"Sherwood Smith - Mom and Dad" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Sherwood)

to Princess ElteтАФmy very best friend! Now we've missed the ceremony!тАЭ

тАЬYou can't miss it, not if you're the person being ceremonied.тАЭ That was Alisha's brisk, practical voice.
Even though she's the youngest, she's always been the practical one.

тАЬCelebrated,тАЭ R.J. muttered. тАЬHow much time has passed there? What if they think we don't want to
come back? That we don't care any more? Brother Owl was going to teach me shape-changing on my
own, without his help!тАЭ

Lauren sniffed, gulped, and cried, тАЬI wish you hadn't picked up that stupid wand, Alisha. I wish we'd
never gone. It's so much worse, being stuck here, andremembering .тАЭ

тАЬI don't think so.тАЭ That was R.J.'s sturdy voice. тАЬSomebody got the wand, but nothing can take away
what I remember. Riding on the air currents so high, just floating there...тАЭ

тАЬLearning a spell,тАЭ Alisha put in. тАЬAnd seeing itwork . Knowing that it had to be us, that we made all the
difference.тАЭ

тАЬYou're right,тАЭ Lauren said. The tears were gone. тАЬOnly for me the best memory was sneaking into the
GrundlesтАЩ dungeon. Oh, I hated it at the timeтАФit was scarier than anything I'd ever doneтАФbut I knew I
=had= to get Prince Dar out, and, being a girl, and an outworlder, and a very fast runner, I was theonly
one who could get by those magic wards. I liked that. Being the only one who could do it.тАЭ

тАЬBecause of our talents,тАЭ Alisha murmured longingly.

тАЬBecause we saw the signs, and we believed what we saw,тАЭ R.J. added, even more longingly.

Gloomy silence.

I tiptoed away to pick up the towels and sheets.
****

Rick was in the garage, supposedly working on refinishing one of the patio chairs, but I found him tossing
the sander absently from hand to hand while he stared at R.J.'s old bicycle.

тАЬYou haven't burned the wand,тАЭ I guessed.

He gave his head a shake, avoiding my eyes. тАЬI can't.тАЭ

тАЬI think we ought to give it back,тАЭ I said.

He looked up. His brown eyes were unhappy, reminding me terribly of R.J.'s sad eyes over his
untouched dinner.

тАЬThey're our kids,тАЭ I said. тАЬNot our possessions.тАЭ I told him what I'd overheard.

тАЬTalents,тАЭ he repeated when I was done.

I said, тАЬWhat if Alisha had been born with some incredible music talent? She'd be just as lost to us if she
were at some studio practicing her instrument eight hours a day, or being taken by her music coach to