by Geof Johnson
Ellis scratched his belly and smacked his lips a couple of times. “Ain’t nobody here but us.”
“Good. I need to do some searchin’ on your computer again.” He walked with Ellis down the narrow hall and they went into the back bedroom. “Same kinda stuff as before.”
On the cluttered desk against one wall sat an old Dell PC. Ellis pressed the power button and sat in the chair in front of it. “This is the third time, Duane. I never knew you to be so interested in hookers.”
“I ain’t, really.”
“Then why are we searchin’ escort and prostitute sites? You havin’ trouble with Brenda?”
“No, she’s fine, I mean, we’re fine.” He cleared his throat. “She don’t give me no trouble.”
Ellis watched the monitor until the Windows logo appeared, then turned in his chair to face Gundy. “Then it’s got to be somethin’ else. Unless you’re lookin’ for a particular girl, and most of them are just teenage runaways, I think. You wouldn’t know none a’ them.” Then the realization of what Gundy really wanted seemed to sink in. “Ohhhh...I get it! You are lookin’ for a runaway! It’s Sammi, ain’t it? She musta’ run off.” Gundy didn’t answer and Ellis said, “Damn, am I right?”
Gundy nodded grimly. “You can’t tell nobody, Ellis. If Child Services finds out, they’ll put her in another home.”
Ellis gave a low whistle. “You mean, if they ever find her.”
“I’m gonna find her first, and I need your help.”
Ellis turned back to the computer and launched a web browser. “We done searched the bigger cities near us the last couple times, and ain’t found her, right? That means we gotta go further out, like Memphis.”
A screen popped up for an escort service that specialized in younger ladies, showing a girl who looked to be about fifteen years old, wearing spiked black heels and black fishnet hose, a black leather miniskirt, and a purple sequined tube top. Her face was heavily covered in makeup, and she had one finger crooked suggestively at the viewer.
“Damn, that’s awful,” Ellis said, still facing the computer. “That girl’s just a kid, but she looks like a two-dollar whore. Some pimp did that to her.”
“If I find out somebody’s been pimpin’ Sammi, I’m gonna hurt ’em. I’m gonna hurt ’em real bad.”
“I don’t blame you, buddy. I might have to help you.”
“Not ’till after I’m done with him.”
Chapter 19
Jamie motioned for the kids to give him more room so that he could make a magic doorway to Vessport for Mr. Winston. Miss Duffy stood silently by with Rachel, Evelyn, and Aunt Connie.
There were sixteen students at the school that day, and they all pushed forward to watch Jamie. Most of them had never seen him perform magic up close, though they’d all seen him at the Founders’ Festival.
“Just watch,” Aiven said. “This is really cool.”
“I know.” Sammi tsked and rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen it a million times.”
“Well, I haven’t,” Taila said, one of the new kids.
“What do you mean, cool?” Daisy said.
“He means good,” Evelyn said, then raised her voice. “Everybody can see just fine from back here.” She gestured sternly with her thumb. “We cleared this area out for Mr. Winston to put his things, not for you to crowd and get in Jamie’s way.”
Aunt Connie held her arms out to shoo the kids back, and Rachel said, “Go ahead, Jamie.”
He traced the glowing outlines of a portal and pushed it open, revealing the darker interior of Mr. Winston’s shop beyond. Most of the children stared at it with wide eyes. Aiven said, “Can we go, too?”
“No,” Aunt Connie said. “Mr. Winston doesn’t need a bunch of children milling around his shop.”
The kids groaned and Jamie said, “Maybe I’ll take you some other time.” He turned to the women, who stood nearby. “Who’s coming with me?”
Miss Duffy took two steps back.
“I’ll go,” Rachel said, and walked with Jamie through the doorway to the curio shop on the other side, where they found stacks of wooden boxes in the front of the room. Mr. Winston was standing behind the counter with a dowdy-looking younger woman.
“Ah!” Mr. Winston spread his arms when he noticed Jamie and his mother. “I was wondering when you might appear.” He introduced them to the woman, Davina, his great-niece. “She’ll be minding the shop in my absence. Hopefully, it will be a permanent arrangement.” A grin spread across his narrow face and he nodded.
Jamie eyed the stacks of boxes. “Is this what you’re bringing with you? It looks like a lot of stuff.”
“It is mostly books. I thought I could loan them to the school as part of your library, until we can procure volumes to permanently add to your collection.”
Jamie reached into the nearest box, pulled out one of the books on top, and flipped through a few pages. “That’s nice of you to offer, but this is way too advanced for our students. Most of them have minimal reading skills, at best.”
“Yes, but they will not always be at such a low level. They will advance quickly under our tutelage, will they not?” He grinned again. “They shall grow like flowers.”
“Okay, but this is a lot of stuff to move. I guess the easiest way to get it out of here is to levitate it into the school.”
He pointed a finger at a box, but before it had risen a foot, Rachel put her hand on his arm. “Don’t do that. Let’s get the boys to help. They’ll like doing that.”
“Okay, but it’ll take longer.” He followed her back through the glowing doorway to the school and announced to the kids, who were still waiting close by, “Which of you boys wants to help move Mr. Winston’s stuff?”
They all raised their hands immediately, but Milly said, “How come they get to go and we don’t? I’ve never been to Vessport. That’s not fair!”
The other girls complained, too, and Jamie scratched his chin with one finger. “Mmm...I guess it isn’t fair, is it?” He turned to Evelyn and said, “What do you think?”
“Okay,” she said, “all of you can go, under one condition. Hands to yourself! Any of you so much as breathe on any of the merchandise, and you’ll all come straight back in here. Understand?”
They all agreed and rushed toward the portal, but Aunt Connie made them form a line, and they walked through it in single file.
Once inside the shop, Evelyn said, “Mr. Winston, these are some of our students. They’re going to help you move your things.”
“Can we go outside and look around?” Blane asked, his face eager. “Please? Just so we can say we have seen the town?”
Evelyn sighed and said, “You mean so that you can brag to your friends.”
“Uh. Well, not exactly, uh....”
“Come on,” Rachel said. “You can go out to the sidewalk for one minute, and then we need to get moving.” She clapped her hands twice. “We have things to do.”
She led them out the front door of the shop and Jamie followed with Mr. Winston. Once they were by the street, most of the kids stared openly at their surroundings, but Aiven only shrugged. “It’s not that much different from Rivershire. Just a little bigger, that’s all.”
“It is more crowded,” Daisy said as she eyed the carriages rolling past them, and the countless pedestrians, everyone seemingly in a hurry.
Leora wrinkled her nose. “It stinks here. Smells like dead fish.”
“That’s because this is a port city,” Jamie said. “We’re only a few blocks from the bay.”
“Oooh!” Milly said. “Can we go? They must have big ships. I’ve never seen one before.”
“We don’t have time today,” Rachel said.
“Maybe we can do it some other day,” Jamie said, “before it gets cold.” He chuckled. “We could have a field trip.”
“I would be happy to go with you,” Mr. Winston said. “As a former sailor, I could be quite instructive on such an outing.”
“Yes, but right now w
e need to move Mr. Winston’s things.” Rachel clapped her hands again and pointed at the door. “Let’s go, kids.”
Once they were back inside the shop, they began carrying the boxes of books through the portaland into the school, two kids per box. While they deposited them in the cleared-out area, Mr. Winston surveyed the main room. “Very nice,” he said with a nod. “Much bigger than I expected.” He looked up at the lights and the twirling fans and raised his gray eyebrows and his eyes widened. “And...so modern.”
“I’ll explain how those work when I have a chance.” Jamie pointed to the front of the building and said, “There’s an empty classroom across from the office. We can use that as a temporary library until we get one built. It would be better if we leave the books right here for now, until we put shelves in there. My granddad said we can get them this afternoon. They’ll be at his warehouse.”
“Is that in town?”
“No, on Earth. It’s in Hendersonville. You’ll get to see a tiny bit of it today, but just the inside of the warehouse. I don’t have time to show you any more than that.”
“You probably want to get settled into your accommodations, Mr. Winston,” Aunt Connie said. “I’ll get a couple of the boys to carry your bags for you and show you to the boarding house. It’s right around the corner. We’ve already paid your rent for the next two weeks, so all you have to do when you get there is see the owner, Mrs. Heath, and get your key.”
“I guess you can relax until this afternoon,” Jamie said. “Then we’ll go to Hendersonville and get the shelves for the library.”
“I shall unpack in my room and return immediately,” Mr. Winston said. “I would like to go ahead and begin my lessons, if you don’t mind.”
“Are you sure?” Rachel said. “You don’t have to start today if you’d rather get settled in and get used to the town. We don’t have any history textbooks yet, anyway.”
“No, no.” He waved one hand. “The sooner I start, the better, I say. Then you can begin your evaluation of my skills.”
“What will you do without books?”
“Oh, I have plenty I can do without books.”
* * *
Duane Gundy was putting groceries away in the kitchen when he heard the doorbell ring. Who the hell could that be? He went to answer it, and waiting on the front stoop he found Mrs. Nash, the matronly case worker from Child Services, holding a clipboard and wearing her usual scowl.
Oh, crap. “Uh...hello, Mrs. Nash,” he said without offering to let her in. “Why are you here?”
“It’s time for our regular visitation. Don’t you remember? It’s always the same Thursday of the month.”
“Oh, yeah, uh....” What am I gonna say? “We did kinda forget.” He laughed weakly and tugged at the end of his T-shirt with one hand. “We, uh, kinda let it slip our minds.”
“I need to see Sammi. Is she here?”
“No, uh, she’s off with Brenda. That’s my wife.”
“I know that.”
“Oh...uh, good. Well, you see, Brenda had to go down to Spartanburg to visit her sister.” He cleared his throat and swallowed hard. “Her sister ain’t feelin’ too good, ’cause she, uh, had some surgery a while back, and she’s laid up still. So Brenda went to help her out and look after their family, and she took Sammi with her.” Gundy felt his face and neck grow warm.
“You know that’s against the conditions of your foster parenting agreement, don’t you? I have to inspect your home and visit with Sammi once a month.”
“Yes ma’am, we know that. We do, we really do. It’s just these are special circumstances and all, what with Brenda’s sister being laid up in bed, and Brenda couldn’t leave Sammi here with me ’cause I can’t cook to save my life.” He attempted another laugh, but it came out more like a strangled grunt.
A trickle of sweat rolled down the side of his head past his ear and he held his breath as he waited for her response. Damn, this woman don’t like me. Her dark eyes narrowed to slits and she tightened her mouth as she regarded him wordlessly. Then she wrote something on her clipboard and said, “I will be back here next Thursday, same time. Be sure to have Sammi here then. If she’s not, we will remove her from your home immediately. Is that clear?”
“Yes ma’am. Perfectly. Clear as glass.” He nodded fervently. “She’ll be here.”
She turned to leave and Gundy closed the door. Then he exhaled heavily. Boy, that was close. I gotta get Sammi back quick. He rubbed one hand through his dark hair and gritted his teeth. I gottathink of something fast.
Chapter 20
Rachel stood in the back of the main room at the school with Evelyn, Aunt Connie, and Miss Duffy, watching Mr. Winston’s first teaching session with the children. It was more of a performance than a lesson, though. He had decided to begin with one of the Greek myths as an introduction to classical civilization, and he told the story with the gusto and style of a seasoned actor.
He changed his voice for each character, sometimes gruff, sometimes high-pitched and feminine. He stooped and made himself very small for some parts, and for others he stood on tiptoe and raised himself to his full height, arms outstretched and face contorted.
The kids were entranced, but Miss Duffy didn’t seem to be. She stood with her arms crossed so tightly it seemed like it would be difficult to breathe, and she wore a deep frown while she watched the older man work.
Rachel turned to her and whispered, “So what do you think of Mr. Winston?”
Her face became even stiffer before she answered, as if she were measuring her response carefully. “That is not proper instruction.”
“What do you mean?”
“He seems to think this is a stage instead of a classroom.”
“The kids seem to like him. He certainly has their attention.”
“Hmph,” she muttered. “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.”
She walked toward the front door, and Evelyn and Aunt Connie turned to watch her go. Evelyn said to Rachel, “What’s wrong with her?”
“She seems determined not to like Mr. Winston, for some reason.”
“She hardly knows him,” Aunt Connie said.
“Maybe she feels threatened by him,” Rachel said, “though I can’t see why. It’s not like they’re competing with each other for their jobs.”
“No,” Evelyn said, then turned back and gestured at Mr. Winston. “So, how do you think he’s doing so far?”
He had his hands twisted into claws before him and his face pulled up into a menacing snarl while he spoke in a rasping near-whisper. The children were wide-eyed and breathless, sitting on the edges of their seats while they watched.
“He certainly is dramatic, and I bet those kids will remember every word of this story.”
“I think so, too. We’ll have to wait and see how he does with his other lessons, though.”
“And how he handles setting up the library,” Aunt Connie said. “That’s important, too.”
Rachel nodded and watched the tall, eccentric man for a moment and thought, But if he and Miss Duffy don’t get along, we’ll have a problem.
* * *
Jamie returned to the school that afternoon to move bookshelves into the makeshift library, and he brought his new walking stick. He showed it to Mr. Winston and told him what he knew about it so far.
Mr. Winston rolled it between his fingers and examined it closely. “It certainly is beautiful. Wonderful craftsmanship.” He touched one of the strands that spiraled down its length. “What are these interlocking characters?”
“They’re infinity symbols. I don’t know why Uncle Charlie put those on it, but they look cool.”
“This vision of glowing lines that you get...does it only happen when you’re grasping it, or can it just be close to you when you cast a spell?”
“Only when it’s in my hand and it only happens when I make doorways, as far as I can tell. I’ve experimented with it a few times, and that seems to be the case. I was wondering if you had any id
ea what’s going on with it.”
“Do you mind if I try a spell while holding it? Though my magic is weak, I may get some response from the wood that will help me understand this phenomenon.”
Jamie nodded for Mr. Winston to proceed, and watched as the older man closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, the stick held firmly in both hands. Jamie felt a faint wave of magic emanate from him.
After a few seconds, Mr. Winston shook his head and blinked. “I experienced nothing out of the ordinary. I attempted a warming spell, but I saw no radiating lines in my consciousness.”
“Did you see anything at all?”
“No.” He handed the carved stick back to Jamie. “I am sorry that I am not more helpful.” Then he stroked his chin and pursed his lips. “Perhaps the wood is sorcerer-specific. Renn’s staff was clearly more powerful in his hands, so maybe this walking stick is somehow attuned to your own special power.”
“Maybe there’s unique wood out there for each wizard,” Jamie said. “Maybe there’s even some for you, and Aiven.” Then another thought crossed his mind. “Uh, Mr. Winston? There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. I should’ve done it the day we met, but it didn’t occur to me then. I really need an honest answer, too.” And if I don’t think he’s giving me one, I’ll bring Nova here and ask him again. She’ll know if he’s telling the truth or not.
“By all means, ask away.”
Jamie cleared his throat and said, “Why do you want to work at this school? And don’t tell me that it’s because you need the job, because you have your shop, and I think you’re doing okay with it.”
Mr. Winston turned his gaze to the wall and took a long breath through his nose before answering. “It is true that I earn a passable income from my little shop. Not a fortune, by any means, but sufficient for my simple needs. But I have been there for many years now, and frankly, I am becoming bored. Day after day behind that counter, staring at the same four walls.”
“But you have all those books.”
