Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst
Authors: Sarah Beth Durst
Tags: United States, Fiction, General, People & Places, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Magic, Fantasy & Magic, Performing Arts, Education, Adventure and Adventurers, School & Education, Adventure stories, Multigenerational, Body; Mind & Spirit, Dance, Locks and Keys, Magick Studies, Universities and colleges, College stories, Higher, Princeton (N.J.), Princeton University
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anything, go through the gate!" Or at least that was what she thought he said. She didn't stop to ask what he meant.
Lily ran across a campus road and in front of a building that looked like a half-shrunken cathedral. Straight ahead
56
of her she saw a semicircle of Gothic dorms cordoned off by a newly erected wood fence. As Tye had said, there was an arch next to the fence, but the tip-off was the enormous sign that said C LASS OF 1960 in fat orange letters.
She stopped just inside the fence to catch her breath. She made a mental note to take up cross-country. Any one of the tanned long-legged runners from her high school could have sprinted that distance without panting like an overheated puppy. She hoped she'd been fast enough.
A man and a woman, both decked out in psychedelic zebra coats, sat at a registration desk. The woman flashed her teeth, white and perfect against her tanned and wrinkled skin, and said, "May I help you?"
"Looking for my grandfather," Lily said, panting. "Richard Carter. Is he here?"
The woman consulted a list. Lily felt the seconds tick by as the woman squinted at the list, forming names on her lips as she read. Finally, she looked up. "Carter with a C ?"
"Yes," Lily said. How else would it be spelled? she wanted to shout. Her fingers itched to take the list. Tye was waiting for her.
The woman elbowed the man next to her. "Do you have A through E ?"
"Richard Carter," Lily said. "He checked in with my mother. You'd remember her. She has green hair."
"Heavens!" the woman said. "On purpose?"
The man smiled warmly. "Oh, yes, Richard! Good man.
57
Splendid to see him. We were in Greek Myths 101 together. Top of the class, he was."
Yes, very nice, but ...
"Carter," the woman repeated, and then recognition dawned on her face. "Oh! The FitzRandolph Gate Tragedy."
"The what?" Lily asked, and then she heard a familiar laugh boom across the tent. He was here! "Never mind," she said. She scanned the tent. Alumni milled around the lawn and under the tent. Kids played tag between the tent posts and around tables with folding chairs. Across a dance floor laid over the grass, she saw her grandfather. He was talking with someone she couldn't see.
"Grandpa!" she called.
At least twenty grandfathers in zebra-pelt jackets glanced over at Lily. She jogged across the tent, weaving between wheelchairs and partyers, toddlers and teenagers. Closer, she called again, "Grandpa!"
Her grandfather turned. So did the man he was talking to--Mr. Mayfair. Lily faltered as Mr. Mayfair frowned at her. His forehead was creased into deep craters, and his lips were tightly pursed--disapproval was etched onto every feature. He has nothing to disapprove of, she told herself. She wasn't here because of the Legacy Test. She was here to help Tye. He couldn't hold that creature forever. She forced her feet to walk across the rest of the tented area.
Grandpa frowned at her. "Lily, I told you--"
She showed him the bites on her shoulder. As she'd
58
discovered in third grade when she'd broken one of Grandpa's antiques, blood made an excellent conversation stopper.
Gripping her arms, Grandpa spun her around and examined her shoulder. "What happened?" he demanded. "Are you all right?"
"Those look like bites," Mr. Mayfair said with a note of concern.
"Lily, what bit you?" Grandpa sounded frantic. She frowned at him. Grandpa never sounded frantic. He hadn't even been fazed that time that Mom had insisted a pixie had infested their shop's roses. That had been one of Lily's worst moments--Mom had refused to admit it had been a hallucination--but Grandpa had stayed calm.
Lily half wished that monkey-creature had been a hallucination. "Well, it kind of looked like a wrinkled monkey, but it was green and hairless...."
Grandpa checked her pulse and peered into her eyes. "Your breathing is fast, and your heart rate is up," he said. "Do you feel dizzy? Faint?"
Lily shook her head. "I ran here. Just catching my breath." She
Lily ran across a campus road and in front of a building that looked like a half-shrunken cathedral. Straight ahead
56
of her she saw a semicircle of Gothic dorms cordoned off by a newly erected wood fence. As Tye had said, there was an arch next to the fence, but the tip-off was the enormous sign that said C LASS OF 1960 in fat orange letters.
She stopped just inside the fence to catch her breath. She made a mental note to take up cross-country. Any one of the tanned long-legged runners from her high school could have sprinted that distance without panting like an overheated puppy. She hoped she'd been fast enough.
A man and a woman, both decked out in psychedelic zebra coats, sat at a registration desk. The woman flashed her teeth, white and perfect against her tanned and wrinkled skin, and said, "May I help you?"
"Looking for my grandfather," Lily said, panting. "Richard Carter. Is he here?"
The woman consulted a list. Lily felt the seconds tick by as the woman squinted at the list, forming names on her lips as she read. Finally, she looked up. "Carter with a C ?"
"Yes," Lily said. How else would it be spelled? she wanted to shout. Her fingers itched to take the list. Tye was waiting for her.
The woman elbowed the man next to her. "Do you have A through E ?"
"Richard Carter," Lily said. "He checked in with my mother. You'd remember her. She has green hair."
"Heavens!" the woman said. "On purpose?"
The man smiled warmly. "Oh, yes, Richard! Good man.
57
Splendid to see him. We were in Greek Myths 101 together. Top of the class, he was."
Yes, very nice, but ...
"Carter," the woman repeated, and then recognition dawned on her face. "Oh! The FitzRandolph Gate Tragedy."
"The what?" Lily asked, and then she heard a familiar laugh boom across the tent. He was here! "Never mind," she said. She scanned the tent. Alumni milled around the lawn and under the tent. Kids played tag between the tent posts and around tables with folding chairs. Across a dance floor laid over the grass, she saw her grandfather. He was talking with someone she couldn't see.
"Grandpa!" she called.
At least twenty grandfathers in zebra-pelt jackets glanced over at Lily. She jogged across the tent, weaving between wheelchairs and partyers, toddlers and teenagers. Closer, she called again, "Grandpa!"
Her grandfather turned. So did the man he was talking to--Mr. Mayfair. Lily faltered as Mr. Mayfair frowned at her. His forehead was creased into deep craters, and his lips were tightly pursed--disapproval was etched onto every feature. He has nothing to disapprove of, she told herself. She wasn't here because of the Legacy Test. She was here to help Tye. He couldn't hold that creature forever. She forced her feet to walk across the rest of the tented area.
Grandpa frowned at her. "Lily, I told you--"
She showed him the bites on her shoulder. As she'd
58
discovered in third grade when she'd broken one of Grandpa's antiques, blood made an excellent conversation stopper.
Gripping her arms, Grandpa spun her around and examined her shoulder. "What happened?" he demanded. "Are you all right?"
"Those look like bites," Mr. Mayfair said with a note of concern.
"Lily, what bit you?" Grandpa sounded frantic. She frowned at him. Grandpa never sounded frantic. He hadn't even been fazed that time that Mom had insisted a pixie had infested their shop's roses. That had been one of Lily's worst moments--Mom had refused to admit it had been a hallucination--but Grandpa had stayed calm.
Lily half wished that monkey-creature had been a hallucination. "Well, it kind of looked like a wrinkled monkey, but it was green and hairless...."
Grandpa checked her pulse and peered into her eyes. "Your breathing is fast, and your heart rate is up," he said. "Do you feel dizzy? Faint?"
Lily shook her head. "I ran here. Just catching my breath." She
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