Page 33 of The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
“But nothing!” Cordelia’s voice was too high, too light. “Beatrice, what do you think of the pie?”
The pie could have been stuffed with cotton balls and topped with shaving cream for all Beatrice had noticed. So far, she’d managed only one bite. Pushing the plate away, she took a breath, then she crossed her arms. She stared at Astrid. “You said you made a sign. In the car. What did you mean by that?”
“I drew a sigil in the air.”
“And that is?”
Astrid sighed. “Your lack of knowledge is truly pathetic.”
Anger lodged at the top of Beatrice’s throat. “Thanks so much for that.”
Minna looked at her grandmother. “Can I answer this?”
“Well. You cantry.”
The girl tugged her chair closer to the table, as if trying to get nearer to Beatrice from the other side. “You know Reno’s tattoos?”
Beatrice nodded.
“You said they looked like words, but you couldn’t read them.”
Beatrice drew back sharply. “I didn’t say that.” She’d thoughtit. But she hadn’t said it. It would have sounded too bizarre. “All I said was that I used to draw things like that.”
Minna’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. That’s what you said. Anyway, do you ever do that nowadays? Do you still draw?”
“No.”The house on the beach, drawn in sand. The flames.
“Why did you stop?”
Dad’s face, furious in the lamplight of her bedroom.“My father said that artists were con artists and liars who made things up that didn’t exist in order to exploit the generosity of suckers.” It had been so startling coming from his gentle mouth that she stopped drawing immediately.
Liars.That was rich, coming from him.
“That’s too bad,” said Minna. “Sigils are cool.”
Beatrice’s heart flipped frantically. “But I still don’t know what theyare.”
Astrid got up to rummage in a sideboard. “We’ll show you.”
“Mom—” Cordelia held out her hand. “We might want to wait?”
But Astrid ignored her and handed a small pad of paper and a pen to Minna.
“Thanks, Gran. Okay, I’m going to make a sigil right now, okay? It’s just a little bit of magic, that’s all.”
“Magic doesn’t exist.” Beatrice didn’t know how much she knew anymore, but that, at least, was easy. She lived in the real world, where numbers didn’t lie. Only people did.
Minna nodded easily, apparently undisturbed by Beatrice’s lack of belief. She moved the pen in a small circle on the page before closing her eyes.
The candle in front of Beatrice flickered.
Slowly and smoothly, the line Minna drew played out across the paper. One line and two loops, another loop, and then onethat reversed back on itself. She looked like she was in no rush making what seemed like a doodle. A very pretty doodle, yes. But that’s all it was.
“Oh, that’s lovely,” said Astrid.
Minna held up the paper. “So here it is. Just a drawing. Then I charge it with power.” She glanced at Cordelia. “Can I? This once?”
“Fine.” Cordelia nodded. “But use the can for safety.”
