Don't Hex with Texas (18 page)

There was no sign of Owen at breakfast the next morning. I hoped that meant he was sleeping in. I wrote a quick note and slid it under his door before I headed to the store for work. Sherri was already there, which was an “alert the media” kind of event, and she was surprisingly cheerful. “Wow, you’re here!” I said, then immediately realized that probably didn’t sound so nice.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked as she straightened the display of small impulse items around the cash register. “I do work here, don’t I?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, uh, well, with everything you’ve been through, I thought you could have used a break.” I thought that was a pretty good recovery from putting my foot in my mouth.

She rolled her eyes. “If my husband is going to be a good-for-nothing, I’d better be sure one of us pulls in an honest paycheck.”

“I’m glad you’re here. We’d be in a tough spot without you. And, um, it would be safe for you to go home now. We saw to that.”

“I said I’d be gone a few days, and I will be. I’ll go home when I said I would.”

“Okay, then,” I said as I headed to my own office with the beginnings of a grudging respect for Sherri. I never would have thought she had it in her. She might even be able to keep Dean in line in the future.

Owen called me about an hour after I got to the store. “I didn’t mean to sleep so late,” he said with an audible yawn.

“You needed it. How are you feeling now?”

“Almost back to normal.”

“I should be able to get away from here in a couple of hours, so you take it easy until then. I hope Mom’s not fussing over you too much.”

“She is, but I don’t mind. She made an incredible breakfast. She said I looked like I could use a good meal. I guess she forgot all those huge meals she’s made in the past few days.”

“She definitely shows her love by feeding people, so get used to being stuffed while you’re around here. I’ll see you soon.”

About an hour after I talked to him, Nita called. “You are not going to believe the morning I’ve had,” she said. Given her fondness for drama, it was entirely possible that she meant the phone had rung once, so I avoided jumping to conclusions, no matter how worried I was about what one of her guests might do.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’ve been busy. Three people have checked in so far this morning, and I’ve made a couple more reservations. If this pace continues the rest of the day, I may have to see if the ‘no vacancy’ sign still works. We haven’t had this many people check in on the same day since that big family reunion a couple of years ago.”

“I wonder what’s going on,” I said, instantly even more suspicious.

“I think it may be the rest of the band! And maybe some fans. They all look kind of like the same types. It’s a sort of emo group, right?”

I wasn’t sure I even knew what “emo” was. “They’re hard to classify,” I hedged. “Keep me posted, here or at the house. I’m curious. Are any of the guys cute?”

She snorted with laughter. “Not even! I wouldn’t go this low, even as desperate as I am, and even if they are in a band. Of course, none of them are Indian. Maybe they’re here to work on an album in the peace and quiet. That’ll really make the motel famous if the album is big. Oh wait, would you believe, here comes another one. Gotta go. I think I should get a bonus.”

I was sure there were dozens of highly rational reasons why unattractive young men would suddenly flock to this town, but with Phelan Idris, patron saint of unattractive social outcasts, in residence, I was inclined to think there was something going on.

“I’m leaving for the day,” I announced to Sherri as I grabbed my purse and headed out of the office. “I’ve got all the orders and invoices taken care of. Call me at the house if you need anything.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

I was so surprised that she’d picked up on a subtle social clue from someone she wasn’t flirting with that it took me a few seconds to come up with an answer. “Owen wasn’t feeling well last night, so I don’t want to leave him alone with Mom too long.”

“Oh, yes, you should definitely go home, then.” She sounded really and truly sympathetic, which a few days ago I would have considered nothing short of a miracle.

Owen was sitting on the front porch swing, two dogs at his feet, when I got home. “You look a lot better,” I told him as I joined him on the swing.

“I’m feeling better. What are you doing home so early? If you keep this up, they may realize they can function without you.”

“I’m trying to wean them off me so it won’t be too hard to get away again.” I waited for him to say something about me going back to New York with him when this was over, but he didn’t, so I got to the reason I’d come home so quickly. “I don’t know for sure if this is relevant, but Nita said several people have checked in at the motel already this morning and she has a few more reservations. They’re all young men, and she wasn’t impressed by the ones she’s seen so far.”

“I take it this is unusual?”

“She usually checks in maybe a dozen people a week, at the most. I thought it was kind of suspicious that we’re hit with a relative onslaught of the kind of people who are usually drawn to Idris the day after he gets here.”

“You’re right. There probably is something going on.” He took the cell phone from his pocket and made a call. “Sam? Anything to report from last night?” He listened to the response and said, “Can you get back over to the motel and keep an eye on it? We’ve got a few new guests we aren’t sure of. Thanks.”

He closed the phone and returned it to his pocket, then said, “The police investigated pretty thoroughly last night, but they didn’t seem to know what to do about a set of mysterious break-ins in which the stolen goods were returned. They were baffled, but they didn’t have any suspects in mind.”

“So it looks like Dean will get away with it. As usual.”

“He may have escaped the police, but I don’t think your grandmother is through with him.” He grinned then, and he suddenly looked years younger with the worry and tension around his eyes easing a little. “Do I detect a hint of sibling rivalry there?”

“He always had a talent for getting away with murder. He might have started it all, but the rest of us got in trouble while he got off scot-free. Frank said he could roll in the manure pile and come out smelling like roses. Dean could smile at Mom, and she’d forget that he was even in trouble.”

“But I thought it was the youngest—and especially the only girl—who could get away with things.”

“Not in my family. I think I was held to a higher standard. Boys will be boys, you know, but girls are expected to be better than that. But I guess I did mostly stay out of trouble. I just always felt bad for Frank and Teddy getting in trouble so much when Dean got away with it.”

The door opened and Mom stuck her head outside. “Phone for you, Katie. I think it’s Nita.”

“Coming,” I said, trying to get off the swing gently so it didn’t send Owen rocking too much. He looked better, but he still looked like he’d be better off sleeping for a week.

“Hey, what is it?” I asked when I got to the phone.

“Three more people checked in, and I have two more reservations. This is crazy.”

“More band members?”

“Not unless they’re reviving the big band in a postmodern way. There are too many of them. Do you usually get guy groupies? Or maybe they’re like a new version of the Grateful Dead, with people who follow them everywhere. That would be cool, but Mom and Dad won’t be okay if they’re doing drugs in the motel or planning a concert in the parking lot.”

“Are they giving you any trouble?”

“They’re fine. I just don’t have the staff for this. Say, you wouldn’t want to pick up a housekeeping shift, would you? I don’t need it today because all the rooms were already clean, but tomorrow’s going to be a nightmare.”

“I’ll have to get back to you on that. Thanks for keeping me posted. Maybe we’ll stop by later today to check out the commotion.”

I returned to the porch and told Owen what Nita had reported. “You know, playing housekeeper might not be such a bad idea,” I said. “It would give me an excuse to spy on these guys and see what’s going on.”

“But she said she didn’t need help until tomorrow, and I hope we have a sense of what’s going on before then.”

“If Idris is rallying his troops, it’s too bad we told him about Dean. We could have had a double agent.”

“We could still have a double agent.” I’d seen that look in his eyes before, and it made me nervous. Normally, he was totally sane and rational, but he had a well-hidden crazy streak, especially where Idris was concerned. It was probably a testosterone thing, so I didn’t understand it.

“What do you mean?” I asked warily.

“Well, you were just telling me about some of your sibling issues growing up. It’s not outside the realm of imagination that it could work both ways. What if he didn’t care what his baby sister said about doing bad magic and only told you he’d given it up to appease you, and then he went right ahead with his plans?”

“Oh, you are sneaky. I’ll give him a call.”

I moved to head back into the house, but he handed me his cell phone. I called Dean’s cell and said, “Have you actually posted any nasty stuff about Idris on that course message board?” I asked.

He groaned. “Sorry, Sis, I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“No, that’s good. See if there’s something going on about him rallying his troops in town. It seems like they’re congregating. You need to go meet with him and tell him your sister and her crazy boyfriend are full of it, and you wouldn’t listen to us anyway.”

“And then report back to you everything they say? Got it. I’ll give you all the details when I have them.”

I closed the phone and handed it back to Owen. “Looks like we have us a double agent. I just hope we can trust him.”

“You think he’ll turn on us?”

I sighed and worried my lower lip with my teeth. I felt like a turncoat. This was my brother I was talking about, and as much as he sometimes irritated me, I did love him. But there were bigger things at stake here than family ties. “He’s susceptible to flattery, so if Idris manages to get under his skin, it might affect his loyalty. You know, it’s too bad we can’t send Teddy as the spy. He’d fit right in with that crowd.”

Owen fought back a yawn. “With the right preparation, I bet I could fake him as a magic user.”

“But that wouldn’t be a good use of your resources. You need to get some rest. I have a feeling it’s going to be yet another crazy night.”

Sure enough, I’d barely fallen asleep when the usual tapping on my window woke me. I hadn’t planned to be going out, so I was in my pajamas instead of dressed for action. I opened the window, and Owen whispered, “I just heard from Dean and from Sam. Idris and his people are gathering on the courthouse square. It’s definitely some kind of magical rally.”

“And I take it we’d better be there, huh? Give me a second to put on some clothes.” I closed the curtains, then pulled on my black jeans and a black long-sleeved T-shirt. If we kept this up, I was going to run out of dark clothes. My wardrobe wasn’t designed for sneaking around in the middle of the night.

“It’s too bad there’s no Starbucks in this town,” I said with a yawn as we neared the square.

“It wouldn’t be open at this hour, anyway. I think even most of the ones in New York would be closed by now.” Owen pulled into a parking space in the grocery store’s rear loading area, then we went around the side of the buildings and approached the square, where Sam was waiting for us.

There were at least two dozen young men, including Dean, gathered around Idris, who stood in the gazebo. With some red-white-and-blue bunting behind him, he’d look like he was making a campaign speech. I supposed that was sort of what he was doing. Dean stood out in the group. He looked too handsome and self-assured. The rest of those guys, and they were all guys, seemed like they were probably making up for some sense of inadequacy. Dean was, too, I reasoned, but his inadequacies were better hidden.

Idris was in mid-speech, and his voice carried well to the bushes where we hid. “It’s time for your final exam. If you pass this test, you will earn the title of wizard. I’ve brought in a top wizard from New York to test you. You’ll have to find him and then defeat him in close magical combat. Now, I should warn you—he’s very powerful, and it may take all of you working together, but that’s part of the test.”

He waved a hand, and a flickering image formed in the air next to him. It took a while to solidify, and Idris talked as the image took shape. “Here is the wizard you should be looking for. Defeat him, and you will be a true wizard.” Finally, the image was recognizable. It was a picture of Owen.

S
tanding as close as I was to Owen, I could feel his muscles tensing, preparing to spring into action. I grabbed his arm and gave it a firm squeeze, hoping that would remind him that this really wasn’t a good time to take all of them on at once. He looked at me and nodded, then after a few deep breaths, he relaxed and I let him go. With a tilt of his head, he indicated that we should leave, and we crept away, leaving the pep rally still in progress.

“This, you’ll have to call in,” Sam said once we were safely back at the car. “You’ll need backup.”

“I can handle it.”

Sam shook his head. “Even if those guys aren’t as powerful or trained as you are, you can’t handle all of them by yourself if they’re teaming up and gunning for you.”

“I’ve got you and Katie’s grandmother. And Dean on the inside. And I may be able to get some local allies. We’re not that outnumbered.”

“If you don’t call and let the boss know what’s going on, I will. Don’t you think it would go better if he heard it straight from you?”

I felt like I was missing a crucial part of this conversation, but if my reading between the lines was accurate, then…“You’re AWOL!” I blurted to Owen. “They don’t know you’re here, do they?”

“Oh, come on,” Sam said. “You know the boss. Of course they know he’s here. They just don’t officially know.”

“I thought I could wrap it all up over the weekend,” Owen admitted, sounding like he was explaining why his homework wasn’t done. “I called in sick on Friday, and I thought I could easily be back in the office by Tuesday, with everything taken care of.”

“Yeah, and there wasn’t anything suspicious about you calling in sick the morning after you spent the day begging the boss to let you come down here and make sure Katie was okay,” Sam said.

If Sam hadn’t already been made of stone, the look Owen gave him would have turned him that way. “We weren’t having any luck finding or dealing with Idris in New York, so I thought I’d do better finding him here by going through his student. And I was right.”

“But now you’re outnumbered, with the bad guys gunning for you, and Idris seems to have some tricks up his sleeve, like that disappearing act he pulled,” I argued. “So unless you’re willing to run, you’re going to need help.”

“We can’t afford to let him get away this time,” Sam added.

Owen stood still for a while, then finally said, “Okay. I’ll call. In the morning. It’s pretty late now.”

Sam snorted. “Like the boss isn’t expecting this.”

Owen held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll call. I knew I’d have to come clean at some point, but I would have preferred to do it with Idris or his junior wizard in custody.”

“You do have the junior wizard,” I reminded him. “That may help.”

“Maybe I should get a little farther away from all the student wizards who are gunning for me before I take time out to make a phone call,” he said.

“Don’t worry, kiddo, I got you covered. Go right ahead and make that call,” Sam said, a little too gleefully, earning himself another glare.

Owen went a few yards away, just out of earshot, and at least mimed talking on his cell phone. I watched him for a moment, then turned to Sam. “You were in on this?”

“Not really ‘in.’ I just agreed not to tell anyone he was here. He said it would only be for the weekend at first, but then he started tacking days onto it. Even if we hadn’t seen what those goons were up to tonight, he’d have had to come clean pretty soon, or else I’d have had to rat him out.”

“But why?”

Sam laughed. “Oh, dollface, and I thought you were so smart. It’s ’cause of you! He nearly flipped when he heard about the bad guy going after you. I guess that was really your brother playing a prank on you, huh? The boss wanted to wait and see what happened after you figured out that Idris was involved. I was gonna keep an eye on you while they tried to find Idris in New York. But Palmer there was convinced Idris would be down here. And then he was the one I reached to tell about the stuff at the theater. I’m guessin’ he didn’t tell the boss about that.”

“So he risked getting into huge trouble because he was worried about me?”

“I think he also wanted to make up for what happened the last time, you know, not letting his feelings get in the way of him being able to catch the bad guy again. Of course, the fact that he rushed down here to protect you doesn’t help his case much, does it?”

“No, probably not,” I said with a sigh. No wonder he hadn’t said anything about me going back to New York. After this, they certainly weren’t going to let me be close enough to him to be a distraction, unless they decided to lock me up safely somewhere they could keep an eye on me. Part of me was thrilled to have proof that he still cared for me, but I couldn’t help but be a little bit scared. He might have had a crazy streak at times, but running off against orders wasn’t like Owen. In fact, him being such a classic good boy was the main reason that he wasn’t too scary, in spite of all the things he could do, like mess with people’s minds and stop time.

Owen returned to us. “They’re sending backup,” he said. I couldn’t tell from his tone of voice how he felt.

“So, how much trouble are you in?” Sam asked, and I was glad he did, so I didn’t have to.

“I don’t know. I’m supposed to stay out of sight and not engage either Idris or his minions.”

I tugged on his sleeve. “Well, if you’re going to do that, we’d better get home.”

We managed to avoid the wizard gang and get back home to make our usual climb up the tree onto the porch roof. I seemed to be entering the house more often through my bedroom window than through the door these days. I’d just put one leg through the window when I noticed movement in my room. Someone was in there. I opened my mouth to scream in shock, but someone caught me from behind with a hand over my mouth. That could have been even more frightening, but I realized right away that it was Owen.

“What are you doing here, Mrs. Callahan?” he whispered.

I pried his hand off my mouth and blurted as softly as I could, “Granny?” Sure enough, my grandmother was sitting on my bed. “I thought you didn’t like to drive at night,” I added.

“Not liking to isn’t the same as can’t. But I’m not the one who should be answering questions, missy. Just what would you be doing climbing in through the window at this hour? Where have you been, and what have you been up to?”

Before we continued the conversation, I climbed the rest of the way inside, and Owen joined me. Granny patted the bed beside her, and we both sat down. “There’s something going on in town,” Owen said.

She nodded. “I thought so. Those were some strange-looking young men. They’re using too much magic. They’ll run us all dry. Now, what does this have to do with you?”

“My enemy is their leader.”

“Oh, so it’s a magical war that’s brewing.”

“I hope not.”

“You’ll need help.”

“Owen can take care of it, Granny,” I put in. I doubted he’d want the kind of help she could offer, unless she was going to scare off the junior wizards by shaking her cane at them and glaring.

“What kind of help do you think I can find?” Owen asked her. I was so used to people just humoring her that I couldn’t get used to him having a serious conversation with her about the kind of stuff we usually ignored.

“We have the wee folk. I’ll bet they’re not happy to have their power sources drained by that lot.”

“You mean the nature spirits? The naiads and dryads?”

“If that’s what you call them. Yes, they live around the creek, more outside of town these days. But it takes special skill and a number of precautions to summon them safely.”

“I’m familiar with the rituals.”

She patted him on the leg. “I had a feeling you would be. You’re a good boy. I’ve got some things that may be helpful to you. I’ll bring them to you tomorrow.” She braced her cane on the ground and stood up. “Now, I’d better get home before my daughter realizes I’m here. And you’d best get out of Katie’s bedroom, young man. It’s improper for you to be unchaperoned like this.”

“Wait a second,” I said, “you mean you came here in the middle of the night and waited for us to tell us there were strange wizards in town?”

“No, I came here because I noticed earlier today that the bark on that tree by the porch was scraped. Someone’s been climbing up and down that way, and as you’re the only one living at home these days, I had a feeling you were up to something. The best way to find out what you were up to was to catch you out and wait for you.”

I looked out the window, toward the tree, then back at Granny. “You didn’t…”

“Don’t be silly. I came up the stairs, like a normal person.”

“But how did you not wake up Mom and Dad? Those stairs squeak something awful.”

She shook her head and tut-tutted. “It’s not too difficult a spell to silence those steps. Don’t tell me the great wizard here didn’t think of that.”

I looked over at Owen, and if I’d had night-vision goggles, I was pretty sure I could have seen the glow coming off his face. “But—but that would have been dishonest, deceiving my hosts,” he stammered.

“And climbing in and out of windows in the middle of the night is honest?”

“But it’s not magically dishonest.”

She nodded. “Ah, you’ve been well taught. You know the rules. I’ll see you two in the morning. Now, get to bed—in separate rooms, please.”

When she’d gone and shut my bedroom door behind her, Owen said, “I honestly never thought of silencing the stairs. I know I can’t make that squeaky spot in our house go quiet, but that’s probably a spell Gloria put on it. I guess I assumed it would be the same way here.”

“Climbing out the window is more fun.”

“Speaking of which, I’d better go.” His gaze lingered on me for a second. “I’m a little afraid of what your grandmother would do to me if she knew I was in here unchaperoned for too long. She’s scarier than all those wizards who are gunning for me.” I moved toward him to say good night, but before I got there, he’d already climbed back out the window.

Owen looked less exhausted and more like himself the following morning, aside from the slightest sense that he might be facing his own execution soon. Granny showed up while we were still eating breakfast, so I went off to work without worrying about how Owen would occupy himself in my absence. He had her eating out of his hand, and when it came to spending hours listening to her stories, it was better him than me. I hoped he had enough background knowledge to allow him to tell the truth from the stuff she made up. She couldn’t describe a family event without getting details mixed up, so I wasn’t sure how he’d get anything useful out of her ramblings about the wee folk.

Work went more or less without incident. On my way home, I drove by the square to see what the wizards were up to. They seemed to be roaming in groups of four or five, looking like they were searching for someone. The wandering groups made the townspeople nervous. People crossed the street to avoid passing them on the sidewalk. As I drove past the pharmacy, Lester was in the process of throwing a group out. I hoped Rainbow’s candles had given them headaches or coughing spells, then I got an idea.

I pulled into a parking space in front of the pharmacy and ran inside. “Hey, Rainbow, do those aromatherapy candles come in votive sizes?”

“The full jar is a better value.”

“That’s okay, I need them for a pretty small space.” I bought a bag of ten of the candles that were designed to balance your energy for a more even mood. I figured that encouraging romance with this bunch would be asking for trouble.

When I got home, Owen was out in the horse pasture, having what looked like a deep conversation with Daisy. “I swear, you’re like something out of a Disney movie with all your animal friends,” I said as I approached them. “When the little birds come sit on your shoulder and bring you news, I’m out of here.”

“She was looking at me over the fence like she was sad and lonely.”

I laughed and patted Daisy on the neck. “Meet the only horse I know of who can make puppy-dog eyes. She’s basically an overgrown dog. I’m not sure she realizes she’s a horse. How’d you learn to be so good with animals? Is that a magic thing?”

“I’ve never been that great with people. Animals are usually easier. As far as I know, it has nothing to do with magic. Well, except for the dragons. That was magic, and I didn’t plan for that spell to have that effect.”

“You also have that crazy Granny–taming ability. Speaking of Granny, did you get what you needed?”

“Oh yeah, a whole notebook full. I’ll spend the afternoon cross-referencing what she told me with some of my materials, and then tonight we can go out on a little diplomatic mission. Is there any news on our magical visitors?”

I told him what I’d seen. “So far, it seems like they’re sticking to downtown, so you should be safe out here. Maybe I could find you a hat and dark glasses as a disguise.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”

“Just making the offer. While you’re doing your research this afternoon, I think I’ll help Nita at the motel.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, there’s the spying potential, and then there’s this.” I raised the bag of candles. “Take a whiff and see if they affect you even when they aren’t burning.” I opened the bag and he leaned over it, then recoiled instantly with a shudder. “Now, is that because of the magic, or because they smell nasty?”