“Maybe I will,” I said. And I did want to, mostly because I couldn’t deny a small part of me wanted to believe the spell might still work for me, even if it didn’t work for Sheila and Kitty.
“Well, I think it’s time that we let you get back to your day,” Mum said as she pressed her hands down her skirt before standing. “Thank you so very much for letting us visit with you. Phoebe had her heart set on meeting you.”
“It was my pleasure,” Sheila said. As everyone else stood, she turned to me.
“Did you want these back?” She held out the photo and the letter.
“Oh, no,” I said. “I want you to have them.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because I’d understand if you wanted to keep them with the compact you purchased.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Dad said, “but it seems fitting to us that they stay with you.”
“Definitely,” I replied.
“All right, then,” Sheila said. “Well, it was wonderful to meet you. Thank you so much for tracking me down to return these items to me.”
She showed us to the door, and we all said good-bye. Once outside, Dad smiled and said, “That went well, don’t you think?”
“It certainly did,” Mum said. “What a nice lady.” Neither Alice nor I had said a word. “Are you disappointed about the spell, Phoebe?”
I shrugged. The truth was, I didn’t want to admit being disappointed in front of my sister. She’d probably give me a hard time about how immature I’d been to believe it might be real, and I just wasn’t in the mood.
“At least you don’t have to feel guilty about the compact anymore,” Dad said. “She didn’t seem to expect it back at all.”
“I am relieved about that,” I said. “So, where to now? Home?”
“I have an idea,” Alice said.
We all looked at her. “Is there somewhere you’d like to go, love?” Mum asked.
“Yes,” Alice said. “I’d like to go to Nunhead Cemetery, please.”
I couldn’t have been more surprised if she’d said she wanted to fly to Rome and meet the Pope.
“Why do you want to go there?” I asked.
“I think you should complete the spell,” she said.
“But—”
Dad didn’t let me finish. “I think that’s a splendid idea. We’ll go there now. And when we’re through, we’ll stop at a chip shop and have a meal. How’s that sound?”
Mum smiled. “A night off from cooking? Sounds wonderful, right, Pheebs?”
“I thought you said I couldn’t go?” I asked her. “To the cemetery, I mean.”
“That might have been a bit harsh. I was upset at the time. But now, after spending time with Sheila, I love the idea of you following in her footsteps. So I say let’s go and check it out.”
I was still trying to process what this meant, so all I could manage was, “All right.”
In the car, I tried to imagine why Alice would want to do such a thing. Sheila had clearly said the spell didn’t work. And besides, even if it did, what did it matter? Alice held all the power in our relationship, didn’t she? If we were ever going to be close again, wasn’t that all up to her?
When we arrived at the cemetery, Dad parked the car on a street behind it. Across the street was a trail, and that seemed to be the way inside, so we all walked that way. It felt more like a walk in nature than a walk in a cemetery, until we came upon the grave markers.
“What are those people doing over there?” Mum asked, pointing to a crowd.
We all turned and looked. It was a group of all ages—from little kids to elderly people. Some of them had binoculars hung around their necks.
“I bet they’re doing some bird watching,” Dad said. “With all the trees, I’m sure there are a number of birds to see.” He took out his phone and typed something. “Seems there are fifty-two acres here. So lots of space for exploring.”
Bird watching in a cemetery? That seemed so strange. Although the place was oddly beautiful. It was almost like something out of a fairy tale. Half lush forest and half ancient grave markers, it was like nothing I’d seen before.
“Peter,” my mum said, “I’d love to see the old gothic chapel. I think the girls might like to make their way to the top of the hill to see the view of the city.” She turned and looked at us. “Meet us back here in thirty minutes or so? And of course, give a ring if you need anything.”
“Uh, sure,” I said. It seemed like they wanted Alice and me to be alone. But what I didn’t know was if that’s what Alice wanted.
Dad pointed us to the trail that would take us to the top of the hill. “The website says there’s a stunning view of St. Paul’s Dome from up there. Take pictures, please?”
“We will,” Alice said.
And with that, they went their way and we went ours. I was surprised at how people strolled along the trails like it was a park. It wasn’t a sad place at all. In fact, for a cemetery, it was strange how it was actually bursting with life.
Along the trail, we saw a variety of grave markers, but my favorite was the angel made of stone with her flowing dress and large wings. I pointed to her and said, “Look, she’s really good at the sweet angel face.” I turned to my sister. “Almost as good as you. That’s how I got the compact, you know. By putting on my best sweet angel face.”
Alice smiled. “You remember that? That was when Dad let us go off on our own at a flea market for the first time, right?”
“I think so. All I know is I’ll never forget that trick. I was so impressed by you and your amazing bartering skills.”
We walked along in silence some more, until finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to know what she was thinking.
“Alice?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you want to come here?”
“It’s hard to explain,” she said softly. “Something told me we should.”
“Do you mean, like, a voice?”
She chuckled. “No. Not exactly. I mean, something inside of me said we should come here. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“I get it,” I said. “That’s the same way I felt about meeting Sheila.” We passed a couple of broken crosses. “It’s pretty here, isn’t it?”
Alice stopped walking and turned to me. “I wanted there to be a happy ending,” she blurted out.
I looked at her, confused. “A happy ending to what?”
“To Sheila’s story. I wanted Kitty to come home and to be with her family right away. But that didn’t happen. And then, when I asked what became of Kitty, it was more bad news. Because she’s not here anymore, you know?”
“That was pretty sad.”
“Will you write to me?” Alice asked. “When I’m away at university?”
A dad with two young children walked by. One of the kids, a little boy, reminded me a bit of the boy Ned and I had found in the square last week. It took a moment for me to remember his name. Archie. He reminded me of Archie. I kept my eyes on him as I said, “If you’ll write to me.”
She didn’t say anything then. Just turned and followed the family of three up the hill, and so I went, too. When we reached the top, we had to wait for others before we had our turn at the viewpoint.
As we stood there, looking down at the city, St. Paul’s standing big and proud in the middle of it all, Alice said, “I don’t want it to change.”
I looked over at her, and I could see tears pooling up in her eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to be the outsider,” she said. “The one who’s gone. The one who doesn’t belong anymore.”
“Alice,” I said, turning to face her. “Why would you even think that? You’ll always belong. Just because you move away doesn’t mean you’re not one of us anymore. You’ll always be one of us.”
“Sometimes it just feels like … I don’t matter as much. Or something.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had complained about
feeling exactly the same way to Ned. How was it possible that we had both been feeling that way? I mean, she was the sun that shined so brightly that everyone noticed her.
Wasn’t she?
Or maybe, sometimes she felt like a dinky star in the night sky, just like me. Maybe we were more alike than I had realized.
I thought of her heartbreak over Justin and how I’d dismissed it completely. And I thought of the compact and how I’d given it away to Ned so easily. Had there been other things I’d done recently to make her feel like she didn’t matter? But hadn’t she, in her own way, made me feel that way, too?
“I’m sorry I wasn’t very understanding about Justin,” I told her. “That wasn’t nice of me. And I shouldn’t have given the compact away. I know that now. But I need to tell you something. Remember when I came into your room to wake you up this morning?”
She smiled. “How could I forget?”
“I actually had something important to tell you.”
She stared at me. “You did? What was it?”
“I called Ned and told him I wanted the compact back. That it had been a mistake to give it to him. He’s bringing it over later this evening.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. “Pheebs, you really did that? You asked for it back?”
“Yes. I made a mistake, and I wanted to make it right. Dad said it should pay for your trips back and forth between London and America, so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I know the scholarships and financial aid won’t be sorted out for a while yet, but it’s going to be all right, Alice. It really is.”
She grinned a big, goofy grin, and then she hugged me. A nice, long hug. “Thank you so much for doing that,” she said when we finally pulled away.
“I’m so sorry if I’ve made you feel like you don’t matter,” I said. “Because you do. I promise.”
She shook her head. “I’m sure it started with me making you feel that way. Sometimes I’m just so jealous of you. And I know I shouldn’t—”
I didn’t let her finish. “Jealous? Of me? But why?”
“Because you’re still a kid. And being a kid is fun! Worry-free. At least, most of the time. When I called you immature about the nail polish name? That was mean. But in that moment, I felt like I wasn’t supposed to do things like make up ridiculous names for nail polish colors. I’m heading off to university soon, so I should be much more sophisticated. Even though I don’t really want to be. Do you see?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I mean, I thought you were happy to be growing up and moving away?”
“Sometimes I am,” she said. “And other times, like I told you earlier, I’m scared to death. And I see you and I wish I didn’t have to grow up quite yet.” She turned toward the view again. “I know it’s completely odd and mixed-up. But that’s how my brain is all the time these days.”
This was not what I’d expected to hear from her. At all. I thought of little Archie, and how he’d suggested jealousy, and I’d totally blown off the idea. It seemed like Alice’s feelings were complicated. Messy. She felt one way one minute and another way the next. But maybe that was understandable. After all, California, or even New York if she ended up there, was a very long way from London.
Perhaps I should have done a better job of imagining what it must be like for her, getting ready to leave home in a few short months. In some ways, it wasn’t much different from Kitty going away to live with a different family. I’d felt sorry for her, but why hadn’t I felt sorry for my own sister, until now?
Alice continued. “But here’s the thing I decided back at Sheila’s house. Maybe Sheila and Kitty didn’t get the happy ending I wanted for them. But you and me? We certainly can.”
“Except, it’s not an ending,” I said. “It’s a beginning.”
She smiled. “Yes! A happy beginning. Starting right now. And on to next year, where we’ll write each other all the time. Promise?”
It made me laugh. I couldn’t believe she actually wanted me to stay in touch with her. “Yes! I promise. Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because sisters are sisters forever. Through thick and thin.”
“Gee, I wonder where I’ve heard that before,” she teased.
We hugged again, and then stared out at the view for another moment, knowing it would have to end soon. There were people behind us, waiting.
“What were you supposed to do here?” Alice asked. “For the spell to be complete?”
“Wave to the birds,” I replied.
“Maybe you should do that,” she told me. “Here. I’ll do it with you.”
So we both put our hands in the air and waved all around us. The people waiting probably thought we’d lost our marbles. But I don’t think either of us really cared.
Alice pulled out her phone to take a few pictures. After she unlocked it, she tapped a couple of things, then squealed. “Oh my gosh, Phoebe. Justin emailed me back!”
“Finally,” I said. “But there isn’t time to read it now. We need to go. It’ll be time to meet Mum and Dad soon.”
So we snapped a few photos and turned to head back down the hill. As we did, Alice looped her arm in with mine.
“When we get home, want to bake something delicious?” she asked.
“I’d love to,” I said.
“Maybe we could make cookies so I could send some to Justin.”
“All the way to America?”
“Sure. Why not?”
My sister mattered to me. And I now understood how important it was to show her that. “Okay. We’ll have to make a double batch then, so there’s enough for him and us. Can we tell him to give some of them to Nora, too? I’d hate to leave her out.”
“Good idea,” she replied.
After we’d walked a while, and came to my favorite stone angel, I said, “Alice?”
“Yes?”
“Do you believe in magic?”
She squeezed my arm a little tighter. “You know what? I think I actually do.”
Magic or not, one thing was certain. I hadn’t felt that close to my sister in a long time. And it felt positively delightful. Maybe even better than finding a vintage Cartier makeup compact at a flea market in Paris and getting it for dirt cheap.
Yes. Even better than that.
LISA SCHROEDER is the author of several books for young readers, including My Secret Guide to Paris, the Charmed Life series, and the It’s Raining Cupcakes trilogy. Lisa is a native Oregonian and lives in Beaverton with her husband and two sons. When she’s not writing, you will probably find Lisa reading, walking the dog, or baking yummy treats—and online at www.lisaschroederbooks.com.
ALSO BY LISA SCHROEDER
My Secret Guide to Paris
Charmed Life:
#1: Caitlin’s Lucky Charm
#2: Mia’s Golden Bird
#3: Libby’s Sweet Surprise
#4: Hannah’s Bright Star
It’s Raining Cupcakes
Sprinkles and Secrets
Frosting and Friendship
Text copyright © 2016 by Lisa Schroeder
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schroeder, Lisa, author.
Title: Sealed with a secret / by Lisa Schroeder.
Description: First edition. | New York: Scholastic Press, 2016. | ©2016 |
Summary: In the bea
utiful Cartier makeup compact she bought at a flea market, Phoebe finds a letter written during World War II in London, from one sister to another, which contains a “spell” for bringing people closer together, a kind of treasure hunt around London—and Phoebe could really use such a spell, because her older sister, Alice, will be leaving for university soon, and just now she seems to be cutting Phoebe out of her life.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015048821 | ISBN 9780545907347
Subjects: LCSH: Sisters—Juvenile fiction. | Families—Juvenile fiction. | Antiques—Juvenile fiction. | Magic—Juvenile fiction. | Treasure hunt (Game)—Juvenile fiction. | London (England) —Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Sisters—Fiction. | Family life—England—Fiction. | Antiques— Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Treasure hunt (Game)—Fiction. | London (England)—Fiction. | England—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.S3818 Se 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015048821
First edition, May 2016
Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll
Cover photograph by Michael Frost, © 2016 Scholastic Inc.
Stock image: © S. Greg Panosian/Getty Images (London background)
Author photo by Left Turn Studio
e-ISBN 978-0-545-90737-8
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Lisa Schroeder, Sealed With a Secret: A Wish Novel
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