by Geof Johnson
“Okay,” Evelyn said. “We’re all locked up and ready to go home. Jamie, you can make a doorway now.”
Jamie held the stick in his left hand and began tracing the outlines of a magic portal, when suddenly, a strange image flashed through his mind — thin, glowing lines, connected in a complex web that surrounded him. He shook his head and said, “What was that?”
“What was what?” Evelyn said.
“Just...something weird.” He extended his finger and started the spell for the doorway again, and the image reappeared, for a split-second. He turned and looked at his grandmother. “I had a little...vision, I’d guess you’d call it...lines.” He touched his head with the fingertips of one hand and eyed the stick. “All these interconnected, glowing lines.” He set the stick down and tried the doorway a third time, but nothing unusual happened. “Hmm.” He looked at Uncle Charlie. “That’s odd. I think the stick had something to do with it.”
Uncle Charlie shrugged broadly. “Don’t look at me. I’m just an old Indian.”
“Jamie, make the doorway already!” his grandmother said and picked up the stick and held it for him.
Jamie outlined the portal, but no glowing threads appeared in his mind. Strange, he thought as he followed everyone through to Fred’s house.
* * *
Fred was waiting in her living room for Jamie and Sammi after they returned from bidding Uncle Charlie goodbye. “She responded to my friend request,” Fred said.
“Who did?” Jamie asked.
“Nova, the witch that Sammi found.”
Sammi grinned and took Fred’s hand. “I told you she’d be your friend.”
“She’s agreed to meet with us this Sunday,” Fred said.
“Us?”
“Yes, all of us. You, me, Rollie, Bryce, and Melanie.”
“And me!” Sammi yanked on Fred’s hand. “I want to go. I’m the one who found her!”
“You can go if it’s okay with my mom and dad.”
“Aren’t you afraid of overwhelming Nova?” Jamie asked.
“Everybody needs to meet her anyway, so we might as well do it all at once and get it over with.”
Jamie blew out a long gust of air and locked eyes with Fred. “Well...it’s your call. Are you coming with us Saturday to paint the inside of the stone house?”
“I can’t get off work. Neither can Bryce or Melanie. You don’t need us anyway, since all of our parents are gonna be there.”
“How about me?” Sammi asked with another tug on Fred’s hand.
“You’re going with Jamie, where somebody can keep an eye on you.”
“Will any of my friends be there?”
“Probably just Aiven,” Jamie said. “Mrs. Tully is coming, and she’ll bring him for sure.”
“So you two can play in the backyard while the grownups paint,” Fred said. “That way you won’t get into any trouble.”
Chapter 8
Sammi yawned and Mrs. Callahan closed the book she was reading aloud, sitting in a chair close to Sammi’s bed. “That’s enough for tonight, little girl,” Mrs. Callahan said. “I think you’re ready to go to sleep.”
“Noooo,” Sammi groaned and rolled her head back and forth on her pillow. “Just one more chapter.”
“That’s plenty for tonight.” She looked at the cover for a moment and then turned back to Sammi. “You know, you’re almost old enough to read these by yourself.”
“I like it better when you and Mr. Callahan read to me.”
Mrs. Callahan didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she gazed at Sammi with one side of her mouth turned up. “Speaking of old enough, you have a birthday coming up.”
“This Saturday. I’m going to be seven years old,” she said proudly.
“Rollie’s is only a few days after yours, so we were thinking about having a party next weekend, a combined birthday celebration. We don’t really do parties anymore for our kids since they’ve gotten older, but we thought that this would be a good time to do one, since Rollie’s turning eighteen, and you’re definitely in the birthday party age.” Her smile broadened. “Would you like that?”
Sammi sat up in her bed. “A party? A real one, with cake and balloons and stuff?”
“Of course.”
“Yay!” Sammi clapped her hands. “I never had one before, ever. Can I invite Libby?”
“Honey, she lives clear across the state, plus we don’t want Mr. Gundy finding out.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. Then she said, “Can I invite my friends from the Rivershire School?”
“Well....” She knitted her brow. “We might be able to do that, if their parents don’t mind, and if Jamie will make the magic doorways for them.”
“He will, I know it. And their parents won’t mind if their kids come. They came here today, remember? And everybody trusts Jamie.”
“You really like those kids, don’t you? Which ones do you want to invite? Or do we have to invite all of them so we don’t hurt somebody’s feelings?” She looked away for a moment and shook her head. “Gosh, this reminds me of the old days.”
“I want to invite everybody, even the boys.”
“That means Mrs. Tully will want to come with Aiven.”
“Invite Mrs. Wallace, too. And Mrs. Moore.”
“Going to be a mob, then. We’ll have to do it in Jamie’s backyard, just like we used to. I guess we should rent a bouncy castle, huh?”
“Could you? Please?”
“I wonder what those kids from Eddan’s world will think of that.”
“They’ll like it a lot, I know.”
Mrs. Callahan took a deep breath while she looked at Sammi. “Do those kids seem different from your friends you used to have back at your old school?”
“Not really. They don’t have phones and other stuff, but they’re just the same.” She nodded firmly. “They’re nice. Even Milly, once you get to know her.”
“Good.” She reached over and patted Sammi’s arm, then stood and headed for the door. She paused with one hand on the wall switch and said, “Do you want me to leave the hall light on for you?”
“No ma’am. I’m not scared. I have my night light.”
“Okay. Good night, then. Fred will check on you when she gets back from Jamie’s, and Mr. Callahan will, too, soon as he finishes watching the baseball game.”
She turned off the overhead light and left. Sammi pulled the sheet up to her chin and wiggled her head to the perfect spot on her pillow. A party, she thought happily. With all my new friends, and Mr. and Mrs. Callahan, and Mr. and Mrs. Sikes, and...everybody.
She felt warm inside, glowing like the night light on the far wall. Something important was happening, and she knew it. She felt it. If the Callahans were going to have a party for her, they were going to let her stay for another week, and that put her that much closer to being there permanently.
Sammi held her hands up near her face and counted on her fingers the number of days she had been with the Callahans. Seven. That’s a whole week. And next week will make two.
It could happen. They might take her in permanently. Sammi had overheard snatches of conversation, a word here, a word there, not with her power, but the normal way. Social Services. That was the word she’d heard more than once. She knew Mr. and Mrs. Callahan were going there in the morning, and at first Sammi feared that it meant they were going to turn her over to the county. But if they’re going to keep me for another week, and have a party for me....
She felt a surge of hope building inside her, and she knew she shouldn’t let it go too far, but she couldn’t help it. It was what she wanted more than anything, to stay right where she was, to live with the Callahans.
She curled up on her side and recited her new nightly prayer until she fell asleep: Please let me stay here forever. Please let me stay here forever. Please let me stay here forever.
* * *
Jamie was preparing to make a doorway to the stone house on Eddan’s world when he heard the knock on
the front door. He turned to his father, who carried a can of paint in each hand. “Who could that be? Everyone’s here who’s going, aren’t they?” His parents and grandmother were with him, as well as Rollie’s and Fred’s parents. Sammi was coming, too, holding a new paintbrush of her own.
Jamie was surprised when Granddaddy Pete and Grannie Darla walked in. “Are you going to paint with us?” Jamie asked, though he should have known the answer. Grannie Darla wore designer slacks and an expensive-looking red blouse, with a string of pearls around her neck, and Granddaddy Pete wore pressed khaki pants and a dark blue polo shirt.
Grannie Darla laughed and waved one hand. “Oh, no, we just thought we’d tag along, since you’re going anyway. I might do some shopping. I just love those little stores in Rivershire.”
Evelyn frowned. “What are you going to do for money? They don’t take Master Card there.”
“Well, they should, shouldn’t they?” She laughed again. “I thought we’d trade cash for some of Jamie’s Rivershire coins.” She turned to Jamie. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Jamie scratched his temple and shrugged. “I guess not. I can put the cash toward a TV and DVD player for the school. How much do you think you’ll need?”
“Not that much, but....” She glanced at Granddaddy Pete before turning back to Jamie. “How about if Pete and I buy the TV and the DVD player for you?”
“That’s too much.”
“We feel bad that everybody’s helping out with that school but us.”
“But Granddaddy’s managing the money I inherited from Renn.”
“That’s not that hard, and he enjoys it. I feel like we should be doing more.”
“You could always help us paint,” Evelyn said.
“I mean, besides that. We want to do something for the school or the clinic.” Darla put a well-manicured hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “We’re really proud of you for what you’re doing with the school and everything.”
“But I can’t brag about it to my buddies,” Granddaddy Pete said with a grin. “When people at the country club ask how my grandson is doing, what can I say? Oh, he’s built a school and a clinic on another planet. You should see it!”
Grannie Darla laughed at her husband, then she patted Jamie on the shoulder. “But we want to help some, too, and not just with the money. I don’t know how much good I’d be at the school, though. I don’t know the first thing about teaching.”
“Neither do I,” Evelyn said, “but I’m doing it anyway. You should try it. It’s very rewarding.”
“I don’t know about that, but maybe I can help your friend in the clinic. I used to be a nurse you know, back when we first got married. I can still give a shot or change a bandage.”
Carl set down the two buckets of paint and said to Granddaddy Pete, “How about you, Dad? Why are you going with us? You hate shopping.”
“Well, I thought I’d go have another look at the Rivershire Inn.” He rubbed his chin with one hand and raised his eyebrows. “I have an idea I want to run by you folks and see what you think.” He turned to Jamie. “You know how you’ve been talking about building a cafeteria or a library for the school?”
“You said we don’t have enough in the budget this year.”
“Right, if we only spend the interest from the gold you got. But....” He held up one finger and nodded once. “I thought of a way you can make enough money to build whatever you want.”
“How’s that?”
“By charging people to vacation there.” He nodded again for emphasis.
“Huh?”
“Vacation. That’s why I want to have another look at the inn. I know some rich folks who would pay through the nose for a chance to spend the weekend there, if the inn makes a few improvements, like adding a real bathroom or two.”
Garrett drew down his eyebrows. “Why would anyone pay to stay there? It’s nice and quaint and everything, but there’s not all that much to do.”
Pete held up his finger again and waved it about. “Because it’s another world. It’s the ultimate exotic vacation. I’ve read in the paper about people lining up to spend a million bucks to get shot into space, and that’s not even a sure thing yet, but this is. A weekend on another planet. Think about that for a minute.”
“How much money are you talking about,” Larry asked.
“Maybe fifteen to twenty thousand per couple.”
“Twenty thousand?” Jamie said. “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. And I have a lot of friends who can easily afford it. I know we’d have to be careful about how we approach them with the idea, and they’d have to take the oath and everything, but once they found out what we’re really offering, they’d jump at the chance.”
“They would,” Darla said. “Heck, I would, if you weren’t already letting us stay in your stone house for free, Jamie.”
“But you’re family.”
“I know,” Pete said, “but my friends aren’t. So, maybe we could loan the inn the money to do the remodeling, and work out a deal with them. I bet they’d love the extra business. The bathrooms would have to be old-fashioned, with claw foot bathtubs and such, to keep the atmosphere quaint.”
“But what are tourists going to do in Rivershire?” Adele said. “I mean, besides shop?”
“I heard the fishing is good down at the river,” Pete said, “but if you had a golf course there, you could really rake in the money.”
“Come on, Granddaddy,” Jamie said with a frown, “not golf.”
“I agree,” Rachel said. “It would spoil the charm.”
“How about a driving range, then?” Pete turned to Jamie. “You own all that land around the school. There’s plenty of space to put one there.”
Jamie gave him a skeptical look and Pete said, “Or maybe just a putting green by the inn. That’ll give the husbands something to do while their wives shop.”
“That might be okay.” Jamie nodded. “But let’s talk about this later. We need to start painting.”
Evelyn was the last through the doorway into the stone house, and she found Mrs. Tully waiting for them in the main room. “I was beginning to worry about you,” the sturdy woman said. “You are usually quite punctual.”
“We got held up,” Evelyn said with a glance at Pete, who was with Jamie, getting money from the coin vase on the shelf by the closet.
Sammi proudly showed Mrs. Tully the brush she held. “I’m going to help, too.”
“But not until later,” Lisa said. “Why don’t you and Aiven play outside while we get the house ready to paint?”
“Come on, Sammi,” Aiven said. “We can play with Sugar, or maybe we can catch a crayfish. I saw a couple yesterday.”
Mrs. Tully shook a finger at him. “You be mindful by the river. The water is running high and fast after last night’s rain.”
“We’ll be careful,” Aiven said as he and Sammi headed for the back door.
When she heard it slam, Evelyn turned to Lisa and said, “This is the first chance I’ve gotten to ask you how the meeting went yesterday at Social Services.”
Lisa turned to Jamie and lowered her voice. “Can Sammi hear us?”
Jamie reached up and pulled the chain on the ceiling fan, and the globe light came on. “Not now, she can’t. We’re not in a shadow.”
Lisa took a slow breath and shook her head. “It didn’t go very well.”
Larry set down the can of paint he was carrying. “The social worker we talked to said it takes ten weeks to finish the foster parenting course.”
“Ten weeks?” Evelyn frowned. “That’s an awfully long time. It will be almost impossible to keep Sammi a secret for that long.”
“That’s what I think,” Lisa said. “If we get caught with her, she could end up getting put back in the system, and I don’t think that’s safe.”
“Sammi cannot go into the system,” Evelyn said. “Mr. Gundy will find her.”
Lisa turned to Jamie. “I need you and Fred to come with u
s to Social Services on Monday afternoon. The lady agreed to meet with us again.”
“Why do you need us?”
“I think we should tell her about Sammi’s situation, the real story.”
“You want to tell some stranger about our magic?”
“Only if we have to,” Lisa said quickly, “and only if she takes the oath, first, so she can’t tell anybody about it. But I think if she knows about our...special circumstances, she’ll bend the rules for us and let us become foster parents much sooner.”
“Do you really think she can do that? Maybe it’s not up to her.”
“She teaches the certification class,” Larry said. “Well, they all do, really. They take turns. But I got the feeling she’s just another overworked government employee who doesn’t want to make her job any harder than it already is.”
“Can you blame her?” Carl said. “Social workers don’t get paid much, and it’s stressful.”
“But if she doesn’t make an exception for us, something bad might happen to Sammi,” Lisa said. “Like those kids I read about in the newspaper. I couldn’t bear it. I’d just die.”
“That would be terrible if she got hurt.” Jamie rubbed his chin and stared at the far wall for a moment, then turned back to Lisa. “I’ll go with you, but I’ll have to get somebody to cover for me at work.”
“Thank you,” Lisa said.
“Let’s get going on this painting,” Garrett said, “before the day slips away from us.”
“I’ll make some coffee,” Evelyn said. “Mrs. Tully, where did you put the new coffee maker I brought?”
“I’ll show you. I could use some tea.”
Evelyn walked with her into the kitchen and watched as Mrs. Tully opened a cabinet and pulled out the new coffee maker, its power cord still wrapped in a tight bundle. She handed it to Evelyn and frowned. “I have no idea how this works.”
“It’s easy.” Evelyn unwound the black wire and plugged it into the electrical outlet that Carl had installed near the sink. Mrs. Tully watched with a suspicious look. Evelyn gave her a quick smile and said, “It won’t bite.”
Mrs. Tully drew in a sharp breath and nodded once. “I suppose I should learn to do this, so that I can prepare it for Master Jamie or any of your family when they stay here.”
