by Elena Paige
Toby looked from Thatch to Wesa, back to Thatch again. If it was true then only one of them could wear the hat and live for one thousand years.
“I think we should agree right now not to wear the hat. Our friendship is more important,” said Wesa, standing up .
“I agree,” said Thatch.
“And what about the panther? Do we give it the hat? How can we hand it over given what we now know about it?” said Toby.
“We have no choice. Your grandpa’s life depends on it,” said Thatch.
Aden sat slumped on the couch. “Will you please forgive me, children?”
“Yes, of course we will. We already have. Right, you two?” Wesa sat back down next to Aden and patted his arm.
“We do have the hat. And you’re sure you know nothing more about my parents?” said Toby.
“I swear it, dear boy, on my mother’s grave. This is the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” said Aden.
“So what do we do now? Just wait for the panther to turn up?” Thatch took the Fiordi hat from Toby.
“Here. Hide it in this bag,” said Aden, returning to his jovial, helpful self. He handed Thatch a small satchel. Thatch looked at it quizzically, opening the small slit of the bag. The hat was sucked inside the bag, which didn’t seem big enough to fit it.
“Thank you,” said Thatch, slinging it over his shoulder.
“What’s this?” Toby pointed to a paper plane that had suddenly flown over the curtain.
Thatch ducked down to avoid the paper plane hitting his head.
“Maybe it’s from the panther?” said Wesa, trying to catch it unsuccessfully.
The plane came so dangerously close to the candles floating above them, Toby thought it might catch alight. But then he remembered they weren’t real candles—just an illusion. He felt shrouded in illusion. So many lies surrounded him.
Aden pointed one of his many wands at the paper plane and commanded, “Come here at once. Abracadabra.”
The plane soared toward him, changing its mind at the last minute, as though alive, and flew toward Thatch, where it bobbed in front of his face. The plane offered no resistance as Thatch held it in his hands.
“Open it. There might be a message inside,” said Toby, suddenly anxious for this day to end.
Thatch unfolded the paper and turned it over in his hands. “Nothing. There is no message. It’s just a plain piece of paper. Probably some kid playing around with magic.” He scrunched it up and threw it on the floor.
The ball of paper moved along the carpet before straightening itself up and zooming into the air once more. It formed itself back into a paper plane, flew around the room, and then settled into Wesa’s open palm.
“I think it wants us to follow it,” said Wesa, stroking it as though holding a butterfly or bird. The plane did a happy somersault in her hand and gently floated into the air. It moved toward Toby with incredible speed and crashed into his head. Then it moved across the small confined space toward Thatch, doing the same to him.
“I think you’re right. This paper plane is trying to tell us something. It wants us to follow it,” said Toby.
“What if it’s a trick? What if Kirby sent it?” said Thatch.
“It’s more likely from the panther. We have the hat. Now let’s deliver it. We have to remember that no magic or power is more important than saving Grandpa and your parents. It’s time to get them back. We have to follow the plane,” said Toby, taking the deepest breath of his life.
“Shall I come with you? I can help. Or better still activate the hat here and now and make the panther come to us,” said Aden.
“I’m afraid this is something we need to do on our own, Aden. But thank you,” said Toby. He felt a little guilty about how he had questioned Aden, but also relieved that he could once again trust him.
“Goodbye, Aden. And thank you. You’ve been a true friend,” said Wesa.
“I’m here when you need me. Do come back and let me know what happens,” called Aden.
The plane whizzed past the golden curtain, visibly pleased it had gotten its message through. The three children followed it as best they could through the crowd. It weaved and ducked its way past children who reached out to grab it and magicians who dismissed it out of their way. Falling and rising again, it led the way.
Toby, Wesa, and Thatch followed it as it reached the peripheral wall of the convention and nosedived through the black shimmering wall. Wesa looked at the others and shrugged her shoulders as they reached the wall.
“Not the foyer again,” said Toby as he prepared to run through the wall.
“Here,” said Wesa, offering one hand to each of them. Silently, both Toby and Thatch took a hand as the three of them plunged through the wall, back into the foyer.
Where was the paper plane leading them? Toby wished with all his might that it would lead them to Grandpa.
19
Useless Magic
“Is this the same corridor?” said Toby, awestruck. The once-empty foyer was now spotted with kids of all ages practicing magic tricks.
“It’s kind of traditional by this time of the day for kids to bring their new illusions here and try them out,” said Wesa, not taking her eyes off the paper plane that was speeding up as it had nothing and no one to delay it.
The paper plane came to rest on the number atop one door. Number twenty-two. It circled the door number a few times, then changed its mind, moving to door twenty-three. Deciding against this one, too, it flew to door twenty-four.
They followed it, waiting for it to decide. The paper plane pointed its creased nose toward the number twenty-four several times to make sure they understood. Then it dashed toward the children and bowed its point to them as though pleased with itself. Its mission complete, it unfolded into a flat, uncreased piece of paper and landed on the heads of the two teenagers leaning on the door. But they didn’t even notice it. They were each looking into the opposite side of a tube. Toby wanted to see what magic would happen.
Thatch tapped the boy on the shoulder. “Excuse me. But we need this door.”
The boy didn’t respond, his entire face hidden in the tube. The girl on the other side of the tube responded instead. “Qu'est-ce que tu veux?”
“She’s asking what we want in French,” explained Wesa.
But Toby was dying to know what they were looking at so intently in the tube. “Can I look inside?”
“Oui,” said the girl, smiling up at him.
“Trust you to get completely distracted,” said Thatch.
Toby kneeled down and placed his face on the girl’s side of the tube. He was plunged into darkness. The outside world faded away. Immersed in a virtual world, he was standing inside his house. Inside Grandpa’s house. He could see a man and a woman sitting on the couch. There was no smashed glass like earlier that day. The room was neat and tidy.
Grandpa came walking in. “I hope you like chocolate pudding,” he said, handing the man and woman a bowl. It was his mother and father. He had never seen them alive before, and he felt shivers moving up his spine and warmth moving through his chest. This is what they looked like. This is what they sounded like.
They suddenly turned toward him. “Hello, sweetheart,” said his mother. She walked toward him and hugged him.
Was this real? He could feel her cheek next to his. Her beating heart near his own. His eyes welled up with tears. This is what it would have felt like to have a mother. She pulled away, laughter in her green eyes. Eyes just like his .
“What’s up, Tobs? You don’t seem yourself?” Grandpa patted him warmly on the back.
“Are you really here?” said Toby, feeling the physical sensation of Grandpa touching him.
But he never got the answer. He felt himself pulled backward into the familiar floral smells of the foyer.
“I need to get back in there!” said Toby, pushing the French girl with both his hands and snatching the tube from her. The boy on the other side fell backward, disoriented
.
“Toby! Give it back!” said Wesa, grabbing the other side of the tube along with the girl who was yelling out in French.
Thatch grabbed hold of Toby and tried to make him let go.
“I need this thing. I have to go back in it,” yelled Toby, shaking his head to throw Thatch off him.
“It’s not real, Toby. Whatever you saw, it isn’t real,” said Wesa, pleading with him to let go.
The boy on the red carpet jumped to his feet and headbutted Toby with all his might. Wesa and the girl jumped back, dropping the tube. It rolled down the corridor, and Wesa chased it.
The boy, also French, was yelling in words Toby couldn’t understand. Fists tightly bound, he took a swing at Toby, his French companion trying to stop him. As if by instinct alone, Toby reached for his wand. The wand that had flown at him as a sword. He hadn’t given it a second thought all day, but suddenly it just seemed natural to him.
Pointing it, he yelled “Abracadabra” just as the French boy’s fist was about to connect with his face.
A bright, purple light emerged from the tip of the wand and circled the two French teenagers, freezing them mid-movement.
“What did you do?” said Thatch, snatching the wand from Toby.
Wesa returned with the tube. “Oh no.”
The two teenagers began to shrink. As the last of the purple light disappeared, the innocent teenagers croaked on the soft red carpet. They had turned into frogs.
Toby bit his lip in guilt. “Did I just do that?”
“What’s wrong with you? What was so important about this tube that you started a fight over it?” said Wesa, throwing it toward Toby. But before he could catch it, Thatch pointed Toby’s wand at it and said, “Abracadabra.”
Toby’s precious tube broke into a million tiny pieces of plastic and disintegrated into a million more tiny particles of dust, eventually vanishing into thin air.
Thatch dropped Toby’s wand on the carpet. “I’m sorry, but we haven’t got time for distractions. Our time is nearly up. I need to get my dad back.”
Toby fell to his knees and covered his face. The anguish he felt inside was totally new to him. To have seen his parents. For them to look so real. He hadn’t gotten a chance to see his father. To really look at him. To talk to both of them. And how good it was to look upon Grandpa again.
He knew he had failed him. All day, instead of searching for the hat, he had allowed himself to get distracted time and time again. Guilt washed over every crevice of his being, drowning him in regret and shame. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ve really let you both down today. I know I have. You should go on without me,” he cried, still cradling his face.
“No, Toby! We’re in this together and we won’t let you give up. Not now we’re so close to succeeding.” Wesa sat on the carpet beside him and placed her arm around his shoulders. “We’re here for you.”
“I’m sorry I destroyed it. I don’t know what was in it, but I should have known it was important to you,” said Thatch, picking up Toby’s wand and handing it to him.
Toby peered out of his hands. He picked up the wand, looked at it, then down at the two frogs who just sat there and croaked. “It was my parents. I was with them. My mother hugged me and spoke to me. Grandpa was there. It was so real.”
“I would give anything to see my mother the same way,” said Thatch, kicking at the white wall.
“But it wasn’t real. We need to remember the people in our lives that we love and must protect. The people who are still alive and love us. The paper plane led us to this door. Number twenty-four. We need to find out what’s on the other side,” said Wesa.
“This is my door!” said Toby, realizing it was the exact same number door he had come through this morning.
“This door leads back to your house? Where you met the panther this morning? So this is it. The panther led us here so we could deliver the hat out of sight of other magicians,” said Thatch, flicking his deck of cards anxiously.
“Well, let’s get this over with,” said Wesa. She turned the door handle. “It’s locked.”
“Which is a good thing because it’s basically my job to make sure all the doors are locked! Only Elouise can unlock it,” said Thatch.
Wesa looked at her watch. “It’s already seven. We don’t have time to find her. She could be anywhere. ”
“Why don’t you try your fire? Surely you could burn your way through?” offered Toby.
“That’s no use. The magic Elouise uses to seal the doors is rock solid. Nothing can break through these doors. No magic, no illusion, nothing will work. She’s the only one who can unlock it,” said Thatch.
“That’s an interesting power. Locking doors. She’s the girl I met this morning who was with Abby. She seemed pretty happy I was here,” said Toby.
“But Abby said that she and Elouise were both helping the Kirby triplets. She’s not going to help us get through the door even if we manage to find her.
“Elouise doesn’t just lock doors. She can also block the powers of mages,” said Wesa, trying the door again for good measure.
Toby looked up and down the long corridor. He had to find a way. “Our wands!”
“It’s worth a try,” said Thatch, pulling his out of his overalls.
Wesa had hers tucked into a secret wand slot in her golden dress.
“Do we just hold them toward the door and say abracadabra?” said Toby.
“That’s it, I think. I’m not sure what else we can do,” replied Wesa. “These wands aren’t like conventional wands. They seem to do whatever you command them to do. Let’s all think of the door opening as we say the word.”
Steadying their hands, the three of them pointed their wands toward the door. “On the count of three. One. Two. Three,” said Wesa.
“Abracadabra!” they all called. Light shone forth from all three wands at once and moved around all four sides of the door. Shining more brightly than the sun itself, they covered their stinging eyes. As the light subsided, Toby stepped forward and tried opening the door.
“I can’t believe it. Something went wrong. It’s still locked,” he said, leaning against it in disappointment.
They tried again and again, every time pointing the wands and creating light, but the door remained locked.
“I told you Elouise's magic can’t be undone. That’s why she’s the one that seals them. Not even a mage can get past them. I miss Dad,” said Thatch, sitting down on the carpet and leaning against the locked door. He poked the two frogs still on the floor where they had left them.
Toby picked up the piece of paper and turned it around in his hands. “We still have time before it’s eight o’clock. Any ideas, paper?” he asked it, but it lay still in his hands. “Why did it lead us here when we can’t get in? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“A lot of things don’t make sense right now,” said Wesa, sitting down next to Thatch. Toby leaned on the black shimmering wall opposite, completely forgetting it wasn’t really a wall. He fell through it to the other side. Coming back through, he couldn’t resist laughing at himself, and Thatch and Wesa laughed with him. As the mood lightened, Toby had a new idea.
“How about we try using the hat?” he said with a serious expression.
“I know that’s just one of your jokes, right? We can’t use the hat, obviously,” said Thatch.
“Why obviously? It’s a magical hat, isn’t it? We three can activate it and see if it will open the door,” said Toby, desperately wanting to get through the door now more than ever.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. We don’t know what the hat is capable of. What if it steals my powers or does something even worse? I say we don’t risk it,” said Wesa.
“It’s the only chance we have. Plus, we still don’t know for sure if it’s the real hat,” said Toby.
Wesa looked at Thatch and shrugged her shoulders. Thatch pulled the purple hat from its small bag. It popped out, restoring itself to full size. He put it on his head
thoughtfully.
“If something weird happens, we’ll let go of the hat straight away, I promise,” said Toby.
“But how do we get the hat to open the door?” said Wesa.
“The hat steals powers. Maybe if we activate it, and think of Elouise’s power, we’ll be able to unlock it,” said Toby.
Agreeing it was worth a try, Thatch took the hat off and held it forward.
“Thank you so much. I’ll take that,” said Mr. Kirby as he casually walked through the wall.
20
Triple Trouble Returns
Toby felt the hat snatched from his reach. As Mr. Kirby held the hat and gloated, Toby could see more figures emerging from the wall. First came the Kirby triplets, followed by Abby and Elouise.
“Oh, brother. Do you three always have the worst timing or what?” said Toby.
Thatch charged headfirst for Jim Kirby, knocking him to the ground. Blood poured from his nose as Thatch punched him.
“Is this violence necessary, Brusknutt? I don’t think your father would be impressed,” said Mr. Kirby’s voice behind him.
The life drained from Thatch’s body as he froze in struggle. His face held a permanent look of disdain. Mr. Kirby lifted him effortlessly and pushed him toward the door.
Toby, still able to move freely, shuffled toward Elouise. Maybe he could convince her to open the door. Instead, Abby came toward him and held up her doll in warning .
Wesa was being held back by Mr Kirby.
“However, can I thank you for finding the real hat for me? I realized that trying to stop you was a foolhardy plan. You were so determined to find it first, it made more sense to get out of your way.” Mr. Kirby laughed, holding the hat up to inspect it. “And since we don’t need you to activate the hat, I think you ought to go home.”
“You can’t activate it without Wesa, and she’s not here,” cried Toby, still pretending she was Bonnie, despite the fact that the triplets and Mr. Kirby had seen her using fire magic earlier.