Holly Webb: Lily and the Forbidden Magic. Holly Webb and her magic series about Lily About the book “Lily and the Forbidden Magic” by Holly Webb
Holly Webb
Lily and the Forbidden Magic
© Samokhina T., translation into Russian, 2017
© Edition in Russian, design. Eksmo Publishing House LLC, 2017
Chapter first
Lily looked at the water. It was early morning - the girl does not know the exact time, but when she ran out the back door of the Merrisot house, the maids had just begun to light the stove. Summer is in full swing, the sun is already mercilessly burning and sparkling on the water ripples. The dense silvery light seemed to cut the surface of the sea with a smooth path - so real that Lily wanted to step on it and walk further. She had already raised her leg, completely forgetting that she might fall into the water, when suddenly Peter snorted in disgust, surprised at her stupidity, and grabbed the girl by the elbow.
Lily shook her head and looked back at the boy. He crossed his arms and looked at her, wrinkling his nose as if holding back a laugh. Lily gave him a dissatisfied look.
- What? I was just playing!
She sighed, sat down on the hot stones and opened the book. The large tome of magical exercises that Lily had found in the closet was too complex for her to understand, but she tried to read the book anyway. She must understand this! After all, her parents are magicians. My sister is also a gifted sorceress. Why can't Lily just grow her nails? She stuck out her fingers and looked at her nails, but they, short, wide and dirty, did not want to grow. Lily sighed sadly again and looked at the water - the beautiful landscape again distracted her from her textbook.
From this angle, the shining path turned out to be a simple sunbeam on the surface of the water, and the mainland on the horizon stood out as a dark spot, nothing more.
– The path was like a real one, wasn’t it? – the girl quietly asked Peter. – I wonder what it’s like there on the other side?..
Peter turned away and walked towards the house. Lily shuddered at the angry clinking of pebbles under his feet. Sometimes she forgot that the boy was not born here where she was, but on the mainland and knew him very well - there was no need to remind him of anything.
She jumped to her feet and followed him to the cliff on which her house stood. They're probably already looking for Peter. The strong and strong boy climbed up the path easier and faster than Lily, turned and waved, and then ran across the lawn. The girl was not going to catch up with him - it would be bad if they were seen together. Peter isn't supposed to waste time hanging out with "that trashy girl." Lily herself heard Mrs. Porter, the cook, call her that yesterday.
The girl walked slowly in the tall grass, picking dandelions. She blew on their heads, and the seeds scattered in the wind. I wonder how far they can fly? They are too heavy to fly into the bright sky, but maybe they can settle somewhere far, far away - and there, across the sea, dandelions from Merrisot will bloom.
With her hands full of dandelions, which she alternately blew on, the girl approached the house and suddenly stopped abruptly, holding her breath. The sun hid and no longer warmed.
A woman's silhouette appeared from around the corner of the house, so quickly that it seemed like it just appeared out of nowhere.
Lily forced a smile and nodded, although her body was trembling. The woman in the black dress bowed politely and moved away to give the girl way. This is exactly what the personal maid should have done, because Lily is the daughter of the mistress, but something is wrong. Quickly running around the corner, the girl still felt Martina’s long gaze on her.
Lily was always afraid of her, but didn't know why. Perhaps because of the black clothes - the maid only wears this color. Black woolen dress - summer and winter, veil and gloves - even at home, not just on the street. The other servants have long been accustomed to this, although they constantly talk about the strange habits of Martina, who has been serving Lily’s mother for many years.
The path around the corner leads straight to the back of the house, into the kitchen, but Lily is pressed against the wall: hiding in the shadows, trying to catch her breath. She's not usually such a coward, but Martina took her by surprise. The girl took a breath of air, feeling dizzy, and ran to the kitchen - it was warm, light and there was someone to talk to - some kind of company.
Although Mrs. Porter was swearing again, the atmosphere in the kitchen was welcoming, at least Lily felt calmer here than outside. The girl looked down guiltily when she realized who Mrs. Porter was shouting at - Peter: they couldn’t find him for a long time.
- Lazy, worthless boy! We've run out of wood, and he's wandering around with nothing to do! I still have to cook breakfast for Madame - serve them French toast, you see! - but we don’t have firewood! Where have you been?
Peter shrugged stupidly. Playing dumb is sometimes very useful - and Peter is a master at this.
- And you, miss, why are you hiding around the corner? “Suddenly Mrs. Porter turned around. - Did you see a ghost?
Two young maids who were sitting at the table drinking tea screamed at the same time and stared at Lily in horror.
- Miss Lily, is this true? Did you see a ghost? – Violetta asked, turning pale.
“She didn’t see anything, what nonsense,” Martha whispered, but continued to look around the dark corners of the kitchen.
“I didn’t see a ghost, but Martina.” – Lily shook her head. “It was unexpected...” she added, realizing how stupid her words sounded.
Mrs. Porter snorted disdainfully.
“It would be unexpected, Miss Lily, if you didn’t pop into the kitchen in the morning and distract the boy with trifles, especially when I need him!”
“Sorry…” Lily whispered and retreated to the door.
Mrs. Porter frowned and looked at the small note, written in sharp handwriting, that lay on the clean wooden table. This is mom's handwriting. Lily had been avoiding her for weeks; it seems that the servants also began to understand what a bad character she had. It even seemed to Lily that the air shimmered, filled with frantic magic that touched the soul of everyone in the kitchen.
- Stand! – Mrs. Porter threw an old napkin into Lily’s hands, and then ordered Martha to put bread and cheese there. - Now you can go upstairs. That's where you belong!
Lily ran out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. When Mom demands something fancy and unusual for breakfast, Mrs. Porter may throw china at Martha, so it’s better not to get into the cook’s hands.
- Miss! Miss Lily! – Martha was heard whispering as Lily ran along the dark corridor away from the servants’ rooms. The girl quickly turned around.
- Martha, what is it? Miss Porter is in a bad mood, don't get in her way!
- Here, take it. You won’t survive on bread and cheese alone,” and she gave the girl a handful of cookies and an apple, wrapped in a cloth, and kissed Lily on the cheek. - Don't go into the kitchen, okay? The old dragoness is about to have another seizure. Madame is constantly unhappy; Mr. Francis did not like the rabbit at dinner yesterday. – Martha giggled. “He didn’t even go into the kitchen today, he hid in the pantry and sits there, talking, counting how much silver there is in the house.” The butler is funny here.
Lily hugged Martha.
– Okay, I’ll stay as far away from the kitchen as possible! Promise me that as soon as you see the cook take up the frying pan, you will immediately hide!
She waved to Martha and, satisfied, took a bite of the apple and ran on. The girl was heading to the greenhouse - which everyone in Merrisot had forgotten about. Once it was a beautiful glass greenhouse with a fountain and a small fireplace, which was lit so that the trees would not freeze, but they had all dried up long ago, and only dry leaves remained in the fountain. Great place to hide!
* * *Lily rubbed her hand over the charcoal drawing. It didn't work out very well for her. The picture doesn't look like the real thing. The girl sighed, hugged her knees under her dirty old dress and began to wonder why things hadn’t worked out for her again. She noticed a few stains on the dress and tried to wipe them off the blue and white chintz. The stain is very ingrained - it turns out that it is not coal. The dress is already short and barely covers her knees, and the buttons are almost falling off. Lily needs a new dress, but then she will have to ask her mother...
It's not time yet.
The whole house is seething with anger - much more than in the morning. Lily doesn't know what happened, but a little earlier, when she left the greenhouse, her mother rushed down the corridor, her golden silk dress rustling angrily on the floor. When mom is angry, she resembles an angry battleship. The girl quickly hid around the corner - and just in time. It’s better not to catch your mother’s eye, let her destroy everything in the house. Pale-faced, she whispered such terrible, strong words under her breath that they seemed to be standing before Lily’s eyes. She wanted to warn Georgianna, but she and her sister had not seen each other for many weeks. Perhaps the one in the library. Mom is just leaving there, and Georgianna is probably studying.
Sometimes Lily felt envy of her sister - after all, she was very smart, even special, but this envy lasted literally no more than a second. Over the past few months, the resentment has completely gone away. Lily didn't want her mother to pay as much attention to her as she did to her sister - even half of that attention was too much. The fact that she is the youngest daughter and therefore not so interesting has its advantages - advantages that neither short dresses nor dinners in the kitchen could spoil.
Current page: 1 (book has 3 pages in total) [available reading passage: 1 pages]
Holly Webb
Lily and the Forbidden Magic
© Samokhina T., translation into Russian, 2017
© Edition in Russian, design. Eksmo Publishing House LLC, 2017
Chapter first
Lily looked at the water. It was early morning - the girl does not know the exact time, but when she ran out the back door of the Merrisot house, the maids had just begun to light the stove. Summer is in full swing, the sun is already mercilessly burning and sparkling on the water ripples. The dense silvery light seemed to cut the surface of the sea with a smooth path - so real that Lily wanted to step on it and walk further. She had already raised her leg, completely forgetting that she might fall into the water, when suddenly Peter snorted in disgust, surprised at her stupidity, and grabbed the girl by the elbow.
Lily shook her head and looked back at the boy. He crossed his arms and looked at her, wrinkling his nose as if holding back a laugh. Lily gave him a dissatisfied look.
- What? I was just playing!
She sighed, sat down on the hot stones and opened the book. The large tome of magical exercises that Lily had found in the closet was too complex for her to understand, but she tried to read the book anyway. She must understand this! After all, her parents are magicians. My sister is also a gifted sorceress. Why can't Lily just grow her nails? She stuck out her fingers and looked at her nails, but they, short, wide and dirty, did not want to grow. Lily sighed sadly again and looked at the water - the beautiful landscape again distracted her from her textbook.
From this angle, the shining path turned out to be a simple sunbeam on the surface of the water, and the mainland on the horizon stood out as a dark spot, nothing more.
– The path was like a real one, wasn’t it? – the girl quietly asked Peter. – I wonder what it’s like there on the other side?..
Peter turned away and walked towards the house. Lily shuddered at the angry clinking of pebbles under his feet. Sometimes she forgot that the boy was not born here where she was, but on the mainland and knew him very well - there was no need to remind him of anything.
She jumped to her feet and followed him to the cliff on which her house stood. They're probably already looking for Peter. The strong and strong boy climbed up the path easier and faster than Lily, turned and waved, and then ran across the lawn. The girl was not going to catch up with him - it would be bad if they were seen together. Peter isn't supposed to waste time hanging out with "that trashy girl." Lily herself heard Mrs. Porter, the cook, call her that yesterday.
The girl walked slowly in the tall grass, picking dandelions. She blew on their heads, and the seeds scattered in the wind. I wonder how far they can fly? They are too heavy to fly into the bright sky, but maybe they can settle somewhere far, far away - and there, across the sea, dandelions from Merrisot will bloom.
With her hands full of dandelions, which she alternately blew on, the girl approached the house and suddenly stopped abruptly, holding her breath. The sun hid and no longer warmed.
A woman's silhouette appeared from around the corner of the house, so quickly that it seemed like it just appeared out of nowhere.
Lily forced a smile and nodded, although her body was trembling. The woman in the black dress bowed politely and moved away to give the girl way. This is exactly what the personal maid should have done, because Lily is the daughter of the mistress, but something is wrong. Quickly running around the corner, the girl still felt Martina’s long gaze on her.
Lily was always afraid of her, but didn't know why. Perhaps because of the black clothes - the maid only wears this color. Black woolen dress - summer and winter, veil and gloves - even at home, not just on the street. The other servants have long been accustomed to this, although they constantly talk about the strange habits of Martina, who has been serving Lily’s mother for many years.
The path around the corner leads straight to the back of the house, into the kitchen, but Lily is pressed against the wall: hiding in the shadows, trying to catch her breath. She's not usually such a coward, but Martina took her by surprise. The girl took a breath of air, feeling dizzy, and ran to the kitchen - it was warm, light and there was someone to talk to - some kind of company.
Although Mrs. Porter was swearing again, the atmosphere in the kitchen was welcoming, at least Lily felt calmer here than outside. The girl looked down guiltily when she realized who Mrs. Porter was shouting at - Peter: they couldn’t find him for a long time.
- Lazy, worthless boy! We've run out of wood, and he's wandering around with nothing to do! I still have to cook breakfast for Madame - serve them French toast, you see! - but we don’t have firewood! Where have you been?
Peter shrugged stupidly. Playing dumb is sometimes very useful - and Peter is a master at this.
- And you, miss, why are you hiding around the corner? “Suddenly Mrs. Porter turned around. - Did you see a ghost?
Two young maids who were sitting at the table drinking tea screamed at the same time and stared at Lily in horror.
- Miss Lily, is this true? Did you see a ghost? – Violetta asked, turning pale.
“She didn’t see anything, what nonsense,” Martha whispered, but continued to look around the dark corners of the kitchen.
“I didn’t see a ghost, but Martina.” – Lily shook her head. “It was unexpected...” she added, realizing how stupid her words sounded.
Mrs. Porter snorted disdainfully.
“It would be unexpected, Miss Lily, if you didn’t pop into the kitchen in the morning and distract the boy with trifles, especially when I need him!”
“Sorry…” Lily whispered and retreated to the door.
Mrs. Porter frowned and looked at the small note, written in sharp handwriting, that lay on the clean wooden table. This is mom's handwriting. Lily had been avoiding her for weeks; it seems that the servants also began to understand what a bad character she had. It even seemed to Lily that the air shimmered, filled with frantic magic that touched the soul of everyone in the kitchen.
- Stand! – Mrs. Porter threw an old napkin into Lily’s hands, and then ordered Martha to put bread and cheese there. - Now you can go upstairs. That's where you belong!
Lily ran out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. When Mom demands something fancy and unusual for breakfast, Mrs. Porter may throw china at Martha, so it’s better not to get into the cook’s hands.
- Miss! Miss Lily! – Martha was heard whispering as Lily ran along the dark corridor away from the servants’ rooms. The girl quickly turned around.
- Martha, what is it? Miss Porter is in a bad mood, don't get in her way!
- Here, take it. You won’t survive on bread and cheese alone,” and she gave the girl a handful of cookies and an apple, wrapped in a cloth, and kissed Lily on the cheek. - Don't go into the kitchen, okay? The old dragoness is about to have another seizure. Madame is constantly unhappy; Mr. Francis did not like the rabbit at dinner yesterday. – Martha giggled. “He didn’t even go into the kitchen today, he hid in the pantry and sits there, talking, counting how much silver there is in the house.” The butler is funny here.
Lily hugged Martha.
– Okay, I’ll stay as far away from the kitchen as possible! Promise me that as soon as you see the cook take up the frying pan, you will immediately hide!
She waved to Martha and, satisfied, took a bite of the apple and ran on. The girl was heading to the greenhouse - which everyone in Merrisot had forgotten about. Once it was a beautiful glass greenhouse with a fountain and a small fireplace, which was lit so that the trees would not freeze, but they had all dried up long ago, and only dry leaves remained in the fountain. Great place to hide!
* * *
Lily rubbed her hand over the charcoal drawing. It didn't work out very well for her. The picture doesn't look like the real thing. The girl sighed, hugged her knees under her dirty old dress and began to wonder why things hadn’t worked out for her again. She noticed a few stains on the dress and tried to wipe them off the blue and white chintz. The stain is very ingrained - it turns out that it is not coal. The dress is already short and barely covers her knees, and the buttons are almost falling off. Lily needs a new dress, but then she will have to ask her mother...
It's not time yet.
The whole house is seething with anger - much more than in the morning. Lily doesn't know what happened, but a little earlier, when she left the greenhouse, her mother rushed down the corridor, her golden silk dress rustling angrily on the floor. When mom is angry, she resembles an angry battleship. The girl quickly hid around the corner - and just in time. It’s better not to catch your mother’s eye, let her destroy everything in the house. Pale-faced, she whispered such terrible, strong words under her breath that they seemed to be standing before Lily’s eyes. She wanted to warn Georgianna, but she and her sister had not seen each other for many weeks. Perhaps the one in the library. Mom is just leaving there, and Georgianna is probably studying.
Sometimes Lily felt envy of her sister - after all, she was very smart, even special, but this envy lasted literally no more than a second. Over the past few months, the resentment has completely gone away. Lily didn't want her mother to pay as much attention to her as she did to her sister - even half of that attention was too much. The fact that she is the youngest daughter and therefore not so interesting has its advantages - advantages that neither short dresses nor dinners in the kitchen could spoil.
For example, no classes.
Georgianna is constantly teaching something - and Lily had the thought that her sister was not doing everything well, which is why her mother was so angry. Georgie should become a very powerful sorceress. The seer, whom her parents called to the island when Georgianna was born, swore that she was the one whom the wizards had been waiting for so long. It is she who must restore justice in a world where magic is illegal and the Power family is in exile.
The mother did not call the prophetess again when after Georgianna a child appeared that was completely unnecessary to anyone. And why, if they already have a wonderful little Georgie? Nobody cared about Lily. The girl smiled at one corner of her lips. It is much easier to be the younger sister of a genius when this genius is not doing well, as it is now.
But the smile instantly disappeared. Unless, of course, it's Georgie that's making Mom angry...
Lily suddenly felt hungry. She looked out of the window into the garden - the sun was high. Dinner time. The girl left the napkin with food on the windowsill and looked there hopefully - yes, Lily was very hungry, but was there really nothing left of the bread and cheese? But the last crumbs on the sullenly empty napkin were eaten up by a gray mouse. When she realized that they were looking at her, she froze for a moment, and then ducked into a hole in the wall.
Lily shivered. There are a lot of mice throughout Merrisot's house, even in the greenhouse. Mom's cats are too proud and spoiled to catch them, so the mice settled in all the rooms except the library. Lily is sure that not a single mouse would dare stick its nose there.
Lily felt movement on her back and turned around in horror. But it was no longer a mouse. A brown frog sat on a charcoal drawing, looking stupid.
The girl smiled. She hates mice because of their bare pink tails, but, oddly enough, Lily always found frogs funny and charming. At the beginning of the week, they literally flooded the greenhouse - the girl sincerely hoped that they would firmly establish themselves here.
The stunned frog sat right in the drawing of itself - or one of the many sisters. Lily couldn't draw the paws correctly, which made her very upset. Magic happens where there are no mistakes. “Perhaps,” she thought, “everything will work out next time.”
At first it seemed to her that this was all a fantasy and that there was no frog here - it was a trick of light or a shadow from old vines, reminiscent of fingers, that grow right on the broken window and go up to the roof. They refracted, twisted and twisted the rays of the sun.
Lily's self-portrait, a messy drawing of a girl with curly brown hair and a small nose, seemed to smile and turn her head as if about to say something.
She stared at the drawing, her heart almost jumping out of her chest. Has this finally happened? For a split second, the soft black lines thickened and came to life, painting the cracked terracotta tiles Lily was painting on pink.
The girl sat on the cold floor next to the drawing and looked at it intently for a long time, until the charcoal picture was swallowed up by a shadow. The second time the miracle did not happen - probably, Lily was imagining it after all. Although the drawing looked like it was alive... For a second, something appeared in the greenhouse. More precisely, someone.
With hope and fear at the same time, Lily waited for what would happen next. She seems to be able to do magic. She's ten years old, it's time to learn how to use magic. Her knowledge of magic is too superficial, despite the fact that everyone in the family is magicians. Lily knows only fragments of spells and a little theory. She has several old textbooks, but even when reading them, she usually skips boring paragraphs.
Lily's favorite book is the old edition of Prendergast's Excellent Manual for Apprentice Mages, on the flyleaf of which many years ago her father wrote his name in a childish hand - Peyton Power. The textbook was shoved upside down on a shelf in the closet in the dusty guest bedroom, but now Lily cherished it like the apple of her eye. She often ran her finger over her father's name, thinking about him.
The girl doesn't remember him at all. When she was only a few months old, he was arrested for speaking out against the Queen's Decree on the Prohibition of Magic - it was he who outlawed magic and magicians. It’s surprising that wizards are kept in prison, because everyone understands that they can break chains, destroy walls, turn guards into stone, but the Royal Guard (it’s spelled that way, with a capital letter, like Decree) somehow managed to do it. Lily’s father is also now imprisoned on the mainland. The girl hoped that no matter how the magic was taken away from her father, no harm was done to him.
Perhaps someday she will find him. It’s not entirely clear how exactly, because the mother never leaves Merrisot, but this doesn’t mean that Lily should also spend her whole life here, right? One day she will meet other magicians - Fells, Weatherbees, Endicotts, they will teach her the art of magic, and Lily will learn many incredible spells, learn to fly, talk to birds, straighten her stupid curls...
But no. There's no magic now. It is carefully hidden in houses like Merrisot, where hereditary families of magicians pretend to give up magic, but in fact teach it to their children. Or they don’t teach, this also happens. If Lily gets off the island, there will be no more magic in her life. At the very least, she will be prohibited from using it, otherwise the girl will end up behind bars.
In any case, according to Mr. Prendergast, a ten-year-old wizard should already be able to fight magical creatures and perform “simple spells.” For example, weaving golden letters in the air from light - someone's name. But Lily can’t even do this.
Surely Georgianna has been doing these things since the cradle. Now she is twelve, and she uses much more complex spells - which is why Lily no longer sees her sister. And even though it is very difficult to be Georgianna's sister, Lily still loves her very much. When Georgie was little, her mother often sent her to study spells or history - something along the lines of how powerful the Power family was before the Queen's Decree made magic a crime. But after classes, Georgie always returned to her sister. At this time, Lily was hanging around the kitchen and bothering Martha and the other maids. It was here, in the kitchen, that Lily learned to read. She started with Mrs. Porter's old, tattered but priceless handwritten recipe book. When the cook was in a good mood - and this only happened if the hood was working well - she would allow Martha to make letters for Lily from the dough. True, the east wind often blew, got into the chimney and lit the stove, which caused Mrs. Porter's good mood to disappear.
Lily learned to write a little later, when Peter appeared in the house. He is not much older than her and at that time was the only child on the island besides Lily and Georgie. Of course, the girl wanted to talk to him. But Peter didn't talk to her, didn't even listen to her.
One day he simply appeared on the beach - frozen and hungry, sitting on the rocks. Martha had just gone to the pier to pick up goods from the mainland from the grocer when she suddenly saw him. The boat with provisions always arrived early in the morning, when everyone in the house was still sleeping. No one was going to give up the money of those living on the Merrisot estate, but everyone considered the family itself very strange, they knew who they were, but no one dared to say it out loud. After all, it is unknown what they can do. Especially this pale girl who looks like a ghost, who is taken care of so much at home. She sometimes went to the cliff and looked at the sea. The fishermen said: “He’s looking at the mainland.” What if she jumps into the water, turns into a mermaid and swims to the mainland?
Martha liked to repeat this story - how she walked along the cliff and thought about her own thoughts. It seemed to Lily that “about her own” meant about the younger footman Sam. Martha was going to make herself known and kept Sam on a short leash.
The maid was walking to the boats to pick up baskets of food, all in her thoughts, and suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed movement. At first it seemed to her that it was a seal - but then he stood up to his full height, and Martha froze in place, unable to even scream - she was so scared, in her own words. At this point, Peter rolled his eyes - Lily saw it herself. Surely Martha was still screaming - to the whole neighborhood, she screams all the time, even when she just sees a mouse.
Of course, she brought him home - there was nothing else to do. Merrisot is the only house on the island, and all its inhabitants were either born here or were sent here by a top-secret recruitment agency. Martha and the other girls signed a contract for many years in advance - only after that they went by boat to the island. They promised to work here for the rest of their lives and agreed that their letters would be read. For this they received huge wages.
So, Martha brought one basket into the kitchen, and the second - a silent child. When they appeared at the door, Lily was in the kitchen, begging for breakfast. She looked at them in surprise - after all, the girl had never seen a boy or any other children except Georgianna.
Mrs. Porter seemed ready to throw the dough she was kneading at Martha.
- What it is? – she was indignant. “I sent you for rice and pheasant.” You want me to roast this skinny boy?
Martha put the basket on the floor and prepared to argue. She was never afraid of Mrs. Porter.
– What do you think I could do? Leave him for the seals to eat? In addition, we brought food - here it is, in baskets, one of which he carried!
-Where did he come from? – the butler Mr. Francis was surprised. He was sitting at the table and drinking tea, his vest was unbuttoned. The butler looked at the basket in the boy's hands. – Remember the newspapers? He could be missed at any second! – And he beckoned Peter towards him. He walked past Lily without looking at her.
The butler kept looking at the boy, who did not let go of the basket from his thin fingers. He was much smaller than Lily - at least thinner; cheeks sunken. The hair was dark and coarse, and the light gray eyes changed color, like the sea water from which Peter emerged.
-Where are you from, boy? - asked Mr. Francis, examining the child. - You can put the basket down.
The boy didn't answer. And I didn’t put the basket down. He just stood there.
“Mr. Francis, I already asked, he didn’t say a word,” Martha interjected. “I’m not sure he can hear us.”
The butler frowned and pointed at the table, urging Peter to put the basket there. The boy did as he was told, and then rubbed his frozen hands.
“He can’t talk, but he’s not stupid,” Mr. Francis said quietly. “We’ll have to leave him here.” He had not been to sea; I thought maybe he fell out of a fishing boat, but no - the clothes are dry, there are no salt stains. They probably just abandoned him. They didn’t want to mess with the mute guy...” He shook his head.
– What should we do with him? – Mrs. Porter folded her hands. “I needed one more imp in the kitchen, and there’s so much noise.”
Lily looked reproachfully at the cook, but then hid her legs under the chair, as if hoping to shrink.
- He can wash dishes. Or the floor. If you want, he will set mousetraps. No one will say a word, because no one needs him... - Mr. Francis shrugged.
When the butler said this, Lily shuddered. How good it is that the boy does not hear what they say about him!
Mrs. Porter sighed in a mannered manner.
- Miss Lily, where is that slate that Violetta found for you in the nursery? Let's find out if he can read.
Lily took the board from the shelf of the kitchen cabinet, where it lay with the carved wooden dishes. The maid Violetta, who is now lighting the fire upstairs, is simply horrified that Lily cannot write. She always says that all village children are sent to school by public education inspectors. Sometimes she finds free minutes and teaches Lily, but the girl has not yet achieved much success. Therefore, as soon as she hears Violetta’s voice at the stairs, she immediately runs away from the kitchen.
Mrs. Porter snatched the board from Lily's hands—the dough was just about to rise—and scrawled on it: “ Your name?- and then shoved the board into the boy’s hands.
He squinted and pulled out a crumpled, torn piece of paper from his vest pocket. There was only one word on it - Peter.
Mrs. Porter nodded sullenly and pushed the plate of bread and butter that Martha had cut in his direction.
“Let him eat something first,” she said and thought that it was worth explaining such generosity. “Otherwise, I’m afraid he won’t be able to carry even a log home, and will break along the way.”
That day, Lily was literally fired up with a desire to learn to write - her handwriting can hardly be called calligraphically beautiful, like Violet’s, but even what Lily could scribble was enough to invite Peter to climb the trees, play in the orchard, or throw pebbles in the water. True, Peter had very little free time for games - everyone in the house gave him various strange orders, which he simply could not refuse. Sometimes, in order to play with the boy, Lily had to do some things for him herself. She has already learned how to chop wood, weed a vegetable garden, and clean silver (though when no one is looking). Peter read lips when he wanted to, or if a person spoke while looking directly at him, but notes remained the easiest way to communicate.
Lily sighed and looked at the dark stains on the greenhouse floor and on her own fingers. Today the drawing turned out no better than her handwriting. The girl dipped the old rag into the puddle that had flowed onto the floor and rubbed the tiles. Then she stared at one point, wondering what else she could draw. Frogs definitely won’t work, she decided, because they won’t pose for her for long. Besides, if the picture suddenly comes to life like her self-portrait, why does she need another frog? There are already plenty of them in the greenhouse. But there was nothing else to copy from - I had to draw from memory. Lily thought about starting a second self-portrait, but then she realized that she didn’t want a second self either. It would be strange and boring to talk to yourself; a stranger would be better suited for this.
Suddenly an idea came to the girl's head and Lily smiled. She remembered the painting that hung in the corridor between the library and the living room - it seemed to have always been there. The painting depicts a beautiful girl - Lily always thought that her hair, decorated with bows, usually fluffed up with unruly curls, like her own. There is a pug sitting on the girl’s lap – and he seems eager to quickly jump out of the picture and run away somewhere with a brush in his teeth.
Slightly closing her eyes, Lily began to draw the girl’s face - it’s a pity she doesn’t know her name. Surely they are relatives - and that’s why they both have such unruly curls. Although the painting in the corridor is very old. Lily looked at the round, laughing eyes she had just drawn and shuddered. What if the magic works, but the girl comes to life in the form of an old woman?
Lily looked at the charcoal and sighed, and then began to draw a pug. She won’t succeed anyway, so what’s the difference...
It turned out to be difficult to draw the dog's fluffy fur. Her eyes are large and shiny, and her muzzle looks like a sweet old lady. Lily drew and erased, then drew again, trying to remember the old painting. Then she stopped and began working on the girl’s lace dress – a beautiful, light pink, silk dress. “She probably has a dress for every day of the week. Otherwise she wouldn’t have kept the dog on her lap!” – thought Lily. The black claws barely touched the silk, and the girl had to be very careful not to tear it.
The drawing of the dog still didn’t work out, although Lily redrew the face a little – from a different angle. We need to make it a little rounder and add a slight smile - maybe it will work?
Frustrated, Lily put the coal on the floor and leaned against the wall. Tears appeared in her eyes, and she wiped them away with her sleeve. So why is she crying? Doodles - and that’s all, they don’t deserve her tears.
The mouse clicked its claws on the tiles. Lily flinched and waved her skirts to scare her away. She squeezed the coal tightly in her fingers, then sighed - what should she do next? Should I try to finish drawing the dog or erase the entire drawing?
Okay, stop. How did the coal get into her hand? Did it just roll into your palm? Lily looked at the dark little marks in the drawing and her fingers squeezed the coal even tighter. It broke with a crunch.
She looked at the floor, where the dog sat next to her knees and looked at the girl reproachfully.
“Are you saying that I caught a piece of coal and brought it back to you so you could break it?” – it was written on her face.
Attention! This is an introductory fragment of the book.
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Holly Webb and her magical series about Lily
There are more and more magical girls, as well as Holly Webb's fairy-tale series about magical Britain. Lily joins Rose. Next up is Emily.
In one version of reality, girl detective Maisie Hitchens solves cases while drinking a glass of milk, because smoking pipes is not recommended for children, even great detectives. In another version, where the houses are living beings, everything obeys the laws of magic and one of the most important rules in teenage literature: “The higher the power, the greater the responsibility.” Magic is not just a gift and not a routine remedy for any misfortune; the art of magic must be learned. Before you want to put into practice the first spells you learn, you need to learn to control yourself: magic without rules is the same as hooliganism. In magical Britain, not all subjects of Her Majesty the Queen are wizards; moreover, many ordinary people do not like the fact that those who are capable of performing uncontrolled miracles live next to them. In the series about the sorceress Rose, who at first both did not believe in magic and did not trust it, there was a wary attitude towards magicians: every now and then there was talk of banning magic.
This is what happened to Lily: the old queen became angry and outlawed wizards. Lily's family instantly lost their status and hid in a large mansion on the island. By the age of ten, the girl already felt the strength to create magic, but she was afraid. This is not the time for magic: everyone who is trained in it carefully hides their abilities.
One day Lily learns that the law is not a decree for some. Her older sister Georgianna was bewitched, casting a spell from the most terrible forbidden branches of magic. The sister began to look more like a vampire: her skin was pale and white, she walked like a ghost, silent, and frightening with just her appearance. There are no wizards on the island, other than Lily and Georgie's family members. If Maisie Hitchens were nearby, Lily could turn to her. Instead, you will have to conduct a magical investigation in the company of a black pug. Lily secretly conjured it for herself, redrawing it with charcoal from memory from one painting. The dog immediately materialized and became the decoration of the covers of all books in the series, except for “Lily and the Magic of Dragons.”
The second book of the series continues the adventures of the sisters, who will have to hide and look for their father. Girls with a magical gift find themselves without protection in a world where magic is prohibited. They become prisoners of the gloomy Fell house, in which, according to rumors, young magicians are deprived of their gift. The sisters will cope with the new misfortune if they awaken the shining dragon - a magical creature woven from magical light. The third book, Lily and the Prisoner of Magic, is very reminiscent of another series and another prisoner - from Azkaban. This prisoner is the father of the sisters. Only he is able to free the girls from the spells of the dark branch of magic, under the influence of which Georgie fell in the first book. The sorceress Rose, who lives overseas, can help free the prisoner. Here is the connection between Webb's magical book series. Rose left Britain long ago, hiding from persecution by magicians, and is not eager to return. But everything must work out for Lily and Georgie, since one of her, as the Chosen One, is destined to ensure that ordinary people and magicians live in peace again, and the Decree on the Prohibition of Magic, as well as dark spells, disappear forever.
All of Holly Webb's magical series - about Rose, Lily and Emily - are wonderful and exciting reading for girls and even boys, starting from the age of ten. Magical realism for young readers. It’s better to buy all three series at once: the books are addictive and read voraciously. So at least there will be a reserve.
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Lily and the Forbidden Magic Holly Webb
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Title: Lily and the Forbidden Magic
About the book "Lily and the Forbidden Magic" by Holly Webb
Lily lives in a huge old mansion on the island. There are not many people there, only the girl's family and a few servants. Lily's family used to be rich and famous, but then the queen banned magic and they had to hide.
One terrible day, Lily learns that her older sister Georgie has a spell on her - from a terrible, forbidden branch of magic. Who bewitched Georgie? Is it really one of the relatives - after all, there are no other wizards on the island? So what should Lily do now? How to save my sister?
On our website about books, you can download the site for free without registration or read online the book “Lily and the Forbidden Magic” by Holly Webb in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For beginning writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and tricks, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary crafts.
Lily lives in a huge old mansion on the island. There are not many people there, only the girl's family and a few servants. Lily's family used to be rich and famous, but then the queen banned magic and they had to hide. One terrible day, Lily learns that her older sister Georgie has a spell on her - from a terrible, forbidden branch of magic. Who bewitched Georgie? Is it really one of the relatives - after all, there are no other wizards on the island? So what should Lily do now? How to save my sister?
Holly Webb is the author of the best-selling series Good Animal Stories and Maisie Hitchins. The Adventures of a Girl Detective." The writer’s new series, “Secrets of Wizards,” tells about girls who encounter magic. Holly Webb masterfully combines detective and fantasy plots, making her stories extremely exciting. Lily is a brave heroine who tries to take everything into her own hands. She faces a difficult and responsible task - to master magical abilities and overcome a lot of obstacles on the way to saving loved ones. The main thing is to remember that you need to fight to the end!
