"Marcy! There you are! We were looking everywhere for you!" Marcy looked up from where she was doodling flowers in her notebook. She glanced around for a moment before she saw her two best friends, Anne and Sasha, running towards her. She was happy they had found her; at the moment, she couldn't really look for them.

"Hi! she said once they reached her. "I was waiting for you guys! I broke my leg yesterday, so I can't really walk long enough to look for you both!"

"What? How?" Anne looked shocked, and Sasha leaned down and poked the case encircling Marcy's left leg.

"Does it hurt?" she finally asked. "Can I sign your cast?"

"Is that why you weren't at the park yesterday?" Anne joined Sasha in inspecting Marcy's cast.

Marcy handed her pencil to Sasha. "Sure, you can sign it. And I did go to the park, actually! I was climbing a tree to look at a cool bug while I waited for you guys, but then I fell out and my leg got hurt. Mommy took me to the doctor and they said I got a greenstick fracture on my tibia. They told me I have to wear a cast for about a month, and the best part? I don't have to do PE!"

"What's a greenstick fracture?" Anne asked."

"A greenstick fracture is when only a part of the bone gets broken, so you just need to keep it still," Marcy explained. "At least, that's what the doctor said."

"Ohhh. So it's not fully broken?"

"Nope!"

"Hey, Marmar," Sasha said, handing her the pencil back. "I can't sign your cast with this. Do you have a marker?"

"Of course I do!. Let me get it out!" Marcy set her notebook next to her on the bench and unzipped her pencil case. "What color?"

"Do you have pink?"

"Oooh," Anne said, "can I sign your cast with yellow?"

"Yellow won't show, Anne," Sasha said.

"But-"

"Do blue instead. That'll show really well on a white cast."

Anne sighed. "Fine, I'll do blue," she conceded.

"Okay, blue and pink it is!" Marcy pulled the corresponding colors out of her pencil case, zipping it shut before handing the pens to her friends. She leaned over and watched them sign the cast. Sasha wrote a 'Get well soon, from your best friend Sasha' in large pink block letters, while Anne wrote a message too far away for Marcy to read, then surrounded it in a bunch of hearts.

"Thanks, guys," Marcy said as she took the pens back. "I can't wait to read your notes!" She slipped the two pens into her pencil case, then tucked it and her notebook into her backpack.

"Scoot over, Marmar," Sasha said, then took a seat at Marcy's left. "Anne, sit on Marcy's other side."

"Ok." Anne did as Sasha told her.

Suddenly a lot of yelling on the playground caught all three girls' attention. Marcy looked over and saw a group of fifth graders being told off for shoving a fourth-grade boy.

"Hey, isn't that Kyle?" Anne asked. "The one who sits across from you, Sashy?"

Sasha squinted at the fourth-grade boy. "Yeah, it is," she finally said. "I'm not surprised those older kids were being mean to him. He always seemed kind of wimpy."

"Sashy!" Anne said, scandalized.

"What? He does!"

Marcy's eyes slid past the scene on the playground to land on a girl with dark hair in pigtails and a missing tooth. The girl was sitting under a huge sweetgum tree, eyes fixed on the conflict on the playground. She looked lost. Marcy had seen her before, but the other times she had seemed cheerful, not upset and hurt.

"Guys," she said, "do you see that girl sitting under the tree? Do you know her?"

Sasha turned to look at her. "Nope. Never seen her before in my life."

"She looks kind of sad," Anne said. "What do you think happened?"

Before Marcy could think of an answer, the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. She tried to stand up, but nearly tripped.

"Here," Anne said, grabbing her arm to keep her from falling. "Put your arm around my shoulder. I can help you get to class."

"Thanks, Anna-banana," Marcy said with relief.

"Let's go, guys!" Sasha picked up Marcy's backpack and took the lead, Anne and Marcy following behind.

A few days later, Marcy used her new crutches to get to their unofficial bench as soon as the bell rang. While she waited for Anne and Sasha, she glanced at the other kids running onto the playground. Two second-grade girls immediately claimed the swings, and a group of kids were taking turns using the monkey bars. Marcy searched for the pigtailed girl who usually sat by the bushes, wondering if she was still sad. Then Marcy saw Pigtail Girl walking toward her usual spot with an exhausted face, carrying a book and looking as though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

The girl sat down and opened the book to read. Marcy squinted and could just make out the title- The Good Witch Azura. Maybe that would be a good book to check out from the library.

"Hey, Marcy!" Anne's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Sorry we're late, we were running here but then the custodian stopped us from running in the hallway."

"Yeah," Sasha added, "he watched us as we passed him so we couldn't run then either."

"That's fine!" she said. Sasha and Anne took their regular places on either side of her.

"Guys! The arcade got a new game, Mom told me. She said it's a dancing game."

"That sounds awesome! We should try it!" Anne said, then immediately realized. "Wait, Marcy can't play it."

"Oh, yeah." Sasha was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "We can wait until her leg heals and then-"

"Wait." Marcy interrupted. "You guys can go without me. And I know you're bored of sitting on the bench, too. You can go play on the playground, you don't have to be here every recess instead of having fun."

"But, Marcy-" Anne protested. "We can't just leave you! You'd be alone!"

"It's not leaving me if I let you," Marcy replied. "And besides, I can sit and read a book or draw or something. You both know I love doing that anyway.""Are you sure?" Sasha asked. When Marcy nodded, she stood up and dragged Anne toward the playground. "Thanks! And we'll still wait for you before we go to the arcade!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"No problem! And thanks!" Marcy yelled back. Then she reached for her backpack and pulled out her journal and a pen, and started writing.

"Marcy," Raina Wu said as she pulled away from the parking lot. She pressed the turn switch and glanced at her daughter in the rearview mirror. Marcy was engrossed in math homework, scribbling the answers to the addition problems down almost as soon as she read each question.

"Marcy," she said again, and Marcy finally looked up. "Do you miss going to the park?"

"Yeah," she said. "Why?"

Raina smiled. "Well, I noticed you've been really bored after we stopped going to the park until your leg heals, and I have a little surprise for you."

Her daughter's interest was visibly piqued. "What's the surprise?"

"Well, you're going to have to wait and see, or it won't be much of a surprise, will it?"

"But, Mommy, please?"

Raina laughed. "Not yet, sweetie, but we're almost there."

"Mommy, that's too long! Please tell me now?"

"Marcy, you can keep asking me, but I'm not gonna tell you until we reach."

"Fiiiiine." Marcy leaned back on the seat, homework forgotten on her lap. "Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Now are we there yet?"

Raina turned on the indicator light. "Yeah, we're here."

She looked in the rearview mirror and saw Marcy pressed up against the window, seatbelt a tangled mess. "Put your seatbelt on," she reminded her, and Marcy sat back in her seat and obeyed.

"We're at the library?" she squealed. "Thank you, Mommy, thank you! I can't wait!" Looking out the window again, she gasped. "Wow, there are so many books!"

Raina chuckled. "You don't have your own library card yet, Marcy, so I was planning to get you one. Do you want one?"

"Yes, please!"

"Finish your homework while I park, then." As she pulled into the only available parking space, right next to the building, she could hear the sound of pencil across paper before Marcy proudly proclaimed 'done!'.

"Let's go, then." Raina picked up a shopping bag from the empty passenger seat as Marcy unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the car door, grabbed her crutches, and hopped out.

"Mommy, mommy, hurry up! You're taking so long!"

"Coming, sweetie," she said.

Raina followed Marcy into the building. The six-year-old girl was almost bouncing up and down with excitement, the heavy cast and unwieldy crutches hardly slowing her down as she made her way toward the bookshelves visible behind the information desk.

"Marcy, come back! We have to get you your library card!" With obvious reluctance her daughter dragged herself back to her mother, who was stopped at the information desk.

"Hello," the librarian said with a pleasant smile. "How can I help you today?"

"Hi, I was hoping to get a library card for my daughter here? One for myself as well." Raina put a hand on Marcy's shoulder. "I don't actually have a card for this library, before Marcy broke her leg she checked out all her books from the school library, but now she's so bored at home I figured it was about time to get a card for her. And while I'm here, I might as well get one for me and my husband to use as well."

"Oh, I hope you get better soon, dear," the librarian said to Marcy. Marcy clutched her mom's arm in response. "Oh, a shy one, are you? Well, no matter." Pulling out two forms from a filing rack, the librarian slid them across the desk. "Just fill these out with your name, email address, and phone number, then you should be good to go. Does your daughter want to pick out a color or pattern for her library card, or do you both want the standard one?"

"There are different colors? I think I'll take the standard one." Raina looked down at Marcy, who stared back up at her. "Marcy, don't you want to pick one out?"

"We have a catalog, if she wants to look at that," the librarian offered, pushing a small brochure across the desk. "Just pick the one you want and we'll set it up for you. All of them should be available, we just restocked."

"Thank you," Raina said, picking up the brochure and unfolding it. She handed it to Marcy, who carefully let go of her arm and took the paper.

Marcy's eyes immediately caught on a picture of a green card with a shiny gold-tinted star pattern. "This one is really pretty," she said, pointing to it. Raina took the brochure and pointed it out to the librarian.

"Excellent choice, dear," the librarian praised as she opened a drawer and pulled out a physical copy of the card. "This is what it looks like. Do you like it?"

Marcy peered at it. "Yeah, I like it."

"I'm done filling out the form," Raina said, setting down the pen and sliding the form back to the librarian. "What next?"

"Just wait a minute as I input the information into the system." The librarian peered at the form over a pair of spectacles before tapping at a keyboard,

Marcy fidgeted, then finally burst out, "Mommy, can I please go see the books?"

"Fine, go, have fun," Raina conceded.

"The children's section is that way," the receptionist said, pointing down a hallway. "Straight through there. You can talk to the librarians there if you need help finding a book."

"Thank you, Ms. Librarian," Marcy said, then turned and went in the direction the librarian had pointed in as fast as she could with a broken leg and crutches.

Raina watched after Marcy until she couldn't see her anymore, then turned back to the librarian. She tapped at a few more keys, then lifted a barcode scanner and flipped the library cards over before scanning them into the system. A few clicks of the mouse later and she was sliding the cards to Raina. "You're all good to go, ma'am," she said. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" Raina picked both cards up and headed off in the direction of the children's wing, sure that Marcy wouldn't be able to collect many books in the time she had taken with getting the library cards. When she rounded the corner and saw Marcy piling another book on a table with twenty already, she was flabbergasted.

"Marcy- I didn't think you would get this many books!" she spluttered. "I can't carry that many!"

Marcy made puppy dog eyes at her. "Please, Mommy? I have one more book I want to borrow, then that's all!"

Raina tried to hold out as long as she could, but Marcy rarely begged her like that for anything, and she was a sucker for puppy dog eyes. "Fine, but only one more, okay? And you have to read them all, don't take books you don't think you're going to read."

"Thank you, Mommy!" Marcy immediately rushed off to find her last book, and Raina sighed and began gathering up the books to bring to the checkout kiosk. She wasn't really surprised to find out half of the books were nonfiction; she supposed there were going to be a lot more interesting facts at the dinner table over the next few nights. She was more surprised to find that Marcy had started pulling from the novel section of the library as well.

After piling the books at the checkout counter, she typed in the number on the back of Marcy's library card, then began scanning each book. Marcy returned when she was nearly done.

"Here it is!" she said, putting another novel called The Good Witch Azura on top of the checkout counter. "I got it!"

"Can you start packing the books I already scanned into the bag?" Raina handed the shopping bag to Marcy, who obligingly began to shove books in. "Wait-not like that! You have to do it carefully, stack them on top of one another so they all fit." She demonstrated, then handed the bag back to Marcy.

"Ohhhhh," she said, then began doing as Raina showed her.

Raina returned to checking out the books. She scanned the final book, The Good Witch Azura, and handed it off to Marcy, then clicked the 'Print receipt' button at the bottom of the screen. The machine whirred for a moment, then slowly began printing out a long receipt. Raina tore it off once it was done and folded it up. She took in the bag Marcy had packed surprisingly well for her first time, then nodded. "Nice job with the packing, sweetie. I'll hold on to your library card for now so nothing happens to it, but whenever you need it I'll give it to you, is that okay?"

Marcy nodded. "Can I read these in the car?" she asked, tapping out a thin nonfiction book about dinosaurs and The Good Witch Azura in the bag.

"Sure," Raina said, tucking the receipt in, then picking up the handles of the bag and hoisting it up. "Wow, this is heavy. Let's go, okay?"

"Okay."

On the way back to the car, as they passed the information desk, Marcy spoke up. "Thank you for bringing me to the library, Mommy," she said.

"Anytime, sweetie."

"Marcy! Time to go! Where's your backpack?" Marcy heard her dad's voice from where she was grabbing her homework to keep in her backpack. After she'd shoved everything inside, she turned to leave the room, but stopped at the door. She turned to look back at her desk, at the copy of The Good Witch Azura she'd left there after finishing the first and second chapters before bed.

She made up her mind and turned to grab the book, then walked out of the room and down the hallway to the front door.

"There you are, Marcy," her dad said from where he was grabbing his coat next to the front door. "Let's go, or you'll be late for school."

Marcy followed her dad to the car, then handed him her backpack and climbed into the backseat, setting The Good Witch Azura and her crutches on the . She heard the thud of the trunk slamming closed, then her dad opened the driver-side door and sat down, starting the engine.

"All buckled in?" he asked, and when she nodded, he started driving. After they pulled out of the driveway, Marcy opened her book and was absorbed into the world of Azura and her quest to find the Staff of the Skies and keep it from enemy hands.

"Marcy, we're here," her dad said just as she finished reading the sixth chapter. She put her bookmark in and tucked the book under her arm, grabbing her crutches and climbing out of the car. She gave her dad the book, and he tucked it into her backpack before helping her wear it on her shoulders.

"Bye, Daddy! See you later!" she yelled once he got back in the car. Then she turned to go inside the school, arriving at her classroom just as the bell rang and the teacher opened the door.

The moment the recess bell rang, Marcy swung her bag over her shoulders and grabbed her crutches, rushing to make it to the playground fast enough to claim her usual bench.

Unlike usual, when she made it onto the playground, she saw Pigtail Girl already sitting under the sweetgum tree. Usually she arrived later, once Marcy was already settled down on the bench, but this time Marcy considered going to talk to her. She'd certainly watched Pigtail Girl enough to want to at least learn her name.

Making up her mind, Marcy turned and crutched across the playground, slowly making her way up the slight incline. Up close, Marcy could see that Pigtail Girl was deeply absorbed in her copy of Azura, sitting with her back pressed against the tree.

"Excuse me," Marcy said quietly, and Pigtail Girl looked up. "Can I sit here please?"

The girl blinked for a moment, as though she didn't understand, and then her mouth opened in a silent 'oh'. "Sure, I guess." Her eyes dropped to Marcy's broken leg, but she didn't comment, instead turning back to her book.

Marcy felt an odd sense of disappointment that she hadn't gotten more of a reaction, but figured conversation could wait. She carefully lowered herself down next to Pigtail Girl, setting her crutches down next to her and taking her bag off of her back. She unzipped it and pulled out the library book.

"Is that The Good Witch Azura?" Pigtail Girl's voice startled Marcy so much that she nearly dropped the book into the dewy grass, barely managing to hang onto it with the tips of her fingers. She set it into her lap so she wouldn't accidentally drop it again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Pigtail Girl apologized.

"Yeah, it is," Marcy said. "I checked it out from the library yesterday. You're reading that too, right?"

"Yeah." Pigtail Girl's gaze unfocused for a moment, then she sighed. "How do you like the book so far?"

"Oh my gosh, it's so good! I love Azura so much! I love the adventures of Azura and her friends so much!"

Pigtail Girl titled her head. "What chapter are you on?"

"I just finished Chapter 7, where Azura sets out to find the Staff with her friends Lucy and Jaxon." Marcy grinned. "I can't wait to find out what happens next!"

"Oh, I'm on Chapter 10," Pigtail Girl said. "Do you like spoilers or not?"

Marcy thought for a moment. "Sure, that's not too far ahead," she said.

Pigtail Girl leaned closer and lowered her voice dramatically, casting her gaze around as though looking for eavesdroppers. "Azura, Lucy, and Jaxon… get separated in Chapter 8 and have to face a test. I don't know if they survive yet."

"No, really?" Marcy's hands flew to her cheeks when Pigtail Girl nodded solemnly. "Oh, no! Jaxon is terrible under pressure!"

"I know! I hope he doesn't mess up!" Then Pigtail Girl's grin faded and she adopted a thoughtful look. "You know," she said slowly, "I don't actually know your name. I'm Luz. What's your name?"

"My name is Marcy. It's nice to meet you, Luz," Marcy said. "Can I meet you here again tomorrow?"

"Sure. Oh! I have an idea! What if we both read to a certain chapter and then meet every day and talk about what happened? That could be really fun!"

Marcy gasped. "Yeah! That's a really good idea! How about we both read to Chapter 12! Does that work?"

"Works for me," Luz said.

Just then, the bell rang. Both Luz and Marcy groaned, and Marcy tucked her book back into her backpack before trying to stand up.

"Here," Luz said, standing and offering a hand to Marcy.

Marcy took it gratefully. "Thank you," she said once she was upright, placing a hand on the tree to steady herself. Luz knelt down and picked up her backpack and crutches for her. Marcy tok both gratefully.

"See you tomorrow?" Luz said, waving as she headed off toward the main building.

"See you tomorrow!" Marcy followed her, then they both went their separate ways, back to their classes.

"We're almost done with the book!" Luz said abruptly a week after they had started talking about The Good Witch Azura at recess. Marcy carefully set down her crutches and took a seat next to Luz, then unzipped her bag to get her book out. She flipped open to their current chapter, Chapter 32, and saw that they were indeed almost done with the book.

"You know, we can finish the book by tomorrow. But I kind of don't want to, it's like saying goodbye to the characters and I hate goodbyes."

"I don't want it to end either," Luz said grimly. "I'm kind of afraid of what's going to happen."

"Do you know if there are any other books?" Marcy asked. "I wonder if there's going to be a second book."

"I think there will be. There are way too many questions than can be answered in-" Luz flipped to the table of contents, counting the remaining chapters silently under her breath. "Five chapters," she said after a moment.

"Wow, that's it?," Marcy said with dismay.

"Yup."

A pair of fifth-grade girls walked past Marcy and Luz, whispering to one another. Then one of them turned to Luz. "Hey, Luz-er," the girl said. "Whatcha doing? Nerd."

Luz shrank into herself, her arms wrapping around her shoulders. Marcy glanced between her and the two fifth-graders, then made up her mind.

"She's not a loser," Marcy said, and both girls' attention snapped to her. "Leave her alone."

The first girl cocked her head. "Hey, Laura," she said to the second, silent one. "Would you look at that? The Luz-er found herself a little nerd friend."

"Yeah, Amy," Laura said. "Somehow she's even smaller than Luz-er. I didn't think that was possible."

"H-hey, leave her alone," Luz said, voice trembling. "Leave us alone."

"What are you gonna do about it, huh?" Amy bent down and picked up Marcy's crutches. "Laura, grab the nerd's book."

Laura obliged. Marcy tried to hold on as long as she could, but a moment later, Laura was flipping the book closed and dangling it over Marcy's head. "Here, nerd. Get it if you can," she said in a sing-song voice. Without her crutches, Marcy couldn't do much more than reach for it–standing with the cast was difficult enough when she was on a chair, but there was no way she could do it while sitting on the ground and leaning against the tree.

"Give it back!" Luz stood up and tried to reach for it, but Laura was just tall enough for her efforts to fall short.

"Ha, the babies are so tiny," Amy taunted.

"Leave them alone!" A high-pitched voice yelled from behind, startling the two bullies and Luz enough for Laura to drop the book and for Luz to barely manage to catch it before it hit the ground. Marcy cheered, having caught a glimpse of the two people who came to save the day.

Amy turned around, mouth open to issue excuses– at least until she caught sight of their rescuers. A snicker escaped her lips, then she collapsed in a fit of giggles. Laura quickly joined her.

"Sasha!" Marcy cried joyfully. "Anne!" Anne waved from where she was partially hiding behind Sasha.

"Leave them alone," Sasha repeated. "Or we'll call the yard duty."

At this, both girls stopped laughing. Amy stood up straight again, holding Marcy's crutches tight in her hands. "You wouldn't," Laura said, voice filled with dread.

"Try me." Sasha leveled a glare at the two fifth-graders.

Amy gently dropped Marcy's crutches on the grass and raised her hands up in surrender. "We're going. Don't make a scene," she said, "Laura, let's go."

The two fifth-graders were at the base of the hill before Sasha yelled at the top of her lungs, "Mrs. Walters! Those two fifth graders were bullying Marcy and Luz!" A gray-haired woman on the other side of the playground snapped to attention, then made a beeline straight for Amy and Laura. When she reached them, all of them watched the fifth-graders get berated for a moment before glancing away.

"Serves them right," Sasha muttered.

"How did you know my name?" Luz asked, curious.

Anne grinned at Marcy. "Mar-mar talks about you at lunch. It's always, The Good Witch Azura' this, Luz that.'"

"I don't talk that much about her," Marcy mumbled sheepishly.

"Sure you don't," Anne agreed teasingly.

A beat of silence, and then Luz erupted with questions. "How did you know that would work? Where did you guys come from? Who's Mrs. Walters? Are you guys psychic? Have you read The Good Witch Azura?"

"Uhhh…"

Anne stepped up. "It was Sasha's plan, we saw what was happening from the playground, Mrs. Walters is the strictest yard duty we know, um, no? And no."

"Hey, you want to sit with us at lunch today?" Marcy asked. She glanced at Sasha and Anne to check if that was okay, and both nodded.

Luz's eyes grew bigger. "Would I? Yes!" she replied just as the bell rang.

"Well, time to go inside!" Sasha turned to head down the hill, and Anne helped Marcy up while Luz picked up her crutches and gave them to her. Marcy picked up her backpack and took her book from Luz gratefully.

"So," Marcy started as they followed Sasha. "We sit at the lunch tables, next to the magnolia tree… the one with big white flowers…"