Helen Speaks

Introduction to Olive: https://helenspeaks.wordpress.com/2025/04/07/olive-framleys-magical-year/

Olive meets Maksym: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/05/27/olive-framley-entry-12-27th-may/

Dear Talia,

I saw Maksym again the other day! He was walking along by the cliffs with his father. They were some way ahead of me and his father was walking at a usual pace but Maksym kept darting back.

I realised he was trying to practise making the rocks fly again. He didn’t notice me, being intent on not letting his father notice, and he even furtively slipped off one of the training bands to get the spell to work better.

I didn’t know if I felt proud or responsible, Talia. I decided to catch up with them.

I was going to say a smart “good morning” to his father, but Maksym eventually spotted me and squealed excitedly “Olive!”

His father turned at this, and Maksym said, “Tato, this is Olive! She is a miracle, like me!”

It was a little hard to maintain my poise as Maksym was squeezing me around the waist, but I did my best. “Ah, you must be Maksym’s father – I’m Olive Framley… A colleague of Lucy.”

I liked ‘colleague’ but it turned out that he didn’t speak a lot of English. He did smile at the mention of Lucy.

“Has he been doing a lot of magic?” I asked him.

“Oh no,” the man said. “Maksym good boy. No magic until older.”

He gestured to the training bands that Lucy had made – Maksym held one arm out while hiding the other where he’d loosened it. “These keep magic away.”

Maksym nodded in apparent obedience, giving me a wide-eyed look. He knew that I knew, and he hoped I wouldn’t say anything.

Poor kid. Imagine having your powers stunted like that! I know that Lucy hadn’t completed cut off his magic, but I wasn’t sure she’d made the right choice. It seemed like Maksym’s father just wanted to keep him small. I know what that feels like, Talia. It seems my mother does too.

I walked with them a bit and found out that they live in a little flat in town. Well, I want Maksym to know that he has an ally, one who won’t just put his magic away until later! So I went home and dug around in the kitchen until I found a recipe book. There was an easy recipe for cupcakes which seemed just the thing.

I made up a batch and even iced them, although they all looked a bit higgledy-piggledy. I took them to Maksym’s flat that afternoon – his father was touched and accepted my card (I’ve made a few new designs. I gave Maksym’s father one that said Olive Framley – Witch and problem solver which I thought sounded friendly. He did look at the cupcakes a little suspiciously and said, “No magic? Just normal?”

But Maksym grabbed one and hugged me again.

His father took one too, out of a slightly intimidated politeness, but he was very complimentary when he ate it.

I promise I did nothing to the cakes! After the spell on Aunty E I’ve realised I shouldn’t do magic on someone that they didn’t ask for. But hopefully he’ll trust me to take Maksym out every now and again. He needs a friend who accepts his magic.

Yours sincerely,

Olive.

Question: How much should parents encourage their children to take risks?

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Olive’s next letter: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/05/31/olive-framley-entry-14-31st-may/