The Magic Half (12 page)

• • •

Miri froze in the doorway of her bedroom.

“Oh, good. I could use some help.” Her mother was at the top of a ladder, peeling the purple wallpaper off the wall in long strips. “You can start over there, near the floor.”

Miri opened her mouth, and a choked sound came out.

“What’s the matter? It’s actually kind of fun—I feel like I’m doing something against the rules, pulling paper off the walls.”

“Mom?” Miri’s voice was tight. “I have to return this CD player to Ray. Right away.”

Her mother turned around. “What’s the matter with your throat?”

But Miri was already gone.

• • •

Miri felt like screaming. Now Ray was in his room, using the hair dryer on the brown wads. Nell and Nora’s room had Nell and Nora in it. Robbie was in her parents’ bedroom, checking the cost of Play-Stations on her father’s computer.

Fuming, Miri thundered down the stairs. She had pictured returning in her room—Molly’s room— but her mom was ruining everything. Fine, then, I’ll use her office, thought Miri. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except getting there. She stepped quickly through the dark hall at the bottom of the stairs and into her mother’s box-crowded office. I hope this room was here in 1935, she thought, looking at the array of windows along one wall. The glass was bubbly and old looking, but she didn’t know for sure. She might end up in the rhododendrons again. Doesn’t matter, she repeated. Nothing matters except getting there. A cool breeze played along her shoulder blades, though the afternoon heat was heavy and still outside the windows.

Cautiously, she pulled Molly’s glasses case out of her pocket and opened it. The single lens glinted weakly inside its metal frame. They looked like joke glasses, ridiculous glasses. Not at all important. Not at all magical.
Oh, let this work,
she pleaded.
Please.

Gently, Miri opened the thin arm pieces and readied her stomach for the lunge into time. Okay, she reminded herself. One lens on the wall. One lens in the barn. One big, mean, possible murderer chased away. No problem. Miri took a breath and patted the bulk of Ray’s mask, which was stuffed tightly into her waistband.

Let me go back, she thought.

Miri grasped the CD player in one hand and slipped on Molly’s glasses with the other. She had everything she needed. She was ready to go back. She blinked away the tears that came immediately, half from excitement, half from the lens. The books that lined the office walls dipped and wavered and then seemed to melt away, surging up as she sank sickeningly down.

CHAPTER
13

M
IRI LAY FLAT
on her back on a polished wood floor. Directly above her, about three inches from the end of her nose, was a mattress. She closed her eyes and opened them again. The mattress was still there. She was under a bed. Very slowly, very quietly, she turned her head to look out. Whose bed was she under?

Her view was blocked by a lacy white ruffle, but there were little bits of light coming through the lace, so she knew it was still day, though the room was cool as evening. Hmm. Probably no one was in the bed. Probably she could just scoot out and find Molly. She listened with all her might. Nothing but the sound of cicadas outside. Timidly, Miri pushed herself along the polished floor, closer to the lacy ruffle.

“You restless, Mama?”

Miri froze. It was Flo’s voice, artificially high and sweet, but definitely Flo’s. Two worn brown shoes with trim heels appeared through the lace.

“Your head hurting? I’ll get you a cloth.” There was a rustle and the sound of water dripping and the shoes moved closer to the bedside. Miri’s heart was pounding so loud she thought she could hear it knocking against the polished floor. “Now, Mama, I know you’re poorly today, but I reckon you’ll forgive me for troubling you when you hear what that ungrateful child’s gone and done.” There was a pause for a long, mournful sigh. “I’m heartsick, Mama.”

Mama! She must be talking to Grandma May. This must be Grandma May’s bed that Miri was stuck under. But why was Flo sounding like a preacher? And which “ungrateful child” was she talking about? Molly? Miri’s fists curled. Liar.

Flo’s thin voice continued, “I hate to say it, Mama, but the apple don’t land far from the tree. That Pat Gardner was poison—I always said so. Poor Maudie! Good thing she’s in heaven and didn’t live to see the day.” There was a silence, and Miri could practically hear Flo shaking her head sadly. Grandma May didn’t move. Miri wondered if she could.

Flo took a breath, “Now, you won’t believe it, Mama, but I’m telling you the truth: that ungrateful girl ran away!” Miri clamped her lips tight to keep from crying out.
No.
Oh no. She was too late, and Molly was gone. She barely listened as Flo said in a shocked whisper, “She
ran away!
After all we did for her. And she stole some of my money to boot! She’s a
thief
, Mama. My own flesh and blood! She stole twenty dollars from my chicken money, just like a common thief. Good thing Horst found her down on the quarry road, or we’d have had to go to the sheriff, and I’d have died of shame!”

Horst found her. Miri winced. Where was Molly now? If only she could get out from under the stupid bed and find her!

Flo sniffed, like she was holding back tears. “I know you’ll agree with me, Mama, when I tell you that I cannot have a criminal in my home. If she’s lying and thieving now, I hate to think what she’ll be up to next. It’s for you, Mama. I’ve got to protect you, now that you’re too poorly to protect yourself.” She gave a little sob. Miri thought she was overdoing the drama a little. What was her point?

She saw when Flo went on. “I know you won’t blame me when I tell you I’ve decided that I have to put her in a home. It’s perfectly nice—maybe even too good—a boarding school for children who need a firm hand. First thing tomorrow, that’s where she goes.” Despite all her efforts to sound sorry, Flo couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice.

Under the bed, Miri writhed with impatience.
Where was Molly now?

Flo’s voice, sticky-sweet, went on. “I want you to look into your heart, Mama. We’re all of us trying to do what’s best for Maudie’s little girl. But she’s not one of us. She’s a Gardner through and through, and that’s the truth. You knew Pat Gardner was no good before any of us, Mama—you said so, right out, the first time you met him. And remember how you cried the day he married Maudie?” Her words marched out as though she’d memorized them. “If you leave this land to Molly, you know that Pat Gardner will swoop down on her like a duck on a june bug the minute he gets wind that you’re gone. He’ll sell the house and the farm right out from under me. Me, your own daughter, and your grandchildren, who love you so. That isn’t what you want, is it, Mama? Is it?”

The worn brown shoes were pressed up against the ruffle now, and Miri could hear the greedy sharpness in her voice. “You got to change the will now, Mama. You don’t want it all to end up in Pat Gardner’s hands, do you? ’Cause that’s what’ll happen if you leave the property to Molly. She’s a Gardner. She’s not one of us.” Her voice was urgent. “All you got to do is point. Just point one little finger and show me where you put it. I know you can do it, Mama—” She broke off as heavy footsteps entered the room. “What?”

Miri stiffened at the sound of Horst’s growl. “She’s locked up tight. Got the key right here in my pocket,” he said proudly. In spite of him and his key, Miri was flooded with relief. Molly was safe and inside the house. The very worst thing hadn’t happened. A band of fear that had been pressing on her heart fell away. But, she reminded herself, that means it’s all up to me now. A new band of fear began to circle around her stomach.

“Why’s it always cold in here?” Horst muttered. “Steaming hot everwhere else.”

“Shhh,” whispered his mother. “You know how she is.”

“Aw, don’t go on about that. Full of baloney. You getting anywhere with her?”

“Can’t tell. She don’t even move. Not even her eyes.”

Horst grunted. “Old biddy’s lost her marbles,” he mumbled.

“Hush your mouth,” snapped Flo.

“All right, all right. But I’m hungry, Ma. Hard work, catching that kid. And she caught it, too.” He snorted with pleasure.

I hate you, Horst, thought Miri.

Flo sighed. “All right. I guess I said everything I had to say.” She raised her voice into a sweet singsong. “Well, Mama. I hope you heard me. You just rest. I’ll be back with your dinner in a bit.” Heavy feet and sharp heels moved away. A door closed.

Miri counted to sixty. Then she counted to sixty again. When she poked her head out from under the ruffle, the bright sunlight made her eyes water, but a curlicue of fresh air ruffled through her hair. The room was very quiet. No place is this quiet in the twenty-first century, thought Miri.

Awkwardly, pulling the CD player behind her, she rose to her feet and turned toward the bed. She didn’t know what she expected, but what she saw was not it. A pair of the brightest blue eyes she had ever encountered snapped and sparkled at her. They were not the eyes of a sick old lady. They were bright and laughing—and they knew her. She knows who I am, thought Miri in astonishment. “Hi,” she whispered.

The old lady nodded but said nothing.

“I’m here for Molly.” Miri had the strangest feeling, light and bubbly. It was almost like the feeling she had when she was pulled through the glasses to another time, minus the sickening feeling. Everything around her shimmered and trembled, except for the old woman on the bed, who seemed, despite her bent shoulders and papery skin, to be as solid as forever. She
was
magic, Miri knew. The room seemed to spin a bit. Secured by those brilliant blue eyes, Miri took a breath, and the room seemed to still. “I’m here for Molly,” she repeated in a croak.

Wordlessly, the old woman smiled and pointed to the door.
Go.

“Okay,” said Miri. She wanted Grandma May to reassure her, to tell her that her plan was a good one. “I figured it out, I think,” she whispered. “I can’t take Molly home right away, can I? We’ve got to make Horst run away, and then we’ve got to get one lens in the barn and the other stuck to the wall so I can find them in my time. Right?”

The bright eyes sparkled at her.

“Right. Okay.” Miri was half talking to herself now. “He’s locked the door to her room, so I’ll have to go through the attic. Which means I’ve got to start in my brothers’ room. Right?”

Still Grandma May said nothing.

“Whose room is it in 1935? I know it’s not Sissy’s.” An alarming thought struck her. “It’s not Horst’s, is it?” She looked at the old lady, who smiled. “Well, even if it is, I’ll just deal with it. Right?”

Grandma May pointed to the door.

“Right,” Miri answered herself.

Stepping out of the cool bedroom, she paused. The hallway was stifling, and for a moment she stood frozen. Which time am I in? A sudden bellow released her.
“Sis! Dinner!”

Miri flattened herself against the wall as Sissy swished down the stairs. Chairs scraped against the floor, followed by the rattle of silverware. This was good news—Horst would be busy stuffing himself for a while. Miri slithered around the newel post and up the stairs. Past Sissy’s room, and on to her brothers’ room. It
was
Horst’s—a pair of giant work boots next to the bed told her that—but it wasn’t what she thought Horst’s room would be like. Horst was a lot neater than her brothers. His dresser was bare except for one comb and one brush, perfectly straight. The bedspread didn’t have even a single wrinkle. Miri thought it was kind of eerie.

Also unlike her brothers, Horst had a door on his closet, and it was shut. Cautiously, Miri tiptoed across the silent room and opened the door without a sound. Inside, she saw that the closet was just as clean as the room, with every shirt hanging neatly. Only the ladder looked familiar, reaching up to the attic door. Everything was still; everything was about to happen. Miri felt prickles of panic dancing down her spine.
Hurry.
It wasn’t easy to climb a ladder while holding a CD player, but Miri did it in about five seconds. With shaking hands, she shoved open the door to the attic, slung the CD player inside, and hoisted herself after it.

And there was Molly, standing like a statue in the slatted light.

For one single, stunned second, they stared in silence, and then they both started talking at once: “Where’d you
go
?” Molly babbled, her hands skittering wildly through the air in front of her. “I waited and waited—and Horst was in the barn, so it took forever—but then when I finally got out there—”

“I went back by mistake.” The words came tumbling out. “I put on my glasses. I had them in my pocket, but I forgot them, and then when I saw Horst—he has this box, and you’re right, he’s a thief—and—”

They both broke off and smiled at each other.

“Boy, am I glad to see you,” said Miri. “I was really worried.”

“Tell me everything,” said Molly. “Slow, this time.” Miri explained. About Horst and the barn and her broken glasses and seeing him hide stuff and being taken back to her own time and searching for

Molly’s glasses and getting her own pair and finding Horst’s box and coming back under Grandma May’s bed. When she finally stopped talking, she noticed that Molly’s gray eyes were filled with tears.

“You’re going to take me home with you?”

“Yeah, of course,” said Miri. “That’s how come it took me so long to come back—I had to get new glasses so we can use them to go home. Mine got totally wrecked when I went back last time, and I didn’t think they would work.”

Molly said slowly, “I thought you didn’t want to run away with me. I thought that’s why you left.”

“No. I left by mistake,” Miri said again. “I didn’t know my glasses would take me home. I just put ’em on to see what Horst was up to. And then—boom— I was home.”

“And you came back.” Molly sounded as if she didn’t believe it. “You came back to get me?”

“Yeah.”

Molly was silent for a moment. And then she smiled, a dazzling, all-the-lights-on smile. “Oh boy! Isn’t that what you always say?”

“Yup.”