Firemancer Collection (Fated Saga Box Set Book 1) (9 page)

   “Take the three of us to camp, NOW!” he shouted.

   The shrieking and howling was instantly distant and once again, as they opened their eyes, they found themselves close by the Jacoby campsite, hearing only the distant howls of the creatures.

   Jae’s face appeared more stunned at the magical exit, than even by the twins’ reactions to all they had seen that night. 

   “How did you do that?” he interrogated, backing away. “Who are you?”

   “How did
we
do that? How about, who are you? And how do you do, what you do?” asked Meghan, thinking that her questions were much more important.

   “Not that I don’t want to discuss this,” Colin snuck in, “But can we go somewhere more hidden?”

   “We do need cover,” agreed Jae, rather distrustfully. “I don’t understand, though. How is it you know about magic?”

   “Magic?” questioned Meghan.

   “Some place safer, please,” reminded Colin.

   “Where Colin?” Meghan asked. “We can’t just sneak Jae into the trailer. How would we explain it to Uncle Arnon?”

   “He will understand, once we explain,” said Colin, not believing a word he was saying.

   “Uncle Arnon will never understand,” Meghan said, agitated.

   “But he wouldn’t turn away someone in need of help.”

   “We would still have to explain that we went out after curfew,” she reminded. The twins went on arguing, getting louder with each sentence.

   “Hey!” Jae interrupted sharply. “You’re going to wake up the whole stupid camp arguing so loud!” He took a deep breath, and added, “I think I have a solution, follow me.”

   The twins apprehensively followed Jae back to where the Gypsies had been camped.

   “What are we doing here?” asked Colin, as the site was now empty. The wagons were gone.

   “Just give me a second,” said Jae with an air of impatience. “Apirire,” he murmured, while waving his hand in front of him. Dusty air swirled in front of them, and when it dissipated a Gypsy wagon appeared.

   “Where did that come from?” asked Colin, mystified.

   “It was here all along, hidden,” he answered dryly, opening the door. “We decided to hide them, seeing as it might be awhile before we returned.”

   It was the twins’ first time being close enough to see the fine detail in the ornate woodcarvings that covered the outside of the wagon. They were surprised to see shapes of the bat-wolf creatures carved overhead.

   The twins’ thoughts swirled in their heads, feeling heavy.

   “I promise we will be safe in here,” insisted Jae, less arrogantly. He motioned for them to enter.

   “What do you think?” Meghan asked her brother, silently.

   “
Now
you care about what I think,” he shot back. “We’ve come this far, we might as well see what’s inside.”

   “Why aren’t you going in then?” she asked.

   He may have wanted to go in, but she knew he did not want to go in first.

   “Ah, hello you two, up here,” said Jae, impatiently. Meghan pushed Colin in front of her; his glare was piercing as he walked up the stairs. Meghan followed behind. Before entering, Meghan glanced sideways at Uncle Arnon’s trailer; thankfully, there was no sign of movement.

   As Colin stepped through the door, Meghan sensed his glare turn to awe and she understood why, once inside.

   From inside, it did not look like a normal sized wagon at all, but rather a large banquet hall, equipped with a long wooden table, chairs, dishes and kitchen.

   The main room was spacious, with the table taking up a good portion of the room. A cold, unlit stone fireplace covered half of the wall behind the table, while candle-filled wall sconces and chandeliers lit up the interior of the wagon.

   “The candles are forever burning candles,” said Jae. He held one in his hand to show them. “See, never burn down, will last forever.”

   Meghan wanted to ask how, but decided against it. They walked deeper into the room.

   “It all makes sense now,” said Colin. “This is how you fit all those people into just one wagon.”

   “You noticed that?” Jae said, surprised at Colin’s keen eye. “Come on, I’ll show you where my family and I lived while we were here.” The twins followed him to a back wall, lined with doors. There was a copper knocker on the door, spelling the name Mochrie.

   “Is that your family name, Mochrie?” asked Colin.

   Jae nodded yes.

   Inside was another room, much smaller. It included a velvet couch and chair set in front of a fireplace, also of stone. A teapot sat on the hearth next to a small pile of wood.

   Jae continued the tour, although it was a quick tour, as the room contained just one corner desk and an old rocking chair. Four more doors lined the back wall of the room.

   “Those are our bedrooms. My sister,” he started tensely. “My sister and I share a room, and then my parents would be over there,” he said pointing to another. He did not explain the two others doors.

   The twins had many questions, and yet, no idea where to begin. Jae leaned over to the fireplace and waved his hand over the half-burnt wood inside; a roaring fire instantly warmed the room.

   “Sit,” insisted Jae to the twins, helping himself to the chair near the fireplace. Glad to get off their feet, they obliged and sat on the couch, across from him.

   A few long minutes passed without any of the three speaking. Meghan and Colin were eager to ask questions, but Jae appeared deep in thought, leaning his elbow on the side of his chair, leaning his chin on his elbow. Meghan finally decided they had waited long enough.

   “So, Jae,” she startled him.

   “Sorry,” he said. “Got lost for a minute.”

   “How is all this possible?” asked Meghan. “I have never seen anything like this before.”

   Jae’s eyes rose in suspicion and he motioned toward Colin’s book.

   “Appears you have seen a few things like it before,” a bit of arrogance returned in his voice.

   “I bought this book today,” Colin explained. “I have no idea what it is, or where it came from.”

   “Today?” Jae questioned Colin, with a hint of disbelief. “Can I have a look?”

   Colin, at first hesitant, handed over the Magicante, hoping Jae could shed some light on his recent purchase.

   Jae flipped through the pages. “This is not familiar to me. Where did you get it?”

   “From the flea market in town, at the Blue Moon Festival.”

   Jae closed it and handed the Magicante back to Colin.

   “How did the book get us back here?” Jae asked.

   “Honestly, I have no idea,” shrugged Colin. “I believe it only happened because we were in danger and needed to get out of a place fast. There was a message on one of the leaves.”

   “There was a message on a leaf for you?” asked Jae.

   Colin nodded yes.

   “That is odd,” said Jae, peering again at the book with great interest. Colin held the book closer, afraid for a moment he might want it again.

   Jae laughed smugly.

   “Don’t worry. I have no need of that book, although, it did help us out of quite a jam.”

   “So that is our short and sweet story, how about yours?” grilled Meghan.

   Jae took a deep breath and started.

   “First, you have to understand that for the safety of my people, there is a lot I cannot tell you, and for your own safety, there are some things you cannot know.” Jae’s severe tone caught Meghan and Colin off guard.  

   “Can you at least tell us who you are, and what those horrific creatures are?”

   “Those creatures, they are called Scratchers. And I hope after I leave, they will not decide to come back.”

   Colin interrupted. “You mean they might come back, later?”

   “Yes, maybe no. The Scratchers hunt and kill my people. Sometimes we do not see them for months, and then sometimes, far too often.”

   “Those things are hunting you all the time?” reiterated Colin.

   “Yes,” Jae answered.

   Meghan and Colin linked their minds to discuss this news without talking aloud to Jae.

   “Do you think we should tell him about what we saw earlier tonight, Col? It
was
the reason we were trying to find them after all?”

   “Maybe it could help them,” Colin thought back. “If those things are hunting them all the time, it sounds like they need all the help they can get!”

   “Jae, we have something to tell you,” started Meghan nervously. “Maybe this will help, or maybe we were just really, really stupid and should not have followed you.”

   Jae leaned forward, intrigued by what they had to say.

   “The reason we were there tonight was that we were trying to warn you. We followed a couple of your… people, into the woods earlier in the evening, yeah-yeah, bad idea,” she agreed, seeing a look of
are you crazy
on his face. “Besides that point,” she continued. “We ended up at the tree and those Scratchers arrived. We hid… in the tree.”

  “They were there, hours before?” cried out Jae in disbelief.

   “Yes,” answered Colin.

   “How could they have known where we were heading?” Jae pondered over this question, gravely.  

   “Anyway,” said Meghan, continuing. “We were stuck in the tree, confused as heck, and then someone else arrived. It looked like a person, but it was impossible to see for sure since their voice was distorted and they hid under a dark cloak.”

   “It’s true then! There is a Scratchman,” Jae said angrily, but not explaining further. He stood up and began pacing. “This is so unbelievable.”

   “Why do they hunt you?” asked Colin, boldly.

   “Why? Many reasons I guess.” It was clear he did not want to discuss why. “The most confusing part is that somehow, they always know where we are and where we are headed.”

   Jae looked at the twins, cautiously. 

   “How do I explain so it makes sense? You see, when I met you and said we travel a lot, this is true. What I left out is that we rarely travel here, in this reality, even though this is the world we are originally from.”

   The twins looked perplexed.

   “We travel through doorways to other realities,” he continued. “You might think of them as other realms or dimensions. The thing is, these doorways are said to be secure and closed, before and after we use them. It is a mystery as to how the Scratchers always track us down. Sometimes, like today, there will be just two. But other times there are more, many more.”

   “You mean there are more of them?” Colin’s voice dropped and he sank into the sofa.

   “Oh, yes. A lot more.”

   “Wait! Hold up a sec! I am still trying to understand this world travel thingy,” said Meghan.

   Jae explained again.

   “There are doorways to other worlds, other realms, dimensions, realities… whatever you want to call it. You simply need the right key to open the door.”

   “I believe it!” exclaimed Colin. “It is just like all the books I read.”

   “It is all very real,” said Jae, morosely. “We travel between worlds to survive. Always trying to stay ahead of the hunters, but never seeming to be able to do so.”

   “Can’t you just hunt and kill them, instead?” asked Meghan, still perplexed.

   “We tried. So far, though, we have not found a way to kill them, only to injure, temporarily.”

   “So if I get this all straight,” sighed Meghan, trying to make sense of everything she had witnessed and heard that night. “You are Gypsies, with real magical powers, that travel between worlds, realities or whatever you want to call them, trying to escape those Scratchers, who hunt you, constantly, but you cannot kill them, or outrun them for long?” 

   “That about sums up what I can tell you safely,” said Jae.

   “And somehow, Colin purchased a book that also turns out to be magical in some way, and on the very day we would need it the most,” she added.

   “That mystifies me just as much as it does you two,” noted Jae. “As I said, I have never seen a book like that before.”

   Silence overtook the threesome again and for a long time the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Jae was the first to break the silence.

   “Even though it went awry, thanks for trying to warn us. I think what you have told me might be useful, if I can get back to my caravan.”

   “Can you rejoin them then? Do you know which world they moved on to?” asked Colin.

   “Yes, I can get back to them. But not until the end of the month, you see, the door only opens at certain times and as you have seen, it does not stay open long.”

   Colin lost himself in thought for a moment.

   “The blue moon,” he blurted out. “It opens again on the second full moon, doesn’t it?”

   Jae grinned in impressed surprise. “Good guess.”