The Magic Nation Thing

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

  “From Truckee?” Paige and Abby repeated in unison. And then Woody, who had just stumbled into the room, made it into a question. “How did Sky get all the way to Truckee?”

  “I don't know. Mr. Baker didn't say. He was calling from his car. He said the snow on the road is very bad now but they're following a snowplow and they'll be here as soon as possible.”

  “And Dad? Does Dad know?” Paige asked.

  “Yes. I called him. They were searching in the forest way out past the Far East Express. But now he's on his way here with the ski patrol. Put on your robes and come downstairs. It won't be long now.”

  It wasn't really long but it seemed like forever. A forever of sitting around the kitchen table wondering how in the world Sky had gotten to Truckee and watching Woody run to the window every few minutes and come back shaking his head.

  Mr. Borden and the ski patrol guys arrived first, their van sliding and slipping up the snowy driveway. But while they were still taking off their coats in the snow porch, there was the clanking sound of another car with chained tires coming up the driveway. A few seconds later Sky dashed into the kitchen. Daphne ran to grab him up and then all the Bordens and Abby too were around him, patting his head and back while he buried his face against his mother's shoulder.

  There were other voices then, men's voices, and when Abby turned around, a stranger was shaking hands with the patrolmen and introducing himself. “The name is Baker,” he was saying. “Jackson Baker.”

  Daphne sat Sky down on the edge of the kitchen counter while everyone said hello to Jackson Baker and started thanking him for finding Sky and bringing him home.

  “Where on earth did you find him?” Daphne asked.

  The guy named Jackson grinned. “On the backseat of our car. We—my wife and I—had no idea he was there and then just as we were about to pull into our driveway he started talking. Really gave us a start.”

  Suddenly everyone was looking at Sky. “Skyler?” Sher Borden said, and that one word was a question. A very big question.

  “Okay,” Sky said. “I ran away because I was mad at them.” He pointed to Abby and Paige. “I was just going to go to the center but then I saw them going there….” This time he pointed to Abby and then to Woody. “I saw them coming so I went the other way. And then it was starting to snow and I was cold so I went all the way to our car.” Sky emphasized the word our.

  Abby and Paige exchanged significant glances.

  “Only when I got there I couldn't get the key out.” Sky looked at his father as he went on. “I know how to do it, Dad. I remembered how. Only there was so much ice inside the bumper. I tried and tried and I couldn't get the key out. It was cold and snowing and then I saw a guy coming skiing really fast.”

  Sitting on the edge of the counter, Sky pantomimed someone doing speedy cross-country skiing. “His car was near ours and he opened the door and reached in and then he went away fast. Real fast. And then …” Sky stopped talking, squinted his eyes, and nodded his head, making an expression that said something like “And then I got a good idea.”

  “Then I went over and tried and I was right.” He grinned at Mr. Baker. “You forgot to click your door locker. So I got inside and sat in the backseat. But I wasn't much warmer until I found a big sleeping bag right there on the floor. And then …” He paused and then went on sheepishly. “And then I guess I went to sleep.”

  They all looked around, giving each other “Oh, I get it” expressions, but Sky wasn't finished. “And when I woke up I was riding in a car with a stranger, like Mom says not to. With two strangers.” Sky shrugged and grinned. “I was kind of scared, I guess. But when I asked them if I was kidnapped, the lady kidnapper screamed, and he”—Sky pointed at Mr. Baker—“he stopped the car so fast I rolled off the seat.”

  After everyone stopped laughing, Mr. Baker told about how he and his wife had been skiing and it wasn't until they came back to the village and started to go to a restaurant that he realized he'd left his wallet in his car. So he went to get it. “And I must have forgotten to lock the car. By the time we'd finished eating,” he said, “the storm was so bad we decided to pack it in and go back to Truckee as fast as we could.” He grinned. “And then, just as we got there, we discovered we had a stowaway.”

  It was very late, maybe almost midnight, when Abby and Paige were back on the window seat, staring out at the storm—and talking and talking and talking. They laughed a lot too, especially at first while they were going over everything that had happened. Things such as how scared the Bakers must have been when a mysterious voice came out of the darkness at the back of their car. And the way Sky politely asked them if he was kidnapped.

  But when the talking finally stopped, they went on sitting there—thinking. At least that's what Abby was doing, and she knew that Paige was too. And she was afraid she also knew exactly what Paige was thinking about. But maybe not. Maybe Paige was just remembering how she'd felt when it had looked as if Sky was lost in the storm and maybe frozen to death, and at the same time remembering how often she'd said she would like to wring his neck.

  Abby was pretty sure she did know what Paige was thinking, but just to be sure, she said, “I guess you were pretty glad to have Sky back, even though he's a monster sometimes. Is that what you were thinking?”

  Paige nodded. “Yeah. I thought about that for a while.” She grinned at Abby. “I even told myself to remember how I felt when I thought he was dead the next time I'm about to strangle him.”

  Abby grinned back and swallowed a sigh of relief. But the relief didn't last long, because Paige went right on talking and what she said next was “But that's not what I'm into right now. What I'm thinking right now is …” She turned to give Abby one of her neon-lit, super-focused stares. “What I'm thinking right now is, you haven't outgrown

  it after all. You did it again. Didn't you?”

  Abby sighed and nodded. “I guess so.”

  “What do you mean you guess so? You saw that Sky was in that car.”

  “I saw a car. At first I thought it was your car, and then when he wasn't there, I thought I had just been fooling myself. That I must have made it all up.”

  Paige shrugged and said, “Humph! The insides of cars look pretty much alike, particularly when it's so dark. So thinking it was our car when it was really that Baker guy's doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean your Magic Nation thing wasn't working. Does it?”

  “No, I guess not, and then when I tried again …” Overwhelmed by the sudden memory of what she had seen, Abby fell silent.

  “When you tried again? When did you try again?”

  “Last night. After you went to sleep, I went to the boys' room and I held Sky's pajamas and I saw him in a car again—only this time the car was moving. I could even feel the motion and hear the motor. But I didn't believe it. I was sure it was fooling me again, and I was so frightened, and angry too. Like my imagination was playing tricks on me or something. So I came back to bed and the next thing I knew your mother was calling us and …” Abby hushed again, thinking, So it was right. I did see it right.

  “Y-e-a-h!” Paige drawled the word out long enough for it to mean a lot of important things. “So that proves you can still do it.”

  Abby eyed Paige warily, wondering what might be coming next. Wondering, for instance, if Paige had gotten around to returning the Plump Jack's napkin, or if she might pull it out any minute and demand that Abby make another try at locating Alex and Pablo.

  Paige was grinning slyly, and then as if she'd been reading Abby's mind, she said, “Don't worry. I don't have that napkin anymore. I gave it to Mom and told her I'd carried it out of the restaurant by mistake, and she said she'd take it back.” The grin faded and Paige went on. “I guess it's just that you were right when you said it only worked about something important.”

  Abby looked up quickly—hopefully.

  “Not that meeting Alex and Pablo wasn't important,” Paige went on quickly, “but I guess compared to fin
ding Sky …” She shrugged.

  “That's right,” Abby put in, feeling somewhat relieved. “That's what I think. It worked this time because it was important.”

  Paige was nodding as she stood up, readjusted her blankets, and headed back to bed. She was almost there when she turned back and said, “So now what we have to do is look for some really important crimes to investigate.”

  BREAKFAST THE NEXT morning was … well … different. The wind had died away and the snow had stopped except for the large clumps that now and then fell with a thud from the heavily loaded branches of nearby trees. Everyone talked about the storm, and how much better the weather was now, and whether they would have to wait for the next snowplow to go by before they tried to drive to the village. But between the short bursts of weather talk, there were long quiet spaces. Times when everybody, Sher and Daphne as well as the kids, just looked at each other, but mostly at Sky, without saying much. Nobody mentioned anything about Sky's getting lost and then found again. At least not out loud. It was as if it had somehow become a forbidden subject.

  Sky was quieter than usual too. He fixed himself a bowl of cereal and some orange juice without asking for help, and whenever he caught someone looking at him, he turned his head away, hiding his eyes under his long eyelashes.

  “It's how he acts when he's been punished,” Abby whispered to Paige. “Or when he thinks he's going to be.”

  “Yeah,” Paige whispered back. “Or else knows he ought to be. Scaring everybody half to death the way he did.” And then she slowly repeated, “Scaring—everybody.”

  She jumped up suddenly and rushed across the room to where her mother was loading the dishwasher. Abby followed in time to hear her say, “Mom. Do you have the phone number for where Alex and Pablo are staying? We told them we'd let them know what—”

  “I know. I know.” Paige's mom patted her shoulder. “I called them before you woke up. They were very happy to hear Sky was all right.” And then, after a moment, she said, “They were just on their way out, so there's no point in calling again.”

  “Yeah. Okay. Okay.” Paige sighed, shrugged, and went back to her breakfast.

  Then Daphne told Abby that she'd called her mother too. “I thought she might be worried because of the storm. She said she had been concerned and she thanked me for letting her know we're all fine.”

  So Abby went back to cleaning up, and as soon as the snowplow went past and Sher finished using the blower on the driveway, they all headed for the car. But then, while they were gathering up their gear, Sher came in and said, “Don't forget your ice skates, girls.” And when Paige asked why, he said, “Just do as I tell you. The answer to why will come as soon as we get this show on the road.”

  Even before Paige gave her an excited flick of the eyes, Abby was close to guessing. But it wasn't until the whole family and all their equipment had been packed into the SUV that she found out her guess was a good one.

  “Okay, troops,” Paige's dad said as they started down the drive, “Daphne and I have decided that since we're leaving tomorrow, it would be fun to do something a little different today. Like spending the whole day at High Camp. So, where we're headed right now is straight to the Cable Car. Okay? Forward! March!”

  The boys cheered, and Abby, who had been to High Camp just once before, felt like cheering too. At High Camp, a special development two thousand feet above the valley floor, there were three restaurants, an ice-skating rink, a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a lot of good ski runs, including some that were okay for little kids like Woody and Sky. The Cable Car ride all by itself was a big thrill, and a visit to High Camp's ice-skating rink was an exciting prospect for a person who, after only a few tries, thought that someday she might love ice-skating almost as much as skiing.

  From the moment the Cable Car began to move, skimming smoothly up high above the snowy mountainside, Abby's premonition that it was going to be an extraordinary day got stronger and more certain. And sure enough, one surprise seemed to follow another. One of the first ones was when Daphne announced that she and Sher would go to the beginner's slope to help the boys, instead of sending Abby and Paige to do it—which meant that Abby and Paige could go to the rink immediately. And once out on the ice, Abby was again surprised at how well she was able not only to get around the rink without falling, but also to swoop and glide, almost as if she'd done it all her life.

  When noon came, there was a great lunch at a table where you could see all the way down to Lake Tahoe, and afterward the whole family went out to the slopes again. Having their parents watching and admiring them made Woody and Sky do a lot more skiing and a lot less arguing. And later, when they all moved to a steeper slope, Paige and Abby got to show how much they'd improved. The skiing was fantastic, and all during the day everybody did a lot of talking. Not just about skiing and skating, but also about things that had happened at school and at work, and even on the tennis court. A lot of important things got said, but for some reason, not a word about what had happened just the night before did, which made Abby wonder uneasily if what was being put off for the future was a serious discussion about who was to blame for losing Sky.

  But Paige didn't seem to be worried at all. In fact she kept saying how it was an absolutely insane day. And then, just as they were about to leave, something happened that made it seem even more so. At least right at first.

  Abby and all five of the Bordens were waiting for the next Cable Car down to the valley floor when Abby noticed a big bunch of snowboarders ahead of them in the line. Because of their helmets, it wasn't easy to tell one snowboarder from another, but before long, Abby recognized two of them: Alex by his lanky height and sharp outfit, and Pablo by the way he tossed his head back when he laughed.

  Abby saw them first, but when she poked Paige and pointed, it was Paige who yelled and waved. “Hey, Alex,” she shouted. “Hi, Pablo.”

  They came over then, both of them, and said hi to everyone, especially to Sky. At first Sky looked embarrassed, almost resentful. But when the guys kept talking to him, he began to loosen up.

  “Hey, dude. Good to see you,” Pablo said. “We sure were glad when your mom called this morning and said they'd found you.”

  “Yeah, right,” Alex said. “We heard you decided to take a little trip to Truckee. Nice going, bro.”

  “No.” Sky shook his head firmly. “I didn't decide to. I was kidnapped. Only they changed their minds and brought me back.” When everyone laughed, Sky's wobbly grin made it clear that he'd expected them to.

  Having a chance to talk to Alex and Pablo was a plus for more reasons than one. For one thing, it seemed to make it possible again for everybody to talk about Sky's disappearance in a way that didn't make anyone wonder who was going to get blamed for letting it happen.

  But then came a big minus. When the line began to move, Alex and Pablo said good-bye and went back to their snowboard friends, some of whom you could tell, if you looked closely, were girls. Teenage girls, like Abby and Paige were just about to be, but probably a couple of years more mature. And all of whom seemed to be very friendly with Alex and Pablo.

  On the Cable Car and then in the SUV Paige was unusually quiet. Abby was pretty sure she knew why, and she wished there was something she could say that would cheer Paige up. But there wasn't much that could be said.

  The problem was, Abby thought, it looked as if she'd been right about Alex and Pablo being interested in older women. She wished she hadn't been right, but it looked as if it were true.

  They were almost home when Abby leaned across to Paige and whispered, “We'll probably see them again next year, and by then we'll be teenagers too.”

  But Paige only gave her a blank stare and said, “What are you talking about? I don't care what those dudes do. I've got more important things on my mind.”

  And Abby said, “Oh. Well, that's good then. I'm …I'm glad.”

  And she was glad, at least for the moment. It wasn't until later that she began to wonder ju
st what important things Paige was referring to. But that night on the window seat, when she came right out and asked, Paige would only say she wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

  On the trip home to San Francisco, things went a little bit better than they had on the way up. Woody tried the rubber spider thing again. But a rubber spider only works once, and when Abby started treating it like an old friend, he quickly lost interest. Woody and Sky still quarreled about the dividing line between their private spaces, but their arguments weren't as loud and ferocious, as if they were just doing it for old times' sake.

  For once the roads were clear all the way down the mountain, they had lunch at Paige's favorite restaurant, and they arrived in the Bay Area a little earlier than usual. And then Abby was running up the front steps of the O'Malley Detective Agency, where, as she was about to discover, there had been another change. A big one.

  RIGHT AT FIRST everything at the agency seemed the same as always. The same cluttered office overflowed from the ex-parlor into the ex-dining room, where, at about five-thirty on a Sunday afternoon, no one was there to welcome her home. No big surprise. Private eyes worked when they found a clue—weekend or not. It wasn't until she'd dumped her duffel bag in the hall and gone into the kitchen that she found Dorcas was at home after all. Sitting at the kitchen table, Dorcas and Abby's dad were drinking coffee and listening to old-fashioned music on the radio.

  “Abby. You're early.” Dorcas jumped up and ran to hug Abby and kiss her on both cheeks. “We didn't hear you come in. Are the Bordens still here?”

  “No, they went on home,” Abby told her. “Sher was in a hurry to get some stuff ready for the office tomorrow. Daphne said she'll call you in a little while.”