Shadow Witch

by Geof Johnson

  “I did that on purpose. I carved her image into a pattern at the handle.”

  Jamie eyed it carefully, and at the thicker end were repeated figures of a running horse, circling it in four rings, one atop the other, that formed a grip. The length of the stick was covered by two crisscrossing spirals of interlocking icons that formed a helix, and on closer inspection, Jamie found that they were chains of infinity symbols, burned into the wood. “How did you do that?”

  “With a hot knife and a lot of patience. When I finished, I had a crick in my neck for two days.”

  Jamie gripped the stick firmly in one hand. It felt good beneath his fingers, smooth as silk, lightweight but not fragile. “Man, I like this.” He attempted to twirl it, but it slipped from his grasp. Before it struck the driveway, Jamie flicked his fingers and cast a spell, halting it in mid-air, where it floated inches above the concrete. “That was close.” He gestured and it levitated back to his hand.

  “I don’t think it would’ve broken,” Uncle Charlie said. “That wood is very strong.”

  Jamie looked at it closely again and said, “This is really nice, Uncle Charlie. Are you sure I can’t pay you for it?”

  “Positive, but...maybe you can do me a little favor sometime. I’d like to go back to Eddan’s world, and if it’s not too much to ask, I’d like to borrow your horse and go back to the woods where we got this stick. I think I can find more good branches for carving.”

  “That would be fine. Sugar would probably enjoy getting out.”

  Uncle Charlie nodded slowly. “She is a beautiful animal. I hope she can tolerate being ridden by an old fat Indian.”

  Jamie laughed and said, “You’re not fat. But call me when you want to go and I’ll make a doorway for you.”

  Uncle Charlie nodded again. “Thank you, Jamie the Magic Man. You have a good heart.” He patted his chest, climbed back into his truck and closed the door. “Time for me to go. Got to show my daughter that I can be useful.” He started the engine but paused before backing out. “Hold on,” he said out of the open window, “there’s one more thing.” He picked up something from the seat beside him and passed it out of the window to Jamie. It was a small paper bag, bulging with something. “These are the shavings from your stick.”

  “Why did you save those?”

  Uncle Charlie shrugged one shoulder. “If this wood is special, you may want all of it, even the little bits. Maybe you can make potpourri out of it.” He chuckled, waved goodbye and backed out of the driveway. Then he drove away, leaving a thin cloud of smelly exhaust in his wake.

  Jamie left the paper bag on the front porch and went to the Callahan’s house to show everybody his new wooden prize.

  “That’s beautiful,” Rachel said when she saw it. “Why don’t you bring it with you to the school this morning? The kids might get a kick out of it, especially the boys.”

  Jamie nodded and surveyed the room. “Fred still not up?”

  “She’s awake but still in her bed,” Sammi said. “She doesn’t want you to see her without her makeup.”

  Rachel picked up their lunch bags and a couple of books from the big table. “We’re ready.”

  Jamie grasped the walking stick in his left hand and prepared to form the doorway with his right. He held out one finger, just as he always did, but paused for a moment and regarded the smooth wooden staff. I wonder what’s going to happen this time. Will I see weird things in my head? Then he summoned his will to trace the outline, but gasped when a startling image filled his mind — untold numbers of brilliantly glowing lines, radiating from his hand. He stumbled back and the image vanished when he broke off the spell. “Whoa!”

  “What happened?” Rachel said.

  “I had that vision again.” He stared at his finger as if it had a secret. “Only it was way more vivid. It was like...thousands of phosphorescent wires all connected to where I was making the portal.”

  “Did they look like glowing strings?” Sammi asked.

  “I guess so.”

  “That’s what Fred sees when she does her spells. She says that it connects her to everything.”

  “She told me that once, but I didn’t really get it, I guess.” He glanced at his hand again. “It’s so...intense, and distracting.”

  “She said you get used to it. She still sees them, but they don’t get in the way anymore.”

  “Do you see those things, Sammi?” Rachel asked.

  “Momma Sue said I’m too young, but I will when I get older.”

  Jamie gripped the stick tightly and started to repeat the spell, and again his mind was filled with a vision of lines, stretching off into the unseen distance. He dropped his hand and stepped back, clearing his brain with a shake of his head. “Man...that’s really something.”

  Evelyn glanced at her watch and frowned. “Jamie, just put it down if it bothers you so much. We need to get to the school, so please make a doorway now.”

  Sammi held out her hand. “I’ll carry it for you, Jamie.”

  “I guess you’d better, for the time being.” He gave it to her and outlined the portal. “Sure wish I knew what was going on. I need to talk to my friends about it. Maybe they’ll have an idea.”

  “Talk to them later,” Evelyn said as she walked past him to the portal. “We have other things to do now. Don’t forget the new phone.”

  Jamie, Rachel, Evelyn, and Sammi were in the school office, or what they called the office. The white walls were bare and there was hardly any furniture in it yet, just a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet, and a low shelf, on top of which sat the new phone, already plugged into the electrical outlet. A few cardboard boxes were pushed against the wall, opened but not unpacked.

  At the edge of the room near the windows was an open magic doorway, and Aunt Connie stood on the other side of it, still in her condo in Hendersonville. Jamie was kneeling on the floor and Sammi stood next to him, watching him prepare to line up a mini-portal to Aunt Connie’s living room.

  Jamie heard someone come through the front door and Sammi said, “Miss Duffy!”

  Jamie looked up to see the new teacher standing in the hall, her art case in one hand and a cloth sack in the other. Sammi rushed to her and gave her a warm hug, while Miss Duffy stared at the glowing portal. Aunt Connie waved from the other side of it. “Good morning, Miss Duffy. Would you like to see where I live?”

  “Uh...where...what are you doing?”

  “We’re hooking up a telephone,” Jamie said. “We have to connect it somewhere on Earth, so Aunt Connie got a second line installed and I’m going to plug it into that.” He could tell by the confused look in her eyes that she didn’t understand a word he’d said. “A phone is an electronic device for talking over long distances.”

  “Is it more of your magic?” Miss Duffy said.

  “No, but that is.” He tilted his head toward the portal.

  Aunt Connie waved her closer. “Why don’t you have a quick look, Miss Duffy? You’ve never been to Earth, have you?”

  “She still thinks this is Earth,” Sammi said.

  Aunt Connie waved more earnestly. “Come on, it won’t hurt. Just pop in while Jamie’s got the doorway open.”

  Miss Duffy set her art case and bag in the hall and crept across the room, stopping at the edge of the magic portal, her toes not quite touching the glowing line on the floor. She leaned forward through the opening and turned her head from side to side, then stepped back in a hurry. “You have a very nice home, Mrs. Moore.”

  “You’ve only seen my living room. Come all the way in and I’ll give you a quick tour.”

  “Some other day, thank you,” she said quickly. “I must prepare for today’s lessons before the other children arrive.” She rushed off, picking up her case and bag on the way and vanishing down the hall.

  Jamie lowered his voice and said, “Is she having trouble dealing with my magic? Nobody else here seems to.”

  “No,” Rachel said. “It’s the concept of another Earth, I think.�
�

  “Maybe she’ll get used to the idea someday.” Jamie touched his finger to the wall by the shelf and made a mini-portal the size of a nickel. “How about now, Aunt Connie? Is that close to the new outlet?”

  “Close enough. It’s on the same wall, about two feet from the kitchen door.”

  Jamie snaked the slender phone wire through the tiny glowing circle and plugged the other end into the phone’s base.

  Sammi furrowed her brow. “Don’t you have to charge it for a long time before it will work?”

  “Normally you would.” He picked up the handset and pried the cover off the compartment on the back, then popped the battery into his palm. “I’m going to use magic instead. Watch this.” He wrapped his hand around the small black wafer and summoned his will. White light flared between his fingers, and he uncurled them and showed it to Sammi. “That should do it.”

  “How do you know how much to charge it?”

  “I sense the battery’s capacity, and I give it that much energy, and no more.” He slipped it back into the handset and replaced the compartment’s cover. He tapped the keys on the number pad and held it to his ear, then smiled. “It works.”

  “Who did you call?” Rachel asked.

  “Our house in Hendersonville. I got the answering machine.”

  “Can I call somebody?” Sammi asked.

  “Who do you want to call?”

  “Can I call Libby?”

  “Not a good idea. My dad said we shouldn’t take risks like that now.”

  Sammi wrinkled her nose while she seemed to think about it, then she said, “I’m gonna go talk to Miss Duffy,” and she left the room.

  “Hold on,” Jamie called after her. “I need to talk to her, too.” He followed Sammi through the building to the room at the back that the new teacher was using for art and music lessons. He found her clipping a clean sheet of paper to her easel, her art satchel open on a nearby desk. Sammi stood beside her and Miss Duffy gave her a welcoming smile, then the young woman turned to face Jamie. He said, “I hear that you’re a really talented artist, Miss Duffy.”

  “Thank you, but that is an exaggeration, I assure you.”

  “No it’s not,” Sammi said earnestly. “You’re the best artist in the whole world.”

  Jamie tried not to roll his eyes. “My mom and my gramma think you’re pretty darn good, and uh....” He scratched one ear and winced. “I was just wondering, would it be possible for me to buy some of your stuff? Maybe some drawings or watercolor paintings or whatever?”

  She lowered one eyebrow. “Buy?”

  “Yeah, buy. You know, with money?”

  “Oh. Um, I am flattered, but I cannot allow you to do that. You already pay me enough. I would be happy to give you a few pieces, though.”

  “That’s not fair to you. Artists should get paid for their work, and besides, my mom’s a teacher, too, and I know that you’re not rich.”

  “I feel that I am compensated fairly at this school. More than fairly. I have no complaints.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way, but I still expect to pay for anything extra, like paintings and stuff. Besides, we have money set aside for redecorating my house here in Rivershire, and we were going to buy some artwork anyway, probably from a shop somewhere in Hendersonville. But it just occurred to me that we might be able to get some from you instead, if we can afford you. I don’t know how much you charge.” He shrugged. “But I’d rather give money to you than to some stranger.”

  “Thank you.” One side of her mouth turned up as she regarded him. “You are too kind.”

  “Maybe you could bring in some stuff and let my mom have a look at it. We might need to keep it overnight, if that’s okay. The other moms are going to want to look at it, since they’re in charge of redoing the house. We’re trying to put our own stamp on it and get rid of any traces of Renn.”

  “The sorcerer.”

  “Unh huh. I kinda got the house from him. I don’t know if you’ve heard the whole story.”

  “I have been told some of it. I already knew he was a cruel wizard, but I didn’t know of his destructive obsession with you until I came to this school.” Jamie didn’t respond, and she said, “Did you...did you really kill him?”

  “Yes, but I’m not bragging about it. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “No, I understand completely. You were justified in your actions, and you probably did the world a great service.”

  “Two worlds.” Jamie held up a couple of fingers. “Who knows what kind of damage he would’ve done on Earth, once he found out how to make a doorway there? I mean, my Earth, not this one.”

  She wrinkled her brow and looked at the floor for a moment. “It is difficult for me to imagine you killing someone. You are so nice, such a gentleman.” She turned back to face him. “All of you are nice. Your mother and grandmother, and your aunt.”

  “What about me?” Sammi said, her lower lip poked out.

  Miss Duffy reached over and stroked Sammi’s dark hair. “You too, Sammi. Especially you. You are the nicest of them all.” She smiled softly at Sammi, who returned the smile with one of her own.

  “So you’ll bring some of your artwork for us to look at?” Jamie said.

  “Yes, but....” She put her hand hesitantly to her cheek. “If you don’t like any of it, I can paint more. I will have much more spare time now that I don’t have to work on weekends. I can paint and draw in my room at the boarding house.”

  “I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”

  “’Tis no trouble, I love to paint. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, otherwise. Saturday and Sunday...free. No responsibilities.” The corners of her mouth pulled up and her eyes brightened.

  “What did you do on the weekends when you worked for the Fullers?”

  “I gave instruction to their children, mostly. That is what is expected of tutors. We are treated like the household staff.”

  “Do they get days off?”

  “Rarely. Someone has to do the cooking and cleaning, and teaching.”

  “My mom loves her weekends off. Summers, too. Teachers get most of the summer off, where we’re from.”

  “But she is working here.”

  “She likes it.”

  “But...why? Why do this for these people? It is not your home town. You have no family here.”

  Jamie took a deep breath and spread his hands. “Because it needs to be done, and nobody else will do it. The town council certainly won’t. They closed the last public school.”

  “The teacher left town. She wanted to get married.”

  “They ran her off, is what I heard. She was willing to stay on at the school after she got married, but one of the councilmen wanted the school building, so....” He shrugged.

  “But —” Then she clamped her mouth tightly shut.

  “But what?”

  She clenched her hands and closed her eyes for a moment. “Nothing.”

  “You started to say something.”

  She didn’t answer.

  Sammi seemed to be getting bored with all the talking and she reached over and touched Miss Duffy’s arm. “Can you show me how to draw something before the other kids get here?”

  She smiled weakly at Sammi and said, “Of course.”

  Jamie knew the discussion was over, but he had the distinct impression that something remained unsaid.

  * * *

  Duane Gundy stood at the counter in the pawn shop and watched as the man on the other side, the owner, tapped on a small calculator. A few guitars hung on the wall behind him, and some DVD players, television sets, and other electronic equipment filled the shelves. The owner was big, both in the waist and in height, and he wore a rumpled shirt, unbuttoned halfway to his navel. Hanging in the center of his hairy chest was a large gold medallion. It looked gaudy and tacky, even by Gundy’s low standards. In between the two men lay a pile of Brenda’s jewelry.

  Finally the man looked up and said, “Two twenty-five. That
’s all I can give you for it.”

  “Are you kiddin’ me? Two hundred and twenty-five dollars? Them diamonds alone are worth more than that. Lots more.”

  “The diamonds are fake.”

  “Huh? Even the earrings? I paid good money for those.”

  “Got ripped off, then.”

  “Well...damn. What about...what about that watch? It’s got a gold and silver band. It’s worth plenty, ain’t it?”

  “It’s the best of the bunch, but that ain’t sayin’ much. Two twenty-five, take it or leave it.”

  “I gotta have more than that for it. I got bills to pay.”

  “Everybody says that.” He gave Gundy a smug look, and Gundy suddenly wanted to reach across the counter and grab him by the throat.

  Gundy gritted his teeth and jabbed a finger at the owner. “You’re rippin’ me off and you know it.”

  “Take it somewhere else, then. Besides, you might a’ stole it, for all I know.”

  “Look at the back of the watch. It says ‘With love to Brenda from Duane.’ That was...I mean that is my wife’s name, Brenda Gundy, and you already seen my ID, so you know I’m Duane.”

  The big man shrugged. “That’s my offer.”

  Gundy stared at the pile of jewelry and considered his options. The next closest pawn shop was thirty miles away, and he didn’t want to burn the precious fuel it would take to get there in his gas-guzzling Trans Am. Finally, he gave his head a tight shake and said. “Fine. I’ll take it.”

  He fumed while he watched the owner lay the money on the counter, counting each bill carefully as he peeled them from a stack in his hands. Damn. I gotta have more than that. That’s barely enough to get the power turned back on and buy a few days’ worth of groceries and gas. What am I gonna do?

  * * *

  Gundy flicked his cigarette butt into the nearby bushes and rapped on the front door of the mobile home again. “Come on, Ellis, open up. It’s me, Duane.”

  The door opened and a sleepy-eyed man stood inside, wearing only boxer shorts and an undershirt. “Damn, Duane. Why’d you come so early? I’m workin’ night shift this week.”

  Gundy stepped into the small, dark living room and said. “It ain’t early. It’s almost two-thirty. Your wife gone to work?”