seemed to be standing on the bar with her feet up and her head down.

  The old woman smoothed her skirt. She walked along the bar. When she came to the end of it she stepped onto a branch of the apple tree. Still upside down, she walked to the telephone wire.

  Oh, Laura thought, she’s going to walk tight-rope. But if she falls off she’ll shoot into space like a rocket. “Stop!” she called to the old woman. “Come back. You can use my swings if you want to.”

  The old woman was so startled she almost did fall off the wire. She grabbed it with her hands and crawled back to the tree. When she reached the safety of a large branch she stopped to catch her breath.

  Laura stood under the tree and looked up. “Why don’t you walk right side up?” she asked.

  “Can’t,” the old woman said. She sat on a branch among the little green apples. Her head was down and her feet were up.

  “Have you always been like this?” Laura wanted to know.

  “Oh, no. Yesterday I was just like everybody else,” the old woman told her.

  “What happened?” Laura asked.

  “I’m not sure,” the old woman said. “But I think it’s something to do with the swing.”

  “Meow!” The striped yellow cat was still sitting on the bottom swing.

  Laura gave the swing a push. The cat swung high in the air. The breeze blew back his ears and whiskers.

  “Cats love to fly,” the old woman said.

  Laura had been staring hard at her. “Charlie’s the wrong color for you,” she said. “You’re a witch!”

  “Now, now. Don’t start using bad names,” the old woman said. “We were just getting to be friends.”

  “But you are a witch, aren’t you?” Laura persisted.

  “Some people say so. But that’s such a harsh word. I have always thought of myself as a wise woman. Only now I don’t seem so wise anymore.”

  The breeze rustled the branches of the apple tree. The witch poked her feet into the green leaves. “This is fun,” she said.

  A moment later she slipped and had to grab hold of the branch.

  Laura screamed. “Be careful! Maybe you’d better come into the house. You’d be safer there. I’ll get a rope.”

  Laura remembered that her mother had a length of clothesline in the basement. Mrs. Allen used it when the clothes dryer was out of order. Laura went to get the clothesline. When she came back she found that the witch had slipped off the branch again. She was clinging to it with both hands.

  “Hang on!” Laura tied one end of the clothesline to the knob on the back door. “Now catch!” She tossed the other end to the witch.

  The old woman grabbed the rope. Then she went crashing up through the tree branches. In a few seconds the witch was above the tree. She was still holding on to the clothesline. The back door shook as if it would come off its hinges.

  The witch floated overhead like a kite on a string. Laura grabbed the rope. She pulled as hard as she could. But the witch was too heavy for her.

  “I can’t get you down,” Laura panted. “What shall we do?”

  The witch began to shinny down the rope. When she got to the bottom she grabbed the doorknob. “Quick, let me in,” she puffed.

  Laura opened the door and pulled the witch into the house. The old woman fell to the ceiling with a thump. She lay there, all tired out.

  “Poor thing,” Laura said to herself. Then she began to think what her mother would say when she came home to find a witch in her kitchen.

  Laura looked up at the witch. She seemed to be falling asleep. “I don’t think my mother would want you in the kitchen,” Laura said. “You can sleep in my closet.”

  The witch opened her eyes and sat up. “You’re very kind,” she said. “What’s your name?”

  “Laura. What’s yours?”

  “People call me Sally,” the old woman said. “It’s not really my name, but my name is so long that I can hardly remember it. Lately, I can’t seem to remember anything. Where is this closet of yours?”

  “Upstairs,” Laura said.

  “That may cause problems, but we may as well try.” The witch stood up and walked across the ceiling to the doorway of the dining room.

  Laura lived in an old house with high ceilings. This gave Sally plenty of head room. She didn’t have to worry about bumping into the furniture. The biggest problem was the stairs. The only way she could get upstairs was by jumping from one floor to the next.

  Laura went to get the clothesline. She threw one end to the witch. Sally looped it around her waist. Laura tied the other end to the banister rail at the top of the stairs. Together they floated Sally to the ceiling of the upstairs hall.

  Laura pointed. “My room is the one at the end of the hall.”

  The witch untied the clothesline and walked to Laura’s bedroom. Laura opened the closet door and turned on the light. “I think there’s enough room for you in here.”

  Sally walked across the ceiling and climbed into the closet. She looked around. “It’s cozy,” she said.

  Laura didn’t think the ceiling would be a comfortable bed. She took an old quilt out of the linen closet and handed it to the witch.

  Just then Laura heard the front door open. Her mother and father had come home. Laura put her finger to her lips. “Go to sleep, Sally,” she whispered. “I’ll be back later.”

  The witch curled up on the quilt in the corner of the closet. Laura turned out the light and shut the closet door. She went downstairs to greet her parents.

  It wasn’t until the kitchen was all cleaned up after supper tha
t Laura remembered that the witch might be hungry. Her mother and father were watching a movie on television in the living room. Laura opened the refrigerator. She found chicken wings left over from supper and some chunks of fresh pineapple. Laura put these on a plate along with two slices of buttered bread. She took the plate upstairs to the witch.

  Sally was asleep. When Laura turned on the light in the closet she opened her eyes. She yawned and stretched.

  “I brought you something to eat.” Laura held up the plate. “Be careful how you take it.”

  The witch craned her neck to see what Laura had brought. “I’m afraid that would make me sick, dear,” she said. “Don’t you have any bones? Oh, and if you have the shell of the pineapple, that would be just fine.”

  “I’ll see what I can find.” Laura tiptoed back downstairs with the plate of food.

  There was still one quarter of the pineapple in the refrigerator. Laura took the piece of shell and left the chunks of fruit. She started to pull the bones out of the chicken wings.

  “Meow.” Charlie rubbed against her legs.

  “No, Charlie. Bones are bad for you.” Laura dropped the chicken bones and the pineapple rind into a little plastic bag. This would be easier to hide than the plate. And the witch wouldn’t have to be so careful holding it.

  “Meow.” Charlie rubbed against her legs again. Laura gave him the meat she had taken off the bones. Suddenly she had an idea. She dumped a spoonful of something from the sink into the plastic bag. Then she hurried back upstairs.

  Sally was delighted. She bit into the prickly pineapple shell with her sharp pointed teeth. “Delicious!” she said. “And what a wonderful flavor these crunchy little brown things have! I haven’t tasted anything so good in ages.”