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Considering the tumultuous year so far at Riptivik Reform (you know, demon snatchers, attacks on teachers and students, and some very humiliating jinxes I’d rather not mention), everyone on campus is surprisingly chipper.
Perhaps it’s the longer days of sunlight, the scent of the earth now that the ground has thawed from winter, and the birds chorusing each morning. Spring is unmistakably here.
“See it?” Yassi asks excitedly. She points at the grand, sweeping lawn in the center of campus.
“Yeah. The grass is finally green. No more snow. Yay.” I mock-cheer.
It’s great, but my own mood is heavy, like part of me lingers in the chapel with JJ where I saw the extent of how he’s fading, heard his sad story, and learned about his feelings for me. That last part isn’t bad, but I feel like there’s so much at stake it’s overwhelming. Also, there’s all of that on top of the fact that I’m trapped at reform school.
Yassi shakes me from my thoughts by actually cheering. “No, Maija, the Jubilee.”
“Officially, the Night Jubilee,” Wyatt says smartly, sidling up beside us as we walk to class.
“The what-what?” I ask.
“Every spring the Night Jubilee tours the countryside and pays a special, one night visit to Riptivik.” She goes on to tell us about a levitating spectacle last year that involved flips and other acrobatic feats using audience participants.
“It’s kind of like a circus,” Wyatt says helpfully, taking Yassi’s hand. “A magical circus, but even better.”
Yassi pauses as if looking at a big top tent in awe. “Don’t tell me you don’t see it,” she says when I shrug.
I have a feeling they’re putting me on, trying to shake me from my funk.
Wyatt says, “Do you see the shimmering light there?” He points toward the lawn. “It’s a portal. The Jubilee comes to campus but doesn’t travel here and then set up like a regular circus. It’s a clever bit of magic if you ask me. It’s in a fixed location, somewhere in Canada, I think. But every spring the door arrives that leads us there.”
Yassi grips me by the shoulders and adjusts my position so a massive pine tree is in my line of sight. “Does it look like the tree is moving?”
“Wavering, sort of,” I reply. “Oh, wait, I see it now. Almost like a big semi-invisible sheet is blowing in the wind.”
“Something like that.”
I smile for real. “I take it this isn’t a Storch approved activity.”
“Definitely not. She probably didn’t even know about it before she was sent packing. Good riddance too.”
“So when can we go?” I ask.
“At sunset. The door is only accessible to enter at sunset and exit at sunrise.”
“Wait a second,” Dewey says, appearing from I don’t know where. “You guys walk too fast. What’s this about sunset and sunrise?”
“Tonight we go to the Jubilee,” Yassi says with glee.
Dewey cocks his head in disbelief. “All night? Does that mean no homework?”
“Oh no, you can be sure they’ll pile it on,” Yassi says, quickening her pace. “And they’ll give you extra if you don’t finish it for tomorrow.”
At that, we race across the lawn toward our next classes.
☆
Mercifully, I don’t get nearly as much homework as I expect. The teachers probably need a break too. When the twilight sky turns the gray of JJ’s eyes with a hint of purple, all the girls in Penny House march down to the lawn accompanied by the chaperones and toward the shimmering door.
Those who’ve been to the Jubilee talk about it with excitement and wonder. Other girls, whose siblings, cousins, or friends returned home from school describing the magical event, speculate and anticipate.
A line stretches all the way back to the sidewalk as students wait for entry. As we dip down a slight hill, I spot several students step forward and then disappear through the portal.
“Does it hurt?” Winnie asks Yassi.
“What? To enter the portal? No! It’s kind of like stepping through—”
In her pause, Audra says, “It’s like stepping through gelatin. You know the non-magical kind in those snack packs.”
“How do you know about Jell-O?” I ask. She is a nymph after all.
“A family friend brought it over once.” She sticks out her tongue. “It’s all jiggly and wiggly. Kind of gross if you ask me.”
When we reach the front of the line, Winnie grips my hand tightly. A woman wearing a purple and silver shirt ushers us to a golden line on the ground. She asks, “First Jubilee?”
We both nod.
“You’re in for the time of your life.”
Before we hear what else she says, we whisk through the portal. Sure enough, it feels like walking into a bowl of gelatin. Not that I’ve never immersed myself in the substance, but that is indeed what comes to mind.
When my surroundings feel normal again, I turn in a circle. The silver and purple tent stretches high above and the top looks like it’s open to the night sky, but with a magnified starscape. The constellations seem closer, brighter.
All around there is action. Three women with their wand arms outstretched draw illuminated caricatures of three changelings who keep changing their appearance. With a flick of the wrist, the witches change the drawing to match. Repeat.
Girls in poufy skirts sail through the sky, tumbling as though gripping invisible wires. A man breathes fire as though he’s going to incinerate a woman opposite. Her mouth hangs open in mock terror. At the last moment, she closes it then opens again and breathes the fire. Someone juggles little balls the size of limes: three, six, nine, twelve, he tops off at twenty-four. There’s sparkle, shimmer, and wonder everywhere.
“Where’s the food?” Dewey says.
“Where’s Wyatt?” Yassi asks.
I keep my eyes out for JJ as we pass trinket stalls. Everything about the Jubilee is grander, brighter, and more fantastical than anything I’ve ever experienced in the non-magical world. The scent of something salty-sweet reaches my nose.
Dewey sniffs the air, smelling it too. “Don’t even tell me they have exploding corn,” he exclaims.
“That doesn’t sound too good,” I say.
“Oh, but it tastes good,” he replies, following his nose into the crowd.
We follow him to a stall advertising corn that pops in your mouth.
Dewey orders a bag and then holds it out to me. I let him take the first mouthful. His cheeks puff up as the kernels pop, pop, pop in his mouth.
He insists I try one. It’s an unusual sensation, but the best kettle corn I’ve ever had. Naturally, I help myself to another handful.
Yassi blows bubbles with gum she bought and Wyatt has to hold her hand so she doesn’t float away. Audra and Winnie each have ice cream cones that change flavor with every lick.
We pass game booths. The barkers advertise a variety of prizes from the strange and bizarre anti-quacking ducks, (whatever those are) to an all-expenses-paid trip to the moon. I’m not sure they really mean the one high above, peeking out from the walls of the tent.
In addition to the food, games, and prizes, we watch feats of valor, feed several beasts (including a baby dragon—the cutest little fella I’ve ever seen). I can’t imagine Storch was once at all adorable. And of course, there are contests.
When we reach the end of the thoroughfare that loops around the oval tent, two vamps I’ve seen around campus engage in a duel.
Yassi says, “Typical. Those two were here last year and promised a rematch.”
“Showoffs,” Dewey mutters as light zips from their outstretched wands, forming rude symbols in the air.
“There are loads of opportunities for us to use our magic though,” Audra says.
“My favorite is the elements table,” Yassi says, grabbing my hand and hurrying me through the crowd.
The others follow and we reach a large wooden table covered in purple and silver cloths. “The idea is to guess the element—earth, wind, fire, etcetera—under the cloth.”
“But it’s hidden,” I say, starting to understand.
“Exactly. Use your energy to determine what it is.”
Dewey scoffs. “Seems like something a wood nymph would enjoy. I’m going to check out the horrible hoops.”
“Sounds horrible,” I say with a laugh as he disappears into the crowd.
I remain and watch, cheering on the girls as they correctly select each element.
Winnie still works on her ice cream cone, exclaiming each new flavor with delight.
When Yassi and Audra agree to do the best two out of three, I wander back toward the entrance, hoping to spot JJ.
When I reach the dueling area, I find him...and Bobby Gold with their wands aloft.
