Wizard's Blood [Part Two] (17 page)

“
Let’s see what I can do. Maybe I’m stronger after a couple of years doing this right. Just remember. I explained that magic doesn’t work well here.”

He focused on the slip of paper and while it was easier than he remembered, it was ridiculously difficult to lift the small piece of paper and move it to the ash tray. Once he had the paper moved, he used what magical strength he had left and coaxed it into flame.

Janie’s eyes grew wide as the paper moved unassisted into the ashtray and then burst into flame. She looked at Randy, whose eyes were locked onto the paper in concentration.

“
How did you do that?” she asked.

“
I already told you,” he said tolerantly. “There is no way I could have planned it in advance. You ordered the pizza and I have never touched the sales slip. How else would you explain it?”

Janie got up and walked across the room. She stood and looked out the window for a very long time. Finally she came and walked back to where Randy sat.

“
You really want me to believe you’ve been off to another world?”

“
It’s the truth. In a few days I can show you the transition, when I try and go back. If it works as it’s supposed to, then you will see me disappear right in front of you.”

“
Why can’t you show me right now?”

“
Because I might only have one shot at this. And in all honesty, it might not work, at which time I know you won’t believe me. Our great ancestor Oscar was from the other world, and was trapped here. He used the wrong spell and didn’t have enough magic here to make it back. I think we have the correct spell, but I can’t be positive until I try. Once I go back, there may be a delay before I can come back. Maybe I won’t be able to. They have forgotten much on Gaea, and we only recently uncovered the path back here. I can’t afford to waste the attempt to go back in case it is the only trip I get to make.”

“
Okay, I’ll give you a couple of days, and then you need to prove to me this isn’t something out of your imagination.” She stopped and looked at Randy. “You seem surprised.”

“
I didn’t think there was a chance of your believing me. I expected to be tossed out on my ear.”

“
Maybe I have reason to believe you, or maybe I want to.” She cocked her head and then said. “Timmy will be coming in the door in about two minutes.”

Randy looked at her, but as if on cue, the fifteen year old opened the door and came into the house.

“
Ma, I’m home,” he hollered, and then getting her response headed up the stairs.

“
I know where they are,” she said. “I know if they’re okay. I always have. Others say they get feelings about their kids. This is more than that. I simply know. When Kathy got knocked unconscious at school a few years ago, I knew and was on the way before they called. I always wondered how. I asked dad if anyone in the family had ever said they could do such a thing, but he said I was being silly. Maybe there’s something to what you say. I feel a little like I’m being silly and gullible, but something happened to you, and there is that man who keeps coming here. Twice I tried to go out and ask him what he was up to, but by the time I got out back he was gone. I could never tell where he could have gone, but once there were prints in the snow. They led right to where you said, and stopped. The next morning I found another set leading away. How is that possible?”

* * * *

“
Where is my car?” Randy asked after he and his sister had finished making up the bed with fresh linens in his old room. There were enough rooms in the large house that she hadn’t needed to disturb anything to find places for each of her kids. She was in the large master bedroom their father had used, which Randy had never moved into.

“
I sold it over a year ago,” she said. “I guess it was premature, but everyone was certain you were gone for good. We actually had you declared legally dead, which delayed a lot of the legal closure on the house. I didn’t like driving anything so big, and couldn’t stand just seeing it rot. Maybe we can rent you one in the morning.”

Randy wondered what it would be like to drive again. He still had his driver’s license, and it was good for another six months, which was longer than he expected to need it anyway.

“
I guess I still have your money in the bank.”

“
I wondered if you might have needed it,” Randy said.

She shook her head. “Things were tight for a while after Bud and I split, but once the house in Denver sold we had enough. I’ll start teaching again in the fall – I’ve already been accepted here at the high school. I put everything in one account, but I can transfer it anytime you like.”

“
Maybe we can draw some out tomorrow,” he said. “I have a number of purchases I want to make. I don’t think money will be a major problem, although I plan to spend quite a bit over the next month or so, but I’ll need to find a place to exchange gold.”

“
Gold?”

“
I have some hidden in the garage unless you found it.” She was shaking her head to indicate she hadn’t any idea what he was talking about. “I also brought this with me.”

Randy reach down and lifted the small, but heavy box he’d been carrying around with him and set it on the scratched old desk in the corner of his room. He reached down and slipped the latch that had held it closed and flipped back the lid.

“
Oh my god,” Janie said, seeing the ingots of gold. “Where did you get that?”

“
Courtesy of the royal treasury of Angon,” Randy replied. “It’s a bit more than I asked for, but I had no idea what gold might be worth now, and I wanted to make sure I had enough.”

“
How much is there?”

“
About ten pounds. I had about twenty thousand dollars in gold coins in the garage. I’ll check in the morning and see if it’s still there.”

He reached over and grabbed the one gold coin in the box. He didn’t know why he’d brought it, but on a whim had thrown it into the box with the other gold. He handed to his sister.

“
Here’s an official coin from the country I’ve spent most of my time in. One gold Royal. You’d have the coin dealers going crazy trying to figure where that came from.”

“
This is too much. I still am not sure what to believe and what not. We have a great deal more to talk about in the morning. One thing though. You haven’t asked about Sharon.”

He hadn’t and he expected he knew the answer. He’d known he was going to have to face the matter at some point, but wasn’t sure he was ready so soon.

“
She’s dead,” Janie said simply. “At the time I thought maybe what happened to her was related to your disappearance. Now I don’t know what to think.”

“
When? How did she die?” Randy couldn’t avoid the matter now.

“
Almost two years ago. She overdosed. I didn’t think she even used drugs.”

Randy sighed. It didn’t come as a surprise, but it was different hearing it stated as fact. He’d failed her. Cheurt had taken her away, and when he was done with her, he had gotten rid of her. The way he’d done it made her death just another statistic.

“
She didn’t. She was murdered. Most likely killed by the man you’ve seen coming into the yard. That should be considered a warning. Stay away from him at all costs. He would kill you without a second thought if he considered it necessary.”

Janie’s eyes went wide as she saw the truthfulness of his statement in his eyes.

“
These are very dangerous people. Before I leave for good, I think I can find a way to stop them from coming back, but I won’t know for sure until I try it. For now, if you see this person, let me know and stay away. I know where he is probably staying. I was forced to rent a house some time ago and . . .”

Janie was shaking her head and he stopped.

“
I wondered about the house. After you were missing a few months I was able to look into your affairs, even though I wasn’t able to officially take any action. When I found the payments on the bank statements, I tried to find out who was living there. The place was deserted. I stopped the payments and no one ever complained, except the owner, and I told him you had died and didn’t need it any longer.”

That meant they had moved when they learned he was on Gaea, concerned that his being missing here on Earth might bring attention their way. Another in a long list of tasks. He would need to find where Cheurt’s man had moved to, a lot more difficult now that he was staying elsewhere.

“
I’m going to check on the kids and then go to bed. We have a lot more to talk about in the morning. ‘Nite Randy. Welcome back.”

“
Good night, Janie,” Randy responded automatically. He had a lot of conflicting emotions to sort through, and he needed to start a list of what he needed to do.

Randy didn’t sleep that soundly and was up well before dawn and before he could hear any sounds of movement in the house. In a way, it was convenient, and being alone in his room allowed him a chance to become acclimated to the reality of his return. He rubbed his face and realized that he was now going to have to get used to the idea of shaving again, along with other changes now that he no longer could count on his magic to handle certain things for him.

He also discovered that he had grown. While his pants and shoes fit fine, some of his shirts were decidedly tight and uncomfortable. He spent some time and sorted through the offerings in the closet and found a half dozen that were large enough that they could be worn. Since the weather was getting cooler, he could get by wearing looser sweaters, which would help. He could see little point in acquiring more clothes, at least until he understood for certain that he would be making a number of round trips. If he were going to be here for a couple of months, then it would make sense to get a few items for comfort’s sake.

Dressed, and looking more like he belonged here, Randy walked out of his room and down the stairs and headed out into the garage. He surprised himself by opening his safe on the very first try, then realized he couldn’t remember the combination. He’d spun the dial automatically while his mind was thinking about the list of things that he needed to get done in the next few days. Now that he thought about it, the numbers wouldn’t come. Best to leave it unlocked just in case he was unable to bring them back. He’d had a similar thing happen to him in school years before. Everyday he’d open his hall locker, and his gym locker, and his science room locker without fail. Then they juggled the schedule for some kind of special presentation. As a result, he’d come to the lockers out of order, and, to his dismay, had been unable to open any of them. Trying to recall the numbers rather than instinctively just opening the locks had driven the numbers out of his mind completely. He’d had to go to the administration building, explain his plight, and get a written list of the numbers to be able to get access to his books.

His rifles and shotgun were exactly where he’d left them, unused for several years now. He took each one out and inspected it carefully for rust or other problems. Later he’d run a patch through the bores and give them a bit of servicing, but they actually looked in fine shape given the neglect they’d received. These weren’t the guns he wanted to bring back, but he’d bring them anyway for the trial run since he wouldn’t have time in the next few days to accumulate the items he really wanted. He’d thought about delaying his return so he could work on acquiring the guns he wanted, but finally decided if he could get back to Gaea, he was sure returning to Earth wouldn’t be a problem. More important would be whether he could return to Gaea at all, and how much he could bring with him. It didn’t make sense to run out and buy a lot of stuff, only to learn he couldn’t bring it back. Besides, if he didn’t return as scheduled, there would be a great deal of concern among his friends on Gaea.

While he had the long guns, he was woefully short on ammunition. He had less than a full box of twenty rounds for the .300 magnum, and perhaps two hundred rounds for the .22. The .22’s were standard lead bullet stuff, hollow points, but he knew it would be better to have the copper coated bullets that could be easily purchased. He couldn’t find any ammunition at all for the Mini-14. Writing down the brand and bullet weight of the ammunition for the .300 magnum which he knew the rifle had been sighted in with, he added to his list the need to get a supply for each while he was here.

Satisfied, he closed the door to the safe, but didn’t spin the dial to lock it. He walked over to the side door and walked back across the yard toward the barn out back. He made a deliberate detour and as he approached the grassy rise, he sensed the Nexus active and waiting. At least it was still there and he could sense it. That gave him a better feeling about the situation.

The barn wasn’t locked, and he slipped the heavy wooden bar and pulled the large doors open and walked inside, flipping on the lights as he did so. Smelling the dust and mold and seeing lots of spider webs along the walls near places where there were breaks or gaps in the boards, he walked toward the back of the barn. In the farthest horse stall, he pulled open the gate and walked inside. He had to get the shovel and broom to clear away the dirt and hay that covered the area, but finally uncovered the small trap door that led down to the storage area below.

Halfway down the small ladder, he reached over and flipped on the power to the small light he’d installed down here some years before. His father had never known about the small room, and to this day Randy didn’t know what had led him to the hidden space. When he found it, the room had been barren and empty. He’d wondered who had built the room and what its original purpose had been. He’d kept it as his own secret, never telling anyone about it. Now that he returned, he could see that nothing had been disturbed during his absence. The various treasures he’d left down here were still placed as he’d left them. Far in the back he found the small strong box with the gold coins he’d stashed. He pulled that out to take back to the house. The first gold he’d exchange would be something a bit more familiar to the dealers here. Standard US Gold Eagles would be a bit easier to sell than raw gold. He wanted a little more experience before he tried to sell any of the Gaean gold. Since there was nothing else here that was relevant to his needs at the moment, Randy climbed back up the ladder and up into the barn, covering up the hideaway and returning everything as he’d found it.