Magic in the Mix by Annie Barrows Read Free Book Online

kitten’s downy fur, causing an explosion of purring.
    â€œYou want to hold her?” asked Miri.
    â€œCan I?”
    In answer, Miri transferred Cookie into the girl’s arms.
    â€œI just love cats,” the girl confided. “I used to have one named Larimer—don’t ask me why—he was just the smartest thing—”
    â€œWe have to go!” blurted Molly. “Now.” She whirled around to Miri. “We have to go, right? We’re late. Come on.” She turned and walked swiftly away through the trees.
    â€œMolly!” cried Miri, scandalized by her sister’s behavior. “Sorry,” she apologized to the girl.
    Her eyes, hurt, were on Molly’s receding back. “Guess she thinks I’m peculiar, too,” she murmured. “Well. Here.” She returned Cookie to Miri’s arm.
    Miri tried to make up for Molly’s bad manners. “I guess I have to go. Um, maybe we’ll see you later.”
    The girl nodded sadly. “Yes, of course. Delightful to make your acquaintance.”

Chapter 4
    Inside the barn, Miri tried again. “Just tell me.”
    Molly lifted her face from her hands, shook her head miserably, and dropped her face into her hands once more.
    The brief glimpse was not heartening. Miri had never seen Molly so defeated. Molly, the brave, the daring, the confident. Molly, who gritted her teeth and got on with it. Molly, whose nerves of steel Miri envied every day of her life—suddenly, for no reason Miri could see, she was overcome. Horst, the tyrant of her former life, had done everything he could to break her, but the worst Horst could dish up had only made Molly more rebellious and defiant. Never despairing. For the twentieth time, Miri reviewedthe events of the previous hour, trying to find the source of her sister’s trouble. 1918. Was there something the matter with it? Nothing came to mind. Was there something bad about fortune-telling …?
    As she nosed among empty stalls and pieces of old machinery, Cookie was encountering a variety of exciting odors: hay, rust, cows, soil, and—ah!—the alluring fragrance of mice! Just in time for lunch! Cookie pursued the mousy perfume into a corner, where she crouched, preparing her attack. A low growl rattled in her throat, and she leaped forward ferociously to do battle with a mouse, which turned out to be her own tail. Miri nudged Molly. “Look.”
    Molly glanced up and nodded dully.
    â€œIt’s better if we do stuff together, Mols. Just tell me.”
    Molly looked at her.
    â€œHow terrible can it be?”
    Silence.
    â€œI don’t get it!” Miri broke out. “She was just a nice girl. So what?”
    Molly’s voice was low. “You don’t know who she was?”
    It was the first thing she’d said in almost an hour, and Miri jumped at it. “How would I know? She could be anyone! She could be a neighbor! She could be a relative! Heck, she could be Flo’s sister, for all I know!” Suddenly, she stopped, and her hand flew to her mouth. Flo’s sister. Flo’s sister was— “Your mother,” she whispered. “She’s your mother. Oh gosh. I get it.”
    Miri didn’t know much about Molly’s mother, her first mother. Her name was—Miri hunted through her memory and found it—Maudie. And she was dead. By the time Miri had met Molly in 1935, Maudie had been dead a long time. That’s all Miri knew.
    Molly nodded, her mouth folded tight and her eyes filled with tears. At the sight of her tears, Miri began to chew on her knuckle. Molly didn’t cry very often. Even when she dropped the bathroom scale on her toe, she didn’t cry. But now her thick eyelashes were beaded, and Miri felt her own throat grow tight in sympathy. “I guess you haven’t seen her in a long time, huh?”
    Molly rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “I’ve never seen