For Grace, Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, Connor, and David, who let me know they had more to say
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
GRACE
Chapter Two
GRACE
AMANDA
LEO
RORY
TARA
DAVID
CONNOR
Chapter Three
GRACE
Chapter Four
GRACE
AMANDA
RORY
LEO
TARA
Chapter Five
GRACE
Chapter Six
GRACE
AMANDA
LEO
RORY
DAVID
CONNOR
Chapter Seven
GRACE
Chapter Eight
GRACE
Chapter Nine
GRACE
Chapter Ten
GRACE
TARA
CONNOR
DAVID
Chapter Eleven
GRACE
Chapter Twelve
GRACE
AMANDA
RORY
TARA
Chapter Thirteen
GRACE
Chapter Fourteen
GRACE
Chapter Fourteen and a Half
Chapter Fifteen
GRACE
RORY AT THE VORTEX
TARA AT THE VORTEX
AMANDA AT THE VORTEX
Chapter Sixteen
GRACE
Chapter Seventeen
GRACE
About the Author
Also Available
Copyright
Dear my favorite reader (that’s you!),
Writing the Willow Falls series these past few years has been a total joy. The Last Present was intended to be the last book. It even said so in the title! But it turns out Grace, Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, David, and Connor weren’t ready to say good-bye. Plus, you guys made it VERY CLEAR that IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS was the series allowed to end yet, and who am I to argue? If you’re new to the series, it goes like this: 11 Birthdays, Finally, 13 Gifts, The Last Present, and then this one, Graceful. If you haven’t read the others, and you don’t know why Rory hates bunnies or how Tara made her school principal cry or what happened to Amanda and Leo on that sandbar when they were stuck back in time, then you’re probably not ready for Graceful yet.
But if you do know all those things, then I hope you’ll enjoy seeing your old friends again. Thank you for welcoming them into your life in such an amazing way.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you guys ROCK! (Or as Grace would say, you guys are totes awesomesauce!)
xx,
Wendy
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
— from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Invisible lines of energy fling themselves across continents and oceans, and out to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Where the lines cross, a vortex of energy sinks deep into the earth and waits. This concentrated energy contains all the possibilities in the universe, all the mathematical outcomes of your choices. If you were to stumble into it, you might feel a tingle, something you could blame on a cool breeze, or déjà vu. Or you might feel nothing at all. Our limited senses simply may not allow us to comprehend the true nature of reality. We think a tree is a tree. But if you look deeper, past the bark and the sap, into the molecules that make up the wood, deeper into the almost completely empty atom until you reach the smallest particles of matter, you will find only waves of energy. Not a solid “thing” at all. And those particles? They have no idea they’re part of a tree. We, too, have no idea what we’re a part of.
There are rumors of a select few who have come close to understanding, but they have not come forth to reveal themselves.
“Admit it, if you suddenly had magical powers, you would have turned that leftover meat loaf into pizza, too.”
Bailey shakes her head as we pedal down the uneven cobblestones of the hidden alley. “As much as I’m against your mom’s meat loaf for many reasons,” she says, “the first thing I would do if I had your powers is get straight A’s on every report card.”
“You already get straight A’s,” I point out.
She shakes her head. “Remember, I got that A-minus in gym last year for refusing to play dodgeball? Such a barbaric sport.”
I pull to a stop in front of the last store on the right and swing down my kickstand. “Let me guess, barbaric was on your Word of the Day app today?”
“Yesterday,” she says. “I’ve been waiting for an occasion to use it.” She hops off her bike and lets it fall right over onto the street as she’s done every time since we were six and learned to ride without training wheels. As the bike leaves her hands, I see it fall in slow motion, taking much longer to hit the ground than logic says it should. Time acting wonky is one of the weirdnesses that I’ve had to get used to ever since the vortex on the edge of town decided to pick me to share its power with when I turned ten. I hadn’t asked for this gift, hadn’t even known such a thing existed, but it’s my destiny and I’m learning to live with it. The only people who know are my parents; my older brother, Connor; and a group of his friends who basically saved my life when they realized what was happening to me. They have now become my friends, too, which is very cool, because they are three years older and still want to hang out with me. They even call themselves Team Grace. I have a team!
I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone else about the whole magical vortex thing, but Bailey’s been my best friend ever since I started a petition in first grade to ban soda in the cafeteria, and she was the only person to sign it. She’s crazy smart, and I know I can trust her.
“Ready?” Bailey asks as we approach the door of Angelina’s Sweet Repeats and Collectibles. She pulls out the silk pouch where we keep the key to the store. It was Bailey’s idea that such a special object shouldn’t get shoved in a pocket or tossed in my bike basket. We made the pouch on my mom’s sewing machine from the pants Connor wore the Halloween he was a pirate. Then we added glitter and sparkles because everything looks better with glitter and sparkles.
She hands me the key and steps back.
Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat. A few stray pieces of glitter waft down from my hand as I lift the key to the lock. I slip it in and take one more deep breath. Then I try to turn it to the right. It doesn’t budge. To the left. Nothing. I lean my forehead against the cool glass door and my breath forms circles of fog.
It’s been six weeks since my birthday. Every day I come here and try to get inside. Sometimes with Bailey, often with Connor and Team Grace. Once even with my parents, which was awkward, because they’re still really freaked out by everything. Mom has already texted me nine times since Bailey and I left an hour ago.
But it doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, or who I’m with. The key never turns. The door never opens. All I can do is stare at all the clothes and toys and books and random stuff from the other side of a thick pane of glass. I wish I could use my power to open the door without the key, but I’ve tried and it doesn’t work. I can only do small magical things, like changing that meat loaf into pizza, or making my parents lose track of time at the beach so we can stay longer.
Almost as soon as my powers came, they were gone. For a few days I could sense people’s thoughts, and even make things move with a wave of my hand. That was fun. Made cleaning my room go a lot quicker! But now most of those things are gone. Angelina D’Angelo had the power of the vortex for a hundred years. I only had it for a week.
At first I’d tried to explain to the others how it felt to be able to see what I??
?d never imagined existed, like the way every person seemed connected to everyone else. Seeing the history of our town unfold in front of my eyes, it was like living a hundred years in seven days. I’m sure I didn’t explain it well, though, and now it’s slipping away from me, like a dream once you’re fully awake.
But really, I shouldn’t complain. I knew what would happen when Angelina and I combined our powers so we could cure Connor’s best friend David’s dad. Angelina had been trying to save him for decades from a really horrible disease, and she couldn’t. But once I got my powers and added them to hers, we were strong enough. Doing it took all of Angelina’s powers, and drained most of mine, too. She told me it will take mine two years to fully return. Hers are gone for good. Secretly I worry that the most I’ll ever be able to do is make pizzas. And I could have done that without magical powers!
I hand the key back to Bailey, who slips it into the pouch without a word.
“Maybe Angelina was just kidding when she gave me the key to her store before she left town,” I say, sitting down on the hard cobblestones. I lean against the wall and cross my arms. “I mean, who leaves a whole store — probably full of magical stuff — to some fifth-grade kid?”
“You’re not just some kid,” Bailey says, sitting down beside me.
“Maybe I’m not the right kid, though. Maybe the vortex was supposed to choose someone else born in Willow Falls on the same day as me.”
“Interesting,” Bailey says. “I hadn’t thought of that. Was anyone else born on the same day?”
I sigh. “No.”
“Pretty sure it’s you, then,” she says. “You’ll get more powerful soon.”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Angelina said she would help me build them back up, but I haven’t heard a word since she left on the train. I know it’s not her fault — she was stuck in Willow Falls for a hundred years. I mean, I love our town and all, but that would make anyone want to leave. Maybe there’s something in the store that’s supposed to help me.”
“Can you track her down and tell her the key isn’t working?”
I shake my head. “She could be on the other side of the world for all I know. Now school starts in a few days, and I’ll have to pretend to be a normal person again while all this is going on in my head.”
Bailey pats my leg. “You were never normal, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Not really.”
“What are you girls doing here?” a deep voice asks. “This is private property, you know.” We look up in surprise, but the glare from the sun hides the man’s face. We scramble to our feet. I haven’t seen a single other person come down this alley all summer. Maybe we’re not supposed to be here!
“Ray!” Bailey says, recognizing him first. She punches him on the arm. “We thought we were in trouble!”
Ray grins. “Couldn’t resist,” he says, returning to his usual Australian accent. “Your mugs just looked so serious.”
Ray is on Team Grace, but mostly he just drives us places and does stuff we need a grown-up to do. Bailey and I totally had crushes on him when he directed the play we were in last month. Once Jake Harrison showed up, though, we quickly forgot about Ray. Ray’s old, anyway! Like, at least twenty-four! Jake’s only fourteen and is soooooo talented and cute and is super nice for a big-time movie star. But he only has eyes for Connor’s friend Rory, and since Rory is totes awesomesauce, we need to find new crushes.
“Pretty brave of you to try to scare us,” I say, climbing onto my bike. “I could have turned you into a turtle. Angelina did that once to her brother who was being annoying. Then you would have had to go home to Australia for Christmas and explain to your family why you’re moving so slowly.”
He laughs. “Yikes. I thought all you could do was change things into pizzas.”
I squint up at him. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Your bro Connor may have let it slip when he came to work at the house last week.”
“Is Connor making actual money working for Tara’s uncle?” Bailey asks.
“No,” Ray says. “He’s getting paid in magic beans. Of course he’s getting real money!”
“I wouldn’t mind some of those magic beans,” I mutter.
“Patience, little one,” he says, patting me on the head. “I’m betting in no time at all you’ll be making pizzas left and right.”
I swat at him.
“Crikey! Almost forgot the reason I’m here.” He reaches into his back pocket. “Connor asked me to give you this. It came to your house in the mail this mornin’.”
He places a postcard in my hand. It’s a picture of a circle of giant stones standing up in a field. The words Greetings from … Stonehenge! are splashed across the front. I flip it over. “It’s from Angelina!” I announce. “She really is on the other side of the world!”
Bailey leans over my shoulder. “She finally gets in touch with you, and the only thing she writes on the postcard is your address? That’s annoying.”
I look up at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s blank,” Bailey says.
“No, it’s not,” I reply.
“Yes, it is,” she and Ray say together.
“No, it’s not,” I repeat. “You guys really can’t see the writing on it?”
They shake their heads.
I don’t want to be rude by smiling, but if I can see something they can’t, that means I do still have some real magic left in me. Angelina had said we would have a special link, and I guess she was right.
“What does it say, then?” Bailey asks.
“I have no idea,” I admit. “It’s written in some kind of code.”
Ray chuckles. “That Angelina. Looks like giving up her powers hasn’t changed her much.”
“What kind of code?” Bailey asks.
“It’s a whole bunch of weird symbols and tiny pictures in a circular pattern. Let’s go back to my house and I’ll write it out for you.”
Two hours later, Bailey and I are sitting at my kitchen table with the rest of Team Grace — Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, David, and Connor. I haven’t seen much of David lately since he almost never leaves his dad’s side, so it makes me feel good that he came for me. My mom is hovering over by the stove not even bothering to pretend she isn’t listening to us.
Rory leans over to me and whispers, “Is your mom okay? She looks a little gray sort of?”
I know what she means. “I don’t think she sleeps much,” I reply. “Whenever I wake up at night, the light is always on in their room.”
“I wish there was something we could do so your parents wouldn’t worry so much,” Rory says. “But after everything they’ve been through, I can’t really blame them.”
Leo bangs an old rubber mallet (we couldn’t find a gavel) on the table and says, “An official meeting of Team Grace is now called to order.” Leo has become the unofficial spokesman for the group. Connor gave him his mallet to use at meetings. Now that Connor’s gotten a job helping Tara’s uncle, an inventor, he gets to keep all of Mr. St. Claire’s old tools. I think our parents should focus less on me, and pay more attention to the fact that Connor has dismantled most of the electronic devices in our house, our old lawn mower, and basically any object that has more than one part.
“First order of business,” Leo says. “Grace’s postcard from Angelina. Now, Grace, will you show us what you —”
“You got a postcard from Angelina?” Mom asks, cutting him off. She rushes over to the table, clenching and unclenching her hands. That’s only one of the new nervous habits she’s developed.
I look at Connor. “You didn’t tell Mom about the postcard?” As soon as I ask, I already know the answer. Connor tries to shelter our parents from all this stuff whenever possible. I should have realized he wouldn’t have mentioned it.
“Is that it?” Mom asks, pointing at the postcard in the center of the table.
No one answers, but it’s pretty obvious. She reaches for the card, stares
down at the giant rock circle, then flips it over.
“Oh!” she says in surprise. “It’s blank.”
“Yes!” I say, with perhaps a bit too much excitement. I’d actually forgotten that she wouldn’t be able to see the writing.
She drops it back on the table and says, “Hopefully that woman is gone for good. Maybe she’ll settle down in England.”
The rest of us nod and murmur maybe and probably, but I’m pretty sure no one thinks Angelina is truly gone from Willow Falls. She’s a part of this town.
I focus on sending Mom a suggestion and then wait for her to speak. A few seconds later, she says, “Why don’t you kids go play outside? With school starting next week, you should get all the fresh air you can.”
It worked! Now I can show them what I copied down without Mom hearing us. Everyone hurries to their feet.
“Wait!” she says. We freeze. Uh-oh! Did I mess up and send all my thoughts to her? Does she know we’re trying to get away from her? I really need Angelina to teach me how to do this stuff! I hold my breath, but to my surprise she turns to Leo. “Would you like to use the bathroom first?” she asks. “Before you start playing and lose track of time and then it’s too late?”
“Um, I think I’m good?” he says, his cheeks turning a cute shade of red.
“Having a weak stomach is nothing to be embarrassed about,” she says. “Your friends all understand, right?”
Tara and Rory quickly turn their heads away so my mom can’t see their faces. Amanda says, “It’s okay, Mrs. Kelly. I made sure Leo went before he left home today. Your bathroom is safe for another day.”
My mom shrugs. “Well, just in case, I put extra toilet paper in there.”
We run outside to the backyard and Amanda, Tara, and Rory totally crack up. I don’t know all the details of the Leo-stuck-in-the-bathroom story because that was during the week Angelina had put me in a coma and I couldn’t understand anything going on around me. But the story had something to do with a bad burrito and a lot of toilet paper. Must have been really funny because Tara is now wiping her eyes with the bottom of her orange T-shirt. “We’ll tell you later,” Rory promises Bailey and me.