The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (18 page)

She shook her head and frowned. “Master Renn would not approve of that.”

“Well, you see....” Carl scratched his ear and glanced at Jamie, then said to her, “Ma’am, I don’t know how to say this. Do you know where Renn is?”

“He is out at the moment.”

“How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

One corner of her mouth twitched slightly, but she didn’t answer him.

“You haven’t seen him for over six months, have you?”

The woman looked at her daughter and then turned back to Carl. “What are you trying to say?”

“Renn is dead, ma’am.”

She gasped, and the color drained from his face. “How can that be?”

“Because I killed him,” Jamie said. “He tried to kill me and my family.” Then he stared at his feet.

“Ma’am,” Carl continued, “it really would be better if we could come in.”

She blinked hard at them for several uncertain seconds, then stepped aside and cleared her throat. “Of course.”

Carl, Jamie, and John Paul walked into the house and she closed the door behind them. They found themselves in a square room, not large, but spacious enough. Two doors were on their left, both closed, and another was on the back wall, open to what could have been a kitchen, with a table and chairs nearby. A sitting area with a padded wooden bench seat, a matching pair of padded chairs, and a rocker dominated the middle of the room. A day bed, covered in pillows and a yellow spread, was placed against the wall between the two closed doors.

What really stood out to Carl’s eye was the number of books. There were books filling several tall shelves and a couple of chairs. Books were stacked floor-to-ceiling in every corner and along every spare bit of wall space, as if the place had been wallpapered in books, two layers deep in places.

“Wow,” Jamie said as he surveyed the room.

“I agree,” John Paul said. “I bet you can find what you need in here.”

“We should introduce ourselves,” Carl said to the women. “My name is Carl, this is John Paul, and the boy is my son, Jamie.”

The older woman stood awkwardly until her daughter nudged her. “Oh,” she said. “My name is Mrs. Tully, and this is Brinna.” Her hands clenched her skirt in tight fists. “Would you...would you care for some tea?”

“Some coffee would be good,” John Paul said.

Mrs. Tully looked at him blankly and Jamie said, “They don’t have coffee here.” He turned to Mrs. Tully. “Yes, thanks. Tea would be nice.”

She led them to the table, and as they took their seats, she said, “It’ll be a moment. I must start the fire in the stove first.”

“You have a wood burning stove?” Carl asked. “Jamie, go help her.”

Jamie stood and said, “I can heat the water for you, Mrs. Tully.”

She stared at him, a startled look in her eyes, then she turned toward the kitchen and said, “Let me fetch the kettle, first.”

Jamie picked up a book from a stack in the corner and paged through it. Then he set it down and picked up another, muttering as he examined it. “Oh yeah,” he said with a nod. “We’ve definitely come to the right place.”

He put the book back and they settled in their chairs. Brinna hesitated at first before finally taking a seat at the end of the table. She looked at John Paul and he held her gaze for a long moment before she turned away, a hint of color rising on her cheeks.

Carl and John Paul laid their guns on the floor beside them and Brinna said, “Are those weapons?”

“They’re shotguns,” John Paul said. “But don’t worry. We’re police officers.”

She gave him a confused look, and Jamie said, “It’s like your town sheriff. They enforce the law. They’re called policemen where we’re from.”

“And where are you from? Your accent is most peculiar.”

Jamie took a deep breath as if considering what to tell her and said, “We’re...from another world.”

“Oh.” Brinna nodded, showing no surprise, like it was an everyday occurrence. Then she and John Paul locked eyes again, and Carl pressed his mouth tight to keep from smiling.

“So, Brinna,” John Paul said, “are you a housekeeper here too?”

“Oh, no. I just came today to help my mother with some heavy things. She wants to move the beds so she can clean under them.”

“What do you do?”

“Do?”

“Do you have a job?”

Jamie cleared his throat. “Most women don’t have jobs here, John Paul, at least not when I was here.”

Carl stared at Jamie.
When I was here? He’s still struggling with Eddan’s memories
.

Brinna laid one slender hand lightly on her chest. “I have a shop in town. It belonged to my husband...my late husband. My brother minds it on Saturday mornings so that I can help Ma.” Then she glanced at John Paul’s left hand.

She’s looking for a ring!
Carl almost laughed aloud.
It’s a good thing Rachel and Lisa aren’t here, or I’d never hear the end of it
.

“Wait.” John Paul knitted his brow. “You have Saturdays on this world?”

“Certainly. Why wouldn’t we? It’s one of the days of the week.”

John Paul turned to Jamie, who only shrugged and said, “Don’t look at me. I don’t know why it’s the same.”

Mrs. Tully returned with a cast iron kettle in one hand and a tray full of porcelain cups in the other. Jamie stood and hurried to her side. “Let me help you with that.”

She seemed surprised at first, but then she stepped aside and Jamie said, “Do you want it boiling?”

“Yes, please.” She set the kettle on a low shelf by the table.

He placed his hand over it until it glowed softly for a moment and steam began rising from the spout. “That should do it.” He returned to his seat and she tapped some loose tea from a tin into the kettle.

Carl watched and shook his head slowly.
She takes magic so casually
.

While they waited for the tea to steep, Carl examined the table more closely. It was well-crafted, made of highly figured gold-colored wood with darker strips inlaid near the edges. He rubbed his fingers over the deep glossy finish and said, “This is a nice piece of furniture, Mrs. Tully. So are the chairs.”

“Master Renn had them made for his mother, Mrs. Carthy. He treated her like a queen, he did. He hired my son to do some work on the house, too. He built her a new kitchen and replaced these floors. Did a fine job, I must say.” There was a hint of pride in her voice as she spoke. “He does good work.” She poured the tea and brought the cups to the table, setting one in front of each of them. Then she took a seat beside her daughter.

Carl examined the flooring, closely-fitted planks of pale wood, showing no gaps or irregularities. “Looks like your son did a good job.” He nodded with approval and looked up. “Renn lived with his mother?”

“She was his adoptive mother, though he was completely devoted to her. She raised him, so I’m told, after his birth mother and the rest of his family died during the Dark Plague.”

Carl glanced at Jamie and saw his face tighten.
That must be the plague that Eddan didn’t do anything about. It still bothers Jamie
.

“But he loved that woman, Renn did,” Mrs. Tully continued. “He would do anything for her. He offered to buy her one of the big houses in town, but she wouldn’t move. Stubborn woman, she was. She loved living here by this part of the river, so Master Renn tried to make this house as nice as he could.”

“It seems like a fine house, and you keep it clean, I can tell.” Carl cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “Mrs. Tully, do you know what Renn was up to?”

“Up to?”

“What he was doing, I mean, when he wasn’t helping his mother.”

“Well, he studied his books an awful lot, and he would disappear sometimes for days, and return with more books.”

“Were you aware that he was a murderer?”

She squeezed her mouth tight and looked at her lap, then she glanced at her daughter before turning back to Carl. “There were rumors. I figured there must be some truth to them. He was always kind to me, though, and he dearly loved Mrs. Carthy.”

“As Jamie told you, he tried to kill me and my wife, and Jamie, too. That’s why Jamie had to kill him.”

“But....” She glanced at Jamie. “How can one so young kill a master sorcerer? Renn was very powerful. He was feared far and wide because of his skill.”

Jamie, who was staring into his teacup, looked up and said, “I have the memories and power of an ancient wizard named Eddan. He’s from here. His tower was on the other side of the valley.”

“Eddan the Sorcerer?” Her eyes widened. “No wonder you were able to defeat Master Renn.” She fingered her teacup and stared at the far wall for a moment. “I heard Master Renn say something about you, I mean, Eddan, before he left...the last time I saw him.”

“He was hunting for me,” Jamie said. “Probably had been for a long time.”

“I think he was obsessed with you.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” Carl said. “He’s dead.” Carl picked up his teacup, but didn’t drink it. “Tell me, Mrs. Tully. How long have you worked for Renn?”

“Almost three years. He brought me in to help care for Mrs. Carthy when she became too frail to care for herself. After she died, he asked me to stay on as his housekeeper, since he didn’t seem interested in finding a wife.” She glanced at her daughter again, who gave her a telling look before turning her attention to her teacup.

We need to get down to business
. Carl said, “The reason we’re here is that we have a problem, a big one, back on our world. A demon has appeared near us and is killing people, and we don’t know what to do about it. We’re hoping we can find the answer in one of these books in this house.” He gestured around him with one hand. “So what we need to know is...who owns them, now that Renn is dead?”

“Why, Master Jamie does, of course,” Mrs. Tully said. “He owns everything here. The house and all that’s in it.”

“What?” Jamie sat up so fast that he spilled a little of his tea. “That can’t be right!”

“Oh yes, that’s the way it’s done with sorcerers. You killed Master Renn, so all of his possessions become yours.” She pursed her lips. “Is that not the custom where you are from?”

“No,” Carl said. “We do things a little differently.” He took a sip from his cup and set it down. “So, if we wanted to take these books, we could?”

“Of course.”

“Well, there you go then.” He turned to Jamie, who still looked somewhat stunned. “Are you having trouble with this?”

“Well....” Jamie rubbed his forehead and widened his eyes. “That sounds right, the winner-take-all thing, now that I think about it. I don’t believe it was much of an issue with Eddan, because he usually didn’t kill other wizards. He just banished them to that world where we left Rita and Cassandra.”

“What about the wizards’ belongings?”

Jamie shook his head and bit his lip. “I...I’m not sure what he did about that. I think he took their books. He had an awful lot of them.”

Carl turned back to Mrs. Tully. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is we can have the books, if we can figure out what to do with them.” He scanned the room and grimaced. “There sure are a
lot
of them, though.”

“There are many more in the bedrooms. There are even some in the cellar, but they are the ones that Master Renn thought to be of little use.”

John Paul looked around the room, too. “It’ll take us two whole days to move all of these.”

Jamie frowned. “And I’d have to leave a magic doorway open the whole time.
Not
a good idea.”

Carl rubbed his temple with the fingertips of one hand. “What else can we do? We need to move them someplace safe.”

“They are perfectly safe here,” Mrs. Tully said. “No one is foolish enough to try to steal from a master sorcerer.” She glanced at Jamie. “Even one as young as Master Jamie.”

“I’m not
Master
Jamie,” he said. “Just Jamie.”

“You are master of this house, therefore you are Master Jamie, to me.”

“No, I’m not.” Then he sighed and waved one hand in surrender.

“Why not leave the books here?” Brinna said. “You can study them here at your leisure.”

Carl started to argue, but changed his mind. “Jamie, can we do that? Can you come here and study?”

“There are way too many books. It would take forever. I’d have to have help.”

“Maybe Fred and Rollie could help you.”

“But when? And I’d have to make doorways so we could go back and forth. That’s too dangerous.”

“Why can’t you stay here, then?” Brinna said. “It’s
your
house.”

“Because I —” Jamie sat for a moment with his mouth open and one finger in the air. “I don’t know.” He dropped his hand and looked at Carl.

“Have you felt anyone’s magic since we got here?” Jamie shook his head, and Carl turned back to Mrs. Tully. “Is it safe here?”

“I’ve lived in this town my whole life and never had a problem.”

Carl locked eyes with Jamie for several seconds before saying, “So, do we risk it? Staying here while you search the books?”

Jamie scratched his head and shrugged. “Unless you have a better idea.”

“Not at the moment.” Carl pulled hard at his chin while he considered their limited options. “Mrs. Tully, are there beds here?”

“There is one in each room, and each room is
quite
clean, I assure you. They just have too many books in them.”

“Ma doesn’t tolerate filth,” Brinna said.

“I believe that,” Carl said. “She reminds me of my mother-in-law.”

“We could come for spring break,” Jamie said. “It starts next Friday.”

“We might be able to work that out, but I’ll have to see if I can take some vacation time to look after you.”

“Maybe Mom can stay with us, if it’s only for a couple of days or so,” Jamie said. “She’s off for spring break, too.”

“I’d feel better if I was here.” He gave his head a tight shake. “I want you to know that I would never,
ever
, consider this if it wasn’t so important. But it’s got to be done...we just need to figure out who can stay with you.” He shook his head again and frowned. “Your mom
definitely
will not allow it unless she checks this place out first. Fred’s parents, too.”