Free A Hiss-tory of Magic: A Wonder Cats Mystery Book 1 by Harper Lin Page A

kitty.”
    Peanut Butter calmed down a bit and came up to Jake, rubbing his head against Jake’s knee and meowing.
    “See? Peanut Butter’s fine here with me.” He picked up Peanut Butter in one hand, reached out to slowly and gently catch Treacle in the same way, lost his balance, and slipped. Treacle dodged the falling Jake as Peanut Butter leapt from Jake’s grasp.
    Boone poked his head into the room. “Are the cats giving you any trouble there, Williams?”
    “No,” Jake said gruffly.
    Peanut Butter bounded over behind Treacle, who was licking his own paw. Jake pressed against the floor to push himself up, and the latch nudged ever so slightly, telling him he wasn’t pressing on solid floor.
    “No,” Jake repeated quietly as he pushed himself up. “They’re not giving any trouble at all.” He found the handle, disguised as a missing floor tile, and pulled the trapdoor up.
    Treacle, seeing the opportunity, bolted into the opening.
    “Boone,” Jake ordered, “get the rest of the team in here.”
    Jason looked at him blankly. “For a cat?”
    “For an investigation! If Astrid Greenstone knew about this, then she forgot. Maybe the perpetrator didn’t.”
    The only clue they found was a shoe print. They, like Aunt Astrid and me, didn’t have Treacle’s sharp feline senses.

To Catch a Fish
    I wish I could say that I enjoyed that afternoon, spending time with Min Park after a decade apart. In all the ways that mattered, we’d stayed the same, still best friends. The stuff with Ted and the spell book had thrown me for a bad turn, though.
    We dropped by the Parks’ grocery store, and I saw the new Min Park rubbing off on his family.
    Mrs. Park’s wrinkled face beamed with joy as she loudly declared what an accomplishment her son was.
    “My husband is a manager. He doesn’t own this business, you know.”
    “I know.” I’d known that since I was young, but I still thought Mr. Park had a decent job.
    “Min owned his tech company. He sold it! He is… how do you say… set for life!”
    Min gave an embarrassed laugh. “Let’s not be too loud about that, Mom.”
    A lot of things had changed since our childhood. Being wealthy wasn’t just a pipe dream anymore. A memory nudged at me, of Min and I wondering what we would do if money were no object. “I guess you can have that UFO built, huh?”
    “I can say, with my degree in engineering, that this is completely possible. Give science just another three years to advance, and I’ll bet sound waves and cymatics will bring us closer to a functioning tractor beam than magnetic force.” Min tapped his chin thoughtfully. “We won’t get to go into outer space, though—at least, not with the windshield-like clear panel—because of the radiation. Besides, we’d need to travel faster than light to get anywhere interesting. I’d rather invest in terraforming a planet.”
    “But it would look just like earth! There’d be no point!” I exclaimed with a laugh. We’d both known that since we were kids. It was part of the running joke.
    “Seriously, though.” Min Park put an arm around his mother. “I think it’s time that I settled down and started taking care of my parents in their old age.”
    Mrs. Park hugged him back. “My son is ridiculous. So thoughtful! But no. That’s your money. Your father and I love to manage this shop. We love this town.”
    Mrs. Park had the same warmth and reassuring presence as Aunt Astrid. Mr. Park tended to be steelier. He and Min weren’t getting along by the time Min was in his teens. I’d always been intimidated by Mr. Park.
    So that’s why, when Min excused himself to go talk with his father, we both understood that would be a private conversation.
    I needed to hold my own conversation with Mrs. Park.
    “You could have mentioned that Min was back,” I said to her.
    “I am sorry.” She did look sorry. Her voice became quiet again. It wasn’t a whisper, but I had to lean close to listen. “I had my