Carefully, hopefully, I thought about Fran and the other kids. Not about where they were or what kind of people they’d been sold to, or at least I tried not to, even though it was there all the same. Instead I reminded myself that King Steve was looking for them, Ms. Macartney and the other students were looking, and that we were going to the Guild in the morning to get them to help, one way or another. With so many people looking, they had to be found. Sooner or later.
Right now, though, there was dessert. There were my mom and dad beside me, and Gil grumping because he’d only gotten two chapters done before we’d interrupted him, and Olivia talking over him about her last blind date, who was, literally, a troll, but still one of the better setups she’d been on. Fred, at what would very soon become his place at the table, had finished his dessert and was sneaking bites off Jeremy’s plate as Jeremy looked up interrogation techniques for us to use on the mages tomorrow.
I kept one hand in my pocket, clutching the box of tacks, as I started in on the pie. The back door was open to let in the night air, but inside the kitchen it was bright and warm.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My profound thanks to my editor, Melanie Cecka, for seeing something there and being willing to take a chance on me, and for being an absolute rock star. Also Lauren Galit, my agent, who was critic, cheerleader, and advocate. Have I mentioned how much I like working for you?
Thanks to my mom and dad, for putting up with me through this whole, long process, and Nick for saving this baby when the computer tried to eat it. Also Jenn Rothwell for use of her brain, Diana Evans for being right all along, Marly Rusoff for her help and advice, and Kevin James Kage for his honesty, talent, and insight.
Finally, there is a real Mrs. Murphy, Ms. Macartney, and Mr. O’Hara out there, whom I had the privilege of learning from. Thank you for being my teachers. The great ones stay with you.
Copyright © 2012 by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in the United States of America in May 2012
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
www.bloomsburykids.com
Electronic edition published in May 2012
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rubino-Bradway, Caitlen.
Ordinary magic / by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway.
p. cm.
Summary: In a world where everyone possesses magical abilities, powerless
twelve-year-old Abby, an ordinary, is sent to a special school to negotiate a
magical world with her unmagical “disability”—and to avoid being prey of
the kidnappers, carnivores, and goblins ready to prey upon the ords.
ISBN 978-1-59990-834-2 (e-book)
[1. Magic—Fiction. 2. Boarding schools—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.R831328Or 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011035100
Ordinary Magic Page 22