Whispered Magics Read Free Page B

up
the long hill toward home. We passed a couple of old storefronts and had
reached the vacant lot when all four of us saw a flash of gold in the gutter
right below our feet.
    “Hey!” Lissa exclaimed.
    “What’s that?” Nikki yelled.
    I crouched down on the edge of the curb, poking at the trash
that the rain had piled up in the gutter. In the midst of the withered leaves
and soggy papers and mud gleamed a roundish thing, kind of like an extra-large
gold coin. As the other three watched, I picked it up and shook it off.
    “What is it, Margo, a badge or something?” Pat asked.
    “I don’t know, but I like it,” I said. Sunlight glanced down
between a couple of clouds and made the thing glitter and shine so it looked
like liquid flame in my hand. It would be great in my collection of Weird
Things, I decided—if no one else wanted it.
    “It’s pretty,” Lissa said, touching it daintily. “I wonder who
lost it?”
    “Is that carving on it?” Nikki pushed her curly black hair out
of her eyes as she peered down at my hand. “It looks like something is written
on it.”
    “No, it’s leaves,” Lissa said, setting her backpack on the
sidewalk and bending over my hand.
    I tipped my palm so everyone could see the thing. The glitter
was so bright it almost hurt my eyes.
    Lissa gasped. “There are words on it!
Look . . . it’s kind of old-fashioned, but I can read it. Here’s
an ‘I’, and there’s ‘molder’ —”
    “Holder,” Nikki said. She grabbed my fingers in her strong
brown hand, staring down at the talisman, then up at us, a funny look on her
round face. “It says, ‘I grant the holder one wish’.”
    “Whoa,” I said, feeling kind of like little electrical shocks
were zinging through my entire body. Had I, Margo O’Toole, found real magic at
last? “Lemme see—” Nikki let go of my hand and I nearly smacked myself in the
face. “You’re right,” I said, examining the fancy letters, which looked like
something from a fairy tale book.
    “D’ you think it’s real?’ Nikki asked, rubbing her hands.
    “No way,” Pat said, crossing her arms. “Toss it. It’s all
gross with mud and gunk, so it’s probably crawling with germs.”
    “If you do, it’s mine,” Nikki said. “In fact, didn’t I see it
first?”
    “We all saw it at the same time,” Lissa said quickly, flinging
her blonde braids over her shoulders. “You know we did. Margo just picked it up
first.”
    Nikki grinned at me. “But if you don’t want it—”
    “Who said I didn’t want it?” I retorted quickly. “That was
Pat.”
    Everyone looked at Pat. All four of us girls are the same age,
and we live on the same block in a not-so-safe part of the city. We’ve been
going back and forth from school together for several years, because we aren’t
allowed to go alone. Pat’s the tallest, and sometimes it feels like she’s the
oldest. Her lips were pressed together in a familiar line, and her dark eyes
were, well, austere .
    “You guys, it’s not going to work. Let’s get home before we
get into trouble,” Pat said. She sent a worried look up the street.
    “Just a sec.” I turned it over in my hand. “Well, it’s not
like there’s a name or address on it. I say finders keepers.”
    “We can make a wish first and then throw it away.” Lissa
looked my way, wrinkling her nose. “And after that, you can wash your hands.”
    “Let’s go.” Pat’s voice was sharp. “I can’t believe you’re
messing with that thing at all.”
    Nikki and Lissa gaped at her. They were obviously thinking,
was this really good old Pat, who was always so quiet and fair, and so kind she
couldn’t even step on bugs?
    I knew she hated any mention of magic these days, but I
couldn’t tell them that.
    “So, if we only get one wish,” Nikki said, “we better think a
little.”
    “If it’s even real,” I said, sneaking a look at Pat.
    It didn’t help. “I can’t believe you dummies,” she muttered,
and whirled