An extract from Small Magics, the new book from award-winning children's author Alex Dunne.
Molly Flynn never had a place to call home until she was sent to live above an antique shop with Pat, Priya and their foster kids, Wren and Lorcan. But her new family are anything but ordinary...
Gradually, the room grew darker and darker until Molly realised that it must be extremely late indeed. She tossed and turned, but it was useless. She looked to her bedside table and realised she had forgot to bring a glass of water to bed. She was suddenly aware of how thirsty she was. When she could stand it no longer, she finally slipped out of bed and carefully opened the door, hoping she wouldn’t wake anyone. She didn’t want to get in trouble on her very first night.
Quiet and invisible, she reminded herself. Just a quick glass of water and straight back to bed.
She made her way down the stairs, but froze when one of the steps creaked beneath her weight. She held her breath and counted to ten. The faint sound of Pat’s snores continued uninterrupted, and she allowed herself to move on.
The house looked different in the dark – the various knick-knacks cast long, twisting shadows and, more than once, Molly felt a little jumpy. She passed a stuffed deer head whose glass eyes seemed to follow her, cold and unblinking, and the coat rack in the hallway almost made her leap out of her skin when she mistook the pile of jackets for a dark figure waiting to attack.
In the kitchen, she opened the fridge and the soft hum sounded far too loud in the stillness. Molly grabbed the jug of water and poured herself a glass with hands that trembled just a little.
As she peered around in the gloom, her eyes landed on something she hadn’t noticed before – a small, bolted door with a handwritten sign that read: 'Entrance to shop. Keep closed at all times.’
Priya had not included the shop on the tour earlier and she wondered what it would be like. The document Kitty had given her in the car said that it was an antiques shop. With the house so full of ornaments and curiosities, the shop itself would surely be even more interesting. She knew she should probably wait until morning, but there was something about the door that called to her … surely a quick peek wouldn’t hurt?
Molly’s curiosity got the better of her. She slid back the bolt and turned the handle. The door opened without a sound. With a last glance back to make sure she was still alone, Molly slipped into O’Neill & Chaudhary’s antique shop.
It was dark inside the shop, but the scent of old parchment mixed with a faint, sweet spice like cinnamon filled the air. She groped around for a light switch, but couldn’t find one. She took a careful step forward and as she did, the room suddenly lit up with a warm glow. Pat and Priya must have installed some kind of motion sensor. She was surprised because they definitely did not seem like the modern type. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light. When her vision finally caught up, she discovered the shop was packed with row upon row of tall wooden shelves piled high with strange jars, dusty books and odd trinkets. Here and there were long tables laden down with even stranger items – cast iron pots of varying sizes, hundreds of candles of all colours, bowls, brass scales and even, Molly thought, something that looked like a glass jar filled with eyeballs. She shivered.
She took a slow step forward, eyes wide as she tried to make sense of the curious objects.
What kind of antique shop is this?
She had never been in one in real life, as far as she could remember, but in her mind, they should be filled with things like furniture and vases and creepy old dolls. This place seemed more like … well, she didn’t know what it was like exactly. But it was certainly strange.
She wandered around the shop, pausing here and there to pick up glass vials and boxes to read their labels. ‘Potion for removing stubborn stains from your laundry: no more furious scrubbing!’ read one. ‘Anti-creak charm: nail this to your door and it’ll open soundlessly every time or your money back. You have our creak-free guarantee!’ said another. There was a pile of what looked like regular white cotton bags, but a handwritten tag attached to one said, ‘The Bag of Instant Ripeness – never question a banana again! Simply put your fruit or veg in the bag for thirty seconds and enjoy perfectly ripe food all year round.’
The more she looked, the more bizarre things she uncovered. Soon she felt almost giddy. Other items caught her eye – a small charm in the shape of a BabyBel that vibrated to let you know when you’d run out of cheese, a spell to make your spine tingle if you leave the house without turning off the immersion, a scroll for summoning lost socks from the dryer. A smile tugged at her lips despite herself. Some of these things seemed so silly, she began to wonder if maybe Kitty had got it wrong ... Maybe Pat and Priya ran a joke shop rather than an antiques shop. That would make sense, wouldn’t it?
Her fingers brushed over a row of glass bottles filled with swirling liquids that caught the light. She was reaching for a bright-yellow elixir that promised to prevent glasses from fogging up whenever you came in from the cold, when something scurried past her feet. Molly jumped back and let out a little squeal. She clamped her hand over her mouth, hoping she hadn’t been loud enough to wake Pat and Priya. She scanned the floor, looking for something small and furry, but whatever it was, it had already disappeared.
Small Magics is published by The O'Brien Press
