by Geof Johnson
“Yes, and I have read all of them now, and most of the good ones many times. But I can read anywhere.” He tilted his head slightly to one side. “Tell me, do you have reliable memories of Eddan’s time as an apprentice with Karviss?”
“Pretty much, yeah. I don’t remember everything.”
“No one does. But I remember when I served him he often stressed the importance of older wizards training the younger ones. He said it was a duty, a solemn one that he took seriously.”
“I remember him saying that. And I know a couple of witches that say the same thing, Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley. At least that’s what Fred told me.”
“Fred?”
“She’s another witch, from Earth. She’s my girlfriend.”
“Hah!” His lips turned into a lopsided smile. “I have never heard of such a thing. You must have an interesting courtship.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Jamie shook his head. “Sammi is a witch, too.”
“The little dark-haired girl at this school?” Jamie nodded and Mr. Winston smiled again. “How wonderful.” He scratched his wrinkled cheek thoughtfully for a moment and then his face became serious. “My reasons for coming to this school....” He took another long breath. “Like Karviss, I also believe that it is important to train the young. When I heard about your school, I became intrigued. A sorcerer opening a school? At first I thought perhaps you were planning to train other sorcerers, but now I see that is not the case.”
“Aiven is a wizard, too, sort of.”
“A young wizard? Here at this school? This is becoming more interesting by the minute.” Jamie gestured for Mr. Winston to continue, and the older man said, “Oh yes, so when I heard about your new school, I decided that perhaps this would be an opportunity for me to make a change in my life. A time for me to fulfill my obligation that Karviss instilled in me long ago.”
He seemed sincere. Jamie studied the old man’s face and decided that he was trustworthy. I don’t think I need to bring Nova here to test him. Jamie nodded again and said, “My mom and my gramma and my aunt seemed to like your first lesson about Greek myths, and that gives me an idea. We could take the kids on a field trip to Greece if we wanted to. We could see the Parthenon and the other ruins, because I could make doorways there, instantly. We could go to Rome and visit the Coliseum, too, or go see Stonehenge...any old monument you like.”
“Could we?” He widened his eyes. “That would be...fantastic. A dream come true.”
“I don’t know why I’ve never thought of it before. I’ve never been to any of those, even though I could go anytime I wanted.” Jamie frowned. “But right now we gotta go to a warehouse in the exciting town of Hendersonville and get some bookshelves.”
* * *
Fred waited until everyone was seated at the dinner table that night before saying, “Nova’s been invited to eat at Rollie’s house again this Saturday night. She just texted me a while ago.”
Lisa spread her napkin in her lap and said, “Adele told me she was going to invite Nova. I think she and Garrett like her a lot.”
“Rollie does, too,” Sammi said.
“How do you know?” Fred looked across the table and narrowed her eyes at Sammi. “Did he tell you?”
“No.” Sammi stabbed some green beans with her fork. “I just know.”
“Sammi, you are a Shadow Witch, not a Romance Witch, if there is such a thing, so stop saying that.”
Sammi shrugged. “Nova likes him, too.” Then she put the beans in her mouth.
“You don’t know that either. I think Nova would tell me before she told you.”
Sammi flashed Fred an impish smile, her dimples showing and part of a green bean poking out of her mouth.
I need to have a long chat with that little girl sometime, Fred thought.
“Fred, do you and Nova talk every day?” Lisa asked.
“Pretty much. Sometimes we just text.” Fred held her breath for a moment while she watched her mother spread butter on a roll. “Um, I was just thinking, since Nova’s going to be over this way that night, would it be okay if she slept over?”
Larry paused with a forkful of chicken half-way to his mouth. “Here?”
“Of course. Where else?”
“We’ve already got a houseful, honey,” Lisa said, “with Sammi in the guest bedroom.”
“Nova can sleep in my bed with me,” Sammi said brightly.
Fred shook her head, her loose red curls swaying across her back and shoulders. “I can borrow an air mattress from Jamie and she can sleep in my room. But it’ll be easier on Jamie, don’t you think? Then he won’t have to wait around and make a doorway for her to go home after she’s done at Rollie’s house, and he and I can dowhatever we want, you know?”
“You said he doesn’t mind making doorways,” Larry said.
“Oh, he doesn’t,” Fred said quickly. “It’s just that he and I might be busy and it would be more convenient and stuff.”
“Busy doing what?” Larry gave her a stern look.
“Oh, just hanging out. Probably at his house.”
“You mean, making out.”
Lisa waved one hand in surrender and said, “It’ll be fine, if it’s okay with Nova’s mother. Is Nova going to go to church with us on Sunday?”
“I doubt it. She’s not the churchy type. But Jamie can make a doorway back to her house for her before we go. It’ll be perfect.”
Larry closed his eyes and rubbed them with the fingertips of one hand. “Three witches in the house at the same time. Is this going to be like a scene from Macbeth?”
“No, Dad. We won’t do any magic. I promise.”
“I can’t anyway,” Sammi said. “I’m still too young.”
Larry sighed deeply. “All right. Just don’t burn the house down, okay?”
* * *
Duane Gundy waited on the side of the road, slouched low behind the steering wheel in his dead wife’s Camry, until Libby’s mother backed out of her driveway and drove off with Libby in the passenger’s seat. Good. They’re all gone.
He picked up the yellow hard hat from the seat beside him and settled it on his head, then stepped out and opened the trunk. He pulled out his black plastic toolbox and walked casually toward the house of Sammi’s best friend.
Even though it was a warm day, he wore gray coveralls, which, combined with the hard hat and toolbox, made up another one of his favorite disguises from his bounty hunting days. People rarely noticed someone who appeared to be a utility worker or a maintenance man.
He approached the house cautiously, eyes and ears open for any sign of Libby’s family, but there seemed to be none. Just to be safe, he knocked on the front door and waited. No answer. Good. This should be easy. He walked through the overgrown grass and weeds to the side of the house and found the electric meter. He pretended to study it for a minute, then glanced over his shoulder at the next-door-neighbor’s home. Ain’t nobody watchin’. He nodded to himself and went to the back door, which was locked, as he expected it to be.
It had no deadbolt, which meant it would be simple to jimmy. He opened his toolbox and pulled out a screwdriver, which he used to pry the wooden trim loose next to the doorknob. Then he slipped a putty knife into the crack and pushed the latch in. The door opened easily.
He knocked the trim back into place with the bottom of his fist, took one more look around to make sure that he wasn’t observed, and stepped inside to the kitchen. It was small, with cabinets that needed painting and cheap linoleum flooring, but it was clean. He searched it thoroughly before making his way through the house to the second bedroom on his left — Libby’s, he was sure, judging from the pink bedspread and stuffed animals.
If there’s any clue to where Sammi is, it’s gonna be in here. He scanned the room quickly, then set his toolbox aside and began rummaging through the dresser drawers. Finding nothing, he searched the nightstand, then the closet, but he still came up empty. On a hunch, he dropped to his knees and peered under the bed. There, h
alf-buried beneath a dirty T-shirt, was an envelope covered with clear tape.
He pulled it out, sat on the edge of the bed and examined it. It was torn open and empty, addressed to Libby in awkward block letters, as if written by a child. His breath quickened when he saw the little hearts carefully drawn in each corner. That’s what Sammi used to do. Sammi must’ve sent this. The return address was partially ripped and a piece was missing, but he could still make out part of it: —wood Dr., Hendersonville NC.
“Hendersonville!” He thrust one hand in the air triumphantly. “So that’s where you went, Sammi.” He examined it again and nodded while he considered what the missing part of the address might’ve said. Could be Applewood or Oakwood, or lots of things. I’ll have to get a map of Hendersonville and see.
But I know where she is now. I can find her. Might take a few days, but I’ll get her eventually.
He stood and stared at the floor while he considered his next course of action. Gonna need more money, though. For gas and food and...damn, I’ll need to get a hotel room, probably. I’m gonna have to sell something else, and sell it fast. Something big.
* * *
Jamie returned to the school in Rivershire late Friday afternoon and found that everyone had left except for Rachel, Evelyn, and Sammi. “Sorry it took me so long to get here,” he said. “I couldn’t leave work.” Then he noticed the large package that Rachel had. “What’s that?”
“It’s Miss Duffy’s art!” Sammi said. “Lots and lots of it, and it’s all beautiful.”
“She left her portfolio with us for the weekend,” Rachel said, “so that I can show it to Lisa and Adele.”
“Can I see it?” Jamie said.
“We want to go home first. We need to talk about something.”
Jamie could tell from the look in her eyes that it wasn’t for Sammi’s ears, so he made a doorway back into the Callahan’s living room. Sammi immediately ran upstairs to see Lisa and Larry, and Rachel set the portfolio on the gold couch.
“So,” Jamie said, “how did it go today with our new teachers?”
Rachel took a slow breath and glanced at Evelyn before answering. “Awkward. Miss Duffy still doesn’t want to have anything to do with Mr. Winston.”
“How does he deal with it?”
“It doesn’t seem to bother him as much as it bothers me and Mom.”
“But Miss Duffy’s doing a good job with the kids,” Evelyn added. “They both are. It’s just that she doesn’t like to be in the same room with Mr. Winston, for some reason. She does ask an awful lot of questions when he’s not around, though. Usually about the school. I think she’s worried about her job security.”
“I can understand that.” Then he gestured at the portfolio. “Is the artwork really that good?”
“Oh, yes,” Rachel said, and Evelyn agreed. “There’s a lot of it, and it’s all wonderful. There are a couple of paintings I’d like to get for our house, and I’m sure Lisa and Adele will want something.”
“I wouldn’t mind having one or two of those myself,” Evelyn said.
“Can we afford that?” Jamie said. “That’s a lot of art, if we’re still getting stuff for the stone house, too. What’s she going to charge us?”
“I think her expectations are really low,” Rachel said. “We budgeted five hundred dollars for decorating the stone house, so why don’t we give her all of that and see how many pieces she’ll let us have?”
“Or something that might be better,” Evelyn said, “is to offer part of her payment in art supplies. She’s mentioned to me a couple of times that it’s difficult for her to get paint and stuff in Rivershire, and she’s running low on some things.”
“I think there’s an art supply store in Hendersonville,” Jamie said. “If not, there’s bound to be one in Asheville.”
“We should go someplace where nobody would recognize us,” Rachel said, “since she’ll have to go with us.”
Jamie nodded and rubbed his chin. “Good idea. Talk to her about it and see if that’s okay.”
“There’s another thing we need to talk about.” Rachel lowered her voice to a near-whisper and said, “Sammi is still really upset about what happened to Mrs. Gundy. She wants to know when you and Carl are going to go see about her.”
“Has Sammi heard anything from them with her magic?”
“No, and that’s bothering her a lot.”
“Well, we can’t go tomorrow because I have to work in the morning, and dad and I have to install the septic tank at the Rivershire Inn in the afternoon. It’ll have to wait until after church on Sunday.”
* * *
Late Saturday afternoon, Sammi was bored. She was sitting by herself on the couch in the Callahan’s living room, flicking through channels on the television. Her colored markers and several sheets of paper, already drawn on, littered the cushion beside her. Fred was still at work and Mr. and Mrs. Callahan were in the front yard, weeding the flowerbed or something, Sammi didn’t know for sure. She wasn’t allowed to go out with them because the neighbors might see her, and she was supposed to keep a low profile. That’s what Mr. Sikes kept telling her.
It means I’m hiding. Sammi slid lower on the couch and scowled at the television. On the cartoon show, Spongebob and Patrick were doing something silly. It looked stupid. Everything is stupid. She looked up when she heard the front door open, and Mrs. Callahan came in, her white T-shirt damp with sweat and a few stray hairs that had escaped her clip were sticking to her neck. “Whew! She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “It’s hot today.” She sat on the edge of the couch and glanced at the television. “Whatcha’ watchin’?”
“Nothin’,” Sammi mumbled. “There’s nothin’ on.”
“Want me to borrow another DVD from the Wilkins? They might have something you haven’t seen yet.”
Sammi shrugged her answer.
Mrs. Callahan regarded her with her mouth twisted up sideways and her eyes thoughtful. “You look bored.”
Sammi crossed her arms and pushed out her lower lip. “There’s nothin’ to do.”
“Why don’t you draw a pretty picture for Mrs. Sikes or Mrs. Wilkins?”
Sammi slunk even lower on the couch, so that she was nearly horizontal, and her lip protruded farther. “Tired of drawin’.” Mrs. Callahan seemed to be considering another suggestion, but Sammi didn’t wait to hear it. “There’s nobody to play with. And...and even if there was, I couldn’t play outside with them, ’cause somebody might see me.”
“You could go swing on Jamie’s playset.”
“Not by myself, and there’s nobody home at their house to watch me. You said so.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Mrs. Callahan rubbed her cheek with one finger and stared thoughtfully at Sammi for a moment. “It’s just going to be you and me tonight, since Fred is going to be with Jamie and Larry wants to watch the baseball game. So...how about if I take a quick shower and run get us some fried chicken from Ingles? Then we can go to the theater and watch the new Disney movie, just the two of us.”
Sammi sat up and said, “But what if somebody sees me? I’m supposed to keep a low profile.”
Lisa shrugged. “That movie’s been out for two weeks already, and most people have probably seen it. Plus, a lot of folks are on vacation now, so there won’t be anybody at the theater.”
Sammi suddenly felt her spirits lift. “A movie? Just you and me?”
Lisa patted Sammi on the knee. “Just you and me, kid.”
* * *
Fred had just changed into a lightweight nightgown when Nova tiptoed into the bedroom.
“Was Sammi asleep?” Fred said quietly.
“Yeah.” Nova eased the door closed behind her. “I was hoping she’d still be awake.”
“It’s way past her bedtime, and she’s worn out. She went to the movies with my mom.”
“Wasn’t that kinda risky? I thought she was supposed to be staying out of sight.
“They ran into someone my mom knows, but
she said she covered up for Sammi okay.”
Nova kicked off her sandals and sat on the air mattress, which was on the floor between Fred’s bed and the closet. She patted it a couple of times and nodded. “This should be comfortable enough.”
Fred yawned and said. “How did it go at Rollie’s house tonight?”
“Good. Mr. Wilkins cooked some steaks on the grill, and I helped Mrs. Wilkins with the salad and we chatted for a while. I like her. She’s cool.”
“She and my mom have been friends for a long, long time,” Fred said with a nod. “Then what did you do?”
“Well, we ate, and after dinner we went out on the patio and Mr. Wilkins lit the tiki torches. They must’ve kept the mosquitos away, because I didn’t get a single bite.”
“It was magic. I put a ward around their patio for them. I did it for my house and Jamie’s deck, too. Momma Sue taught me how to make it, and it’s pretty easy. It keeps all the bugs out, but it doesn’t bother the birds.”
“I gotta learn that spell. Are we going to Momma Sue’s tomorrow?”
“Jamie can’t make a doorway ’cause he’s going with his dad and John Paul to check on Mrs. Gundy.”
Nova grunted and frowned. “I hope that lady’s all right. Her husband sounds like a real S.O.B.”
“He is, and Sammi’s upset because she likes Mrs. Gundy.”
Nova stretched out on top of her sheets and put her hands behind her head.
“You know, it’s interesting if you think about it. If Mr. Gundy wasn’t such a mean-ass jerk, Sammi wouldn’t be here.”
“Neither would you.”
Nova’s brow wrinkled and she stared at Fred for a moment, then she said, “Oh, I get it. Because Sammi wouldn’t have told you about me and Jamie wouldn’t have made a doorway to Hampstead and all that.”
“Those little connections are the kinds of things that Jamie and Melanie like to theorize about all the time. It gets their geeky brains goin’.” Fred fluffed both of the pillows on her bed against the headboard and leaned back on them. “So what else did you do at Rollie’s house?”
“Well, after we hung out on the patio for a while, Rollie’s parents went inside and watched TV while Rollie and I hung out some more.” She nodded, hands still behind her head, staring at the ceiling. “Later, they showed me a video of one of Rollie’s last basketball games, when he was using his magic and didn’t know it.” She gave a low whistle. “Boy, that was amazing! He was so fast, like lightning. He just blew past the other players like they were statues.”
