Mom opened the door, and we stepped inside. The barn felt different. Magical. It was like I’d never seen it before. Now I knew it held secrets.
“These cabinets hold the medical supplies I’ve gathered over the years,” Mom said. “And over here are some books that you might find helpful. There aren’t any books about magical animals. But you’ll find that magical creatures and everyday animals are often similar. Once I had a sick winged fox, and it helped to read about both birds and foxes. Sometimes you’ll need to run an experiment to figure out what the animal needs or what will work best. You can look through my old science journals over there to get a better idea of what I’m talking about.”
My heart beat faster. As soon as she was done with the tour, I was heading straight for those journals. My breath caught. There’d be more magical photos in there! I could hardly wait to see them.
I interrupted her. “So if I hear the bell, I run out here? And the animal will be at the back door? And I bring it inside and try to figure out what’s wrong?”
Mom nodded. “Some of the animals can speak, like Pip, but most can’t. Remember, you can use the books and my old journals to help you. This must seem like a lot of responsibility. But I know you’ll do your best. Do you have any questions?”
My mind was spinning, but I shook my head no. If Mom believed I could handle this, I could. I hoped.
And if things got too tricky, I could ask Dad to help. Wait a minute. Mom hadn’t mentioned Dad at all. That was definitely strange.
“What about Dad? Can’t he help me?”
“Your father can’t see any of the magical animals. Until you saw Pip in that photo, I thought I was the only human who could see them.” Mom shook her head sadly. “I tried to introduce Pip to your Dad once, but he couldn’t see or hear him.”
Whoa. So this was definitely all up to me.
Mom kissed me on the head. “I’ve got to go. But I’ll see you in a week! I’ll let Dad know you’re out here before I leave.”
“Wait!” I piped up. “If a magical creature comes, do I get to take its picture?” I was pretty sure that one of the best parts of this whole thing was going to be collecting magic photos.
Mom laughed and opened one of the desk drawers. “Here’s my camera. You’re free to use it — but since it’s instant film, you can’t take too many photos or it’ll get really expensive. Only take one of each animal, OK? Oh, and here.” She dug around at the bottom of the drawer. “A brand new science journal, just for you.”
I wrapped my arms around my mom and gave her a big squeeze. I was glad to have the stuff in all the cabinets and drawers and Mom’s old science journals to distract me. It made saying good-bye much easier.
I set my Thinking Goggles on the barn desk and grabbed the pile of science notebooks. I spent the next few hours with Sassafras curled up in my lap as I flipped through all of them. The photos were so incredible. I flipped to a page with a creature that looked like a flower. I leaned in for a closer look, and the scent of roses filled my nose.
A few pages later I found a photo of something fluffy and blue that was shaped like a snake. I brushed my fingers over the photo and I could feel its soft feathers. This was going to be so much fun. I could hardly wait to see what creature I’d get to meet first.