Magic No Magic

“Who stole my locket?” Meg cried!

The giggling and laughing suddenly stopped. The five girlfriends were in a tent in Meg’s backyard having their last sleepover before they went back to school. The last party of the summer and then they were in high school!

“What makes you think someone stole it?” Sally, Meg’s best friend asked. 

“Because it’s missing. I had it in my purse and now it’s gone. That’s why!” Meg yelled, looking at her pals.

“Oh, hold on.” The “Nancy Drew” of their group said. Let’s all calm down. Nobody here is a thief.” 

“Oh, you are just too goody goody Miss Nancy.” Meg said looking angrily at her friend. 

The twins, Marley and Frankie, chimed in. “Wait a second Meg, we aren’t thieves. Search our stuff, we’ve been with you all day.” 

“It was my grandmother’s, it’s all I have from her. She gave it to me for my graduation present last June, right after the ceremony. When she pressed it into my hand she said it had magical powers and would help me out. I was planning to wear it to school Tuesday to bring me luck. I’m so scared to go into ninth grade.” Meg said, beginning to cry.

“Okay, okay, we get it. We get why you are upset.” Wendy aka “Nancy Drew” said. “But we’ll help you find it. I promise.”

“Okay,” thanks Wendy. Thanks team. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.” Meg said with a sigh of relief.

The sun set and soon the girls lit their flashlights, zippered up the mosquito netting and settled back on their pillows and sleeping bags. Meg’s shaggy dog Chance lay just outside the closed flap. Apparently he thought of himself as their guard dog. 

Wendy opened her notebook and began to write. 

“Wow, that’s a cool pen.” Marley said.

“My dad gave it to me as a middle school graduation gift. My flashlight pen! He knows I haven’t been able to switch to writing on my iPhone.” Wendy said, waving her possession proudly. “He knows I’m still old school.”

The girls huddled together and made a list of their day. 

Interrupting, Sally asked, “Say, Meg your grandmother told you the locket had magical powers. What did she mean? What was magical? Did you ever see her use it?” 

“I don’t know. She just said it helped her out of difficulties. She said when she needed help she cupped it tightly between her palms. When she felt a warming sensation she made her wish. Then the magic happened.” Meg answered.

“Wow!” Sally exclaimed, “but you never saw her use it?”

“No, and she has decided to move to a retirement village in Florida. She said she’d had all the magic she needed and it was my turn.” With a woeful glance at her friends Meg said, “and now I’ve lost it!”

Chance scratched at their tent door the next morning. The sun was up and he was signaling it was time for them to get up too. 

After yawning and stretching Meg zipped open the tent and pet her dog. “I know you didn’t take my locket, but you sure have powers, they’re are called ESP.”

After breakfast the girls decided to retrace their steps and go everywhere they had been the day before. Today was Labor Day and they’d have to hurry because school started the next morning.

“Let’s see,” Wendy said checking her notebook, “we all met at The Sweet Shop for breakfast. Did you have your purse with you then?”

“Yes!” Meg answered forcefully. And off the group went. 

“Ok,” Wendy said when they reached the Sweet Shop, “do we see anything unusual?” 

“Well,” Marley answered, “I remember the twins Jake and Sam were here. I remember because I was surprised because they are usually so shy and we don’t see them around much.”

“Yeah,” Frankie interrupted, “Marley and I have tried to talk with them lots of times, them being twins and all. It was weird they were at breakfast, they kinda huddled together, and looked awkward and out of place. They could probably use the magic of the locket way more than you, Meg.”

“I’ve always thought of them as both awkward and insecure. They’re only 5’6” and have super greasy hair and a messed up complexion. I think it bugs them. But their older brother is cute as anything so they should end up looking more like him,”. Sally commented, adding, “actually I kinda have a crush on Zack, that’s one reason I’m excited to go into high school.”

“Ok, next place we went was the mall. Let’s go there. Let’s take the bus like we did yesterday,” Wendy interrupted.  

Entering the mall Wendy checked her notebook again. “Anything unusual happen to us here? Do you remember putting your purse down at any point?”

“Well,” Meg began, “I did put in on the bench when I saw Mrs. Healy and her little boys. I babysit for them, you know.”

“Say,” Marley interrupted, “why didn’t I think of this before. I was taking iPhone pictures all day. My elective is gonna be photography so I was practicing my skills. Last year’s art teacher told me I have a great eye.” Quickly she pulled it out of her pocket and began searching.

The girls gathered around. “Look, here we are at The Sweet Shop, and here we are by the food court and here by Legoland where you ran into Mrs. Healy. Say, that’s a great shot of the summertime decorations,” Meg said with enthusiasm, “but I don’t notice anything unusual.”

“Wait, a minute,” Wendy cried excitedly, “look in the corner there, and there, and there. The twins, Jake and Sam. That’s really weird.”

“Wait, I’m remembering something,” Meg cried. “They were really close to to my grandma and me after graduation. Maybe they heard her talking about the magic of my locket!”

“Yeah, they are probably more worried about high school than you Meg. I have a hunch they’re our thieves.” Wendy said, “and here’s the proof.”

Wendy grabbed the phone from Marley and held it up high. Marley had taken a short video when Mrs. Healy and her sons met the group.

“Oh forgot, they were so cute I just wanted to capture the action. And look, there’s your purse on the bench. And there’s the twins. Look it, we weren’t watching and look it, they took advantage to steal your locket.” Marley said waving her finger at the video.

“We have our thieves,” the girls cried in unison, “now how do we get it back?”

“It’s still early and we don’t have to get home until dinner so let’s go confront them! Let’s demand they give back your locket! Let’s jump on the bus, head home and grab our bikes and go!” Wendy declared! 

At home Chance was excited by the girls energy and followed, always ready for adventure. 

The twins lived close to Meg so the ride didn’t take long. The girls road at breakneck speed down the tree lined streets and soon were at Jake and Sam’s house. Pulling up they caught their breath before walking up the drive.

“Say,” Sally began “this place looks like it’s glowing. Look the lawn has a shimmering quality and the house is sparkling. How did that happen?”

“They must have used the locket. That’s what gran said it did. It transforms things. And look, rainbows are everywhere!” Meg declared.

She heard a bark and looked down noticing her dog. “Wow, his hair is on end. He knows something is weird.”

Running up to the front door, Chance at her heels, Meg began to furiously knock. “Hello, hello!” She yelled.

“Looks like no one is home. Anyway, there are no cars in sight. We can wait awhile but not too long since we need to be ready for school tomorrow. We can confront them in the morning.” Wendy stated.

The girls waited without luck. No cars drove up the drive but the area continued to glow and the girls felt mesmerized.

“We better go.” Meg said discouraged.

“I’m so nervous for tomorrow.”

“You‘ll do fine. It’s just an old locket, think

about what it means and bring it into yourself. Just believe in yourself, Meg.” Sally said hugging her friend.

Everyone said good night, all thinking about tomorrow.

The girls gathered the next morning before the introduction assembly for the new freshmen. Meg looked nervous but had her own slight glow.

“You look wonderful, Meg,” Frankie and Marley said. “Maybe some of that magic rubbed off yesterday.”

“Maybe, but I just thought about what Wendy said last night and then thought about my grandma. With or without her locket she was a wonderful woman. She always believed in herself. I just need to do the same thing!” Meg said shyly, “I just need to believe in myself.”

Just then the twins, Jake and Sam walked up. They looked so different. Taller and more confident. 

“Ugh, Meg, we’re sorry. We stole your locket. We followed you around the mall until we could grab it. During graduation we overheard your grandma when she gave it to you. We knew we had to get it and Saturday was the first chance we had.” Sam said, stretching out his hand. “You know we’re terrified of being in high school,” he added quietly.

“Yeah,” Jake said. “We’re really sorry. We rubbed on it after we stole it and it works wonders. In fact it’s too good! My mom didn’t like how everything glowed and how we changed. She’s a firm believer in figuring it out for yourself. She’s hoping the spell will wear off soon.”

“Well, you look great.” Meg said, taking the locket. 

“So do you, Meg. You’re glowing, did you get an opportunity to rub the locket before we snagged it?” Sam asked.

“No, I just decided to believe in myself,” she said looking down at her hand. “I guess I’ll just put this in a safe place. Magic or no magic.” She gave the twins a quick smile and together they walked into the assembly ready for whatever came next.