The Rosemary Spell (25 page)

Constance nods. “
They flash upon that inward eye.
”

“You have the poem in your inward eye,” I tell her.

She laughs, a soft, wispy sound. It wafts away, as her focus fades.

We read her a few of her own poems, and she listens. Maybe she remembers.

When we finally finished our poetry project, we printed it on crisp white paper, bound it in a bright rainbow-striped folder, and handed it in to Mr. Cates.

We didn't use the codex. It had to be someplace safe. Not to protect the book from harm, but to protect the people who might read it.

So we locked it up. In the cupboard in my room where Constance had hidden it.

I used pliers to twist the metal J of the hidden release back on itself. I made it impossible for anyone to open the door.

Adam tested it.

I pried at it with a crowbar.

Shelby tried “Open Sesame,” and she made it sound like a joke, but it wasn't really, because we know now that magic words are real.

The door wouldn't budge.

The cupboard is shut. Forever, I hope.

When we got our project back from Mr. Cates, he told us he loved it and said we'd definitely found our muse.

Today we're giving it to Constance.

“This is for you,” I say. I set the binder on her night table next to the candy dish, filled with new peppermints in shiny wrappers.

“It's poems,” Adam explains. “Some of yours and some we wrote, kind of inspired by yours. By you.”

She smiles. “Thank you.”

“You were our muse.” I say the words lightly, but they're true.

As we leave the room, she reaches for the binder, another living record.

We follow the corridor past Jonas, the man who misses his wife, Maud.

“It's not fair that she doesn't get Wilkie back,” I say. “And Wilkie gets nothing. He didn't get to live his life or to write poems or make art or leave anything behind.”

“There are all kinds of loss,” Shelby muses. “Didn't Constance's mom die when she was young? She doesn't get her mom back, either.”

“And I don't get my dad,” I say.

There is loss in life, and the best we can do is face it head on and meet it with grace and remembrance.

I walk with Adam and Shelby out into warming air, and it strikes me that growing older is like the V tree. It has a solid foundation, but it branches out, strong arms reaching up and away.

Thank you to the many wise people who read versions of this book and helped me see how to be a better writer, especially Jordan Sonnenblick, Joe Scapellato, Debbie Ware, Jo Fleming, Elisabeth Guerrero, Ghislaine McDayter, Shelby Radcliffe, Dave Kristjanson-Gural, and Robert Rosenberg. Very special thanks to Pam Brunskill and Maria Hebert-Leiter, my wonderful critique partners, for careful reading, keen insight, and enthusiasm.

Thank you to the late George Nicholson for believing in my writing.

Thank you to Dinah Stevenson for knowing when less is more.

Thank you to Pa and SM for a lifetime of unwavering support, to Jordi for being my best advocate, and to Elijah, Aley, and Thea—my muses—for listening and love.

Most of all, thank you to Kristen, for being my best friend since third grade and for always knowing what I should read next.

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Some people consider this the first book written for the purpose of entertaining children, as opposed to teaching them lessons of one kind or another. Alice falls down a rabbit hole into a nonsensical world where reality is comically and a little uncomfortably altered.

CORALINE

by Neil Gaiman (2002)

Gaiman tells the story of a girl who discovers a mirror world behind a door in her living room. The other house she finds there is like her house but with some chilling differences. The other parents are eager to keep Coraline in their world. Careful readers might notice that
Coraline
is, in some ways, a retelling of
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

THE GIVER

by Lois Lowry (1993)

Set in a dystopian future that values sameness,
The Giver
is about the vital role of memory in society. As he turns twelve, Jonas comes to recognize the ways in which his community suffers because people have turned away from difference and from the lessons of the past.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

by Philip Pullman (1995)

The first book in Pullman's
His Dark Materials
trilogy was published in the UK as
Northern Lights.
It tells the story of a brave young girl destined to play a central role in a battle that will change the world. Lyra is exceptionally gifted at telling stories and has a special ability to read the truth.

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

by J. K. Rowling (1998)

In the second book in the famous Harry Potter series, Harry finds an old diary that reveals secret information about Hogwarts. When Harry writes in the book, the book seems to write back.

SEVEN-DAY MAGIC

by Edward Eager (1962)

Five children find a mysterious old book in the library. The book can be checked out for only seven days, but in that time, it creates magical adventures for its readers.

THE STORY OF THE AMULET

by E. Nesbit (1906)

This is the final book in a trilogy that features a family of children who have a series of magical adventures. They find an ancient Egyptian amulet that allows them to travel in time.

WHEN YOU REACH ME

by Rebecca Stead (2009)

In this novel, set in 1979, the main character uses her favorite book,
A Wrinkle in Time,
to make sense of confusing events in her life. Her best friend is ignoring her, her relationship with her mom is changing, and she receives a series of mysterious notes from a person who seems able to predict the future.

A WRINKLE IN TIME

by Madeleine L'Engle (1962)

Twelve-year-old Meg Murry journeys across space-time to rescue her father from imprisonment on a distant planet. She relies on her friend and her younger brother, but most of all, she relies on her own faults.

PELAGIA'S BOATS

by Virginia Zimmerman (date unknown)

This book doesn't exist yet, though I intend to write it someday. It will be based on a story I used to tell my children, featuring a heroine called Pelagia who saves the people of her dying island home.

V
IRGINIA
Z
IMMERMAN
is a professor of English at Bucknell University, specializing in Victorian literature and children's literature. Her previous novel was published in Spain;
The Rosemary Spell
is her American fiction debut. Of the inspiration for
The Rosemary Spell
, she says, “When I moved into my house, there was a cupboard, just like Rosemary's, that wouldn't open. I was enchanted by fantasies of what might be locked up in there. When I finally got it open, it was empty, but
The Rosemary Spell
came out of that cupboard, so there was magic in there after all.”

The cupboard is in a house in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where Virginia lives with her family and a little white dog.