Royalties in

Magic

Ruqaiyah Ajmer

Daastan Publishing 2023

First Published in Pakistan by Daastan PVT LTD

House # A-41, Madni Street, Lala Rukh, Wah Cantt, Punjab 47040

www.daastan.com

www.meraqissa.com

Text copyrights © Ruqaiyah Mulla Moiz

Book Design copyright © Rabia Abbas

Edited by: Mariam Rizvi

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator and editor have been asserted.

All rights reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 978-969-696-821-4

This book is dedicated to my sister, Zahra bhen, who brought the most magical times in my life. Without her being there for me, this could have never been possible.

CONTENTS

The Change in Atmosphere.

The Explanation.

Trouble with Disapparating.

Discovering New Things.

Unfolding the Secrets.

Following the Traitor.

Making Plans.

The Revelation of Classified Information.

Enemy’s Weaknesses.

The Rescue.

1.

The Change in Atmosphere

Life is never boring; it is actually full of surprises. It is just us people that think it is boring. We think that it is a dull routine, following the same rules and regulations day after day. Sometimes, when people think beyond this, they can actually change what they call their ‘boring’ life (not that it is ever boring). You can actually learn new things every day; all you have to do is open your mind. But sometimes, life changes our whole future, without us even paying attention to what is going on and without even the slightest bit of interference from us. So today, I am going to narrate a story of a girl whose life took a whole different course in a matter of months, once she was involved in adventures and a lot of detective work. So, let us jump right into it!

It was the 25^th of May in 2021, a Tuesday, and 6:30 in the morning when Jade Galdur was standing in a terminal, waiting patiently to board her flight to Nairobi, Kenya. She was very excited and a bit nervous as she was changing schools because she had been given a year’s scholarship to one of the prestigious schools in Nairobi. The past month had been a whirlwind for her with receiving the scholarship, and at first, she was really surprised. She was the most talented and extraordinary child at the school she previously studied at, and had so much knowledge that she could easily apply for college if she wanted to, even though she was fourteen and had just started eight grade.

Her previous school’s principal had applied for a scholarship for her because he wanted her to get more educational experience and he sadly and grudgingly accepted that his school could not give her that. He received a reply from the principal of Brookhouse School about a month later that showed he was delighted to give a scholarship to a girl with such talents. Even though she was old enough to go on a plane journey alone, her parents insisted on coming with her. After a lot of persuasion, they decided to let her go on her own but gave her a full lesson on how to handle things at the airport. In their final moments together, they smothered her with lots of hugs and kisses and finally let her go.

And here she was, finally boarding her flight to Nairobi, when a senior air hostess looked at her suspiciously and took her aside and said, “Hello, I am Amanda Smith. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. May I?”

“Yes sure, go ahead,” Jade said.

“Are you capable to ride on a plane alone?” Amanda asked.

“Yes, I am. My mother already talked to the airline beforehand and I am pretty sure I can take care of myself,” she assured the air hostess convincingly.

“Ok, that is good to hear. When you land in Nairobi, is somebody going to be there to pick you up?”

“I will be directly heading to the Brookhouse School and I think a taxi from the school will probably be there to pick me up.”

“Okay then, please show me your boarding pass.” She looked at it for a couple of seconds and then said, “Do you need any assistance in getting to your seat?”

“No, I think I can find my way to the seat, but thank you for the concern.” Jade smiled sweetly at the air hostess and went into the plane. She found her seat after a couple of minutes and sat comfortably in it.

The plane was almost full but the seat beside hers was empty. Hopefully, someone nice would occupy the empty seat beside her. She glanced out the window, trying to see beyond the runway, trying to remember everything about Irving. It had been her home for years and it was a bit hard to leave it, even for a year.

“Hey, Jade. How are you? It’s been a long time.” Jade was startled by the voice that spoke beside her. She turned around to look who it was and gasped.

“Oh my God, Peter! It certainly has been a long time. I did not expect to see you here. How are you? What are you doing here?”

“I am fine. What about you?” Peter Thatcher was a fourteen-year-old, sandy-colored, freckle-faced, burly boy who was Jade’s classmate and best friend.

“I am also really good. So, what are you doing on a plane to Nairobi all alone?”

“I could ask you the same question.” They both chuckled before Peter continued, “I am going to surprise my friend Carl Rivera as it is his birthday in a couple of days. I made friends with him and a few more boys when I visited Nairobi two years ago. I owe him a lot and I figured this was the least I could do for him. What about you?”

“Well, I don’t think you have heard but I got a scholarship from Brookhouse School in Nairobi last month and the term there starts in fifteen days, so I figured if I could reach there before it starts, I might be able to get to know the surroundings.”

“Weird,” Peter thought. “I would never spend half of my summer holidays at an empty school. Should have known Jade would do that. She likes peaceful surroundings.”

“Well, I hope you have fun at the party.” Jade’s voice brought him back to reality. “I hope that you enjoy school as w-”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on Fasten Seat Belt sign. If you haven’t already done so, please stow your carry-on luggage underneath the seat in front of you or in an overhead bin. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. And also make sure that your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright position. If you are seated next to an emergency exit, please read carefully the special instructions card located by your seat. If you do not wish to perform the functions described in the event of an emergency, please ask a flight attendant to reseat you. We remind you that this is a non-smoking flight. Smoking is prohibited on the entire aircraft, including lavatories. Tampering with, disabling, or destroying the lavatory smoke detectors is prohibited by law. If you have any questions about our flight today, please don’t hesitate to ask one of our flight attendants. Thank you.” The air hostess’s voice from the speaker caught them by shock because they had not noticed, but thirty minutes had passed since they had boarded the flight.

They followed the standard procedures and then Jade was ruffling in her bag, trying to find her neck pillow when Peter suddenly cried out, “Oh no! I forgot my gum. What am I going to do now!”

“Don’t worry about it Peter, you can borrow mine,” Jade said quickly.

“Thanks a lot, Jade.” Both of them sighed in relief. Peter had a very mild earache which only got ten times worse when a plane he was boarded in took off or landed and it would not stop irritating him unless he chewed gum fast.

“So, Jade, have you not brought any books?” Peter asked, surprised. For as long as he had known Jade, he had always seen her with her nose in a book.

“I have brought books, I just accidentally put them in my suitcase instead of my hand-carry.”

“Do you want to borrow mine?”

“No, thanks.”

Peter’s eyes widened in shock and he asked, “Who are you and what have you done to Jade?”

Jade chuckled, “I would like to read a book, but I think I would fall asleep before even completing a chapter; I woke up early in the morning. I am surprised you are not sleepy.” She then put her pillow around her neck and went to sleep.

Everything in the flight was going smoothly during the four-hour flight up until the last thirty minutes when this announcement was made by the flight attendant, “Ladies and gentlemen, the flight Captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign. We are now crossing a zone of turbulence. Please return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened. Thank you.” As soon as this announcement was made, people started to panic even though the flight attendants tried their best to calm the passengers down. In the last five minutes before landing, Jade woke up and looked at Peter, and asked, “Peter, are you alright? You look pale.”

Peter then whispered to her. “Good thing you were not awake. The plane went through twenty minutes of bad turbulence. I am shocked you were not woken up by all the screams. People were literally writing their wills without even thinking about witnesses and all.” They both laughed at that.

They landed safely at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. “Ah, nothing better than fresh air after a really long flight and turbulence, if I must say.” They had taken their luggage from the luggage room and were standing beside the driveway.

“I whole-heartedly agree. Is somebody going to pick you up?” Jade asked.

“Yes, Carl’s mother is coming to pick me up. What about you?”

“A taxi from the school is probably coming to pick me up.” They suddenly heard a horn near them and a blonde woman of about forty in a Bentley waved excitedly towards Peter.

“Guess I got to go. Here is the address if you ever want to visit. I don’t think Mrs. Johnson would mind if you come.” He quickly wrote down the address on a piece of paper he had in his pocket. He then hugged her and went into the car.

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you but by any chance, are you Miss Jade Parkinson?” Jade was startled and turned around to look at who had spoken in such a heavy African accent. She saw a short, dark-skinned man with curly black hair and brown eyes staring at her.

“Yes, I am Jade Parkinson, and who would you be?”

“I am Alfredo Njeri, personal driver and assistant of Mr. James Miller, principal of Brookhouse School. He told me to come to pick you up. And if you are wondering how I know who you are, your name is written on your suitcases. I assume you are on a scholarship basis?” It took Jade a minute before she could answer.

“Y-yes.”

“So, shall we?”

“Yes.”

He took her suitcases and motioned her to follow him. He stopped in front of a black Lamborghini Murcielago. Jade just stared at the car until Alfredo told her to sit inside. Jade had never seen a car like this before and asked, “Sorry for being so straightforward, but do you own this car?”

Alfredo laughed before he answered. “If I would have owned this car, I would have opened my own business and lived in a big house. No Miss, Mr. Miller owns this car. He just lets me drive this car when he is in a particularly good mood.” Alfredo did not talk much after that and Jade had a chance to look out of the window and she thought that the view was splendid.

The sky was blue with birds chirping and there were lush green trees and bushes on either side of the road. There were hardly any shops and there were hardly any houses to be seen. When she asked why the school was built in such a remote part of town, Alfredo said that he did not know, but maybe she could get her answers from Mr. Miller.

“We are almost there,” Alfredo said after a while, but Jade could not see anything but trees surrounding something huge. She could only see three massive buildings, beige in color, and about five-story high when they approached the gates. She could also see tennis and badminton courts, along with a swimming pool and a huge stable with about around hundred horses in it. She also caught sight of a massive bicycle shed right behind the stables.

Alfredo parked the car behind the middle building, and that is when Jade caught sight of an enormous arena. They had to walk to reach the main building in the center and Jade had an opportunity to look at the trees surrounding the grounds.

For the first time, she noticed that there was a tall, beige wall in front of the trees that she could not have seen when viewing from outside. Barbed wire was also spiraling on top of the almost-thirty-feet wall. The trees had grown alongside the wall in such a way that anyone would think it was done that way intentionally. By now, Jade was sure there was a mystery surrounding the school and she was determined to solve it, somehow. Who would go to such depths to hide the school?! They had reached the main building and Alfredo led her to the principal’s office.

As soon as Alfredo opened the door, her eyes met with a fair-skinned, brown-haired, and blue-eyed man. He looked middle-aged and was wearing a beige suit with no shoes on as his office was covered with a beige carpet. She looked around the room and saw that the walls were pale blue with loads of books, certificates, trophies, medals, and awards on shelves that stood against the wall. There was also a huge brown window, facing the ground. There was a white desk and a chair behind it on which he sat. There were also a few white chairs in front of the desk for visitors. The desk was covered with folders, a landline phone, a glass of half-filled water, and a couple of family photos. She also noticed that there were no fans in the room, just a couple of tube lights, a lamp on the table, and two bulbs.

“Hello and welcome to Brookhouse School, Miss Jade Parkinson. I trust that you had a safe journey. Please take off your shoes and put your luggage outside, and then come in. Alfredo, thank you for bringing her here. You may go.”

By the sound of his voice, she could determine that he was not African, he probably emigrated from the U.K. He also looked like a heart-warming person and sounded like an optimist. She went inside and James motioned for her to sit down. “So, Miss Parkinson, what would you like to know?”

“Anything and everything,” Jade chuckled.

James chuckled and said, “Would you like to know everything about this school?”

Jade smiled and said, “Sure.”

“Okay, so this school was opened in 1981.There are three buildings: the middle one is for the classes of grades 6 to 11, the right building is for the girl’s dormitory while the left one is for boys. The reason for having only 6 to 11 classes here is because the primary section is built on another ground, about 3 kilometers away. Even though I am the principal of both campuses, I cannot be there all the time. That is why I have the vice principal there and he comes here when I am not here and vice versa. I am sure you were about to ask me that, weren’t you?”

Jade blushed with a deep red hue and looked away from him.