by Nic Saint
Chapter 7
Dipper Park was a great place to hang out, and very popular with the natives. I liked it a lot less, as it was usually pretty crowded on sunny days and too wet for my taste on rainy days. In general I’m more of a homebody. I like to lock myself up in my room, where I can stay for days if nobody bothers me, preferably in the dark, like a bat. This entire ‘coming into your own’ thing has pretty much forced me out of my comfort zone, though.
Estrella likes the park a lot more. She comes here to jog all the time, which is how she met Tavish. And Ernestine likes to come here to read, curled up on a bench or sitting beneath a tree with her favorite book, preferably a doorstopper.
We now headed directly for the small bridge in the center of the park. Though maybe I shouldn’t call it a bridge. It’s more like a tunnel, really, dug into the earth. The kind of dark, dank tunnel favored by trolls and other nasty denizens of the underworld. In my always fertile imagination it was where the creepy crawlies of the netherworld gathered to pounce on unsuspecting victims taking refuge from a storm. But since the sun was shining and there wasn’t a single trace of rainclouds in the blue skies overhead, it looked less gloomy and scary than usual.
“Are you sure this is where he hangs out?” asked Ernestine suspiciously.
“Yes, I’m sure,” said Estrella. “Or at least this is where I saw him last.”
“I’m not sure Tavish has a particular place he likes to hang out,” I said.
Still, we ventured into the tunnel and called out, “Tavish! Are you here?”
Even though we were witches, we hadn’t a clue how to summon a warlock, even a nice one like Tavish. Gran would probably know, but for obvious reasons we couldn’t ask her. Even if we asked nicely, she’d refuse.
“Tavish!” bellowed Estrella, showcasing the power of her voice. “Show yourself!”
But show himself was the last thing our godfather did.
“You know, maybe he’s downtown,” said Ernestine. “I met him at the offices of Boodle, Jag, Lack & Noodle last time, remember?”
“I doubt that’s where we’ll find him, Stien,” I said.
“Well, I met him right here, and it’s also here that he revealed our true purpose in life,” Estrella said stubbornly, “so here’s where he’ll be.”
I pursed my lips skeptically. “Tavish probably has his home in some other realm, far away from the world of mere mortals.”
“Oh, holy crap,” breathed Estrella, voicing our sentiments exactly.
“Look, you guys,” I said, starting to feel we were on the wrong track. “Did I really rope Sam into this bodyguarding venture for nothing? Please tell me it isn’t so.” It just wasn’t possible I’d made such a fool of myself.
“No, I think your idea has merit, honey,” said Ernestine, nodding encouragingly. “You were right when you said it would give us unprecedented access to the kind of people we’re supposed to be targeting with our powers.”
“The only problem is we don’t know who these people are,” Estrella said.
And there was the whole thing in a nutshell: Tavish had lifted the tip of the veil, and then he’d vanished before we could figure out the rest.
A beggar had stumbled into the tunnel and stared at us as if he’d just seen a ghost. “It’s him!” he croaked, eyes wide. “It’s him—he’s here!”
“Who’s here?” asked Estrella snappishly. A stickler for hygiene, the man’s lack of it seemed to irk her. He was one of the homeless people who permanently resided in this park. There were a few of them, and they liked to hang out near the entrance, trying to convince passersby to sustain the burden of their livelihood.
“I don’t know his name,” said the guy, bottom lip trembling in agitation. “But he told to come and get you.”
“Come and get us?” Estrella asked, incredulous.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a part of this guy’s weird story. It was as if a representative of a strange and darker world had suddenly entered our own, and it was obvious Estrella and Ernestine were unsure whether to engage this man in conversation, or put as much distance between us as possible.
“He said…” The man swallowed. “He said three witches are going to rid the world of evil, and that I would find you here.”
I gasped, and so did my sisters. “Who?” I asked, stepping up to the man and ignoring the strong reek wafting from him. “Who told you this?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Is he dressed in black, head to foot?” Estrella asked, excited now.
“Um, no. He kinda looks like me, I guess,” said the bum.
Then an idea struck me. “Does he have a silver tooth?”
The man grinned, and I saw he had no less than two silver teeth. “Yeah, he does!”
I turned to my sisters. “It must be Tavish. That’s what he looked like when I met him for the first time. And his name wasn’t Tavish then but Julius.”
“Julius! That’s right!” cried our new friend. “That’s his name!”
We followed the man from beneath the arch of the tunnel and out into the open again. And as he hobbled along, from time to time darting a quick look over his shoulder to see if we were still following, I told my sisters how I used to see this Julius every day at the metro station entrance.
Finally we arrived at the park entrance, and I saw the small gathering of bums, their meager belongings spread out across a couple of benches, people passing them by, casting cautious and sometimes downright hostile looks at them. The police didn’t bother to chase them away, as they’d only settle down someplace else. It was a disgrace these people had to live like this, I felt, and the fact that Tavish chose to live amongst them told me that he must have felt the same way, and perhaps did what little he could to improve their plight.
And then I saw him. The bum I only knew as Julius, clutching a sign that said he was ‘Grateful for all.’ I immediately walked up to him, and when he saw me he smiled his customary crooked and practically toothless smile.
Chapter 8
“Hey, there,” he said by way of greeting.
“Hey, yourself,” I returned.
“Are you Tavish Mildew?” Ernestine asked, never one to waste time exchanging small talk or socializing before she got down to business.
Julius laughed. “You got me,” he said. Then winked at me. “Finally!”
“Have you been following us around?” asked Ernestine, shooting him a heated look.
“Guilty as charged,” he said, closing his eyes in mock contriteness.
“You look… different,” Estrella said, the corners of her mouth turned down in dismay. I could see what she was thinking. She considered me a slob because I wore the same clothes every day: a pair of ragged black jeans and a hooded black sweater, so I could only imagine what she thought of Tavish’s outfit: torn and tattered pants, a sweater full of holes, and a greasy old cap placed over equally greasy and unkempt hair.
“Why do you live like this?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Best way to observe the city. I go wherever I want. Get to know everybody… Nobody notices a bum. They all consider us part of the scenery, like street furniture. They talk right in front of us without bothering to lower their voices. It’s the perfect cover for an observant warlock like me.”
I shook my head. It wasn’t the way I’d want to live. Tavish must have caught my thought, for he smiled broadly, then got up with surprising agility, and said, “Let’s talk, girls, but let’s not do it here, shall we?”
“Finally,” grumbled Estrella.
And as we walked, the seedy bum suddenly morphed into the handsome warlock we’d come to know as Tavish Mildew. When I looked over and saw the dapper figure, now completely dressed in black, a fashionable Justin Timberlake hat placed on his head, I yelped in surprise. Not so Ernestine or Strel, though, who’d met him in his warlock form before. For me, being used to seeing Julius, his regular appearance was a great surprise, and he grinned at me, this time displaying two rows of
perfect white teeth.
“So what did you want to know?” he asked.
“Our mission,” Ernestine began. “You told Estrella that our mission in life is following in our parents’ footsteps, right?”
“Uh-huh, that’s right.” We’d reached a bench near a fountain at the center of the park, and sat down across from an elderly lady feeding pigeons.
“But you never explained to us exactly what it is you want us to do,” Ernestine continued. “And it’s simply driving us crazy trying to figure it out.”
“Well, it’s quite simple,” he said, leaning back pleasantly. “You take from the bad people and give back to the good. Didn’t I explain all this?”
“Aargh!” I groaned. “How more vague can you get?! Which bad people? Which good people? And what do you want us to steal?”
“Witch is right,” he said with a grin, and suddenly a loaf of bread appeared in his hands, and he crumbled it up before starting to distribute it to the growing bird population at our feet. “Look, your mother and father mainly targeted warlocks and demons.”
“Warlocks like you?” asked Ernestine nastily.
He nodded, and his smile disappeared as he stared before him. “I was one of the first warlocks they targeted, actually. I’d amassed quite a fortune over the centuries. I mainly stole from witches such as yourselves, though I never harmed a single one of them, mind you. I specialized in gemstones, and by the time your parents caught on to me I’d collected quite a hoard. In a single night they managed to purloin my entire collection and return them all to their rightful owners. I wasn’t happy, to say the least, and for the first time considered punishing a witch to the extent of taking her life. But then I met your mother and knew I couldn’t lower myself to that level. She was… lovely,” he said softly, his eyes suddenly flashing at the memory. “In fact she was the most lovely person I’d ever met, and probably will ever meet.”
It sounded like he was in love with our mother, I thought, and I shared a look of concern with my sisters. A warlock falling for a witch? That was simply unheard of!
“And then I met your father, and he told me how he himself had been going down the wrong road when he met your mother. One look at her and he repented. And soon I found myself in the same situation. I quickly confessed to all the wrongs I’d wrought, and Abra told me that the only way to atone for my sins was to right my wrongs. So for the rest of that fateful night, I actually helped Abra and Merrill redistribute the gemstones I’d stolen.
“When finally morning broke, every last stone had been returned. We remained friends, and I helped them with the work they’d set out to do, the noble work they’d chosen as their vocation. Unfortunately before long they ran into a warlock who was more powerful than they were, and perished in their attempt to rob him of his powers.” He shook his head. “I should have been there that night, but I’d chosen to sit that one out, having a bad feeling about this particular mission. I’d heard of Joshua’s reputation and didn’t want to get involved with him or incur his wrath. I never thought he’d go so far as to murder your parents, though,” he added with a sad look as he threw down the last piece of bread and watched a plump pigeon gobble it up.
“So now you want us to target warlocks?” I asked.
“I don’t want anything from you,” he said. “I just know that you’ve inherited your parents’ innate talents, and that righting the wrongs of the dark forces of this world will give you a sense of fulfillment the likes of which you’ve never known with the mundane professions you’ve dabbled in so far.”
He stared at us, and we all stared back at him, understanding finally dawning. This wasn’t about rich versus poor, or about us being modern Robin Hoods. This was about the powers of evil versus the powers of good.
“We have to steal from warlocks,” I said, a little perturbed. I remembered the last warlock we’d come up against very well. He’d almost destroyed us.
“Yes,” he simply said. “Like me, the denizens of the magic world’s dark side have been hiding in plain sight for thousands of years. They’re everywhere, if only you know where to look.” He pointed at himself. “Just take me, for instance.” He fixed me with a hard stare, and I felt as if he was staring straight into my soul. “You passed by me every single day on your way to work, and at night when you returned home, yet you never had an inkling that beneath that seedy exterior there lurked one of the most powerful warlocks of this city, did you?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I had absolutely no idea.”
“There are thousands more like me. And they’re not all nice and cuddly.”
I didn’t think nice and cuddly was the right description for Tavish, but I bit my tongue. He must have read my mind anyway, for he laughed.
“Perhaps the words reformed evildoer are a better description?”
“Are there many nice warlocks like you?” asked Estrella. “Or are they all evil?”
“Well, most are pretty nasty,” he conceded. “Though from time to time you’ll find one who’s seen the light and doesn’t think the world and its inhabitants need to be destroyed at all cost.”
“So how come we’ve never met them?” asked Ernestine.
“Because you weren’t ready. As long as you didn’t use your powers warlocks couldn’t find you, nor demons or other creatures of the dark.”
“Gran forbade us to use our powers outside of the house,” said Estrella. “Do you think that was the reason? To prevent us from being found?”
“She always told us she didn’t want us to mess things up,” I said.
“No, it is as Estrella guessed: at Safflower House you’re protected by the powerful magic your ancestors have weaved, and Cassandra continues to weave. Only the most powerful warlocks or demons can penetrate that protective layer. Outside? You’re exposed, but as long as you don’t use magic no evil being can find you. The use of magic to them is like blood to a shark,” he explained. “Just a drop of blood will be picked up by a shark from a quarter mile away. The same goes for the powers of darkness. They can detect witchcraft. Which is why your gran, in her wisdom, told you never to use it. And since she didn’t want to needlessly scare you, she simply said you weren’t ready yet. The truth is you were born ready. You are born witches. With some practice you can be just as powerful as Cassandra Beadsmore, only…” He hesitated. “The very moment you start using witchcraft, you will start attracting the forces of evil, and your lives will be in grave danger.”
“But we can handle that, can’t we?” I asked. “That’s why you told us to follow in our parents’ footsteps, right?”
“Exactly. The more you use your powers, the stronger you become.”
“So where do we find these forces of darkness?” asked Ernestine, always the most practical one.
He stared at her. “That’s just the point, honey. They’ll find you, and when they do, it’s going to be very obvious what you need to do.”
“Fight them?” I suggested, a shiver running up my spine.
He nodded. “Fight them and vanquish them and return what they stole.”
“I was thinking about starting a security company,” I explained now, finally arriving at my grand scheme. “That way we would have the perfect cover to track and target the people we need to go after. What do you think?”
He stared at me. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Edie,” he finally said, echoing Gran’s words exactly.
I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Sam, and froze. “Why not? You said yourself we need to steal back the things these… evildoers have stolen. What other way than by getting close to them? Watching them?”
“Well, you do whatever you want, of course,” he said. “But if I were you I’d simply get cracking. No more excuses and no more delays.”
“We’re doing the bodyguard thing,” I decided. I’d already roped in Sam, so we couldn’t turn back now. “And we’ll let the elements of evil come to us.”
“By doing a little bit of witchcraft
in public?” asked Estrella innocently.
“Oh, no, you guys,” said Ernestine with a shiver. “I don’t want to attract every last warlock in the city. We’re not ready, don’t you see?!”
Tavish smiled. “You’re as ready as you’ll ever be, girls,” he said. “Besides,” he added, spreading his arms. “How else are you ever going to learn?”
“So you’re asking us to use our magic powers in public, attract evildoers and then vanquish them,” I repeated for good measure.
“That’s exactly right. You’ll attract the right ones to you, just you wait and see. The moment you start using your particular brand of magic they’ll come crawling out of the woodwork.” He grinned. “And don’t worry too much, Ernestine. If push comes to shove, I’ll be there. And your gran, of course.”
“I very much doubt if Gran will give us a lot of support,” said Ernestine.
“Me too,” added Estrella.
“Oh, nonsense,” said Tavish. “Cassandra might not like me very much, but she loves you and she’ll always be there for you and look out for you.”
“So are you joining us in our new company?” I asked him point blank.
He gave me a dubious look. “I don’t think so, honey. I really don’t see myself as a bodyguard, to be absolutely honest.”
“Neither do I!” cried Ernestine.
“Or me,” added Estrella.
No, I thought. I didn’t see myself as a bodyguard either, but it was the best cover I could think of, as I didn’t want to go through life like Tavish, scrounging and begging. The one thing that worried me most was that now both Gran and Tavish had told us this was a bad idea. Well, they could think whatever they wanted. I liked the idea and I was sticking to it.
I could be stubborn that way.
