by Valija Zinck
Later that evening, when the birthday guests had left, Penelope sat at the kitchen table with her father, her cheeks flushed, smiling happily. G.E. and her mother were asleep, and Penelope was dog-tired too, but she wanted to have a look through the newspaper. Pete had told her there was a long piece in it today about the strange downturn, and the equally strange recovery, of the Intermix concrete mixer factory, owned by his father. Penelope was absolutely certain that Leo’s captors had had something to do with the terrible business arrangements that had led to the downturn in the first place! As she skimmed over the article, she noticed something else: a report about the local soccer club. For weeks now, they’d done nothing but score goals, and hadn’t let a single one in. But the best bit was the article about a new species of giant red-headed bird! Penelope wanted to read that one too, but instead her eye fell on another story. A very brief one, under the category of “Miscellaneous News.”
Giant Vegetables Blast Out Bunker
A subterranean vault was blown up yesterday in a small community in the Plasow district. Experts assume that the explosion was caused by a strain of oversized pumpkin that was being stored in the vault. The explosion devastated the entire property, including the house. No one had been seen there by locals of the village for several weeks.
“Look, Dad. Perhaps we should call and tell them that the inhabitants are wandering around in Arkansas and Ohio now.”
Her father looked thoughtfully at the newspaper report.
“Yes, perhaps we could,” he said, but he didn’t sound especially convinced. He ran his hand over the kitchen table. “I shouldn’t have done that—made them forget, I mean.” His hand stilled. “I just couldn’t think of any better way to protect us. All I can hope is that things worked out for Seller and Platell, with their ironing board businesses. Perhaps they’re living happier lives now.”
Penelope frowned. “You wish them happiness after everything they did to you? You don’t wish them any ill at all?”
“No, I don’t,” said Leo softly. “What would I gain from that? I’m just happy that I can be here with you today—with my beloved wife and daughter.”
“But that’s exactly why those awful men don’t deserve a happy life!”
“Maybe,” her father said quietly. “But it would be something new for them. They haven’t known much happiness—everything was always about money. It never made them happy, and there was never enough. I just want Seller and Platell to find something they truly enjoy.”
Penelope went to the sink and drank some cold water straight from the tap. She didn’t understand how her father could think that way, after everything he’d been through. But maybe she didn’t have to understand.
Her eye fell on the newspaper again. “Oh, I wanted to read the rest of that.”
“Not tonight. It’s late,” her father said.
“Are you kidding? Are you actually serious?! I’m eleven now—I can stay up half the night!”
“I suppose so,” Leo sighed, “but I really wanted to read it myself.”
Penelope puffed out her cheeks, reaching for the paper. But Leo was quicker. “Now, just you wait one minute, fire girl.” He rolled the newspaper up and swished it through the air like a sword. “You want to steal your father’s reading matter? Well, get ready for this, then!” With a sweeping, skillful stroke, he drove Penelope squealing around the table and toward the stairs.
Penelope giggled, dodging him as best as she could, but her father pushed her ruthlessly up the stairs. She had no chance. She reluctantly took a bath, brushed her teeth, and put on her pajamas. She really was pretty tired. When she finally left the bathroom, her father was sitting at the kitchen table. He was drinking elderberry water and had his reading glasses on, and his head was tilted over the newspaper.
Penelope’s fingertips itched. She couldn’t help herself—she took a breath and whispered some newly learned words: “Serfix dalons!”
In a matter of seconds, the newspaper had folded itself up, danced briefly around her father’s head like an excited chicken, and hopped up the stairs two at a time. Penelope snatched it out of the air.
“Hey!” her father said.
Penelope raced into her room, threw herself on the bed, and hid under the blanket. Already she could hear her father’s footsteps on the stairs, and she knew he’d soon come through the door. Everything inside her chuckled and giggled.
I wouldn’t want to swap my life with anyone’s, she thought. I’m Penelope Gardener and I am the best newspaper thief in the world. I live in the dragon house, and I have a battery cat. I’ve got my darling mom, and G.E., and Tom and Pete and Gina. I’ve got the road and my flying, and a book by Alpha Regius. I’m eleven, and I’ve got my father back.
Valija Zinck was born in Ingolstadt, Germany, and worked as a dance teacher and choreographer for fifteen years. She lives with her family in Berlin.
Original German text © Valija Zinck 2017
English translation by Helen Jennings © Chicken House 2018
All rights reserved. Published by Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, CHICKEN HOUSE, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First published in Germany in 2017 as Penelop und der funkenrote Zauber by S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt. First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 as A Tangle of Magic by Chicken House, 2 Palmer Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DS.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
First edition, December 2019
Jacket art © 2019 by Alessia Trunfio
Jacket design by Maeve Norton
e-ISBN 978-1-338-55089-4
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