The Shadow Gate

Chapter 8

Things changed in eighth grade.That was the year Human Studies became a school class requirement.When Madeline was younger, she didn't mind being different. She expected her magic would come sooner or later. She waited to sprout wings, like her friend Emma, or horns, like her friend Rose. As the weeks and months passed, she worried.Why wasn't she like everyone else? Was something terribly wrong?As she approached the school with the magic stone O'Day had given her weighing heavy in her pocket, she remembered the day the bubble of worry inside her had burst. The overflow of anxiety led her straight to Auntie.On that day, she'd peppered Auntie with questions. Could she be a late bloomer? Had this ever happened to anyone else on the island? Why was she the only human? Was something wrong? Auntie had put out a basket of fresh boysenberry muffins and boiled water for tea.When she joined Madeline at the table, teacup in hand, she'd frowned down into the rising steam. "We've never really talked about how you came to live with me."Madeline's heart had gone effervescent, like the erupting volcano experiment she'd once performed in science class. But her emotions weren't made of water, vinegar, or baking soda, and they couldn't be contained by a drop of dish soap or volcano-shaped clay. They were wild and unwieldy, so she took a moment to get them under control before she spoke.Finally, Madeline said, "I only know you discovered me at market, at the end of the day, tucked into a basket and covered with a pink flannel blanket.""Yes," Auntie confirmed. She licked her lips, and then wiped them with one paw, looking a little like she was having a hard time with her own emotions. That, or she was preparing for some serious grooming. "Your hair was the most beautiful shade, almost like a sunset, and full of baby curls."Madeline's curls disappeared with her first haircut, but it was still the same shade of red.Auntie continued. "I didn't know what to do with you. Neither did anyone at market. When I realized no one ... no one was coming back for you ...." At this, Auntie's eyes filled up with tears. "Well, I knew you belonged with me. My heart had always hoped for a little one, and then, there you were, warm and snug and waiting."Auntie blinked, and the tears rolled down her furry face. She didn't wipe these away. She stared up at the basket on its very own display shelf. Inside was the pink flannel blanket, an envelope holding the curls from Madeline's first haircut, and a piece of paper with one word written on it. Madeline's name. There were no other clues about where she'd come from, or who'd left her at market."You were so unusual, so strange, in a wonderful way." Auntie finally swiped at her tears with one paw. "I'd learned about humans at school, like everyone else. They were half-myth, half-possibility, until you appeared. And you, my sweet girl, are the most wonderful possibility of all.""Didn't you worry?" Madeline asked, leaning close to Auntie to look into her feline eyes. "Didn't you wonder if I'd ever have magic? I know I look human, but lots of kids at school have my features! A nose, a mouth, two eyes ... well, except for Henry Arges." (Henry had Cyclops and dwarf ancestors. He'd inherited the Cyclops eye, and possibly the dwarf height. No one would know for certain until he hit puberty.)"It didn't matter. I loved you for who you were, just like I love you now for who you are. If you end up with magic, we'll figure it out. If you don't, no worries. Being alive is magical enough."With that, Auntie sat back in her seat and picked up a boysenberry muffin.The subject was closed.Madeline snapped back to the present time when she heard a bell ring in the school yard. She wiped away the tears of memory, pushed aside the thoughts of the song from her dreams, sung in what she believed was her mother's voice.As she hurried through the front doors and toward her first class, Madeline's thoughts turned toward O'Day. He was the closest thing to another human she'd ever seen. His hair was white, and his eyes bright and unusual, but there had been no other signs that he was like anyone on Eclipse Island ... besides her.What if he didn't have his own magic either, just the stone?Now that he'd given her the stone, what if it was her magic?Madeline believed everything happened for a reason. Her tiny world was a tightly connected web, and a tug at one thread shook the rest of the creation. O'Day wasn't a coincidence. He was conformation.People were real.And Madeline would bet cupcakes they lived on the other side of the Shadow Gate.