“Look at it,” Alma said. “Just a little fraidycat, like me.”
Del grinned. The kitten was purring. It would still have to go to the vet, but it was already feeling so much better, Alma was sure.
“What?” Alma asked. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“That’s the perfect name for our kitten,” Del said. “You’re not the fraidycat anymore. Neither am I. The kitten is. We’ll name it Fraidycat.”
“I like that,” Alma said. She was happy to not be the only fraidycat anymore. Everyone was a fraidycat sometimes, after all.
15
The Best Fortune-Teller Around
-Del-
The vet said Del had done a very good job taking care of Fraidycat. He also told them that Fraidycat was a girl cat and that she was under one year old and was very lucky indeed to have met Alma and Del. The vet sent Fraidycat home with some bandages and a little dropper of medicine and orders to bring her back in a week.
“Oh,” Del said. “She’s not ours.”
“She’s not?” the vet asked.
“She’s not?” Abuelita asked with a glimmer in her eye.
“We can keep her?” Del asked. She raised her eyebrows. Her heart thumped. A tiny black kitten would be the best birthday present of all.
“I don’t think we have much choice,” Abuelita said. She nodded at Fraidycat, who was curled up and purring in Del’s lap. Cats usually were scared of the vet, but Fraidycat didn’t seem very afraid at all when Del was around.
Back home, Del and Alma gave Fraidycat a tour of 86 ½ Twenty-Third Avenue. Fraidycat was a little afraid of the stairs and Evie’s talking baby doll and Titi Rosa’s rocking chair.
But Fraidycat loved the long pink curtains in Alma’s living room and the tassels on Abuelita’s rug and the wind chimes hanging in Del’s kitchen window.
What Fraidycat loved most of all, though, was the crystal ball. She found it in Del’s closet and curled herself around it. She pawed at its surface. She ran in circles around it, then nuzzled her nose against it, purring.
Alma and Del watched her play with the crystal ball.
“She’s not afraid of that, I guess,” Alma said.
“I guess not,” Del said.
“What about you?” Alma asked. “Are you still afraid?”
“A little,” Del said. “I’m still scared my bad fortune will come true.”
“But your fortune did come true,” Alma said. “And it wasn’t bad at all.”
“It did?” Del asked. She’d been so busy worrying about something horrible happening, she hadn’t thought about what had actually happened. A black cat had come into her life, just like Madame Alma had predicted. “Oh!” Del said. “Oh my gosh! You’re right! I got a black cat, just like you predicted!” Del’s eyes were wide. She felt the way she always felt when magic was around—excited and in awe and ready for anything.
Well, almost anything.
“I guess not all my fortunes are cursed after all,” Alma said. “But still, I don’t think I’ll be turning into Madame Alma again anytime soon.”
“I don’t think I want to be Madame Del again either,” Del said.
“There’s really only one person who wants to use that crystal ball,” Alma said. “One cat, that is.”
Fraidycat purred and waved her tail. Her tiny tongue licked the crystal ball’s surface.
“Madame Fraidycat,” Del said.
Fraidycat purred in agreement.
Alma and Del leaned in close to the ball. They wondered if Madame Fraidycat could see anything inside. They wondered if they could see what she saw. What might their future hold? What kinds of adventures were ahead for them?
And there, reflected in the crystal ball’s crystal surface, were Alma and Del and their itty-bitty Fraidycat, all smiling and hopeful and not so scared after all.
A very happy fortune indeed.
Acknowledgments
I love spending time in the world of these books, and I’m so thrilled to keep hanging out on Twenty-Third Avenue.
Many thanks to my agent, Victoria Marini, for helping me find the imperfect in the beautiful.
Such a big thank-you to my editor, Mabel Hsu, for taking ideas and making them into magic. Your vision and clarity have proven to be so necessary and inspiring for me.
Thank you, Katherine Tegen, for your ongoing enthusiasm and support.
A very special thank-you to incredible illustrator Luisa Uribe. I see myself and my friends and family in your illustrations, and it brings me so much joy.
Thank you to designer David L. DeWitt for helping make this book truly beautiful and love filled.
Thank you so much to Alexandra Hernandez. I love sharing stories with you.
Thank you to the wonderful team at Katherine Tegen Books who give so much of themselves to the work of bringing books into the world, and who have treated my books with incredible care: Tanu Srivastava, Amy Ryan, Alexandra Rakaczki, Maya Myers, Allison C. Brown, Emma Meyer, Sam Benson, and Robert Imfeld.
And a big thank-you to the readers who keep showing up for my books. You make me brave.
An Excerpt from Hand-Me-Down Magic #3: Perfect Patchwork Purse
Alma and Del’s magical mishaps and fun continue in:
Read on for a sneak peek!
Stripes and Flowers and Polka Dots and Plaid
-Alma-
When Cassie came into the Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe, Alma could tell she knew exactly what she wanted.
“That,” Cassie said. She pointed her finger at the purse that had been hanging in the window all month. It was a patchwork bag, made from at least thirty different fabrics. It was yellow and silver and blue and purple. It had stripes and florals and polka dots and plaids. Parts of it sparkled. Parts of it shined.
It was beautiful. It was special. It was strange. And it was supposed to be Alma’s.
“Oh,” Alma said sadly. “Are you sure?”
“Totally sure!” Cassie replied. “I’ve been saving up for the entire school year to buy something special. And this is it. This is my something special.”
Alma nodded. Cassie had talked for months about coming into the store to buy her something special. And Alma had been excited to see what she would pick!
