by Geof Johnson
“But Duane, I think—”
“I said no!” he yelled and threw the can at her. She tried to duck out of the way but was too slow, and the missile glanced off the side of her head.
She cried out and fell to the ground, putting one hand to her temple. He watched in silence as she pulled her hand away and looked at it, then she began crying and she showed it to him. Her palm and fingers were red with blood. “You hurt me! Why did you do that?”
“’Cause you were pissin’ me off, and you ain’t hurt. Put some ice on it and you’ll be okay.”
She put her hand back to her wound and stood slowly. “Duane, I can’t believe you did that. I’m really hurt and I —”
“I said go!” he roared and pointed at the front door. She backed away a few steps, then ran to the house, sobbing as she went.
Sammi’s eyes refocused and she saw the three mothers standing in front of her in the bathroom.
“Are you all right?” Mrs. Callahan said, and Sammi burst into tears. The towel fell off of Sammi and dropped to the floor.
Mrs. Callahan hugged and patted her on the back. “Did you have a vision?”
“Mr. Gundy hurt Mrs. Gundy!” Sammi wailed.
Mrs. Wilkins said, “Did you just use your magic?”
“I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t help it.”
“It’s okay, Sammi,” Mrs. Wilkins said. “Can you tell us what happened?”
Sammi sniffed a couple of times and let go of Mrs. Callahan, who picked up the towel and wrapped it around Sammi again. Sammi related what she’d just heard while the three women listened, their expressions serious.
“That is one mean, mean, man,” Mrs. Wilkins said, her dark face hard. She shook one fist and scowled. “He’d better not come around lookin’ for you, Sammi, or I’ll...I’ll...I don’t know what I’ll do, but it won’t be nice.”
“You like Mrs. Gundy, don’t you, Sammi?” Mrs. Callahan said.
Sammi nodded and someone knocked on the door. Mrs. Sikes opened it a crack and took Sammi’s clothes from whoever was on the other side. “That was Jamie,” she said. “Your clothes are dry now. Let’s get you dressed and then we need to tell the others what just happened.”
“I don’t get it,” Garrett said, standing in the main room of the stone house with the others. “Mr. Gundy can’t be that big of a problem, can he? He can’t be as bad as the demon, and our kids handled that okay. Or those two witches who kidnapped Fred, or even that evil sorcerer, Renn. They had powerful magic, and this fellow doesn’t have any, right? He’s just an ordinary man.”
Carl shook his head. “Don’t ever underestimate anybody, especially an obsessed creep like Gundy. Scumbags like him are capable of just about anything, especially if he used to be a bounty hunter like Sammi says. He’s got skills and experience tracking people, and Sammi says he’s very determined.” Carl glanced over at Sammi, who was dressed in her dry clothes and sitting on the drop cloth-covered bench seat with Lisa and Rachel while Adele hovered protectively nearby.
“If he gets too close, we can always hide Sammi here,” Larry said, “and we can take turns staying with her. This house is almost ready, isn’t it? The bathroom is finished.” He turned to Jamie, who was leaning against the door. “When are you going to install the refrigerator?”
“Maybe this week. I wanted to wait until we put up the wind turbine and the water wheels, but the solar panels are generating enough power right now, since it’s summer and there’s lots of sunshine.”
“Larry, if we hide Sammi here,” Carl said, “it’ll make it tough when your caseworker needs to do a home visit.”
Sammi sucked in her breath sharply. “Caseworker? Like for a foster home?” Sammi looked at Lisa and felt her face light up with a thousand watts of hope. “Am I going to live with you?”
Lisa rolled her eyes to the ceiling and exhaled heavily. “We don’t know for sure yet, Sammi, but we’re going to try to make that happen. We talked to a lady at Social Services yesterday, but she said we have to take a ten-week class before we can get approved. That’s too long. We didn’t want to tell you yet because we didn’t want you to be disappointed if it didn’t work out.”
“The ten-week requirement is a problem because we don’t think we can keep you a secret for that long,” Larry said.
“Mrs. Wysoki has already seen you,” Evelyn said, standing behind the bench seat with Mrs. Tully and Aiven.
“Somebody’s bound to find out that you’re a runaway,” Carl said, “sooner or later, and we’d have to turn you over to the county.”
“Don’t!” Sammi said. “Mr. Gundy will find me.”
“You can stay with me,” Mrs. Tully said. “Aiven and I will make room.”
“You have too much to handle as it is,” Evelyn said. “But thanks for offering. I think we have enough grownups to look after her until this matter with Mr. Gundy is settled.”
Rachel turned to Carl. “Can’t you do something about him before he gets too close?”
“Not until he breaks a law. And even then, it’s not my jurisdiction.” When all of the mothers surrounding Sammi shot dark looks at him like arrows, he cleared his throat and said, “I’ll, uh, make some calls tomorrow or Monday. Maybe I can find out something useful.”
* * *
Later that night, Rachel was watching television with Carl when she heard the doorbell ring. She answered it to find John Paul and Brinna there, and she let them in and escorted them to the family room. John Paul wore a dark suit, and Brinna wore a white skirt and a new summer blouse and carried a long-stemmed red rose in one hand. The normally serious-faced John Paul had a goofy grin and Brinna practically glowed.
“Sorry we’re so late,” Brinna said. “The restaurant was busy, and we had to wait a long time to get a table.”
“Jamie is over at Fred’s,” Carl said as he stood to greet them. “I’ll call him and tell him you’re back so he can make doorways for both of you. You probably need to go home.”
“No rush. We have something to tell you first.” Brinna bit her lip and extended her left hand. On her third finger was a ring, a simple silver band with a small sapphire.
Rachel gasped. “You didn’t!”
Carl grinned and shook John Paul’s hand, and Rachel hugged Brinna. “I’m so happy for you,” Rachel said. “That’s so wonderful.” Rachel released her and turned to John Paul. “Did you get down on one knee?”
“Right there in the middle of the restaurant.”
“Everybody clapped for us when I accepted,” Brinna said. “It was just so wonderful.”
“The ring belonged to my mother,” John Paul said. “I can’t afford anything else right now.”
“I think that makes it more special, because it was hers.” Brinna held it close to her face and admired it with a soft smile. “It is most beautiful, it is. I could not imagine a better one.”
“I think I’m going to have to go apartment hunting here pretty soon,” John Paul said.
Carl scratched his chin with one finger. “Does this mean you’re going to take the job here in Hendersonville? The chief was asking me about you the other day. He’s got money in the budget now to hire three more cops, and you’re at the top of his list.”
“Seems like the best idea, for now. It’ll make things a lot less complicated for us.”
“And our situation is very complicated, isn’t it?” Brinna said. “Living on different worlds, and Jamie having to make doorways for us all the time, and...just everything.”
“Jamie doesn’t mind,” Carl said. “Jamie told me that if John Paul moves here, he’ll make a permanent doorway for you, like he did for Momma Sue. That way he won’t have to make one every day.”
“Where would he put it?” Brinna asked. “Would he put it here?”
“He’d probably put it in John Paul’s apartment and connect it to your house on Eddan’s world.”
She shook her head and frowned. “That would be improper, as we are not married yet.”
&
nbsp; Rachel wrinkled her brow. “Even though you’re both adults, and you’ve both been married before?”
“It would cause the tongues to wag around Rivershire, it would. Better to connect the doorway to my shop, perhaps in the cellar where no one would see it.”
Carl turned to John Paul. “But if Jamie’s going to make a permanent doorway, he could just as easily put it in your house in Thibodaux. Then you wouldn’t have to move.”
John Paul took a deep breath before answering. “To tell the truth, I’m ready to get out of there, while I’m still young enough to start over. I’m tired of Thibodaux, and I’m ready for something different. And I like it here.”
Brinna put one hand on John Paul’s arm. “We talked about it, and since we have to pick a place to settle down, I think I would be better off living here, because I have friends here already.” She smiled warmly at Rachel and Carl.
John Paul nodded. “We want to live in this neighborhood, eventually, if we can afford it. But I’m not sure how we’ll get legal status for her.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Carl said. “We’ve tackled bigger problems than that.”
“What are you going to do about your house, John Paul?” Rachel asked. “It’s on the lake isn’t it? Doesn’t that make it worth more?”
“It’s not a very big house, but I think I can rent it to my cousin. He’s always liked it.” John Paul glanced at Brinna before turning back to Carl. “That should just about pay for an apartment here, don’t you think?”
“So, Brinna, I guess you’ll stay in your house in Rivershire for now,” Rachel said. “What about your shop?”
“I’d like to keep it. Business is good and I enjoy it.”
“And we’ll need the income, once we’re married,” John Paul said. “If Jamie will keep the doorway open for us so that she can go back and forth from Hendersonville to Rivershire.” John Paul shook his head slowly and blew out a long gust of air. “That’s so complicated, but it would sure help us, financially. It’ll be hard to buy a decent house on just a policeman’s salary.”
“We know all about that.” Carl clapped John Paul on the shoulder. “But everything is going to work out fine for the two of you, I’m sure.” He checked his watch and said, “Now, let’s get Jamie over here so you can go home.”
Chapter 9
On early Sunday afternoon, Jamie waited in Fred’s living room with Rollie, Bryce, Melanie, and Sammi while Fred tapped on her phone, chewing one corner of her lip thoughtfully as she focused on the screen.
“Okay,” Fred announced. “Nova texted me back. She’s ready for us.”
“Where exactly are we going?” Jamie said.
Fred turned her phone so that he could see the screen. “The Bean Shop, in Hampstead. It’s a café off of Highway 17. Here it is on the map.”
“Let me see that. I gotta get it into my magic sense of space before I can make a doorway to it.” Jamie took it from her and concentrated for a moment, then nodded. “I can get us there. But where do I make the doorway, exactly?”
“Does the café have a deck or a patio?” Melanie asked.
“I’ll check.” Jamie made a peephole, a magic, quarter-sized glowing circle in the air, and looked through it. “Don’t see one.” He put his finger to the portal and moved it a few inches, then looked again. “There’s a building next to it...looks like it’s not open today. There are no cars out front, so it should be safe. I’ll put a doorway on the back wall of it just to be sure.” He turned to Fred and said, “You go first and twirl your pendant. That way, if anybody’s looking, they’ll be too stunned to know what’s really happening.”
“Does everybody have their counter charms?” Bryce asked.
“I do!” Sammi held out her arm and proudly displayed her woven bracelet.
Bryce turned to Rollie. “How about you?”
“I got it.” Rollie pointed to his wrist and frowned. “I still think this is dumb.”
Fred patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be such a baby. You might like this girl.”
“Come on Fred, let’s go.” Jamie outlined a glowing portal. He pushed it open and moved aside, and Fred stepped through, her black purse draped over one shoulder, twirling the fairy pendant on her necklace as she went.
Everyone else quickly followed, and Jamie closed the doorway behind him and looked around. The air felt noticeably different, thick and humid, with a taste of salt on the warm breeze from the nearby ocean. They were in a parking lot framed by a few small stores, the nearest one with a sign out front — The Bean Shop. Fred strode toward it without hesitating and Melanie and Sammi went with her, Sammi holding Fred’s hand and skipping at her side.
“Hey,” Rollie said. “Hold on. Shouldn’t we talk about this first? I mean, what are we going to say to her when we meet her?”
Fred looked over her shoulder and said without breaking stride, “Hello?”
“Come on, dude.” Bryce grabbed him by the arm and nudged him toward the coffee shop. “You act like this is going to hurt.”
Jamie went last as they headed to the small brick building. They filed inside, and it was nearly deserted, except for one girl sitting at a small table in the far corner, holding a large Styrofoam cup of coffee. She had dreadlocks and her eyes were narrowed. Fred walked directly to her and held out her hand. “You must be Nova. I’m Fred.”
Fred quickly introduced the others, and Bryce said, “Let’s get some coffee before we sit down.”
Jamie handed Bryce a ten dollar bill. “Get me my usual. Get Fred some, too.”
“How about me?” Sammi held up some bills. “Can I get something? Mr. Callahan gave me three whole dollars!”
Melanie nodded toward the service counter. “Let’s see what they have for kids.” They went with Bryce and Rollie while Jamie and Fred stayed behind.
“What’s with the squirt?” Nova said without offering them a seat.
Fred lowered her voice. “She’s our little runaway.”
Nova’s eyes became narrower. “You’re joking.”
“Nope. She really is.”
Jamie took the opportunity to look closer at the strange girl. She was slim, with honey-colored skin and delicate features. She wore a tie-dyed T-shirt, faded cutoff jeans, and flip flops. Her brown hair was what really stood out — shoulder-length dreadlocks, with a few bleached nearly white at the ends. She had tiny jingle bells woven into a couple, and little bows and feathers in some others.
“Uh,” Jamie said, “is this the only place you could find to meet with us?”
She gave a small shrug. “I like it here. What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s not very private. We have some...uh, sensitive things to talk about.”
“Sensitive,” she said flatly, her light brown, challenging eyes locked with Jamie’s bright blue ones. “We can talk about them right here.”
“Not these things, we can’t,” Fred said. “Believe me.”
“Why should I?” Nova raised her chin.
Sammi ran over from the counter carrying a tall plastic soda cup with a straw poking out of the cap. “Come on, Nova.” She went around to Nova’s side of the little square table and took her hand. To Jamie’s surprise, Nova let her. “Go with us. It’ll be fun, I promise!” Sammi beamed her biggest smile at Nova, dimples showing and her dark eyebrows raised expectantly.
Jamie almost laughed. She can’t say no to that.
Nova closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. “Oh...sure. Whatever. I just hope you guys aren’t part of some kind of creepy cult or something.”
Sammi dragged Nova up from her seat and they all filed out the door, cups in hand, and went back behind the building next door.
“Before we do anything,” Melanie said to Nova, “you have to say an oath.”
Nova’s expression turned wary again. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” Fred pulled a small white Bible from her purse. “Do you go to church?”
“No.”
“Uh...do
you believe in God?”
“Kinda sorta.”
Fred turned to Jamie. “What do you think? Will it work?”
“Let’s try it and see what happens.”
Fred held the Bible close to Nova, but Nova stepped back and said, “I’m not doin’ nothin’ ’till you explain why.”
“You have to swear this oath so that you won’t tell other people what we’re going to show you today,” Bryce said. “Melanie and I did it.”
Nova eyed the Bible dubiously, but Sammi grabbed Nova’s arm and placed her hand on the white book. “It’s okay,” Sammi said reassuringly.
“It’s pretty cool, actually,” Rollie said. “Feels good. You’ll see.”
Nova hesitated, then she gave her head a tight shake and the bells in her hair tinkled. “Okay. Just do it.”
She put her palm on the Bible, and Jamie, Fred, and Rollie laid their hands on top of hers. Fred handed Nova a slip of paper. “Read that.”
Nova scanned it and frowned. “Part of it says ‘in the eyes of God and my friends’, but you’re not my friends.”
“Yes we are,” Sammi said, bobbing her head. “You just don’t know it yet.”
Nova opened her mouth as if to reply, but the undeniable certainty on Sammi’s face must have changed Nova’s mind. “Okay. I’ll say it.” She took a short breath and read aloud, “I solemnly swear in the eyes of God and my friends to never tell or reveal to anyone what I am about to see and hear today.”
Jamie felt the familiar tingle in his hand and watched as the golden glow flowed up his arm. He noticed that it flowed up Nova’s, too. That’s a good sign.
Nova jerked back and stared at her fingers. “What in the hell was that?”
Sammi’s eyebrows drew down deeply. “You said a bad word.”
“I couldn’t help it.” Nova looked back and forth from Jamie to Fred. “What was it?”
“That was real magic,” Fred said.
“You’re kidding.”
