Free A Dash of Magic: A Bliss Novel by Kathryn Littlewood

silence accompanied by an iridescent swirl and the howling of a low, empty wind.
    “A Hold-Your-Tongue Tart,” said Purdy. “Though I don’t know what category she’s intending that for. You know something about Hold-Your-Tongue Tarts, don’t you, kids?”
    Rose, Ty, Sage, and Leigh exchanged looks. Rose remembered, after Lily had visited them in Calamity Falls, the way her tongue had gone numb and limp whenever she tried to talk about Lily.
    “Now that we know some of what she’s preparing,” said Purdy, pacing around the ottoman in circles, “we need to gather our own stock of extra-special ingredients so we’ll have weapons to fight back with, no matter what the secret theme of the day happens to be.”
    Balthazar disappeared into his room and returned lugging a suitcase of blue linoleum that looked like it had been made before World War II. He raised the lid, and Rose gasped at the rows of miniature blue mason jars tucked neatly inside, each topped with a handwritten label.
    “Like any good kitchen magician, I don’t travel anywhere without a supply. I have some of what we might need here,” he said, “but this is just a limited sampling. We’ll need more.”
    “We’ll need to think of all the possible surprise categories,” said Purdy, “then pick recipes that can beat Lily’s, even with the addition of her Magic Ingredient—recipes that are the most incredible, delicious recipes in the whole Booke, recipes she might not know about ’cause I doubt she’s tried all six hundred and twenty-three. Then Balthazar will translate the recipes—quickly—Rose will memorize, and we’ll have gathered the required ingredients ahead of time.”
    “Thank you, Jacques,” said Purdy, looking to where Jacques had been sitting. “You’ve been very helpful. . . .”
    But Jacques was no longer there. “Where did he go?”
    Gus shrugged his shoulders. “I warned him to leave and never come back.”
    “But why?” Rose cried. “He was so kind to us! He risked his life!”
    “It is written in the Book of the Scottish Fold . When a Fold encounters a mouse, the Fold will warn the mouse never to return. If the mouse disobeys the warning, anything goes, as they say.”
    “We can debate the politics of cat-and-mouse relations later,” said Purdy. “I do hope Jacques returns so we can thank him, but for now, we have to get to work.”
    The family sat around on the living room couches for the rest of the evening, sorting out how to survive the competition against their formidable, cheating, high-heeled opponent.
    Purdy turned to a fresh sheet of paper from Rose’s notebook. She wrote down the possible categories for the remaining days of the competition based on categories she’d competed in during her time at the Gala and stories from friends who had competed as well.
    She wrote:
     
    Puffed
    Short
    Phyllo
    Cheesy
    Chocolate
    Airy
    Sugarless
    Flaky
    Rolled
    Sour
     
    Rose sat next to Balthazar, who held his Sassanian version of the Cookery Booke open on the lap of his trousers. He described various recipes as he turned to them, and the family debated back and forth together about which would be the most exotic and special, until eventually they settled on a few good options.
    “Better-Than-Anything Banana Bread will beat Lily’s Soprano Wedding Cake in the SUGARLESS category any day,” said Balthazar.
    “And I bet an Angel’s Breath Food Cake would beat a Springtime Soufflé in the AIRY category,” said Purdy. “It’s much airier.”
    Ty and Albert took turns writing out ideas on Rose’s note paper while Balthazar looked through the ancient copy of the Booke, telling Rose and Purdy about each recipe. Sage and Gus shouted out their opinions while Leigh napped in a corner.
    The final list looked like this:
     
    Puffed—Nectar-of-Joy Cream Puffs
    Phyllo—Born Yesterday Baklava
    Cheesy—Sublime Danish
    Chocolate—Disappearing Devil’s Food Cake
    Airy—Angel’s Breath Food