Magic Key

By Cheryl Fassett

The magic is fading in the kingdom of Astorya!
The magical folk are banning together to defeat the queen's evil plan to steal all the magical energy for herself. The last fairy godmother is leading the charge.
Meanwhile, in Springfield Mills, the school year is ending. Izzy and her best friend Franklin plan another summer filled with their favorite game, Magic Key. Izzy's teachers always say she has a vivid imagination, but lately her sister has started to tell her to grow up and stop playing baby games.
When the last fairy godmother, banished by the evil queen, lands in Springfield Mills, it is up to Izzy and Franklin to help her get home and save Astorya.
What if all the games you ever imagined turn out to be real?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cheryl Fassett
• Release date: Jul 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781970006049

Cheryl Fassett

Cheryl Fassett lives in New York State with her husband and a house full of cats. When she is not writing, or managing a group of physicians, she likes to read and quilt. She believes that there is magic everywhere and that everybody has a book inside them. This is her first novel. You can find her online at cherylfassett.com.

Book preview

Chapter One

As the sun rose over the kingdom of Astorya, Violet hurried along the well-worn path between the wooded outlying edges of the kingdom and the market square within the palace embankments. There was a chill in the air, but Violet could not say if it was from the oncoming cold season or from the steady chill that she had felt in her heart since the queen’s Nonmagical Decree had been posted on every store front and tree trunk in the kingdom.

Despite the early hour, Violet’s white hair was already disheveled and slipping out of the knot at the nape of her neck. She did not normally bother with appearances, but she needed to look presentable today. Her lavender skirts carried briars from her passage through the dense forest, and her multicolored cloak was grimy with dirt. Oh, well, vanity must take a back seat to the urgent task at hand. There would be time later to clean herself up.

As she approached the market, she could hear the bells tolling, telling one and all that the market was now open for business. Vendors were shouting greetings to each other and yelling to passersby, hawking their wares. Every manner of thing was available at the market square, and Violet carried a large basket full of herbs and flowers to trade as a cover for her task. It would do no good to draw attention to herself this morning. There was still so much to do and not much time to do it.

She approached a wrinkled old man, no taller than the table he stood behind. His face showed no recognition as she greeted him.

Good day, sir, she said. I see you have an odd assortment of wares for sale this morning.

Yes, dear lady, he replied, I am the lost and found of the market square. Here you will find things that are missing their complement—spoons with no forks, cups with no saucers, right socks without their matching left socks, boots with no umbrellas. What has caught your eye this bright morning?

This pewter cup with etchings around the rim is quite beautiful. And since I am but a lowly peasant, I have no need for such fine things as saucers. What would you ask in trade?

My lovely wife was saying just yesterday that she would love a fresh bit of thyme for cooking, and perhaps a sprig of dragon’s parsley, if you have it.

Violet smiled and rummaged through her basket. She found the small bunches of herbs he requested. She pulled a purple ribbon from her pocket and tied it around the delicate parsley fronds and woody stems of thyme. As she tied the bow, she attached a small business card that read Miss Violet’s Botanicals in fancy script. On the back, she had also written an invitation to a gathering she was hosting the next night. It read, You are cordially invited to an evening of song and a-MUSE-ing stories. There will be food and drink provided. Bring a friend, and help us plan the next big dance!

With a wink, she handed the bouquet to the man behind the table. In turn, he handed her the cup, and she placed it in the bottom of her basket, thanked him, and continued on to another vendor.

Violet made her way through the market place, stopping at this vendor or that one and making trades at random. The items she collected soon filled her basket, and the herbs and flowers disappeared. By the time the noontime bell rang to call a halt to trading for the midday meal, she had managed to finish her task and was on her way toward the gates of the castle grounds.

No one who watched her that morning was any wiser about her real purpose. She had managed to hand out at least fifty invitations to select members of the community— invitations not to a dance-planning committee, but to the first meeting of the Magical Underground Society for Ever-After, or M.U.S.E.

Violet and her friend Ella created The Magical Underground Society for Ever-After when Queen Gertrude had first established her nonmagical law. The whole of the kingdom of Astorya—and the entire universe—relied on magic and those who understood the proper use of it; Violet and Ella had realized the impact such a law would have on their way of life. Queen Gertrude was trying to steal every ounce of power away from the people and creatures who inhabited the kingdom in an effort to direct the future, something that everyone knows is dangerous, if not impossible.

As a revered member of the Astoryan community, the headmistress of the Fairy Godmother School for Young Fairies, and the last working fairy godmother in the kingdom, Violet had always been a welcome guest in the palace and the queen’s court. Until recently, that is. As a fairy godmother, it was a given that she had access to a multitude of magical objects and had magic running through her veins. Since the queen’s latest law had been posted, she had not been invited through the palace doors. All of the sneaking around made her anxious and gave her an extreme case of heartburn. The future of Astorya depended on their success.

Violet hurried along the path that would take her back through the dark wood to her cottage. She knew Ella would be there, eager for news of her latest trip into what they now referred to as enemy territory.

Lawrence Cafferty Elementary School Announcements

June 26

We, the faculty and administration of Lawrence Cafferty Elementary School, would like to take this opportunity to wish every student a happy, happy summer.

Please do not forget to clean out your lockers.

They should be wiped down with soapy water provided by the janitorial staff, and left open to air dry. You may throw all papers into the recycling bins located at the corners of intersecting hallways. All foodstuffs, notebooks, and other accumulated detritus should be thrown into the garbage receptacles provided for you.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our school clean and beautiful.

Don’t forget to stop at the office to pick up your summer reading list for the annual Summer Book Challenge. We have set the goals high this year, so everyone’s participation is needed!

To all graduating seventh graders,

good luck at Springfield Mills Junior and Senior High School in the fall!

Chapter Two

As hundreds of kids streamed through the doors of Lawrence Cafferty Elementary School on the last afternoon of the school year, Izzy stood at the top of the cement wall near the steps and scanned the crowd for her best friend, Franklin. The sun was shining hot on her head, and she was itching to start summer.

Come on, where are you? she mumbled. They had things to do, plans to make. He was probably taking random pictures of the empty hallways with that old camera he always carried. Or maybe he was off schmoozing one of his teachers one last time. Why, she could not understand, since they would be moving on to Springfield Mills Junior and Senior High School in the fall.

At last, he came through the glass doors waving a sheet of paper in his hand. He tapped the cement wall that Izzy was standing on three times just like he did every time he entered or left the building. It was not so much a superstitious action as one he could not help but do. Habits like this one comforted him and made him feel secure in his surroundings.

They chose fantastic books this year! he said, his voice loud with excitement. You signed up, right?

He and Izzy had participated in the Summer Book Challenge every year since they’d started at Lawrence Cafferty Elementary School. They were the only two first graders who had been able to read well enough to get through the lower grade lists, and had challenged each other to read the most books of anyone else at the school every summer since then. Typically the lists consisted of many of the same books from year to year: Caldecott and Newberry winners and literary fiction. But this year, their new English teacher had taken a role in choosing the lists, and there were plenty of fantasy books included, which was what Izzy and Franklin preferred to read. So even though they were technically not in elementary school any more, they were going to complete the reading list anyway.

I got my list at lunchtime today, Izzy replied as she jumped off the wall and fell into step with Franklin. I thought we could stop at the public library today on the way home and get a few of them so we can start right away.

Franklin smiled. Izzy was predictable, and that is just what he liked in a best friend. Never one for adventure, he liked to know what lay ahead in every aspect of his life. He liked the fact that every summer they did the book challenge, and every fall they had the same classes. And he liked the fact that every summer they played the same game in the same places. Life should not hold too many surprises, he thought. There had been surprises enough in his young life, and if every day for the rest of it was the predictable sameness, he would be content. Franklin had lost his father in a car accident when he was only five, and since that day he had been doing everything within his power to make sure life did not surprise him again.

The two friends walked along the shaded sidewalk on Maple Street, just like they had done every day since they were in first grade. Maple Street led to Kerchner Avenue, which in turn led to Sycamore Lane, where the large public library had stood for more than one hundred years. Full of rows upon rows of books, the Springfield Mills Public Library was one of the most magical places in the world as far as Izzy and Franklin were concerned.

Franklin tapped three times on the stone lion that stood to the right of the library’s enormous wooden doors. Then they pushed through the heavy doors into the hushed coolness of the library and took deep breaths. There was nothing like the smell of the library—some dust, some age, but always that air of anticipation, of stories just waiting to be discovered. They made their way over to the cavernous youth section, greeting the librarians along the way. People knew them here. They had made a weekly trip to the library since before they learned to read.

When they reached the fantasy aisle, Izzy and Franklin exchanged smiles. Without a word, they lost themselves in the shelves, selecting books by the handful.

An hour later, they were on their way again. Their arms were loaded with books that had to be shifted and juggled between them so Franklin could tap on the stone lion again as they left the building.

What time do you want to meet tomorrow morning? Izzy asked. She wanted to get an early start on sprucing up the fort for the summer ahead.

Eight o’clock will work, maybe even earlier, Franklin replied. That way we can get cleaning and any necessary repairs done in the morning when it’s cooler.

That’s a very practical suggestion, Franklin. She winked at him to let him know that she was only teasing. I can always count on you to be practical.

Franklin laughed with her. Most of the other kids at school thought he was a bit strange. But Izzy understood him, and her wild streak and creativity balanced out his practicality and need for routine. Only with her could he relax and let his mind run a little loose and free. And he somehow managed to keep her grounded when the situation called for it. They were a good team.

You know, Princess Izzy never did get rescued by the noble Franklin at the end of last summer. Why, she’s been fretting away her days and nights in the castle of the Dark Lord ever since. Izzy set her books down and swung up into a giant oak tree on the corner of Sycamore Lane and Davenport Drive. Will he ever be able to find and rescue her? Or will she be destined to spend the entire summer locked away at the Dark Lord’s will?

Franklin smiled and set his books down next to hers.

Well, that depends.

Depends? On what exactly?

If Princess Izzy continues to pick on poor misunderstood Franklin, why ever would he risk his life fighting the Dark Lord to rescue her?

Izzy laughed and rolled her eyes as Franklin began to have a sword fight with an imaginary foe.

You know how dangerous and skilled the Dark Lord is when it comes to sword fighting. Why, I could become permanently disabled, and then how would I ever achieve knighthood?

Well, explained Izzy, if you don’t rescue me soon, you’ll never achieve knighthood, since it’s only my father, the mighty king of all the land, you see, who can knight you. And I’m sure saving me is the one small requirement for the honor.

Yeah, that or possibly finding the mysterious magic key. Franklin broke character and