“I’m coming! I’m coming! I’m coming!” Her little sister, Winnie, burst into the room. The parades are doing too much this year.”Įlla hid her smile. “Y’all quit all that hollering, you hear?” Gran shouted through the window. But Papa thought it was time for a new adventure, and she was more than ready to leave home.Įveryone went silent as Gran’s rooster companion, Paon, marched in from the gallery porch and crowed. The whole community was conflicted about whether she should be going. Mama and Gran wanted her to stay home and continue to attend Madame Collette’s Conjure École. That sparked their eighty millionth argument about Ella attending the Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors.Įlla plugged her ears. “Sebastien, I still don’t know about this.” He tapped his black top hat, which made the ring of tiny human skulls on its brim smile at her. “Aubrielle, my sweet, she has everything she needs.” Papa looked above his newspaper, The Conjure Picayune. You remember how to work them? Their waking song?” I spelled them with your favorite styles. “I won’t have my baby so far away with her head looking a mess. “Yes, Papa.” She patted her chest, the carved medallion of her parents’ faces tucked just beneath her shirt.Įlla pointed at the vanity case, where a wax copy of her mother’s hands sat.

Their silk linings glowed as a good-fortune spell infused itself into her belongings. Three juju-trunks floated in the middle of the Durands’ living room with all of Ella’s things neatly arranged and ready for inspection. “Did you use the hangers? Gran pressed those mantles herself after the old iron did a poor job,” her mama said.

Clothes ironed? Make your bed? Clean your plate? And most importantly, did you mind your business so nobody was minding you?Įven now, during the greatest … the awesome-est … the most spectacular thing that had ever happened in all eleven years of Ella Durand’s life, her parents were squabbling and telling her what to do. But Ella’s family didn’t believe in gassing you up. Praise like honey drizzled on hot biscuits.

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