A Tale of Magic... (30 page)

“Yeah, but it’s filled with boiling manure,” Lucy said.

“You’re
still
making progress, and that’s all that matters,” Brystal said. “Now don’t take this personally, but I have to do something about that smell before we all pass out.”

Later that afternoon, the students and apprentices were forced inside the castle when a powerful rainstorm blew in from the north and drenched the academy grounds. As they waited for the storm to pass, the students and apprentices gathered in the sitting room and listened to Brystal read
The Tales of Tidbit Twitch
aloud. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t stop, so Brystal continued reading into the evening. The evening turned into night and Mrs. Vee headed to bed, but the students and apprentices were enthralled with the story and begged Brystal to keep reading. Even the deer and elk heads mounted to the wall seemed interested.

“‘Tidbit splashed through the mushy plains of Swamp Valley for three days and four nights,’” Brystal read aloud. “‘Everywhere he turned, the flooded swampland looked exactly the same in all directions, and the mouse feared he had been wandering in circles. He began worrying he would never see his beloved Mouse Kingdom again, but then the hazy air began to clear and he saw a fiery volcano glowing in the distance. Tidbit’s heart raced because he knew he had finally arrived at the dragon’s secret lair.’”

Her audience cheered at the exciting passage, but not everyone was as enchanted by Tidbit’s adventure.

“I’m
boooooooored
,” Lucy moaned.

“What do you mean you’re bored?” Emerelda said. “This is the part we’ve been waiting for! Tidbit is finally going to fight the dragon!”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Look, I mean no disrespect to Mr. Tidbit—he’s a peacock among penguins—but all we ever do is sit around and listen to Brystal read! Don’t you guys want to do something
different
for a change?”

“But we’re almost finished with the story!” Xanthous said. “Don’t you want to hear the ending?”

“Oh please, everything in children’s fantasy is the same,” Lucy complained. “Let me guess, our lovable but unlikely hero, Tidbit, eventually arrives at the volcano and confronts the evil dragon. After a nail-biting fight, all seems lost for Tidbit, but then by a lucky twist of fate, the little rat manages to defeat the dragon and Tidbit learns he was much braver than he ever gave himself credit for. Am I close?”

Everyone turned to Brystal to see if Lucy was correct. Brystal was shocked by the accuracy of Lucy’s guess, and her mouth dropped open.

“Spoiler alert,” Skylene groaned.

“See, I told you!” Lucy said. “Now let’s do something
fun
!”

“Well, you’ve already ruined our night,” Tangerina said. “What else do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, something crazy and spontaneous,” Lucy said, and excitedly thought of different options. “Oh! Let’s go
unicorn tipping
!”

“I am
not
going outside in this rain,” Emerelda said. “If I catch a cold, I’ll be coughing up emeralds for weeks.”

“All right, fair enough,” Lucy said. “Then maybe we could play a prank on Mrs. Vee? We can sneak into her bedroom while she’s asleep and put her hand in a bowl of water! That’s a classic!”

“Classically
cruel
,” Brystal said. “Do you have any ideas that
don’t
involve harming innocent people or animals?”

Lucy couldn’t think of any off the top of her head. She went quiet and scratched her neck while she brainstormed the perfect activity.

“I’ve got it!” she exclaimed. “Let’s break into Madame Weatherberry’s office while she’s gone! I’m sure we’ll find
something
worth doing in there!”

Tangerina and Skylene were appalled by Lucy’s proposition.

“We can’t go into Madame Weatherberry’s office!” Tangerina said. “It’s against the rules! And we don’t have many rules to begin with!”

“And you’ve already broken like half of them!” Skylene added.

“We’ll only get into trouble if we get caught,” Lucy said. “Madame Weatherberry will never know we were in there. We’ll just pop in for a quick second, take a look, and if we don’t find anything entertaining, I promise we’ll turn around and leave. What do you say?”

Normally Brystal would never have endorsed such an activity, but she was intrigued by Lucy’s idea. Since Madame Weatherberry had left the academy in such a hurry that morning, it was possible she might have left something behind that would reveal where she had gone. Perhaps Brystal would find a letter from the witches that Madame Weatherberry had left out? Perhaps she’d find a clue that offered insight into what the Northern Conflict was? If nothing else, Brystal could probably determine Madame Weatherberry’s location on the enlarged Map of Magic hanging on the office wall.

“Come on, guys!” Lucy pleaded. “I feel like I’m in solitary confinement! Can we
please
do something stimulating just this once? I’m begging you!”

“You know, even though it’s against the rules, sneaking into Madame Weatherberry’s office is practically harmless,” Brystal told the others. “And if it gets Lucy to shut up about being bored…”

“Fine, we’ll give it a try,” Tangerina said. “But I sincerely doubt we’ll get inside. Madame Weatherberry’s office is probably protected by a powerful enchantment.”

A sly grin came to Lucy’s face. “Challenge accepted!” she said.

Lucy hopped off the sofa and proceeded into the entrance hall. The others followed her into the hall and up the floating staircase to the second floor. The children gathered around Madame Weatherberry’s office and Lucy tried opening the doors the traditional way, but they didn’t budge. Lucy then removed a hairpin from her pocket and sat on her knees while she examined the doorknobs and peeked through the keyhole.

Tangerina and Skylene nervously looked back and forth between the unicorn and gryphon carvings on Madame Weatherberry’s doors—as if the magical creatures were judging their mischievous behavior.

“This is a mistake,” Tangerina said. “We should go back downstairs and find something else to do. Maybe we could play a board game? Or hide-and-seek? Or we could dress up the mounted heads in the—”

“Door’s open!” Lucy announced.

“What?”
Tangerina asked in shock. “How did you get past the enchantment?”

“I just picked the lock,” Lucy said with a shrug. “Come on! Let’s go in!”

Lucy pushed open the doors and led her timid classmates inside. Madame Weatherberry’s office was always a welcoming and cheerful place, but since it was strictly off-limits during their teacher’s absence, the charming room felt eerie. The pouring rain and thunderstorm outside didn’t help matters. With every flash of lightning, Madame Weatherberry’s glass furniture lit up like chandeliers.

As soon as they were inside, Lucy started searching through all the fairy’s cabinets and shelves. She pushed the potions and spell books aside, as if she was looking for something in particular. Her classmates stayed in a close huddle by the door, afraid to touch anything. Brystal stayed with the others but looked around the room thoroughly. She tried to spot something out of the ordinary, but unfortunately the office was impeccably organized and Brystal didn’t see a single thing that seemed out of place.

“Aha!” Lucy exclaimed. “She still has it!”

“Still has what?” Skylene asked.

Lucy removed a beautiful crystal bottle from a cabinet and held it up for her classmates to see. As she presented the bottle, a devious smile spread across her face.

“Have you guys ever tried Fabubblous Fizz before?” Lucy asked.

“Fabubblous Fizz?” Xanthous asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a magical beverage,” Lucy eagerly explained. “It’s a celebratory drink the magical community serves on very special occasions. When my family was on tour a couple years ago, a member of the Goblin Tenors gave me a bottle for my eleventh birthday. Believe me, it’s unlike anything you’ve ever tasted! When my parents brought me to the academy, I saw Madame Weatherberry had a bottle stashed in here.
We should have some!
”

“You can’t drink that!” Tangerina said. “She’ll know we were in here!”

“Put it back before you incriminate us!” Skylene said.

“Will you two lighten up?” Lucy said. “The whole cabinet is covered in dust. Madame Weatherberry won’t even notice it’s missing.
I’m going to take the first sip!
”

Before they could convince her otherwise, Lucy used her teeth to pull the cork out of the bottle and took a satisfying swig. After her first gulp, Lucy burst into a fit of giggles and held her stomach like the Fabubblous Fizz was tickling her from the inside out. She started hiccupping, and large pink bubbles floated out of her mouth.

“Now
that’s
some good stuff.” Lucy laughed. “Who wants a taste?”

“Not me!” Tangerina said.

“Me neither!” Skylene said.

“I’ll have some!” Emerelda said.

Tangerina and Skylene were visibly disappointed in Emerelda’s willingness, but it didn’t stop her. Lucy passed the bottle to Emerelda and she took a sip. She swirled the Fabubblous Fizz in her mouth for a couple of moments in a sophisticated manner. After she swallowed, Emerelda started chuckling just like Lucy, and she blew bubbles out of her mouth one at a time.

“She’s right—that’s delicious,” Emerelda said. “It reminds me of the Coal Brew the dwarfs used to drink in the mine, except it doesn’t have the charcoal aftertaste. You guys are missing out if you don’t give it a try.”

Emerelda handed the Fabubblous Fizz to Xanthous, and he peered inside the bottle as if it contained poison.

“There isn’t any
alcohol
in this, is there?” Xanthous asked.

Lucy had to think about it and Brystal could tell she didn’t know the answer.

“Of course not,” Lucy decided. “Go on, Sparky! Give it a try!”

Xanthous was overwhelmed by the peer pressure and took a quick drink. The sensation was much more amusing than he had predicted, and he laughed so hard bubbles erupted from his nose. After watching Xanthous’s pleasant reaction, Tangerina and Skylene didn’t want to be left out, so they tried the Fabubblous Fizz next. The girls giggled at each other and popped their bubbles as they burped them up. Brystal had the very last sip of Fabubblous Fizz, and just like the others, she chuckled as the fizzy beverage filled her stomach, and the bubbles tickled her tongue as they floated out of her mouth.

“All right, we’ve had our fun,” Tangerina said. “Now let’s get out of here before we wake Mrs. Vee.”

“What are you talking about?” Lucy said. “We’re just getting started!” She snatched the empty bottle of Fabubblous Fizz from Brystal. “I know what we should do next!
Let’s play circle of secrets!
”

“What’s circle of secrets?” Skylene asked.

“It’s a version of spin the bottle that you play with unattractive people,” Lucy explained. “No offense—I’d just rather have lemon juice in my eye than kiss any of you. The game is simple. We all sit in a circle and spin a bottle. Whoever it lands on has to share a secret they’ve never told anyone.”

Before her classmates could object to playing the game, Lucy positioned everyone in a circle and sat them on the floor. She placed the bottle in the center and gave it a strong spin. As it came to a stop, Lucy blew on the bottle until it pointed to herself.

“Oh great! I get to start us off,” she said. “Okay, I’ve got a good one! A few years ago, my family was performing in a variety show in the Western Kingdom. Well, it just so happened that Vinny Von Vic—the most famous tambourine player in the whole world—was performing in that same show. Naturally, I was jealous and I worried he would outshine me. So I locked him in his dressing room and he missed the performance. To this day, I still feel guilty whenever I think of old Vinny Von Vic, and sometimes when it’s quiet, I can still hear him banging on that dressing room door.”

“I
doubt
that’s the worst thing you’ve ever done,” Tangerina said.

“He was in there for three weeks and missed the birth of his first child,” Lucy added. “All right, let’s keep this pheasant flying! Who’s next?”

Lucy gave the bottle another spin and it landed on Brystal.

“Oh gosh, this is a tough one,” she said. “Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t really have any secrets—not anymore, at least. When I was living in the Southern Kingdom, everything I did was a secret. I had a secret collection of books, I had a secret job at the library, and of course, being a fairy was the ultimate secret. I guess none of that matters now that I’m here. It’s funny how a change of scenery can completely change someone.”

Lucy groaned and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it’s
hysterical
,” she said. “Moving on!”

She spun the bottle with gusto, and when it finally stopped, the bottle was pointing directly at Xanthous.

“I don’t really have any secrets, either,” he said.

“Are you
sure
?” Lucy asked.

When the others weren’t looking, Lucy winked at Brystal. It suddenly dawned on her why Lucy wanted to play circle of secrets—she was trying to figure out what Xanthous’s big secret was about the night his father perished in the fire.