The Magic Touch by Jody Lynn Nye Read Free Book Online

honey. That’s too big a job for just an old fairy godmother. You’ve got a nice family here. It looks like your daddy takes good care of you.”
    “Nobody cares about me,” Clarice said, looking up at Rose and Ray with tears in her eyes. “Janelle takes everything for her kids, and leaves nothing for me. She even likes my sister! But not me.”
    Rose patted Clarice’s back. “You’re a good girl, and a beautiful one, did you know that? No? Well, you are. You have such a lovely line to your jaw, and your cheekbones are enviable. You should be a model. Your self-image could use a nice boost, that’s all. Isn’t anyone kind to you?” Clarice shook her head. “How about your favorite teachers? Friends?”
    “Got no friends.” Clarice looked down quickly, and squeezed her toy. Rose nodded. She knew at once what the problem was. Clarice was shy, probably couldn’t make friends easily. She glanced up at Raymond, who was watching with sympathy all over his sweet face.
    “How ’bout a boyfriend?” Ray asked.
    “Dyland dropped me for another chick,” Clarice said bitterly. “He never notices me anymore.”
    Rose slapped her hands down on her thighs. “Then what you’ve got to do is make them notice you!”
    “I tried that,” Clarice cried, looking more woebegone than ever. “It backfired. I followed Dyland everywhere, trying to get him back. I … I offered him everything. Everything!” She stared down at her cuddle toy, ashamed to meet their eyes. “But he turned me down. I was so embarrassed, I never wanted to go to school again.”
    “You have to make them notice you in a good way,” Rose explained. “Not with sex. Sex is too important to throw away on someone who doesn’t love you. Right?” She glanced around the room, looking for clues to this shy child’s personality. It was a pity the girl’s own father didn’t take a special interest in her. The demands of a big family had left nothing at all for this little Cinderella. Her eyes lit on a poster of teenagers playing on roller skates and skateboards on a sunny day. Those children were all smiling. “Honey, do you roller skate?”
    “Sure do, but I’ve got no skates!” Clarice said. “My stepbrother stole them. I can’t get ’em back. Janelle thinks he got them in a trade from someone in the neighborhood, not from my closet.”
    “Well, we’ll see about that,” Rose said. She stood up on her tiptoes and pulled Raymond’s head down so she could whisper in his ear. “There’s a grocery store on the corner. Get me a couple of cabbages.”
    “What?” Raymond squawked, pulling away. “They’ll be closed by now!”
    “Check out the garbage bin,” Rose whispered urgently.
    “You’re kidding!”
    “No, I’m not kidding,” Rose said, exasperated. “Hustle!”
    “Man, if anyone sees me …” Raymond said. He put his hand in his pocket and shot a wary glance at Clarice. With a big sigh, he drew his training wand. Clarice still stared at him in wonder. Reassured but still resentful, Ray walked away through the wall, muttering to himself. He shot a final, dirty look at Rose over his shoulder, and vanished. Rose smiled at Clarice.
    “It’ll be just a moment,” Rose said, settling herself down on the chair arm with a bump. “You know us fairy godmothers. We need our special paraphernalia!”
    O O O
    Raymond was back in a couple of minutes with a plastic bag swinging gingerly from one thumb and forefinger. As soon as he saw Rose, he thrust it at her. Rose seized it with delight.
    “Good!” she cried. She looked inside. The cabbages were only just barely intact. Ray must have dug through a heap of rancid vegetables and at least a couple of broken eggs to find these. He was certainly a willing young man, however he felt about the order. The sleeves of his jacket were stained at the end in six colors of goo. Rose promised herself she’d take care of that later. With a flourish, she presented one of the spoiling cabbages to