The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (11 page)

* * *

Jamie sat with Fred and Bryce during the playoff game that night against Tuscola High, but Rollie’s parents were not in the stands. There was little to cheer about because North Henderson was losing the entire game, and early in the first half, their starting guard limped to the sideline, grimacing and favoring his left ankle.

“Hey, look,” Bryce pointed. “A.J.’s coming out. Maybe Rollie will get to play.”

But when the coach turned to Rollie, sitting on the end of the bench, he only shook his head and dropped his chin to his chest, his elbows resting on his knees, and stared at the floor.

“Huh? Why isn’t he going in?”

“He told me this morning that he wasn’t going to play,” Jamie said. “He was going to tell the coach that he strained his hamstring.”

“Why?”

“Because he can’t control his you-know-what.” Jamie wiggled his fingers and glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “He knows it’s wrong. It’s cheating.”

“But we’re losing.” Bryce gestured at the scoreboard.

“He can’t help it Bryce,” Fred said. “Wrong is wrong. I don’t like it that he’s not playing, either.”

Bryce looked at Jamie and Fred, his eyes narrowed and his mouth slightly open, as if he had something to say but couldn’t quite put it into words.

“It’s part of the deal,” Jamie said. “It’s what we have to put up with when we can do the things we do...with our special talents.”

Fred put one hand on Bryce’s shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s just a game.”

“But....” A defeated look spread across his face.

“Rollie’s conscience is more important, Bryce. Try to remember that.”

* * *

Carl paused outside the door to their guest bedroom later that night and knocked. “Come in,” he heard Rollie say.

Carl found him sitting on the edge of the bed wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, the only light coming from the small bedside lamp.

Carl took a deep breath and held it as he regarded the forlorn-looking boy, sitting with his hands on his knees and staring at nothing. “I heard about the game. Sorry you guys lost.”

“They were a better team. They beat us during the regular season, too.”

“Do you think you could’ve won if you’d played?”

“Maybe.” He glanced at Carl and looked back at the floor. “I like to think so, but...who knows? We lost by fifteen.”

“I know it was hard doing what you did tonight, but I think it was the right thing. It wouldn’t have been fair if you’d played.”

“I know.” Rollie scrubbed his face with both hands and sighed. “Doing the right thing sure does stink sometimes.”

“Yes, but to me, it’s worse to do the wrong thing and have to live with it for the rest of your life. You can’t go back and do it over.”

“Even Jamie can’t do that.”

“There are a lot of things he can’t do. And he has to struggle with his power, too, every single day. There are so many things he could do easier if he used his magic, but he doesn’t most of the time, because he knows it’s wrong.” Carl lifted a stack of cardboard shoe boxes from the only chair in the room, moved it closer to the bed and sat down. “Think about it. If Jamie used his magic when he ran track, he could win every race, every time. Every event, even.”

“He’s not much of a sprinter.”

“No, but he doesn’t need to be, because he can fly. He could pretend to be running, but give himself a boost with his power, and he could win easily. He could hold the world record in
everything
if he wanted. But he doesn’t use magic. He does it the hard way.”

“But I can’t even do that, because I can’t control my power. I can’t seem to hold back.”

“Jamie’s had a lot more time to get used to his magic. Yours kinda came on at an inconvenient time.”

“Wish it had never happened at all...or at least waited a few weeks, or months...or years.”

“Life is funny that way. It never asks what’s convenient for us. It just kinda throws things at us and expects us to deal with it. And...how we deal with it helps define our character.” He reached over and patted Rollie on the knee. “You’re a good person, Rollie. You made the right choice.”

“Thanks.” Rollie exhaled slowly with his cheeks puffed out and his eyes sad. “I guess I can kiss my chances of getting a scholarship goodbye.”

“Are you sure?”

“I doubt that my coach will help me now. He’s pretty ticked at me for not playing tonight. But I don’t know if I even want to play in college now.”

“Why?”

“Well...without the magic, I’m just an okay player. Pretty quick, decent outside shot, but I’m too short.” He shrugged. “Maybe I just wasn’t meant to be a college athlete.”

“Your dad didn’t play college ball.”

“I know. I think that’s why he was so excited about my chances of playing.”

“We like to live vicariously through our sons. We can’t help it.” When Rollie didn’t respond, Carl said, “I wanted to play college football when I was your age. That’s all I ever talked about.” One side of his mouth turned up slightly. “I was a pretty good linebacker, for high school. Problem was, I wasn’t big enough to play college linebacker, I only weighed about one-ninety, tops, and I wasn’t fast enough to play safety. So I had to let that dream go, just like a lot of other guys did.”

Carl leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, ankle over knee. “But I’m glad, now. By the time I got to college, I already knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a lawman.”

“But I don’t have any idea what I want to do, or if I can even afford to go to college, now that a basketball scholarship is out of reach.”

“Rollie, you know Rachel and I have that money that we got from Eddan. We have enough to help you go to college.”

“My dad would never go for that. He’s too proud.”

Carl almost said,
Well, your dad isn’t here right now, is he?
but he thought better of it. He looked at Rollie, trying to think of what to say to make him feel better, the perfect Andy-Griffith-Talks-to-Opie speech, but the words wouldn’t come. He finally stood and pushed the chair back against the wall. “You’re going to go to college, Rollie. I’m not sure how, but you’re going.” Carl left and closed the door behind him.

Chapter 10

Fred set one of Rita and Cassandra’s spell books and a Diet Coke in front of Melanie and took a seat across from her at the kitchen table, opening a book of her own. “I appreciate you helping me with this, Melanie. How long can you stay?”

“Until about five-thirty, then I have to run up to Lanny’s and put in a job application, before they get busy.”

“I hope you get the job. Are you glad cheerleading’s over?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “You have no idea. I am never going to shake another pompom again in my life,
ever
.”

“It’s too bad we lost last night, though. It’s kind of a letdown.”

“I feel bad for Rollie. He could have been the hero, maybe.”

“He feels terrible, just...awful. He hardly said two words on the way to school today.”

“I hope his parents don’t move away. That would be terrible! To move and leave your son behind?”

“They have to sell their house first, and that’s not going to happen with that hex I put on it. I checked it this morning.” She pinched up her face and stuck out her tongue. “Talk about nasty! Jamie and I tried to walk up Rollie’s driveway before we left for school, and we didn’t go three steps before I felt like gagging. Bleah!”

Melanie giggled at Fred’s theatrics and said, “Are you sure Rollie’s parents aren’t affected?”

“They slept there last night.”

“Do you think you might’ve overdone it a little?”

“The spell is always stronger at first, then it levels off. Hopefully, when most people approach that house, they’ll just get a bad feeling about it.”

“What does Rollie think about it?”

“He’s a little relieved. At least he knows his parents aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so that gives us some time to figure out what to do about the demon.”

“It’s just one problem after another, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and if we can find a solution to the demon today, that’ll be one less.”

Melanie opened the book in front of her and turned a few pages. “This one’s got a lot of notes written in the margins.”

“Probably not by Rita or Cassandra. They weren’t that diligent.”

“Here’s a good one.” Melanie tapped a page with one finger. “It’s called ‘A Spell for the Banishment of Bats.’ Is that a common problem for witches?”

“If they live in creepy old houses, maybe. I found one the other day for removing warts from your...private parts.”

“Eww!” Melanie wrinkled her nose. “That’s gross.”

“Cassandra might’ve found that one useful. Who knows what diseases she caught from her dirtball boyfriends?”

They flipped through pages silently for a few minutes until Melanie said, “Fred, are all of these real spells? They’re not bogus like the one you got off the Internet that time?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re all the real deal.”

“How can you tell?”

“I’m not sure.” Fred sat back in her chair and stared out of the kitchen window. “It’s like...it’s like I just know. Like I have a sixth sense about it now. Maybe it’s from experience.” She shrugged. “Ever since I got rescued from Rita and Cassandra’s house, I seem to be able to look at a spell in a book and tell right away if it’ll work or not.”

“You learned a lot from those witches, didn’t you?”

“I hate to say it, but, yeah, I did. I hated their guts, and I hated being chained to a bed, but those two weeks I was a prisoner down there was like a boot camp for witches.” She laughed softly in spite of the ugly memory of her captivity. “I was doing magic all day long almost every day. Those two women might’ve been horrible, but they knew a lot about witchin’, especially Rita.”

“Do you think they got what they deserved? Getting banished to that other world?”

“No. I think Jamie should’ve blasted them into piles of slag.”

Melanie laughed. “Jamie would never do something like that.”

“He’s too nice.” Fred sighed and turned her attention back to the book before her. “But that’s enough of that. We need to find something about demons in one of these, and soon.”

“It should be titled ‘A Spell for the Banishment of Demons.’”

“There’s got to be one in here somewhere.”

“Fred?” Melanie’s face grew serious. “What if there’s not?”

“I don’t know. We’re going to be in big trouble, I guess. But there are at least a dozen books left to go through.” Fred closed her eyes and rubbed them with the fingertips of one hand. “That’s
so
much work.”

“I can help. Bryce and I can come over Friday night and we can do it together. Won’t that be fun?” Melanie smiled and showed her dimples.

“Yeah, a blast.” Fred shook her head, her loose red curls swishing softly. “You know, most teenagers would be out at the movies or at a pizza place or something.”

“It’s okay, Fred, I like to help. I feel like...since I found out about the magic and everything, that I have a certain responsibility now. To help, I guess.”

“Are you sorry we brought you into this? It’s my fault, you know. I badgered Jamie to tell you about the magic.”

“No, no. I’m glad. It’s more exciting than anything I could have imagined.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it. But if you ever change your mind, I can use the Forget Spell on you. I know it’s in one of these books somewhere.”

Melanie shook her head firmly. “I’m glad I know about the magic, now. I wouldn’t go back to the way things were for anything.”

* * *

Carl waited until Rollie had gone upstairs and Rachel was in the bathroom before talking to Jamie on Thursday night. “Don’t tell your mom, but another hiker was killed on the trail. My buddy Hank told me that they found the remains yesterday.”

“Oh, great.” Jamie looked away and took a deep breath. “Where?”

“About twenty miles south of where we saw the bashed-up bear trap, near the river.”

“Do they still think it’s the bear?”

“They think it might a different one, because it’s so far from the other attacks. Bears sometimes range that far, but not usually.”

“That demon could easily have travelled that far. He was moving south when I saw him, and he looked pretty fast.”

“I hope you find a solution to this demon soon.”

“Me too, Dad. We’re working on it.”

Chapter 11

Jamie and his friends were in his family room, sifting through Fred’s spell books for any useful information on demons. An empty bowl of popcorn sat on the coffee table beside a few opened cans of soda, and the television was off.

Jamie slouched in the recliner, while Fred, Melanie, and Bryce spread across the sofa. Rollie sat in the wing chair, his legs stretched out so far that he was nearly horizontal.

“Here’s a good one,” Bryce said. “A spell for protection from head lice.”

“It’s a type of ward,” Fred said, barely glancing up from the large volume she held in her lap. “There are a lot of those kinds of spells in these books.”

“I just saw one for getting the smell out of old shoes,” Melanie said. “I’m finding the strangest stuff.”

Jamie closed his book and stared at the ceiling. “But nothing about demons. At least, so far.”

Rollie suddenly stood up and rolled his head around as if he were trying to get rid of a kink. “I’m done. I’m going to bed.”

“But it’s only ten o’clock, dude,” Bryce said. “And it’s Friday.”

“I’m tired. Long day.”

As he walked away, Jamie said, “I can give you a ride tomorrow, ’cause I’m working with you. Same shift.”

“Great. I won’t have to ride my bike.” Rollie waved over his shoulder without looking back and walked up the stairs. Jamie could hear Rollie’s heavy footsteps grow fainter as he neared the top.

“What’s with him?” Bryce asked. “Why didn’t he invite Tanisha over?”

“They’re not getting along right now,” Fred said. “They’re having issues. Plus, we couldn’t look through these books if she were here.”

“Does she know?”

“Not about the magic,” Melanie said. “Just that his dad kicked him out of the house.”

“So? What’s wrong with that?” Bryce’s eyebrows pinched together. “I can probably name at least five kids at school who aren’t living with their parents.” He turned to Jamie. “In fact, that’s not such a bad idea. Is it okay if I move in here after Rollie moves back home?”