The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (44 page)

Mrs. Tully chuckled, a strange sound from the serious woman. “No.”

Chapter 35

The sun was slipping into the treetops by the time Evelyn and the others made the short walk into town for the festival on Friday afternoon. Mrs. Tully shook a finger at Aiven. “You are to stay near me at all times, do you understand? No running off on your own.”

“Aw, but then I can’t have any fun.”

“You’ll have plenty of fun. You’ll just have it where I can see you.”

Aiven attempted a pout, a rare thing on his usually happy face, but Melanie spoiled it by reaching over and mussing his already-unruly brown hair. “You’re too cute, Aiven, that’s your problem. Somebody might try to snatch you, and where would Mrs. Tully be? Who’s going to look after her then?”

That prospect seemed to play through his mind, and his face grew concerned. “I’ll stay close, Mrs. Tully. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Fred tried to stifle a laugh, but a tiny snort managed to escape. She said, “Mrs. Tully, will all of the other girls wear those long dresses?”

“Of course. Brinna sold out of fabric at her shop. Many a mother was sewing new dresses for their daughters this week.”

“Sounds hard,” Rollie said. “This place needs an outlet mall.”

“As long as they don’t make me go to it,” Bryce added. “I’d rather stick needles under my fingernails than go shopping.”

The closer they got to town, the more people they saw. A wagon carrying a young family passed them, all faces freshly scrubbed and shining, and other people on foot pressed toward the gates.

The stone pillars at the edge of town were festooned with flowers and colorful bunting, and just beyond them were white, cylindrical paper lanterns, strung between the trees. Mrs. Tully pointed to them. “These will be lit at dark. There are hundreds of them.”

Once they passed onto the pavement, the level of excitement seemed to go up twofold. The air hummed with energy, and crowds could be seen moving closer to the center of town, as if being drawn in by a vast magnet.

“I smell something good, Mrs. Tully,” Jamie said. “Are we near the food stalls?”

“On the next block. We can stop and get something to eat if you’d like.”

“I’m always up for a bite to eat,” Rollie said. “Jamie, you got any cash?”

Jamie dug into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. “Gramma’s got some, too, if I run out.” He began doling out the money as they walked, and when Mrs. Tully tried to refuse, he said, “Consider it a bonus, for all the hard work you’ve done this week.” She still seemed hesitant, so he added, “And somebody’s got to hold Aiven’s money for him.”

“But I want to hold my own!” Aiven pouted.

Mrs. Tully accepted the coins and handed Aiven a five piece. His eyes grew wide as he held his unexpected fortune. “I get this? All of it?”

“Don’t spend it all at once,” Mrs. Tully shook her finger at him again. “And don’t go flashing it around. Put it away. You don’t want it to get stolen.”

He immediately shoved it into the pocket of his pants, and his little face became serious.

“Bryce?” Jamie said. “Are you going to buy a souvenir for your parents?”

“’Spose I should, huh? They’ll expect it, though they still think I’m on a religious retreat.”

“There will be many stalls and carts of merchandise,” Mrs. Tully said. “You will find something.”

“Where are we meeting Brinna?” Melanie said.

“She’ll find us, I’m sure.”

They passed the next corner and neared the food carts. Mrs. Tully led them to one that had bins full of smoked meats, and another was beside it, piled high with fruit and pastry. “Boy, that smells good!” Rollie walked ahead to the meat cart and pulled out a coin while the others followed.

They ate quickly after they got their food, standing on the sidewalk in a cluster of gaily dressed locals. When they finished, they headed toward the center of town, passing a street juggler on the way, who was entertaining a group of onlookers. A man, accompanied by his wife, stopped Jamie and pumped his hand with an enthusiastic shake, explaining that he was there when Jamie rescued the horse from the burning barn. “He’s the new sorcerer,” he told his wife, who seemed to accept it as if were an everyday occurrence — the new carpenter, the new shopkeeper,
the new sorcerer
.

Brinna caught up with them on the corner where the rides and activities were. “There you are!” she said. “I’m so glad you could come.”

“I wanna go on a ride,” Aiven said. “Can I?”

“Let’s see what they have,” Jamie said, and they turned onto the side street that was packed with people, booths, and rides. The first they encountered was a giant wooden swing. It consisted of an oversized bench, capable of holding six people at a time, which was attached by long thin poles to an axle high overhead, supported by pairs of tall, thick timbers. The swing was set in motion by two beefy men, each holding a rope that was fastened to a beam at the end of the wooden axle above them. They yanked down on the thick rope in alternating pulls, the muscles on their sweaty, bare chests bulging with the effort.

“That!” Aiven pointed. “Let’s go on that!” Mrs. Tully gave the proprietor a coin, and they joined the line.

Rollie eyed the game concessions. “Think I’ll go check out the booths. Come on, Bryce, there’s a ring toss. Let’s go win something for the girls.” He looked at Jamie. “Coming?”

“Uh...probably shouldn’t. If anybody else recognizes me, they might think I’m using my magic to cheat. I think I’ll go on some of the rides with Aiven.”

Fred, Melanie, and Brinna wanted to go to the stalls at the other end of the street to shop. “Come with us, Mrs. Wallace,” Fred said. “It’ll be fun.”

“I think I’d rather watch Aiven for a while. I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”

The girls walked off into the throng, and soon it was Aiven’s turn on the swing. He and Mrs. Tully climbed into the large bench with four others, and the two burly men wiped the sweat from their faces and grabbed the ropes, ready to pull the wooden machine into motion.

Jamie stepped forward and held up one hand. “Let me do that. You guys look like you could use a break.”

One of them frowned skeptically at Jamie. “You’re not big enough, and it takes two to do this.”

Jamie shrugged. “Watch and see.” He gestured gracefully with one arm and the massive contraption swung forward. The crowd around them gasped, and someone said, “That must be the new sorcerer.”

Evelyn smiled to herself as Jamie continued his gesturing, and the swing squeaked and swayed back and forth in ever-widening arcs like a massive pendulum. Aiven squealed with delight, and Mrs. Tully, who looked frightened at first, settled back and seemed to enjoy it. The crowd around them watched in awe as Jamie kept the ride going for several minutes longer than usual, and those waiting their turn didn’t complain. They seemed to be completely mesmerized by the display of magic.

Jamie finally let the swing slow down on its own, and when it stopped, Aiven bounded from the seat and ran to Jamie’s side. The two men who had been pulling the ropes shook Jamie’s hand while the bystanders clapped.

Evelyn leaned close to Jamie’s ear and said, “Show off.”

He winked at her. “Can’t do stuff like that in Hendersonville.”

“Let’s go on another one!” Aiven dragged Jamie by the hand to the next ride, a simple merry-go-round, powered by a team of horses. “You can give the horses a break, too!”

Evelyn waved at them and said, “I think I’ll go see how the girls are doing,” and she walked through the mass of people to the other end of the street. There she found stalls, carts, and booths crammed into every available space. Vendors were hawking all manner of clothing: boots, pants, shirts, dresses, hats. Open bins on stands were covered with pottery: vases, plates, pitchers, and more. There were pots and pans, jewelry, wood carvings, everything imaginable, and masses of people swarmed about, mostly women and girls, with the occasional reluctant husband dragged along, a hollow look of resignation in his eyes.

Evelyn found the girls at a cart full of jewelry. Fred and Melanie were inspecting some silver necklaces when Evelyn approached. “Any luck?”

“It all looks good, Mrs. Wallace,” Fred said. “But I don’t want to carry this stuff around the rest of the night.”

“Get Jamie to make a quick doorway back to the house and you can drop it off there.”

“We need to get Bryce down here,” Melanie said and pointed to a large, four-wheeled cart. “They’ve got some beautiful ceramic vases that I think his parents would like. We can get Jamie to use his magic to inscribe ‘Rivershire’ on the bottom. They’ll love that.”

“I thought you would’ve bought more stuff by now,” Evelyn said.

“We ran into some of Fred’s fan club,” Melanie said. “A couple of girls who bought the love potions. They’re with their moms, and they just about talked Fred’s ears off.”

“They’re very excited about the dance tonight,” Brinna said, smiling. “Every girl thinks they have an edge now, thanks to Fred.” Her smile faded and she her face turned pensive. “I surely wish John Paul could be here. He would like this, I think.”

Fred leaned close to Evelyn and said in a low voice, “Did you talk to Jamie about doing you-know-what?”

Evelyn nodded. “It’s all settled.”

“Can’t wait to see the look on Brinna’s face.”

Rollie and Bryce joined them after a while, carrying a couple of stuffed toys. Rollie smirked and said, “Different world, same crummy prizes.”

Bryce offered his to Melanie, a pink fuzzy pig, and she gave him a level look and said drily, “Oh...gee. You shouldn’t have.” Then she pulled him to one of the stalls that sold ceramics, and the others waited while she helped him, or made him, Evelyn thought, pick out something for his parents.

Jamie, Mrs. Tully, and Aiven rejoined them right at sunset, and Jamie opened a doorway to the stone house for them to drop off their purchases.

Brinna urged them to move on to the center of town, where the evening’s festivities would continue with the big dance. “You boys will join us, won’t you?” Brinna asked as they navigated through the throng.

“We gotta dance?” Bryce asked, eyebrows drawn low.

Melanie shot him a look loaded with daggers and Rollie said, “Does that answer your question?”

The crowds grew denser as they moved forward, and workmen on ladders were lighting the paper lanterns that were strung overhead. Jamie walked under an unlit row of them and casually flicked his fingers as he passed each white cylinder, and they flared to life, magically. A few people around them began to notice, and watched as he went, pointing and commenting.

“Jamie,” Fred said, “I can tell you’re having a good time.”

He lit another lantern and shrugged. “Just trying to help out.”

The sky was almost completely dark by the time they made it to the square in the center of town, but the paper lanterns were lit and the nearly-full moon was peering over the tops of the trees, bathing the festivities in a cheerful glow.

Fred pointed at the moon, covered with wide swirling bands of pastel blues and pinks. “It really is different, isn’t it? So big and colorful.”

“You can definitely tell we’re on different world,” Bryce said.

They all stared at the disk in the sky until Evelyn shook her head. “But it’s not all that different.”

They paused at the edge of the square and admired the decorations. Multi-colored bunting hung across every storefront, ribbons fluttered from shop signs, and a long concession table sat in one corner, offering drinks and other refreshments. At the far end of the block, a raised platform was set up, and on it were several musicians, arranging their chairs and tuning their instruments. There were two fiddle players, a woman with a wooden flute, a guitarist, and a percussionist. Another held something that resembled an accordion.

“Brinna, when does the music start?” Fred asked.

“Soon. The mayor will make a short speech, first.”

“Which nobody wants to hear,” Mrs. Tully added.

They stood on the sidewalk and watched the musicians prepare. Fred crossed her arms and tapped her foot as she stared at them. “What’s taking so long? They look like they’re ready to go.” She twisted her mouth sideways and narrowed one eye. “Maybe they’ll play a little something for us while we wait.”

She walked away and Jamie called after her, “Fred? What are you doing?” But she didn’t look back. She reached the stage and had a brief conversation with one of the fiddle players, who shrugged and said something to the rest of the group. Fred strode back with a satisfied look on her face.

“They said they’d play something.” She glanced at the lanterns overhead and turned to Jamie. “It’s too dark. Can you brighten it up a little?”

“No problem.” He stepped out to the middle of the street and held out both hands. A white glowing sphere appeared, like one of his personal suns, only larger, the size of a volley ball. Evelyn heard gasps from the crowd as Jamie floated it up near one corner of the square. He gestured again and made another, which he elevated to the other side of the street. Then he looked at Fred. “Satisfied?”

She shook her head. “Couple more ought to do it.”

By now, Jamie had everyone’s attention. The entire crowd watched as he formed two more suns and raised them overhead. The effect was dramatic — the square was awash in bright light. Many people clapped as Jamie bowed and returned to the sidewalk.
Everybody knows who he is now
, Evelyn thought.
The new sorcerer
.

The musicians struck up a lively number, and Fred dashed out in front of the bandstand and began dancing by herself. Evelyn turned to Mrs. Tully and said, “Why are they willing to start playing early? Won’t that make the mayor mad?”

“Better him than her. They know she’s the new witch, I’m sure. Most everyone does.”

“But she would never hurt them.”

“That’s not it. They’re afraid she might not offer them help should they ever need it.”

“Oh,” Evelyn said slowly.

Brinna furrowed her brow as she watched Fred dance. “Those are not the steps to this song.” But after a moment she added, “But she is quite good.”