Almost Magic

by Kathleen Bullock

  Witch Nebb lapsed into deeper slumber and did not respond, leaving me to speculate.

  The next afternoon was the most beautiful one yet. I plopped down on the grassy bank and waited for little Norafina Nebb.

  Nora appeared suddenly and sat beside me. The young witch’s eyelashes were wet from recent crying. Her nose dripped and her lips pouted. “I lost it. Or it might have been my doll, Delphinia. She always likes to take my things. I’m in big trouble.” The girl rubbed her eyes and sobbed.

  I tried to put an arm around her shoulders. I wasn’t actually surprised when it went right through, yet it still kind of made me shiver. Nora looked as solid as the frog that sat across the stream, but she wasn’t all there.

  The girl’s chubby fingers brushed loose bangs off her forehead. She bent her head toward me and whispered in my ear. “Are you my friend?”

  I was trying to be. I nodded.

  “I want to tell you a secret,” she said. “She dreams the same thing over and over again until I’m quite worn out. It’s like being stuck in a hamster wheel. Now that you’ve come, we’ve started to remember things. I lost my necklace here, somewhere by the river. Can you help me find it?”

  “Oh? You lost your necklace? That’s too bad. It must have been very valuable.”

  The girl hugged her doll; she looked somewhat older today. “She won’t get better and she can’t pass until I find it. Nothing has been right in her life since the day we lost it. We’ve searched for it her whole life. It’s been a curse. No husband, no children, no loved ones to care for her. And now, if it isn’t found, she’ll stay in limbo forever.”

  “She? She who?”

  “Norafina Nebb, the dreamer, silly.”

  My lips scrunched to one side. “Who are you, then?”

  “Norafina Nebb, the dream.”

  I froze and looked straight up at the sky as I worked my mind around that revelation. I’d been prepared to accept her as a ghost, but this was unexpected.

  “Ahhh!” I said at last, understanding. “It looks as if I’ve stumbled into an old lady’s dream. Now everything makes sense!”

  I hopped to my feet, pulled out my folded wand, and snapped it open. “Let’s get started. This is Wanda—if your necklace is still around, she’ll turn it up. You wouldn’t believe the things she’s found.”

  I held the wand in front of me like a divining rod. “Go, Wanda!” We splashed up, and then down the river. She found some interesting things—two gold coins, a comb made from bone, a boarhound’s tooth, and a chamber pot—but no necklace.

  “Are you sure you lost it here, on this side of the river?”

  Nora moaned. “I told you, I can’t remember. We’ll never find it. Never! Never! Never! I lost it such a long time ago, and I’m so tired.”

  Suddenly, the little girl screamed and held up her hands. The fingers were transparent. “Look! I’m starting to fade. First it was my toes, now this!”

  I started to panic—what if Nora faded out altogether?

  Wanda tugged. She pulled with desperate urgency, making me splash over mossy rocks past an S-shaped bend in the stream. “Slow down, Wanda, or I’ll break a leg.” She jerked my arm down and almost dragged me to a place where a landslide of rocks and rubble joined the creek.

  “Too fast! You’re making me stumble,” I cried. Wanda ignored me. Her tip flashed red and blue, and an ear-piercing alarm echoed through the forest.

  ER! ER! ER! ER!

  I composed myself. “Under here? Are you sure?”

  The wand shook furiously. I had no choice but to hold on with two hands. My teeth chattered as she heaved a small mountain of boulders left and right. Nora squealed behind me.

  Beneath the pile, Wanda uncovered a heap of multi-colored pebbles. She stirred them like a tornado (nearly ripping my arm off) until the white stones in the mix magically regrouped into the necklace.

  I lifted the strand of stones with the tip of my wand.

  “You did it! We’re saved!” Nora tried to grasp the necklace, but it went right through her hands. “You must take it to her. Immediately. Before it’s too late.” Without another word, Norafina Nebb disappeared.

  Still shaken, I stood alone on the bank. Only the rippling water and the distant chirp of the birds broke the silence. My fingers trembled at the powerful magic surging through them as I tucked the necklace into my pocket.

  Wanda and I hurried to show Mother. We would have to bring the necklace to the retirement home quickly to stop Norafina Nebb from fading away

  A week later, Nurse Clarian brought Norafina Nebb in a wheelchair to visit us. Nothing about the wrinkled face of the old witch resembled the little girl in the dream, except her green eyes. They sparkled at me, and made me shy.

  “Come here, child. I have something for you. A little thank-you.”

  I stopped blushing and found my family staring at me expectantly.

  Witch Nebb pulled a delicately carved rosewood box from under her blanket. “This is for you, my dear.” She let it sit on her lap as she talked.

  “It’s a gift with a story. As a child, I was very naughty, entranced by my Grandmother’s unwise birthday gift. Though I had been warned repeatedly not to touch it until I was older, I took it out secretly to play. One day I was thrown across the river by a landslide, possibly a magical reverberation from the stones themselves, and knocked senseless. When I awoke, I wandered off in a daze. My necklace was missing and I was never able to remember where I had been playing. This powerful relic, the legendary Nebbula, has been in my family for generations, passed from mother to daughter, and then granddaughter. My granny died brokenhearted, and I spent the rest of my life regretting the loss of my inheritance. Though I searched, the amnesia also infected my wand, and our searches always led to failure. I had no time for husband, children, or grandchildren; so, to make a long story short, now at the end of my days, having no other kin, I bequeath it to Apollonia Louise Bramblewood, my dear little friend.”

  Corny’s eyes bulged. My father frowned. My mother stiffened.

  “You mustn’t, Norafina,” she said. “The Nebbula is a family heirloom. You may need it.”

  Wizard Nebb threw up her hands. “Don’t be silly, my dear! I’ve lived my whole life without it. I can’t even remember how the magic works! I want Apple to have it. I have a hunch she’ll use it well!”

  Cornelia made a rude noise.

  The family crowded around as I opened the box. “Oooooh,” they breathed.

  Tears of wonder blurred my eyes, but I tried to hide them.

  “The radiating magic is stunning,” my mother said.

  “May I see it?” Cornelia reached for the stones. “May I wear it?”

  “Don’t touch!” Mother snapped the lid shut, wrapped a chain around it, and levitated it out of my hands. She sent it into her secret vault—all the while wearing her wise, inscrutable mother face. “Some things are better left undisturbed, dear.” She closed her eyes and relaxed. “This prize will stay safely locked away until Apple matures in age, wisdom, and talent.”

  “You mean forever?” groused Cornelia under her breath.

  “Quite appropriate, Magdella dear.” Norafina Nebb smiled. “And children, always listen to your mother. I wish I had listened to my granny. Nurse Clarian and I must take our leave now. You know where I live, Apple. Come and see me.”

  Nurse Clarian tapped the chair with her wand and they were gone.

  Dear Journal,

  I’ve searched, but my mother’s secret hiding place is too well-hidden. I guess that’s why she calls it her secret hiding place. My dream of ever wearing the necklace before I’m one hundred years old has faded.

  Mom is right to worry—I can be a muddle-headed mess-up at times—but someday the necklace WILL be mine. I just hope I won’t be too feeble to enjoy it. At least I know that Corny can’t get her hands on it either!

  For now, I’ll have to be satisfied knowing that a good deed done is its own reward.

  CHAPTER T
WO

  The power of the mysterious Nebbula stones—a power so strong my mother wouldn’t even let me touch them—was destined to remain a secret. Just thinking about what I’d have to do to prove myself worthy of such an inheritance made my teeth grind. I might never shape up to Mother’s high standards.

  On Saturday afternoon, Mom and Dad were packed and ready for the Annual West Coast Wizards’ Convention & Gala on the invisible Isle of Roux. For the first time ever, our parents trusted Corny and me to stay home alone—and for two whole days! We stood at the door to say goodbye, bursting with excitement at the rare privilege. Mother, on the other hand, looked nervous. She never worries about Corny, so it must have been me she was wringing her hands over.

  “Don’t forget to use the spell phone if you have any trouble,” she repeated for the tenth time. “Cornelia, help Apple with her homework, heat up the meals I’ve left in the fridge, do your chores, and both of you, early to bed…and…”

  Dad put a large hand on mom’s shoulder. “I think the girls understand the rules, Mags. We’ll be home early Sunday evening.” He looked at us, then at his watch, and winked. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the Guild’s gourmet lunch. They always serve cock-a-leekie soup, my favorite.” He pushed his glasses up his long thin nose and grinned.

  “Don’t worry, Mom and Pop.” Cornelia, magically sweet from head to toe, shook her golden head and squeezed my neck (hard) from behind. With an exaggerated gesture, she draped her arm over my shoulder. “I’ll take good care of the infant.”

  “Hey!” I cried, and shrugged her off.

  Corny had better watch out. From the look in her eye, I guessed she had big plans for that weekend. And infants (like me) weren’t above snitching.

  With a snap of fingers, Mom and Dad disappeared.

  Twenty seconds later—so did Cornelia.

  That night in my sleep, I heard a voice say, “No feet!”

  “Huh?” I opened my eyes and wiggled my toes. My feet were fine. I looked around my dark bedroom at the objects etched in moonlight. The clock read 12:12 AM. Had the voice been part of a dream? A bit nervously, I tucked my knees up and closed my eyes.

  “Sadly, no hands either.”

  I gasped. I spread my hands and counted my fingers to make sure they were all there. The voice I’d heard was certainly NOT part of a dream. I suspected a trick. “Who said that? Corny?”

  A tiny voice moaned, “Apologies, witch child. It is I, Phyllus-ZR-20, though not speaking. Thinking. Have no voice.”

  Up I bolted, heart buh-bumping, and reached under my pillow for Wanda. “I’m warning you, whoever you are, I have a magic wand and I know how to use it.”

  (Well, most of the time.)

  My words set off a series of groans.

  I squeezed Wanda and she made a noise like chalk on a blackboard. I loosened my grip. “Intruder, are you—crying?”

  “Can’t cry.”

  “Let me guess. You have no eyes?”

  “Too true.”

  I snapped on the table lamp and looked around. “Show yourself!”

  “Here. Beside.” The philodendron on my nightstand swished as if possessed. Whoa, way too close! I scooted to the other side of the bed. The frantic rustling and leaf-waving made me clutch Wanda even tighter.

  “Pardon my fumble with Earth language. It soon gets better.”

  A talking plant? I gulped and tried not to cower. This was a first. I looked at the empty bed across the room. Where was big sister Cornelia when I needed her?

  “W-who are you?” I demanded. “What are you?”

  “I am a Being of Light and Energy from a place with no name. I come on DIRE mission to rescue Third Eye”—his voice quaked—“stolen from the Mighty Apex, an All-Powerful and Angry Deity.”

  Wait—this had to be a dream. Who ever heard of an alien philodendron from outer space?

  The plant drooped and made choking sounds again. “I aimed to inhabit the corporeal body of the Earth witch Cornelia Hortense Bramblewood. Already I have failed. I am not possessing Cornelia Bramblewood. Or even Apollonia Louise Bramblewood, an inferior witch. I am potted plant.”

  “Hey!” That did it. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and leaned close to the mysterious Being. “I might only be twelve—almost thirteen—but I am not inferior! Just less experienced. Besides, how dare you come here and try to possess my sister?”

  The desire to do something dramatic and prove my witch-worthiness made my hands itch. “I think I’ll fling you out the window and—and drop something really awful on you.” I thought of horse manure, but would Wanda cooperate? She hated messes.

  “Understandable, but useless. Only twenty-three hours, twenty minutes, and fifty-six seconds left. Then, the Big Ka-boom. Earth explodes.”

  “Explodes? You’ve got to be joking! That’s impossible. Isn’t it?”

  “Shhh! Mighty Apex has big ears. He jokes not. He will blow up Earth for sure to get Third Eye. The Eye is indestructible—Earth, not so much. I begged for reprieve to find thief. Sadly, the Mighty One gives me single Earth day only.”

  “Smoking asteroids!” I chewed my thumbnail and paced the room. “But why possess my sister Corny?”

  “I need magical body here. Cornelia Bramblewood has energy radiating like rainbow. Good fit for me.”

  “My energy—does it shine too?”

  “Well…” The plant hesitated. “Actually…”

  “Never mind!” My chest heaved, my stomach tightened, my self-esteem plummeted. Cornelia was always everyone’s first choice.

  I pointed out the window. “Go find her, then, if you can. For all I know, she might be anywhere—dancing in the woods under the full moon, doing Pilates at the Fit Wizard Gym, or, most likely, holding hands with a boy at the late show.”

  The plant seemed to consider.

  I quickly added, “Remember, you’ve only got twenty hours left!”

  “Twenty-three hours, seventeen minutes.”

  “So you see, searching for Corny is bound to be a waste of time.”

  The leaves of the philodendron wilted flat. “No need to find rainbow witch now. Only one chance to land on target. I missed. I will stay potted plant until I die—twenty-three hours, thirteen minutes, and zero point three seconds from now.”

  I sank on the edge of the bed. The plant’s pessimism (translated as, hopeless negativity) was getting to me. “Ph… Phy…You don’t mind if I call you Phil, do you? Are you on the level about this exploding Earth business? Explode as in Bing, Bang, BOOM?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why can’t I help find the Eye and save the world? I’m not Cornelia, I admit, but I do have Wanda, and Bramblewood DNA.”

  Phil sighed. “I guess better than waiting for annihilation.”

  “I’ll be the eyes and legs and voice you need to execute your master plan. You do have a master plan, right?”

  “Certainly! My birth-mate, Phyllus-ZR-19, is thief. This very ungrateful mutant-reject grabbed the Eye before Mighty Apex could banish him to nothingness. ZR-19 used Eye power to transport here. He means to be Master of this backward World.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Evil dictators are a dime a dozen on this planet. My family has been battling them for hundreds of years.”

  I rushed to the closet and tossed out clothes until I found a suitable outfit. “Are you sure you can’t see?” I asked, clutching my polka-dot nightgown to my chest.

  “I intuit.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I am being aware without seeing.”

  With a swirl of arms and legs, and a mounting sense of urgency, I dressed in jeans and T-shirt, my favorite suspenders, and boots. I picked up a fleece jacket off the floor and stuffed Phil into my backpack. “Where do you think this mutant thief is hiding?”

  Phil shook out his leaves. “I get one clue from his mind. Like me, here he needs a vessel. He plans to inhabit the body of M, a powerful magician in the Big City. If we find correct magician in less than twenty-t
hree hours, two minutes, and twenty seconds, we can breathe the big sigh.”

  Not much to go on, but it was a start. I rushed downstairs, deliberating over our traveling options. I was not yet competent at transporting, and a dire emergency like the imminent destruction of Earth required immediate action. There was only one solution.

  “We’ll take Corny’s motor scooter.” I was almost afraid to say it out loud. The scooter had just recently been everlastingly forbidden to me after the tiny little scratch it got crashing into a sugar pine tree. (Which wasn’t totally my fault. I was trying to avoid a turtle!)

  Wanda wouldn’t be happy. She’s a stickler for obeying rules. Nevertheless, I eagerly climbed aboard. The scooter goes twenty-five miles an hour, and even faster downhill. “Trust me, Phil; we’ll make it to the city in no time.”

  I didn’t bother informing him that most other witches of my age could transport with a snap of their fingers; he was nervous enough already.

  The moon cast shadows across the long, empty road as we sped away from Bramblewood Heights, my family’s secluded retreat on Cashel Mountain. This was going to be my first-ever solo adventure. I only half-believed the philodendron’s story, but just in case the little fellow was right, it would be morally wrong to pass up the opportunity to save the world and show Corny and my parents that I was good for something. Maybe even good enough to go to an Ordinary middle school and wear the Nebbula necklace.

  “Go faster,” urged Phil. “Only twenty-two hours, forty-seven minutes, and three point two four seconds left.”

  By dawn, I had to admit I was lost. I’d never realized how many crisscrossing roads existed in our part of the county. Phil moaned and thrashed in the backpack, chanting his mantra to go faster over and over again. When the scooter ran out of gas, I hopped off and stretched my legs, trying not to panic.

  Phil swooned. “Soon we die,” he lamented. “Been nice knowing you.”

  Ignoring his words of doom, I tried to fix the problem with a basic spell—as simple as possible. I swished Wanda. “Scooter, get up and go.” The engine sparked to life, backfired three times, rose off the ground and—went. My eyes squinted as I watched it rise over the treetops and disappear against the bright sky.