Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Am I the Only One Who Didn’t Know?

“What? But why? How? Who would do that?”

“That woman in your memory.”

I sat up. “Samantha? I don’t understand. Why would she erase my memories? Why would she erase a memory of me breaking my arm?”

Ruby helped me up from the floor. “Because you’re a Descendant. You heal faster than a Normal and that would draw too much attention. It makes sense that your mother would get Samantha to heal you and then move away, so no one at the new place or the old place would know you no longer had a broken arm.”

I let that sink in. “But that means that Mum knows I’m a Descendant. Jeez. Am I the only one who didn’t know?”

A feeling of betrayal settled over me. It was like my life was just one big lie. How did Mum know what I was? How did she find out? How did she react? I mean, what do you do when you find out your adopted daughter has magical abilities?

“Wait — she always told me that there was no such thing as magic.”

My eyes stung with unshed tears. What the hell, Mum?

“She was probably trying to protect you. If you didn’t know you could do magic when you were really young, you wouldn’t have tried to do it in front of Normals. What would’ve happened if your friend had found out you were descended from magical beings from another realm?”

“She wouldn’t have believed me.”

“What if she did and she started telling everyone? What if she had some kind of proof? How would you talk your way out of that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t forget that we are keeping our existence secret to protect us all.”

That made sense, but it didn’t make me feel any better. My hands balled into fists and my breathing became shallow. Why didn’t she tell me?

“I’m not a kid anymore. I wouldn’t have told anybody. She could have told me.”

“I’m not sure why she didn’t tell you once you were old enough. You’d have to ask her. Maybe it was easier to keep things the way they were because your magic hadn’t shown itself. Maybe she thought you wouldn’t believe her because she wouldn’t have any proof.”

“I was seeing ghosts. That should have been proof enough.”

“Some Normals can see ghosts too, so it wouldn’t have been proof of the existence of magic.”

“You mean I’m psychic as well?”

“Possibly. There’s a thin line. It’s hard to tell with a Descendant if it is magic or a psychic ability.”

Great. Now I have to deal with being both.

“How common is it for a Descendant to have psychic abilities?”

“It is more common than it is for Normals. And some of us have extra magical abilities that aren’t common to all Descendants.” She let that sink in. “Then you have elemental magic as well. Earth, air, water, and fire. Some Descendants have an affinity with one or more of the elements and can wield them with greater power than other Descendants.”

My mind was reeling. There was so much that I didn’t know about this new world I’d stepped into. More like fallen into.

Ruby smiled. “I know it’s a lot, but don’t worry, my dear. We’ll teach you what you need to know and work out which element is yours.”

I don’t think that would be a good idea till I have control.

She told me that most Descendants had the ability to manipulate the existing element, but some could actually create the element. Like making fire appear out of nothing.

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We also talked about the crystals on the shelf, then she stopped and nodded to herself. “Do you have any experience in retail?”

That was an abrupt change of subject. “Yes. I had a job in a supermarket before the car accident. Why do you ask?”

“I have an idea. How would you like to work here in the store? It would only be part time. When it’s not busy, I could give you some magic lessons so you could catch up in class, and you would be helping me out. I have a few people working for me, but Sacha has just left me short by moving to Queensland.”

My mouth dropped open. I was not expecting this; I’d forgotten that I was job-hunting before I’d been drawn into the shop. I looked at all of the beautiful things around us — and at Dragonia — and tried to imagine working here.

“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much. I’ve actually been asking around town about a job half the morning, so this is just what I’ve been looking for.”

Johnny was grinning over in the corner. I quickly looked away.

She gave me a warm smile. “Well, that’s settled then.” She motioned for me to follow her. “Come. Let’s get the paperwork done. I’m not busy tomorrow morning so I’ll have time to get you started. Can you start at nine?”

“Yes. I can get the bus from Waratah.”

She led me into her little office in the back and we got most of the paperwork done. I just needed my Tax File Number, which I could bring from home tomorrow.

When did I start thinking of Waratah as home? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. It was my temporary home, nothing more.

I left the shop with a spring in my step. I pulled out my phone to find out where Tracy was.

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Johnny was practically bouncing as he walked. “This is great. I can’t believe she just offered you a job like that.”

I smiled as I pretended I was alone and typed a message to Tracy.

“Ruby seems like a wonderful person. And she will be a big help for you while you’re learning about magic.”

I waited till there was no one near me and whispered, “The fact that magic exists didn’t seem to be a shock to you. How do you know about it?”

“I just do. I’d forgotten a lot of stuff, but not that.”

I remembered what he’d said when he first came into the rec room. He was talking about cloaking spells. I put the phone to my ear as if I was on a call. “You were talking about it when you ran into the room at Mirrabooka.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. I thought maybe it was a cloaking spell… Maybe it is a cloaking spell and I’m still alive.”

My heart kind of leapt at the thought of him not being dead, but then logic kicked in. “I’m not sure. The chances of me having the ability to see ghosts and see through cloaking spells too are pretty slim.”

I could see his shoulders sag from the corner of my eye. I hated to be a the bearer of bad news and all that, but we had to look at the facts.

“You’re probably right,” he finally said.

We walked along in silence until I met up with Tracy out the front of a pizza place. We went in to have lunch as I told Tracy about my new job and her face was beaming.

“That’s great! It’s not every day that a job falls into your lap like that,” she said as we sat down.

“I know, and I hadn’t even asked her yet.”

“It will be good if she can teach you some extra stuff. It’s hard to teach a class when some of the students are way ahead or way behind. The other two beginners will be grateful, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah. I was feeling bad for them, having to sit through the basics again.”

We chatted while we ate and I was glad that things weren’t awkward between us after me blasting her with magic. Then she insisted on paying for my lunch, even though I had my own money this time. I felt like I owed her more than the money.

As we left the pizza shop, I bumped into a man blocking the footpath and talking loudly into his phone. “Oh, sorry.”

I wasn’t sure why I was the one saying sorry. Force of habit, I guess.

“That’s okay,” he said to me, then hung up his phone. I’m not sure if he even said goodbye to whoever he was talking to.

He looked from me to Tracy and back again.

Tracy smiled. “Hello, Father Jericho. This is our newest resident, Maddelyn Johnson.”

He smiled as his eyes seemed to light up. “Just call me Jericho, if you don’t mind.” He turned to me. “Hello, Maddelyn. It’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’m the local priest with the Descendants of the Faith Church.” He stepped to the side and gestured to someone standing behind him. “And this is my son, Blake.”

A guy with bleached-blonde hair stood with his back to us with a phone to his ear.

Jericho frowned. “Blake?”

He spoke into the phone. “Gotta go. I’ll call you back.” He shoved the phone into the pocket of his jeans and turned his head to the left. “Yeah?”

“I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

When he turned around and his hazel eyes locked with mine, I took in a slow breath and tried to act like I wasn’t affected by his natural good looks and casual smile.