Chapter 18 Transparent Pie
Transparent Pie
“ARE YOU SURE THIS WILL WORK?” ASKED GEORGIA THE NEXT afternoon.
They were now standing outside The Borrowed Spork. Class had just ended, and the entire school was heading to the cafeteria for an assembly.
Sylvie pulled out the letter they’d put together using bits of Georgia’s magazines and the tylose powder from their tool kits. A little water mixed into the powder, a paintbrush, and voilà, Sylvie had created the perfect glue.
“What if the words fall off the page,” said Georgia, still wishing they’d used something more durable.
“Trust me,” said Sylvie. “My mom uses tylose to glue gumpaste figurines all the time. If it can hold a mermaid together, it can handle this. Besides, the sticking agent will also goop things up for Godard, making it hard for her to trace this back to us.”
Sylvie stared at the letter as they walked.
Despite its resemblance to a ransom note, Sylvie was still quite pleased.
They turned the corner and headed up the steps to the dining hall. The inside was swarming with activity. Sylvie folded the note and sealed it in an envelope.
“I’m telling you. This is the perfect plan. The entire school is here.” She stuffed it into her pocket. “Once the assembly is over, you distract Godard and I’ll slip it into her pocket.” Sylvie just hoped this went more smoothly than her last plan.
“Everyone! May I have your attention.” Madame Godard stood on a dais at the front of the room. She gestured to the rows of chairs that were now erected in tidy lines throughout the dining hall. “Please. Take a seat.”
A small table with two chairs had been placed at the foot of the podium where Madame Godard was speaking.
To the right of it stood a group of Brindille teachers, dressed in starched chef’s coats and tall toques.
Sylvie spotted Chef Jake laughing with Madame Pelletier.
At the far end of the faculty line, Kitty and Madame Lopez were chatting with Flora and another girl who was holding a very large poster.
Sylvie and Georgia joined the other stragglers, searching for seats.
“Georgia! Sylvie! Sit here!”
Sylvie spun around. Adara was waving them over. I guess Georgia’s lecture in the food truck worked. Sylvie tried her best to hide the look of shock as they made their way through the crowd and squeezed into the two empty seats.
Adara leaned over. “You two disappeared last night. I was looking for you at dinner.”
Georgia glanced nervously at Sylvie. “Yeah, we ah … had a special project we were working on.”
Adara opened her mouth, but luckily, Madame Godard started speaking again. “If I could please have everyone’s attention.”
The room fell silent.
“As you know, tomorrow evening we’ll have our annual Commis Contest. I would like to go over a few things, as we’ll be implementing some new rules.”
A murmur filled the air.
“First, I would like to remind everyone that the competition is an opportunity for community building and creative expression.” Godard looked around the room. Her eyes settled on someone at the back of the audience. “Bickering, bullying, and cheating will not be tolerated.”
Sylvie craned her neck to see who Godard was looking at. Seated in the final row, looking grumpier than a wet cat, was Belinda Bass.
“Sage parents are welcome to join the event,” continued Godard. “Brindille’s gates will open to visiting family members at six o’clock.”
Sylvie turned her attention back to Godard’s speech.
“Unfortunately, we won’t be extending invitations to Scullery family members this year.”
Grumbles echoed around the room.
“I know you are all disappointed.” Madame Godard’s lips curved down. “I am too. Unfortunately, the CCS has deemed it too dangerous.”
Teachers shook their heads. Kids whispered. No one, including Sylvie, was buying it.
She glanced sidelong at Georgia. Her gaze had settled somewhere distant. If Sylvie had to guess, it was probably back with her family in Montmarte.
Sylvie felt sorry for her. Sure, Sylvie was stuck here on her own too. But it wasn’t the same. The school. The people who work here. Mom knows them all. There was something reassuring in that.
Godard clapped her hands together. “Now for the good news! I’m pleased to announce that I’m changing our voting system. CCS staff will still be involved in the process, but there will be no alumni casting votes this year. Instead, each of you will help determine the winner.”
A buzz of excited chatter filled the air.
Sylvie couldn’t help but notice Flora and the other girl break into enthusiastic whispers.
A smile spread across Godard’s face. “This is an impromptu change. More details will be distributed tomorrow in the competition’s flyer.”
Sylvie wondered if the impromptu change was connected to what Godard had learned from the Clarity Consommé.
“As for today, we will have an exciting speech from one of our most famous Commis Contest winners … Guy Fabre!”
There was a squeal of giddy girls. Adara started brushing her hair through with her fingers.
Sylvie rolled her eyes.
Everyone is under Fabre’s spell.
Godard paused. “But before you get out your autograph books, Monsieur Fabre couldn’t make it in person. However, his cwtch should be arriving shortly.”
The room sighed with disappointment.
Adara’s hands dropped back into her lap.
“In the meantime,” continued Madame Godard, “Kitty and I will be serving up an old school tradition. But first, two of our mentors are here today to speak to you about an old organization with a new chapter here at Brindille. Flora Jackson and Maggie Leung have worked hard to make this happen.”
Flora and the girl next to her, who Sylvie assumed was Maggie, smiled and jabbed elbows.
“I am so proud of their work! So please give them your undivided attention.”
Everyone clapped as the two girls made their way onto the stage carrying a large rolled-up poster.
Maggie marched up to the microphone in a pair of platform boots, a gleaming mentor badge pinned to her chef’s coat.
Sylvie couldn’t help but notice Flora’s was missing.
“Hello everyone! First, I’d like to thank Madame Godard for her support in bringing SIFT to our school.
” She ran a hand through her straight black bob, revealing several pink highlights.
“From dim sum to dosas, healing epazote to giggling gateaus, the spells we cast and the foods we eat are influenced by different cultures. When we all have a seat at the table, the world of food becomes richer. Spells turn more powerful. That’s what Sages for Inclusion, Fairness, and Transparency is all about.
We believe that every person, and every step in the process—from seedling to plated dish—should be treated equally. ”
Maggie’s words caught Sylvie’s attention.
When she’d read about the Apple of Discord in the library, she’d learned about Savior, the CCS’s first president.
Sylvie racked her brain. What did the book say?
That’s right! After he left the CCS, he started a club for inclusion, fairness, and transparency.
Sylvie hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but now it made sense. It’s SIFT.
“So, whether we’re advocating for the local farmer that is growing peculiar plants, influencing more open food-related policies, or supporting the Sage hoping to preserve endangered spells and traditional foods, the global network at SIFT is there to help.
Thanks to this new chapter, students will now have a space at school to come together, take action, and make sure that every voice is heard.
” Maggie gave Flora a nod as they lifted the poster into the air.
Three-dimensional letters drifted off the dangling page and transformed into a cloud of flour. It sailed overhead, sprinkling down, like snow, in a delicate pattern that spelled out SIFT.
Sylvie straightened up.
Resting like a crown at the top of the poster—and now dusted across the ground too—was a symbol she recognized: a grape leaf with a pinpricked circle in the middle of it.
Just like the one on August Strange’s ring.
Something finally clicked. That’s the SIFT symbol!
Julia’s words came back. He’s with like-minded friends who value truth and fairness over gold.
Now, Sylvie thought she understood. SIFT is the resistance.
She stared at Maggie and Flora standing on the stage.
Does that mean they’re part of the resistance too?
“There’s a table set up at the back of the room,” said Flora. “After the assembly we’ll be signing up members and answering questions.”
Now, Sylvie needed to talk to Flora about more than why she’d been lurking around the school. But first … Sylvie fingered the envelope in her pocket. I need to warn Godard.
“Ladies. Thank you both for your time and dedication,” said Madame Godard, moving back to the center of the stage. “I encourage all our students to consider joining SIFT. But first, Kitty and I will be serving up the recipe that won the very first Commis Contest … Transparent Pie!”
An explosion of enthusiastic claps reverberated around the room.
“Thank you.” Godard raised her hands to quiet the crowd. “We do this every year to help inspire student creativity, and to remind everyone that while this is a competition, it’s also about having fun!”
With that, Kitty emerged from the shadows carrying a large pie with a golden custardy center.
She marched past, draped in her oversized cardigan.
The slender outline of the book in her pocket had been replaced with something that wriggled like a sock puppet.
If Sylvie had to guess, it was the frog.
Behind Kitty, Secret and Sauce pranced. Two delicate silver harnesses were tied around them.
Attached at the other end, rolling toward the stage, was a small, old-fashioned cotton candy machine.