The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (12 page)

“Your parents aren’t that bad.”

“
You
try living with them for a week or so.”

Jamie rolled his eyes and shook his head, then turned in the recliner so that he could see Fred better. “How do you and Melanie know all this about Rollie and Tanisha?”

Both girls tilted their heads to the side and arched their eyebrows at him, and he said, “Oh, right. You’re girls.”

Bryce closed his book and set it on the couch beside him. “You know what would be great? If we could find a way for Rollie to get rid of the demon. I bet his dad would be happy about that.”

“For sure,” Jamie said. “In his dad’s eyes, the only thing worse than wizards and witches are demons. Except for the Devil himself, of course.”

“So that’s it. We’ll find a solution to the demon that Rollie can manage, and we’ll fix two problems at once.”

“Bryce,” Fred said, “if Jamie can’t handle a demon, how do you expect Rollie to? Jamie’s a ten times stronger wizard, probably.”

“I don’t know how strong Rollie is, actually,” Jamie said. “He won’t try any spells.”

“But he’s not as strong as you, right?”

“No. I could tell.”

Melanie looked back and forth from Fred to Jamie and shook her head slowly, a bemused smile on her face. “You know, we have the
strangest
conversations. Seems like we never talk about anything normal.”

“Shoot,” Fred said. “I gave up on normal a long time ago, back when I was eight, after I saw Jamie floating three feet off the ground.”

* * *

Jamie lay in his bed the next day, his back propped against a couple of pillows and a book in his lap, but he wasn’t reading. He was staring out of his window at the backyard, lost in thought, when he saw hundreds of maple leaves, blown from the roof by a sudden gust of wind, helicopter past his view and twirl to the ground. In the slanting, late-afternoon sunlight, they looked like a flock of golden birds, fluttering down to the lawn to rest and feed after a long, tiring flight.

He was attempting to read one of Fred’s enormous spell books. Another, bound in dark brown leather, sat on the bed beside him. He’d scoured both of them in hopes of finding a solution to the problem with the demon, but so far he’d found nothing. Nothing but useless witch spells, like how to put a curse on your neighbor’s cow so that it would produce sour milk, or a ward to deter the affections of unwanted suitors.

I’m glad I’m a wizard and not a witch
. He spread his hand and held it over the book beside him, and it floated off the bed and hovered a few inches above the sheets for a few seconds before he let it fall.
Being a wizard is more fun
.

He tried to recall the few witches Eddan had known, the ones that the old wizard had sought out for remedies for ailments that only a witch could cure. Jamie wondered what it was like for those witches back on Eddan’s world, with hopeful young women knocking on their doors, looking to buy a love potion. Or sick people arriving in the middle of the night, desperate for help, maybe near death.

Witches were closer to the people in their communities
, Jamie realized. Wizards were loners. Or at least, Eddan was. The only other sorcerer Eddan seemed to know well was his master, Karviss. Jamie’s oldest memories from Eddan’s life were of him as a young apprentice, fetching wood or sweeping while his ancient teacher huddled over a book by candlelight in his tiny, cell-like room.

Eddan didn’t always have a beard
. Jamie stroked his chin as he remembered the powerful sorcerer as an inept, clumsy adolescent.
Karviss. I wonder whatever happened to him. Did he know anything about demons? Did he write anything about it?

Jamie closed his eyes and scoured his cache of Eddan’s memories again, trying to call up any hint of demons in the images that flitted through his mind. But try as he might, he couldn’t seem to find what he needed. He’d lain awake several nights in a row, sorting through those memories like old files in a drawer, but nothing helpful came to mind. All Jamie could gather from the bearded wizard’s knowledge of demons was that he was afraid of them.

Jamie sighed and closed the book in his lap.
We’re going to need help. We’re going to have to ask somebody who has more experience with magic
.

And the only people that he knew of that fit that description were Rita and Cassandra.

“
What?
” Fred stared at Jamie as if he’d just suggested that she eat a pack of razor blades. Her voice grew shrill and her eyes widened. “Talk to those...those hags? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No, I’m not,” Jamie said, trying to sound steady and calm. “I don’t know where else to turn. We can’t find a solution to the demon problem in any of your spell books, and I can’t seem to dredge up anything from Eddan’s memories, so maybe we should ask Rita and Cassandra if they know.”

Fred narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jamie. “Those two witches aren’t the sharpest scissors in the sewing box, you know, especially Cassandra.”

“But maybe they’ll know someone we can ask.”

“Well....” Fred stared at the far wall of her living room and pursed her lips. “There’s Momma Sue. She might know. She’s the voodoo queen that Rita and Cassandra went to see when they needed special magic.”

“Okay then.” Jamie nodded. “We can ask her.”

“I don’t know where she is.”

“Can’t you do one of those finding-type spells,” —Jamie gestured broadly with one hand — “whatever you call it?”

“A scrying.”

“Yeah. Do that. I bet the spell is in one of your books we got from those witches’ house.”

“It is. I saw it the other day when I was looking through them, but it’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“Rita told me that you can’t find Momma Sue unless she wants you to, because she’s really powerful. She’s got wards and hexes all over her house and yard. Even if you know where she lives, you can’t get to her if she doesn’t let you.”

Jamie rubbed his chin and stared at the floor. “We’ll never know unless we try. Maybe Momma Sue will talk to us.”

“We’ve got to know where she lives, first.”

“Then we’ll go see Rita and Cassandra and ask them. They might tell us.”

“Why would they?” Fred threw up both hands. “They’re probably not too happy with us right now. You banished them to another world, remember?”

“What if we offered them a trade? Something they want pretty badly in exchange for the info? I bet you can think of something. You know them pretty well, don’t you? After spending two weeks with them?”

Fred covered her eyes with one hand and sighed. “Oh, I can think of something they would probably want. Several things, actually.” She dropped her arm and looked at Jamie. “But I’m not old enough to buy a couple of them. We’ll need an adult to get them.”

“I’ll talk to my dad. He’ll help us get what we need.”

* * *

Fred watched as Jamie drew the outlines of a magic doorway and pushed it open. On the other side was John Paul Lambeau, standing in his kitchen in Louisiana. He stepped through into Jamie’s family room and the portal winked out. He shook Carl and Jamie’s hands and said, “I love that doorway. Sure beats flying.”

“Don’t tell the airlines,” Fred said and gave him a brief hug.

“I didn’t know what the proper attire was for visiting another world.” John Paul gestured at his clothes. He wore a red flannel shirt, rolled up to his elbows, faded blue jeans, and scuffed suede work boots. A pistol was strapped in a black leather holster on his hip, and he carried a shotgun in one hand, barrel pointed down.

“That works for me,” Carl said. He slapped his pistol, also on his hip. “This is probably the most important accessory.” He turned to Jamie. “Is Rollie not coming?”

“He’s got to study for a big test.”

Fred picked up two white plastic shopping bags from the table, one with
Walgreens
printed on it. “Is this all of it, Mr. Sikes?”

“Should be. I got everything on your list.”

“All right.” Fred set her jaw. “Let’s go visit a couple of hags.”

“Hold on.” Carl said. “Jamie, if a wizard shows up when we get there, could you ask him about demons before you blast him?”

Jamie chuckled and made another doorway, then pushed it open, revealing a sunlit, grassy field. “Who’s first?”

“I’ll go.” Carl picked up his shotgun from the table and stepped toward the portal.

“Wait.” John Paul held up one hand. “Jamie, can you give me a better idea what to expect before we go? What’s this place like? Carl only told me that it was kinda like Earth.”

“If I remember correctly, it looks almost exactly like Earth, for the most part.”

“And there are humans there, right? No weird aliens with high-tech weapons?”

Jamie smiled as he shook his head. “Just normal people like us. There are probably a few minor wizards around, though, so we need to be on our toes. Maybe a few witches, too.”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Carl said. “We’ve got Jamie and Fred to handle the magic and you and me to handle the rest. Fred, do you have your magic pendant?”

She nodded and tapped the silver fairy that hung around her neck. “It’s the one with the repulsion spell in it. Do you have your counter charm?”

They all showed her the plastic woven bracelets she had used to hold the counter charm to the magic of her pendant. “Let’s go.” Carl stepped through, shotgun ready as if he were raiding a house, and the others followed warily.

The doorway winked out behind them and they surveyed their new surroundings. The field where they stood looked like a farmer’s pasture, with a few cows grazing in one corner and a wooden fence bordering the near side. A dirt road lay just beyond, stretching away to what appeared to be a settlement in the distance.

John Paul gazed about, his eyes squinted and his mouth twisted. “Huh. It’s...it’s the same. This looks like a thousand other pastures I’ve seen, even the cows look the same. Why is that?”

“The fence isn’t,” Carl said, pointing. “Look. No barbed wire. How advanced are they here, Jamie?”

Jamie didn’t answer. He was staring at the settlement in the distance. “How far do you suppose that is?”

“About a mile, maybe.”

Jamie outlined another doorway. “Let’s take the shortcut.”

“Seems lazy,” Carl said. “It’s only a mile, and it’s a nice day. Let’s walk.”

“We’re exposed out in the open. Why risk it? If you want to sight-see, I’ll make a doorway someplace where there aren’t any sorcerers.”

“Aren’t you worried about attracting the attention of other wizards when you make the doorway? Didn’t you say they can feel it?”

“They’ve already felt the one I just made, so one more won’t make much of a difference. I’d rather get there fast than take a chance of being caught on this road with no cover.”

Carl nodded. “Good point.”

“Uh, Jamie?” John Paul said. “How many other worlds are there like this? Ones that are really Earth-like?”

Jamie stared off at the horizon and his face became thoughtful. Then he turned to John Paul. “A lot. Hundreds. Thousands. I’m not sure. Eddan didn’t have time to investigate them.”

“But how come it looks so much like Earth?” He stooped and pulled up some grass with one hand and inspected it. “I mean, look at this.” He held it out to Jamie. “This looks like normal old grass. Are you sure we’re on another planet?”

“Yep.” Jamie pushed the new doorway open. “You’ll see.”

They stepped through and found themselves near some unpainted wooden buildings clustered beside the dirt road. Carl said, “Looks like one of those historical re-creations of an early colonial village.”

The closest building was a low rectangular structure made of logs and planks; the gaps between the boards were filled with dried mud. The windows were small, and smoke curled from the stone chimney at the far end.

“Let’s try this one,” John Paul said. “This could be a tavern. That’s where I’d expect to find Rita and Cassandra.”

Carl pulled open the heavy wooden door of the rustic building, and Fred was nearly overwhelmed by the smell that billowed out. She wrinkled her nose and said, “Yuck. What is
that?
”

John Paul stepped ahead of her and said, “Smoke, sweat, and...rancid beer or ale. Maybe some spoiled meat, to top it off. This is definitely a tavern.”

Fred looked at Jamie and frowned. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to talk to those witches.”

“Now who’s being a baby?” Jamie said.

“Let me go first.” John Paul went inside, his shotgun gripped firmly with both hands. Carl went next, followed by Fred, one hand on her fairy pendant. Jamie pulled up the rear, eyes alert and hands before him, ready to cast a spell at a moment’s notice.

The door closed behind them, and it took Fred’s eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light. It was a long room with a low ceiling supported by heavy, rough-hewn beams. Crudely-cut plank tables and benches sat in two rows, and a couple of oil lanterns and the small open windows provided the only light. There were a few patrons sitting at a table in the back. When Fred heard one of them guffaw, she clenched both hands into fists and sucked in her breath. “That’s Cassandra. I’d know that laugh anywhere.”

She and Jamie followed Carl and John Paul to the loud group of drinkers, three roughly dressed men sitting with the two women Fred hated so much. Fred felt her stomach tighten as she neared them, and she gritted her teeth so hard that they hurt.

Carl tapped John Paul on the shoulder and said quietly. “Are any of them armed?”

John Paul turned and said, “Can’t tell from here.”

Carl cocked his shotgun and all heads from the table turned their way. The three men leaped to their feet and reached for knives at their belts, and John Paul leveled his shotgun and advanced on them, eyes narrow and hard. “Drop your weapons.”

“Says who?” one of the men said.

“Wait!” Rita put her hand on the man’s arm. “I know that voice. It’s Deputy Fife!” She laughed and the men with them suddenly looked confused. Rita said to her rough, bearded friends, “You boys put your knives away. Those two guys have shotguns, and they can blow a whole clear through you.”