Shadow Witch: Book Four of the Wizard Born Series

by Geof Johnson

  “He had two boiled eggs, every single day. He never varied.”

  The old man clapped. “Aha! Only a former apprentice of his would know that.”

  “Eddan had to make boiled eggs for him every day for years. He chopped a lot of wood and fetched a lot of water, too.”

  “Yes, as did I. And occasionally he would try to teach me a spell.”

  “That’s how it works with sorcerers’ apprentices.” Jamie nodded again. “How did you manage to get an apprenticeship with Karviss if your magic is so weak?”

  “He took me in when I was still young, expecting my power to emerge more fully when I reached manhood, but it never did. By that time, he’d become dependent on me for his everyday chores, and kept me around for convenience. I studied very hard, though, hoping to someday become a master sorcerer, but when it became clear that I was doomed to mediocrity, I left him and struck out on my own.”

  “Is that when you became a shopkeeper?” Evelyn asked.

  “Oh, no. I have had many other titles since then. I have been a teacher, a sailor, a surveyor, a writer, and a librarian, among other things. I ran the library in Havenshire for many years, until it burned down and they chose not to replace it.”

  “You were a teacher and a librarian?” Jamie said. “That could be helpful.”

  “But Jamie,” Evelyn said, “we don’t have the money for a library yet.”

  “We might soon. I talked to Granddaddy Pete at the party on Saturday, and I think we’re going to go ahead and try his idea for charging tourists to come to Rivershire. If this works out, we’ll have enough money to build a library and other stuff.”

  Mr. Winston stared at him blankly and Jamie said, “My grandfather thinks that rich people on Earth will pay a fortune to stay in Rivershire, because it’s on another world.”

  Mr. Winston furrowed his brow. “Is there truth to the rumors, then? Is there really another Earth?”

  “I know you probably won’t believe it, but the place we’re from is the original Earth. This world we’re on now was settled by people from the British Isles who were escaping the witch trials of the early seventeenth century. Sorcerers made doorways for them, thinking they were taking them to the New World, but it was another planet instead.”

  “Ahhhh,” Mr. Winston said slowly. “That would explain a lot. I have a very old book that describes and illustrates the moon in detail, and it is nothing like the moon on this world. Some descriptions of a few key constellations don’t seem right, either.”

  “You don’t seem as shocked as most people when I tell them that this isn’t Earth.”

  “I am not saying that I believe you just yet, but it does answer some perplexing questions.”

  “I notice you have a lot of old books here, Mr. Winston,” Evelyn said.

  “I collect them. Many of them are quite rare. I consider myself to be a bit of a scholar.”

  “So if you were to come to our little school, what would you teach?”

  “Anything you like! My specialty is history, particularly ancient history, Greek and Roman. Early European history, too. I can read and write ancient Greek and Hebrew, and I have translated many old manuscripts.” He smiled proudly.

  “I’m not sure how much ancient Greek you’d be teaching,” Evelyn said. “Our students are mostly farmers’ and shopkeepers’ children, and many of them barely know the alphabet. We would have to find appropriate textbooks for them, should we hire you.”

  “Ah, but history is not always taught through the written word. I consider myself to be a fair storyteller, I do. That is how history comes alive.”

  “That’s true,” Jamie said, “but we will be supplying textbooks for all of the subjects we’ll be teaching, anyway. We also have something called a television, which can be an excellent teaching tool. There are many DVD packages available for history.”

  Mr. Winston wrinkled his brow again, and Jamie said, “Never mind. You’ll see when you get there, if you come.”

  “When could you come, if we decide to give you a try?” Evelyn said. “Keep in mind that it might not work out, so you wouldn’t want to burn any bridges before accepting.”

  “I could come right away. I can get my great-niece to mind the shop for me, but it would take me at least four days to make the journey to Rivershire.”

  “No it won’t,” Jamie said. “I could make a doorway from the school to this shop, and you could step right through, instantly.”

  “Fascinating,” Mr. Winston said and shook his head gently. “I wish I had that kind of power.”

  “Is that why Renn never killed you? He murdered just about every other wizard around.”

  “I heard that he did, but he must have thought me to be of no consequence. I did meet him, though, right here in this shop. He stopped by one day and purchased a carved staff that had been in my possession for years. He seemed quite pleased with it. I suppose it must’ve had some magical application, but I never could discern its usefulness.”

  “A staff?” Jamie’s eyebrows shot up. “Was the top of it carved into a dragon’s head, with two red stones for eyes?”

  “Yes. Are you familiar with it?”

  “He tried to kill me with it, and he used it to mortally wound Eddan, the last time they fought. It somehow amplified Renn’s power.”

  Mr. Winston nodded while he listened, with one finger set aside his long nose. “I heard that he was a book thief, like many younger wizards.”

  “That was the easiest and cheapest way for Renn to add to his collection. Like Karviss used to say, magic books are like gold to sorcerers.”

  “Yes, he did say that, as I recall.” He pulled his bony finger away from his nose and drew a small circle in the air. “So whatever happened to Renn?”

  “I killed him.”

  Mr. Winston’s long face stretched into a look of shock, and Jamie continued, “When he came to my house and tried to kill me and my parents. I had to do it, though I’m not proud of it. It was either him or me.”

  “We don’t like to talk about it,” Evelyn said quickly. “But we do need to discuss some other things, like your salary, should we decide to hire you.”

  “Oh, I shall work for free for the first two weeks.” He scratched the side of his head with one finger. “I shall have to procure accommodations, I suppose. Do you know if the inn is reasonably priced?”

  “We don’t expect you to work for free.” Evelyn glanced at Jamie, who seemed content to let her handle the negotiations. She said, “There’s a nice boarding house, and I believe they still have rooms available. We will pay for your room and board, and your starting salary would be one silver per week, the same as our other new teacher, Miss Duffy.” She shook one finger firmly. “If we decide to give you a try.”

  “Yes, yes.” Then he smiled and nodded. “That would be sufficient.”

  She looked at Jamie and nodded toward the door. “We need to talk for a minute.”

  They excused themselves and stepped outside onto the sidewalk. Evelyn said, “What do you want to do? Is it going to be a problem that he’s a wizard?”

  “He’s weak. I can’t feel much power in him at all. But he seems like he might make a good teacher, and if that doesn’t work out, we could always use him as a librarian.”

  “We need help organizing our books right now. I thought about using one of the spare rooms as a temporary library.”

  Jamie scratched his chin. “I’ll talk to Granddaddy Pete about getting some shelves for it.”

  “While we’re at it, I want to have a phone installed at the school. It would be much more convenient than having to walk over to the clinic every time I need to make a call. I’ll pay for it. You can make a mini portal to my condo, can’t you?”

  “Sure, but we can pay for it out of the school’s budget. It would probably be a good idea to put one in, in case you ever have a problem and need to get in touch with me in a hurry.”

  “So what are we going to tell Mr. Winston?”

  H
e shrugged again. “I wish we’d brought Nova with us to see if he’s lying about anything.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary. He may be exaggerating, but once we observe him teaching for a few days, we’ll know how competent he is. I say we give him a try.”

  “All right. Let’s tell him now.” He opened the door for her and they stepped back inside.

  * * *

  Rachel stood in the corner by the row of cabinets and watched as Miss Duffy got ready to teach her first class that morning in one of the spare rooms in the back of the building. Though it only had six desks in it, there were only five kids so far that day besides Sammi: Leora, Daisy, Aiven, Blane, and a new student named Declan.

  Miss Duffy had brought her wooden easel and an old satchel full of art supplies and showed them a few of her sketches — renderings of farm houses, animals, and a couple of portraits — and was pulling out enough charcoal drawing sticks for the children to use when Sammi got out of her seat and took her new pack of markers to show the young teacher.

  “How about these, Miss Duffy?” Sammi opened the white plastic case. “Aren’t they pretty? There are lots of them, more than enough for everybody. Can we use these now? Please?”

  Miss Duffy pulled one out, a brilliant pink, and removed the cap. “It is a nice color,” she said, then scribbled on a sheet of white paper from the stack that Rachel had given her. She nodded approvingly. “Quite bright. It would be a good color for flowers.”

  “Can we draw flowers, Miss Duffy?” Leora said.

  All three boys groaned at the idea, and Aiven suggested they draw something less girlish instead, like horses, or flying wizards.

  Miss Duffy took a deep breath through her nose and rubbed her mouth lightly with the fingertips of one hand. “We shall draw flowers first with Sammi’s markers, then perhaps we’ll try something to suit the boys. That will be a good way for me to assess your level of skill before we get into more detailed instruction.”

  She began passing out paper to each of the children, and Daisy said, “Miss Duffy, could you draw some flowers for us first, so that we may have something to copy?”

  “I want you to draw from memory if you can. You know what flowers look like, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but...but what if we do it wrong?”

  “There is no right or wrong with art, as long as you do your best and it is from your heart.”

  Rachel leaned back against the cabinet and smiled to herself. I like that answer.

  “We can draw flowers for our mothers,” Daisy said brightly.

  “But Sammi doesn’t have a mother,” Aiven said.

  Sammi’s face fell, and Rachel felt a sympathetic pang in her own heart.

  The room was awkwardly silent for a moment, everyone watching Sammi, until Blane said, “Neither do you, Aiven.”

  It was Aiven’s turn to look hurt, but it didn’t last long. He clenched his jaw and said, “But I will soon! Mrs. Tully is going to adopt me, she is, and...and she will be my mother.” His eyes turned hard, as if he dared any of them to deny it.

  “But what about Sammi?” Daisy said.

  “Mrs. Callahan is going to take her in for good.” Aiven bobbed his head adamantly. “She will be Sammi’s...um...I don’t know what you call it.”

  He looked at Rachel for help and she nodded. “She’ll be Sammi’s foster mother. It’s only a legal term, but Mrs. Callahan will take care of her like a....” She almost said like a real mother but caught herself. “Like a mother should.”

  Sammi’s chin had dropped to her chest and her eyes began to glisten. Rachel wanted to rush to her and wrap her arms around her, and comfort her. And cry with her. You poor, motherless child!

  Miss Duffy knelt beside Sammi and rested her hand gently on Sammi’s shoulder. “Well, Mrs. Callahan sounds just like a mother to me. Anyone who would take in a child and care for them, and give them their love...that is a true mother. I would like to meet this fine woman someday.”

  “We met her at Sammi’s birthday party on Saturday,” Leora said, “and she is wonderful and beautiful, and she loves Sammi very much. I can tell.” The other children all quickly agreed with Leora, and Sammi lifted her chin and wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve.

  Miss Duffy stood but stayed next to Sammi. “Now then, how about if I work with Sammi first, so that she can draw her very best flower for this wonderful woman, Mrs. Callahan? Then I will help each of you afterward.”

  Sammi glanced up at the young teacher, a smile flickering at the corners of her mouth, and she nodded.

  Rachel nodded, too. I think Miss Duffy may work out just fine.

  * * *

  After the art class was over, Rachel got Miss Duffy to go with her when she took the kids outside to play. Two more young boys had joined them in the last hour, bringing their total to eight students, and all of them seemed to be having a good time at what passed for organized recreation: running around, throwing balls at each other, and shrieking.

  The two women sat at the picnic table, and though the day was warming up quickly, it was still cool under the shade of the big oak. Rachel liked it there, the rich, earthy smell so close to the tree, the view of the wide field adjacent to the school that ended at a wooden fence belonging to the farm beyond. Nothing but more farms, with their small houses and weathered barns, were in that direction, as far as she could see; quaint and idyllic, picture postcard-beautiful.

  Rachel tried to engage Miss Duffy in conversation, but the young woman seemed reluctant to talk about herself. She answered every question with as few words as possible, as if she had a limit of only forty for the whole day and didn’t want to use them up too soon.

  Rachel felt like she was trying to coax a clam from its shell, until the topic turned to Jamie and the school.

  Miss Duffy gestured at the big yellow building. “Master Jamie pays for everything? The construction and supplies, and salaries, too?”

  “He pays for all of it, including the clinic.”

  “But how can he afford it if he is only seventeen years old?”

  “He uses the money he got —” She stopped herself before she said the money he found in the stone house. “He has enough money. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Are all sorcerers so wealthy?”

  “I couldn’t say. He’s the only one I know, except for Aiven, who isn’t much of a sorcerer yet.”

  “Your son still lives with you and your husband? I am sure you must have a fine house.”

  “It’s okay, I guess. It’s not a mansion, by any means. Now, Jamie’s grandparents, Pete and Darla, they live in a nice house. It’s huge. It’s too big, in my opinion. They have to hire people to clean it for them.”

  “Do you have servants, also?”

  Rachel laughed. “Not hardly. But we can manage okay by ourselves.” She shrugged. “And my mother wouldn’t approve if we hired a maid. She’d think I was lazy.”

  “That’s Mrs. Wallace?”

  Rachel nodded. “Her twin sister, Mrs. Moore, will be here tomorrow. She’s helping out with the school, too. She used to be a reading specialist, so she’ll be working with you on organizing the reading program for the kids.”

  Just then, Aiven held the ball he was about to throw and faced the front of the building. “Jamie’s here. I felt him make a doorway.”

  Everyone looked in the direction he was gazing and saw Jamie and Evelyn walk around the corner toward them, Jamie with a book in one hand. “I knew I heard you guys out here,” Jamie said. He turned to Miss Duffy and he smiled. “You must be the new teacher.”

  Rachel introduced them and Jamie shook her hand. “Thanks for coming to our little school. What do you think so far?”

  “It is fine,” she said quietly and lowered her gaze.

  There she goes again, turning back into a clam. Rachel said to Jamie, “How did it go with Mr. Winston?”

  “Pretty good, I thought, but I’m no expert on evaluating teachers. I like his shop, though.” He showed her the book
he had. “I bought this from him.”

  “He claims to be good at teaching history,” Evelyn said, “among other things, and he’s also a librarian.”

  “That would be handy,” Rachel said. “We need somebody to organize our books.”

  “He can get books from local publishers for us because of his connections. If we build a library, we’re going to need books from this world, too, not just from Earth.”

  “That makes sense. I hadn’t thought about that.” Rachel bit one fingernail for a moment. “When can he start?”

  “Thursday,” Jamie said. “I’m going to make a doorway for him. We’re going to give him a two-week trial.”

  Miss Duffy frowned deeply. “Excuse me, Master Jamie, but why do you feel that you need to hire another teacher?”

  “Oh...uh, it’s not that we don’t think you’ll work out, it’s just that we’re afraid we’ll have too many kids to handle by the time September gets here.” He looked at Rachel. “How many do you think we’ll have so far?”

  “Hard to say. We have two new kids today.” She gestured at the boys on the playground. “And a couple of more families stopped by right before you got here. We could easily have thirty-five to forty by the start of the school year.”

  Jamie smiled and nodded approvingly.

  “But....” Miss Duffy’s frown deepened. “Will we not have sufficient staff to teach them?”

  Rachel was surprised at Miss Duffy’s sudden desire to be talkative. Rachel eyed the young woman curiously for a second before saying, “I won’t be here then, and my mother and my aunt are hoping to only work part-time. We’d rather have full-time, experienced teachers here, if possible.”

  Miss Duffy looked away for a moment, crossed her arms and grasped her elbows firmly with each hand. “I still do not understand why you would hire another so soon. What do you know of this man? Is he qualified?”

  “We know as much about him as we know of you,” Evelyn said. “We have to take a chance and go with our instincts.”

  Miss Duffy opened her mouth as if she were going to say more, but looked away again instead.

  Sammi ran up to them and said, “Can we have lunch now. We’re hungry.”