The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (46 page)

He spread his arms straight out and his hands started to glow again. He began to spin, slowly at first, and his hands glowed brighter. He rotated faster, and the glow seemed to merge into a circle around his body. The circle grew thicker and grew upward into a cylinder of light. It formed above Jamie, longer and longer, until it resembled a luminescent smokestack, fifty feet high.

Jamie held his hands before him and another sphere materialized, the size of a beach ball, metallic looking, chrome-like. He lowered the shiny object to his knees, then flung it upward into the glowing tube.

Evelyn heard a fantastic
swooshing
sound, and held her breath as she watched.

The ball shot from the far end of the cylinder and blasted toward the heavens. It rocketed through the air and at its peak, exploded in a spectacular burst of light and colorful streamers, the flaming bits flying off in a dazzling umbrella of pyrotechnics, high above their heads. The bits began to coalesce into silvery particles, like snow, that fluttered down from the sky to the crowd below.

Everyone gaped at the glittering precipitation, and when the shiny, metallic flakes neared the ground, they held out their hands to try to catch them. Evelyn opened up her palm and watched as a sparkling bit settled onto her hand, vanishing in a tiny flash as it touched her skin.

Jamie slowly descended and settled on the street. At first, people just stared at him, silently. Then Rollie and Bryce started clapping, and everyone else began to join them, until the square was soon filled with a thunderous roar.

Rollie and Bryce chanted, “Ja-mie, Ja-mie, Ja-mie,” and others picked it up, too. Jamie took a theatrical bow, then a sheepish look crossed his face. He finally darted to the sidewalk where Evelyn and the others stood.

He tried to hide behind his friends, but Fred wouldn’t have it. “Dance with me, Jamie. In the sky!”

“Aw...that’s enough magic for tonight, don’t you think?”

“No. I want to
dance
.” Fred dashed to the stage and had a quick word with the musicians, then ran back. She dragged Jamie by the hand to the center of the street as the band began playing a slow waltz. She put her arms around Jamie and they floated from the pavement. When they were near rooftop level, Fred said, “Hold it.” They paused in midair and she cupped one hand to her mouth and shouted, “Girls, grab a boy! It’s Ladies’ Choice!”

There was a brief bit of chaos as women of all ages rushed about, snagging the men they wanted and pulling them to the street near Fred. Fred nodded with a smile and turned her attention back to Jamie, their gazes locked while they twirled gracefully, high above the street.

Evelyn recognized several of the girls that had come to the house for love potions, arms wrapped around boys, happy looks on their faces. Evelyn saw Feather dancing with a strapping young man with wide shoulders.
That must be the blacksmith’s apprentice, the one she wanted
.

Melanie and Bryce danced nearby. A young woman stepped from the crowd and caught Rollie’s arm, and as she dragged him away, he said back over his shoulder, “Mrs. Wallace, you sure you don’t want to dance with me instead?”

“No,” she called after him. “I want to watch.”

Mrs. Tully turned to Aiven. “Will you dance with me, young man?” He grinned and they joined the throng in the square.

It seemed to Evelyn that nearly every woman was in the arms of a man, but the couple that really caught her eye was Brinna and John Paul, dancing in a tight embrace, almost directly underneath Jamie and Fred. John Paul’s arms were around Brinna’s shoulders, hers around his waist, and her cheek was pressed against his chest. Her eyes were closed in a blissful look that only someone newly in love could have.

Evelyn remembered feeling that way, and dancing like that, long ago.

Chapter 36

Jamie got up early the next morning and slipped quietly out of the bedroom while Rollie and Bryce still slept. He found his grandmother already up, brewing coffee in the kitchen.

“You’re up early again,” Evelyn said.

“Couldn’t sleep anymore. I feel like I should get an early start on the books since we blew off working last night.”

“But it was fun, wasn’t it?” She gestured at the coffee pot. “Want some?” He said yes, and she pulled another cup from the cabinet and filled it. “You really put on a heck of a show last night.”

“Probably overdid it a little bit.” He yawned and took the cup from her when she offered it to him. “It’s a good thing we’re not going to be here much longer. People are probably going to be knocking on this front door day and night, now that they’ve seen me in action. They’ll be asking me to do stuff for them.”

She held her coffee to her lips and blew on it. “Think so?”

“Yeah.” He opened a little paper pack of creamer and dumped it in his coffee, followed by some sweetener. “Mayor Duncan pulled me aside before we left last night and tried to talk to me about some project he needed help with, but I sorta brushed him off.”

“Well, if anyone comes by today, Mrs. Tully and I will handle them. I won’t let them disturb you unless it’s a matter of life or death.”

“Gramma?” He took a deep breath and leaned back against the counter to face her, resting his hands on the edge. “You know how you always say that things happen for a reason?”

“Of course. I had this conversation with Rollie recently.”

“I was talking with Fred about this the other night. Ever since we’ve been here, I’ve had this feeling, I mean a really
strong
feeling, that we’re here for a reason.” He gave his head a tight shake. “Not just to find out what to do about the demon, but...something
more
. It’s like....” He stared at his feet for a few seconds. “It’s like the demon was an excuse to get us here, well...not exactly an excuse, but....” He blew out a gust of air. “I don’t know how to put it.”

“That you were supposed to do something else?”

“Or find out something else. Do you know what I mean?”

“I feel that way, too. I feel like I was supposed to make friends with Mrs. Tully. I feel it very strongly.”

“And I feel like Aiven was supposed to be here, and meet her. That never would’ve happened if we hadn’t come. They never would’ve met.”

“I told her that we could try to find someone to adopt him if he was too much trouble for her, but she wouldn’t hear of it.” She folded her lips into her mouth and took a deep breath through her nose. “He makes her happy. Have you noticed? She actually smiles some now, usually at him.” She took a sip of her coffee and nodded. “And I think Brinna and John Paul were supposed to meet, too.”

“No doubt about
that
. You should’ve been here the first day when I came with John Paul and my dad. Brinna and John Paul looked at each other and
boing!
It was like a something clicked into place.”

“They do seem to have fallen in love rather quickly.”

Jamie took a careful sip from his cup, staring thoughtfully at the opposite wall. “But I think the real reason we had to come is that we were supposed to find out that these people are from Earth, and figure out what’s gone wrong with them since they came here.”

“What do mean, what’s wrong? They seem okay to me. In fact, they seem really nice.”

“What I mean is, why they’re stuck in a pre-industrial state, technologically speaking. They’re still basically using the same kinds of tools they brought with them four hundred years ago. Something’s
wrong
with that.”

“So why are they stuck?”

He took a moment to answer. “I think it’s the wizards’ fault.” He nodded firmly, eyes locked with hers. “The witches’ too, to some extent, but mostly the wizards.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “Whenever anybody has a problem, or something needs doing, like designing and building a bridge, they go to a wizard.” He set his cup down and crossed his arms. “You know that saying
necessity is the mother of invention?
Well, they don’t need to invent anything ’cause the wizards have always done it for them, and it’s become ingrained in these people’s minds that that’s the way it’s done.”

Evelyn studied Jamie’s face and fingered the handle of her cup. “It doesn’t help that they have no school here. They used to, did you know that? But the teacher got married and moved away, and they never bothered to get a replacement. Mrs. Tully told me that one of Mayor Duncan’s friends uses the school building as a warehouse because it’s in a good location in town.”

“That stinks.”

“I agree. The rich folks here get tutors for their children, so there’s not much support from them for starting another school.”

He shook his head slowly, staring at the floor, his mouth twisted hard to one side. “Well...I think something is screwed up here.” He turned to face his grandmother and gave her a firm look. “And we’re supposed to figure it out and make it right. That’s what I think.” He gave a little shrug. “But maybe I’m getting too big for my britches. Maybe it’s not my place to interfere.”

“Jamie....” She put one hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. “If you think we’re here for a reason, then maybe this is it. To help these people.”

“Problem is...how?”

They heard one of the bedroom doors open and Evelyn said, “We’ll talk more about this later.”

Over breakfast, Jamie told his friends about his earlier conversation with his grandmother. They all agreed that they had the same feeling.

“I’ve been feeling that way since before we came here,” Rollie said. “I thought that it wasn’t a coincidence that my magic started showing up right at the same time as when the demon did. I thought that maybe if I can use my power to help get rid of him, my dad will accept me...and our magic. He’s bound to, considering how he feels about demons and all. I think that’s why I have my power.”

“Rollie,” Bryce said, “if you didn’t have your magic, that little boy probably would’ve died the other night.” He pointed his index finger at Rollie. “
That’s
why you have your power.”

“I didn’t hardly do anything, ’cept run fetch Mrs. Malley’s potion. And Jamie kept him alive, and...and you figured out the problem. It was more of a group effort.”

“Still, if you didn’t have your super speed, he’d be dead.”

Melanie put her spoon in her empty cereal bowl and leaned back in her chair. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we came here after most of the wizards got killed off by Renn. We might not have been able to stay here otherwise. One of them might’ve found out and come to attack Jamie.”

“We don’t know that they’re all dead,” Jamie said.

“Mrs. Tully told me that Renn was pretty thorough with his serial killing. She said whenever he found out about another wizard, he’d go murder them and take their books and their gold.”

“Maybe Aiven’s the last one,” Fred said.

“Maybe,” Jamie said. “That might be a good thing. There may be some others like him, young and untrained, but with no master sorcerers to teach them.”

Fred fingered her lower lip, her face thoughtful. “I think we were supposed to go to that festival last night. I think we’re supposed to get to know these people here, and really care for them.” She nodded earnestly. “I really like them. I mean, I really
really
do, especially the girls.”

“That’s because they’re your fans now,” Rollie said.

“Hey, Rollie,” Bryce said, “you had the crowd going pretty good last night, too. You were enjoying yourself. Admit it.”

“Yeah....” Rollie smiled wistfully. “We should do a show here, a real one, with a sound system and everything. I could bring my dummy and Fred could tap dance. We’d be
killer!
”

“I think Jamie already did his big show,” Melanie said. “That was pretty spectacular last night. Too bad you can’t do a show like that in Hendersonville.”

“It was nice to finally get it out of my system.” Jamie shrugged. “You know, I’m beginning to wonder if
anything
is a coincidence that’s related to our stay here. You could make a case for just about everything that’s happened, though I haven’t figured out how that big pile of money in the closet fits in.”

“You think it has a purpose in all this?” Rollie asked.

Evelyn walked out of the kitchen for a moment and paused in the doorway. “It’s already been a big help to Mrs. Tully. She’d be destitute if you hadn’t paid her.”

“It’s a
lot
of money Gramma. It’s got to have a bigger purpose than that.”

“Probably so.” Bryce nodded and scratched the side of his neck, one corner of his mouth pulled up. “There may be another reason why we came here after all the other wizards got wiped out. It makes it more obvious how dependent people are on them, don’t you think?”

Jamie frowned. “If Mayor Duncan knocks on our door today, I just might have to blast him.”

“You could banish him to another world,” Fred said. “Wonder what Rita and Cassandra would think of him.”

“We need to put that aside for now,” Jamie said. “We only have one day left to sift through these books.”

“Fred,” Melanie said, “maybe you need to put a hex around the house so we can get some work done.”

Evelyn shook her head. “Mrs. Tully and I will take care of it.” She gestured with one hand. “Now go get started on the books.”

* * *

Fred and her friends finished breakfast and settled into the sitting area, each with a magic book. They didn’t get much work done before there was a knock on the front door. Evelyn answered it and sent the visitor quietly away, but before long there was another. Mrs. Tully arrived with Aiven in the carriage, and soon she had to deal with the unwanted callers, one seemingly right after the other. Finally, the kids moved into the second bedroom to distance themselves from the distraction of the constant knocking.

Fred plopped onto a folding chair and opened a book in her lap. “Those people must be knocking on the door for you, Jamie. The festival’s over, so the teenage girls won’t be coming around anymore.”

“And Mrs. Malley is back in business,” Melanie said. “People will probably go to her for their cures and stuff.”