Master Davey and the Magic Tea House: Legend of the Blue Tiger, Susan Chodakiewitz [fantasy novels to read TXT] 📗

Master Davey and The Magic Tea House

By Susan Chodakiewitz

None of  the customers at the Magic Tea House actually believed Master Davey's teas were  magical... Except for a boy named Hopper Smith.

Day by day Hopper watched Master Davey prepare his magic blends.  Sometimes Master Davey added spices or roots or the peel of fruits.  Sometimes he added buds or the petals of flowers.

“Take a whiff of my newest blend, Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearl.  What do you smell, Hopper?  What do you smell?” “A bouquet of flowers… and a summer breeze," said Hopper.

“Getting better, Hopper.  Getting better," said Master Davey.

            One day Master Davey took out a mysterious jade box with only a few tea leaves in it.  He steeped the tea and poured Hopper a cup.  "What do you smell, Hopper?  What do you smell?"

Hopper closed his eyes and took a long deep breath.  "I smell the scent of a tiger!" said Hopper.

"Very good, Hopper!  Very good!" said Master Davey.  "This is the last of the Blue Tiger Tea, the most rare and precious tea of all.  And it is about to be lost to the world forever."

"Is there any way to save it?" asked Hopper.

"The legend of the Blue Tiger Tea tells of a boy who will someday save it.  Perhaps you are that boy," said Master Davey.

"How do I know if I am?" asked Hopper.

"Do you have the courage to find out?"

Hopper nodded.  Master Davey held out the tea cup.  Swirls of steam rose up from it.

"Watch the leaves as they uncurl, Hopper, and let the magic of the tea unfurl..."

            When the steam cleared, Hopper found himself in a field of scraggly, withered bushes.  Beside him stood a girl.

"Where am I?" asked Hopper.  "And who are you?"

"I am Camellia.  You are in the Blue Tiger Tea fields of my village in Yunnan, China."

"What happened to your tea fields?" asked Hopper.

"The tea moth has destroyed them." 

            "Can't they be replanted?" asked Hopper.

"We have no seeds left," said Camellia.  "Long ago the ancient emperor Shen Nong found my ancestors worthy to be the keepers of his precious Blue Tiger Tea and entrusted them with twelve seeds.  We have been growing this tea ever since... But now our fields are dried up.  We have failed to protect the tea." A tear rolled down Camellia's face.

            "There must be someplace we can get more seeds," said Hopper.

"The seeds only grow on the emperor's Blue Tiger Tea tree.  And no one knows where it is."

"I'll help you find it," said Hopper.

"There is a legend of a boy who will someday save the Blue Tiger Tea.  If you are that boy, then perhaps the tea will lead us," said Camellia.

Camellia brought out a pouch of Blue Tiger Tea and a pot of hot water.

"This is the last of the Blue Tiger Tea," said Camellia.  She poured it into the pot.  Then she took her ceremonial tea scarf from around her neck and placed it on Hopper.

"Wear this for the journey," said Camellia.  "It is the sign of the protector of the tea."

Swirls of steam rose up from the pot.  Hopper closed his eyes and took a breath...

"What do you smell, Hopper?  What do

you smell?" asked Camellia.

"I smell the scent of a forest..."  

Susan Chodakiewitz is the author of Too Many Visitors for One Little House, Wobegon and Mildred(a love story between two un lovable parking ticket monsters) and Mr. Snoozle's Exquisite Eggs ( a comical passover holiday  story)  She loves music, theater, travel and sharing tea with her family.  Master Davey and the Magic Tea House is Susan's first book written in collaboration with Tea Master, David De Candia.

To learn more please visit www.booksicals.com.

Publication Date: 12-11-2013

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