Beck and the Wand Between the Books

The mouse in Beck’s bedtime book was standing on the giant’s throne, wearing a crown made of crumbs.

“That isn’t where the mouse goes,” Beck said. He held the book open while his little sister, Fern, sat beside him on a reading stool. “First he finds the moonlit pond. Then he meets the giant.”

The cozy library around them gave a quiet rustle. Books shuffled along the shelves, making room for one another. A book about whales scooted beside a book about wagons. Somewhere, a row of atlases whispered, “Pardon me.”

Beck reached for his wand. It wasn’t tucked in his sleeve, or on the reading table, or in the pocket of his wizard coat.

“Oh,” he said. “I must have left it somewhere.”

As soon as he said that, the mouse hopped down from the throne and landed in the library. His crumb crown slid over one ear.

“Excuse me,” said the mouse. “Is this the pond?”

A page fluttered. The giant appeared in the doorway, holding a teacup as big as a soup pot. Behind him, a little boat sailed right out of the book and around Beck’s shoes.

Fern giggled. “Your magic is mixing up the story!”

“My wand must be doing it,” Beck said. He tried to sound calm, though he wanted Fern’s bedtime story back in the right order. “We’ll find it, then I’ll tap each page and put everything right.”

The mouse pointed toward a tall shelf. “I was on my way to the pond when—whoops!” He blinked. “Was it a mountain?”

Beck and Fern followed him between the shelves. The book about the giant flapped open on a nearby stand. Now the giant was sitting in a tiny boat, while the mouse rode on his shoulder.

“There,” Beck said. “That’s another wrong scene.”

The boat drifted past their knees. Beck caught its little sail before it bumped a shelf. On the sail was a picture of a moon and a pond.

“Maybe the story is leaving us clues,” Fern said.

Beck looked toward the shifting shelves. Somewhere among all those books, his wand was making a muddle of the tale. He and Fern stepped after the boat, ready to see what changed next.

The boat sailed beneath an arch of books and stopped beside a picture of a green hill. The mouse climbed out. “The pond!” he cried, then looked around at the dry floor. “Or perhaps the hill?”

The giant stepped from the book, still perched in his tiny boat. “I believe I’m supposed to be carrying the mouse,” he said politely. “But I can’t remember where we’re going.”

Beck opened the book to the next page. The hill had changed into a forest, and the moonlit pond was now drawn up in the clouds. “The clues won’t stay still,” he said. “Every time the magic changes the story, the picture changes too.”

He tried following the boat again, but it turned into a paper bird and flew toward the far end of the library. Beck and Fern hurried after it. The bird landed on a stack of books, where the mouse was suddenly wearing a leaf hat and the giant was small enough to sit on a teacup.

Beck frowned at the pages. “I don’t know which scene comes next.”

Fern leaned close to the characters. “Wait. Look at the mouse’s paw.”

A tiny silver bookmark was tucked there. The same kind of bookmark was held by the giant. Fern spotted another in the paper bird’s beak, and one in the hand of a little girl who had just stepped from the story.

“They’re all holding bookmarks,” Fern said. She turned slowly, watching their narrow ends. Each bookmark pointed the same way: toward a shelf crowded with bedtime books.

“That’s our clue!” Beck said.

They followed the pointing bookmarks. The shelf gave a small shuffle. One book slid left, another slid right, and behind them—wedged between a book about sleepy bears and a book about the moon—the missing wand lay on its side.

Beck reached carefully into the narrow space and pulled it free. The wand had left a little trail of silver bookmarks tucked into the pages nearby.

“Thank you for noticing,” he told Fern.

She smiled. “Now the story can go home.”

Beck opened the book to its first page. He gently tapped the mouse. The mouse returned to the pond. He tapped the giant, and the giant went back to his proper page, ready to meet the mouse. One by one, the borrowed characters slipped into their scenes. The boat settled in its picture, and the paper bird folded itself flat on the page.

The library grew quiet as the last character returned to the book. The mouse stood beside the moonlit pond, just where he belonged. The giant waited on the next page, holding a teacup that fit his hand. The little boat rested on the water, and the paper bird perched in a painted tree.

Beck turned the pages slowly, checking that each scene stayed in order. The mouse dipped one paw into the pond. The giant spotted him and leaned down to say hello. Then they walked together toward a little cottage, where a warm supper waited.

“Is that the right order?” Fern asked.

“It is now,” Beck said.

He placed his wand on the table instead of tucking it into his sleeve. Then he closed the book with care. No boats sailed across the floor. No characters stepped out to ask for directions. The shelves settled into their rows, though one book gave a sleepy little sigh as it slid into place.

Fern picked up the silver bookmarks. “Should these go back in the book?”

“Just one,” Beck said. He opened to the page where the mouse first found the pond and slipped a bookmark between the pages. Fern put another beside the scene with the giant. The others went into a small wooden cup on the table, ready for another story someday.

Together, they carried the book to its shelf. Beck set it between the stories about sleepy bears and the moon. It fit neatly, and the shelf gave a pleased creak.

Then Beck and Fern returned to their reading stool. Beck opened the book again, and they read the restored story from the beginning. Fern made a tiny mouse voice. Beck made the giant sound grand and kind. When they reached the cottage, Fern whispered, “The mouse gets the biggest crumb.”

“That’s my favorite line,” Beck whispered back.

They closed the book and went to bed. In the quiet library, the wand stayed on the table, the story stayed in order, and Beck and Fern whispered their favorite lines once more before the night grew still.