Gwen Doh Lynn

9: A New Normal?

Hazel and I were on a mission. We were going to explore my house and find Esmerelda May's lost grimoire.

Now that my magic had come in full force, I was determined to find that book. Not only would it help me learn more about my magic, but finding it would also make for a stellar history essay that would be sure to win the contest (and beat Elspeth)!

On the floor in my room, Hazel laid out the map of my house she'd copied during our "research sleepover," as she called it. "Okay, so we're.... here," she said, pointing to a spot on the map.

"So what do you think all these symbols mean?" I wondered.

"Maybe they're special magical spots that make your powers stronger or something. Let's see if we can find one."

We turned the map around until we thought we had it lined up the right way. The symbol was at a spot next to my closet.

"Okay, I'll try my magic and see if it's stronger here." She concentrated and the closet door creaked open and then shut again. "Nope," she said. "Pretty much the same. You try."

I concentrated on the closet door. Open, open, I chanted in my head. It creaked open just a little and then stopped. I could do better. I had been giving it a lot of thought and it seemed like every time I had a strong feeling, my magic was stronger. So I thought back to recess and how angry I was at Elspeth. I felt the warm prickle on the back of my neck. I was so mad I just wanted to— The closet door flew open and then slammed shut.

"Woah," Hazel said. "Chill out."

"What's going on in here? Can't a cat have a nap?" Cat sat in the doorway and glared at us.

"Sorry," I said, "but we're doing research. We're trying to figure out this map."

He strolled over and I showed him the map. "We're trying to figure out what this symbol means."

He looked at the map and then walked over to the wall. He sniffed the baseboard and tapped it with his paw. "Maybe it has something to do with this hole here," he said.

"What hole?" There was no hole.

Hazel was already down on her hands and knees, poking around. She pulled on a nail that was sticking out, hardly noticeable. A square of wood came away revealing a small hole in the wall.

I remembered the clue about cats and mice. "Cat! You're a genius!"

"Yes," he said. He sauntered over to my bed, jumped up, and curled himself into a ball. "Keep the racket down, will ya?"

Hazel was reaching into the hole. "Something's in here!" she cried. She pulled out a small item wrapped in a piece of cloth.

We both sat back and she unwrapped it. It was an old-looking necklace with three red stones and a gold chain. "Wow, I wonder if this is an antique," Hazel said.

"I wonder if it's magic." We set it on my desk and went off to find the next spot marked on the map.

The hiding place in the living room was inside an old metal heating vent. We found a small gold ring with tiny red stones set in it.

Luckily, my mom was busy working in her studio so she didn't ask us what we were up to.

In a hole in the back of a kitchen cupboard, we found a large brooch with an oval red stone.

We found a gold bracelet shaped like a snake under a floorboard in my mom's room (I had to crawl under her bed).

Finally, on the third floor, we were stumped. The symbol was in the middle of the room, and we checked all the floorboards for over half an hour. Then Hazel had the brilliant idea of looking up. We had to pull over an old bench to climb on, but up in the dusty rafters we found a black iron skeleton key. None of the doors in our house had that kind of keyhole.