The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (10 page)

He nodded again, and she put both hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Why don’t you watch TV while I get dinner together?”

Rachel went back to the kitchen, but she’d only just finished cutting up the potatoes when she heard another knock on the door. She washed and dried her hands again and went to see who it was and found Adele, waiting on the front porch with an athletic bag in one hand and Rollie’s backpack in the other. Her face was drawn and her eyes were red. “Rachel, is Rollie here?”

“He’s in the family room.” Rachel led her inside and Adele burst into tears when she saw Rollie, sitting forlornly on the couch. She dropped the bag and the backpack, sat beside Rollie and hugged him fiercely. “It’s gonna be okay, baby. It’s gonna be okay.” Adele held him for a long moment before she let go and looked up at Rachel. “I don’t have much time. Garrett’s in the shower, and he’d be furious if he knew I was here.”

“He won’t know,” Rachel said.

“Is it okay if Rollie stays here for a couple of days? Just until Garrett cools off? I brought Rollie some clothes and his school books.”

“He can stay here as long as he likes. But I don’t think it’ll be for a couple of days. Garrett will calm down after Carl talks to him.”

“I don’t know, Rachel. He’s pretty mad, madder than I’ve ever seen him. You know how he feels about magic.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re experts on dealing with that by now.”

Carl almost turned around and went home when no one answered, but he knocked on Rollie’s front door again and tapped his foot. “Garrett, it’s me, Carl. Open up.”

The door opened a bit and Carl saw Garrett’s face through the crack. “What do you want?”

“I need to talk to you, Garrett.”

“I got nothing to say to you.”

“Come on, buddy, just give me one minute. That’s all.”

Carl waited a few tense seconds before the door finally opened all the way and he could go inside. The house had the same layout as Fred’s, with a small foyer that led to the living room at the front. Adele was nowhere in sight.

Garrett glared at Carl as they stood stiffly by the coffee table. Garrett’s face was hard and his eyes were narrowed to slits. “If this is about the magic, then you don’t need one minute. You know how I feel about that.”

“Yeah, I know. You think that all magic comes from Satan, but it’s not true. You’ve known Jamie almost his whole —”

“And he had magic all this time? And you hid it from me?”

“We only found out a few months ago. But you know Jamie and Fred, they’re good kids and —”

“Fred’s a witch!” Garrett spat the last word. “That’s even worse.”

Carl felt his anger rising and fought to keep his voice level. “Fred goes to church every Sunday with Jamie. Every single Sunday, and they —”

“That’s blasphemy. Somebody needs to tell your minister.”

Carl wondered if Garrett would.
No
.
I don’t believe he will. He wouldn’t want word getting around about Rollie
. “Like I said, Jamie, Fred, and Rollie are good kids, Garrett. They make good grades and volunteer and —”

“Rollie’s been using his magic in his basketball games! That’s cheating...that’s a sin...that’s....” He turned away and put one hand to his forehead.

“He didn’t know, Garrett, he didn’t know! He just found out. Jamie figured it out and told him, and Rollie’s trying to control it.”

Garrett rounded on Carl and shook one finger at him. “He’s gotta quit basketball, right now. You tell him, Carl. Right now.”

“That’s your job. You’re his father. You should be the one to tell him.”

“I got
nothing
to say to him. He’s not my son. Not anymore.”

“That’s a little harsh. Give yourself some time and you’ll get used to the idea. We’ve accepted the magic...me and Rachel. So did Larry and Lisa. Let Rollie come home, Garrett.”

Garrett stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, his jaw tense and the muscles around his eyes twitching, before stepping to the front and opening it. “Your minute is up. Time for you to go.” He wouldn’t look at Carl as he walked out.

Rachel was putting dinner on the table when Carl returned. She looked at him hopefully and said, “Well?”

“Rollie’s going to have to stay here in the guest bedroom. Maybe for a couple of nights. Maybe more.”

Her face fell. “You couldn’t talk any sense into Garrett?”

“Not yet, he’s...pretty steamed. Maybe Adele can soften him up. She’s not so bad about the magic, is she?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Where are the boys?”

“They’re up in Jamie’s room.” Rachel’s mouth pressed tight and her eyes began to fill with tears. “Oh, Carl, what are we going to do? This is awful.”

He took a deep breath before answering. “We’ll get through it, honey.” He tried to sound convincing and strong. “We’ve been through worse.”

* * *

The ride to school the next morning was mostly quiet. All Jamie, Fred, and Rollie could manage was painful small talk, as if they were strangers instead of best friends for most of their young lives. When they got out of the car at the school’s parking lot, Fred hugged Rollie wordlessly while Jamie rested one hand on Rollie’s back, then Rollie trudged away, his pack slung over one shoulder and his athletic bag in one hand, hanging so low that it nearly dragged the ground.

* * *

Rachel’s heart sank when she got home on Monday afternoon. Planted firmly in the front yard of Rollie’s house was a For Sale sign.

Carl was at work, Jamie had track practice, and Rollie had basketball. She waited anxiously alone, flipping through channels on the family room television, until Carl walked in.

“Did you see it?” she asked.

“How could I miss it?” he said glumly. “I never knew a For Sale sign could look so bad.”

He sat beside her and took her hand, and she leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “What are we going to do, Carl?”

“I don’t know. This is serious.”

Their gloom was interrupted by a chime from Rachel’s cell phone. She pulled it from her pocket and held her breath as she read the text. “It’s from Adele. She wants to know if there’s any magic Jamie can use to keep people from buying their house.”

“You’ll have to ask him. He should be home soon.”

When Jamie finally returned, Rachel explained the situation to him, and he thoughtfully rubbed the end of his nose with the knuckle of one finger. “I can’t do anything about it, but Fred might be able to. Adele needs a hex on the house, and that’s a witch’s specialty.”

“Adele’s coming over tonight when Garrett takes a shower. Can you make sure Fred is here?”

Rachel and the others were waiting for Adele when she hurried into Rachel’s family room. Adele kissed Rollie quickly, put one hand on his cheek, and said softly, “How are you, Rollie?”

He shrugged and looked at the floor, his hands in his pockets, unable or unwilling to put into words the misery he must have felt. Adele put her fingertips under his chin and lifted his face, then gave him a weak smile. She sighed and turned to Rachel. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I don’t think Garrett did, either. I made him sleep on the couch.” She bit her lower lip and seemed to realize she might’ve said too much, then she shook her head and turned to Jamie. “So...what can I do? I don’t want to move. Can you fix it so nobody will buy our house, at least for now?”

“No, but I think Fred can.”

Fred stood up from the couch and said, “It’s called a repulsion charm. It’s not hard, and I have all the ingredients. I need to put the hex into something that you can put in front of your house, like a lawn ornament. It’ll make anybody who gets near it feel like that can’t bear to get closer, almost sick to their stomach. They won’t come inside your house for anything.”

Adele put one finger to her lip and furrowed her brow. “We don’t have any lawn ornaments, and Garrett would notice if we put one out there. How about something we already have?”

“How about your brass door knocker?” Carl said. “Is it hard to remove?”

“I think it only has four screws. Would that work, Fred?”

“I think so, if we can get it off your door, take it to my house, and put the hex in it without your husband noticing.”

“You’ll have to do it when he’s at work.”

“We can come home from school during lunch, Jamie. That should give us enough time. But I also have to make the counter charm for you and your husband, Mrs. Wilkins. Otherwise, you won’t be able to go in your house, either.”

“What’s a counter charm?”

“In this case, it’s a powder you eat that’ll make you immune to the magic of the hex. You’ll have to take it every day, though. Maybe you can slip it into your husband’s food.”

Adele’s face grew hard. “Right now, I’d like to slip him something stronger.” Then she looked away and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s okay, Adele,” Rachel said, putting one hand lightly on her shoulder. “But don’t worry. Fred and Jamie will take care of it. We’re not going to let Garrett move you away.”

Adele looked back and forth from Fred to Jamie. “How do know all this stuff about magic? I mean, we’ve lived right across the street for years, and we had no clue.” She turned to Rollie. “You knew?”

“Yes ma’am,” he mumbled toward the floor. “Since I was eight.”

“Oh, my.”

Adele glanced around the room, into every face that she was so familiar with, faces that must have suddenly seemed so foreign to her, until Rachel said, “Adele, we feel bad that we had to hide this from you, but I’m sure you can understand why. You really shouldn’t worry, though, because our kids are
good
kids, really good kids, not Satan worshippers or anything like that.”

Carl stood and straightened his shirt. “We’ll tell you all about it when we get the chance.”

Adele glanced at her watch. “But not now. I have to hurry home before Garrett gets out of the shower.” She looked at Rollie. “I love you, baby.” And she rushed out of the house.

* * *

It was nearly noon when Jamie pulled his Buick into Fred’s driveway.

“We need to hurry,” she said as she opened the car door. “Do you need a screwdriver for the door knocker?”

“I’ll use this.” He wiggled his fingers.

“Oh, magic. Well, I have to get the water boiling for the hex.”

“Wait, I just thought of something. What about the counter charm? How are Rollie’s parents going to get in their house? Shouldn’t we wait to make the hex until after they take the powder?”

“I thought of that already. I made a batch last night and put it in their mailbox. My mom texted Mrs. Wilkins and told her to put some in Mr. Wilkins’ coffee this morning.”

“Okay. I’ll be back in two minutes.” Jamie looked anxiously around as he hurried across the neighbor’s lawn to Rollie’s house, which was two doors down, and he bounded up the front steps.
Good
, he thought.
Nobody’s watching
. Mrs. Wilkins had been correct about the knocker having four screws. He eyed the brass hardware on the door and rubbed his chin for a moment, then formed one hand into a claw and held it close to the knocker, focusing his will on the screws.

Each one backed itself out of its hole, one at a time, like short metal worms popping out of the ground. He held his other hand beneath them and they dropped safely into his palm, but as the last one came free, the knocker suddenly fell. He reached for it but missed, and it bounced off his foot. “Ow!” He stood on one leg and rubbed his injured toes.
That was dumb
.

When the pain had subsided enough to walk, he picked up the undamaged knocker, slipped the screws into his pocket, and limped back to Fred’s house, where he found her in the kitchen, standing near the stove. A pot of boiling water bubbled away on one burner, and a few opened jars and plastic zip-top bags were on the counter beside a mortar and pestle.

“Drop the knocker in here.” Fred pointed at the pot.

“How are we going to handle the knocker after it has the hex in it? Aren’t we going to be repelled by it, too?”

“I took some of the counter charm already. Yours is right there.” She gestured at a slip of paper by the sink that had a teaspoon-sized pile of grayish-white powder on it.

“How do I take it? Does it taste bad?”

“Don’t be such a baby, Jamie. Just pour it on your tongue and swallow it. It hardly has any taste at all. You can wash it down with some water, if you want.” She handed him the powder and she sang, “
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, medicine —”

“Real funny, Fred.” He poured the counter charm in his mouth, then accepted the glass of water that she handed him and took a big gulp, swallowing the magic powder with it.

He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and shrugged. “Didn’t taste anything.”

“Good. You’re not supposed to. Mrs. Wilkins wouldn’t be able to sneak it into Mr. Wilkin’s food otherwise.”

He eased the knocker into the boiling water. “Now what?”

“Now I drop this other powder in there with it and infuse it with my magic.” She poured the contents of the green ceramic mortar into the steaming pot and reached for Jamie with one hand. “Take hold of me. I want us to link up when I do this.”

“Why?”

“I want to make sure it’s strong enough. If we combine our magic, I’m sure it will be.”

“Uh, Fred, don’t you think that’s overkill? If you make the hex too strong, Rollie’s neighbors might feel it, too. They might not be able to get near their own houses.”

Fred wrinkled her brow and stared at the pot. “Good point. I think I’m strong enough on my own, anyway. I just want to make sure this works.” She took a deep breath and said, “Here goes.” She held her hands over the stove and closed her eyes. Jamie stared at the brass knocker in the boiling water and it began to glow, faintly at first, then it flared a brilliant reddish-white and faded.

“Cool,” Jamie muttered.

Fred opened her eyes and said, “I think that ought to do it. Can you cool it off?”

“We don’t need magic for that.” He grabbed the pot, took it to the sink, and poured out the steaming liquid. Then he turned on the cold water and refilled it. After about a minute, he tested the knocker with one finger. “It’s cool enough. I’ll take it back to Rollie’s house and we can head back to school.”