Grim Hill: The Secret Deepens

by Linda DeMeulemeester

  “Not like Sookie.”

  The way Skeeter said that sent chills up and down my arms for some reason. But then I couldn’t resist bugging Clive. “What’s the matter with you? Seems your little brother thinks girls can make good magicians.”

  “Well, Sookie is a good magician,” Skeeter said, and then he added in a curious tone, “So what? What does Cat mean?” he asked Clive.

  Clive put his arm around Skeeter’s shoulder and again rattled off the names of Harry Houdini and Blackstone. But as they walked off, I could hear Skeeter insisting he still liked being the assistant. What an ego Clive had, pressuring his brother like that.

  Jasper lingered behind after the kids had gone. “I’m glad you liked our birthday present,” he said to Sookie.

  Her face dimpled and she nodded. “Yeah – it’s really fun.”

  “Actually, I think we’ve created a monster,” I joked to Jasper. But then I remembered he was a traitor, and I wished he’d leave.

  Jasper went over to the trunk and asked if he could look at the demon handkerchief. Sookie handed it to him.

  “Hey,” I said. “I thought magicians weren’t supposed to give away their secrets.”

  “I’m not.” Sookie looked a bit sly.

  “I don’t get it,” Jasper said quietly. He held up the handkerchief. “I know this trick. There’s supposed to be two handkerchiefs sewn together, one with a slit in it. But this is only one handkerchief and there’s no hole to slip the objects through. I can’t figure out how you made those things disappear?”

  Sookie beamed proudly.

  Jasper shook his head. “Besides, your hands are tiny and your costume doesn’t even have sleeves to hide an egg or a coin.” Jasper took the blue cape off the top of the trunk.

  Weird, Sookie and Skeeter had not turned the trunk upside down as I’d thought. The open trunk sat there, and I wondered how they’d managed to balance the blue cape on top without it caving in. Also, I couldn’t see the coin, card, or egg inside the trunk.

  Jasper shook his head and turned to me. “What is your sister up to?”

  CHAPTER 7 Magic is Secret

  SOOKIE LOOKED DISTRESSED. “What do you mean, Jasper? This is just magic. I’m practicing to become a conjurer like the famous Queen of Magic, Adelaide Herrmann.”

  Her eyes began to tear up and threatened to spill down her cheeks. I couldn’t just stand there and watch Jasper hurt Sookie’s feelings.

  “What are you talking about?” I said to him. “It’s some kind of sucker trick. Sookie and Skeeter are obviously sneaking the objects into the trunk when the audience isn’t watching.” Still, I wondered how those two kept the cloth on top of the trunk from caving in. Reaching over, I grabbed the midnight-blue cape. “This material is stiff; they pull the cape tight, so it sits on the top of the trunk – then they sneak the objects underneath it and into the trunk.”

  I could tell Jasper was trying hard to figure this out, because he reached to shove his glasses up on his forehead like he always did when he concentrated, but there were no glasses anymore. Instead he scratched his head. “Once the things landed in the trunk, where did they go?”

  Sookie turned red. “It’s a magician’s secret.” I could tell by the set of her mouth that Jasper wouldn’t find anything out.

  “Listen,” I reasoned, “isn’t that the point of a sucker trick – to make you think you know what’s happening, and

  then you realize you don’t?” Kind of like trusting your friend and never expecting him to take sides with the enemy, I thought to myself.

  “We weren’t expecting them to perform their tricks over an open trunk – so I’m sure we just didn’t see them drop the objects inside the trunk under the cape. Then Skeeter probably ditched the stuff.” I imagined somewhere there’d be a smashed egg, a torn card, and a coin dropped down a heat register. Good thing Mom had grabbed her tea cup back.

  “I guess …” Jasper admitted. “Well, you’re an excellent magician.” Jasper patted Sookie on the shoulder. This time she turned pink from his praise. “Magic is cool. And hey, I never heard of Adelaide Herrmann.”

  “Of course not, because she was a woman,” I said in as offended of a voice as I could muster. “It’s easy for guys to say they’re better if no one ever acknowledges what girls accomplish.” This came out with a lot of passion, which I wasn’t sure was fair – considering I’d never heard of the Queen of Magic before I’d Googled “women magicians.” So what? That didn’t make me wrong. I glared at Jasper.

  “Look, Cat, I had nothing to do with the boys teasing all of you about your soccer skills.” Jasper sounded earnest. “Remember, I’ve watched all of you play. We’re going to have a tough time competing against your team.”

  “Well, you’ve made it tougher by running to the boys’ team and spilling our secrets!” I shouted. There, I said it.

  “But I didn’t.” Jasper’s mouth dropped in surprise. “Why would you even think that?”

  “Because you’re a traitor,” I shouted. For some reason I wanted Jasper to only be on my side all the time – not Zach’s, not Clive’s, and not even Mia’s.

  “I’d better go,” was all Jasper said, and then he left. As he slammed the door, an icy gust of air blasted. I don’t think

  the frigid wind was the only thing that left me shivering.

  “Are you mad at Jasper?” Sookie asked.

  “Yeah, a bit,” I confessed.

  “Hope you work it out,” she said, and then she turned away. It was funny – she didn’t seem that upset. A month ago, she’d have driven me crazy, pestering me to make up with our friend.

  “Strange,” Mom observed as she came back into the living room. “The weather warmed up considerably this afternoon, and now the temperature has plunged again. Well, we’d better tidy up,” she said to Sookie. I watched with surprise as she and Sookie easily pushed the trunk out of the living room and into the den. Then as if the trunk was as light as a feather, they stood it up on its side in the corner.

  “How did you do that?” I asked. Hurrying over, I easily tipped the trunk away from the wall and pushed it back.

  “It must be made out of a very light plastic,” Mom said. “Only the lid of the trunk was heavy.”

  “Heavy as a giant rock,” agreed Sookie.

  “But I insisted we remove the lid for safety,” Mom said.

  “Because trunks with lids are dangerous,” repeated Sookie.

  Why did it seem to me that the trunk still wasn’t exactly safe? I decided that didn’t make sense, especially if Mom thought it was okay for Sookie to play with it.

  The phone rang and it was for Sookie. She took the call in the kitchen so Mom and I couldn’t hear her and Skeeter planning their next magic show. That’s why she didn’t care as much about my fight with Jasper. My little sister finally found her own social life. Was I disappointed that suddenly I was pushed away like some old doll or teddy bear gathering dust on her shelf?

  Not at all.

  The next day at school, whenever I saw Jasper near my locker or in the cafeteria, we looked away from each other and we didn’t speak – there wasn’t even a muttered hello. The sun came out again in the morning, and by three o’clock, the soccer field was nothing but porridge. But this time, there was a new soccer schedule posted on the wall, and the girls got the whole gym. Until the weather improved we were going to get to use the gym on alternate days, and the boys were going to have to wait until tomorrow to practice. As the guys stood around in the hall complaining, the girls piled into the gym and started kicking the balls around.

  “We better make good use of our time!” shouted Emily. Our team captain ordered us to run laps, and when Ms. Dreeble came in, she nodded in approval.

  We thundered like a herd of horses trampling across the gym floor.

  “It’s no good,” complained Emily. “The gym’s too small. We’re not getting enough distance to build up our endurance.”

  Endurance – why did I lock onto that word? I
t suddenly seemed urgent to find out more about how the boys’ team was really doing.

  CHAPTER 8 The Magic Cauldron

  THE NEXT DAY after school I cornered Mia at her locker and suggested, “Why don’t we sneak backstage in the gym and watch the boys practice soccer?”

  “Spy on the guys? I’m in.” She tossed her books into her locker. We tried talking Amarjeet and Emily into joining us.

  “Can’t,” said Amarjeet. “My brother’s helping with some big magic show after school.” She frowned. “My mother’s busy, so she says I have to bring him.”

  “Oh, right,” Mia made a face. “My little sister has been going on and on about it, and she keeps bugging me to download spooky music on my mp3 for the show. She also took our flashlight, which isn’t cool – with this weather, who knows when the lights will go out again.”

  “I’ve heard about those shows,” said Emily as she tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear. “Even the kids I babysit talk about them.”

  I wondered if I should say that it was my sister who was the star, but I decided to hold off, mostly because I wasn’t sure I was so crazy about my sister becoming a “Queen of Mystery.” Still, it seemed my sister was turning into one of the most popular kids of the younger set. I felt a warm rush of happiness that this was all because of me. I’d found the magic kit for her, even if she’d already gone beyond the little kid tricks in that purple satin box and – in her own Sookie way – was going over the top.

  – LINDA DEMEULEMEESTER –

  “C’mon, Cat.” Mia shook me out of my thoughts. We sneaked into the gym before the boys arrived for their indoor practice.

  As long as the weird fluctuating weather held out, practices would be held in the gym. In the morning we were in the depths of a winter chill, but by noon the sun shone fiercely, warming the ground until the ice melted. The field kept turning to mush. Then late in the afternoon, the temperature plunged into another deep freeze. There was nothing on record for this kind of weather, and the peculiar arctic stream was only flowing into our town.

  The boys streamed in from outside, so we hid behind a green velvet curtain. It was pretty dusty, so I held my nose and tried not to sneeze when the boys began to kick balls around. Then I tried not to laugh because all they did was try to hit each other with the balls and knock each other off the benches. For half an hour they clowned around. All except for Clive. I couldn’t help but notice that he spent the entire time focused on kicking a ball across the gym and into the net. When Mr. Morrows arrived, the boys got down to serious soccer. But it was almost as if the gym couldn’t contain their energy. Their balls shot way over their marks and often bounced wildly off the gym walls. The boys slammed into each other as they ran full force toward the goal net. This could be a bonus for the girls.

  “You know,” I said to Mia, finally remembering Jasper had warned me about how the boys could win with their endurance, “this weather could really work in our favor. Monday’s big match has been scheduled to take place inside the gym. And that means the boys strength could work against them. We won’t have to worry about their stamina.” The boys were doomed. When Mia didn’t respond, I looked over my shoulder at her.

  Suddenly I didn’t think Mia had come to spy on the boys’ soccer plays at all. With a silly smile pasted on her face, she’d become super-focused on one player. Every play Mitch made, Mia watched in awe. I got a peculiar lump in my stomach. Poor Jasper. She hadn’t glanced over at him once, even with his cool new haircut and contact lenses. Although we were fighting, I couldn’t help but think how disappointed he’d feel.

  By the time the boys’ practice finished, my neck ached from staying in one position for over an hour, and my nose was seriously stuffed up. Stretching out our cramped muscles, Mia and I took the back exit from the gym and managed to escape undetected. The sun had almost set by the time we left the school. We walked home as the sun sank in a frigid lavender sky. It was only a few more weeks until winter break, and we thought we might actually have a white Christmas. That would be cool. I wound my wool scarf tighter around my neck and dug my hands into my pockets. A bitter wind shrilled past, nibbling me with its icy blasts.

  “I’ve never felt so cold,” Mia said between chattering teeth. We were about to part at my street when we noticed a steady stream of kids walking up the stairs to my house. Mia turned to me, looking puzzled.

  “You may as well know,” I finally confessed. “The magic shows are run by my little sister, also known as The Queen of Mystery.”

  Mia’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, she always was a little – ”

  “A little what?” I quickly said.

  “Um … not peculiar. I wasn’t about to say peculiar,” she chuckled.

  Mia’s laugh didn’t sound mean, so I joined her. Besides, Sookie would be the first one to agree she was unique. My little sister was one of those kids who couldn’t care less what everyone thought about her. This sudden fame was actually quite wasted on her, I thought wistfully.

  I invited Mia to the show, and we stepped inside the warmth of my house, dumping our scarves and coats on top of the gigantic pile of jackets and boots next to the door. The living room was standing room only. Sookie’s show was crammed to capacity. Then I spotted Amarjeet, who had to bring her little brother. When she saw me, she rolled her eyes and shook her head, basically to let me know that she had better things to do than watch my kid sister’s magic show. Sookie’s popularity was out of my hands, so I could only come up with a sympathetic grin.

  The doorbell rang and I opened the door to Jasper and Clive. I couldn’t resist saying, “You guys just can’t miss a third-grader’s party, can you?”

  Clive shot me a look of pure dislike and said, “I’m here to pick up my brother again.” Jasper didn’t bother offering any explanation.

  The kids began the act, and our living room light dimmed as the flashlight-turned-spotlight shone on Sookie, Queen of Mystery. I hung out near the coffee table, and even though the room was dark, I noticed Jasper give side-glances to Mia. Unfortunately, Mia didn’t even look his way as she forced her little sister, Toni, to make some room for her in our wingback chair.

  This time, Sookie took off her silly purple turban and set it on the blue cloth draped over the smoky-green trunk.

  “This trick is called the Demon’s Cauldron,” Skeeter announced. “Except,” he giggled, “we’re gonna use Sookie’s turban as a cauldron.”

  The upbeat kiddy song about wheels going “round and round” played in the background. That made more sense when Skeeter produced a small wire cage, and inside, Sookie’s hamster spun around on his little wheel. Buddy then leaped off his wheel, poked his tiny pink nose through the bars, and sniffed wildly with curiosity. What were Sookie and Skeeter up to? I wouldn’t appreciate scrambling under chairs, kids, and couches searching for a hamster on the loose.

  Sookie lifted open the door to Buddy’s cage and gently grasped her hamster. She set him inside the turban. She then set the turban on the trunk and everyone went, “Ah … so cute …” as Buddy put his tiny paws on the rim on the turban and peeked out at everyone. Then Sookie said “Bow-la,” spun the turban like a top, and turned it upside down.

  No hamster dropped out.

  Buddy had disappeared.

  Everyone gasped, and Toni shouted, “Where did he go?”

  I replayed the trick in my mind, but Sookie had been incredibly fast. The blue scarf hadn’t moved – I was sure of it

  – and Sookie’s sparkly red dress didn’t have long sleeves to hide a little fuzz ball. It must have been Skeeter, I decided. But I couldn’t remember if he’d even been near the turban. As I puzzled over the details, Skeeter said excitedly, “And now for the best part of the trick.”

  Sookie furrowed her brow in concentration, and I didn’t like it one bit when she began to hum that eerie song I heard coming from her room sometimes. That tune made my skin prickle. She said a strange word. It sounded something like foothee – and yet both that
word and the tune sounded vaguely familiar. She tipped the turban upside down. Suddenly, Buddy stuck his nose out of the turban, then the rest of his body slowly scrambled up over the edge and everyone clapped.

  “How did you do that?” Clive was already at the trunk and grilling his brother.

  “Why do you assume Skeeter had anything to do with it,” I asked, even though I myself was also wondering what his role had been.

  “Magicians never reveal their secrets,” Sookie and Skeeter chimed together.

  A little later, as everyone got ready to leave, Mia and Amarjeet told me the show was pretty good. But I could tell Amarjeet would rather be doing her own thing than dragging her brother around. After the other kids left, Jasper lingered near the front door.

  “There’s something not right about these magic shows, Cat.”

  CHAPTER 9 The Secret Switch

  “MAGIC TRICKS USED to be my hobby,” Jasper explained. “There are only a few ways to make something disappear – trap doors, mirrors, or hiding the object in a cape or up a long sleeve. Sookie didn’t use any of those things.”

  “Well there must be some other way Sookie made her hamster disappear and reappear since we just saw it happen,” I argued.

  Jasper shook his head. “I’ve read about two kinds of magic. There’s the art of illusion and then there’s something called black magic.”

  I understood that creating an illusion meant tricking the audience into thinking something happened when it didn’t, but I never heard of black magic. “What is black magic?”

  “Magic by unnatural means,” said Jasper.

  I could feel the alarm rising inside me because I had been witness to unnatural things, and I didn’t care for that experience much. “Could you be a little clearer?”

  “Black magic is when a person can use the supernatural to influence people, objects, or animals … hamsters, for example.”

  “You mean Sookie used the supernatural to make Buddy and the other objects disappear? I doubt it – how could she do that?”