Doorways to Infinity (8 page)

“Military? Why would the military be saying something that’s important to Sammi? You know she wouldn’t hear it, otherwise.”

“Who said it was someone in the military?” Bryce said, sitting on a chair beside the couch. “Maybe it had something to do with that other conversation Sammi overheard, the one in the foreign language.” He poked Rollie, who was standing next to him. “Did your roommate get his father to translate it, yet?”

“I dunno.” Rollie pulled his phone from the back pocket of his pants and tapped the screen. “It chimed a few minutes ago, but I haven’t checked to see who texted me.” He swiped it with his finger a couple of times and nodded. “Here we go. Rad says that his father understood the first part of it and the last, because they’re speaking Russian, but the middle part is in Romanian, which he doesn’t know.”

“What’s the Russian part say?” Larry asked.

Rollie squinted at the screen. “It says…
Have you made the new potions yet?
Then it switches to Romanian for a little bit, then it switches back to Russian and says,
Hurry up. I have an assignment for this weekend
.”

“Whoa.” Jamie said. “Sammi overheard a Russian guy talking about magic. Weird.”

Melanie sat forward on the edge of the couch. “Just because they’re speaking Russian doesn’t mean they’re in Russia. They could be anywhere.”

Carl frowned. “I wish your friend Rad hadn’t sent the message by cell phone.”

“How else was he going to give it to us?” Jamie said. “I don’t know where he lives, and even if I did, I’d have to figure out a secret place to make a doorway. That would take too long.”

“Still, I think from now on all of us should be extra careful about what we say over the phone or online, or anything that can be intercepted. You know the NSA is scouring cell phone calls and texts and email now.”

“The NSA?” It was Garrett’s turn to frown. “You really think they might be part of what’s going on?”

Rachel’s brow fell and her voice rose, alarmed. “We can’t have the NSA investigating us, Carl. We just can’t!”

He gestured gently with one hand. “Calm down. I didn’t say they were doing that. I just said we need to be careful about how we use electronic communications, because anything can be hacked now.”

“What’s the NSA, Mr. Sikes?” Sammi asked.

“The National Security Agency. They’ve been around for decades, but their budget got raised dramatically after the attack on the World Trade Center. They do surveillance on a massive scale now, and supposedly it has helped thwart some recent terrorist plots.”

“We’re not terrorists,” Lisa said.

Carl closed his eyes and exhaled slowly through his nose. “I didn’t say we were, and I didn’t say that the NSA is spying on us. I wish I hadn’t brought that up.”

“Hmm.” Jamie rubbed the side of his neck with one hand. “I’m having a hard time figuring out how the two conversations Sammi heard are related.”

“Maybe they’re not.” Fred turned to Sammi. “Why don’t you stop using your block for a while, since school’s out all next week?” Then she pursed her lips. “But there’s a huge time difference between here and Russia, if that’s where they are. It might be dark over there while you’re awake, and you won’t overhear anything. What time did you hear the Russian guy?”

“In the morning.”

“That doesn’t tell us much,” Jamie said. “They could be anywhere. They could’ve been talking in a shadow from artificial light.”

Carl crossed his arms again and said, “Sammi, if you overhear anything with your magic, tell us right away. Until then, let’s all try to be careful, especially with cell phones and Facebook and stuff.”

“We will,” Jamie said. “And if it’s really serious, we can always go to my stone house in Rivershire to talk. Nobody can eavesdrop on us there.”

“Unless they have a Shadow Witch,” Fred said and patted Sammi on the head.

Sammi beamed proudly. “And there aren’t very many of us around. Momma Sue said so.”

“Right,” Jamie said. “You’re our secret weapon.”

Chapter 4

The weather was gray and turning colder on Tuesday afternoon when Jamie went across the street to Fred’s house. He was going to take Sammi downtown to meet Fred after she got off work, and together they were going to Mike’s on Main Street for milkshakes. Sammi wanted to go a little early so that she could look for something in the nearby shops for her parents’ Christmas present.

Nova, who had arrived at Fred’s on Sunday, answered the door when Jamie knocked, and she let him in. He looked around the room and said, “Where is everybody?”

“Working,” she said. “It’s just me and Sammi here.”

“You coming with us?”

“Rollie and I are going to catch a movie matinee.”

“Do you need Sammi to chaperone you?” he said with a wink.

“Uh…no. We were waiting for you to show up so Sammi wouldn’t be home alone. Can you take it from here?”

“Where is she?”

“Downstairs, watching cartoons on the big TV.” She turned and cupped her hands to her mouth. “Sammi! Jamie’s here. I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” came a muffled reply, then the rapid patter of footsteps coming up the carpeted steps. She streaked to Nova and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Come with us, Nova. Please?”

“I’d like to, but me and Rollie need some time alone.”

“But you’ll be at the theater with lots of other people.”

“I know, but we want…what I mean is….” She let out a frustrated-sounding sigh. “I can’t explain it yet, but you’ll understand when you get older.”

Sammi wrinkled her nose and released Nova. “Okay, but you’d better sleep in my room again tonight.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll see you later, okay?” She waved goodbye and let herself out the door.

“Are you ready to go?” Jamie asked Sammi.

“I gotta get my purse.”

She turned and raced to the stairs, and as she ran up to her bedroom, Jamie called after her, “You’re only seven years old. What do you need a purse for?”

“Stuff.”

She returned a minute later with a shiny pink pocketbook on one arm. Jamie eyed it before he opened the front door. “You don’t have makeup in there, I hope.”

“No. I have all my money, and Chapstick, and some gum, and a little jar of healing jelly that Fred gave me, and a picture of Leora.”

They stepped outside onto the stoop and Jamie waited while she locked the dead bolt with her key. Then they walked down the brick steps toward Jamie’s house, where his blue Chevy sat in the driveway. He said, “How did you get a picture of Leora?”

“Mrs. Wallace brought her camera and took pictures of all the kids at the Rivershire School, and then she had them printed. She made an extra one for me.”

“Do you write to Leora much?”

“Every day, even if it’s just a little note, and I put it through the little magic portal that you made to the Rivershire School. I write to my other friends there, too, like Milly and Aiven.”

“That’s history’s first interplanetary correspondence. Do you realize that?”

“Is that important?”

Jamie shrugged. “Do you miss that school?”

“Unh hunh. It’s really nice. I like my new school, too, but the Rivershire School is special.”

They walked to his driveway and he stopped beside his car with his keys in his hand. “Have you heard anything important with your power lately?”

“Not really. I heard some lady say
When do you want to get lunch?
And a man said
Now is good
. That’s all I heard.”

“Not very exciting stuff. I don’t see how it could be important.” He grabbed the handle of the car door and paused again. “Did you recognize the voices?”

“The man was the one who said
Follow red target
.”

He stared at the driveway for a moment and wrinkled his brow. “I don’t know if there’s a connection, but I guess we should tell everybody anyway, especially my dad.”

“But remember, not with your phone!” Sammi said and slid into the passenger seat.

Jamie found a parking space at the end of Main Street, and he and Sammi walked up the sidewalk to where the stores were, including the one where Fred and Bryce worked whenever they could. Thanksgiving week was a busy one for shopping, and people were everywhere, bustling to and fro.

“Where do you want go, Sammi?” They were passing Mast General Store, and he gestured at it. “How about in there?”

“No.” She strode forward, eyes straight ahead. “I want to go to the shop that Uncle Charlie’s daughter owns.”

Jamie had to increase his pace to keep up with the determined little girl. “Why there? Have you been in it before?”

“Nope.”

“Then why?”

“’Cause that’s where Mommy and Daddy’s present is, that’s why.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I just do.”

“Too vague, Sammi. I’m not letting you get away with that kind of answer anymore.”

She pinched up her mouth before answering. “Because I hear Uncle Charlie talking to his daughter sometimes. Not very much, and it’s always about little stuff. She nags him a lot, seems like. But I have a feeling that I should go to her shop right now.”

“But no rational reason?”

“Do I have to have one?”

“I guess not. I’ve never been in it before, either.” He pointed at the intersection they were approaching. “Her store is around this corner, I think.”

They turned, and the first shop on their right had a white sign out front that said
Native Treasures
, painted in flowing green script. Jamie held the door open for Sammi and they went inside.

It was a rectangular room, and it had a pleasant smell of sandalwood, leather, and scented candles. On the nearest wall were racks full of clothes: buckskin coats, hats and moccasins, colorful skirts and dresses, soft cotton blouses, and denim shirts with designs stitched onto them. Opposite them were shelves covered with gift cards and knick-knacks, pottery, and books. More shelves in the middle of the room held other Native American goods, and the walls had framed artwork, depicting images of Cherokee and other native people in various scenes.

A woman’s voice came from the counter on their right. “Do you need some help?” She appeared to be about forty years old, with long, dark hair held back with a carved wooden clip. She wore a white blouse, loose and comfortable-looking, and blue jeans. She had high cheekbones like Uncle Charlie, but with a less pronounced nose, and dark eyes, intense but friendly.

“We’re looking for something for her parents,” Jamie said. “For Christmas.”

“Well, take your time.” She pointed at a shelf near the back corner of the room. “We have some affordable wood carvings over there. I don’t know how much you want to spend, but they’re a great value.” Sammi walked in that direction while Jamie went to the counter to talk to the woman.

“Did your father make those?” he said.

“Why, yes. Some of them. Some of his walking sticks and canes are back there, too. Do you know him?”

“I’m Jamie Sikes. He carved a stick for me back in the summer.”

“Oh! Jamie the Magic Man.” A wide smile broke across her face. “He talks about you often.” She extended her hand across the glass counter top and smiled as he shook it. “I’m Annie.”

Jamie looked around quickly and said, “Is there anyone else here?”

“No. We can talk freely.”

“Good. I have to be careful about that.”

“I know. My father mentioned it. Tell me, can you really do magic? I mean, the real thing, not just tricks?”

“Oh, uh, sure. Watch.” He glanced at the front door again to make sure no one else was coming in, then clenched his fist and made it glow brilliantly. “How about that?”

“That looks like a night club trick.”

“Gee, everybody’s a critic.” He ended the spell and considered what to do next. “This is pretty cool. It’s called translocating.” He looked over his shoulder to find an open area in the back of the room, then he vanished, reappearing there an instant later. “Ta da!” he said and bowed.

Annie clapped. “Oh yes! That was impressive.”

He gestured with one hand and translocated back to the counter. “That’s not something I want strangers to see. That could be a problem.” Then he creased his brow. “You know, I probably should’ve gotten you to take the oath before I showed you that. And come to think of it, I’ve never gotten your father to do it.”

“Is it the magic oath that binds people to secrecy?”

“It keeps people from telling anybody that I’m a sorcerer.”

“Do you really think that my father and I need to do it? He doesn’t talk about this with anyone else, I’m certain.”

“He doesn’t, Jamie,” Sammi said from the back of the store. “I heard him say so once, when he was talking to her.”

Jamie spun on his heel to face her. “Are you eavesdropping right now?”

“No, just listening.”

He turned back to Annie and scratched his chin with one finger while he considered what to do. Something told him that he could trust her, just as he trusted Uncle Charlie, and that it would be insulting to insist that she do the oath.
We make everybody else do it, though
. But his gut told him not to worry. His secret would be safe.
Oh well, Uncle Charlie said I should trust my instincts
. “I guess you don’t have to.”

A slight smile pulled at the corners of her mouth, then she said, “I heard that you’re not the only one with magic. You have a few witches in your group of friends, don’t you?”

“I’m a witch,” Sammi said from the back of the room, where she was inspecting a scented candle.

“That’s how she heard your father talking,” Jamie said. “From miles away.”

“Really?” Annie said. “She can do that? That’s incredible. But…she’s so young.”

“She’s a special, rare kind of witch who can hear people talking in shadows, even on other worlds, but she can’t really do spells yet. Apparently, a witch has to be in her teens before she’s old enough to activate the potions that they make. I don’t really understand it, though. I mostly know about wizards.” He quickly explained further about Sammi, Fred, and Nova, and their unique powers, then a little about himself and Rollie.

“So much magic around here,” she said when he finished, “and I never knew until recently.”

“I hope nobody else does.”