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asked.
    He gained some brownie points. I wanted to know, but I’d done enough talking already.
    She turned. “I don’t know. I didn’t think to get his name. It doesn’t matter. I’ll report this to the police and we will see what they can find out.”
    She went back into the house. Diana threw her arms around me and squeezed.
    “You are brilliant, Caroline! I didn’t even think about not being able to reach.”
    Leo nodded behind her. “Yeah. Now maybe I’ll only be grounded for a couple centuries instead of all eternity.”
    I laughed. “Really? That’s what your dad told you?”
    Leo shook his head. “No. Dad is still deciding on his punishment. Mom grounded me. Part of Dad’s punishments is the waiting to find out what the punishment is.”
    I patted his shoulder. “Sounds like a mind game to me.”
    “It is,” Leo said, very matter-of-fact. “He’s a master at that.”
    Diana moved over to the group of buckets and sponges resting on the concrete, filling them with the hose. Ms. Widdershins brought a couple of wooden crates and a stepstool for us, and then retreated back inside. We each grabbed one and started scrubbing at the paint on the siding. The work was hot and sweaty, but I felt lighter. At least Ms. Widdershins knew it wasn’t our fault. Until we arrived, I hadn’t realized how much it bothered me that everyone believed we’d done it. That she thought we hated her so much that we’d write all over her house.
    I scrubbed a little harder. Not that I wanted to admit her approval mattered, but it certainly made life easier. And whoever did this would pay for dragging us into this.
    “Caroline?”
    Leo’s voice was soft. Diana and I stopped to look at him. He squeezed his sponge with more force than necessary.
    “What?”
    “Is this what it’s like for you all the time?”
    “What what’s like?”
    He rubbed his nose. “Life. We’ve seen people bugging you. I know Diana said something to some people, and so have I. But is getting blamed for stuff and all this what it’s like to be normal?”
    “You guys have been telling people to leave me alone?”
    Diana looked away then grinned at me. “You’re my friend. I wasn’t going to let them keep on pestering you.”
    “Yeah,” Leo agreed.
    I scrubbed at the wall slowly. “No, my life isn’t always like this.” I hunted for words. I wanted everyone to think that none of it bothered me. And mostly, it didn’t. I didn’t see how magic really made things all that better. They missed out on things like Life Science and art because their parents insisted that Advanced Casting and History of Magic were more important.
    But sometimes, if I was really honest, I kind of wished I had a little magic. Just to see what it was like.
    “People are mean still. They play pranks. Last week Fred Alloy turned my nose brown in Mr. Darcy’s class. It’s a pain. But you get used to it.”
    Leo shook his head. “It’s just mean.”
    I nodded. “It is. But I can’t exactly run and tell on them. That only makes it worse.”
    Diana attacked the siding with vigor. “Well, we’re watching your back now.” She smiled. “Friends stick together.”
    I smiled. “Thanks.” I started to say they should stop, that I could handle it.
    Instead, I looked at the siding and my wrinkling fingers and stayed quiet.

Chapter Ten
     
     
    We worked until Ms. Widdershins came out with a tray holding a huge pitcher of iced tea and three glasses, along with three peanut butter sandwiches. She set them on one of the buckets and waved us over.
    “Take a break, it’s lunchtime. I’ve been thinking about what you said, you may not have done this, but I think you know why they did.”
    She pinned me with a stare I couldn’t avoid. “Caroline, they stole the paint from your house. I think you should start talking.”
    I took a huge swallow of tea, grateful for the cool liquid. It gave me a minute to think. Diana and Leo just sat and watched me; Diana twisted her