Shifting (9 page)

Before they reached the circle of wagons, the twins stopped in their tracks. Unfriendly footsteps advanced from the woods, encircling them. Timothy flitted high into the air, watching from a distance as the scene unfolded. Three figures emerged from the woods. Two they recognized, Darcy, along with her partner in crime, the eloquent speaking Dulcy. The third was a towering, skulking girl they did not recognize. She kept pace with Darcy and Dulcy as the three ambushers circled their prey.

“You were right, Darcy,” bellowed Dulcy. “Wait and they’ll come, and then we’ll see what they’ve been up to.”

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“Shut it!” warned Darcy harshly. The skulking girl sneered as the trio tightened their circle around the twins.

“What do you suppose this is about?” sent Colin silently, trying to keep his nerve. Meghan kept her eyes on their ambushers, showing no fear. This only elevated Darcy’s anger.

“What do you want?” demanded Meghan.

“We’ve seen what you can do,” Darcy stated, her eyes blazing. “And we think you’re spies!”

“Oh, no,” sent Meghan to Colin. “Not good!” She made sure not to outwardly show her anxiety.

“I don’t think this is how Uncle Eddy imagined our abilities being found out,” stammered Colin.

“It doesn’t exactly bring about trust, does it?” she sent back dryly.

Darcy waited for a reply, growing fiercer as one did not come. Meghan cleared her mind and Colin grew aware that she slipped into her own defensive mode.

“Why should we care about what you think you’ve seen, Darcy?” Meghan obviously had no idea who she was dealing with. The other two girls jumped backwards, as if complete fury was about to be unleashed.

“It will matter to you when I get you both kicked out and left here to ROT! I’m going to turn you in for what you really are.”

“I see,” said Meghan. “What is that by the way, Darcy? Who are we?” The skulking girl stood at the ready, awaiting orders to pummel the twins. Dulcy, the worded wonder, to the twins’ benefit, threw Darcy off her game.

“Banon Blackwell is going to flip out when we bring you in as spies. We will totally be rewardified.” Dulcy’s eyes rolled as she attempted to pronounce the word. “No, rewarided,” she then corrected, still wrong.

Darcy cringed.

“Stop speaking,” she hissed, her nostrils flaring.

Meghan took advantage of the momentary switch in attention and nudged Colin to step to the left, which was now open, as Darcy had moved closer to her idiot counterpart.

“Darcy, they’re trying to get away!” the skulking girl thundered, giving them away. “You want me to pound ‘em?”

Darcy whirled around facing the twins.

“No one walks away while I’m talking to them,” she roared.

“Oh, really? Watch me,” goaded Meghan, taking another step.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” yelled Colin silently.

“Look, you two… Ditch Witch’s!” Darcy stopped, gloating over coming up with such a clever term. She waited until the other girls had a good laugh, before continuing.

“We’re watching you!” she warned. “And when you screw up, which you will, we’ll be there to show Juliska Blackwell who you really are. And then we’ll see who’s scared.” Darcy marched away followed by her companions.

Colin yelled at Meghan.

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“You don’t think we are in enough trouble, without pissing off that crew? I mean, why not just walk in and announce hey, we can do magic and we’re here to spy on you and report back to our evil people.” Colin was never good at arguing.

Meghan took a huffed breath.

“Colin, when will you learn that you have to stick up for yourself? So what if they get pissed off! It’s clear they are not running home tattling to anyone. You heard them; they’re waiting for us to screw up.”

“More fun for them, then. I think Uncle Eddy would agree that we or I should say, YOU, just screwed up.”

Meghan threw up her arms in defeat.

“That’s it, Colin. I’m not sticking up for you anymore. If you think you could have handled that situation any better, then next time, YOU DO IT!” she stormed off crossly.

Anger overwhelmed her; anger that she had to live with the Svoda, dealing with secrets, bullies or magic. As she stormed her way through Bedgewood Harbor, her thoughts strayed to Sebastien; she recalled the conversation they’d had back in Cobbscott. He had warned her then.

Don’t keep sticking up for Colin. But how could she not? He was still little, still her brother.

Meghan did not want to go home. She veered off the road, taking the lane that led to the ocean shore, suddenly needing to feel the bite of the ocean on her face.

Colin slumped over on the wagon steps. Up above, Timothy, looking forlorn for a ghost, floated in circles over him.

“Sorry, Timothy,” said Colin.

“Oh that’s okay,” he said shyly. “I hear people argue all the time around here.”

“Hey, you won’t tell Uncle Eddy will you,” Colin asked nicely.

“You mean a secret, between you and me?” Excitement rose in his voice.

“Yeah. A secret.”

“Wow, I haven’t had a secret to keep in such a long time.” He swirled around, happy as any ghost could be and sang a little song, “I won’t tell, I won’t tell.”

“I gotta go, Timothy, see you later, okay.”

“Yes, later then, friend of which I know a secret.” Timothy held his hand up and saluted Colin, then floated away.

Colin headed into the wagons hoping to find his sister waiting for him, but to his dismay, he did not. He walked through Bedgewood alone, feeling every staring eye. He realized that without his sister, he was afraid. He wanted to hide, but instead, walked quickly to the school and waited for Jae and Mireya, who instantly questioned where Meghan was.

“Not sure. We had a fight.”

“Oh, sorry. Maybe she’s already home,” twittered Mireya. She then ran off with a friend.

“What happened today?” asked Jae.

In reply, Colin asked his own question.

“What can you tell me about a girl named Darcy?”

“Not Darcy Scraggs!” muttered Jae. “Was Dulcy Hadrian and Daveena Troast with her?”

“Dulcy was, and if Daveena is the biggest, scariest girl you’ve ever seen, then yes she was.” 45

“Something else I forgot to warn you guys about. The Three D’s.”

“The Three D’s. They have a name. I take it they’re not just nasty to us, then?” asked Colin.

“No. They’re mean period. Darcy, she’s the worst. Daveena could crush any of us, but she doesn’t do anything unless Darcy orders it, and then there’s Dulcy.”

“She doesn’t seem to fit in,” Colin broke in.

“Don’t let that stupid act fool you. She doesn’t have a decent bone in her body.”

“Noted,” said Colin gravely.

“So what did they want?”

“Actually, they acted as if they knew about our magic,” whispered Colin.

Jae froze in his tracks.

“Do you think they do?”

“Honestly, it’s hard to say. If she did know, though, will she tell?”

“If it served her well to do it, Darcy wouldn’t hesitate,” exclaimed Jae.

“Why not turn us in and get it over with then?” asked Colin.

Jae contemplated before answering.

“Knowing the Three D’s, they are either scheming some way to expose you, or,” he paused. “I wouldn’t put it past them to try and pin this on someone else, too.” It took only a second for Colin to realize that Jae meant himself, and maybe even his family.

“You have to tell the truth, Jae! Meghan would insist if she were here. We can’t let anything bad happen to you, for hiding our magic.”

“No, I can’t do it. I might be wrong, Colin. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. Forget I said it.”

“Why do they dislike your family so much?” asked Colin.

“It’s not just us. They have a false impression that they pull more weight than the rest of us in the group. Banon Blackwell keeps them in check though.”

“If it comes down to it, Jae, I don’t want you or your family getting into trouble because of us.”

Jae would not hear it.

“I can’t. If it does come down to it, I’ll stay behind with you and take full responsibility. I’ll say my family didn’t know.”

“But you would be away from your family again, which is how we ended up here in the first place.”

Jae could not argue this point.

“Let’s wait and see how things play out for a few days,” suggested Jae. “I honestly don’t think we’ll be in danger of anything happening right away. Fall’s practically here and we all have school exams then, including the Three D’s. I think it’ll buy us some time.” Colin agreed to Jae’s thinking and they slipped inside the Mochrie house.

Meghan was not home. They made an excuse at the dinner table thirty minutes later, when she still had not returned. After dinner, Mireya headed off to meet a friend down by the wharf.

Jae sat at the kitchen table working on schoolwork. Colin paced the kitchen trying to reach out for his sister; he could sense her, but she was getting better at blocking him for longer periods of time. The house was deafeningly quiet.

46

And then, it was not quiet. Distant screams echoed into the open windows.

“What on earth?” asked Sheila Mochrie, from the back yard. Irving Mochrie rushed out of the cottage to investigate, followed by Sheila, Colin and Jae.

Billows of smoke were rising from the ocean shore. “The wharf, something’s happening at the wharf!” Sheila screamed, charging down the road, panicked, as she remembered that is where her daughter was supposed to be.

Irving ran back inside, before following Sheila, hooking a belt over his shoulder. Colin and Jae followed. Neighbors flew out of their homes and very swiftly, a crowd raced toward the wharf.

Colin was horrified to see they were preparing themselves for a battle. They each wore belts like Irving’s over their shoulders. Each persons contained different items.

Jae explained as they ran to the wharf.

“Some carry potions, some weapons, and some store magical energy, so when they tire they have a backup supply.”

As they neared the wharf, Balaton (policeman of the Svoda) popped in from thin air and attempted to survey the situation, with palms raised, poised for battle.

Children were screaming and running to find their parents. None of the Svoda could imagine what enemy they could be up against. Nothing had ever penetrated their entrances before.

Mireya appeared, out of breath, yelling over the screams and chaos.

“Come quick! It’s Meghan! Something’s happened.”

Colin got a sinking feeling in his stomach. They followed Mireya to the edge of the wharf, where a ball of fire reeled along the shore.

“Meghan?” Colin gulped, in disbelieving horror. The flames engulfed his sister and yet did not appear to be burning her. “Get out of there,” Colin pleaded, trying to race toward her. Sheila and Jae held him back.

“I haven’t seen something like this in ages,” said an astonished Irving Mochrie. He asked Colin, “Has she done this before?”

Colin tried to think of the right answer. Before he could, Balaton arrived, escorting Banon Blackwell.

“Well, you’re definitely not a secret anymore,” whispered Jae. “But at least the Three D’s didn’t have a chance to pull off their plan.”

It was the only good thing about it! His sister was a walking fireball, and a good many Svoda had seen her. The crowd relaxed their battle stances as Juliska Blackwell calmly walked toward Meghan. The crowd murmured behind her.

“What is this girl?”

“She’s like the Banon,” another woman said.

“A Firemancer, is it possible?”

“What magical family is she from?”

The crowd quieted, all eyes watched Banon Blackwell as she spoke to Meghan.

“What do you see?” she asked in an eager voice, as if she instantly understood what was happening, which relieved Colin, slightly, seeing as he did not.

The fire that surrounded Meghan changed color, from orange and yellow to bright gold. She faced the Svoda, and Juliska, and began rising off the ground.

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She drew up her arm and pointed it at the Svoda. Meghan was high enough that she was pointing almost directly at Juliska’s head. To Colin’s amazement, Juliska, standing six feet from Meghan, was not bothered by the heat; yet Colin could feel it some twenty-five feet away.

Finally, Meghan spoke, and in a voice much deeper than her own.

“Beware. Beware. They attack you where you sleep. Beware I say to all Svoda, they attack you where you sleep.” She repeated this several times.

Mummers buzzed through the observing crowd. Frightened faces looked to Banon Blackwell for answers to this apparent prophecy.

“What do you mean, girl?” one woman shouted.

“Who attacks us? Who?” another voice hollered.

“How will we know, if we’re sleeping?” a man asked.

Juliska addressed the distressed crowd; her brilliant stare was enough to quiet her people. As she turned back to Meghan, still floating high in the air, more Gypsies arrived, including Ivan, followed by Garner Sadorus and the Three D’s. Colin swore that Garner had a look in his eye which was not pleased to see Meghan, apparently prophesying. He also scowled at an infuriated looking Darcy.

“They must have really had a plan of their own,” thought Colin.

The fire diminished around Meghan’s body and she slowly descended to the ground. Colin ran to his sister’s side. Nobody stopped him this time.

The crowd drew closer. Banon Blackwell bent over and touched Meghan’s face. She was burning up. For a brief second his sister’s eyes opened, her mind once again linked to his. Her thoughts confused him.

“Mother, I want my mother.”

“Mother? What do you mean? She’s dead, remember?” This frightened Colin more than seeing her on fire.

“She will be fine,” said Juliska Blackwell, cradling Meghan in her arms. “Take her to the hospital,” she ordered her Balaton. “I will arrive shortly to handle this situation myself.” A Balaton hooked on to Meghan’s limp body and instantly vanished. It was an uncomfortable feeling not knowing where they were taking his sister. He reached out for her.

“Meghan, can you hear me?” Her mind was weak, but she answered.

“Yes, what happened?”

“I’ll explain later. Stay linked to me though, okay. We may have trouble on our hands.” He brought his mind back to the ensuing chaos around him, keeping Meghan’s link open, but blocking her from hearing the conversation, as the Svoda gawked and pointed.