A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic by Lisa Papademetriou

another bite of sausage, she asked, “Where’s the factory?”
    Lavinia gestured over her shoulder, toward the window where the light was fading quickly. She winked with her small eye, while the larger one bulged wider. “Right at the other edge of the graveyard, sugar,” she said.
    After dinner and apple cake (Kai actually ate half the cake—it was that good), Kai went upstairs to her room to grab a sweater when she spotted the book on her bed again. Slowly, as if she were approaching a snake, Kai crept near. She opened the book.
    â€œNo way,” she whispered.
    There was more story.
    Kai skimmed the page. A vial? What—what was this?
    A knock on the door made Kai jump. “Eee!” she shouted. The book fell to the floor with a thump as thehandle turned and . . .
    â€œJeez, what’s the matter, you drink too much coffee, or something?” Doodle asked as she stomped into the room.
    Kai crossed over to the door and peered into the deserted hallway. The faint smell of apple cake was all that lingered there. “Who let you in?”
    â€œLavinia, of course.” Doodle looked around. The glow from the setting sun had turned the white walls and coverlet rosy. “I really love this room,” she said. “It gets the best light.” For a moment, Kai had forgotten that Doodle knew her great-aunt. And, apparently, her house. “What’s this?” And before Kai could stop her, Doodle had swooped down and picked up The Exquisite Corpse .
    Kai snatched it away.
    â€œWhoa!” Doodle said. “What is it, your diary or something?”
    â€œNo, it’s . . .” But Kai didn’t know how to finish the sentence. It’s a freaky magic book ? “Yeah, it’s kind of my diary.”
    Doodle just shrugged. “Cool. So, you want to go look for a moth?” she asked. She held up an orange-handled, battered butterfly net.
    â€œSure.” The two girls headed downstairs and into the kitchen to say good-bye to Kai’s great-aunt. Lavinia sat at a well-worn farm table, scribbling madly on a yellow legal pad. She looked up and nodded at Doodle’s net. “You girls fixing to go get yourselves a moth? You ain’t hoping to catch it with that, are you?”
    Now, it was true that this net had been purchased at Target for a dollar. And it was true that it did, perhaps, have a hole in it. “Don’t you think it’s big enough?” Doodle asked.
    â€œToo large, if you ask me.” Lavinia chewed her lip. She hauled herself up from the table and stomped across the room to yank open a closet door. Out spilled a mountain of things: hockey gear, three umbrellas, a beach ball (inflated), a goblet made of golden plastic, a stuffed bear, a pith helmet, several pairs of shoes, and a lampshade rolled around her feet. She thrust her arm into the mass of stuff, and after a moment of banging and rattling, she pulled out a long ivory handle, at the end of which was a silver net that glittered in the low lamplight. “There’s what you’ll need!”
    â€œWe couldn’t possibly take that,” Kai said. Thebeautiful net looked as if it belonged in a museum.
    â€œWhy not?” Lavinia demanded. “You’re only borrowing it. This belonged to my great-aunt!”
    â€œWe’ll bring it right back,” Doodle promised.
    â€œAll right, girls, happy hunting!” Lavinia boomed. “Don’t let me keep you!” Kai and Doodle swirled in Lavinia’s eddy as she circled them, herding them toward the back door. Before she knew what was happening, Kai found herself standing on the vine-covered porch.
    â€œGood night!” Lavinia shut the door.
    The girls blinked at the closed door for a moment.
    Kai turned to Doodle, who was now staring at the beautiful net. “Was that a little weird?” Kai asked.
    â€œPoets are like that, sometimes,” Doodle told her. “Now, let’s go catch a