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The Welcome Sign
By Barbara Jean Weber
When
10-year-old Molly Parnell’s grandmother mysteriously disappears she and
her mother travel to Cape Cod to take ownership of the house they
inherited and find out answers about the sudden disappearance. But what
they discover could be more dangerous and life changing than they ever
imaged. Molly and her mother find a beautiful mermaid welcome sign in
the attic and place it on the front door. Unusual things start to happen
and they are flooded with visitors who claim they knew the
grandmother. The true powers behind the mysterious sign are revealed as
Molly learns her grandmother was part of a secret organization working
to keep balance between the magical realm and the real world. The
magical realms placed an invisible veil of secrecy over the world to
hide their true identities from the human world but allowing them to
live among them in secret. An angry rebel group of magical beings,
tired of living in hiding is tearing down and destroying the magical
cloaking fabric between the two worlds. If they are not stopped the
magical realm will no longer be safe from the world. As Molly and her
mom embark on a dangerous and magical adventure throughout the magical
realms to help stop the rebels, she learns of her own magical powers
and her strong family heritage connected to the welcome sign. Along the
way, she teams up with new magical friends helping to keep the realm of
magic safe from the eyes of the world and discovers that her grandmother
was right all along. The world she thought she knew no longer exists,
but an amazing world of magic woven into their world has always been
hiding in plain sight.
- Genre: YA Fantasy
- Sub-genre: Teen & Young Adult Magical Realism Fiction
- Language: English
- Pages: 218
- Paperback ISBN: 979-8350987287
Read sample here.
The Welcome Sign is available at Amazon.
PROLOGUE
CRYSTAL
PERKINS SLIPPED INTO HER OFFICE AND LOOKED carefully down the hallway.
It was shortly after 8:00 p.m., and the office was dark and deserted.
The only staff remaining was the cleaning crew. She threw one last look
around the hallway and nervously shut the door quickly behind her. She
glanced out the window, closed the blinds, and turned on the small desk
lamp.
Crystal
slumped down in her chair and unfolded the newspaper on her desk. She
ran her hand anxiously through her short, curly black hair. She couldn’t
believe all of this was happening so quickly. Things were totally out
of control, and she didn’t know how they were going to fix them. Sighing
deeply, she glanced at the article in bold print and reached for the
phone. She continued to stare at the front page of the newspaper as she
frantically dialed the numbers on the phone. In bold print on the first
page of the newspaper were these words: “More Unusual Sightings of
Strange Creatures: An Elaborate Hoax or Fact?”
“Warren,
it’s Crystal. Have you seen the newspaper today? There have been more
sightings!” Her voice was shaky and worried. “It’s getting too
overwhelming!” She ran a hand across her forehead.
“Crystal!
Calm down. I have my people looking into this right now on my end,” a
deep voice replied. “Have you questioned the witnesses yet? Are their
stories credible? Are you—” he asked with a concerned tone but stopped
suddenly.
“Yes,
of course I have investigated all of the local reports and followed up
on all the new leads regarding the sightings! Besides, Warren, that is
my job. Isn’t that why you put me in the position of investigative
reporter in the first place? Plus, Warren, like you. I know the real
story. She paused with a deep sigh. “But Warren, there are too many! I
can’t keep up. Warren, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Crystal,
do you hear that humming sound in the handset? I’m not sure this is a
secure line! Quick, call me on the other line!” There was a click and
the line instantly went dead. Crystal dug deep in her purse and pulled
out a small pearl-colored compact. The circular device shimmered as she
turned it in her hands. She quickly scanned the room to make sure she
was alone. Flipping open the compact, Crystal dropped in five small
glowing bead-like objects from a long, clear vial she had also removed
from her purse. She breathed over them, and instantly they broke apart
into smaller pieces. She pushed a button on the side of the compact, and
the glowing objects began to melt and formed a glowing, watery
substance. Crystal dipped her finger in, swirling it slowly in a
clockwise direction. Slowly the glowing substance rose out of the
compact in a funnel shape and expanded out to form a lighted, liquid
screen about ten inches in length. Through a shimmery haze Warren’s face
appeared in the watery screen. He spoke in a low voice.
“Is
it safe to talk here?” he asked quietly. Crystal nodded. “Yeah, it’s
late. There shouldn’t be anyone else here. Everyone has gone home. I
think the only people that are here now are the cleaning crew.”
“We
must be absolutely sure! There is too much at stake here. I think your
office phone may be bugged. We can’t speak on the regular line anymore,
understand?” Warren warned. “As my number one investigative reporter,
YOU are in charge of making the witness’s stories sound ridiculous, and
it’s your job to discredit the reports inthe papers. Under no
circumstances can we let the real story get out. EVER! It’s important
that we keep the truth hidden. I’ve got others strategically placed in
these roles around the world doing the very same jobs. Don’t make me
think I picked the wrong person for this job, Crystal!”
Crystal
nodded. “You did pick the right person for the job. You know Warren,
it’s getting harder to cover this up.” Crystal ran a hand slowly across
her forehead and through her hair. “Wait, Warren,” she stammered.
Hearing a noise in the hall, Crystal stood up and approached the door.
“Warren, hold on. I heard something.” She listened quietly, cracked open
the door, and peered into the darkened hallway. The light from her
office made dark shadows dance along the walls as she opened the door.
Silently and unseen, a tall, slender figure slid the toe of his shoe
into the dark shadows, pulled his body tighter against the wall, and
held his breath. Crystal glanced around, and when she was convinced no
one was there, she closed the door quietly. “I’m losing my mind, Warren.
I’m sure I just heard footsteps in the hallway.”
“Calm
down! Don’t be so jumpy, Crystal. You’ve got to hold it together! It
was probably just the cleaners. Now is not the time to lose it. You’ve
got to keep your head clear,” Warren stated authoritatively.
“Warren, there’s something else. I think I’m being followed. I swear I keep seeing the same car—”
Warren
cut her off with, “Don’t panic. I’ll get someone over there for your
protection and to keep an eye on you. They should be there in the
morning. Just stay focused and on task. We can’t let this get out of
control, understand? We won’t let anything happen to you!”
“Our
paper wants to run a similar article as what the witnesses are saying,”
she whispered. “And Warren, I’m looking at a press release that they
want sent out as soon as possible. The witnesses sound very credible
this time . . . I’m having a hard time covering this up. Warren, what do
we do? There are too many sightings. More and more are coming in every
week, and I’m running out of creative ways to cover them up! We need to
get this stopped RIGHT NOW! I need some serious help from your end!”
Crystal stammered nervously.
“I
know! I know,” Warren nodded. “We’re doing all we can over here. We’re
trying to find out who’s responsible so we can stop them. You just keep
doing the best you can. We’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as
possible. Whatever you do . . . Keep the secret hidden. It’s imperative
that we continue to keep this under control. We’ve been able to keep
this hidden for a long time, and I’m not about to let the secret loose
now. We must keep covering this up! And we need to do it quickly! We’ll
talk in a few days. Warren out!”
The
liquid screen started swirling slowly, gradually picking up speed and
ultimately dissolving back into a sparkling funnel shape and descending
into the compact. All that was left in the compact were several glowing
bead-like objects. Crystal held the compact out and blew at the objects.
The bead-like objects instantly disintegrated into a fine powder and
were swept away without a trace. Crystal snapped the compact shut,
shoving it back in her purse. This wasn’t going to be easy. Warren had
given her the tough job of keeping their identify safe. Although there
had been sporadic incidents here and there, their secret had been kept
safe for nearly three centuries.
Why
was it getting harder now while she was the investigative reporter?
Things were skyrocketing out of control at a rate faster than she could
handle.
Crystal
had known Warren Tracer ever since she was a little girl. He was a dear
family friend. They had all been true believers, and when Crystal was
old enough to know the secret, she was brought into the circle of trust.
As she grew older, she had seen more of Warren and learned about his
unbelievable secret. Warren Tracer hadn’t always been Warren Tracer. His
original name was Whalen Marks, and although he was not a magical
being, he possessed great magical powers.
In
his younger years, he and her father had been with the Special Forces
for the military. During a particularly secretive mission, a trap had
been set, and the mission had gone terribly wrong. Everyone had been
reported dead. However, the real events of the mission had never been
revealed.
All
Crystal knew was that Warren, her father, and several of the men had
made an amazing discovery on that day. The mission had indeed gone
horribly wrong, but several of the Special Forces men had been rescued.
Crystal suspected that Warren and his men had made contact with beings
of the magical realm. Warren rarely spoke of the events of that day, but
she knew better than anyone that Warren was a true believer. Something
remarkable had happened to him and his men, but no one knew exactly what
that was. Just that it was remarkable and life changing.
Warren
had eventually changed his identity, becoming Warren Tracer, and begun
working undercover for the magical realm. When her father died several
years later, Warren had stepped in as a replacement. He had been family
from the beginning, so to accept him as a father figure wasn’t
difficult.
Eventually,
Crystal had been approached to work for Warren in helping keep their
secret safe. There was nothing more in the world that Crystal wanted
than to help out her new friends. She’d jumped at the chance to work
undercover at the newspaper and keep Warren up to speed on all the local
sightings. It was a dream come true. Warren and the others didn’t
disappoint her, and she loved her job. She had been working with the
newspaper for over eleven years now, but of late, she was finding it
harder and harder to hide the truth.
Crystal
hoped Warren would find those that were responsible for the tears in
the fabric and stop them. They would need a lot of help if they were
going to keep the secret safe this time. As she sighed heavily and
slumped back in her chair, she caught a quick glimpse of movement to her
side. Startled, Crystal looked up suddenly. There had been more noises
that she was sure weren’t made by the cleaning crew. In a flash Crystal
stood up, knocking her chair to the floor. Before she could fully
comprehend what was happening, two tall, shadowy figures flung open the
door, bolted from her office, and were joined by a third in the hallway.
They had heard everything. In the wrong hands, the information that
she’d conveyed to Warren could prove very dangerous. As she grabbed for
the compact in a frantic panic, the three figures dashed from the
building at an astonishingly fast speed and vanished without a trace
silently into the night.
Barbara Jean Weber lives in Skagit County with her husband and two daughters, where she works as a speech and language therapist. Her novel,
The Welcome Sign,
was inspired when she was gifted a mermaid welcome sign. The more she
studied the sign, the more her story evolved. She is currently an active
member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Visit her website at https://www.barbarajeanweber.com/.
