Once Upon a Toad (31 page)

“Juniper for the protection of Catriona Skye Starr,” she said as Great-Aunt Aby ran her finger over the etched image on the front of the charm. “Gold for strength and wisdom. A circle to keep her from ever straying far”—my great-aunt traced her finger around the edge of the gold disk—“and a chain to forever bind her.”

“Bind her to my heart and keep her safe from harm; help her learn the value of this ancient golden charm,” said Great-Aunt Aby, picking up the necklace, which flashed in the sun. “Each link in the chain will hold her fast, as it has for a thousand suns; each link in the chain will hold me, too, from now till our time is done.”

“Hold fast!” said my mother, smiling at me as Great-Aunt Aby replaced my necklace and took me by the hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“Hold fast!” she echoed.

“You are linked forever to your family, now, Catriona Skye,” my
mother continued.

And then she blew me a kiss from outer space and Great-Aunt Aby hugged me, and that was that. No wand, no flying sparks, no fairy dust.

After we said good-bye to my mother, my great-aunt put her laptop away and we hiked back down to the RV, where she made me a special belated-birthday breakfast.

“I got the recipe from one of those shows on the Food Network,” she told me, whipping up a perfectly normal—and delicious—coffee cake. “Figured if we're going to be spending more time together, I'd better step up my culinary game.”

We toasted each other over generous slices, me with a glass of orange juice and Great-Aunt Aby with—what else?—SuperGloop. As I fed a piece of coffee cake to Archibald, I happened to glance up at the shelf above the table. There was a new addition to the snow globe collection.

“Hey!” I said, spotting a tiny gold plaque on the front of it that read
DIAMOND GIRL AND TOAD SISTER.

“Never mind that for now,” Great-Aunt Aby replied, reaching for it with a large hand. She shoved it behind the Red Riding Hood one, but I managed to catch a glimpse of the two figures inside. I frowned. The tall one had curly blond hair and the smaller one was dark-haired. She was holding something lumpy and green, while the taller one held something that glittered.

Archibald blinked at me and twitched his tail.

“Have some more coffee cake,” said Great-Aunt Aby, passing me the platter.

Later that night, as we sat around our final campfire toasting a few last marshmallows, I ran my fingers idly through my hair. “I wish I had my long hair back,” I said with a sigh. “I'm sick of looking like a boy.”

My great-aunt's eyes glinted behind her glasses. “Are you now?” she said softly. “Be careful what you wish for, Catriona. Very careful. Beauty is as beauty does.”

I snorted. “That's what mom always says.”

“A wise woman, your mother.”

“So, what was all that about me being linked to my family?” I asked, changing the subject. “During the ceremony, I mean. Mom always told me she didn't have any family except for you.”

“Did she, now?” replied Great-Aunt Aby mildly.

“I mean, I get the feeling there's more to the story.”

She looked amused. “There's always more to the story, Catriona,” she replied. “That's the wonderful thing about stories. But your mother needs to tell you this one.”

That was nearly a month ago, and I'd been waiting for the rest of the story ever since. As Mr. Morgan pointed his baton at me and I raised my bassoon to my lips for the cantata's final movement, I reminded myself to ask my mother about it next week, when I saw her back in Houston.

“I'm going to miss you,” said Rani after the concert as we gathered in the cafeteria for brownie sundaes. She gave me a hug.

I hugged her back. “I'll miss you, too,” I told her. “Maybe you can come visit me in Texas sometime.”

“That would be cool!”

“No fair! I want to come too!” said Rajit.

I looked up at him. When had he gotten so tall? He must have gone through a growth spurt this spring. And had his eyelashes always been so thick?

“Why are you staring at me?” he asked.

I gave a start, then blushed. “Sorry. Yeah, sure, of course you can come to Texas. That would be really fun. I'll get my mom to call your mom once I get home. My other home, I mean.”

The thing was, Oregon felt like home now too.

I glanced across the cafeteria. Mrs. Kumar was talking to Iz and Great-Aunt Aby. She was wearing one of her prettiest saris—a bright orange one with lots of intricate embroidery. I noticed my great-aunt fingering the edge of it.

Uh-oh,
I thought. I could only imagine what Great-Aunt Aby would look like in a sari.

Later, when we got back to my dad's house, I went upstairs to change out of my concert clothes.

“Hey,” said Olivia, trailing into our room after me. She flopped down on her stomach on her bed.

“Hey yourself. What's up?”

“Um, can I ask you a favor?” she said.

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“I was, uh, wondering if maybe you could put in a good word for me with your fair—with your great-aunt and see if she could, you know, wave her wand or something and make Connor Dixon like me.”

I snorted. “Fat chance.”

Olivia reddened, and I sighed. “I didn't mean it that way,” I told her. “I didn't mean fat chance Connor would ever like you, all I meant was fat chance Great-Aunt Aby would agree
to help. For one thing, I don't think she even owns a wand, and for another, Mom says she's more into life lessons than magic and spells and stuff.”

“Oh,” said Olivia, deflated.

“Plus, what if she got in a muddle again? Things could be a whole lot worse next time around.”

“I hadn't thought of that.”

I pointed out our bedroom window. It was a beautiful June evening, and the Dixon brothers were in their driveway making the most of it. “Connor's right there,” I told her.

She lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, I know.”

“You like basketball, right?”

“I guess.”

“So, what are you waiting for?” I asked. “Go on out there and play a game with him! Boys can be friends, too, you know, not just crushes.” That reminded me, I'd promised to call A.J. after the concert.

“I guess,” she said again, still sounding uncertain, but she didn't put up a fight when I propelled her through the door and toward the stairs.

Iz poked her head out of Geoffrey's room when she heard us. My little brother was lying flat on his back on his Traffic Tyme rug again, apparently afflicted with another case of spaghetti leg. It still happened occasionally at bathtime. “Your great-aunt is getting ready to leave, Cat,” my stepmother told me. “The rest of us have all said our good-byes. I thought maybe the two of you would like a private moment.” She smiled at me, and I smiled back.

“Yes, ma'am,” I said, and went downstairs. I found my great-aunt on the porch swing, watching Olivia.

“So, what do you think?” she asked. “Happily ever after?”

“Um, I don't know if I'd say that, exactly,” I replied. Olivia
was standing in the Dixons' driveway, giggling hysterically at something Connor had just said. She sounded like a chicken about to lay an egg.

My great-aunt laughed. “She does, doesn't she?”

I didn't know if I was ever going to get used to her reading my thoughts.

“Sure you will,” she said, heaving herself to her feet and slipping her large arm through mine. “Walk me to my RV? I don't want to keep Archibald waiting, and I know he'd like to say good-bye before we hit the road.”

“I wish you didn't have to go,” I said. I really meant it too. I felt like I was just getting to know her.

“Oh, don't worry,” she told me. “I'll be back. That's the thing with fairy godmothers—we're like yo-yos, or Velcro. You're stuck with me.”

Archibald was sitting on the step by the RV's door. I picked him up and gave him a snuggle—well, if you can call hefting a twenty-pound cat a snuggle—then set him down again. He disappeared inside, twitching his tail. Great-Aunt Aby gave me a hug, then followed after him, shutting the door behind her.

A few seconds later, as the RV's engine roared to life, I suddenly remembered the little good-bye ritual that my great-aunt and my mother always shared.

“Abysinnia!” I cried, lifting my hand in farewell.

My great-aunt poked her head out the driver's window and grinned. “Not if I be seeing you first!” she called back, and tossed something at me. I caught it.

It was a toad.

As she pulled out of the driveway, I heard her RV backfire as usual.

And I swear it actually went, “Croak.”

ALSO BY HEATHER VOGEL FREDERICK

The Mother-Daughter Book Club

Much Ado About Anne

Dear Pen Pal

Pies & Prejudice

Home for the Holidays

Spy Mice: The Black Paw

Spy Mice: For Your Paws Only

Spy Mice: Goldwhiskers

The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed

The Education of Patience Goodspeed

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

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Copyright © 2012 by Heather Vogel Frederick

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