Doorways to Infinity (24 page)

“We have plenty of people coming,” Evelyn said. “Some of the kids from the school and their families are, I think.

“How many?”

“Most of them.”

“Most of them! We could end up having….” He quickly added up the possible numbers in his head. “Over two hundred people! What…we won’t have enough food or drinks, or…ugh! What are we gonna do?”

“We’ll be fine. We can always go to the store and get more. You can make a doorway to Ingle’s, can’t you?”

“Of course, but…but what about—”

“Quit worrying so much,” Lisa said. “Let’s get our stuff to the school. We wanna go to the party.”

“Jamie, are Leora and Milly there, yet?” Sammi asked.

“Are they coming, too?”

“Unh hunh.”

Carl gestured toward the garage. “We need to get the folding tables and chairs. You know where they are.”

Jamie and his teammates began carrying things from his parents’ house to the school, like Sherpas hauling supplies to a base camp at Mount Everest. When they finished, Jamie looked around at the pandemonium on the playground — chairs lying about haphazardly, cardboard boxes, blankets and jackets in piles, firewood. People milling about, seemingly with no direction or purpose. He felt like things were drifting out of control, their original, simple plan for the party woefully inadequate, and the situation getting more chaotic by the minute.

“Nobody’s doing anything. Nothing is set up, hardly.” He frowned and clenched both fists. “We need to get organized…we need more food, and…we gotta set up the tables and—”

Evelyn put her hand on his arm and said in a gentle voice, “Calm down, no need to panic. We can get it under control. You have plenty of help, so don’t feel like you have to do it all by yourself.”

“But I want everything to be great. I want everybody to have a good time.”

“It doesn’t need to be perfect, and we’ll have fun.” She gave him a soft smile, one he’d seen so many times before. “In fact, why don’t you take a break right now? I think we can handle things. You don’t have to do anything else.”

“I have to light the fire.”

“We can manage that, too.”

“But I want to.”

“I know you do. You want to show off your magic around your teammates.”

“Maybe, a little.” Jamie looked over to see the girls returning from their trip into town, some with new scarfs or shawls around their shoulders, others carrying small packages. Fred was with them, and when she reached Jamie, he said, “That was quick.”

“We only made it to Brinna’s shop, and she’s closing early so she can get ready for the party.”

“She’s coming, too? Oh, man.”

“She and John Paul will be here soon so they can help.”

Mr. Bass appeared at his elbow and said, “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to put one of the little desks by the outside faucet under the window. I’ll set some hand soap and some paper towels on it so folks can wash their hands. Otherwise, they’ll have to use the bathrooms, and those might be occupied, with so many people coming tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, good idea,” Jamie said. “Where do you think we should put the grill? We only have one.”

“Don’t worry. Stev is bringing something for that.” He pointed toward the road. “That’s him right there.”

Jamie turned to see the broad shouldered ex-blacksmith’s apprentice, driving a wooden, slat-sided wagon, which was pulled by a single horse. On the bench seat beside him were two girls in long dresses with identical, sandy-colored hair.

Fred broke into a broad smile. “It’s Feather and Flower!” She waved and walked toward them while Jamie followed. The two girls were the first ones Fred had sold a love potion to during spring break, when she was staying at the stone house with Jamie and their friends. The sisters leaped from the wagon before it came to a full stop and ran to Fred to meet her.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” Fred said to the girls. “Flower, I’m surprised you came, though.”

“I am their chaperone.” The younger girl lifted her chin regally. “Pa wouldn’t let them come without me.”

Feather frowned and sighed. “But he let us use the wagon. Stev does not have one of his own, yet.”

While the girls continued chatting, Jamie went to greet Stev. The strapping young man, who was now Mr. Bass’s assistant at the school, jumped off the bench seat and shook Jamie’s hand. Jamie steeled himself for a crushing grip, but Stev’s clasp was surprisingly merciful, though his fingers and palm were rough.

“I heard there be a celebration tonight,” Stev said in the soft burr of the Rivershire locals.

“You heard right. Glad you came.”

“I also heard you may be roasting food, so I stopped by my old master’s shop and borrowed his gridiron.” He led Jamie to the rear of the wagon, and filling the bed was a rectangular lattice of finger-width wrought iron bars attached to a frame.

Stev dragged the heavy-looking metal contrivance from the back and Jamie said, “Need some help?”

Stev shook his head and slung it under one massive arm, and with his free hand, he grasped four long rods, each with a flat head on one end and narrowed on the other, making them resemble giant nails. He gestured with his head toward the bench seat and said, “If you could fetch my hammer and tongs, ’twoud be most helpful.”

Jamie reached under the seat and grabbed the hammer, a short-handled sledge, so heavy that he almost dropped it at first. Then he pulled out the metal tongs, and he and Stev went to where Jamie’s father was setting up his grill, close to the main building, along with Granddaddy Pete, Larry, Garrett, and Mr. Bass. Jamie had noticed years ago that grills had a type of gravity, the kind that attracted fathers like a magnet attracted steel. The men weren’t holding bottles of beer yet, but he knew they would be soon, because, according to Larry, that was required for properly cooking outdoors.

Others gathered to watch — Evelyn, Connie, Fred, Melanie, Nova, and a couple of the boys from the track team.

Stev began driving in the metal rods with short, powerful strokes of his hammer, the ringing tone lowering in pitch as each spike sank into the ground until it was firmly embedded in the earth. When Stev had them all evenly set, Jamie helped him place the gridiron on top of them, and the finished product looked like a low patio table.

“Mr. Bass?” Stev said. “May I borrow your shovel?”

“It’s not mine, it’s the school’s, and of course you can. It’s in the maintenance building, same as always. What do you need it for?”

“For putting coals underneath it so that we may cook. I shall wait until the bonfire has burned down a bit, and then scoop them from there.”

“Won’t the heat from the bonfire bother you?” Garrett asked.

“I am used to it. A blacksmith’s apprentice spends most of the day by a fire, keeping it hot for his master.”

Carl poked the bag of charcoal with his foot. “It would be easier to use this, if we have enough. But that’s a pretty big grill.”

“We should get more,” Jamie said. “I’ve got to go to Ingle’s, anyway. We need more of everything.”

Larry looked toward the front of the school. “You might want to go soon.”

Jamie turned and saw two more horse-drawn wagons pulling onto the grounds, and trundling up the road behind them were several more, all full of families.

“Oh, wow. They really are coming, aren’t they?” He felt his pulse quicken and he clenched one hand. “Uh…we need to make a list. What should I get besides charcoal? More paper towels, probably. Meat for the grill, and drinks, and cups and paper plates and—”

“Jamie,” Aunt Connie said, “calm down. I’ll go, and I’ll take a couple of people with me. I know what to get.”

“But what if you forget something and people don’t have enough and—”

“I won’t forget anything, and I’m sure the families that are coming will bring something to eat.”

“Does anybody have any money I can borrow?” He patted his pants pockets. “I didn’t bring any. How are we going to pay for it all? It’ll be a lot, won’t it?”

“I got that covered.” Granddaddy Pete pulled out his wallet and said, “She can take our school credit card.”

“We have a credit card?”

“Of course. It’s much easier than writing checks for all the supplies we buy in Hendersonville.” Pete slipped the card out and handed it to Connie. “Bring me the receipt, if you don’t mind.”

She took it and put it in her coat pocket. “Who’s coming with me? How about you, Fred?”

“Sure. Melanie and Nova can come, too.”

Tony, who was standing nearby with Alberto, held up one hand. “We’ll come. We can carry the heavy stuff.”

“So there you go,” Larry said. “All bases are covered.”

Fred turned to Jamie. “Can you make a doorway right now? Don’t make it to the Ingles near the mall. Put it behind the one on the Asheville Highway, back in all those trees so no one will see us.”

“Hold on.” Jamie traced a small glowing circle at eye level and peered through it. “This is a good spot. Fred, I think you should go first and twirl your Stupefyin’ pendant, just in case. You wore it, right?”

“Always.” She pulled it from inside of her lightweight jacket and grasped it by the chain just above the silver fairy charm, while Jamie outlined the doorway. Fred said to those around her, “Y’all might want to stand back for a second.”

Everyone moved out of range of the powerful hex while she twirled it and walked through the magic opening. When she was on the other side, she looked around quickly, tucked the fairy charm back into her jacket and waved for the others to come. They followed her and Jamie closed the doorway.

He turned and scanned the disorganized scene at the school. More wagonloads of families were appearing every minute. Boxes, ice chests, and chairs still lay about haphazardly. Rollie had brought a football and he and most of the other boys were playing a game on the wide field. Mrs. Tully had arrived with Aiven in the carriage, and all of the girls from the track team had surrounded Sugar, petting and admiring the horse. Someone said that Coach Harrison had taken his wife into town for a walk to help her calm down, and Dr. Tindall and her grad students had not returned from their visit to the boarding house.

John Paul and Brinna were at the party now, Brinna talking to Rachel, Grannie Darla, and the other moms, while John Paul joined Carl and the other Hendersonville dads with a freshly opened beer in one hand. Mr. Bass disappeared somewhere, nobody knew for sure, and Sammi, Milly, and Leora were playing tag with the ever-growing flock of kids from the school.

Evelyn glanced at Jamie and seemed to sense his growing anxiety. She announced in a firm voice, “Okay, it’s time to get our act together. The sun will be setting soon, and people are going to be hungry.”

She rallied the Hendersonville families — Jamie’s, Fred’s, and Rollie’s — and together with John Paul and Brinna, they began to make sense out of the madness. They set up four long folding tables by the building, close to the PA and the grills, and laid food out on them. They arranged chairs and blankets in an arc near the mound of branches. The farmers seemed to need no direction, and many of them placed their wagons side-by-side with the backs facing inward, turning the arc into a wide circle, with the unlit mass of wood at its center.

Jamie sensed Aiven’s mental request to the horses to stay on the school’s field, and the farmers unhitched their mounts, confident that they would remain close by, well aware of Aiven’s power over the animals. When Aiven asked a horse to stay, it stayed.

Carl and Stev lit the fires under the grills, and more beers and sodas were opened. Cody and Ivan, sitting behind the PA speakers, pulled their instruments from their cases and began tuning them and playing bits of songs, not into the microphones, but mostly to themselves, and the sound of their mingling, jangling strings, bright and cheerful, floated pleasantly through the air, mixing with the sounds of children laughing and playing and adults talking in neighborly tones.

There was a sparkling energy in the atmosphere. Jamie paused and let it sink in for a moment, the sights, the sounds, the smells, glittering and…
happy
, he realized.
Everybody’s happy
. He smiled to himself and savored it briefly, standing in the middle of their impromptu celebration. Then he turned and went looking for whatever else needed doing.

Jamie made a doorway for Aunt Connie and the others, and they came back from Ingles carrying sacks of groceries: chicken, hamburger patties, and hot dogs for the grill; buns, sodas and bottles of juice, king-size bags of potato chips, cookies, paper plates and paper towels, ice, and more charcoal. There would be enough, now, Jamie decided. Everyone would have plenty to eat, counting what the schoolchildren’s families had brought.

Coach Harrison had returned from town with his wife, who seemed more at ease, and Dr. Tindall and her grad students walked with them.

Jamie was talking with Bryce near the smoking grills when Miss Duffy arrived, escorted by the gray-haired Mr. Winston. Coach Dave noticed immediately and went straight to her, and both of their faces brightened as they neared each other.

Carl glanced at them as he turned a piece of chicken on the grill. “What’s up with your assistant coach?”

Jamie turned to his father and shrugged.

“I’ve seen that look before,” Carl said. “I think it was from you, John Paul, the first time we went to the stone house, and Brinna was there.”

John Paul narrowed one eye. “I didn’t look like that, did I?”

“Yeah, you did,” Jamie said.

“Oh, boy. Does he have any idea what’s he’s getting into, or how complicated his life’s going to be?”

Jamie shrugged again, and Bryce said, “John Paul, maybe you better have a talk with him.”

“I don’t know what good it’ll do. You couldn’t have talked me out of fallin’ for Brinna if you’d threatened my life.”

“Well,” Jamie said, “at least most everybody’s here now.”

Bryce checked his watch. “Aren’t you forgetting somebody? Eric and Terry? Fred invited them last night, remember?”

“Oh, man!” Jamie smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand. “I did forget.” He quickly outlined another doorway and opened it, and on the other side, sitting on the couch in the house they rented, were the two agents. “Sorry,” Jamie said as they stood and walked through onto the playground. “I got caught up with other stuff.”