Doorways to Infinity (12 page)

“What if somebody sees the doorway?”

“I can put it on a deserted road outside of your home town. I bet you know of one like that, don’t you? And I’ll make a peephole first to make sure nobody’s around.”

“How will you know where to put the doorway? Can you put one anywhere you want?”

“Google Maps.” Jamie grinned. “We’ll boot up the computer, and you can pick out a road out for me. Then we’ll put your van in our garage, close the door so our neighbors can’t see us, and I’ll put the portal in there. We do that with my dad’s truck sometimes, like when we need it on Eddan’s world.” Jamie moved one flattened hand slowly through the air in front of his chest. “You’ll drive through it and
presto!
You’ll be home.”

“What about our briefing on Sunday? If the roads are still bad, Terry and I might not make it back in time.”

“Isn’t Thanksgiving dinner with your family more important?” Carl said.

“Of course. But this assignment is important, too.”

“Don’t worry about driving back,” Jamie said. “I’ll make a magic doorway for you on Sunday, too. It’ll save you a ton of time and you can stay with your family longer.”

“I suppose that could work. But what do I tell my wife? She’ll know about the roads being closed. How do I explain how we got home so fast?”

“Tell her you got a break in the traffic.” Jamie nodded confidently. “Say it was like magic.”

Carl backed his red pickup truck out of the garage and Eric and Terry put their van in its place. Then Jamie made a portal for them, and the grateful agents went home.

Fred, Nova, and Sammi went back to Fred’s house and things quieted down while Rachel made dinner and Carl relaxed in front of the television in the family room.

When it was time to eat, Rachel sent Carl to find Jamie and get him to the table. Carl looked everywhere and finally located him on the deck, sitting on the top step and facing the yard, his chin resting on his fist like Rodin’s famous statue. Jamie wore only a light fleece jacket, even though it had gotten colder at sunset.

“Hey,” Carl said from the open door, “it’s dinnertime.”

Jamie’s mumbled response was barely audible, and he glanced at Carl before turning back to the yard, already so dark that the playset and the gazebo were barely distinguishable.

“You okay? It’s kinda cold out here.”

He shrugged, and Carl knew something serious was on his mind, so Carl closed the back door and took a seat next to Jamie on the hard wooden step. “What’s bothering you? It must have something to do with those two agents.”

Jamie glanced at Carl again. “They gave me quite a scare when they first showed up here. I thought that they’d found out about us, about the magic and everything.”

“But they didn’t know until we told them, and we’re okay.”

“For now, but for how long? If the NSA and the CIA know about Rita and Cassandra, they might eventually figure out what we’re doing, and that would ruin everything. Fred and Rollie and I would have to drop out of school and move to Eddan’s world or something, and you and Mom would have to go into hiding. The Callahans and the Wilkins would, too.”

“It doesn’t look like the spy agencies have figured it out yet, so maybe they won’t. Maybe you and your friends’ combined magic is working in a way you didn’t expect, and it’s helping to hide your secret.”

“But what if it’s not? Should I completely stop making doorways and doing magic, and lay low? What if we’re only safe because of sheer luck?”

“We’ll deal with that when we have, too.
If
we have to. Besides, you need to keep making doorways to Eddan’s world because you have so much invested there, and they’re depending on you to keep the school and the clinic going. It’s worth the risk. I feel like our luck will hold out for a while longer.”

“Maybe. I guess we need to be even more careful about our electronic communications. No loose words over the phone or texts or Facebook or anything else.”

“We can sit down together and work out some code words you can use that don’t sound like anything important. That should help.”

“Makes me wish we hadn’t told those two agents our story. We’re even more exposed, now.”

“You’d walk away from helping them? That doesn’t sound like you.”

“But what if word leaks out about our magic? Everybody’s life would be ruined. We’d have ten thousand reporters in our front yard overnight, and terminally ill people wanting magic cures, and religious nuts and would-be witches and wizards and….” He blew out a sharp burst of air. “You name it. Our lives as we know it would be over. No more normal for us.”

He patted Jamie on the back. “Have we ever had normal, Jamie?”

“I guess not. But still, it’s normal enough. That might be over now that we’re involved with those two agents.”

“That’s a risk we’ll just have to take. Somebody needs to do something about Phillip Cage, and that’s got to be us. Nobody else has the capability.”

“Is this the way it’s always going to be? Whenever there’s an unusual crisis that nobody else can handle, will it get dumped in our laps?”

“Possibly. Didn’t you say you that you and your friends’ combined magic is like magical gravity? Strong magic attracts big problems?”

“Maybe if I stop hanging around with my friends I won’t have these problems.”

“Do you really think you could stop hanging around with your friends?”

“No.”

“Well, then get used to being the magical crisis solver.” He patted Jamie on the back again and stood. “I’m freezing. Let’s go eat.”

Chapter 6

The next day, Jamie made a glowing doorway in his family room, pushed it open, and on the other side was Dr. Tindall, waiting in her house in Cullowhee. She held a Bundt cake on a plate, wrapped in cellophane, and wore a surprised expression. “Oh my,” she said breathlessly. “You did it.”

“I told you I could. Come on in.”

She stepped through and gazed around. “This is your house in Hendersonville? I’m really there? How far is that?”

“About seventy miles,” Jamie said.

“Just like that, I traveled seventy miles?”

“We can go to Australia just as fast, or anywhere, for that matter.”

“Fantastic.” She smiled faintly, then she took a deep breath through her nose. “Something smells good.”

“My mom’s roasting a turkey. Hold on.” He called out, “Mom, Dr. Tindall is here.”

Rachel came out of the kitchen and Jamie introduced them, then Dr. Tindall offered her the cake. “Where do you want this?”

Rachel took it from her and said, “This looks divine. Let’s put it on the folding table in the other house, along with the rest of the extra food.”

“What other house?”

“I told you I was going to do this.” Jamie pointed to another glowing portal on the far wall. “I made a doorway to my stone house in Rivershire and kinda joined our two houses for the day, since there are so many of us. That’s where everybody else is right now, because the weather’s nicer over there, and mom didn’t want the TV on in here.”

“I wondered where everybody was,” Dr. Tindall said. “You said it was going to be crowded, but it seems rather quiet.”

“Here.” Rachel handed the cake to Jamie. “Why don’t you take this with you and give her a quick tour? And tell everybody we’ll eat in thirty minutes.”

Jamie led Dr. Tindall to the portal and said, “I’ll make a bigger doorway once we’re ready to sit down to eat. I’ll put it in the dining room here and make it open up by the big table in the stone house. Then it’ll be like one big room and we can all eat together.”

“How many of us are there today?”

“Fifteen or sixteen, I think. That’s the most we’ve ever had. Rollie and Fred won’t be eating with us, but we may see them later.”

They stepped through into his house in Rivershire. A fire blazed in the fireplace, and sitting near it were Carl, Granddaddy Pete, Uncle Ray, Cory, and John Paul. They were spread across the furniture, watching the football game on the television in the corner, oblivious to Jamie and his guest.

“You have cable TV service on this planet?” Dr. Tindall said.

“I made a mini-portal and ran the wire into the Callahan’s house back in Hendersonville. We don’t normally have the TV out here, because our moms think it ruins the atmosphere. We usually store it in the cellar and only bring it out for special occasions. Everybody’s here except for Grannie Darla. She went shopping earlier, but she’s on her way.” He set the cake with the other food on the long folding table that was set up behind the couch, then he called out, “Hey, guys. This is Dr. Tindall.” Jamie made quick introductions and Pete stood and came to greet her.

“Good to see you again,” Pete said as he shook her hand. “I hear you’ve agreed to help us out with our next mining prospect. I don’t see why we need to do an environmental impact study, but Jamie says we have to, and he’s the boss.” He winked at Jamie and flashed a white-toothed smile.

“It won’t hurt to check it out,” she said, “because once an ecosystem is altered, there’s no going back. It’s a unique opportunity for me, though.”

“I hope it doesn’t take too long. It could be worth a lot of money to us, and Jamie’s plans for Rivershire keep getting bigger every day.”

“It’s not just me,” Jamie said. “Grannie Darla wants us to build a park there.”

Pete rolled his eyes and
tsked
. “Yeah, that’s my wife’s newest project. She wants us to put one on the land next to my headquarters.”

“How much will it cost?” Dr. Tindall asked.

“Depends on how big we make it and what we put in it. But there’s not one in Rivershire now, and my tourist friends would like it.”

“So would the locals,” Jamie said. “I’ll go for it if we put in a playground.”

“Darla wants flower beds and walking trails and ornamental trees, too. She wants to hire a landscape architect and go all out. It’s a good thing we have the first mining deal in the bag, because this park will probably be expensive, knowing my wife. I’d feel a lot better if we had a second deal in the works. Bigger financial cushion, with that.”

“Do you have a world picked out for me to investigate?” Dr. Tindall said.

“Jamie’s hasn’t done it yet.”

“Well, my team will work as quickly as we can, once you decide which one, but first we get a shot at Rivershire. We get to take samples while it’s still relatively unspoiled. That’s my condition for helping you.”

“When do you plan to do that?” Pete asked.

“I was hoping to begin gathering samples over the winter holiday, because I don’t have to teach any classes then. I’ll need to find a place to stay, though. Is there still room at the boarding house in Rivershire?”

“Not unless somebody moves out soon.” Pete said. “I already reserved the last two rooms for your grad students.” He shrugged. “Unless they can bunk together and you can take one of the rooms.”

“Um….” She rubbed her cheek and frowned. “One of them is a young man and the other is a young woman, so that won’t work.”

“Stay here, then,” Jamie said. “In my house. Then your grad students would each have their own room at the boarding house.”

“I couldn’t do that. That would be imposing on you.”

“Nobody’s staying here right now anyway. Our parents take turns staying here sometimes on the weekends, and I come here with my friends once in a while to hang out, but not so much lately.”

“It’s a comfortable little place,” Pete said. “Darla and I have stayed here twice.”

“But what about Mrs. Tully? Won’t I inconvenience her?”

“She might like the company,” Jamie said, “though you wouldn’t see her much if you’re out all day doing field research. She’d probably cook for you, though.”

“I can cook for myself. Is there a microwave oven here?”

“No.” Jamie chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. If you’re here, Mrs. Tully would probably cook for you and herself and Aiven, too. It’ll be easier on her because she’s got an old wood-burning stove at her house.” Jamie nodded firmly. “The only problem you’ll have is transportation. You’ll have to get your grad students to pick you up in the truck in the morning.”

“How far is it to your headquarters, Pete? Isn’t that where we’ll keep the truck?”

“It’s about a mile. I walk it sometimes.”

“Or you could ride a bike,” Jamie said, “if the weather’s okay.”

“You can work something out,” Pete said. “But right now I’d like to get back to the football game, if you don’t mind. It’s time for the second half.”

He returned to the couch, and Jamie said to Dr. Tindall, “Let me give you a quick tour of the house.”

He showed her the two bedrooms and the bathroom, then took her to the kitchen to find Evelyn and Aunt Connie with Mrs. Tully. The sturdy-looking housekeeper was kneading dough on a wide board, her forearms covered with flour.

“Hello, Nancy,” Evelyn said. “Glad you made it.” She introduced Mrs. Tully, who only nodded.

“I would shake your hand, Dr. Tindall,” Mrs. Tully said, “but I am afraid I would make a mess of you.”

“Oh, please,” Dr. Tindall said, “call me Nancy.”

“I doubt she will,” Jamie said, “she still calls my gramma Mrs. Wallace and she calls me Master Jamie.”

“And she calls me Mrs. Moore,” Aunt Connie said, “even though she’s our friend.”

“’Tis a matter of respect,” Mrs. Tully said. “And habit, now.”

“Call me whatever you like,” Dr. Tindall said. “What are you cooking for us?”

“I have already prepared a ham and an apple pie, and now I am making one more loaf of bread, my third, at Master Jamie’s request.”

“She makes awesome bread,” he said. “Everything she makes is awesome. She cooked for us when we stayed here over spring break.”

“Is that when you were searching through the spell books for a solution to the demon problem?” Dr. Tindall asked.

Jamie nodded. “That was an interesting week.”

“That’s an understatement,” Evelyn said. “Come on, Nancy. Let me take you outside and show you the backyard and the river. That’s where everyone is.”

Evelyn guided Dr. Tindall through the back door, and Connie and Jamie came with them. Brinna, Sophie, Aiven, and Gina were standing with Sugar. They all greeted Dr. Tindall and she said, “So this is the horse I’ve heard so much about?” She stroked Sugar’s golden brown neck. “Beautiful animal.”