Magic Nation Thing by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Read Free Book Online Page A

start hopping.”
    It was a ridiculous idea, but Paige wouldn’t turn loose of it, or of Abby’s arm, until the doors closed and the bus was on its way. And many blocks later, with Abby still arguing and holding back, Paige pulled her down the aisle and off the bus. They hadn’t walked far before they came to an area jam-packed with three-story apartment buildings, between occasional liquor stores and small take-out cafés. Not many people were on the sidewalk, and the few who were didn’t look too reassuring. But Paige didn’t seem aware that she and Abby might be getting into trouble.
    “All right,” she said in a businesslike tone of voice. “Now, this is the right area, isn’t it? Exactly where were the fires?”
    “I don’t know,” Abby said. “My mom didn’t mention any exact addresses. She just said they were in this area.”
    “Well, come on,” Paige said. “Let’s start walking and maybe we’ll see some burned buildings. And if anyone looks suspicious we’ll start playing hopscotch.”
    As nervous and upset as she was, Abby couldn’t help admiring Paige’s courage—if that was the word for it. Courage maybe, or else just plain ignorance. Abby checked out how confidently Paige was marching along. It was as if people like Paige were so used to having things go the way they wanted them to, they just couldn’t believe that anything bad might happen to them. Not even when what looked like serious trouble was just ahead. A group of guys, tough-looking characters, were standing on a street corner in front of a liquor store, and some of them stopped talking to stare at Abby and Paige as they walked by. Grabbing Paige’s arm, Abby whispered, “Come on, let’s go back to the bus stop. They’re staring at us.”
    But Paige kept walking. “Why should they be staring?” she said. “We’re just two girls on our way home from school. There must be lots of kids who live around here coming home from school this time of day.”
    “Oh sure,” Abby said. “In Barnett Academy uniforms? I don’t think so.”
    Paige glanced at her monogrammed blue blazer and pleated skirt. “Well, maybe not,” she said. “I didn’t think about the uniform.” She slowed down and looked around just as they passed a corner where a bunch of boys were hanging out across the street. Teenage guys, maybe, with baggy pants and tight T-shirts and wide grins that somehow didn’t look particularly friendly. As Abby and Paige started up the block, several of them yelled comments that Abby couldn’t quite hear, or at least tried not to. Part of the threat was just things you could see, like squinty eyes and jutting chins. But what Abby couldn’t shut her mind to were some silent messages that seemed more dangerous than anything that could be said out loud.
    Pulling Paige to a stop, Abby turned to look back the way they’d come, back to the bus stop, where they might… But then some of the baggy-pants guys started crossing the street, blocking off the only route back to Van Ness and the next bus.
    And now Paige finally began to get the picture. “What do you think we should we do?” Her voice had lost its confident ring. “Run?”
    “I don’t think so.” Something told Abby that running at that point would be almost like asking to be chased. And there was no hope that they could outrun teenage guys. She was whirling around, desperately searching for she didn’t know what, when she saw up ahead, halfway up the next block, a stooped gray-haired figure in a baggy dress, moving slowly in their direction. An old homeless lady—or Tree Torrelli?

7
    A FEW STEPS MORE and Abby was sure that what looked like a bulgy old lady with a dog on a leash really was Tree. Grabbing Paige’s hand, she pulled her forward. “No, don’t run,” she said. “Just walk fast. And when we get there pretend you don’t know her. Pretend we just want to pet her dog.”
    “Get where?” Paige sounded slightly frantic now. “What