Shadow Witch

by Geof Johnson

  “And that’s why Jamie built the school,” Aiven said. “For kids like me, who don’t have rich parents.” He cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t have any parents.” Then his face brightened slightly. “But it doesn’t matter, because Mrs. Tully is looking after me and she’s going to let me go to school.”

  “He’s already going, Sammi. On Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

  “But it’s summer,” Sammi said.

  “He’s using the time to get caught up on his reading skills. I have to go to the school anyway to get it ready for the fall, so he comes with me a couple of days a week and gets some work in, and he’s been helping us assemble some of the new furniture. Several kids from the local farms have been coming, too, on the same days as Aiven.”

  “Do you teach them by yourself?”

  “My sister comes with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

  “They look just alike,” Aiven said. “They’re twins.”

  Sammi lifted her chin. “I knew that.”

  “But she’s the better teacher, I’m afraid,” Mrs. Wallace said. “She was a reading specialist before she retired, while I just worked in an office.”

  “But you’re a good teacher, too,” Aiven said earnestly. “I’ve learned a lot from you, I have.”

  “Thank you, Aiven.”

  By this time they’d reached the town’s east gates, tall pillars topped with black globes the size of cannonballs, standing like rock sentries on either side of the passageway. Aiven drove them through, and the road changed from packed dirt to closely-fitted paving stones, Sugar’s hooves clopping rhythmically as they rolled on into town.

  Sammi marveled at the beautiful homes that lined both sides of the street, with broad, well-landscaped lawns and flower beds bursting with colorful blooms. “It’s so nice,” Sammi said. “It’s pretty and it’s clean.”

  “They take very good care of their town, Sammi,” Mrs. Wallace said. “It’s called Rivershire, I guess because it’s near the river.”

  “Mayor Duncan wants to best Paulsbury,” Aiven said. “It’s a bigger town, but we’re nicer, I’m told.”

  “Where’s Paulsbury?” Sammi asked.

  Aiven held his arm out and pointed to his right. “That way, past the bridge, over a half day’s ride. I’ve never been.”

  “The mayor may have his faults,” Mr. Wallace said, “but he does good things for the town.”

  Little shops began to appear on either side of the street, narrow, two-story wooden buildings, the trim painted in bright colors and signs hanging out front — Ladies’ Fine Clothing, Rooney’s Shoe Repair, Tierney’s Porcelain and Jewelry.

  Aiven clucked at Sugar and they turned left on the next street. “Mrs. Tully doesnot like the mayor. She thinks he is a popinjay.”

  “What’s that?” Sammi asked. “Is that bad?”

  “It means that he’s vain and puffed up,” Mrs. Wallace said. “Thinks very highly of himself.”

  “Oh. You talk funny, Aiven.”

  “I do not. You do.”

  “You use funny words, and you say your words funny.”

  “It’s just an accent, Sammi,” Mrs. Wallace said. “It’s called a burr. Mrs. Tully talks that way, too, didn’t you notice? Most everybody here does.”

  “Why don’t they talk normal?”

  “It is normal!” Aiven said and narrowed his eyes at her.

  Mrs. Wallace chuckled and said, “They talk that way because most of them are descended from Irish and Scottish people, and that’s what they sound like.”

  “How can that be?” Sammi asked. “Isn’t this another planet?”

  “Yes, but it was mostly settled by people from the British Isles. Didn’t you know? I thought you were listening to us with your power.”

  “I don’t listen all the time, and I can’t hear everything.”

  “What are you talking about?” Aiven said.

  “Sammi is a Shadow Witch,” Mrs. Wallace said. “She can listen to people with her magic from far away, even on another world.

  Aiven’s mouth fell open for a moment, and then he grinned. “That’s great! How does that work?”

  “It’s a long story,” Evelyn said, “and we’ll tell you about it later. We’re almost to the school, now.”

  They passed through the south gates of town, and the shops and houses quickly gave way to fields on both sides of the road. Aiven guided them to the first one on their left. A short distance back stood a long rectangular building with a pitched roof that was covered in solar panels like the stone house. “This is it,” he said.

  “Huh?” Sammi expected something else, like the school she was used to back in Bicksby, brick and steel, with glass doors and asphalt everywhere. The building she was looking at was simple, painted a cheerful yellow, with large windows on every side and no pavement anywhere, only dirt and grass.

  “This used to be a farm, Sammi,” Mrs. Wallace said, “but it hasn’t been used in years. That’s why Jamie was able to buy the land so cheaply. The old barn is still here, and it’s around back. Bann was able to fix it up, and Aiven will keep the carriage in it today. Some of the other kids may put their horses in it too, if they ride to school.”

  “But I don’t have to put Sugar in there,” Aiven said as they turned off the road to the front of the school. “I let her run free in the big field here, usually. She stays where I tell her to.” Sugar looked back at him and snorted, and Aiven said, “Well, where I ask her to.”

  “Why do the kids ride horses to school, Mrs. Wallace?” Sammi asked.

  “There’s no bus service. It’s either ride a horse or walk, which some do. Jamie and I have been talking about buying a big van for the school, but we’re still working that out. There are no gas stations here, so fuel would be a problem.”

  Aiven stopped the carriage by the front door, and Sammi looked across the field to see another yellow wooden structure, two-stories tall but smaller than the school. The roof was also covered in solar panels, and on the ground near it was an array of a dozen more, shiny black plastic rectangles lined up in rows and aimed at the sun. “What’s that building?”

  “That’s the clinic,” Mrs. Wallace said as she stepped out of the carriage.

  Sammi climbed down, too, and said, “Why is the clinic so far away? In my school, it was right by the office.”

  “Jamie wanted to leave room next to the main school building in case we need to build more classrooms. And the clinic is not just for the school, it’s for the whole town. There wasn’t a medical facility here until Jamie had that one built.”

  “But what did people do when they got sick or hurt?”

  “They went to a healer, if they could, but this town doesn’t have one of those, either. When we were here for spring break, a couple of people came to see Fred, because she’s a witch. It was their only option. They figured she could at least make a potion for them.”

  “Mrs. Malley can make potions. Doesn’t she live here?”

  “Right down this road, about two miles,” Aiven said and pointed with one finger. “But she’s not a healer, just an ordinary witch.”

  Sammi must’ve looked confused, because Mrs. Wallace said, “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. I don’t really understand the difference, either.” She pulled a key from her pocket and put it in the lock on the front door. “Maybe we’ll go to the clinic one day this week and you can meet Dr. Burke. She’s a friend of mine, and she’s running the show over there.”

  “Is she from Earth?” Sammi asked. “How did she get here?”

  “She came with me last week, but she stayed here over the weekend. There’s an apartment upstairs from the clinic, so she lives there most of the time now.” Mrs. Wallace pulled the door open and said to Aiven, “Why don’t you take the carriage around to the barn and I’ll give Sammi a tour of the school.”

  Aiven drove away and Sammi followed Mrs. Wallace inside.

  Sammi found herself in a wide foyer, cluttered with cardboard boxes stacked on the floor. Mr
s. Wallace frowned, flicked a wall switch, and the lights came on. “It’s a mess in here, Sammi. The whole place is. We’ve been ordering supplies over the last few weeks and they all seem to be coming in at once.” She looked over her shoulder at Sammi as they walked down the hall. “You get to help me sort things out. We’ll be doing it all week, if not longer.”

  “I want to help.”

  “Good.” Mrs. Wallace gestured at the first door they passed on their left. “We have two smaller rooms in the front and two in the back. One will be the school office, the others we’re not sure about yet. We might use them for a classroom, like art or music.” She paused and frowned again. “If we can find a teacher.”

  “I like art and music,” Sammi said brightly.

  “Me too, and Rachel thinks we should offer them, but Jamie really wants us to get the local kids up to speed on the basics, especially math. You can’t develop engineers without it.”

  “What do engineers do?”

  “They design and build things. Wizards have done it here up until now, and Jamie thinks that’s wrong.” They reached the end of the hall and entered a bigger room. Mrs. Wallace flicked another switch and the overhead lights came on.

  It was a large open space. Windows lined both long walls, allowing plenty of natural light, and underneath were cabinets, the countertops covered with stacks of books and cardboard boxes, with a stainless steel sink on one side.

  Eight new-looking chairs and desks, like the kind Sammi had in her first grade class, were arranged in two rows in the middle of the room, and more unassembled ones were in cardboard boxes piled nearby, a set of tools lying on the floor beside them. Sammi recognized a screwdriver and a wrench. A whiteboard on a rolling stand stood in front of the desks, letters of the alphabet already written on it in green marker.

  Two tables were near the back of the room, covered with more supplies, and another area in the far left corner was partitioned off with low shelves. Everywhere Sammi looked was chaos and clutter.

  There were six fluorescent light fixtures and four ceiling fans overhead, and Mrs. Wallace looked up at them and said, “Better turn these fans on and open the windows, or it’ll get warm in here.”

  “You don’t have air conditioning?” Sammi said.

  Mrs. Wallace shook her head. “No heat yet, either, but we have plenty of time before that’s an issue. Jamie’s looking into that.” Mrs. Wallace went to one of the windows, unlatched it and pushed it up. She inhaled deeply and said, “That’s better.” They both turned when they heard the knocking sound coming from the rear of the building. “That must be Aiven. He’s probably finished with the carriage by now. Let’s go let him in and I can show you the rest of the school on the way.”

  She led Sammi to a hallway at the back of the room. As they walked down it, Mrs. Wallace paused at an open door and gestured for Sammi to look in. “Another classroom. This one’s closer to being ready.”

  Sammi peeked inside and saw a few desks and chairs like the ones in the main room, arranged in rows. Empty shelves were below the windows on one wall and tall cabinets were on another, all painted off-white. A larger whiteboard was fixed to a rolling stand, but it was clean as new, as if eagerly waiting for the first day of school, the first letters to be written. The first words.

  It seemed so promising to Sammi, like a brand-new pair of shoes, which she almost never got. And when she did, she was anxious to try them out, to run in them and jump like a deer, but afraid to get them dirty. She looked down at her own almost-new sneakers and frowned at a smudge on the toe of her left one. She wet her thumb with her tongue, stooped and scrubbed at the dark smear as best she could.

  Then she followed Mrs. Wallace back out into the hall, and Mrs. Wallace gestured at the open door on the opposite wall. “We’ll probably use this room or the extra one up front as a library. We didn’t plan very well for that. We may end up building a separate library when we have the money.

  “Is there a cafeteria?”

  “Not yet. The kids bring their lunch from home.”

  There was another knock, loud and insistent. Mrs. Wallace said, “Aiven’s getting impatient. Come on.” They walked to the end of the hall, and at the very back of it were two doors, one on each side, facing each other like bookends. “These are the bathrooms, Sammi, real, honest-to-goodness bathrooms. The one on the left is for girls and the one on the right is for boys. We haven’t gotten signs made yet.”

  She pushed open the back door and Aiven came in. “I’m sorry it took so long, Aiven,” Mrs. Wallace said. “I had to show Sammi the rest of the school.”

  “Did you see the bathrooms?” Aiven’s eyebrows went up. “They’re real bathrooms, not outhouses. They’re so cool. But we should call them restrooms, because there are no bathtubs in them. That’s what Jamie said we should call them.”

  “Cool?” Sammi said. “You say that here?”

  “He learned it from Jamie and Rollie,” Mrs. Wallace said. “But the bathrooms have been a big hit with the kids who have been coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

  “The ceiling fans and the lights, too,” Aiven added. “Don’t forget those. People from all over town have been coming by to see them, like they’re some kind of awesome magic. They just stand in the middle of the room and stare at them, like this.” He opened his eyes and mouth wide, leaned his head back and gazed at the ceiling as if he’d been stunned.

  Sammi giggled. “They do not! They’re just lights and fans.”

  “But they’re the first electric ones any of these people have ever seen, Sammi,” Mrs. Wallace said. “They’re like magic to the folks around here.”

  “I thought people did real magic here all the time, like Eddan, and Mrs. Malley.”

  “Try to imagine what it’s like, Sammi.” Mrs. Wallace tilted her head to one side. “When the most advanced piece of technology you know about is a wagon, and then somebody drives by in a car.”

  “Or a truck!” Aiven bobbed his head. “You should’ve been here when Jamie’s father brought his truck here and drove it to the market to pick up some supplies. He let me ride with him, and people just stared at us at first, then they swarmed us, everybody wanting to touch it and...and it was amazing, it was.”

  “So my point, Sammi,” Mrs. Wallace continued, “is that things that you take for granted might seem fantastic to someone from this world. Do you understand?”

  “I think so.”

  “Good. Now, let’s get to work. Aiven, do you think you can handle putting a few desks together today?”

  “Yes ma’am. I can do it.” He picked up the screwdriver and wrench from the floor and held them in one hand. “But if Jamie were here, he could do it with his magic, zing, like that. The desks would jump together right before your eyes.” He nodded and pursed his lips. “I’m going to be able to do that someday, soon as I get old enough. I shall be a real sorcerer.”

  “In the meantime, you can do it the old-fashioned way, with tools and hard work.” Mrs. Wallace put one hand on her hip and frowned at Aiven. “In fact, I’d prefer that you do it the old-fashioned way. There’s no reason to use magic unless you’re lazy.”

  “You sound like Mrs. Tully.”

  “That’s because we think alike. That’s why we’re friends.” She glanced around the room before turning back to Sammi. “Now, you and I are going to go through these boxes and sort school supplies. Can you handle that?”

  “Yes ma’am, I think so.”

  “Good. Let’s get started.”

  According to Mrs. Wallace, each new student was going to be issued a basic set of workbooks and school supplies, including a waterproof backpack, which made Sammi envious. It didn’t have Hello Kitty on it, or any of her favorite cartoon characters, but it was a beautiful deep blue color with several zippered pouches in it, and flaps and snaps and pockets and special secret places to put small things.

  She pulled one from a big cardboard box on the floor and held it to her nose, inhaling deeply. It smelled so wonder
ful, so new, so not like the thrift store, where her old backpack had come from. She bit her lip and turned to Mrs. Wallace, who was clearing some space on the countertop to stack the sorted supplies. Sammi was dying to ask if she could have one of the blue treasures, and Mrs. Wallace looked up from her task and saw Sammi staring at her with one clutched to her chest.

  Mrs. Wallace opened her mouth as if she were going to rebuke Sammi, but instead, picked up a clipboard from the counter beside her and inspected it closely, with her reading glasses perched on her nose. She counted on her fingers silently for a moment and then turned back to Sammi. “I bet you’re going to need a new backpack for school this fall, aren’t you? Would you like one of those?”

  Sammi nodded eagerly and held her breath.

  “Well, Aiven’s already gotten one and....” She glanced at the clipboard again. “We may need to order more before school starts, but there’s plenty of time. So why don’t you take one?”

  “Thank you! Thank you Mrs. Wallace.” Sammi felt a smile break across her face.

  “You’re welcome. It wouldn’t be fair for Aiven to have one and not you.”

  “Mine is at home,” Aiven said, looking up from the desk he was assembling. “Mrs. Tully put it away because she doesn’t want me playing with it. She said I’ll get it dirty.”

  “She’s probably right,” Mrs. Wallace said. “While we’re at it....” She reached into a box at her feet and pulled something out, something bright red in a small zippered pouch. “You may as well take one of these, too.” She stepped through the clutter on the floor and handed it to Sammi. “It’s a plastic rain poncho.”

  “Oh, wow,” Sammi said quietly as she regarded the new prize in her hands. “What are these for?”

  “For when it rains, you silly goose,” Aiven said.

  Sammi wrinkled her nose at him. “I knew that.”

  “Some of these kids will probably end up walking to school in bad weather,” Mrs. Wallace said. “They’ll learn better if they’re not soaking wet.”