The Courage of Cat Campbell by Natasha Lowe Page B

the strength, I’d push that woman into the canal.”
    â€œWe’d all help,” Ted Roberts agreed.
    â€œShe’s nothing but an old gossip,” Marie Claire said. “Your mother doesn’t have an evil bone in her body.”
    â€œSo it’s not true, then?” Cat questioned. “About Mamma turning my grandparents to stone?”
    Throwing Cat looks of support, the villagers filed out of the shop. When the last customer had gone, Marie Claire sighed and said, “It all happened a long time ago.”
    â€œOh, my gosh!” Cat put a hand over her mouth. She thought she might be sick. “I don’t believe it! How could she do that?” And all of a sudden, the person Cat thought she knew better than anyone else in the world wasn’t the same person at all. “I always knew Mamma didn’t want me to get the magic gene. And now I know why.”
    â€œWill you calm down and listen, Cat Campbell? Poppy didn’t suddenly go crazy. Things had been building for a long time. Your mother hated magic. Really hated it. Baking was her passion, even then. She was miserable at Ruthersfield, but your grandparents forced her to stay there. And they refused to let her bake.”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound at all like Granny and Grandpa,” Cat said. “They’re so proud of Mamma for winning all her Young Baker of the Year awards.”
    â€œThey are now. Things were different back then,” Marie Claire explained soberly. “Your mother kept trying to tell them how sad she was, but they wouldn’t listen to her.”
    â€œSo she turned them to stone?”
    â€œNot on purpose, of course.” Marie Claire sounded so calm and matter-of-fact. “Her emotions got out of hand and so did her magic. It really wasn’t Poppy’s fault.”
    Cat was silent for a long moment, her own feelings a tangled mess. “I just can’t believe it,” she said at last. “It seems so unlike Mamma. I wish Maxine had never told me.” And then rather more glumly, Cat said, “She’s never going to let me try out for Ruthersfield, is she? Not with a past like that.”

Chapter Seven
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No Means No
    W ANTING TO BE ALONE, CAT hurried upstairs to her room. For the first time in her life the bakery did not smell comforting, and Cat breathed in the stench of burnt gingerbread, feeling smothered by its scorched sugar tang. Lying down on her bed, she pressed her face into a pillow, wishing the things she had just heard were not true. A flurry of emotions swirled through her, and she ached for the solid, comforting presence of her dad. Cat had never felt so alone in her life. It all made sense now, why her mother hated magic so much.
    â€œCat?” Poppy knocked on Cat’s bedroom door. “Can I come in?”
    Cat lifted her head up as her mother opened the door a crack. “I brought you some fresh gingerbread. The last lot wasn’t even fit for the birds.”
    â€œMamma, why didn’t you tell me?” Cat burst out, feeling light-headed and dizzy. “I can’t believe I had to hear it from Maxine.”
    â€œOh, Cat, I’m so sorry,” Poppy said. She walked into the room and put a plate of warm gingerbread and a glass of milk down on Cat’s nightstand. Sitting beside her, Poppy leaned over and gave Cat a long hug.
    â€œYou should have told me, Mamma,” Cat murmured.
    Poppy sighed. “It’s not an easy thing to talk about, especially since you’ve always loved magic so much. I was worried you wouldn’t understand. And you have such a special relationship with your grandparents, Cat. I didn’t want to ruin that. Besides,” Poppy added, “I was ashamed of what I’d done, and I was scared you’d think badly of me. Sometimes sadness and anger can make a person do terrible things.”
    â€œWhy did Granny and Grandpa care so much about magic?” Cat asked