Chapter Nineteen

Loving in Color

Veda

Salinger sounded stupid when he told me he would get my books back from Antony. I didn’t think he had much hope. If I were keeping something as forbidden as those books, I would squirrel them away so well, no one would ever find them. I'd use half my available magic to keep them a secret.

Antony was from a powerful witch family and he had exhibited more ability than any of my other cousins. Even so, I had always thought he wasn't capable of much, but what if that was because he used the lion's share of his magic to keep forbidden things hidden? If Antony had been gathering my garbage for years, he had become corrupted like Fair Isle, except worse, and the evidence was only starting to leak now.

Was Salinger strong enough to retrieve them? If he found them, would he return them to me unused, or would he slip within the pages himself and become like Antony?

I should never have trusted him.

The books in my room were not safe either. I emptied my bookshelf. I had been storing my books on a shelf out in the open believing they were safe. In my mind, they were safe under the same principle as the books in the hidden library, safe because no one thought something magical and rare could be stored out in the open. No one thought I could write a spell book. I had stupidly believed they were safe.

I went through each title and made sure all my beauties were accounted for. Then I slid each one of them into a decorative cardboard chest with a lock on the front. That may not have seemed like a very safe place, but it was all in where I put it.

I took it directly to Hattie's room and slid it under her dresser. She was reading on her bed when I barged in.

“Can I put this here?” I asked after I had already got it in place.

Hattie looked at me over her glasses and glanced at the box. “You can leave it there if you want to, but I think it would be safer if you admitted your talent to June and she locked it in the third tree in the hidden library. There is magic there that never stops spinning.”

I was surprised. I hadn’t known that. “You think it would be safer?”

“I know it would be safer. Oh, except for one thing.” She took off her glasses. “Salinger would probably be able to open it.”

“Why would he?”

“Oh, you know...” again she trailed off and didn't explain.

“No, I don't,” I stamped.

“You will.” She smiled knowingly before saying, “I don't mind being the keeper of your secrets, but I might not be able to keep it safe from him.”

Exasperated, I squawked. “Why?”

“Can't you feel it?” She cast her gaze around the room like the very walls of the house were telling her something. “I know the letter from your mother said it was because you were eighteen, but what if it only said that because… you wouldn't accept… the real reason.”

I brushed past her and swept out of the room. Only a girl in a magnificent skirt could do that, and luckily, I was wearing one.

Hattie didn't know anything! She was an outsider I had taken pity on and though she was cleverer than I had initially given her credit for, that didn't mean she understood what she was talking about.

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I put her out of my mind, left the house, and crossed the street to the school. Though I wasn't much of a dancer, the studio would be empty and I could do a few things to work out my frustration.

In the change room, I put on my black yoga pants and top. Once again, I enjoyed the fact that I had chosen black as my color. It never looked bad. These clothes had been squashed in my locker since I had last washed them. They still looked fine as I smoothed them out over my body. I put my hair in a braid, grabbed my mat, and went into the studio.

In the distance, I could hear something. There was music coming from down the hall.

I rolled out my mat. I did my initial stretches on it, completing four sun salutations. The music rang louder and got better every time I put my face to the mat. Whoever was in the music room, they were making progress.

Normally, at that point in my workout, I would have gone through the eight dances I needed to know by heart to tutor, but the music down the hall beckoned me.

I tiptoed down the hall to peek in the music room. Through a glass window in the door, I could easily see Intarsia. I noticed her dark green lipstick before I noticed that she was playing the harp. Remy was next to her cradling a violin. Intarsia was playing the accompaniment while he played the melody. I didn't know Intarsia knew how to play the harp. I didn't know she had a forest green velvet dress with a ladylike slit, or green silk stockings, or graceful green high heels. The last shoes I had seen her purchase had been a pair of green crocks. Remy wore a black suit with a white cravat that swung slightly with the rhythm of his bow.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were having a dress rehearsal, but where could they possibly be performing? Every event I could think of was over until fall.

Their piece finished. Remy put his bow down and rested his instrument on the floor. Then he pulled up a stool behind Intarsia and put his hands over hers. My first thought was that he was one of those stupid boys who shows a woman how to hold a gun when she already knew, just because he was trying to flaunt his expertise and rub up against her. Yet as I watched his face, he didn't seem like a moron who was trying to get a cheap thrill out of the contact. Instead, he was diligent in his pursuit of music and helped guide her fingers to the right places on the right strings. It was downright magical and I was intruding.

I turned away.

I had never seen her so happy.

Packing up my things, I thought about how different love wore on her than it did on Pearl. Pearl was so happy, she was almost giddy. Intarsia seemed like she was an engine revving up to do something amazing. Almost like she had put greatness instead of the color green.

On second thought, maybe what was happening with both of them was exactly what love did to you. It made you into more of the person you wanted to be.

Again, this progress was Salinger’s doing.

I stepped onto the front steps of the school and leaned against the rails. My goals were being realized faster than I’d planned. All because of Salinger. If I loved him, what would it do to me? I remembered my curls from the previous night that sprang up without my permission. Well, that wasn't who I really was! My hair was straight. I made it curl into large loose ringlets to look more beautiful. Curls were not me.

I told myself that over and over again.

That was when I ran into Pearl on the sidewalk.

“Hello, stranger,” she called to me.

“Hi.” I wrapped my fingers around the bus stop pole and walked around it in a controlled circle a few times before I forced myself to make small talk. “Where are you headed?”

“Over to Antony's,” she said as she adjusted the strap on her backpack. It beat the heck out of me where she found a coral pink backpack with sequins on it.

“Got a hot date?”

“Not exactly,” she said hesitantly, biting her lip. “Salinger was over at Antony's this morning. I guess he saw inside his room. Have you ever been in Antony's room?”

I shook my head negatively.

“Right,” Pearl conceded. “You would never go into a boy's room. Well, I'm not so ladylike and I've been in there a time or two. Salinger says the mess is blocking Antony's creative flow and he wants me to straighten it out.”

“Brave girl,” I said, trying to be encouraging. Antony should clean his own filthy room. I would have told her so myself, except before I stupidly opened my mouth, I figured out that Salinger was getting Pearl to look for my books. “Do you want some help?” I volunteered.

“Nah. That's all right. He's my boyfriend, so it's okay.”

“How about just for the company? I won't touch even one of his socks.”

“It's okay, Veda. You shouldn't even have to see one of his socks. I'll talk to you later, okay?” Pearl left in the direction of Antony's house.

For a moment, I wondered where Antony was, but Salinger probably had him tied up at Cold as Stone. If they worked all day, maybe they wouldn't have that much left to do. With that in mind, I went home and dutifully sewed the dress I promised I'd make Pearl. After all, she would need it soon.