The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel (16 page)

The girls walked in silence for a while, Ruby's cat trotting along beside them. It was only as they turned down Glover Lane that Ruby spoke. “No one cares what Winifred said, Mabel. It's not important where you came from. I'm just glad that we're friends.”

“It's important to me,” Mabel whispered. “Apparently I came from a flowerpot, Ruby.”

“Then you were meant to be found by Mrs. Ratcliff,” Ruby said firmly. “Because judging from her roses, she is amazing at taking care of things.”

Mabel swallowed the lump in her throat. It was impossible to explain how she felt inside. But things
were different now, and Mabel couldn't sweep away what she had discovered. Or ignore it. “I've decided to change my name to Magnolia,” she said. “Mabel is a family name, and it has never felt right to me.”

“Well, I like it,” Ruby said stoutly. “I always have. But I'll try and get used to Magnolia,” she added quickly, “if that is really what you want.”

“It is,” Mabel said. “The best news is Nanny Grimshaw has gone. Mama fired her because she tried to beat me.” Giving a shaky laugh, Mabel added, “It was almost worth finding out where I came from to be rid of her.” But knowing that Nora had kept the truth from her all these years hurt. And turning her head away, Mabel brushed a hand across her eyes.

“So no more cold porridge for breakfast,” Ruby said. “That must make you happy.”

Mabel nodded, glad that she had Ruby to walk into school with. As soon as Tabitha saw her, she raced over and gave Mabel a long hug.

Feeling ready to face her doom, Mabel walked straight to Miss Brewer's office.

“How nice of you to join us today,” Miss Brewer said, folding her hands on her desk.

Mabel wasn't sure if Miss Brewer was being sarcastic or not, but at least she hadn't taken down the whipping wand, which hung from a hook on the wall. “I
apologize for my behavior yesterday,” Mabel said. “I should not have pushed Winifred or run away.”

“No, you should not, Mabel Ratcliff. That sort of conduct is unacceptable here at Ruthersfield, and we do not tolerate it. When you put on your uniform and walk outside, you represent this school, and young witches do not shove other students. They do not leave class in the middle of a lesson, either.”

“I'm sorry, Miss Brewer. I really am.”

“Nor,” Miss Brewer continued, “do they behave with the petty meanness that Winifred displayed. So you will both spend the morning on cobweb-cleaning duty.”

Mabel stared at the headmistress, waiting for her to say more. “Well, go on, Mabel, shoo.” Miss Brewer picked up a pen. “I cannot spend all day dealing with your problems.”

Sometimes Miss Brewer could be surprisingly human, and as Mabel opened the door, she decided it was worth the risk. “About the flying petition, Miss Brewer?”

“Leave,” Miss Brewer said, pointing at the whipping wand. “Before I get that down.”

Mabel spent the rest of the morning flying around the school with Lightning, dusting all the cobwebs from the corners. She tried to keep out of Winifred's
way, but at one point they both found themselves sweeping the great hall together. Surprisingly, Winifred didn't say anything to Mabel, and at lunchtime Mabel noticed that her eyes looked all red from crying. Diana and Florence kept hovering over her, patting Winifred's back and murmuring things in her ears. Mabel asked Ruby and Tabitha if they knew what the matter was.

“Diana told me that Winifred's upset because she doesn't want to let her father down,” Ruby said. “Apparently he's expecting her to enter the competition and win. At least that's what Winifred told Diana.”

“Maybe that's why she's been so horrid lately?” Tabitha said. “Because she's worried about the competition. And she's taking it out on you.”

“I thought she might have felt bad about being so mean,” Mabel sighed. “But clearly not.” And by the end of the day, apart from her puffy eyes, Winifred was back to her confident, bragging self.

“I think Winifred has never forgiven me for getting that glamorizing spell right in year one,” Mabel said, flying part of the way home with Ruby after school. At the bottom of Canal Street, Ruby would veer off down the path toward her cottage, and Mabel would fly on to Trotting Hill.

“She's scared of you,”
Ruby replied, swerving a little as she flew.

“Winifred! Scared of me! That's ridiculous. She's beautiful and elegant and—”

“Especially now,” Ruby broke in, “since she knows you're going to come up with something wonderful and Mabelish for the competition, and she won't.”

“Magnoliaish, and I haven't decided on anything yet,” Mabel said. “Although now that Nanny Grimshaw's gone, I'll have much more time to work on it.”

“I'm trying to make cloud slippers for my ma,” Ruby said. “Her feet hurt her all the time, and with cloud slippers she could feel like she's walking on air. But clouds are so hard to work with. They keep falling apart, so I'll have to chose something else.”

“I'm working on a hair-growing potion, but that's not going very well either,” Mabel said, deciding to ask Daisy if she might have another go at experimenting when she got home.

“Absolutely not,” Daisy said, shaking her head. She was hanging laundry on the line. Mabel opened her mouth to speak, but Daisy cut her off before she could say anything else on the subject. “No more messing about with my hair, thank you very much.”

Mabel sighed and sank onto the grass next to
Lightning, who immediately rolled over to get his belly stroked.

“Not a drop of wind,” Daisy muttered, pegging out Nora's emerald dress. “And your mother wanted to wear this to one of her meetings tomorrow. It's never going to dry at this rate.” Mabel sighed again, louder this time. “So how was school?” Daisy asked, as she hung up a pair of bloomers.

“Not as bad as I thought it would be.” Mabel's voice grew tight and her chest ached. “But I just can't believe I'm an orphan, Daisy. That my mother abandoned me.”

“Miss Mabel,” Daisy said, before Mabel quickly interrupted her.

“It's Magnolia now, remember?”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Doesn't matter what your name is. Nora took you in and gave you a home. She loved you from the moment she set eyes on you. You should be very grateful to her. She's as much your mother as the woman who birthed you.”

“Except I can't stop thinking about what my other mother was like. Why she did what she did.” Mabel plucked at the grass. “I feel lost, Daisy, like I don't know where I belong anymore.”

“That's the shock of finding out,” Daisy said sensibly. “But you do know where you belong. Right here.”

“Nora's not my real family though, is she?”

“Don't be ridiculous,”
Daisy said bluntly. “Families are the people who look after us and love us. You and Mrs. Ratcliff are like family to me. I never knew my own parents, and that's just the way it is.”

A deep wave of loneliness swept over Mabel. Daisy hadn't heard what she was saying. It didn't feel ridiculous to Mabel, wanting to know her own story.

“Now, how about a cup of tea and a bun,” Daisy said more gently, “since this dress isn't going to dry with me gawking at it.”

Mabel looked up and blinked. She took off her glasses and brushed away her tears, staring at Daisy.

“What is it?” Daisy asked suspiciously. “Something's going on in that head of yours. I can tell.”

Mabel scrambled to her feet and gave a watery smile. “I think you have just given me an idea, Daisy.”

“So long as it doesn't concern my hair,” Daisy said, protectively touching her cap. “It's finally starting to grow back in.”

“No, it doesn't. But I know what I'm going to make for the competition.” Mabel waved at the line of laundry. “What if you could have a drying spell in a bottle?”

“I'm not following,” Daisy said. “At all.”

“Well, supposing you want your clothes to dry and there's no wind, or it's a rainy day and you have
to hang them inside,” Mabel explained a little breathlessly. “Imagine how much simpler life would be if you opened a bottle and a warm breeze blew out and dried them all for you.”

“I'll say,” Daisy said with a laugh. “No more wet clothes dripping all over the floor in the winter. But how on earth could you do that?”

“I think it might be possible.” Mabel cleaned her glasses on her pinafore. “I'd need to collect some strong warm winds, which could be a little challenging,” she confessed. “Wind isn't an easy ingredient to work with. But I have my guide to spell construction. I'm sure I can do it.”

“Are you now?” Daisy hitched the empty laundry basket onto her hip. “And where would you get this wind from?” she asked, glancing up at the sky. “Potts Bottom doesn't seem to have much blowing around lately.”

“Somewhere like Melton Bay,” Mabel answered. “Remember those hot summery breezes that would gust in off the ocean?” She spread her arms out wide and spun around. “I'd have to collect lots of sample winds to see which strength worked best, and then construct a simple spell to go along with it.”

“Why don't you stick to something easier,” Daisy said, “that doesn't involve wind?”

“I
do have another idea to make your hair grow.” Mabel lowered her voice and whispered. “We could try rubbing toad's blood all over your head. Toad's blood is great for making tomatoes grow to twice their normal size.”

“Go with the wind,” Daisy said, heading toward the house.

W
HEN MABEL TOLD RUBY ABOUT
her drying spell idea the next day, Ruby grabbed Mabel's arm in excitement.

“My pa is taking us all to the beach on Sunday. We're getting the train to Melton Bay. Why don't you come with us? I'm sure Ma wouldn't mind. Then you could collect your wind samples.”

“Oh, Ruby, that's a marvelous idea, and if we both say sun spells on Saturday evening, we should be certain of getting good weather.”

Miss Mantel talked to the girls in potions class that afternoon, going over the basic rules of spell
construction and how to approach the competition. She reminded them to use ingredients they were familiar with and had worked with before. “Draw on the knowledge you already have,” Miss Mantel told the class. “And remember to always refer to your handbooks. There is a compatibility list at the back. Some ingredients do not mix well with others, and it's important to make sure that all parts of your spell work together. Be sensible, girls.”

Nora was a little hesitant to let Mabel go to the seaside at first, even when Mabel told her that she needed to collect wind for her invention.

“But why does it have to be Melton Bay?” Nora asked. “There are lots of other seaside towns along the coast.”

“Because this is where Ruby's family wants to go. And I'd like to see where I came from,” Mabel admitted, not sure why this felt important to her, but it did.