Colleen Blanton

Colleen Blanton

Chapter 1: The Birthday Mail

Colleen Blanton tossed and turned uncomfortably in her bed on her family's second story beach house. It was almost midnight, but Colleen could not get to sleep. She sat up and gazed out the window at the Pacific Ocean lapping gently at the black sandy beach. In a few minutes, she thought, I'll be eleven years old. She sighed. There would be no party tomorrow. Colleen had never had any close friends; she went to a huge school where even the youngest kids formed cliques, and Colleen was used to simply blending into the crowd. Colleen sighed again and flopped back to her bed, tossing her wavy dark hair over the pillow. A few minutes after the green glow of her clock told her it was her birthday, Colleen drifted off to sleep.

Colleen awoke to the sun in her eyes. She remembered what day it was and sprang out of bed to go downstairs.

"Good morning, birthday girl," said Colleen's mother, Andrea.

"Is that bacon and banana pancakes I smell?" asked Colleen, smiling.

"Sure is," replied her mother. "I've been slaving over at it all morning." She gestured at the box of pancake mix. "Would you like to eat outside?"

"Okay," Colleen said. "Should I go get Dad up?"

"He's—he had to go run an errand. You'd think, after eleven years, that he'd learn not to leave birthday shopping until the last minute, wouldn't you?"

"At least he tries," Colleen said, grinning.

The weather was warm and sunny, with a light ocean breeze that made being outside worthwhile. Colleen and Mrs. Blanton ate their breakfasts in silence, watching sailboats drift past far offshore. Colleen was reaching for more bacon when a sudden movement caught her eye. Her mouth dropped open when she realized what had just landed on the porch railing: two large owls, one dark gray and the other brown. Mrs. Blanton gave a small squeak when both owls silently flew from the railing to the table. Colleen remained frozen in her chair, barely breathing as to not scare the owls away, until one walked up to her and thrust its leg at her.

"Wow, look, Mom, they have notes," she whispered. She slowly untied the papers from the legs of both owls, and opened the one addressed to her. In deep blue ink on yellowish paper it read:

Eelnode Academy of Magic

Dear Ms Blanton,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Eelnode Academy of Magic, the finest school for young witches and wizards in North America. School will start on August 25. You will find enclosed a list of books and supplies that you will need this year at Eelnode. Eelnode Cruises will be leaving from Mardale Harbor in Herishvil at nine o'clock in the morning on August 25.

Yours truly,

Neill Judise, Vice Principal

"What on earth…" mumbled Andrea.

"Can I read yours?" Colleen said. Andrea nodded and Colleen traded papers with her.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Blanton,

As principal of Eelnode Academy of Magic, it is my great pleasure to inform you that your daughter, Colleen Blanton, is a witch. I am aware that you have been taught that magic does not exist. Therefore, I would like to arrange an interview with you and you daughter at eleven o'clock on June 10, at Milerook Hotel in Herishvil.

Sincerely,

Abigail Fisher, Principal

Soon after Colleen finished reading the second letter, her father appeared on the front porch holding a pillowcase.

"What's going on?" he asked, seeing the bewildered expressions on his wife and daughter's face.

"Someone thinks I have magical powers and they want me to go to this school and they think I'm a witch!" Colleen blurted out in one breath. Andrea remained silent.

"What!" replied Jordan Blanton grinning. "I was just asking about the owls!" Colleen and Mrs. Blanton gave him their letters, which he read, and then glanced quickly over the lists of supplies that Colleen had not seen.

"Well, Colleen, congratulations!" Mr. Blanton said. Colleen's eyes widened and her mother's mouth dropped open.

"You are not telling me that you think it's true." There was no hint of a question in Andrea Blanton's voice.

Mr. Blanton nodded. "My brother Matt went to this school. He absolutely loved it."

"You mean there really is a school? I can do magic? I'm a witch?" Laurel said excitedly. Mrs. Blanton shook her head. "But Dad just said Matt…"

"You don't exactly have magical powers, you know, Colleen?"

"Well," began Mr. Blanton, "There are these little things, like when she was sick the water glass would come with no one moving it, things like that. You wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking for it."

"So Matt went there?" Colleen's mother said slowly. Jordan nodded. "Why don't we write them, invite them here for a few days, and if I see magic, maybe I'll be convinced."

Mr. Blanton wrote a short note to his brother and tied it to the leg of the gray owl. It took off. The brown owl glared at Jordan, then took off in the direction it had come.

"Now that lesser important matters are out of the way," Colleen's father said, passing the pillowcase to Colleen. "Careful with it."

Colleen gently eased a small wicker cage out of the pillowcase. She opened the box and gasped when a whiskered nose poked its way out. The nose belonged to a sleek rat, about the size of a large mouse, with the markings of a Siamese cat complete with blue eyes, which strolled calmly out of its box onto the table.

"Oh, Dad, thank you so much! Oh, he's such a cutie!"

"She," replied Mr. Blanton. "Don't get mad at me," he said to Andrea, "but I got her from a magical pet shop."

Colleen's mother raised her eyebrows. "And what, may I ask, would you have done if Colleen had not received that letter?"

"Well…I had a pretty good idea that she would," he replied, winking at Colleen.

Mrs. Blanton reached under the table and produced a large colorful gift bag. Colleen eagerly tore away the tissue paper to find a large supply of heavy art paper, colorful pencils, and many hues of watercolor paints.

"This is cool, Mom! Thank you!" Colleen exclaimed. Colleen's mother smiled at her while stroking the rat on the back.

During the days following her birthday, Colleen spent her time drawing, playing with her rat (whom she had decided to call Fiera), and swimming in the ocean. An owl delivered a reply from Colleen's uncle saying that they would arrive at the beach house at eleven thirty on Tuesday morning. Colleen noticed that, although her mother said that there was no way they were actually coming, she had quickly tidied up the house early Tuesday morning.

Jordan Blanton made Andrea and Colleen come into the living room at eleven twenty-five. He and Mrs. Blanton were watching television, and Colleen was trying to retrieve Fiera from under the couch cushions when they all heard a small pop.

"Hi. Do you believe in magic now?" said a voice. Colleen looked up and saw that it belonged to her uncle, Matt. His wife, Laura, was standing next to him, holding a long thin box and a brightly colored piece of paper. Andrea Blanton's mouth dropped open and she gave a small gasp, but quickly recovered herself and got up and hugged her brother- and sister-in-law.

"How—how did you get here?" She asked. Laura and Matt laughed.

"Magic," they said at the same time. Laura approached Colleen with the box, and handed it to her.

"It's a Happy Late Birthday-Going to Eelnode gift," she explained. I may not go, thought Colleen but she smiled and thanked her aunt and uncle for the present.

The one thing that Colleen expected receive as a gift was in the box.

"Um, it's a nice, um, broom," she said uncertainly. To her surprise, Matt burst into laughter.

"Think, Colleen, witches, brooms…." A look of astonishment came across Colleen's face, as well as Andrea's, and they looked at each other in amazement, then at Matt.

"It flies?" Colleen asked. Matt nodded. "Can I try it?"

"Colleen—let Matt show you, first," warned Mrs. Blanton. Matt led the others to the porch, then swung his leg over the broom, which started to rise slowly, then gained speed. Colleen grinned; half of her birthday wish had come true. Matt flew several small circles, the glided gently to the porch. He passed it to Colleen, who took it in her hands and examined it. On it's handle were the words Solar Flare. With a hesitant look at her mother, who was smiling nervously, Colleen climbed onto the broom. Without warning, it gently started to rise. She nervously leaned to the right, and the broom swiveled in that direction, then inched forward. Colleen cautiously turned the tip of the broom back toward the porch, and landed there with little trouble at all. The adults all clapped and Laurel climbed off of the broom and bowed extravagantly.

"It looks like you have the hang of it, though it takes some getting used to," said Laura.

"Thank you so much for the broom," replied Colleen, out of breath but grinning. "It's…amazing!"

"Glad you like it," Matt said. "Now, Colleen, we're going to come here on the ninth and explain some things to you, then take you and your parents to Herishvil. This ticket"—he held up the multicolored piece of paper that Laura was holding when they first arrived—"is called a Portkey and is almost like a plane ticket. It transported Laura and me here, but you can buy one that takes you to Herishvil." Colleen and her parents were all staring at Matt like he had told him that a herd of wild horses was flying across the sky. "It doesn't make any sense, does it. I know; I was like that when I first found out."

"We'll see you on the ninth, then, Matt," said Colleen's father, laughing. Laura and Matt hugged everyone, then touched the ticket and vanished.

During the next week, Colleen practiced her flying every day. Gradually her parents let her go farther away from their house, and she began exploring the dense woods around it. On the morning of the eighth, she heard laughter and cheers coming from over a large hill. She flew upwards to inspect where it was coming from, but was careful to keep herself hidden from view.

At first, Colleen could not believe what she saw in the small clearing. Two girls and a boy were on brooms, tossing around a bright yellow ball back and forth between them. Colleen surprised herself by steering her broom to the group of kids and introducing herself. They seemed as shocked to see her as she did they.

"My name's Brennan, and this is Westly and Miela," said the stockier of the boys, gesturing to the boy with light brown hair and the girl who had to be Brennan's twin. Brennan and Miela both had a head full of blonde ringlets and a dimple on one cheek each.

"Do you go to Eelnode?" Westly asked quietly.

"Well, I got my letter, but I'm not sure if I'm going to go." Miela looked at Colleen concernedly.

"But if you're a witch—which you obviously are—you can't not go!"

"I probably will," Colleen said confidently, though she didn't feel it. "My parents and I are going to Herishvil tomorrow to talk to the principal."

"We're all first years, too," said Brennan. "Don't let Miela convince you that she actually knows any magic." Miela pegged the ball at him, and he pretended to fall off of his broom. Brennan then threw it to Colleen, who deftly caught it and tossed it to Westly, who bounced it off his head.

"We should play Quidditch!" shouted Miela. "Come on, girls against boys! Do you know how to play?" She asked Colleen. She shook her head.

"Think of soccer in air. It's really confusing but with only one ball it should be easy," said Westly.

After Colleen quickly flew back to her house and told her parents where she was, they played their version of Quidditch until they were so tired they could barely stay on their brooms any longer. Colleen reluctantly flew home, but not before setting a time to meet with Miela, Brennan, and Westly on the day after she got back from Herishvil. Colleen had trouble falling asleep that night; she was excited as well as apprehensive about her big day in Herishvil tomorrow.