Hand-Me-Down Magic #2

real life before, they all knew exactly what it was.
A crystal ball. The kind that could tell people’s fortunes. It was even better than ones Del had seen on TV and in movies. This crystal ball looked ancient, and Del was sure it had been passed down through a hundred magical generations, just like all the best magic. It was a hard-to-describe color: sort of purple and sort of silver and sort of yellow and sort of clear. It reminded Del a little of the mood rings she and Alma had found at one particularly great stoop sale. The crystal ball stood on a golden stand that needed a good shining. The stand had carvings of birds and flowers etched onto its surface, just like Titi Rosa’s beautiful mirror. It looked nearly as magical as the crystal ball itself!
Del leaped up and hugged Alma so tight that Alma gasped.
“Can you believe it?” Del said to her parents and Abuelita, who were watching all the fun.
“Pretty!” her mother said.
“Fancy!” her father said.
“Be careful,” Abuelita said.
The crystal ball was better than anything Del could have wished for. She had always wanted to be able to tell fortunes. She wanted to predict the future.
She couldn’t wait.
And she wouldn’t wait.
She sat cross-legged on the ground and put her new crystal ball in front of her. She closed her eyes to concentrate. She adjusted her three tutus and made sure her flower crown was on tight.
Fortune-telling was serious business.
“I am Madame Del, the magical fortune-teller of 86 ½ Twenty-Third Avenue! I am here to tell your fortune!”

4
Fortunes for Everyone
-Alma-
Madame Del turned out to be a very good fortune-teller. Alma had known she would be.
When Cassie stepped up to have her fortune told, Madame Del closed her eyes and made a humming noise. When she opened her eyes, she put her face very close to the crystal ball.
“Oh!” Madame Del said. “I see . . . I see a woman in red!”
“A woman in red?” Cassie asked. “Like, a scary woman in red?”
Madame Del brought her nose all the way to the surface of the crystal ball. “No,” Madame Del said. “She looks very nice.”
Alma was relieved. She didn’t want a scary woman in red showing up. She didn’t want anyone at all to get a bad fortune, even if she wasn’t sure the crystal ball was real.
A few minutes later, Cassie’s mother came to pick her up. She was wearing a red dress!
“Wow,” Cassie said. “That’s amazing!”
“Did you see what Cassie’s mom was wearing when she dropped her here?” Alma asked Del.
“Of course not!” Madame Del said. “Who’s next?”
“Me!” Felix Sanderson said. He stepped up to the crystal ball. He straightened his bow tie.
Madame Del closed her eyes. She made a humming noise. She rubbed the crystal ball. Alma wondered how she knew to do all that. If someone gave Alma a crystal ball, she’d have no idea how to use it.
“I see cake,” Madame Del said.
“I just had cake,” Felix said.
Madame Del leaned in closer to the ball. “Well, I see more cake,” she said.
Felix shrugged and stood up. He stood up right on top of a discarded cupcake someone had left on the ground! His shoes were covered in cake!
“Right again!” Felix said.
Madame Del grinned.
Alma couldn’t believe it. The crystal ball was really working!
“Your turn, Alma!” Madame Del said. But Alma was scared. And shy. She didn’t want everyone watching her while her fortune got told.
“Not right now,” Alma said.
“Don’t be a fraidycat!” Madame Del said. Alma blushed. She didn’t like being called a fraidycat.
Luckily, Evie interrupted. She sat down right in front of the crystal ball. “Tell my fortune!” she demanded.
Madame Del closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. She put her hands just above the crystal ball. When she opened her eyes, she leaned in close.
“Aha!” Madame Del said. “I see water!”
“Are we going to the beach?” Evie said. Alma laughed. Evie loved the beach. She asked if they were going to the beach every single morning.
“I don’t know,” Madame Del said. “I just see water.”
“I bet it’s the beach!” Evie said. “Let me go get my swimsuit! Oh, and my bucket and shovel! Where did we put the umbrella?” Evie was off and running. But before she was able to get any of her beach things, Titi Rosa scooped her up.
“Bathtime!” Titi Rosa said.
“Noooooo!” Evie cried.
“I was right again!” Madame Del said.
Maybe it really does work, Alma thought. Madame Del looked very proud, and Alma was proud too. She had gotten Del the perfect present. And not only that, but it might be really and truly magical!
Del told fortunes until it was time for her guests to return home. Alma thought that meant it was time to put the crystal ball away, but she always underestimated her cousin.
“Your turn, Alma,” Del said with a big birthday-girl grin. And because Del was the birthday girl, Alma couldn’t possibly refuse.


5
Madame Alma
-Del-
“How do you do it?” Alma asked. She might have been scared, but she was curious too. And if Del knew anything, it was that a curious cousin was an excellent thing.
“I just look at it, close my eyes, and when I open them again, there’s an image in the ball!” Del said. She couldn’t stop rubbing her new crystal ball. It was the best present she’d ever gotten. She wished she knew how to thank Alma for it.
“That doesn’t sound so scary,” Alma said.
“It’s not scary at all!” Del said.
“It really works?” Alma said.
“You saw it work!” Del said. Sometimes Del and Alma disagreed about things like magic, but today Alma wouldn’t be able to argue with Madame Del. She had told so many fortunes perfectly!
Alma stepped closer to the ball. Then closer again. Still, she was frowning. Del didn’t want her to be frowning or scared or shy or nervous. Finally, she thought of one thing that might help.
“How about you tell my fortune?” Del said. “I hereby declare you