The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (40 page)

“Can’t help it,” he grumbled. “I’m frustrated as much as anything.” He snapped his book shut and turned to her. “Another hiker is probably dead, and instead of helping to find the solution to the problem, I’m cleaning out sewers. Freakin’ sewers! How stupid is that? Don’t need magic to do that.”

“But now they won’t have flooding on that street next time it rains.”

“Still, anybody could’ve fixed it. I’m wasting my valuable time doing stupid, silly stuff.” He blew out a hard gust of air. “Now I know why Eddan holed up in his tower. He got tired of people bothering him to do stupid things like that, things they probably should’ve been able to do themselves, but were too lazy...or dumb.”

“Maybe they weren’t dumb,” Melanie said. “Maybe they just didn’t know how. Not everybody can build a bridge or a tunnel, you know.”

“Doesn’t take a scholar to clean out a sewer. Even those boulders in the river...should’ve been able to remove without magic.”

“The ancient Romans could’ve done it,” Rollie said. “I saw a documentary on them. They were impressive engineers. They could do just about anything once they set their minds to it.”

Fred furrowed her brow. “Since when did you watch a documentary?”

Rollie shrugged. “There was nothing else on.”

“Jamie?” Melanie said. “I think I’m beginning to understand how Eddan must’ve felt, and how you feel now. After what has happened the last couple of days with the mayor, I would get mad, too.”

“Yeah,” Jamie sighed, “though Eddan should’ve done something about the plague. There’s no excuse for that.” He suddenly rounded on Fred. “Why didn’t you tell me that Renn made the sewers?”

“Because I didn’t want to upset you. I know how you feel about the plague and all.”

Rollie sat forward in his seat and jabbed one finger at Jamie. “You still feel guilty about it, even though you had nothing to do with it.”

Jamie scowled and stared at his knees. “You don’t know what it’s like.”

“Maybe not, but I know when my best friend is being stupid.” Rollie sat back and crossed his arms.

“Still, it bothers me that Renn did something about it and Eddan didn’t. How can that be? Renn was a serial killer.”

Fred gently pushed some of Jamie’s blond curls behind his ear with her fingers. “He wasn’t all bad. You’ve heard Mrs. Tully talk about how good he was to his adoptive mother.”

“But that makes me think that if Renn could do nice things for these people, I should too.”

“It’s not your job, Jamie,” Bryce said firmly. “Your job is to help figure out what to do about a certain demon. If you have time for the other stuff, fine, but you need to stay focused.”

“Except when you help little old witches get their eyesight back,” Melanie said. “And make swings for bored little boys.”

“And buy horses for housekeepers who work too hard and still walk two miles home every night in the dark.”

Jamie spread his hands and looked at his friends. “See? When do I say no?”

Nobody had an answer for him.

Chapter 31

Fred was picking out a book from one the stacks when she heard the knock on the door. She looked toward the kitchen and said, “Is Mrs. Tully going to get that?”

Evelyn hurried into the main room, drying her hands on a small towel as she went. “She’s out back, washing some sheets. I’ll get it.”

Rollie shook his head and said, “We get more visitors here than we do in Hendersonville.”

Evelyn opened the door, and after a brief conversation, she turned to Fred. “It’s a couple of girls looking for love potions. I think you might want to meet them.”

Fred went to the door and Melanie got up from the bench seat, where she was sitting with Bryce. “I want to see them, too.”

Fred and Melanie went out onto the stoop, and waiting on the top step were two teenage girls, wearing long dresses in the local style. One girl had dark brown hair, held back by a blue ribbon. The other had long red hair.

Curly red hair.

“Oh my gosh!” Melanie put her hand to her mouth and Fred just stared. “She looks just like you, Fred. She could be your twin.”

The two red-haired girls gaped at each other for a long, awkward moment, until Fred collected her wits and held out her hand to her look-alike. “You must be Shira Coy. My name is Fred, and this is Melanie.”

“She
does
have magic,” the dark-haired girl said to Shira in a low voice.

Fred laughed. “I do, but I didn’t read your mind. Somebody already told us about you. I’ve kinda been expecting you.” Fred held out her hand to the other girl, who introduced herself as Keela. “Wait here for a sec. I want my boyfriend to meet you.” Fred opened the door again and called for the boys to come out. Jamie, Bryce, and Rollie joined them on the stoop and Fred introduced everybody. Jamie and Rollie just stared wordlessly at the visitors.

“Wow, Fred,” Bryce said. “She does look like you. Let me get a picture.” He disappeared inside and returned a moment later with his phone. “You two stand together.” He motioned with one hand. “Your parents won’t believe this, Fred.”

“Wait a minute.” Melanie held up one hand. “Let me fix Shira’s hair. I’ll clip it back like Fred’s.”

* * *

Later, after Mrs. Tully, Brinna, and Aiven left for the night, Fred sat down at the laptop and talked with her parents about the photos she’d e-mailed them earlier.

“I’m having a hard time believing this. It’s just amazing how much she looks like you,” Lisa said. “I printed her picture out and compared it to some of yours from a couple of years ago. She really could be your twin, or at least your younger sister.”

“Except for the eyes,” Larry added. “Hers are definitely blue.” He nodded firmly. “What did you say her last name was?”

“Coy. Shira Coy.”

“You sure it’s not
McCoy
?”

“Positive. Why?”

“There are some McCoys in our family tree from Ireland, going way back, just about as far back as I’ve been able to trace.”

“Dad, I doubt
very
seriously that we’re related to her, since she’s from another planet. Melanie thinks it’s a quantum Earth thing, and there may be twins of all of us somewhere on this world. But we did cheat a little. Melanie put some of my makeup on her before we took the last pictures.”

“I bet those girls were awed by the cell phone,” Lisa said. “They’ve probably never seen a photograph of themselves before.”

“They just thought it was more magic. Sometimes it’s easier to explain it that way around here, since they accept that so easily. Real magic is kinda mundane.” Fred put her fingertip on her bottom lip and wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that strange?”

“Makes me wonder what the other quantum Earths are like,” Lisa said.

Fred finished her chat with her parents and got up so that Bryce could have his turn on the laptop. No sooner had he sat down than they heard a frantic knocking on the front door.

“Now what?” Jamie rose from the bench seat. “Gramma,
I’m
going to answer it for a change.”

Fred watched as Jamie opened the door and she heard a man’s voice, panic-stricken and desperate.

“Bring him in, and hurry!” Jamie said.

Everyone in the room stood at once. “What is it, Jamie?” Rollie asked.

“This guy’s little boy can’t breathe.”

A man, dressed in rough work clothes, came inside, carrying a young boy in his arms. A woman followed, her face pale and fearful.

“Put him here.” Evelyn pointed at the bench seat, and the man laid the boy down. The boy wheezed as he struggled for air, his chest heaving and his face nearly white.

“Let me see,” Bryce said. He leaned over the prostrate child. “It’s either an asthma attack or an allergic reaction.” He spoke quickly, his words clipped and urgent. “Has he eaten anything different in the last hour, nuts or something? Or has he been stung?”

“I don’t know,” the woman said, her voice trembling. “He started having trouble about an hour ago.”

“Has he had this problem before?”

“Not like this, and it’s getting worse by the minute.”

“Fred?” Melanie said, “Should I get your box from the cellar?”

“I guess.” Fred felt her pulse racing. “But I don’t know what to do for this.”

“There’s nothing in your spell book for it?”

“Not that I recall. But get it anyway.” She fluttered both hands. “We’ve got to try something!”

Bryce turned to Jamie as Melanie hurried off. “Can you force the air passages in his lungs to stay open? That’ll buy us some time until Fred can find a spell.”

“I can try.” Jamie knelt beside the boy and held his hands over the boy’s chest. Jamie’s face became tight and his eyes narrowed to slits. “I...I can do it, but not forever.”

Melanie returned with the orange plastic bin, and Fred took it from her and pulled out her spell book. “I don’t recall putting anything in here for that. Just spells for minor things.” She flipped through it for a few seconds, then looked up, her eyes darting anxiously from face to face. “I don’t know what to do!”

“You are a witch, are you not?” the man said, his eyes more desperate.

“Yes, but I’m not a healer. You need somebody that knows more about this stuff. You should take him to Mrs. Malley.”

“She is blind and of no help.”

Jamie shook his head. “I fixed her eyes. She can make potions again.”

“It is two miles to her house, at least.” The man’s voice rose in pitch. “My boy won’t make it.”

“I could fly him there, but I can’t keep his air passages open at the same time.”

“He could die, Jamie,” Evelyn said. “Someone needs to go to her and get a potion.”

“I can’t go. I’ve got to keep him alive.”

“Mrs. Tully took the horse,” Melanie said, “so we can’t ride there.”

“I’ll go.” Rollie tapped his chest with his thumb. “I can finally put my super power to use.”

“Can you find her cabin in the dark?” Fred asked.

“There’s plenty of moonlight. No sweat.” He hurried to the door, and as he opened it, he said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” and he left.

The woman’s brow furrowed. “How can he get there and back so quickly?”

“He has magic, too,” Melanie said. “He can run really really fast.”

“Does everyone here have magic?”

“I don’t. Just him and Jamie and Fred.”

“The wizard and the witch?”

Melanie nodded and they turned their full attention to the boy while they waited. He was breathing better with Jamie’s help, but not much. His little face was strained while he concentrated on squeezing everything he could from each pitiful breath. His father stood nearby, clenching and unclenching his fists, and the mother knelt beside the boy and stroked his head, speaking softly to him.

Rollie burst through the door a few minutes later, and held a dark glass jar aloft triumphantly. “Ta da! New world’s record in the Potion’s Run.” He handed it to Fred. “Mrs. Malley said to dump this powder in a pot of boiling water and hold that up to his face so he can breathe the vapor in real good. We should put a towel over his head and the pot.”

Evelyn rushed to the kitchen while Bryce went to the bedroom for a towel. “I’ll heat the water, Gramma,” Jamie said without taking his eyes from the suffering boy. Evelyn returned moments later with the pot of water and offered it to Fred.

“How should we do this, Jamie?” Fred asked.

“Hold on. I need to do this first.” He turned away from the boy, put one glowing hand over the pot, and within seconds, the water began to boil. The boy’s breathing quickly grew worse, and Jamie turned back to him and resumed the spell.

Bryce handed Evelyn the towel, and Fred opened the jar. Rollie held up one hand. “Hold on. Mrs. Malley said to only use about half of it. Save the rest in case it happens again.”

“Good thinking.” Fred dumped some of the powder into the water and the father lifted the boy to a sitting position. Fred held the steaming pot to the boy’s face and Evelyn draped the towel over his head and the pot. “Take some deep breaths.”

They waited anxiously while the boy struggled to inhale, but after a few breaths, he seemed to be straining less, and within minutes, he relaxed and pushed the towel away.

“Are you okay?” his mother asked. He nodded and smiled weakly, then everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Chapter 32

The next morning, Evelyn found Mrs. Tully in the kitchen, watching Aiven from the window. Aiven was swinging merrily away while Sugar grazed nearby.

“He looks happy,” Evelyn said.

Mrs. Tully nearly smiled, eyes still on the boy. “He is a good-natured child.”

“He seems to enjoy playing catch with Rollie and Bryce, too.”

“I fear Aiven will miss them when you leave.”

“It’s too bad he doesn’t have other children to play with.”

“There is nothing to be done about it. There are none close by.”

“How about near your house?”

She turned away from the window with a sigh, and looked at Evelyn. “There are a few, I believe.”

“But he can’t make friends with them if he has to come here every day.”

“He must come with me. He is too young to be left alone.”

“I know, but would it kill you to take a day off now and then so that he could make friends with your neighbors?” Mrs. Tully didn’t answer, so Evelyn continued, “You know, where we come from, most people take two days off every week, usually Saturday and Sunday.”

“Seems indolent,” she said with a distasteful frown.

“I always took the weekend off, and I’ve always considered myself to be a hard worker.”

“You are a most diligent person. I did not mean to insult you.”

“I know, and it’s okay. It’s just...it’s just that you need to think about what’s best for the boy now. And Jamie really wouldn’t mind if you took one or two days off every week.”

“I cannot fulfill my duties as a housekeeper here if I take two days off.”

“Then take one, at least. For Aiven.”

Mrs. Tully took a long, deep breath and seemed to focus on something just beyond Evelyn, but didn’t immediately respond.

Evelyn put one hand on the stern woman’s arm. “What if I get Jamie to insist that you do?”

“Then I would consider it.”