The Catchers

by Stuart J. Kent

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right dear boy,” Henry agreed.

  “Good, now you head home, Henry, and think no more of this matter till I have some news for you,” Colin said as he opened the front door.

  Henry then stepped outside into the late afternoon sunshine and then looked back at his friend.

  “Okay, I’ll try not give it another thought until then, but what should I do about work? I’m supposed to be starting my first shift at the Bubble Museum tomorrow.”

  “Call in sick,” replied Colin with a grin and a wink.

  “Oh yes, I can do that,” replied Henry happily. “Well thank you, Colin, I feel better now I know you’re involved.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear, now take care old friend and I’ll be in touch,” replied Colin, before Henry then strolled up the little broken path back to the road with a little spring back in his step.

  Colin watched his old friend waddle off up the road and was about to step back inside when something out the corner of his eye caught his attention. For a second, just for a second, he thought he had seen a dark unusual shape hiding in the bushes just a few metres away, watching him, staring right at him, but then before he could be sure it quickly disappeared.

  “Hmmm!” he murmured, pondering about what that might have been, before he finally stepped back inside.

  Back in the front room, Colin returned to his favourite red velvet-covered wing-back chair and then sat quietly deep in thought for a little longer, then after a while he glanced down at his comfy red slippers with the extra fleecy padding and then realised his slippers were on the wrong feet.

  “Well, how did I do that?” he thought to himself, then he realised his slippers weren’t on the wrong feet after all, but it was his legs that were crossed.

  “Splendid!” he then thought having solved at least one problem that afternoon.

  Trixie then broke the long boring silence that they had all been sitting in.

  “So, uncle, what are we going to do then?”

  “WE? We are going to do nothing,” replied Colin calmly. “But I shall go and speak to a few old friends of mine and see if anything else out of the ordinary is going on at our dear old Ministry.”

  Trixie then sighed heavily. “Okay fine!” she muttered. “But I was right about the Ministry, I said something was going on there, there have been rumours around for weeks now, I knew they were right,” she said rather arrogantly.

  “Yes, it does seem something is amiss in the building of the authority,” agreed Colin.

  “Yeah, a lot of missing files apparently,” Marty chuckled. “Hey, I wonder if they’ve lost my file.”

  “You wish,” replied Trixie.

  “Yes, yes I do,” Marty replied back sarcastically.

  Colin then stood up and adjusted his long brown robes. “Right, only one thing for it, let’s go to the Bucket and Broom.”

  “Yes!” cried Marty and Trixie excitedly, finally agreeing on something for the first time in this adventure.

  “What’s the Bucket and Broom?” asked Jamie as they all got up from their seats.

  “It’s the Inn,” replied Trixie.

  “The Inn?” repeated Jamie.

  “Yeah, the place where they serve food and drink,” replied Trixie arrogantly again.

  “Yeah, the best in all of Teathorpe,” added Marty happily.

  “And if I’m not mistaken, there should be a few council members there too this evening,” added Colin.

  “How do you know that?” asked Jamie curiously.

  “Council members eat for half price on Tuesday,” replied Colin.

  Trixie then picked up her jacket and then grabbed Marty off the sofa and handed him to Colin.

  “Oy, watch it!” snapped Marty angrily at being snatched up so roughly. “I’m not a pack of sweets, you know,” he grumbled.

  “I know, but if you were I’d bet you’d be sour chews,” replied Trixie sarcastically with a grin.

  Colin then put on his long brown jacket and stepped towards the front door where quickly Trixie and Jamie joined him.

  “Right then, let’s go,” he said before clicking his fingers.

  In a flash their whole surroundings became a blur and then in a blink of an eye they were no longer in the cottage but were now stood in the entrance of a large old traditional English Inn.

  Jamie then suddenly felt all giddy and disorientated, and his knees then buckled beneath him and he dropped to the floor, before he then started to cough up the cheese sandwich and crisps that he had for lunch.

  “Oh, sorry! Should have warned you that sometimes happens on your first jump,” said Trixie, gently patting him on the back.

  Jamie then slowly got back up to his feet and wiped the gunge from the corners of his mouth, still slightly spluttering.

  “I’m okay, I’ll be fine,” he mumbled as his stomach gurgled. “Although I could do with some water,” he added, tasting his cheese sandwiches for the second time.

  “You might be, but I’m not,” said Colin behind them.

  Turning around, Trixie and Jamie found Colin, sat almost upside down in a large wooden pot by the front door, with his legs flailing around above him. The two youths began to laugh mischievously at their old parental figure trying to pull himself up out of the pot with little luck.

  “Will you two stop laughing and give me hand,” grumbled Colin, struggling to pull himself free.

  “Yeah, yeah!” replied Trixie before she and Jamie both grabbed an arm each and pulled Colin up onto his feet.

  “There, that’s better,” said Colin, brushing himself down and regaining some dignity.

  “Air! Air! I need air!” gasped Marty finally able to poke his head out of Colin’s coat pocket, because it had been all squashed up while he was stuck in the pot. “What are you playing at, you old fool, are you trying to kill me?” he grumbled between deep breaths.

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Marty, it was just a miscalculation of a magical entry,” replied Colin before moving towards an empty table.

  “What was that we just did?” asked Jamie amazed to find himself now stood in the Bucket and Broom.

  “It was a magic-jump,” replied Trixie.

  “Like teleportation?” Jamie said trying to understand her magical terms.

  “Yes, I suppose, but in this case you have to be familiar with where you’re heading, and then any wizard or witch can just hop between the two with just a flick of their fingers,” Trixie replied with a smile.

  “Cool!” exclaimed Jamie happily. “But why didn’t we just do that when we went to the Ministry building?” he then asked.

  “Because it only works on short distances,” Trixie explained pointing towards the window. Jamie stepped towards it and stared out at the field opposite.

  “See there’s our cottage,” she added as Jamie could see the small cottage just the other side of the field.

  “Oh!” he exclaimed, a little disappointed they had only travelled a few hundred metres away.

  “Now come on, I’m starving,” Trixie said, turning and heading for the table where her Uncle was now sitting.

  “Right, yeah! Food,” Jamie said excitedly, turning to follow her, but before he could he was immediately stopped in his path by a very large old plump woman, who had bright orange hair that was rolled into two large buns on either side of her head, and she was wearing a traditional German-style green serving outfit and a very mean look upon her face.

  Jamie stared at her nervously as she stared back at him, then she glanced down at the mess on the floor Jamie had made and then back up at Jamie.

  “You made it, you clean it!” she growled, handing Jamie a mop and bucket.

  “Okay!” he mumbled, taking it from her before he began trying to mop up the nasty stinky
mess. “Sorry.”

  “Kids!” she muttered despairingly as she walked away.

  A few minutes later after his little chore was done, Jamie finally joined the others at the large round wooden table, and it was then he could finally have a proper look around at his new surroundings. The Inn was an old, traditional-looking place, with one large main room that had a dark, wooden floor, brown wooden panels up the walls and a creamy coloured ceiling. On the walls there were many different paintings of old-looking wizards and witches, above the old wooden bar were a collection of antlers and other animal skulls, and most of the floor space was filled with lots of old wooden tables and chairs of various sizes and styles and there was a large stone-built fireplace across the far side of the room.

  “Wow, this place must be really old,” Jamie muttered, taking it all in.

  “Yes, the Bucket and Broom has been operating here for nearly nine hundred years now,” replied Colin.

  “Nearly as old as you, uncle,” added Trixie with a chuckle.

  “Hey, young lady, you’re still young enough to be sent to your room without supper,” replied Colin, waving a finger at her playfully; then a welcoming, cheerful voice behind them interrupted their playful banter.

  “Hello, my dears” said an elderly witch approaching their table.

  “Speaking of nine hundred years old,” muttered Marty sarcastically as the old grey-haired witch, in a grey frock and bonnet and leaning on a rather rickety old wooden walking stick, continued to shuffle slowly towards them.

  “Hello Mrs Tillywinkle,” Colin said loudly. “You’re looking well.”

  “Why is he shouting?” asked Jamie quietly.

  “Because she’s deaf as a post, the poor old dear,” replied Trixie with a sigh.

  “Well, if she’s so deaf, why does she work here?” asked Jamie, puzzled why a busy place like this would employ such a slow old deaf witch.

  “She’s the owner, the Inn belongs to her,” replied Trixie. “And she has been here most of her life.”

  “Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if she built the place,” Marty chuckled cheekily.

  Then finally Mrs Tillywinkle stood beside their table.

  “Well, hello everyone, Colin, Trixie, Marty and this must be Chris?” she said looking at Jamie.

  Jamie looked around, confused as to whom she was referring to.

  “She means you,” whispered Trixie making Jamie look even more confused.

  “No, this isn’t Chris,” Colin said loudly again.

  “Oh! So who is this handsome young man?” Mrs Tillywinkle asked.

  “This is Jamie, a young lad who’s staying with us for a while,” replied Colin loudly once more.

  “Oh, well hello, Yamie,” she said with a little wave and a small crooked smile.

  Jamie again just stared back at her, unsure who she was talking to.

  “She’s talking to you,” whispered Trixie giving him a nudge in the ribs with her elbow.

  “Err… oh, hello,” Jamie replied back with a little wave and a nervous smile.

  “Now, my dears, what will you be having this evening?” Mrs Tillywinkle then asked the little group.

  “Well, I think a couple of your famous three meat pies is in order,” replied Colin with an eager smile. “And a flagon of light ale for me and Marty, and some berry fizz drinks for the younger members of our party.”

  “Oh good, the usual then,” Mrs Tillywinkle smiled before she lifted her walking stick up, and tapped the table four times and muttered the magical words:

  “Pie and drink meal-deal Tuesdays, ice cream sundaes, half-price off for under thirties, refill cups available on your order, watch out please if you are shorter!”

  And with a flash the table suddenly filled with several large plates of steaming hot meat pies, four big metal plates to eat off and four large glasses of drink.

  “Wow, brilliant!” exclaimed Jamie excitedly seeing it all appear before him so quickly.

  “Dig in, folks,” said Mrs Tillywinkle before Colin and Trixie began to help themselves to a slice of pie.

  “And don’t forget to tip your waitress,” she added as she turned away to serve another table.

  “We really must remember to do that this time,” whispered Colin quietly to the others.

  “Yes, you must,” agreed Mrs Tillywinkle a few feet away, making Colin blush with embarrassment.

  The little group of catchers then quickly cut into the rest of the pies and helped themselves to more slices of those delicious chunky meat and hot rich gravy fillings, topped with a nice thick-crust pastry that just melted in your mouth and gently slid down your throat leaving an amazing, moreish taste on your palate, which then made you just want another slice and another until finally you realised you just wanted to bathe in it and… sorry what was I saying, oh yes, between large mouthfuls they joked and laughed about many things magical and non-magical, until finally they had eaten every last scrap of food on their plates leaving nothing but crumbs.

  “I am stuffed!” declared Marty leaning back casually against one of the empty pie dishes on the table and rubbing his little bloated belly, he then let out a loud, well-needed belch.

  “Really, Marty!” Colin said, disgusted by his little friend’s behaviour, before he too then accidentally let out a belch.

  “Oh, excuse me!” he said, rather embarrassed.

  “Manners, people!” said Trixie disapprovingly as she gave them both a stern look. Then unfortunately she too let out a loud, unexpected belch.

  “Oh, I didn’t mean to do that,” she mumbled very embarrassed as the others sat laughing at her.

  Finally Jamie opened his mouth but nothing happened.

  “Nope, I’m fine,” he said with a smile before Trixie then patted him firmly on the back and he immediately let out a loud burp just like the others had.

  “Blimey!” said Marty in amazement. “It sounded like he needed that.” Then everybody sat laughing again, until a voice from across the room interrupted their merriment.

  “Ladies and gentlemen!” boomed the voice.

  They quickly looked across the room, and in the far corner they could see one of the waitresses of the Inn standing in front of a group of musicians.

  “Playing for your entertainment tonight the one and only, the Cauldron Collective,” she announced excitedly, before walking away.

  The band, which consisted of two acoustic guitarists, one violinist, one wooden whistle player and one drummer, then all began to play a very catchy little lively folk song that soon had everyone clapping along to it.

  “The Cauldron Collective” screamed Trixie excitedly over the music. “I love the Cauldron Collective!” She then screamed wildly, before whistling and waving at the lead guitarist, who was a young handsome man with blue eyes and shaggy brown hair, who politely smiled back.

  As the song went on, many of the patrons in the Inn got to their feet and were soon dancing in between the tables along to the music.

  Trixie pulled Jamie up from his seat and before he could protest that he didn’t want to, they were both up on the table and jiggling about a bit to the music.

  “Come on!” she screamed excitedly, bouncing around like a madwoman as her arms waved around above her head.

  “I really don’t like this,” Jamie replied, trying to get back down on the floor.

  “Come on, it’s easy,” she shouted, pulling him back next to her and making him join in, like so many young ladies have done before her with their dates.

  Without putting too much effort into it, Jamie reluctantly carried on bopping on the spot to the music and then it was Marty wishing they would stop and get down off the table.

  “Watch it!” he cried before jumping off the table to save himself from being trodden on. “Blooming Hooligans,�
�� he muttered angrily as he stood on the empty seat that Jamie had vacated.

  “Yes, perhaps I shouldn’t have let them had the refill cups of the fizzy juice,” said Colin, watching his two young charges dancing away so energetically.

  As the music went on Jamie became more enthusiastic about dancing and soon he was really enjoying himself, and even when he glanced down and saw the large orange-haired mean-looking waitress staring menacingly up at him, he didn’t seem to care, he just kept on dancing.

  “Kids!” she grumbled again before walking away.

  Meanwhile Colin sat back in his chair and then pulled out his favourite long brown pipe from inside his jacket, and placing it between his lips he then gently began to blow and within a few seconds bubbles began to rise from his pipe. For him there was nothing he liked more than blowing on his old bubble pipe after a good meal, and as he sat there relaxing and enjoying the music he spotted a familiar face at a nearby table: Lord Teathorpe of the Ministry magic council.

  Now Lord Teathorpe was a rather large gentleman with neatly trimmed brown hair and a small groomed beard, he wore his favourite red military jacket with shiny gold medals, even though in Magicdom there was no military or any type of army to speak of, so how he got those medals no one seems to know, but he did and with it he wore black trousers and black polished knee-high boots, making him look just like a soldier from a Napoleonic war and because of that no one would dare question his wardrobe choice, plus of course he was a high-ranking wizard of great power and influence.

  Colin then glanced around the room and it was apparent everyone else was watching the band, so quickly he decided it was a good time for a chat, and immediately he got up and headed straight for the next table.

  “Lord Teathorpe, how are you on this fine evening?” Colin smiled, greeting him warmly.

  “I’m very well, thank you, Colin, how are you?” he replied in a deep, manly voice of someone important and powerful, but approachable.

  “Oh, I’m just fine sir, thank you for asking, would you mind if I join you for a moment?” Colin then asked. Without waiting for a reply, he quickly sat next to Lord Teathorpe.