Jinx Read Online Free PDF Page B

a whole year later, Jinx wasn’t any closer to learning magic. He hadn’t even found a way to get into the forbidden wing of the house. He hadn’t figured out how Sophie arrived, and he hadn’t seen any of the stuff that Simon must busy himself with when he locked himself behind the off-limits door—magical stuff, Jinx was sure. Whenever he hinted that Simon could at least let him in to look , Simon would tell him to go sweep out the loft. It was very frustrating.
    Then one day Jinx was washing dishes when a cat burst out of the magical cat flap in the off-limits door, holding what looked like a glowing purple frog in its mouth. The door slammed open, and Simon came charging out. The cat went out the magic cat flap into the clearing, and Simon ran out after it.
    The door to the south wing was standing wide open.
    Jinx hurried to the window. Simon and the cat were running straight into the forest.
    There was nothing to stop him. He slipped into the south wing and pulled the door shut behind him.
    A cat came up and rubbed against his leg. Oh, the cats were allowed in here. Just not Jinx.
    He was in a hallway about ten paces long that ended in a blank stone wall. On either side, facing each other, were two arched doorways. The one on the right led to a spiral staircase going up. Simon’s bedroom, probably.
    Jinx opened the other door. He stared in fascination—he’d been right. This was where Simon did his magic.
    The room was big, dimly lit by a high glass window. It was a mess. If Jinx had ever let the kitchen look this bad, Simon would have been furious. There was a workbench covered with open books, bundles of herbs, what looked like a small mummy, and a spilled pool of something the color of blood.
    The floor was heaped with piles of books. A spider was industriously spinning a web between two stacks. A skull sat on top of one heap, and Jinx found himself nodding a polite greeting to it.
    He stared around in wonder. Above the workbench were shelves with jars, bottles, and boxes. Stacked in between them were more piles of books—mostly leather bound, some of them scaly. Jinx thought they might be bound in real dragonskin. It all looked exactly as a wizard’s workroom ought to look, and Jinx could feel magic dripping all over everything.
    A cat hopped up onto the workbench, walked through the red spill, and tracked red footprints across the open pages of a book.
    Jinx turned the pages to hide the marks.
    The pages began to smolder. Flames licked up at the edges. Jinx tried to beat them out with his hands and got burned. The book was turning pages by itself now, and they were all burning.
    Jinx slammed the book shut. That put out the fire, but wisps of smoke curled up from the book, and it still looked like it had been on fire. Jinx looked for somewhere to stick it where it wouldn’t be noticed.
    He picked up the skull and added the book to the pile underneath it. The skull winked an eye socket at him.
    He ought to leave now. He really ought to leave. Before Simon came back. But he hadn’t seen everything yet. There was all that stuff on the shelves, for example.
    There was a bottle shaped like a goblin’s head. Jinx tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to the shelf.
    He reached for a box of carved wood. The carving showed people riding on an enormous beast. Jinx tried to open the box. The lid wouldn’t budge. He felt around for a catch. Nothing—it must be held shut by a spell. Drat—it was probably some really important magic. Reluctantly he put the box back on the shelf.
    He heard footsteps out in the hall.
    He froze. More footsteps.
    “I didn’t know you were here,” said Simon.
    His voice sounded unexpectedly friendly, and there was none of the jagged orange fury that usually surrounded Simon when he was angry. Jinx realized it wasn’t him Simon was speaking to.
    “The exams ended early, so I thought I’d come by,” said Sophie. They were both in the hall just outside the workroom.
    No more talking