A Little Green Magic (The Little Coven #1) - Isabel Wroth Page 0,65
from the deluge of rain pounding on the roof. She didn't protest when her mother opened the car door. It was exciting to finally get to sit in the front seat, even though she wasn't supposed to yet.
The suitcase got thrown in the back seat, and when Ilsa slipped behind the wheel, Ivy noticed she was trembling. Inside the car, the sound of the rain was muffled, but still loud enough to worry her.
Ilsa noticed, offering a tremulous smile before she reached out to smooth her hand over Ivy's hair. “The rain is really coming down outside, but we're going to be okay. Buckle up.”
The car started with a roar, the door opening behind them. The sheets of water coming off the roof turned red from the taillights.
The windshield wipers moved as fast as they could, but it was little help in the downpour. Still, Ilsa put the car in gear and took off down the road with her hands tightly on the wheel and her knuckles white.
Before long, they came to a low water crossing. The red lights on the flimsy barrier flashed, despite the fact that the yellow and white sawhorse was now off on the side of the road, tangled in a web of vines.
A huge river of water was between them and the other side of the road, and Ivy sat there looking at it, wondering what they were going to do now. Her mother put the car in park and turned to her, having to shout over the noise of the rain. Ivy wondered if the roof of the car was strong enough to hold up against the violence of the storm.
“Okay, Ivy. This is our only way out of town right now.”
“The water's too high, Mommy. We can't get across!”
Her mother smiled, somehow managing to laugh when Ivy was really scared. “Tonight only, you get to use as much magic as you want. Build us a bridge, baby. A big, strong bridge so we can get across. You can do it. Close your eyes and imagine it, just like we did in the back yard when you wanted to grow an orange tree. Remember?”
Ivy nodded, taking a minute to study the road and the raging river in front of them. She was scared, but the idea of getting to use her magic without having to worry that a neighbor might see was too great a temptation.
She knew exactly what kind of bridge she would make, too. She'd seen it in one of the storybooks she read before bedtime.
With the picture clear in her mind, Ivy opened her eyes and lifted her hands up toward the dash. In the glow of the headlights, her thoughts became reality. The car shook as the trees pushed up through the road, the three trunks twisting and growing, bigger, thicker, reaching across the gushing water in a gentle arch. Vines slithered like snakes around the trunks, binding them together.
“That's it, Ivy. Focus on the picture in your mind. Keep going.”
Sweat broke out on her forehead, pushing with all her might to keep the trees growing in the shape and direction she wanted them to. Huffing and panting, Ivy let go of the picture in her head, grinning triumphantly at her bridge.
She felt tired, exhausted really. All she wanted to do was sleep, but she was too excited by the prospect of getting to drive over the bridge that she held on, looking over to see the pride on her mother's face, wondering if they were happy tears on her cheeks now.
Ivy felt as tall as the trees when her mom leaned over and hugged her, but from one second to the next, she was terrified again. Her mother pulled away and slammed on the gas, throwing Ivy back in her seat as the car rocketed forward.
Ivy remembered bouncing over the bridge she'd made so hard the seatbelt bit into her shoulder, and the suitcase in the back hit the back of her seat.
Sparks flew, and metal shrieked when they made it to the other side, and without a word, her mother lifted her arm and a huge crack rent the air.
Ivy looked behind her in time to see the tree trunks whip up like they were springs, flying backward to stand up tall and straight, swaying in the wind. It was the first time since their mad rush from the house that her mother laughed.