The Catchers

by Stuart J. Kent

  “NO! NO!” cried Darren, suddenly leaping up to his feet and then swinging his arm around in a big sweeping motion. A huge bright-green pulse of light shot outwards, knocking everyone else over, and then Darren stood over everyone looking even more wide-eyed, deranged and scarily evil than before.

  “NO! You did not, you did not defeat me, because you cannot defeat me!” he screamed staggering towards the front of the stage again, very angry as green lightning crackled from his fingers into the air. “You cannot stop me, you cannot control me, you cannot do a thing to me because I am too powerful!” he roared as his eyes began to glow red and his veins began to bulge in his face and sparks of lightning began popping off around him.

  “Wow! He looks really angry!” Jamie said watching the dark wizard in terror.

  “Really, really angry!” agreed Trixie.

  “I am too powerful, even without the Emperor’s crown, so you will kneel before me and I will be obeyed!” he roared again as his eyes grew brighter and his veins bulged even more and green lightning bolts shot off high into the air. “You will all do my bidding and praise me, and sing songs about me, and put on little plays rejoicing in my glory, for I am the true master of this world…” he cried as his hair began to stand on end and lighting bolts started to shoot out the top of his head. “THE TRUE MASTER, THE TRUE MASTER!” he cried again as everyone cowered on the floor in terror, and then suddenly, he exploded.

  A roar of thunder bellowed out, quickly followed by a wave of green energy, then a giant fireball shot upwards, filling the evening sky before it turned into a thousand smaller colourful explosions, and all at once Darren had instantly spread himself out across a wide open area in many, many small spectacular magical pieces.

  “Wow!” Jamie gasped, looking up at the strange firework display going on above his head.

  “He just exploded!”

  “Yes, he did,” agreed Colin. “Quite spectacularly as well.”

  And as the Magictasium brass band reached the crescendo of the anvil chorus, the fireworks were done, and so was the dark wizard.

  “Well, it’s just like I’ve said before, with great power comes great stupidity!” Colin then said before getting up on his feet.

  As the twinkling, dusty remains of the young ambitious wizard slowly fell to the ground everybody else got to their feet and cautiously approached the stage to see the growing pile of grey powder where Darren had just stood.

  “He’s definitely been beaten this time,” said Trixie, looking kind of sad.

  “Yes he has, rest in peace, Darren,” Colin said sombrely as he removed his hat in respect for the recently departed.

  “Yes, rest in peace, you loony,” added Marty standing next to Colin, then Lord Teathorpe joined them as well.

  “He was the best personnel assistant I ever had; well, if you exclude the whole dark wizard stuff and crazy world domination gibberish, so not including that, he was just the best coffee-maker I have ever had,” he sighed. “Now, can someone get a dustpan and brush and sweep this up, it’s covering my shoes,” he moaned as a gentle breeze blew the dust across his nicely polished black shoes. “And put it in an envelope or something and send it to his mother with a note of condolence, and a nice bunch of flowers, after all, we’re not animals!”

  Colin then stood, scratching his hare. Why he kept a large rabbit creature under his hat no one really knew, maybe it kept his head warm, maybe it was sentimental reasons, either way he did, and after giving it a good scratch, he put his old crooked brown hat back on his head.

  “One thing does still puzzle me though, one thing that I just couldn’t work out,” he muttered.

  “Oh really, what was that?” enquired Lord Teathorpe.

  “How did Darren get hold of the crown in the first place? Isn’t it supposed to be locked up in the vault, under guard?” Colin asked.

  “Yes it was, well it definitely should have been,” replied Lord Teathorpe shrugging and looking just as puzzled as Colin.

  “I know how!” said Marty, interrupting their conversation.

  “You know?” Trixie asked sarcastically.

  “Yes, I do, it was… the duck!” Marty exclaimed, pointing at a large feather bird trying to quietly waddle away.

  “What?” cried the bird, realising he was being stared at.

  “Seize him!” cried Lord Teathorpe and immediately two wizard police officers pounced on the bird, preventing it from escaping.

  “Hey get off, get off me!” it quacked wildly as it tried to flap its wings to fly away. “Cruelty to birds, cruelty to birds!” it protested loudly.

  “Are you sure it was the duck?” asked Colin, unconvinced.

  “Yes, because he is in fact… Kevin Hallton, the old curator of the vault,” replied Marty triumphantly.

  Everybody then gasped in shock as this unforeseen bit of information was revealed.

  “But he’s a duck?” Jamie said, not quite convinced.

  “Yes, but once he was a man, a man in a very special place with a very special job, until one day he was caught stealing from the very vault he was supposed to be looking after and then he was sentenced to be a duck for the remainder of his days,” replied Marty, explaining his reasoning perfectly. “And so still holding a grudge against the Ministry, he agreed to help the dark wizard.”

  “Incredible!” exclaimed the others in amazement.

  “Yeah, I did it, and he paid me a lot of money too,” growled Kevin the duck. “A lot, a lot of money.”

  “Take him away and lock him in the securest bird sanctuary we have,” ordered Lord Teathorpe immediately.

  “You haven’t seen the last of me, I’ll be back, I’ll be back…” Kevin quacked as he was marched away.

  “Ah, shut your beak, you pillow stuffing!” Marty replied in a sarcastic, triumphant tone.

  “Well, how did you know it was him?” asked Colin, very intrigued.

  “You don’t want to know,” replied Marty politely.

  “No, no I do,” Colin said eagerly.

  “Well if you must know,” Marty said with a sigh.

  “Oh I must, I must,” added Colin, now very curious.

  “Well, he helped me get access to the vault when I was stealing from it, so it was pretty obvious really when you think about it,” replied Marty with a casual shrug.

  “Oh!” sighed Colin, a little disappointed that he had missed yet another obvious clue.

  Marty then turned and grinned at Trixie.

  “See, I told you the duck was evil!”

  “Yes you did!” sighed Trixie, knowing she hadn’t heard the last of this, and now Marty would probably bring it up at every chance he got.

  Colin then gave a deep sigh of relief, and a smile quickly followed as he realised it was all over and everyone had survived without losing a limb or a vital organ, as it had been known to happen on these sort of occasions, and as he relaxed, enjoying the moment, he placed his arm around Trixie to give her a big hug.

  “We did it, Trixie, and we survived,” he said happily.

  “Yes we did, but I want to know how Jamie learnt how to jump?” she asked, very curious.

  “I’m not sure” Jamie replied with a shrug. “I just clicked my fingers and it happened!”

  “Is that possible without training?” asked Trixie looking slightly perplexed by his answer.

  “My dear, I thought you would have learnt by now, anything’s possible in our world!” replied Colin with a smile and a wink.

  Chapter Nine

  About ten minutes or so had passed since the little group of catchers had saved everyone from the evil intentions of Darren Farrenden, and now a small crowd of witches and wizards had gathered in front of the stage, eager to thank them for their heroic act.

  Colin, Henry, Trixie, Marty and Jamie stood
proudly in a line as the crowd gave them a well-earned round of applause, then after a few seconds, Lord Teathorpe approached them, followed by the other members of the high council.

  “Colin Caterwhich, my friend,” he said, smiling as he stood next to the old grey wizard. “You have gone beyond the call of any catcher or any other public service officer and put your life and your wand at great risk for the sake of us all, and for that we feel a reward is deserved,” he said before pausing for breath. “Colin we would like you to re-join the council, and take a seat at the great table again, and share with us your wisdom and knowledge, so we may look forward to a brighter future together!”

  Colin smiled warmly because he appreciated the honour of the offer, as the little crowd cheered and clapped approvingly, then he replied,

  “Lord Teathorpe and fellow council members, I truly am honoured by this wonderful offer you are giving me, But I must turn it down, for you see, even though the thought of joining the council again fills me with great joy, my heart belongs to the world of the noble catcher, and the wonderful challenges it brings to me each day, so with much respect, I must decline your gracious offer.”

  Lord Teathorpe then grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I thought you might turn down that offer, so I offer you another more fitting reward, one which I do hope you will take,” he said before pausing again. “I offer you the position of chief catcher, which means every big catcher job that comes along, every new magical creature case that happens, will be offered to you and your team first, so that we may use your great wisdom and knowledge at its best, now how does that sound?” he enquired.

  “I’ll take it!” replied Colin eagerly with a big smile as he offered his hand to Lord Teathorpe.

  Lord Teathorpe happily shook Colin’s hand, and as they did the small crowd cheered excitedly again. Then, moving along the line, Lord Teathorpe stood next to Henry who was still wearing the big grey foam whale costume, because unfortunately the zipper was now stuck.

  “Henry Fatherbottom, your dedication to duty is truly outstanding,” he said warmly as he patted the whale costume gently. “So we will reinstate you in the Department of Magical Incidents, but not as a lowly old clerk, oh no! You will be the Senior Department Manager of Magical Incidents and oversee the smooth running of the entire department.”

  The crowd then cheered with approval as Henry began madly shaking Lord Teathorpe’s hand in excitement.

  “Oh, my! Oh, wow! Oh, fantastic! That is just wonderful!” he exclaimed joyfully, almost lost for words before doing a little jig on the spot.

  “Yeah, the whale can dance!” shouted an excited young wizard from the crowd.

  After finally pulling his hand away from the slightly over-excited old wizard, Lord Teathorpe then moved to Trixie who stood eager to hear what wonderful reward she was going to get.

  “Trixie Caterwhich, your bravery and heroism is amazing for someone so young and so beautiful,” he said, smiling and making Trixie blush. “We feel a great future lies ahead of you, and we want to help you on that way…”

  “This is it!” thought Trixie excitedly. “My time has come, a place on the high council is mine! I will be the youngest ever council member and I shall be adored by everyone!”

  Lord Teathorpe continued talking. “So to get you going on your path of greatness, here is a…”

  Trixie then suddenly remembered something her uncle had taught her for moments like this, stay calm, stand tall, and remember dignity at all times, and so taking in one last deep breath she stood ready to accept her reward.

  “A free lifetime pass to the Ministry library!” Lord Teathorpe announced happily as the crowd once again cheered. “May it bring you hours of joy,” he smiled, holding out a small white and silver card for Trixie to take.

  “What?” exclaimed Trixie in disbelief. “A library card!”

  Reluctantly, Trixie took the card and Lord Teathorpe then moved to Marty who was standing on the red seat cushion of the throne. As Lord Teathorpe approached the little man, his face and mood changed and then he stood looking very serious for a moment.

  “Martin Riley” he said, pausing to look down at the six-inch high man.

  “Hi!” replied Marty, giving a little wave back.

  “You gave this Ministry a lot of trouble a few years ago and your punishment I feel was just, but clearly your time with Colin and Trixie has been well worth it, because today I see a different man before me,” Lord Teathorpe said, beginning to smile again.

  “You do?” said Marty in surprise.

  “Yes, and after some deliberation, we feel even you deserve a reward for your part in stopping Darren’s diabolical plan.”

  “Excellent, I’ll take a pot of cash, or gold, or at least a slap-up banquet with all the trimmings, but absolutely no cheques!” replied Marty grinning.

  “Well I was thinking of something else actually,” chuckled Lord Teathorpe, amused by Marty’s wishful thinking. “Something that might be a little more useful to you,” and with that he pulled out his gold, jewel-encrusted wand, which happened to be shaped like a large ice cream with cone, and waved it over Marty. “Reverse one phase,” Lord Teathorpe then muttered and instantly Marty began to glow and then in front of everybody he began to grow.

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?” Marty asked excitedly as his limbs began to stretch and his torso began to inflate, and after a few seconds, Marty’s body was now a clear foot and half taller than he used to be and his ears and nose fitted better to his larger head.

  “I’m bigger!” he cried excitedly as he stared at his larger new limbs and torso. “I’m bigger! I’m bigger!” he screamed again before dancing about on the throne with joy as the crowd cheered again.

  “And I have restored a limited amount of magic to you as well, use it wisely, Mister Riley,” added Lord Teathorpe.

  “I can do spells again!” cried Marty, happily firing a little red spark from his fingers as he began dancing again.

  Colin then glanced down at his happy little chum, and noticing the remains of his smaller clothes now hanging off him like rags, then whispered,

  “I think you might want some bigger clothes, Marty.”

  Marty quickly glanced down at his half-naked body and grinned, before he then turned and half-mooned the cheering crowd.

  “I don’t care!” he shouted with joy.

  “A library card!” muttered Trixie, still disappointed at the cheapness of her gift.

  Finally Lord Teathorpe moved to Jamie, who was waiting patiently at the end of the line.

  “Jamie…” said Lord Teathorpe before pausing.

  “Ellebert,” added Jamie.

  “Ellebert, really?” replied Lord Teathorpe, a little surprised by the strangeness of his surname, to which Jamie nodded assuringly.

  “Okay, Jamie Ellebert, you are not of this magical world, but your bravery today, to stop a dark wizard and to save us from him should be an inspiration to all Magictasium citizens,” Lord Teathorpe said proudly, before the crowd cheered once again.

  “Jamie, Colin has told me of your mother’s situation and I know it must have been a very shocking and upsetting thing for you to find, so I feel only one reward is good enough. I promise you here tonight in front of everyone, that the very best wizards and witches from the Ministry will be sent to your home and we will do whatever it takes to restore your mother to her normal state again,” he said with a reassuring smiling as the crowd cheered once more.

  “Thank you!” Jamie gasped excitedly before shaking Lord Teathorpe’s hand. “Thank you very much.”

  “My pleasure, young man,” replied Lord Teathorpe.

  “A blinking library card!” exclaimed Trixie, really, really disappointed with her gift.

  Then Lord Teathorpe turned to face the crowd and raised his arms high to quiet them down again,
and once there was a bit of peace he spoke once more.

  “And finally…” he said, pausing for dramatic effect like every good showman does, “let the celebrations begin!” he cried before the few remaining brass band members began to play and then the small crowd cheered and danced about happily as fireworks shot up into the now dark evening sky.

  “Well, Jamie, so what do you think of the magical world now?” Colin asked, intrigued to hear what his young human friend thought of it all.

  “It’s brilliant!” replied Jamie happily.

  “I don’t think I could have put it better myself,” chuckled Marty, dancing past.

  “A library card!” said Trixie angrily, holding it up for the others to see before she walked away in a strop.

  The music continued to play and everybody danced happily, celebrating the end of the carnival and surviving yet another dark wizard attack. Well, almost everybody, because it was about then that two rather large, burly wizard police officers approached Colin.

  “Mr Colin Caterwhich?” enquired one of the officers.

  Colin stared at the familiar, rather serious-looking faces in front of him, and he remembered it was the two police officers that he had knocked off their brooms the day before.

  “Err…yes?” he replied nervously.

  “We would like you to accompany us down to the police station to answer a few questions, sir,” said one of the officers.

  “What about?” asked Colin innocently.

  “Well, where do we begin sir?” replied the first officer, pausing to take out a notebook before glancing at the open page. “There are two accounts of speeding in a restricted residential zone.”

  “Ah, well, you see, I have a good reason for that…” Colin replied.

  “How about not slowing down when told to do so by an officer of the law, or not pulling over when told to do so and, more seriously, bumping an officer of the law off his broom?” continued the wizard police officer.

  “Again, a very good reason and that last bit was an accident…” Colin replied nervously.