Shadow Magic

by Kitty Wells

  Nibs sprang from Maddy’s shoulder onto the chest of drawers, where she sat beside a bottle of perfume taller than she was. She looked deep in thought. “It’s something Chloe’s going to do,” she said finally. “But that’s all I can see. You’ll have to use your magic power to find out more.”

  Her magic power! Maddy caught her breath. When Greykin had come to life, he’d given Maddy the ability to do amazing feline feats. Performing giant leaps and whisking up trees like a squirrel had been incredibly exciting, and Maddy had been dying to know what magic the other two cats could give her.

  “Nibs, what is my—” she started, and then broke off as a tingling sensation swept through her. At the same moment her arm and hand seemed to fade, until only the faintest of outlines was left.

  Maddy stifled a shriek. She could see the chest of drawers through her arm!

  “This is your power,” said Nibs, sounding pleased with herself. She too had gone faint – a ghost cat sitting beside the perfume. “You can become shadowy, like a cat slipping through the night. Rather good, isn’t it?”

  Looking down, Maddy saw that the rest of her had faded as well. “Sh-shadowy?” she stammered. She turned her hand this way and that, staring in wonder. She could hardly see herself!

  “It’s only temporary, of course,” said Nibs. “But quite effective, if I do say so myself.”

  Maddy’s alarm lessened as excitement leaped through her. “It’s like being invisible,” she breathed. She waggled her foot faintly in the air.

  “Most people won’t even notice you,” agreed Nibs. She wrapped her shadowy tail neatly about herself. “Those who do will think you’re just a trick of the light … or a ghost. It does take practice, though, or else—”

  “Oh!” Maddy gasped as she suddenly popped back into view.

  The little cat looked unsurprised. “Or else that happens,” she finished dryly. “We’ll start training as soon as possible.”

  “Jack, would you like to play hide-and-seek?” asked Maddy the next afternoon after school. Her little brother looked up from his Nintendo in surprise. Maddy didn’t usually like playing games with him, because he got so cross if he lost.

  “OK!” he agreed, scrambling up from the lounge floor.

  Mum and Aunt Lily were sitting at the dining table having a cup of tea. For a change, Mum didn’t say a word about homework. Instead she suggested, “Why don’t you see if Chloe wants to play too?”

  Maddy hesitated. Before she could make up an excuse, Chloe called out from the study, “No, I don’t!”

  Mum and Aunt Lily exchanged a look, and Maddy realized that they were worried about Chloe too. She wished she could tell them she was going to try and help her cousin, but she knew that she could never explain it!

  “I get to hide first!” announced Jack as they went outside.

  “OK,” agreed Maddy.

  He dashed off as she shut her eyes and began to count. When she got to fifty, she glanced around and spotted him easily, crouched down between a tree and their fence.

  Jack looked grumpy when she tagged him. “There aren’t enough places to hide,” he complained, crawling out of the narrow space. Then he brightened. “But that means I’ll find you really quickly too!”

  “Go on, then,” said Maddy, her heart thumping.

  Nibs had grudgingly agreed to ride in her jacket pocket, and now Maddy touched the ceramic cat nervously, hoping she could remember all that she’d been told. It would be awful if she popped back into view right in front of her brother!

  Jack screwed his eyes shut and leaned against the tree. “One … two … three …”

  There was a warm shimmer as the little cat came to life in Maddy’s pocket. Nibs bounded up to her shoulder. “Are you ready?” she whispered.

  Maddy nodded, and the tingling feeling rushed through her like electricity. She stared in fascination as she faded away to barely a shadow. She could see the grass through her feet!

  Nibs tapped her ear with a stern paw and Maddy caught herself, remembering to concentrate. The cat magic could turn her shadowy on its own, but it needed her help to keep her that way.

  Shadow magic, conceal me, thought Maddy as hard as she could. The tingling grew stronger. Shadow magic, conceal me …

  “Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty!” Jack opened his eyes. “Ha! I see you!” he said.

  Maddy froze. Had she reappeared already? But Jack ran straight past her towards the shed. Ducking behind it, he crowed, “That was way too easy, Maddy … Maddy?”

  He came out again, frowning. She stood unseen in the middle of the garden as he poked about, looking behind each of the trees and even under the garden furniture.

  “Where are you?” he muttered.

  He looked so puzzled that Maddy had to hold her hands over her mouth to stop herself laughing. She watched as he went down to the gate and stared into the meadow. Scratching his head, he even peered up at the trees. Maddy burst into giggles.

  “Careful with the sniggering,” cautioned Nibs. “You’re about to—”

  Whoosh! There was an almost audible popping sound as Maddy suddenly appeared again. She let out a disappointed breath. Her thoughts had been wandering, just like Nibs had warned her!

  Jack turned back towards the house and saw her. His eyes bulged. “Where were you hiding?” he demanded, galloping up to her.

  Maddy shrugged innocently. “Right here,” she said.

  “You were not!” cried Jack. “I looked everywhere!”

  “Not here, though,” said Maddy, holding back a smirk.

  Jack looked like a volcano about to erupt. “But there’s no place to hide there!” he bellowed.

  “Try another game,” whispered Nibs, safely hidden behind Maddy’s hair. “He looks as if he’s enjoying it, really.”

  “Anyway, you didn’t find me, so it’s my turn again,” said Maddy. “Come on, Jack.”

  He glowered at her. “Fine! And this time I’m going to find you no matter where you hide.”

  During the next game Maddy concentrated hard, following Jack around the garden as he searched. Though almost ten minutes went by, she didn’t flicker into sight once.

  “Not bad,” murmured Nibs in her ear. “Now practise coming into view again. Just think, Shadow magic, leave me!”

  “Maddy, this isn’t fair!” Jack was shouting. He stamped his foot. “You’ve gone back inside or something, haven’t you?”

  Grinning to herself, Maddy crouched down behind a garden chair. Shadow magic, leave me, she thought. Shadow magic, leave me!

  Tingling, she watched herself slowly turn solid again, like a photo coming into focus. Nibs leaped back into her pocket just as the change became complete.

  “Here I am, Jack,” called Maddy, standing up and waving.

  Her little brother spun round. “Where were you?” he gasped.

  “Right there.” Maddy pointed behind the chair.

  “You were not!” shrieked Jack. “I looked there about a million times!”

  Maddy shrugged. “I just kept moving around the chair so you wouldn’t see me.”

  Jack stared first at Maddy and then at the chair, gaping in confusion.

  “Good game!” she added brightly, barely managing not to laugh. “Do you want to play again?”

  “No, I don’t!” With a thunderous scowl, Jack shoved past Maddy into the house. “I’m going to go and play with my Nintendo. And you can’t have a go!”

  Back in Maddy’s room, she and Nibs began to plan. Now that Maddy could use her shadowy skills, they decided that she should sneak downstairs that very night, while Chloe was still awake. Using her powers, she could slip unseen into Dad’s study and see if she could discover what her cousin was going to do.

  “How will I find out, though?” asked Maddy doubtfully.

  Nibs yawned, showing a pink mouth and tiny white teeth. “How should I know? Just have a look around. Maybe you’ll see something – a letter, or—”

  “An email!” gasped Maddy. Of c
ourse – her cousin had been writing one just yesterday! Maybe she had said something in it that would help them.

  “Email?” repeated Nibs blankly. She was sitting inside the pink Barbie house, her black fur gleaming like satin.

  Maddy explained that emails were electronic letters. The little cat twitched her ears. “Strange … Well, couldn’t you get a look at that?”

  “I could try,” said Maddy. Then she frowned as an uncomfortable idea came into her mind. “Um, Nibs … isn’t this sort of like spying on Chloe?”

  Nibs’s green eyes widened in surprise. “Yes, of course,” she said.

  “But – but that’s wrong!” protested Maddy.

  Nibs stared at her. “How so?”

  “Because whatever she’s writing is private!” said Maddy, exasperated.

  “She wouldn’t want me to see it.”

  Nibs looked unimpressed. “All right. Well, what do you suggest instead?”

  Maddy screwed up her forehead as she thought. “Maybe I could just talk to her,” she ventured. “I could ask her what’s bothering her, and …”

  “You tried that yesterday,” pointed out Nibs.

  Maddy fell silent as she realized Nibs was right. She had tried to talk to Chloe, and it hadn’t worked at all. Her cousin had just shouted at her.

  Maddy nibbled the side of her thumb. “Is the problem very serious?” she asked in a small voice.

  Though Nibs’s expression didn’t change, Maddy had the distinct feeling that the little cat wanted to roll her eyes! “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t,” she said.

  “All right,” said Maddy reluctantly. “I’ll do it.”

  “Good,” said Nibs. Her muscles rippled under her dark fur as she pulled herself into a stretch. “Hopefully you’ll find out what’s going on, and then we can get this sorted. The sooner the better!”

  Maddy bit her lip. She wanted to help Chloe quickly too, but it still hurt that Nibs didn’t seem to care about staying longer with her. Didn’t she like Maddy at all? Looking down, Maddy played with a loose thread in the carpet.

  Greykin would have asked her what was wrong, but Nibs didn’t even notice. She just hopped up onto the Barbie bed, snuggling into Maddy’s sock. A moment later her eyes were closed, her tiny sides rising and falling.

  Feeling discouraged, Maddy got to her feet and left the sleeping Nibs alone. Rachel had said that she just had to be patient and give Nibs time to warm to her … but how much longer would she have to wait?

  Chapter Five

  “Goodnight, darling,” said Mum, kissing Maddy’s forehead. “Sweet dreams.”

  Maddy waited until her mother’s footsteps had headed back downstairs, and then she sat up and switched on her bedside light.

  “Ready?” said Nibs, leaping up onto the roof of the doll’s house. Maddy had stuck tiny wedges of Blu-Tack onto it so that the little cat could get a foothold on the slippery surface.

  “Ready,” whispered Maddy.

  Crossing softly to the doll’s house, she held out her hand. Nibs jumped onto it and padded up to her shoulder. “Shadow magic, conceal me,” murmured Maddy as the tingling sensation washed over her. “Shadow magic, conceal me …”

  Easing open her bedroom door, she stepped invisibly out into the corridor. She could hear Jack snoring, and the adults talking and laughing downstairs. Chloe was probably in Dad’s study, as usual … but Maddy would have to make it past both their parents to get there.

  She went cold at the thought. What if her concentration broke like before, and she suddenly turned visible right in front of Mum and Dad? It would be too horrible for words!

  “What are you waiting for?” hissed Nibs, nudging her ear with a tiny paw.

  “Nothing,” muttered Maddy. Greykin would have understood her nerves, but with the no-nonsense Nibs it was a different matter. Squaring her shoulders, Maddy stole down the stairs and edged quietly into the lounge.

  “Gin,” said Uncle Greg, spreading a hand of cards onto the coffee table. The other adults groaned good-naturedly.

  Maddy tiptoed past, focusing on the magic as hard as she could. Just a few more steps … almost there …

  “What’s that?” asked Mum suddenly.

  Maddy stifled a startled squeak.

  “What’s what?” said Dad.

  Mum glanced around with a frown. “I don’t know – I thought I heard something …”

  Maddy gulped as her mother’s gaze went right over her. Shadow magic, conceal me! she thought frantically. Peering down, she saw with relief that she was still shadowy – though she had never felt so visible in her life!

  “Come on, Jenny, you’re just trying to get out of another game,” laughed Aunt Lily.

  Finally Mum shrugged. “I must be imagining things,” she said. “OK, deal me in!”

  As the adults started playing again, Maddy hastily crossed the last few metres to the study. That was close! And she still had to sneak through the lounge a second time before she could return to bed. The thought made her mouth go dry.

  But first she had to find out what the problem was with Chloe.

  The study door was open a crack. Trying to make herself as thin as possible, Maddy slipped through it. Chloe was sitting at Dad’s computer, typing another email. The door squeaked, and she quickly glanced up.

  Maddy stood frozen, not daring to move as her cousin suddenly got up and started towards her. Had Chloe seen her? No, it was impossible – she was still invisible!

  Walking right past Maddy, Chloe shut the study door with a sharp click. “Stupid thing,” she muttered. Returning to the computer, she sat down and began typing again.

  Maddy gaped at the door. How was she supposed to get out now?

  “Um … right,” murmured Nibs in her ear. “We’ll think about that later. Is that glowing thing an email?”

  She meant the computer, Maddy realized. Pushing her worry aside, she crept forward. Chloe was perched cross-legged on Dad’s chair, looking intently at the screen. Small black words appeared in the email box as she typed.

  Stopping a few paces away, Maddy strained to read them. Hi … Christy? No, Chrissy. It was sooo great to get your email! This is much better than texting, cos we’ve got lots to plan. OK, how about next Saturday? I’ll get the train from here, and—

  A cold chill swept Maddy as she read. The train? Where was Chloe going?

  All at once she heard footsteps coming towards the study, and panic crashed through her. She ducked for cover behind an armchair. “Excuse me?” whispered Nibs, lashing her tiny tail. “We’re invisible, remember?”

  Maddy’s face grew warm. If she were visible, her cheeks would be blazing! She was just starting to get up when Aunt Lily came in. “Almost time for bed, Chlo—Oh!” she cried out as her foot hit Maddy’s invisible leg.

  “Ouch!” Maddy squawked, and then popped her hand over her mouth. It was too late. Not only had Aunt Lily heard her, but Maddy’s concentration had shattered. The invisibility was gone.

  Aunt Lily peered over the back of the chair. “Maddy? What are you doing in here?”

  “Um … hi, Aunt Lily,” she said. On her shoulder Nibs had become ceramic again, and she quickly caught the little cat before she tumbled down the front of her nightie.

  “Maddy?” Chloe burst out. A moment later her cousin’s furious face joined her aunt’s. “You were spying on me!”

  “No, I wasn’t,” protested Maddy as she climbed to her feet. “I – I just came in to say goodnight.”

  Glancing at the computer, she saw that her cousin had got rid of the email she’d been writing. Maddy’s thoughts raced. Should she mention what she’d seen? But what if it was something totally innocent, and she got in trouble for snooping?

  “We already said goodnight,” Chloe pointed out, folding her arms over her chest.

  “I know, but I wanted to, um.… show you my ceramic cat,” said Maddy feebly, holding Nibs up.

  Chloe gaped at her as if she were mad. “You’ve got to be joking!�
� she scoffed. “As if I’d even care about your stupid toy.”

  “Chloe …” said Aunt Lily warningly.

  Maddy glared at her cousin. Maybe Chloe was upset about moving again, but that didn’t give her the right to sneer at people! “Nibs is not a toy,” she snapped, clutching the tiny cat to her chest. “And I bet she’s a whole lot cleverer than you are!”

  Before Chloe could reply, Mum appeared in the study doorway. “What’s going on in here?” She spotted Maddy, and her face grew stern. “I thought you were in bed, young lady.”

  Maddy gulped. “I was … I just …”

  Mum kept staring at her, her expression slowly turning to confusion. “Hang on – how did you get through the lounge without us seeing you?”

  “She sneaked,” put in Chloe angrily. “Just like she sneaked in here!”

  “That’s enough, Chloe!” said Aunt Lily, steering her daughter away from the desk. “Now come on, it’s time to get ready for bed.” The two of them left the study.

  In the sudden silence, Mum opened her mouth and then closed it again. She rubbed her forehead. “Well, gosh, I must be going blind not to have seen you. Or else you’re just very good at sneaking!”

  “I guess I’m just very good at sneaking,” agreed Maddy, red-cheeked.

  “Back to bed now,” said Mum. She held the door open for Maddy. “Come on, hip-hop.”

  Maddy slowly climbed the stairs behind Mum. Who was Chrissy, and where was Chloe planning on taking a train to? she wondered. Was she going on a day trip somewhere, maybe?

  But she had no chance to talk to Nibs about it. Back in her bedroom, Mum put the ceramic cat on her desk and then tucked Maddy into bed.

  “No more sneaking,” she said firmly, kissing Maddy’s cheek. Maddy nodded.

  After Mum turned off the light, Maddy kept her gaze fixed on the ceramic figures, willing Nibs to come to life again. But the tiny feline remained statue-still, and finally Maddy’s eyes closed despite herself.