Abby Carnelia's One and Only Magical Power Read Online Free PDF Page A

illusionary?”
    â€œHi, I’m—I’m Abby. What did you say?”
    â€œClose-up or illusionary?”
    It was ancient Greek to her.
    â€œOh, I—I’m really new to all this,” she managed.
    Ben was persistent. “No, I mean, what are you
into
? Close-up tricks or stage illusions?”
    â€œOh, right,” she said. She thought briefly about her trick—her one real trick. “Close-up, I guess.”
    â€œHey, really?” said Ben. “That’s awesome. Me, too. Check this out!”
    He pulled a car key out of his jeans pocket and put it on his open palm.
    â€œAnd now . . . this is the crazy part. I’m not going to touch this key. I’m not going to blow on it. No strings attached. It’s nothing more than . . . a momentary flux of gravity.”
    He squeezed one eye shut—and that’s when it happened. The key, lying flat on his palm, slowly rose up on its edge and flopped over.
    That’s all it did. But it happened so slowly, so clearly, and so close to Abby’s face, that she felt a shockwave of amazement.
    Ben noticed her look and beamed happily. “I
love
close-up,” he said.
    â€œThat’s a
really
good trick,” she said, because it was. “Will you tell me how you did it?”
    She knew that magicians weren’t supposed to reveal their secrets to their audience, but she didn’t know if magicians couldn’t tell
other magicians
. Maybe that kind of thing didn’t apply in an all-magician camp.
    â€œWell, this is going to sound weird,” Ben said quietly, almost whispering, “but
I don’t know.
It’s just something that I seem to be able to do. I noticed one day that if I just squint one eye—”
    And he did it again. He squinted one eye, and the key rolled up and over on his hand.
    Abby’s stomach practically dropped out of her body. For a moment, she was struck speechless, motionless, and brainless. Could this be happening? Had she just met another person with some tiny magical power and no way to explain it? Maybe she wasn’t the only one!
    This changed everything. This was
huge.
Ten minutes at summer camp and her sense of freakiness and isolation was starting to crumble.
    â€œ
Are you kidding?”
she gushed. She grabbed his forearm, not even noticing his surprise. “You really don’t know how you do it? Oh my gosh, I have to tell you something. I’m just like you! A few weeks ago, I was chopping eggs—well, never mind about that. See, I have a trick, too. Not a trick, really; the thing is—”
    â€œWitches 3,” Mrs. Carnelia announced, appearing from nowhere, with a red-shirted camp counselor following just behind. She had chosen that exact moment to return. “Isn’t that cute? The boys’ cabins are all called Wizards, and the girls’ are all Witches.”
    Abby was suddenly hot and frustrated. “Mom, just a second, okay? I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”
    â€œWell, introduce us, honey!” Mrs. Carnelia nudged Abby’s shoulder.
    For a second, Abby couldn’t remember his name. He rescued her.
    â€œI’m Ben Wheeler,” he said, offering his hand to Abby’s parents in what Abby was sure they’d think was a very mature way.
    â€œHello, Ben,” said Mr. Carnelia. “We’re Abby’s parents.” He glanced around. “There’s supposed to be a brother, too.”
    â€œWheeler, Wheeler,” muttered the counselor, checking her clipboard. “Here we go—Wheeler, Benjamin. You’re in Wizards 4. You’re gonna be with Tony—he’s yourcounselor. You’ll love him; he’s great. Want me to introduce you?”
    Abby’s brain answered for Ben:
No no no no! I mean, no, thank you. I’m going to hang out here with my new friend Abby. I’ve just discovered that we have the most astonishing thing in