Snowville

By Regina Winters

Edward - a lonely retired magician stared into the curio cabinet containing his late wife's collection of snowmen.
That's when he got the idea to create a family that he could share his secrets with.
With the help of a friend, he sponsors a snowman contest where the seven teams created three snowmen, one snowwoman, two snow kids and a snow dog. Edward enchants them all with special metals given out at the end of the contest. He had filled these metal with names and talents that he picked for them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578750729

Book preview

1

T

he Magician

EDWARD GRANDVILLE SAT ALONE at his large oak desk. After addressing the last of the invitations, he set it on top of the others. Running his hands through his thick white hair, he sat back in his chair and sighed.

He felt so old and tired—and very lonely. He looked at all the photographs around him.

The walls were covered with pictures of friends and family.

But Edward had outlived them all, including his lovely wife, Lilly.

Looking at her old photo, he remembered the day they had met. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He had been a famous magician in a vaudeville show, and she had been a young and beautiful dancer. It wasn’t long before Lilly had become part of his act and then his wife.

They used to do everything together, and only Lilly had known the truth behind his magic act.

Like most magicians, his act was full of good tricks, misdirection, and sleight of hand. But behind it all was real magic passed down for centuries, from generation to generation.

So Edward kept his magical secrets locked away for years.

The problem was, he and Lilly had never had any children.

Edward had no one to pass the magical secrets on to, as his father had done with him and his father before that.

Edward stared into the curio cabinet containing Lilly’s collection of snowmen—she had collected them from all over the world.

That’s when he got the crazy idea to create a family that he could share his secrets with.

He whispered, I will use my gift of magic and create a family out of snow.

The first thing he did was contact an old friend of Lilly’s. Years ago, Lilly and her friend Dee had started a club for people who loved to collect snowmen and all kinds of snow figures. It grew to include many members from all over the country.

As it turned out, Dee—or Aunt Dee as everyone liked to call her—became an important part of Edward’s plan. She owned a lodge up in Alaska and offered to host the whole event. They would hold a snowman contest in honor of her dearest friend.

Aunt Dee put together a list for Edward. She picked people who she thought would be perfect contestants.

This was going to be the biggest event she had ever hosted and she needed help. So she was grateful when her nephew Sonny stopped by and volunteered his services.

She could always depend on him to be there when she needed anything. He would be great at handling some of the details and assisting Edward when he arrived.

With Aunt Dee’s help, Edward’s plan was coming together perfectly.

Over the next couple of weeks, Edward was full of energy. He felt like a kid again. Every day he watched and waited for the mail to arrive. He had mailed seven invitations, knowing that seven was a magical number. He was excited when the last response arrived. All seven guests had said yes.

With a sigh of relief, Edward went to his desk and slowly sat down.

He placed the last of the envelopes on top of the rest. Then he lifted a beautifully carved wooden box from the drawer and carefully set it down in front of him and turned the key.

When he lifted the lid and peeked inside, a golden light came from within. He could feel its warmth on his face.

Closing the box, Edward smiled and locked it. Then he slowly slipped the box back into the drawer.

On the day Edward arrived in Alaska, Aunt Dee and Sonny met him at the airport.

Sonny had been looking forward to meeting the legendary magician. Ever since he had been a child, Aunt Dee had told him so many fun and amazing stories about Edward. Sonny had even met Lilly a couple of times.

So he made sure the old magician had whatever he wanted and planned to take him wherever he needed to go during his stay.

Sonny had grown up in the small town, and no one knew the area