Wizard Born: Book One of the Wizard Born Series

by Geof Johnson

  Evelyn met them in the hall. “I was just coming to open the door. How did you get in?”

  “The door wasn’t locked,” Jamie said.

  “I could swear that I just locked it after I checked the mail. Are you sure?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “You didn’t take a house key and not tell me?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “You wouldn’t do that. I’m sorry I even asked. Well, go walk the dogs and I’ll have your snack ready.

  Later, when they were eating cookies in the clubhouse, Fred said, “Jamie, that was dumb. Opening the door with magic? What were you thinking?”

  “Yeah, you almost blew it,” Rollie said. “You gotta be more careful.”

  “I know.” Jamie sighed. “It’s hard, ’cause I really want to use my magic. I feel it all the time.” He balled his fists and held them in front of him. “All the time.”

  “Do you need to swear another oath?” Fred asked.

  “I can keep it under control.” I hope, he added silently.

  * * *

  Saturday afternoon, Rachel was in the kitchen when Jamie, Fred, and Rollie came in, followed by Evelyn.

  “How was the show?” Rachel asked.

  Evelyn set her purse on the counter. “They did a great job.”

  “It wasn’t much of a show,” Jamie said. “Me and Rollie just kinda walked around from bed to bed and did our stuff. I mostly did card tricks.”

  “And I told my jokes and got the puppet to talk the kids up,” Rollie said. “It was kinda sad. Some of those kids don’t have hair. I didn’t know cancer made you bald headed.”

  “The cancer doesn’t make you bald. It’s the treatment,” Rachel said.

  “I’m glad I don’t have it. Some of ’em looked pretty sick.”

  Jamie grinned. “But they really liked Fred’s hair.”

  “It was embarrassing.” Fred grabbed a brownie from the plate Rachel offered her. “They all wanted to touch it.”

  “That’s because your hair is so beautiful,” Rachel said. “Did you dance for them?”

  “A little. There wasn’t much room. They didn’t want me scuffing up the floor, so they put down a sheet of plywood.”

  “But she did her best, and that’s what performing is all about,” Evelyn said. “I’m very proud of you three. You made those kids happy.”

  “Are you glad you went?” Rachel rubbed Jamie’s curly blonde hair.

  “Yeah.” He wiped crumbs from his mouth. “It was fun. No pressure.”

  “Oh, Jenny Stone called. She said Sassy’s doing fine from her surgery, and the vet said they think they got all of the tumor. It’s a good thing you found it.”

  “Well, she was acting kinda draggy, and she didn’t want to go for her walk. She’s usually raring to go. I just felt on her belly and she let me know where it hurt. You could feel the lump.”

  “It was gross,” Fred said. “Jamie got me to feel it.”

  “Then I guess you won’t be a vet when you grow up,” Rachel said.

  “She’s wants to be a queen,” Rollie said. “The red queen!”

  “No,” Fred said. “I’m going to be president.”

  * * *

  That night, Jamie had a dream so vivid, it seemed real. Only he was old, old enough to have a long, gray beard. He was in a room filled with books and devices, every surface cluttered with something interesting. He was packing a bag when he heard a knock on the heavy wooden door. He opened it to find two elderly men.

  “Oh powerful one, can you help us?” they asked, bowing deeply. “The people in town are dying.”

  “I’m a sorcerer, not a healer,” Jamie heard himself say.

  “Can’t you do something? You are so powerful and wise and we are desperate. Children’s bodies are stacked in the street like firewood.”

  “It’s probably the rats,” Jamie said. “It’s a disease from the rats’ fleas, I think.”

  “Can’t you do something about them?”

  “Clean up your trash. Your town is filthy. That’s why you have so many rats.” Jamie knew he could drive the rodents out and send them into the sea with a thought and a wave of his hand, but he was too busy to be bothered. “I cannot come. The giant saber crab is hatching at the eastern bay, and it only happens once every seventeen years.”

  “But surely you can see that another time. We are desperate.”

  “I am old. I might not live long enough to see the hatching.” Jamie knew that was a lie. “Clean up your town. It’s your own doing, and it’s none of my business. Now excuse me, I have to pack.” He closed the door on them.

  Jamie woke up troubled. Children’s bodies stacked like firewood. How could anyone say no to helping them? But it was just a dream, thankfully, though a realistic one. And Jamie wasn’t old. He was only nine. I’m a sorcerer, the old man had said. Jamie thought of himself as a magician, but the old man called himself a sorcerer with a hint of pride. Jamie rolled the thought around in his head.

  I’m a sorcerer.

  Not a magician. There was a difference.

  A sorcerer.

  Chapter 25

  “You still going to your folks’ house for Thanksgiving?” Carl asked, as Garrett took a jump shot.

  “Yeah, leaving Wednesday night. You got company coming?”

  “A pack of ’em. My mother-in-law’s sister, Connie, her husband, Ray, and their daughter, Gina.”

  “Where’s everybody gonna sleep?” Garrett watched Carl bank one into the basket.

  “Connie and Ray will take the guest room, and Gina will sleep in the basement on the new fold-out couch. I finished the bathroom down there, and we got some real furniture. No more bean bags and boxes.” Carl passed the ball to Garrett. “But I know the food will be good. Between Evelyn, her sister, and Rachel, we’ll have quite a spread on Thanksgiving.”

  “And you’ll get stuck doing the dishes.”

  “That’s right.” Carl missed a jump shot. “Jamie will help, though.”

  “I have to threaten Rollie up and down to get him to help.”

  “Not me. My mother-in-law wouldn’t put up with it. All she has to do is give him that look and he knows better than to fuss about it.”

  “I need to borrow her sometime. She can come over and give Rollie that look.”

  “Oh, she gives it to him all the time at my house. Those boys know better than to cross her. She says jump —”

  “And they ask, How high?” Garrett finished with a laugh, then swished a jump shot.

  * * *

  That Thanksgiving was the best ever for Jamie, except that his parents wouldn’t let him sleep in the basement. He thought it would be an adventure, and he had a good argument.

  “But me and Rollie, I mean, Rollie and I slept down there when he stayed over. It’s got a bathroom and everything. Gina can take my room.”

  Gina smoothed things over by saying, “I can’t sleep in your bed. It’s got cooties all over it.” Then she poked him in the ribs.

  Gramma, his aunt, and his mom had made a huge feast, and he’d eaten so much he could barely move. And for once, Granddaddy Pete didn’t say anything ugly. He could barely get a word in, with the women yakking so much. He did seem to get along well with Uncle Ray, though. They both liked talking about golf.

  Uncle Ray was impressed with Jamie’s card tricks. His uncle said, “You shuffle those cards like a pro. You need to go to Vegas.”

  Jamie didn’t know what that meant, but he had been practicing his shuffling quite a bit, more than his grandmother liked. She often took his cards away when she thought he was overdoing it.

  “You are not practicing to be a card dealer when you grow up,” she’d say. “Read or do chores, please.”

  She didn’t have to encourage him to read — chores, sometimes, but not reading.

  * * *

  The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Jamie and his father watched football in the family room. His father wasn’t yelling at the TV as much as he usually d
id.

  “Are those the Tar Heels?”

  “No, this is a pro game, Cowboys and Eagles.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “The pro players get paid. Well, some people think a few college players do, too, but they’re not supposed to be. But the college players get laid.” Carl laughed. “The pros get paid, and the college boys get laid.” Then he put his hand to his mouth . “Oops. Please don’t tell your mom or your Gramma that I said that.”

  The front door opened and Jamie’s mother, grandmother, great aunt and uncle, and Gina walked in. “We’re back!” Rachel called out.

  “How was condo hunting?” Carl asked.

  “Great. Mom and Aunt Connie both found ones they liked, and they’re close, almost next to each other.”

  “That’s good. What’s for dinner?”

  “We’re going out. We don’t feel like cooking.” She smiled. “We feel like celebrating.”

  * * *

  Dinner was boring. There was no one for Jamie to talk to, though Gina tried at first, until she was drawn into the adults’ conversation. All they wanted to talk about was people they knew from Greensboro, and Jamie noticed his father seemed left out, too, drumming his fingers on the table and glancing around the room.

  His father’s gaze kept turning to a pair of old video games in the back of the restaurant. After a while, he caught Jamie’s eye and pointed toward the machines, and Jamie nodded as they excused themselves from the table.

  “This happens every time they get together,” Carl said as they walked away. “They start gossiping about people from Greensboro, and then I’m the third wheel.”

  “The what?” Jamie asked.

  “Never mind.” He shook his head. “Hey look, Centipede! Oh, it’s out of order.” He tapped the other machine. “But this one’s good. Missile Command. I used to be good at this back in college.” He dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out a rumbled dollar bill. “Run this up to the bar and get us some quarters, okay?”

  When Jamie returned with the coins, Carl dropped one in the slot. “Watch me and I’ll show you how to play.”

  Jamie put his hand on the side of the machine and pretended to watch his father, but what he was really doing was sending his mind inside the machine, like he did with the computer modem when the Internet connection went down. He could sense that the machine’s microprocessor was older and less sophisticated than the one on the home computer, and it only took a minute for him to grasp the essence of the game.

  He could easily beat it with magic. He could manipulate it and play as long as he liked, never allowing a missile to hit his cities, if he wanted, but he wasn’t going to do that. He didn’t need to. He was a nine-year-old boy, and this was a video game.

  “I’ll play you,” Jamie said. “Loser does the dishes Sunday night.”

  “You’re on, amigo.”

  Carl didn’t stand a chance.

  After about ten minutes, their games were over and Carl dug through his pockets. “Darn, I’m out of cash. Run see if your mom’s got some.”

  A few minutes later, they were up and running again with two dollars’ worth of quarters. Twenty minutes later, Carl said, “Game over. Jamie, go see if your mom’s got some more money.”

  But when Jamie returned, he said, “Mom says we gotta go.” He put his hand on his father’s back. “It’s okay, Dad. I’ll help you with the dishes tomorrow night anyway.”

  Chapter 26

  Fred was the first one to come over to Jamie’s on Christmas morning, right as the sun was peeping over the horizon. Jamie’s grandmother came out of the kitchen while his parents sat on the family room couch, looking tired and rumpled, still in their pajamas.

  “What did Santa bring you, Fred?” Rachel said.

  Fred made a face. “You mean, what did my parents bring.”

  “You don’t believe in Santa, either?”

  “No. The older kids at school told us. There’s no Santa or Easter Bunny or —”

  “Okay, we know. We like to pretend, so don’t spoil it for us grownups.”

  Evelyn pointed at Fred. “What’s that in your hands?”

  “It’s Jamie’s present.” She thrust it at him. “I picked it out myself.”

  Jamie tore open the wrapping paper. “It’s a video game. Mystic World. Thanks. Yours is here somewhere.” He got on his hands and knees and rummaged under the tree until he found a small red package. He handed it to her. “I bought it with my own money.”

  Rachel got up and walked behind him, holding something.

  “But you gotta promise, Fred,” Jamie said. “No kissing! I mean it.”

  Fred raised her hand in a vow. “I promise.” She opened the present. “It’s a necklace! An emerald necklace!”

  “I thought it would go with your earrings. I’m sorry the stone is so small, but it was all I could afford.”

  Fred started to throw her arms around his neck, but Jamie held his hands in front of him. “Remember. You promised.”

  “Okay.” She hugged him, but when she released him, she pointed over his head.

  “What?” Jamie looked up to see his mother, holding a sprig of mistletoe over his head. Before he could react, Fred grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him hard on the mouth.

  “Ah, Fred.” He wiped his mouth as his entire family laughed. “Mom!”

  “Sorry,” his mother said. “I couldn’t resist. I want one, too.”

  But as she tried to hold the mistletoe over him again, he took off for the stairs while his family howled with laughter.

  * * *

  Rachel and Evelyn made dinner one night while Jamie sat at the table nearby.

  “I need to go back to the trick shop, Mom. There’s some new stuff I want to get.” Rachel seemed to be ignoring him, busily snapping green beans. “Mom, did you hear me? I want to go to the trick shop. When can you take me?”

  “I’m busy this Saturday. Can it wait?”

  “No, our show is the Saturday after next. Gramma said it’s at a nursing home, and some of the people there can’t see so well. Fred and Rollie won’t have a problem, but I will. If the people can’t see the cards, the tricks won’t be any good. I want to get some props that are bigger and easier to see. Can you take me?”

  “Can’t you make do with what you have? Goodness, you have a trunk full of stuff already.”

  “No, I want to get some new ones.”

  Rachel stopped snapping beans and put one hand on her hip. “Jamie, listen to yourself. Every other word is I or me. Every sentence need not start with I or me.” She looked at her mother. “God, I’m starting to sound like you.”

  Evelyn smiled. “You act as if that’s a bad thing.”

  “And come to think of it, that saying doesn’t make sense, at least grammatically. You’d never start a sentence with me — ‘me wants this’ or ‘me wants to do that’. You’d sound like a Neanderthal, or like an Indian in those corny old Western movies.”

  “It’s not the grammar in the saying that matters, it’s the concept. When you were growing up, I wanted you to realize that the universe doesn’t revolve around you, that sometimes you need to stop and think about others.”

  “And we shouldn’t be so selfish,” Jamie said.

  “Exactly,” Evelyn said.

  “So does that mean you’ll take me?”

  “Jamie!” Rachel said.

  “Sorry. It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

  “I’ll take you,” Evelyn said, “but only because you’re doing the show as a favor to me.”

  * * *

  Jamie had a problem. Ever since he’d realized that he possessed real magic, most of his conversations with Fred and Rollie were only about that.

  “Are you sure this is the spot?” Rollie asked as they stood in the middle of Jamie’s back yard.

  “Yep, this is where I usually feel it,” Jamie said.

  “What does it feel like?” Fred said.

  “Well, it’s more like little flashe
s of stuff. I think they’re memories or something.”

  “Are you getting anything now?” Rollie said.

  “No. Usually it’s when I’m not expecting it. Sometimes I put a lawn chair right here and wait for it. Every once in a while, something pops into my head.”

  “Why do think they’re memories? You can’t remember stuff you’ve never done,” Fred said.

  “I know, but I can tell you about books I’ve never read. A lot of the stuff is about books. Did you know that the three-toed rock cat only mates once every five years?”

  “What is a three-toed rock cat?”

  “I should have no idea, but I can tell you all about them. Weird, huh? Their favorite food is mountain hares, and they only have one cub at a time. They live to be over three hundred years old and —”

  “That’s nuts,” Rollie said. “Nothing lives that long but trees.”

  “These cats do.”

  “What else do you remember, or whatever?” Fred asked.

  “I was out here the other….” Every sentence need not start with I or me, he heard his grandmother’s voice in his head.

  “Jamie?”

  The universe doesn’t revolve around you.

  “Uh, nothing, I forgot. Fred, I thought those folks in the nursing home really liked your dancing last Saturday.”

  “Huh? Oh, thanks. What else do you remember?”

  “Nothing. Rollie, let’s go inside and see if Gramma will let us get on the computer and find some new jokes for you.”

  “Nah, I’m good for now.”

  “Well, let’s go see if her brownies are ready.”

  “There’s a good idea. I love your Gramma’s brownies. You know, I wish my grandmother lived with me and made brownies like yours does.”

  As they walked across the yard to the back door, Jamie remembered another one of his grandmother’s sayings: the first step in solving a problem is realizing that you have one.

  Chapter 27

  Jamie loved the Saturday before Father’s Day, because that was the day of the annual Hendersonville Police-Firefighters’ softball game. Jamie got to sit on the bench with the police officers, and he knew them all because his father had taken him to the station many times. Jamie knew some of the firefighters, too, partly because he’d been to the softball game every year and partly because of his dad. They called Jamie ‘Carl Sikes’s kid’.