This Side of Magic

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  TO SUSAN COHEN—

  for believing in book magic!—

  AND KEVIN GABBARD—

  may the doors to peace, success, and happiness always be opened to you—MJ and DD

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Preview

  About the Authors

  1

  “Who’s there?” Luke cried out. He clutched the basketball to his chest and jerked around. The hair stuck up on the back of his neck. He had the feeling that someone—or something—was watching him from the dark woods behind his house.

  “What are you doing?” his best friend Penny asked. “Just shoot the ball.”

  Luke gave the woods one more nervous glance, shrugged, and tossed the ball in the basket. Swish!

  Penny wasn’t surprised. Luke hardly ever missed. He was the best shooter on their fifth-grade team. She grabbed the ball for her turn.

  “Sorry,” Luke said. “I have this creepy feeling that something is watching me.”

  “That’s so weird. I’ve felt the same way for the last couple of days,” Penny said.

  The two kids peered at the border of thick bushes behind all the houses on Luke’s side of the street. The last street of Morgantown. Beyond the bushes were giant trees. They were so tall they were impossible to see over. Nobody knew what was on the other side of the trees. When Penny was little, she thought the woods were the end of the world because the trees, vines, and bushes were so thick you couldn’t see more than a few inches into them.

  Luke couldn’t remember anyone ever telling him not to go there, but for some reason he knew it was forbidden. Everybody did.

  Snap! Crack! Thud!

  “Did you hear that?” Luke asked Penny.

  She nodded, her eyes wide. “There’s something in there,” she whispered.

  Luke stepped toward the bushes. Penny dropped the ball and grabbed Luke’s arm. “Don’t get near those bushes. They’re full of thorns. Besides, that’s probably some wild animal we heard.”

  “Do you think it could be a wildcat?” Luke asked. He liked the idea that a wildcat might be so close. He pulled away from Penny and crept to the edge of the bushes.

  “There are no wildcats in Morgantown,” Penny said. “But there are snakes. Get back here and finish this game before a snake bites you.”

  But Luke didn’t go back, he reached out and…

  “Ouch!” he screamed.

  Penny ran to him, ready to fight off a wild animal. “Did something bite you?”

  Luke nodded. His face turned red. “Yes, one of these thorns jumped up and bit me.” He looked at the small puncture mark on this thumb and at the thick blood-red thorns on the dark bush.

  Penny rolled her eyes. “Sure it did.”

  “I’m serious, I think this bush did it on purpose.”

  Penny started to argue, but another noise made her stop. The sound came from behind Mr. Leery’s house. Mr. Leery was Luke’s next-door neighbor. “Whatever was back there is in those bushes now.”

  The bushes between Luke’s neighbor’s house and his house shook and a sleek, black animal slithered out.

  “It’s only Mo,” Penny said. She picked up the neighbor’s cat and scratched the tuft of hair that stood out between his ears. “Mo, you scared us to death.”

  “Mrrrr-roooookkk,” Mo purred.

  “What was he doing in the bushes?” Luke asked.

  Penny plucked a bright orange feather from his whiskers. “He was doing a little hunting,” she said. “Come on, Mo. Let’s get you home.”

  Mo placed his huge paws on Penny’s shoulder. He peered back at the tangle of bushes as Penny carried him home.

  Mo had lived next door to Luke with Mr. Leery for as long as the kids could remember. He wasn’t the best-looking cat to roam the neighborhood. In fact, his huge paws, spotted chest, and the silly Mohawk of hair jutting up between his curling ears made him one of the ugliest cats they’d ever seen, but the kids would never tell Mr. Leery that. The only attractive thing about Mo was his silver collar decorated with a round purple stone, an amethyst.

  Mr. Leery loved his cat. He even talked to Mo as if they were best friends.

  Luke followed Penny over to Mr. Leery’s old house. She pushed through the vines that hung on the porch of the small cottage to knock on the front door. “You know,” Penny told Luke, “Mr. Leery really needs to paint his house. This place is a mess.”

  The peeling paint and overgrown vines were only part of the problem with Mr. Leery’s house. The fence in front of his home creaked in the breeze, it was so old. Gray, stringy moss hung from the giant tree branches in his overgrown yard. Some of the kids at school teased Luke about living next door to a haunted house, that’s how bad it needed fixing up.

  Luke shrugged. “Maybe he can’t afford it.”

  “Then we should get some kids together and do it for his birthday,” Penny suggested.

  Penny and Luke had known Mr. Leery all their lives. He was like a grandfather to them. He even gave them presents on birthdays and holidays.

  “When is his birthday anyway?” Luke asked.

  This time Penny shrugged. She was surprised that she didn’t know that about Mr. Leery. “I’ll ask him if he ever opens the door.”

  She knocked again and Mr. Leery opened the door, but he was so upset that Penny forgot to ask him about his birthday. “Oh dear, oh dear,” he said, wringing his large hands. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

  “No, oh no. I definitely wasn’t ready for this.” Mr. Leery paced back and forth in the doorway. His bald head shone with sweat and his big nose was red with worry. Deep wrinkles lined his forehead.

  Penny led him to a porch chair. “Just calm down and tell us what’s wrong. Maybe we can help.”

  Mr. Leery sat down and took a deep breath. “Of course, you are right. I do need your help.”

  Penny nodded. “We’ll do whatever we can.”

  Mr. Leery looked into Penny’s dark brown eyes and Luke’s clear green ones. “I have just received word that an associate of mine has died. I must leave for a few days.”

  “We’re sorry about your associate,” Penny said, remembering her grandfather. “It’s so sad when someone dies.”

  “Thank you,” Mr. Leery said. He rubbed his forehead before asking, “Could you possibly take care of Mo for me while I’m gone?”

  Mo leaped out of Penny’s arms and growled.

  “Now Mo, no need to get testy with me,” Mr. Leery told him. “Remember what I said. I need you to stay here and watch for …leaks.”

  Mo turned his back to Mr. Leery and licked a paw. Penny laughed. “Your cat acts like he understands every word you say.”

  “We’ll be happy to feed Mo,” Luke told Mr. Leery.

  Mr. Leery nodded. “He is quite self-sufficient. But if you could stop by to …er…pet him every day I would appreciate it.
And please, make sure he doesn’t go out at night.”

  Mo hissed when Mr. Leery said the word pet.

  “Sure,” Penny said.

  “I have these for you.” Mr. Leery pulled two silver bracelets from the big pockets of his old blue robe. They each had a silver charm in the shape of a key on them.

  “You don’t have to give us anything,” Luke said. The idea of wearing a silver bracelet was embarrassing. What would the guys on his basketball team say?

  “Oh, but I do,” Mr. Leery said seriously. “I want you to promise me that you’ll wear these every day until I get back. They are protection.”

  “Protection from what?” Luke asked.

  “Oh, just protection,” Mr. Leery said mysteriously. “And a key to my house is on each one.”

  “Thanks,” Penny said. “I’ll be happy to wear it.”

  Luke sighed and held out his wrist.

  Mr. Leery slipped the bracelets onto their wrists. Penny looked closely at hers. “Wow, this looks really old.” The silver band was dented like someone had taken a hammer to it. Squiggly lines, circles, and strange shapes were engraved on the top. Embedded in the metal was a small green stone.

  “They are very old. Please take very good care of them. Now, be on your way while I prepare for my trip,” Mr. Leery said.

  Luke and Penny walked down the sidewalk in front of Mr. Leery’s house. A loud bang caused them to turn around. Mr. Leery was nailing an old horseshoe on his door.

  Penny shook her head and whispered to Luke, “What’s up with him? I’ve never seen him act so weird.”

  “His friend just died. Of course, he’s going to be upset. Come on,” Luke suggested. “Let’s go finish our game.” There was nothing Luke would rather do on a Friday afternoon than play basketball.

  “What were you guys doing over at that old geezer’s house?”

  Luke groaned. Natalie, the nosiest girl in their class, stood on the sidewalk in front of them. In her right hand she carried a bright pink notebook. “I’ve been watching Mr. Leery,” Natalie told them. “I know he’s up to something.”

  Penny put her hands on her hips. “For your information, Mr. Leery is not an old geezer. He happens to be a very nice man and we’re going to take care of his cat while he’s away. He even gave us these bracelets to pay us.”

  Penny held up her bracelet before she realized her mistake. Natalie grabbed Penny’s wrist and said, “Let me see that.”

  Penny pulled her arm away. “Get your own, this is mine.”

  Natalie stormed back to her big house across the street. “Fine, my daddy will buy one for me,” she said over her shoulder. “He says that old Leery place is a firetrap anyway. He’s probably going to have it condemned.”

  Luke looked at Penny. “Could her dad really do that?”

  “Probably,” Penny said. “Maybe we’d better be nice to Natalie for a while. We don’t want to get Mr. Leery in trouble.”

  Being nice to Natalie wouldn’t be easy. Luke had never seen anyone more spoiled. She always got what she wanted.

  “I think she’s just jealous of us,” Penny said.

  “No way,” Luke told her. “Natalie is the richest kid our age in Morgantown.”

  “Then why doesn’t she just leave us alone?” Penny snapped.

  Luke shrugged. “Too bad there are no other kids on this street for her to bug.”

  The next evening, Penny and Luke were out behind Luke’s house playing basketball again. Penny was losing at the PIG game, so she was happy to hear a noise over at Mr. Leery’s house.

  “Listen,” she told Luke. “Mr. Leery must have gotten back sooner than he expected.”

  “Let’s go see him and give back these bracelets,” Luke suggested. He really didn’t want to wear a girly bracelet to school the next day.

  Penny nodded. “Let’s race!” Racing was something she could beat Luke at every time.

  Penny made it to the porch first. She stopped short when she saw who was on the porch.

  It definitely was not Mr. Leery.

  2

  A tall, thin boy stood on Mr. Leery’s porch. He had knobby knees, buck teeth, and big ears. And he wore a pink tutu.

  Luke couldn’t help laughing out loud, but Penny tried to be nice. “Are you looking for Mr. Leery?”

  “Yessssss,” the boy said in a high-pitched voice. It sounded like a cartoon character. “Have you seen him?”

  Luke snickered, but Penny poked him with her elbow. “Mr. Leery’s out of town right now. He probably won’t be back for a few days.”

  “A few days?” the kid squeaked.

  “Yeah,” Luke said. “Hey, why are you wearing that silly costume?”

  “Costume?” the boy said, looking at Luke closely. “What do you mean?”

  “Only girls wear stuff like that,” Luke told him, pointing at the tutu.

  “Not anymore,” Penny told him. “Boys can wear whatever they want.”

  Luke shook his head. “Not at Morgantown Elementary. You’d get beat up if you wore something like that to school.”

  “That’s not true,” Penny said. “We have a very nice school.”

  “School?” the boy asked.

  “Sure,” Luke told him, pointing down the street. “It’s just up that way. It’s where kids go to be tortured.”

  “Very funny,” Penny said. “We learn lots of important stuff there and you know it.”

  “Well, we do learn not to wear pink tutus,” Luke said matter-of-factly.

  The boy didn’t act the least bit interested in school or pink tutus. “Has Leery had many visitors lately?” he asked.

  “What’s wrong with Mo?” Penny interrupted, pointing to Mr. Leery’s front window. Mo was frantically scratching the glass, like he was dying to get out. When that didn’t work he paced back and forth on the table by the window, spitting and swishing his tail.

  “Look at his fur,” Luke said. “It’s sticking up so high, he looks like a panther.”

  The strange boy wasn’t looking at Mo. He stared at three other boys standing beside Mr. Leery’s front fence.

  “Hey Luke, want to play some b-ball? My dad put up lights,” Alex Dillon said. He twirled his basketball on the tip of his finger. He was the best dribbler on the Morgantown fifth-grade team, and he didn’t hesitate to tell everyone.

  “Maybe,” Luke said. “I’ll ask my mom.”

  A short kid named Thomas yelled, “Who’s your friend? Tinkerbell or the Tooth Fairy?” All three boys laughed like Thomas was some sort of comedian.

  Penny put her hands on her hips. “Why don’t you guys go pick your noses instead of picking on helpless kids?”

  “Okeydokey,” Alex said. “Let’s go pick our noses.” The three boys trotted off, pretending to pick their noses.

  “Jerks,” Penny muttered under her breath.

  The boy with the tutu looked hard at Alex and his friends. “Do they know Leery?” he asked.

  Luke nodded. “Sure, most people in town know Mr. Leery. Thomas delivers Mr. Leery’s groceries every week. His dad owns the A&P. Alex is supposed to mow his yard.”

  The boy squeaked and ran down the steps. Actually, he didn’t run. He tripped and fell flat on the sidewalk. Without a word he picked himself up and scrambled down the street.

  “Wait a minute,” Luke called after the kid. “You didn’t even tell us your name. We’ll tell Mr. Leery you came by.”

  The boy didn’t stop running. He went in the same direction as the boys, but before he got too close, Penny saw him duck behind some bushes.

  “What a strange kid,” Penny said.

  “I hope he doesn’t get beat up. He needs to get some normal clothes on,” Luke said.

  Penny shook her head. “He must be new to Morgantown. I’ve never seen him around here before.”

  “He sure asked a lot of questions,” Luke said. “Maybe we shouldn’t have told him anything about Mr. Leery.”

  “What could it hurt?” Penny asked.

  “Yo
u’re the one always saying we shouldn’t talk to strangers.”

  “Yeah,” Penny said. “But he’s just a kid.”

  Mo let out a loud yowl that made the kids jump.

  “Why doesn’t he just come out through his pet door?” Penny asked, looking at Mo through the dusty window.

  Luke released the hook that locked the small pet door at the bottom of the old wooden door. “That’s weird. Someone locked Mo in. Why would anyone do that?”

  Mo sprinted out the door as soon as Luke moved the rock, knocking Luke over. “Rowl!” Mo screeched and raced up and down the porch, looking all around the yard.

  “Settle down, Mo,” Penny said. “Mr. Leery will be back soon.”

  But Mo didn’t settle down. He growled. He arched his back. He even hissed at the bushes lining the backyard. Penny and Luke looked, but they couldn’t figure out what he was so mad about.

  “Maybe I should take him home with me tonight,” Penny suggested. “It’d be awful if he ran away before Mr. Leery got back.”

  “Are you sure your mom wouldn’t mind?” Luke asked. Both kids had always wanted pets, but they’d never been able to talk their parents into anything other than goldfish.

  Penny picked up Mo and petted him. “It’ll just be for one night. Maybe Mom won’t notice.”

  Luke shrugged. “Good luck with that.”

  “Come on, Mo,” Penny said, snuggling Mo up to her neck. “Wouldn’t you like to come home with me?”

  To Penny’s surprise, Mo roared and leaped out of her arms. He darted out onto the sidewalk and down the street.

  “Wow,” Luke said. “I’ve never seen him act like that before. I guess he really misses Mr. Leery.”

  “We have to find him,” Penny cried as they followed Mo down the sidewalk. “It’s getting dark and I still have that creepy feeling that someone is watching me.”

  Penny and Luke couldn’t help glancing toward the woods. A chill ran down Luke’s back. Sometimes he wished he didn’t live so close to all that overgrown blackness.