by Obert Skye
“You already are rich,” Rin pointed out.
Ray’s annoying face looked perplexed.
“It’s not just about the money, Rin. Do you mind if I call you Rin?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” Ray said, sounding bothered, “then why don’t you just think of all the problems that serum will solve?”
“So,” the wizard said casually, “you see a serum that takes away everyone’s free will as a problem solver?”
“Don’t be so small-minded. People will still be able to make some choices, just not ones that will harm them. How many times have you seen someone make a dumb mistake that you would have easily avoided? Choices that could potentially harm others will be made by those who know better.”
Rin looked calm.
“I can see it in your eyes,” Ray said, beginning to sound more like his truly slick and devious self. “You know this is a good thing. Those who struggle to make the right decision when life throws them a curveball will have someone to make those decisions for them. Everyone longs for a powerful person to lead the way or to make difficult choices for them. People are hungry to be controlled—all they require is a place to sleep, food to eat, and phones on which to post about those things. I mean, you’re an example of this. Ozzy hired you to make choices for him, didn’t he?”
Rin kept quiet.
“The formula inside the boy will change the world as we know it. No more giving into dangerous cravings or poor habits. No more relationships that can ruin the planet for the rest of us. Things will make sense from every angle.”
Rin stood as tall as he could and smiled so slightly that only an old-timey detective with a strong magnifying glass and a keen eye would notice it.
“You get it, don’t you?” Ray declared. “You can see the wisdom in what I’m saying. Fantastic! Bring Ozzy here, heck, bring that bird . . . and your daughter—the more the merrier. And together the five of us will shape the world for good.”
The office was silent for a minute while Rin closed his eyes. When he finally flashed his blue eyes open, he appeared calm and solid, like a statue carved by someone hoping to capture the emotion of tranquility in stone.
“No, thank you,” the wizard said. “I don’t see you as someone who could ever change the world for good.”
“Don’t be a fool,” Ray argued.
“I have no problem being a fool, if that’s what this task requires.”
“Bring me Ozzy,” Ray demanded.
“I didn’t come to bargain,” Rin said. “And I don’t need to worry about you. You’re afraid to leave the state. Holed up in your office and wanting the world to come to you. Look what happened to Jon. Send anyone you want—they won’t succeed in bringing Ozzy back. Not as long as I’m alive. And wizards live for a very long time. We are perennial.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Ray snapped. “I will get the boy, and I will dispose of you. You won’t be leaving this place; we need to visit a little longer.”
“No, thanks—your office is uncomfortable.”
“Enough!” Ray snapped. “I’ve tried to be nice, but now I’ll have to be more direct. You might not believe me, but you are going to help me get Ozzy here.”
Rin shook his head sadly. “I was hoping you’d be less you-like. If you knew anything about me, you would know that I would never help you do anything.”
“You’re making a huge mistake.”
“I make a lot of them,” Rin said. “I find the strongest magic is often hidden behind my biggest mistakes. Now, I have things to do. So if you don’t mind, I will be on my way.”
“I do mind,” Ray said. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Using the tip of his left shoe, Ray pushed a hidden button on the floor behind his desk. Instantly the doors behind Rin opened and three men in blue suits stepped in. A door behind the desk also opened and three more ogres entered. The men were tall and wide, and their eyes were all focused on the wizard.
Rin looked disappointed as the six ogres made a ring around him.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Ray said. “Just come with me and we’ll find a solution that all of us can live with.”
“No, thanks.”
“You’re not magical. And my men can be very persuasive.”
All six men pulled open their suit jackets to expose the guns they had in shoulder holsters, then pulled the guns out and pointed them at Rin.
The wizard shook his head sadly.
“As you can see, your choices are limited,” Ray said triumphantly. “Now let’s all move to a more private space.”
“Let’s not,” Rin said calmly. “We actually need to be leaving.”
“We?” Ray asked, looking suddenly agitated. “We who? You said you didn’t bring your bird.”
The ogres in blue backed up. They were all familiar with the mysterious bird that had caused so much trouble in the past.
“I didn’t bring the bird,” Rin informed them. “And wizards never lie.”
“So it’s just you,” Ray asked.
“Well, I didn’t say that either.”
Rin whistled a loud piercing whistle.
Instantly the lights in the office flashed off. All the ogres kept their guns trained on Rin, none of them feeling as sure about things as they had just moments before.
The room was filled with shadows and weak colored light flickering from the windows. The atmosphere made every non-wizard in the room jumpy. Ray shouted toward the outer office, “Susan, what’s happened to the lights?” His voice was unsteady.
“I don’t know,” came a muffled reply.
“I do,” Rin said to Ray. “You see, I might not have brought a bird . . . but I did bring a dragon.”
“You’re touched,” Ray snapped. “You’re not right. It doesn’t take magic to turn off the lights, and I’ll make you—”
Ray’s rant was cut short as one of the high windows exploded in a burst of colored glass shards and orange flames came shooting into the room. The men in blue shifted their guns and fired up at the window.
A piercing screech filled their ears and shook their hearts.
Rin grabbed Ray’s hourglass. He slammed it against the edge of the desk, causing the top to burst off. Then Rin spun, sending sand throughout the office and into the eyes and faces of Ray and his men.
“SQUAAAAAAAAAAWWK!”
A large plume of flame filled the room again, sparking bits of sand and filling the stuffy office with more heat.
“Don’t let him . . . it . . . that get away!” Ray sputtered as his men kept firing upward into thin air.
The window across the room burst as Clark shot out of the office, then wheeled around and dove back down through the newly broken window. He breathed more fire from the opposite side. The men in blue turned to shoot in the new direction, but it was no use. Chaos had broken out and a wizard and a tiny dragon were very much in control.
Clark roared as men screamed and dragon fire and gunfire flashed through the space like deadly strobe lights.
As Ray jumped under his desk, the wizard and his dragon slipped out the back door. Thanks to the gunfire and not a few items that were now aflame, their exit went unnoticed and unimpeded.
Sigi lay sleeping in the large, soft bed at the Hilton Garden Inn and Suites. The hotel’s vibe was considerably different than that of the Marsh and Meadow in Salem. There were two queen-size beds with pillows as soft as baby clouds, a separate sitting area with a petite couch and an oversized TV, a small kitchen jammed with modern appliances, and a big table made from polished metal and glossy wood.
Sigi had chosen to sleep in the bed closest to the window. Her mother was asleep in the one near the bathroom.
The day had been full of travel and shopping and eating and swimming and it had worn them both out. They had attempted to wat
ch a movie in their room, but the seductive call of slumber had lulled them both to sleep before the cheesy movie was halfway over.
In all the bustle of the day, Patti had forgotten to text Sheriff Wills and ask him to check on Ozzy. She had meant to, of course, but each time she had reached for her phone, something more interesting had popped up. It wasn’t as if she and Sigi had gone off and no longer cared about Ozzy. Not at all. It was as if they had gone off and no longer remembered to worry.
Sigi turned over in her bed and pulled the comforter even higher.
The house at 1221 Ocean View Drive was a very nice home, but the beds in their hotel had tricked Sigi and her mom into taking a load off and slipping away from consciousness. Sigi’s mind was filled with dreams that were happy and full of possibility.
Patti’s dreams were just the same.
Neither one had said it, but it seemed clear that the vacation together was exactly what they had needed. Of course, they would have both felt differently had they known what was happening in other parts of the world. But they didn’t, so why bother?
Which meant that Patti could continue to snore lightly and Sigi could continue to . . .
Sigi’s eyes flashed open. While dreaming, her subconscious had taken a poke at her mind.
“Ozzy,” she whispered.
She sat up in her bed, feeling a sense of panic building inside of her. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand near the bed and checked the time. It was just after eleven. Without worrying about calling too late, she pressed the button and dialed home.
Nobody answered.
She hung up and tried again. This time when there was no response, she left a message.
“Ozzy, it’s me. Are you there? Pick up, please.”
Sigi’s words woke Patti up. She rolled over and looked at her daughter as she sat on the edge of her bed in the dark room.
“What are you doing?”
“I forgot about Ozzy,” Sigi said with urgency. “He never called. Did you text Sheriff Wills?”
“I forgot,” Patti admitted, “but I’m sure he’s fine.”
“He’s not answering the phone.”
“Maybe he forgot to sleep on the couch.”
“I’m calling Wills.”
“It’s—” Patti rolled over and looked at the phone. “It’s too late. We should wait until morning.”
“No way,” Sigi said. “I won’t be able to sleep. I’ll call the police station.”
Sigi dialed the Otter Rock police station and waited three rings before someone picked up. It wasn’t Sheriff Wills, but she was happy to hear that Wills was still in his office. She was patched through.
“Sigi,” the sheriff said, “it’s late. Is everything okay?”
“I hope so,” she said. “We’re in California and Ozzy’s not answering the phone.”
“Could he be sleeping?” the sheriff asked.
“He could be a lot of things,” Sigi said seriously. “That’s why I’m worried.”
“I’ve been working on your case as we speak,” Wills said. “I’ll drive over and make sure he’s okay. If he doesn’t answer the door, can I use the key code your mom gave me?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll call you in a few minutes and let you know what I find,” the sheriff said, in a tone much kinder than you might expect from someone at eleven-fifteen at night.
“Thank you!”
The sheriff hung up.
Sigi looked at her mother in her dark bed. “He’s going to go check.”
“That’s nice of him. Now can you sleep?”
“Nope,” Sigi said. “I think I’ll watch some more of that movie until he calls.”
Sigi turned on the TV and Patti sat up in bed to watch some more of a poorly made movie and wait for news of Ozzy.
Rin and Clark crept through the trees at the back of the house like a wizard and bird-burglar. They had arrived at the house minutes before and easily spotted the police car parked out front.
“How did we get here again?” Clark asked.
“We stepped through Quarfelt, remember?”
“No, I don’t. Last thing I remember is lighting a few things on fire in Ray’s office and then us getting on a bus. Oh—and that bus driver staring at me.”
“You are interesting.”
“I really am. And why are we sneaking? I can just work my way into the house and let Ozzy and Sigi know we’re here.”
“Good,” Rin said. “See if Ozzy’s in his room.”
Clark flew off. Five minutes later he was back.
“He’s not there,” the bird reported. “I could see through his windows and the room’s empty.”
“Makes sense,” Rin said. “Being a wizard-in-training, he’ll go for the couch now.”
Keeping low, Rin and Clark crossed the back lawn and stood beneath the wide overhang near the back door. The wizard typed a number into the electronic keypad and the door unlocked.
“If I was Patti, I’d change that number,” Clark said.
“She has. But I know where she writes her passwords down.”
“It’s weird that you two couldn’t make it work.”
“I feel the same way.”
Rin opened the back door and the two of them entered the kitchen. He closed the door behind them and tiptoed to the living room, where the best couch was.
Ozzy wasn’t there.
“Have I taught him nothing?” Rin said sadly.
The two of them combed the house but there was no sign of anyone. The only sign of life was the police car they could see out the front window. It was parked by the fountain with its lights off.
“Why do you think the police are parked out there?” Clark asked.
“I bet Patti feels unsafe without a wizard around.”
A second police car pulled up the driveway and parked next to the other one.
“That one must be because they don’t have a bird around.”
Through the front window, they saw Sheriff Wills get out of the car and wave to the other officer. The cop in the first parked car got out and the two men walked together up the sidewalk toward the front door.
“What do we do?” Clark asked. “Should I work them over?”
There was a soft knocking on the door, followed by Sheriff Wills speaking loudly.
“Ozzy? Ozzy, are you home?”
More knocking.
“Ozzy? We’re coming in.”
Rin and Clark heard the sheriff talking to the other officer.
“They’re worried because Ozzy’s not answering the phone,” Wills said. “I just want to make sure he’s here.”
There was beeping as Sheriff Wills entered the code into the electronic lock. It didn’t open.
“Shoot,” Wills said. “I must have it wrong.”
He tried again.
“Is this a nine or a seven?” he asked the other officer.
Rin motioned for Clark to follow him. He ran to the couch and took off his red shoes. Tossing them into the kitchen, he grabbed a blanket from the nearby cabinet and laid down. He put cushions up around his head as Clark jumped under the couch.
Sheriff Wills punched in the right number and the front door opened, just as Rin tossed his hat across the room beneath a large stuffed chair.
The two officers entered the house and Rin began to make soft snoring sounds. The noise caused the sheriff to stop in his tracks and keep the lights off. From where he and his officer stood, they could both see that someone was sleeping on the couch.
“He’s asleep,” the second officer whispered.
“It looks like it.”
Sheriff Wills moved a couple of steps closer to get a better look.
Clark was keeping an eye on them from beneath the couch. Sensing the need to make the act a little mo
re convincing, the bird did his best Ozzy sleeping impression and mumbled, “Sigi . . . Sprite.”
Sheriff Wills stopped moving closer.
“Wizard . . . bird . . . magic,” Clark muttered.
The sheriff turned around and whispered, “It’s him.”
“He’s a heavy sleeper,” the second officer whispered back.
“If you’d been through some of the things he had, you would be too.”
The officers exited the house and closed the door.
Once Wills had driven off and the other cop was back in his parked car, Rin sat up on the couch and Clark hopped out from under.
“I tried to snore like a teenager,” Rin said. “It’s all in the nose. But I must say you do a spot-on Ozzy impression.”
“I’m used to hearing him sleep-mumble,” the bird chirped back. “And what about you under that blanket? You looked just like the right-sized lump.”
“Thank you.”
“So now that he’s gone, where do you think Ozzy is? Do you think that . . .” Clark was out. The dark night and lack of lightbulbs had left him drained and uncharged. He fell over onto the carpet, his wings tucked in and his talons sticking up.
“I could use a little of that myself.”
Feeling done in as well, Rin laid back down to do some recharging of his own.
Jon sat in the jail cell, his legs hanging off his cot and his mind whirling. He needed to get out and find the wizard. He couldn’t let some small-town police force be the end of him. Of course, he hadn’t planned for two teenagers to be the end of him either. He’d been caught, but his long conversation with Sheriff Wills had been like therapy. Hearing the words come out of his own mouth detailing what he had seen Rin do felt like a rebirth, and made him believe even more that the wizard was real.
Officer Greg came into the holding area and unlocked Jon’s cell door.
“The sheriff wants to talk to you.”
Jon shrugged and stood up. He shuffled through the open door and walked toward the interrogation room at the end of the hall.
