The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (38 page)

Jamie found his friends inside, reading in the sitting area. Bryce picked a book up from the bench seat and showed it to Jamie. “It’s this one.” He flipped it open and showed him the page. “It seems to be a catalogue of other magic books. It lists them and gives a brief description of what’s in them. Right here it talks about a book that the author found that was half-burned, like it had been in a fire. It was called ‘Sources of Majik’, and the word magic has a K in it.”

“Must be old.” Jamie nodded. “That’s an archaic spelling.”

“Anyway, this catalog says the burned book lists the names and descriptions of different demons.”

“Great!” Jamie gave one hard clap and looked at the books on the wall by the fireplace. “What stack did you get that one from?”

“The last one on that wall.”

“That’s next to where we found the other one with a reference to demons,” Melanie said. “Maybe Renn organized them somehow.”

“I sure hope so. Maybe we’re finally getting somewhere.”

After an hour of fruitless searching, Rollie put his book down and said, “Jamie, what were you doing in the backyard?”

“Making a swing for Aiven. Where is he?”

“He in the bedroom, buggin’ Mrs. Tully and your grandmother.”

“I need a break. Let’s show him the swing.”

Melanie called Aiven and everyone headed for the backyard, but Jamie paused when he heard a knock on the front door. “Now what?” He looked into the first bedroom, where he saw Mrs. Tully and Evelyn changing the sheets on the bed. “Someone’s at the door, Mrs. Tully. Want me to get it?”

“No no no.” She bustled out.

Jamie shook his head.
When I get back to Hendersonville, I’m going to answer the door myself
.

She opened it, and Jamie caught snatches of a terse conversation before she closed it and turned to him. “It is Mayor Duncan. He is here to see you.”

“What for?”

“He wouldn’t say, but I believe he wants to talk to you about some business.”

“Business?”

“He no doubt has a task for you.”

“What should I tell him?”

“I cannot answer that. But whatever you do, please don’t offer to perform the task free of charge.”

Jamie rubbed his hand across the side of his face. “Will you wait here for a minute? I may need your advice.”

He stepped outside and found the mayor, just as Fred had described him: a stout, overdressed man with an unctuous smile. Behind him was a black-lacquered, four-wheeled carriage, pulled by a single horse. Jamie shook the man’s fleshy, moist hand as they made introductions. “What can I do for you, Mayor?”

“I have a business proposition for you.” He put his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Assuming, of course, that you are capable. You
are
a master sorcerer, are you not?” He arched his eyebrows while he waited for Jamie’s answer.

“I have the memories and power of Eddan the Sorcerer,” Jamie said.

“And you are as powerful as Renn was?”

“Hard to say. I killed him, so I guess I’m powerful enough. Why do you ask?”

“As the official representative of our fair town of Rivershire, I am authorized to seek your talents for a certain task, a project, if you will.”

“Doing what, exactly?”

“Removing some prodigious boulders from the river so that we may improve our water-based transportation, specifically to increase our cargo shipments downriver to Beckshire.” He winked as he nodded. “’Twould mean a considerable boost to our economy.”

Jamie didn’t answer, but held him with a steady gaze. Mayor Duncan cleared his throat again and said, “We are prepared to compensate you, of course.”

“Hold on.” Jamie stepped back inside, where he found Mrs. Tully waiting near the door. “He wants me to do some excavation work on the river, so that they can ship more stuff. What should I tell him?”

“It is entirely up to you, Master Jamie, as to whether or not you choose to do the task, but you must charge him a reasonable price. Do not do it for free, I beg you.”

“But I’d feel bad charging too much. The town could probably use the money for something else.”

“If you are clearing the river, the money is probably coming from Mr. Whelan. He stands to benefit the most from it, as he wants to ship more of his lumber downriver. It is expensive to haul overland.”

“Don’t you think it would benefit the whole town?”

She waited a long, reluctant moment before replying, “Yes.”

“Hmm. Well, he made it seem like the town is paying for it.”

“Regardless, you must charge a fair fee, otherwise he will be here every day, and you will never get any peace.”

“And he probably won’t respect me, either.” Jamie rubbed his chin. “But I have no idea what to charge for it.”

“What would Eddan have charged?”

“Huh. Hadn’t thought of that.” He nodded and pursed his lips. “I’ll go have a look at the boulders and maybe a figure will come to mind.” He held up one finger. “I’ll be right back.”

He stepped outside to find Mayor Duncan polishing the silver handle of his cane on his coat sleeve. “Mayor, where is this spot in the river you want me to take care of?”

“About two miles west of the bridge. Would you like a ride?” He gestured at his fine carriage.

“I’ll meet you there in about a half an hour.”

Jamie walked down the stone steps with Aiven at his side. “Are we gonna fly there, Jamie? I like flying.”

“Yes. I’d rather make a doorway, but I don’t want to attract the attention of any more sorcerers.”

“Like me?” He grinned.

Jamie chuckled. “Yeah. Like you.” He bent his knees and nodded toward his back. “Hop on.”

Aiven climbed up, and they zoomed off, flying the same course they’d taken to the stable the day before. When they neared the river road, they veered north and followed it to the stone bridge. Then Jamie turned west and followed the water.

“Who built the bridge, Jamie,” Aiven said, his arms around Jamie’s neck and his face next to Jamie’s ear.

“Eddan did, many years ago, before he withdrew to his tower.”

“Did he get paid a lot?”

“He did, as I recall.”

Soon the mayor’s carriage came into view, parked by the river where the rough dirt road ended.

“This is the spot, I think.” Jamie descended, settled softly to the ground, and Aiven hopped off. Jamie introduced him to the pompous politician, and the mayor guided them to the water’s edge and used his cane to point out the obstructions that protruded above the surface. “There are five big boulders that have to be removed,” he said. “All of them are right here in this area.”

Jamie pulled at his chin as he surveyed the scene. Four of the massive rocks were about the size of a refrigerator, but one was larger than an SUV. He turned to the mayor. “Where do you want me to put them?”

Mayor Duncan gestured vaguely and said, “Oh, somewhere out of the way, but far enough back so that we can extend the road through here. We’re eventually going to use teams of horses to pull the empty barges back upstream. In fact, we may be talking to you about helping with some of the tree removal when we get ready to build the road.”

Jamie pushed the tip of his tongue hard against his bottom teeth while he regarded the mayor. “Okay. I’ll move the rocks, but I want ten silvers.”

“Ten!” His face pinched as if he’d eaten something sour. “I, um, that seems a trifle excessive.”

“Okay. Get somebody else to do it.” Jamie turned back to Aiven. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” The mayor held up one hand. “Ten silvers it is. Can you do the job now?”

“Sure can.” Jamie turned to Aiven again. “Watch this. This is cool, too.” He extended his arm and pointed his hand at the largest boulder. Then he gestured upward, and the rock lurched, then wrenched free of the river bed with a terrific sucking sound. It rose just above the surface and hovered, water dripping from it, the bottom half dark and covered with green algae. Jamie swung his arm to the left, and the mass of granite obediently followed. With a flick of the wrist, he sent it sailing into the brush, where it fell to the ground with a thunderous
whump
.

“Cool!” Aiven said, a spectacular grin splitting his face.

Jamie turned to the mayor. “Okay so far?”

“Yes. Yes. The others, please.”

Jamie pointed his hand at the next boulder, gestured and sent it flying over by the first. He repeated the process with the rest, and was finished in less than five minutes.

Aiven smiled broadly and clapped his hands. Mayor Duncan seemed pleased, too. He handed the ten silver coins to Jamie and said, “Well done, well done. Perhaps we can use you for another project, if you are available.”

“We’ll see,” Jamie say with a noncommittal shrug. “Come on Aiven, let’s go home.”

Chapter 29

Jamie looked up from his book when he felt Bryce’s foot nudge his shin. “Dude,” Bryce said. “It’s runnin’ time.”

“Melanie and I want to go,” Fred said, sitting in the padded chair. “We want to take the carriage.”

“You might want to get Aiven to drive it,” Jamie said. “Where is he?”

“Playing on the swing,” Melanie said.

“Rollie, you gotta come too,” Fred said.

Rollie glanced over the top of the book he was reading. “Nah. I think I’ll stay here and work.”

“You’ve been at it all day. You need to get out.”

“I feel like we’re on a roll right now.” Rollie waggled the book. “Might find something useful in one of these.”

“If you don’t get some exercise, you’re gonna turn into a fat slug. All you’ve done is sit on your butt and read.”

“You heard the Red Queen, Rollie.” Jamie stood and pulled the book from Rollie’s hands. “Get your running stuff on.”

Fred sat with Melanie and Aiven in the carriage in front of the house while Jamie, Rollie, and Bryce stretched. “Come on,” Fred said. “You guys are taking all day.”

“We don’t want to pull a muscle,” Jamie said.

“Let’s run the same route as yesterday, Jamie,” Bryce said. “That seemed like a good distance, about five miles, I’d say.”

“How about we reverse direction, for variety? That way, we’ll come through town near the end.” Jamie turned to Fred and said, “Let us lead. Then we won’t have to breathe the dust that the carriage kicks up.”

“I’m okay with that. Then we can watch your cute little butts while you run.”

“Fred?” Melanie nodded at Aiven, sitting between them with the reins in his hands, eyes wide, mouth forming a silent
oh
.

Fred felt her face grow warm. “Oops. Sorry, Aiven.”

Jamie and the other boys began jogging away from the house. Aiven clucked at Sugar, and she snorted and pulled the wagon forward.

They trotted slowly down the dirt road, and Fred let out a whoop. Melanie grinned and gathered her long, honey-blonde hair into a ponytail, then patted Aiven on his bony shoulder. “I hope you know how to drive this thing.”

He nodded reassuringly and they rolled on after the boys, who were turning left at the fork not far from the house. “We’ve not been this way,” Melanie said. “This’ll be an adventure.”

“Everything’s an adventure here,” Fred said.

The scenery soon changed to open farmland, nothing but fields on either side of the road, most of them with neat rows of newly sprouted crops. Melanie smiled as she took it all in. “It’s beautiful out here, Fred. It’s so...unspoiled.”

Fred took a deep breath through her nose. The air smelled fresh with the tang of new green plants and recently tilled earth. The sunlight was crystalline in the cloudless sky.

Sugar pulled the cart at an easy trot, matching the boys’ pace as they ran side-by-side a short distance ahead. The ride felt bumpy and jarring to Fred at first, even with the thick pad underneath her, but after a while, she became used to it and relaxed, enjoying the soft breeze on her face and the lush scenery that flowed by.

After running for about twenty minutes, the boys suddenly slowed and stopped in front of an old cabin set just off the road in a copse of oak trees. They put their hands on their hips and caught their breath as Aiven stopped the carriage near them.

“Jamie, what are we doing?” Fred said.

“I recognize this place.” Jamie pointed at the cabin. “I think a witch lives here, or at least she used to. Eddan knew her. I think it’s Mrs. Malley.”

“So why are we stopping?”

“I thought we’d say hello. It might be cool to see somebody that I know, and you could meet another witch.” He headed for the front door and said over his shoulder, “Don’t worry. She’s nice.”

Fred, Melanie, and Aiven climbed out of the carriage and followed the boys up the steps. Fred said, “Aiven, do we need to tie Sugar to something?”

“I told her to stay.”

Jamie knocked on the weathered wooden door, and Fred inspected the cabin while they waited. Heavy cobwebs covered the eaves. Weeds and overgrown shrubs crowded the walls, and one windowpane was missing, covered by a rotting board.

“Who’s there?” came a woman’s voice from within, creaky as an old gate hinge.

Jamie answered, “Jamie the Sorcerer, Fred the Witch, and some friends. Is this the home of Mrs. Malley?”

“What do you want?”

“We were just passing by and we thought we’d stop and say hello.”

The door opened and behind it was bent, frail crone with gray wispy hair and unfocused eyes. She blinked at them and said, “Who did you say you were?”

Jamie made the introductions, and a smile crossed her deeply lined face. “Yes, I’m Bella Malley.” She held the door wide for them. “Come in, come in. I don’t get too many visitors these days.” They trooped inside and she closed the door behind them. The simple room was cluttered and dim, and it took Fred eyes a moment to adjust to the abrupt change from the brilliant sunlight outdoors to the murkiness within.

The old woman gestured at a small round wooden table and said, “Would you like some tea? Though I don’t think I have room for everyone to sit.”

“That’s okay,” Jamie said. “We can’t stay long. We just wanted to say hello.”

“Well, that’s nice. Which one of you is the witch?”

Fred stepped forward. “I am, Mrs. Malley. I’m Fred.” The old woman held her gnarled hands out tentatively, and Fred could tell from the look in her eyes that she was nearly blind. Fred grabbed Mrs. Malley’s hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.