The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel Read Free Page A

birthday, on a hot August Saturday, Nora insisted on a trip to the beach. “I need to collect some seaweed,” she told Nanny. “It’s meant to be an excellent fertilizer for roses, and we can all enjoy the sea breeze.”
    When they arrived at the shore, the Cranford andFitzwilliam children were busy building a huge sand castle with turrets and a driftwood drawbridge. They had dug a deep moat around it. “To keep Mabel out!” Eliza murmured spitefully, noticing Mabel standing nearby.
    â€œThat’s a nice castle,” Mabel said, watching them. “I could help build it if you like. We could make it the tallest castle on the beach.”
    Eliza whispered something to Hettie Fitzwilliam, and the girls started giggling. “You’re being a nuisance,” Eliza said, swatting her shovel in Mabel’s direction as if she were an annoying fly. “Go away. Nobody invited you to join in.”
    Mabel blinked hard to stop tears from welling up and peeled a flake of burnt skin off her nose. “Why can’t I play?” she asked, unable to hide the longing in her voice.
    â€œBecause you’re weird, Mabel, that’s why. Licking shells, making things out of rubbish. And your mother was an earthworm.” Eliza giggled. “She lived in a flowerpot!”
    â€œMy mother is not an earthworm,” Mabel replied, pointing along the beach. “She’s right there.”
    â€œGo away,” Thomas Cranford said, copying his older sister and waving his shovel in Mabel’s face. “You can’t play.”
    Mabel looked over at Nanny Grimshaw, but she was huddled with the other nannies, talking. “I don’t mind if you want to help me,” Mabel said, her lip quivering. She started to dig, wondering how tall you could build a sand castle before it fell over, and decided to make her creation more of a sand tower than a castle. Mabel ran back and forth to the sea, remembering to hold up her petticoats as she filled her bucket with water. The wetter the sand the easier it was to work with, Mabel discovered, forgetting the other children. Her tower got taller and taller and began to tilt slightly to the left. It looked a bit like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which she had seen a photograph of in one of the big encyclopedias at home. A great swell of excitement rose inside Mabel.
    â€œThat’s not a proper castle,” Eliza pointed out, glancing over at Mabel’s structure.
    â€œIt’s not meant to be a castle,” Mabel explained. “It’s the Leaning Tower of Melton Bay!” Her toes had started to tingle. Suddenly the sand felt too warm and her skin too sensitive. A hot, tickly sensation spread over her feet. Mabel jumped in the air, letting out a cry of surprise. She seemed to hover for a second before coming back down, and then laughed nervously, unsure what was happening. Staring at her toes, she jumped again, giving her feet a little kick. The strange, tingly feelingspread up Mabel’s legs and into her stomach, fizzing its way through her chest and arms and up into her head. It was the most unusual sensation, and slowly, as if she were filling with hot air, Mabel began to rise. Her skirts billowed out and she screamed.
    The children started screaming too. “Mabel’s floating!” “Look at Mabel.”
    â€œMabel Ratcliff!” Nanny Grimshaw screeched, rushing toward her charge. “Come down here this instant!” She tried to grab Mabel’s foot, but couldn’t reach.
    â€œMama,” Mabel cried in alarm, scared at what was happening. She tipped forward and waved her arms about, trying to get back to the ground.
    â€œCome here,” Nora shouted, seeing the commotion and running along the beach.
    â€œI don’t know how,” Mabel yelled, frantically kicking her legs. Luckily the wind was blowing in from the sea, so instead of heading out to open waters, Mabel drifted lazily toward the