Shifting (8 page)

During the walk home, a few Gypsies passed them by; all taking double-takes of Meghan’s blue hair.

“I’m not sure this is what Uncle Eddy had in mind when he wanted us to impress the Svoda.” Meghan simply held her head up high and walked on. Once back in the wagons they met up with Jae and Mireya. She ran up to Meghan’s head and touched it.

“Wow, I love it! Wish my mom and dad would let me.”

“You know dad would never,” reminded Jae.

Meghan wished she hadn’t done it, realizing it was more trouble than it was worth.

“I had it done in Grimble,” she lied half-heartedly.

“How was your first day back at school?” asked Colin, taking the attention away from his sister. Mireya’s eyebrows raised and she briskly walked away. Jae waited for Mireya to walk out of hearing distance before explaining.

“Not my best day. The class wanted to hear about my month alone. I told them about fighting the Scratchers, don’t worry, they don’t know about you, Colin,” he added. “Then, I told them how strong I felt out there, but when I went to perform a spell, I could barely pull it off. I guess it’s so crowded here, I’m just weaker.” He frowned, hiding his face behind his stringy hair.

Timidly, he continued.

38

“For a minute, I wished I were on my own again. The power I felt out there, with no one else to use it all up...”

The twins were not sure how to reply. Jae changed the subject.

“How about you guys?”

The twins decided they could tell Jae what their uncle was teaching them. If he confided in them, they saw no reason not to do the same.

“I had a little fiasco of my own there,” said Meghan, retelling the story of her blue nightmare.

It helped cheer him up, and Jae wasn’t surprised at all that Meghan performed magic, seeing as Colin had already done it.

Before bed, Colin, hidden behind his curtain, opened Magicante, hoping to ask it a question he knew it probably wouldn’t answer.

“Book, tell me, is there a way to make myself taller?” Colin swore he heard the book sigh, and then in a whisper it barked its answer.

“Yes! By learning how not to waste my time!” There was a pause, and then more words appeared, but in the form of a poem which the book did not speak.

Now if you don’t mind,

I’d like to unwind,

I think you will find,

That someone is going to arrive any minute now!

“Huh? Doesn’t rhyme.” Colin shook his head, listening, as footsteps approached. He hid the book at the bottom of his dresser and crawled into bed. Through the open bedroom door, and a crack in his curtain, he spied Ivan Crane going into his room. His sister barged into his head.

“Hey, Col. Awake?”

“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for Jae to come up. Must’ve had a ton of school work to catch up on.”

“I don’t think he has taken a break since he got home today. Just wanted to say goodnight,” she said.

“K, night, Sis.”

A few hours later, Colin awoke as Jae sauntered in. Colin poked his head out of the curtain and was about to rib Jae about working so hard when he heard sniffling. He sucked himself back behind his curtain, holding his breath.

What was the right thing to do? Ask Jae what was wrong, or pretend he did not notice. He desperately wanted to wake Meghan, but decided it was best for at least one of them to sleep.

Colin supposed it could wait until morning. Confrontation was her strong forte after all, not his!

39

5

Days had passed since Colin had awakened in the middle of the night, having overheard Jae crying. After discussing it with Meghan, they decided to wait and see if Jae volunteered any information. However, a chance for volunteered information had not yet developed, as Jae was busy morning until late at night, typically with his father.

The twins were also busy with their Uncle Eddy, practicing simple spells. Meghan had the book help her change her hair color back to red, keeping a single blue streak, to draw less attention.

Colin had successfully used magic to pick up a rock, and hurl it thirty feet, hitting his target straight on ten times in a row. He hoped there would be no occasion when this talent would become useful…aka… a Scratcher attack.

Meghan, however, struggled without the book’s help. She worked on creating fire, by touching a pile of wood and telling it to burn.

“You couldn’t start a fire, magic or not!” Colin joked.

She could not argue.

“I’m not sure why I’m even trying this spell. I’m all thumbs when it comes to matches and lighters.” She persisted, though. For some reason she liked the idea of a roaring fire, but when the day ended, the pile remained unlit.

“Meghan, you better get up,” sent Colin from the backyard, a few mornings later. “If you don’t hurry you won’t get to see Jae at all, he’s leaving with his dad, again.”

“Okay, okay, I’m up already. What is with this place, getting up so dang early all the time?” she mumbled haughtily.

“If you’re worried about your beauty sleep, don’t bother,” he teased, laughing, which silenced everyone at the breakfast table. It became awkwardly obvious that the conversation he had not been attending to was not humorous. Colin stuffed his face with food, pretending it didn’t happen and the conversation continued. A whisper found his thoughts.

“Serves you right, little bro.”

“Hey! Not fair,” he shot back.

The Mochrie’s were having a heated conversation.

“Maybe this will be your turn, Irving. Even Vinson Troast cannot ignore what a fine job you do at the bank.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Sheila. I not only have to pass the approval of Troast, but also Vian Sadorus. I don’t think either of them wants me for the job. I’ve been hearing rumors about Markus Scraggs.”

“Since when do you pay attention to rumor, Irving Mochrie?” Sheila scolded. “What would the rest of your family think if they heard you planning your life according to rumor?” Sheila Mochrie decided the conversation was over. She got up and went into house.

40

“Dad’s not fond of Vian Sadorus,” whispered Jae. “He bought the bank and demoted dad, who was next in line to manage the place.”

“I wouldn’t like him either if he’d done that to me.” Colin whispered back, and then asked, “I don’t understand why you need a bank, if things in the village are free.”

“In the village, yes. However, outside the village, not the case. Everyone has to chip in to the town fund. We do odd jobs as we travel, like here, working in Grimble, so we can buy supplies we need along the way. But, the businesses in our village are still owned by people, and Garner owns a lot.”

“How does he afford to buy businesses?” asked Colin, confused.

“He’s old money, plus, the owners get small stipends to keep their businesses open. It’s not much, but it helps.” Jae added, “Sorry I haven’t been around much, been helping dad at the bank. He’s due for a promotion, as you heard.” Colin realized that he and Meghan should give some of their recently inherited money to the town fund.

“Better be off then, Jae,” said Irving Mochrie, darting his stern eyes at Jae to see if he was ready to leave.

Jae jumped up and said he’d be ready in a flash and ran inside bounding up the spiral staircase.

Meghan, at that same moment, was bounding down the stairs. She glanced through the staircase window into the lit outdoor fire pit; she didn’t notice Jae rounding the staircase at full speed.

They crashed head-on!

Meghan fell back and Jae fell down a stair, thankfully catching himself before falling all the way. He was back up instantly and held out his hand to offer Meghan assistance.

“Sorry, always in a hurry these days. I was telling Colin, I’ve been helping my dad at the bank.

Should calm down soon, though.” She held out her hand to accept his help. It was nice to see Jae, if even for a minute.

As she grabbed hold of his hand, an overpowering sensation crept into her mind; intense heat, followed by crippling pain. She doubled over, feeling as though her body was being squeezed like a tube, emptying every last ounce of her breath. It felt like the last breath, the final breath before death.

Jae propped her up, setting her down on the stairway, letting go of her hand. Instantly her breath returned and she began to feel normal again. Colin, sensing something wrong, snuck inside.

“What happened?” he asked, seeing her on the stair.

“Don’t know. We ran into each other and when I tried to help her up she fell over.” Meghan did not speak.

Irving Mochrie burst in impatiently.

“Already, please.”

Jae passed by the twins and ran up the stairs. Colin helped his sister outside for some air. A minute later Jae was gone, followed by Mireya and her mother, leaving the twins alone.

“What was that all about?” asked Colin.

“I don’t know exactly. I… I saw Jae’s pain, as I touched him. I could feel it.” She scrunched her face as she said it, leaving out the worst of what she had felt.

“How can you feel someone’s pain?”

41

“I have no idea. Maybe Uncle Eddy can help.” She departed at a quick pace, with Colin begging for her to slow down. As they edged closer to Grimble, Colin finally dared ask what he had been thinking the entire walk.

“Were you able to see what’s wrong with Jae? What he is upset about?”

“No. It wasn’t a specific thing.” After a minute, she continued. “I did get the feeling that whatever’s bothering Jae has been doing so for a long time, and is something that might get worse.” Not wanting to frighten Colin, she blocked the memory and left out the most important part: Jae’s imminent death!

As they arrived at the old mill, Uncle Eddy was not alone. The ghost of a younger boy floated nearby.

“Who’s that?” asked Colin.

“That is my new friend, Timothy.” He floated close to the twins, whispering, “Poor boy’s been here nearly twelve years. Found some bully of a ghost named Duppy doing magic on him, poor thing couldn’t even defend himself.”

“He isn’t magical?” questioned Meghan.

“No. Strange he would end up in Grimble, with no magical ties.”

“He’s funny,” said Colin, watching the boy flutter around in circles above.

“He has been quite a hoot. Timothy, come down for a moment.” The ghost boy dived and abruptly halted in front of the twins.

“Hi! You must be Meghan and Colin. Nice to meet you! So Eddy is your uncle? You’re so lucky. How is it that you are alive and he’s dead? You didn’t tell me they were alive. Wow, I never get to talk to alive people anymore.”

“He sure is an excitable ghost boy,” sent Meghan to her brother, who nodded in amused agreement.

“Nice to meet you, Timothy,” said both twins, together.

“You too,” he said, and then added, “I have to go now, going to go help a new ghost child arriving today. Hope I get to see you again. So many questions I’d like to ask an alive person.” He floated away.

“Bye, Timothy,” said Eddy. “Stay away from that Duppy ghost, eh.”

“I will. I promise,” his voice trailed off and he was gone.

“Okay, where were we?” said their uncle, getting comfortable on a beam hanging over the twins.

“Before we do anything Uncle Eddy, can I ask you about something that happened earlier this morning?” asked Meghan.

“Yes, of course,” he answered uneasily. He floated down off his beam, to be closer to her.

“This morning I fell, and Jae grabbed my hand to help me up. Somehow, I ended up in his mind and…” She glanced sideways at Colin, giving in. He would find out eventually anyway.

“There were feelings of wanting to hurt someone, and Jae not surviving. I don’t understand how I know this, I just do.” Meghan’s fear overwhelmed Colin’s thoughts, and though he was upset that she had not told him, he said nothing.

Uncle Eddy frowned and then smiled.

“I should’ve known,” he muttered.

42

The twins waited eagerly for him to explain.

“Meghan, it may not appear so at the moment, but what you have is a great gift.”

“Gift? Is it a magical gift?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. Your gift runs in the family, your mother and your grandmother and her mother... you get the picture. It’s no surprise to me that this would occur.

I should have been expecting it!”

“Expecting what?” Meghan wished adults would get to the point faster.

“The gift of sight,” her uncle answered without further delay.

“So I can see things, and feel things, like Jae’s feelings?”

“Yes, I would imagine you can see other things, too, glimpses of the past, present or future.

Out of curiosity, do you have any idea how the sight comes to you, what mode allows you to see?”

Colin was not sure he understood what his uncle was asking, but Meghan knew immediately.

“Fire, its fire.” She read Uncle Eddy’s face; he looked surprised that she already knew this.

Something dawned on Colin.

“That’s how you knew about the Scratcher attack, back in Cobbscott, isn’t it?”

“I guess so. I think somehow, I knew it was a vision of the future. I just didn’t really believe it, at the time.”

“I wish I knew more about having the sight,” added Eddy. “It is not a subject I am very familiar with. Perhaps there are some books in the library that might help you, Meghan,” he suggested.

“Books?” questioned Colin. “You obviously don’t know my sister very well.” Eddy chuckled, and Meghan glared.

“Well, we’ll work on it,” Eddy added. “See what we can discover. Why don’t we have an early lunch and then get down to the business of the day.” The twins ate in silence. Practice began soon after. Today, Eddy used himself as a moving target. Colin successfully sent rocks hurtling through his ghostly body time after time. Meghan watched, jealously impressed. Uncle Eddy was thrilled. He had never seen someone take to magic like Colin.

Meghan, on the other hand, was not having such an easy time. She now worked on balancing items, as she had seen Jae do. However, she never successfully balanced more than three items before they plummeted to the ground.

Timothy returned, watching them practice. At the end of the day he escorted his new friends on their walk home. The twins had not spoken the entire walk as Timothy had not yet stopped; which for the present they found amusing.