The Key to Extraordinary

Emma, Earl, and Cody Belle bike to Uncle Peri and Aunt Greta’s farm. As they crest the hill, they are amazed by the flowers that look like fireworks exploding across the valley. After finding Greta in her flower shop, they follow her into the woods. Stopping in a thicket of spruce trees covered in white-flowered vines, Greta describes three flowers—Oddities—that only grow in Blackbird Hollow. Keeping Susans preserve things, Starblooms heal and sparkle in moonlight, and Telling Vines share messages that “can only be heard by the intended recipient” unless Gypsy Roses are blowing in the wind (129); in that case, everyone can hear. Suddenly, a gust of Gypsy Roses blows, and hundreds of voices echo around them. Peri explains that past messages can be heard only during a Gypsy Rose summer. He and Greta moved all the Telling Vines they could find to this thicket to preserve the old messages. Peri leads Emma to a flower that gives the instructions, “Find Lily Kate. She knows the way. The Conductor holds the key” (131), and he warns her not to tell Granny Blue what she heard.