“Okay.” Vashti squinted at Zerie’s skirt pocket. “Do you have an apple?”
“I always have apples! I live at an orchard.” Zerie pulled one out of her pocket and handed it over. It wasn’t a huge apple, but it was heavy, and she worried about Vashti trying to lift it. Tiny pebbles didn’t weigh much.
Vashti took a deep breath and stared at the shiny red apple in her palm. Slowly, it lifted into the air and began to float an inch above Vashti’s hand.
Zerie shot Tabitha an excited look. This was the biggest thing Vashti had ever levitated! “Can you do it without your hand there?” Tabitha asked, her whole body visible now.
Vashti didn’t take her eyes off the apple, but she dropped her hand a tiny, tiny bit. The apple wobbled and Zerie had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. But Vashti steadied the apple and then continued to lower her hand, a little at a time, until her hand was at her side and the apple was just floating there all by itself.
“Zerie,” Tabitha whispered. “Use your talent. Make it spin.”
“What? How?” Zerie asked.
Tabitha reached out and turned the apple gently by its stem. Vashti’s eyes grew wide, but she managed to keep it in the air.
“If you make it move faster and faster, it will keep spinning,” Tabitha said.
So Zerie concentrated as hard as she could, picturing the shiny red fruit spinning around again and again and again. Faster and faster.
The apple kept moving, twirling in midair.
Zerie felt a grin break out on her face, and she had a feeling that her friends were smiling, too, though she didn’t dare move her gaze away from the apple.
Somebody gasped.
The apple fell.
“What was that?” Tabitha cried, turning toward where the gasp had come from. “Did you two see anything?”
The trees had no branches this far down, so nothing was moving. Nothing was out of place. Still, Zerie couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been standing between two of the tall red trunks.
“Look!” she cried, pointing to the nightdrops on the ground. They were bent over, but already springing back up. “Someone was here!”
Zerie looked at her two best friends. “Someone was spying on us.” Her heart hammered in her chest. “Someone saw us. Someone knows.”
.2.
Tabitha ran, following the footsteps before they vanished. Zerie felt frozen to the spot, too terrified to move.
“We’re doomed,” Vashti moaned. “They’re going to drag us off to the Forbidden Fountain and the Water of Oblivion will take away our talents forever.”
Zerie felt a burst of anger at that idea. Her magic was a part of her. It wasn’t fair that someone could take it away. “I’m going after Tabitha,” she said.
She ran as fast as she could, but Zerie couldn’t catch up to her friend. In fact, she couldn’t even see her.
Zerie slowed to a stop, surrounded by tall red trees, bright white flowers, and silence. “Tabitha?” she called in a whisper. The nightdrops around her were all standing straight up. Which way had the spy gone? Which way had Tabitha gone?
Zerie closed her eyes. She listened.
Breathing.
Someone was nearby, breathing hard from running. Whoever it was, they were hiding. And the only way to hide in this forest was to stand behind a red tree trunk. Zerie opened her eyes and turned toward the tree three feet away from her. The spy was right behind it, not moving.
Zerie jumped forward, racing around the tree. She knew the spy heard her coming, because there was another gasp and sounds of movement. Zerie got to the other side of the tree trunk to find the nightdrops trampled and a tall figure in a dark cloak hurrying off into the forest. “Come back here!” she yelled.
And then Tabitha appeared right in front of the fleeing figure, materializing out of nowhere.
With a yell of surprise, the boy fell backward and landed on the soft bed of flowers. Tabitha threw herself on his feet to keep him from moving, and Zerie ran over to help.
But the boy wasn’t struggling. He looked up at her, his green eyes wide. It was Ned’s brother, Brink.
“Brink?” Zerie said. “What are you doing?”
“Hi, Zerie,” Brink replied.
Vashti came running up from behind them. Tabitha put her hands on her hips and frowned. “Why were you spying on us?” she demanded.
Brink sat up, his cheeks red and his sandy hair sticking out every which way. “I wasn’t spying, I was just . . . watching.”
“Well, that sounds even creepier,” Zerie pointed out.
“Are you going to tell on us?” Vashti asked breathlessly. “How can we stop him from telling?”
“What? No!” Brink cried. “Why would I tell on you?”
All three girls hesitated. Zerie met Vashti’s eyes, then Tabitha’s. “Well . . . what did you see when you were watching us?” Zerie asked. Could it be possible that he hadn’t seen them using their talents?
Brink sighed. “I saw you standing around and talking?” he suggested. “Just like anyone would in the middle of the forest? Not doing anything at all besides that?”
Tabitha rolled her eyes. “You’re a terrible liar. You saw us doing magic,” she said firmly. “Why did you follow us?”
Brink glanced around as if he’d like to run away. “I . . . I wanted to see what you were up to,” he mumbled.
“Why would we be up to anything?” Zerie demanded. “I told you at your house that we were going to the woods. Maybe we just wanted to take a walk. Maybe we had things to discuss. Maybe we wanted to plan a party. But it’s none of your business!”
“I saw you make a sunflower spit out its seeds,” Brink burst out. “Two days ago. You stared at it and the seeds all just jumped into your basket.”
Tabitha and Vashti glared at Zerie. “You did magic out in your front garden?” Vashti cried. “What has gotten into you two this week?”
“At least I did mine inside the house,” Tabitha protested.
“Nobody else was around, it was barely even dawn,” Brink put in. “I saw Zerie through the window while I was on my way out to the creek to go fishing. She didn’t know I was looking.”
Zerie couldn’t decide whether to be mad that he’d been watching her or grateful that he was defending her. “You must’ve been imagining things, Brink,” she said. “I pick sunflower seeds every morning. My grammy uses them to make bread. I was just doing my chores the way I always do.” It was almost true. She had simply imagined picking the seeds faster than usual, and it had worked. She did a lot of her chores that way when nobody was looking.
“I know magic when I see it,” he insisted. “And I thought maybe you girls were coming into the woods to do more. You’re always sneaking in here. There has to be a reason.”
Vashti bit her lip. “I guess we haven’t been as careful as we thought. Does everyone in the village know what we’re doing?”
“No,” Brink said. “I mean, I don’t think so. I’m just especially interested.”
Tabitha smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
Brink blushed. “Yes. Because I have a talent, too.”
Nobody said anything for a moment.
“A magical talent,” Brink added.
Zerie shook her head. “You’re a boy.”
“Boys don’t have magic,” Tabitha agreed.
“The Wizard does,” Vashti muttered.
“I didn’t believe it either at first, but I do,” Brink insisted. “And I know I’m not supposed to use it, but I want to. I have to. I feel like I’ll explode if I don’t.”
Zerie felt a pang of sympathy for him. She’d always found Brink to be sort of annoying, but what he was saying sounded exactly like something she would say about magic. How would he know how important it was if he didn’t really have a talent of his own? “Maybe he’s telling the truth,” she said, turning to her friends.
Vashti’s eyebrows drew together, and Tabitha looked skeptical. “Prove it,” s
he said.
“What?” Brink asked.
“Show us what you can do. You saw us, you know our secrets. So show us yours,” Tabitha said. “Or else.”
“Or else what?” Vashti whispered.
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure out something,” Tabitha replied. “We can’t let him tell on us.”
“I already said I wouldn’t tell,” Brink put in. “I meant it.”
“If you really have magic, why are you so afraid to show it to us?” Zerie asked.
“It’s just . . . I’m embarrassed,” he said. “I’ve never done it in front of anyone before.”
Tabitha crossed her arms and waited. Zerie did, too. Vashti looked scared.
“Fine. I’ll try,” Brink said. He turned himself slightly away from them, and gazed blankly toward one of the red tree trunks.
“Oh, no!” Vashti cried, “It’s Ned!”
Zerie jumped in surprise, and Tabitha spun around so fast that she almost fell over. Ned Springer stood between the trees, the usual dark curl falling over his forehead, the usual smile on his handsome face. Zerie’s heart was already beating hard from being discovered by Brink. But seeing his big brother here made her heart pound even faster.
“Ned!” Zerie gasped. “I didn’t hear you come up.” She automatically ran her hand through her hair to make sure it was fluffed, not that her curls ever really un-fluffed.
“Me either,” Vashti said, tucking a strand of dark hair back into her long braid.
Ned gave them a wink, his brown eyes twinkling.
Zerie thought fast. This time they hadn’t been doing any magic, so there was nothing to hide. Ned was probably just in the woods to make sure Brink was all right. He was such a good brother! Her own brothers and sisters loved her, but they were far too worried about their own lives to keep tabs on their baby sister. “Did you finish your cuckoo clock?” she asked.
Ned frowned.
“I want to see it when you’re done,” Vashti cut in, smiling.
“I said the same thing back at Ned’s house,” Zerie said.
Vashti ignored her. “I love all the clockwork machines you build, Ned.”
“Me too!” Zerie said. Why was Vashti acting so flirty with Ned? She’d never even mentioned that she liked clockwork before, and Zerie had known her since they were five. “I’ve always told Ned how great his clockwork is.”
“In fact, I would love to watch you make a whole machine sometime,” Vashti went on, shooting an angry look at Zerie. “I think it would be fascinating.”
“Well, I don’t only like the machines. I like Ned’s hair, too,” Zerie snapped.
“So do I,” Vashti retorted. “And I like his eyes!”
“I like his whole self,” Zerie cried. “I like him.”
Vashti’s mouth dropped open, and Tabitha’s eyes widened. Zerie clapped a hand over her mouth, mortified.
What had she just said? Had she really just blurted out her secret in front of everyone? In front of Ned?
Horrified, Zerie turned to look at Ned.
Was he going to laugh at her?
But Ned was gone.
“Where did he go?” Vashti cried, glancing around the forest.
“Oh, no, I scared him off,” Zerie moaned. “He ran away from me.”
“No, he didn’t. He disappeared,” Tabitha said grimly. “I was staring right at him and he vanished, the same way I can.” She stalked straight toward Brink, and he stumbled back until he was pinned up against a tree trunk, his green eyes wide with alarm. “Does your brother have magical talents too?” Tabitha demanded.
Brink shook his head.
“Then what just happened?” Zerie asked.
Brink’s eyes darted toward her for a split second, and then he looked down at his feet. His cheeks were almost purple, he was blushing so furiously. “I . . . I made him appear,” he mumbled.
“What?” Vashti said.
“Ned. He didn’t disappear. He appeared,” Brink said a little louder. “I mean, I made him appear and then disappear. That’s my talent. You wanted me to show you.”
The girls all stared at him, baffled. “Your talent is to bring people from one place to another through magic?” Tabitha asked.
“Huh?” Brink looked as confused as Zerie felt.
“How did you get Ned here? And how did you send him back?” Tabitha asked.
“Oh! No, I didn’t. I mean, he wasn’t,” Brink replied. “I mean, that wasn’t really Ned. It was an illusion.”
“It was not,” Zerie said. “It was Ned. He was standing right there. I couldn’t see through him or anything. It looked just like him!”
“That’s my talent,” Brink said again. “I promise.”
“Wow.” Tabitha stepped away from Brink and he relaxed a little.
“He looked so real,” Vashti said quietly. She shot Zerie an embarrassed look. “I can’t believe it wasn’t really Ned.”
Zerie felt a sudden stab of anger and embarrassment. “Why did you do that?” she asked Brink. “If you can make things appear, why did you pick Ned? Did you want me to make a fool of myself?”
“What? No! You didn’t make a fool of yourself,” Brink said.
“Yes, she did. We both did,” Vashti replied. “That was really mean, Brink.”
“You said I had to prove I had talent, and I did,” he argued. “I only know how to do it with things I see all the time, and I see my stupid brother all the time. It’s not like I could make a Hammer-Head appear! I’ve never met one. But I know exactly how Ned looks, so I can make an illusion of Ned. How was I supposed to know that you two would act all gooey about him?”
Vashti’s eyes filled with tears, and Zerie felt her own face grow hot. They had both acted like fools, and all over a pretend Ned! And now everybody knew how she felt about him, and they probably all thought she was ridiculous.
“I’m going home,” she said, turning her back on Brink. It was all his fault. Without him and his talent, none of this would’ve happened.
“Zerie, wait!” Brink called as Zerie walked off through the trees. “Zerie . . .”
But Zerie started to run. No one could ever catch her when she ran.
.3.
“Zerie? Is that you?” Grammy called as soon as Zerie stepped inside. “Wipe your feet!”
Zerie smiled despite herself. Her grandmother had said that same thing every single time she’d come through the door in her entire life. Grammy always seemed to know which Greenapple kid it was just by the sound of their footsteps. And they all had to wipe their feet.
“Okay,” she called back, wiping her feet before she stepped into the front parlor.
It felt good to come home, where everything was normal. Familiar. The smell of Grammy’s cooking in the kitchen, the music of her brother Zepho’s banjo wafting in from the backyard, the faint noise of the apple cart’s wheels out in the orchard.
It had been such a strange day. Her talent—and Vashti’s, and Tabitha’s—had suddenly grown so strong. And her crush on Ned Springer had come tumbling out into the open. And Brink Springer had magic . . .
Zerie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would just pretend none of it had ever happened. She didn’t want all this change. She wanted things to be normal.
“Hi, Zerie.”
Her eyes snapped open. Ned Springer stood two feet away from her.
He’s an illusion, Zerie thought immediately. Annoying Brink must have followed her home just to make fun of her for liking his brother. She wasn’t going to fall for it.
“Are you okay?” Ned asked, narrowing his eyes. “Zerie?”
“Um . . .” Zerie glanced out the window. No Brink. “Yes. Sure. I’m okay.”
Ned was staring at her and frowning as if she might bite him. “You look a little mad. And you have a . . . a leaf . . .” He reached out and pulled a small leaf from her red curls. The heat of his hand warmed her cheek, and Zerie’s heart sped up. She could feel his touch, and smell the clockwork oil on his shirt
, and hear the sound of his breath. This was no illusion. Ned Springer was really here, in her house, with his hand in her hair.
Zerie jerked back, and Ned’s brown eyes widened in surprise. “Sorry,” he said, handing her the leaf. “Were you in the woods?”
“Yes,” she answered slowly. It wasn’t like she could hide it—the trees had leaves shaped like lotus flowers, and the forest was the only place in all of Oz that had such trees. “We were looking for the perfect branches for a basket.” It was the lie she’d told her sister, so she figured she’d better stick to it.
“We? You mean you and Vashti?” Ned asked. “Anyone else?”
“Why? Are you looking for Brink?” Zerie said.
Ned looked baffled. “Brink was with you?”
“No,” Zerie said quickly.
Now Ned’s expression was even more confused. “Why did you bring him up, then?”
“I don’t know,” Zerie replied miserably. She didn’t want to keep lying about everything, and she definitely didn’t want to lie to Ned. “Why are you even here?” she blurted out.
Ned blushed, and suddenly Zerie realized how rude that had sounded.
“He was dropping off the clockwork maid,” Grammy said, coming in from the kitchen. “You remember how she kept cleaning the window only on the right side. Ned fixed her left arm as good as new.”
“Oh.” Zerie frowned. “I thought you were building a hummingbird clock today.”
“I was, but I took a break to drop off your maid,” Ned said. “I thought maybe I’d catch you and your friends on the way back—you ran off so fast earlier.”
Grammy raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you two would like to sit down and have a glass of apple juice,” she suggested, steering Zerie into an armchair. “Ned, I’m sure you can spare a few minutes.”
“Of course. Thanks.” He sat down across from Zerie and stared at his feet.
Grammy thinks he’s here because he likes me, Zerie thought.
But she didn’t get that feeling from Ned. His eyes kept darting around the room like he was nervous, and whenever she happened to meet his gaze, he instantly looked back down at the floor. Plus, he kept bouncing his legs up and down, up and down, so fast that Zerie could hardly understand how he was doing it.
Bewitched in Oz Page 2
