Doorways to Infinity (3 page)

“Are you excited about having her over for Thanksgiving dinner?” Lisa said. “That’s kinda serious, isn’t it?”

“I hope it’s serious. Garrett and I like her a lot.”

“I do, too,” Rachel said, and Lisa agreed.

A smile settled on Adele’s face. “She’s a piece of work, that girl. But in a good way. She’s smart and pretty and has such an interesting personality, you know? She’s edgy but still nice. I enjoy talking to her, and she gets along well with Garrett, which is funny, considering that he used to hate witches.” She nodded firmly. “And Rollie seems to be crazy about her.”

“According to Fred,” Lisa said, “Nova’s just as crazy about him.”

Adele leaned back and rested her elbows on the step behind her. “I used to be jealous of you two ’cause your kids were so obviously meant for each other, even before they started dating.”

“You mean, obvious to everyone but Jamie,” Rachel said.

“Well, he definitely knows now.” Adele rubbed her chin with her shoulder. “But I always felt a little sad for Rollie because he didn’t have that. And when I found out about Jamie and Fred’s magical connection, it made me even sadder. And the way you two touched bellies together when you were pregnant and got that weird tingle and everything? I felt left out.” She shook her head slowly. “But not anymore. I think Rollie and Nova are meant for each other in the same way that Jamie and Fred are. You can just tell. It doesn’t take a wizard or a witch to figure it out. I see a light in both of their eyes when they’re together, and I think it’s the real deal.”

“But they’ve only been dating for few months,” Rachel said.

“Doesn’t matter. I know what I see, and I see my son in love.” Her smile widened to the entire horizon. “And I couldn’t be happier for him.”

* * *

As soon as his Environmental Science class ended on Wednesday, Jamie hurried from the room to the front of the building, the young woman who called herself Ashley following him as if she were on a tether. He let her catch up to him as he neared the door, and they walked outside to the landing.

“Jamie, did you think about my offer?” she said. “If I cook you dinner, you’ll help me study?”

Jamie scanned the wide, busy area between the buildings, searching for Fred, before answering. He spied her rounding the corner on the sidewalk with Melanie and Nova at her side. He turned to Ashley and shrugged. “Uh…haven’t thought about it. I’ve been busy.”

Ashley followed his gaze and saw Fred and her friends, too, and her shoulders slumped. “Oh…your girlfriend is coming, I see.”

“We have a meeting with a professor.” Together they watched the three girls walk up the steps and join them.

Fred narrowed her eyes and said in a dry tone, “Well, hello,
Ashley
. So good to see you again.”

Melanie extended her hand to the young woman and introduced herself, and Ashley shook it half-heartedly, then smiled, though it seemed forced. It didn’t reach her eyes. “So, what are you guys up to?” Ashley said.

“We’re meeting with Dr. Tindall,” Fred said.

“Are you taking Environmental Science, also?”

“No,” Melanie said without further explanation. “Fred told me you registered late for that class. Why did you do that?”

“Uh, I needed something to fill out my schedule, and there was still an opening in it. I thought it might be interesting. I didn’t realize it was going to be so hard.”

“Do you need it for your major?” Fred asked.

“No, I just need the credit.”

“What are you majoring in?” Melanie asked.

“I’m undecided.” She turned to Fred and said, “How about you?”

“Education, I think.”

“I was considering majoring in that. Maybe we could get together and study sometime, if we ever take any of the same classes.” Fred’s brow creased and Ashley added, “I mean, if that’s okay. I don’t know anybody here, and I can use all the help I can get. Being out of school for four years has made it really hard for me to get up to speed on the college thing.” She laughed awkwardly. “It’s not like high school, is it?”

Fred stared at her without answering, and Ashley glanced at her watch and said, “Well, I gotta run. Think about it, Fred. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Fred replied, and Ashley went down the steps and walked away.

When she was out of earshot, Jamie turned to Nova. “Well?”

“She’s lying about everything, except for the class being harder than she thought.”

Melanie rubbed her lower lip with the fingertips of one hand and looked in the direction Ashley had just gone. “That’s really strange. I could understand it if she were actually hitting on Jamie, but she suddenly seemed interested in you, Fred.”

“Maybe she’s gay.”

Nova shook her head, and the little bells woven into her dreadlocks tinkled. “I didn’t get that feeling from her at all. It was something else, something…secretive, I’d say.”

“Gee, Nova,” Fred said. “You don’t need to be a witch to pick up on that.”

“But why, though?” Jamie said. “It’s got me a little worried. You think she knows anything about our
you-know-what
?”

Melanie spoke in a near-whisper, “She didn’t seem interested in Nova, and she’s got plenty of magic.”

“Huh.” Jamie pushed his mouth far to one side. “We might have to look into this. But right now we need to go see my professor.”

“I’m gonna pass,” Melanie said. “You don’t need me for this.” She started for the steps but paused for a moment. “Though I’d love to see the look on Dr. Tindall’s face when you tell her everything.”

Jamie, Fred, and Nova waited in the second floor hall by Dr. Tindall’s office, and Jamie whispered, “Fred, did you bring everything?”

“I’ve got the forget potion in case this goes badly, and I tweaked it to delete about thirty to forty-five minutes of memory.”

“Are you sure it’s right? We don’t want to wipe out a whole day’s worth if we have to use it on her.”

“Do I question how effective your spells are?”

“Yeah, all the time.”

“Well, that’s different. Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley taught me how to make it, so I’m sure it’s right.”

“How about the inoculation potion and your Bible?”

“They’re both in my purse.”

“Speaking of Bibles,” Nova said, “I’ve never helped out with the oath before. Are you sure you need me, Jamie?”

“I want to make sure it’s as strong and binding as possible, and adding your magic to it should help. I would’ve gotten Rollie to do it, but he’s in class right now.”

Jamie turned and knocked on the office door and opened it when the woman’s voice on the other side called them in.

The room was small and packed with shelves, which were covered with books and manila folders and papers sticking out haphazardly. Dr. Tindall, a petite woman in her early fifties, with short, dark hair and a no-nonsense face, looked up from her desk. “Hello, Jamie. Who are your friends?”

Jamie introduced Fred and Nova. “They wanted to tag along.”

“They’re not in any of my classes, are they?”

“No.” Jamie glanced at the two girls and pulled at his earlobe. “But, uh, we have something to show you. Together, that is. I mean, it’s better if they’re with me.”

“I only have one other chair. Do we need to go to the conference room? What did you want to see me about?”

Jamie suddenly realized that he hadn’t thought through how he was going to present his problem to her, and pulled harder on his ear while he struggled to find the words. “Um, remember last week in class when we were talking about the possibility of life on other planets?”

“That’s Exobiology, but that’s not my field.”

“Yes ma’am, I know, but you said that if we discovered life on another world, it would have a profound impact on science here.”

“Of course, but what of it? We haven’t found any evidence yet, just tantalizing hints.”

“What if we could prove it to you beyond a shadow of a doubt, right now?” He glanced at Fred and Nova again and took a deep breath. “My friends and I, together.”

“Jamie,” Nova said, “are you going to show her Eddan’s world? I thought you told me that their crops and farm animals and stuff are from Earth.”

“I thought that would be a good place to start, but most of their life forms evolved there, I think. They’re just similar to ours because of the quantum Earth thing.”

“What are you talking about?” Dr. Tindall said, her eyebrows pinched together.

“Dr. Tindall,” Fred said, “just for the record, I want you to know that I tried to talk him out of doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“We want to show you something really, really amazing,” Jamie said, “but you have to swear an oath first, a special kind.”

“Why?”

“So you won’t tell anybody about what we’re going to show you.”

Dr. Tindall leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and looked at Jamie with narrowed eyes. “This is a very odd request, young man. Very, very odd.”

“It’s worth it,” Nova said quickly. “I did the oath, too, and I can say from personal experience that you’ll be glad you did. It doesn’t hurt or anything and it’s awesome, just…
awesome
.”

“Well….” She looked at each of them critically, as if assessing their character, before saying, “I’ve had some unusual requests in my time as a professor, but this one is really weird. I’ll humor you, but this better not be a prank.”

Jamie pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and paused before he handed it to her. “I forgot to ask if you believe in God.”

“That’s a personal question. Why do you ask?”

“I think it matters, in a way that I can’t explain just yet. I know it’s awkward, and I’m sorry.”

She locked eyes with him for several tense seconds before saying, “I believe in a higher power. I hope that’s an acceptable answer.” She gave Jamie another piercing look and took the piece of paper from him. “You are a cryptic person.”

“I have to be. We have some very big secrets that we’re forced to hide.”

“Secrets?” She arched her eyebrows. “And you’re going to share them with me? Why?”

“I need your help.
We
need your help.”

“Hmm. This is getting more beguiling by the moment.” Dr. Tindall scanned the piece of paper and read, “In the eyes of God and my friends?”

“Sorry. I should have written a new one. This is the one we give to most everybody.”

“How many others have done it?”

“About two dozen or so.”

“So I’m joining an exclusive club.” She smiled with one side of her mouth, but her lips remained closed.

“You have no idea.” Fred took the small white Bible from her purse and laid it on the desk in front of Dr. Tindall.

Dr. Tindall loosely waved the piece of paper. “I just say this?”

“We all have to put our hands on the Bible first. Then you can read the oath.”

Dr. Tindall laid her palm flat on the white book, then Jamie and his friends did, too. Dr. Tindall read the oath aloud and Jamie experienced the familiar glow and tingle in his hand, and he was pleased to see that his professor also seemed to.

Fred put her Bible away and said, “Jamie, can Nova and I skip the grand tour and explanations? We’re busy, and I think you can do this by yourself.”

“Sure. I don’t have cross country practice, so I’ll see you before dinner.”

Fred and Nova left, and Jamie turned to Dr. Tindall, who was still staring at her hand, just as most people did after doing the oath. “What just happened?” she said weakly.

“You experienced real magic. I’m a sorcerer, and Fred and Nova are witches. I know it sounds impossible, but I can prove it.”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out at first. They seemed to hang there, motionless, until she forced them past her lips. “Are you
insane?
”

“No ma’am. I’ll show you. Watch this.” He gestured upward with one hand, and the stack of books on the corner of the desk rose above his head and separated. Then he twirled his finger and they began to orbit the room in a wide, lazy circle, like wooden horses on a merry-go-round. His professor gasped, and he lowered them back to where they started from, neatly piled one atop the other.

“That’s a trick,” she said. “You came in earlier and rigged my room.”

“It’s no trick. Let me show you something else.” He stood and held out his hands, and the air shimmered as he formed his shield. “Throw something at me. Anything. A pencil or the paper weight or something.”

She picked up a pen from her desk and flung it at him. It struck the front edge of the magical force field and bounced away. “Oh my God!” She grabbed another and threw it too, and got the same result. “What is
that?
”

“It’s my shield. Pretty cool, huh? I can make myself invisible with it if I want to.”

She got up from her chair and approached him cautiously, with her hands held out in front of her. “What…what happens if I touch it?”

“It won’t hurt you, if that’s what you mean.”

She extended her arms until her fingers reached the unyielding yellow shimmer. “Oh. My. God. OHMYGOD!” She smacked it with the flat of her hand and her mouth fell open. “How are you doing that?”

“I told you, it’s magic. Real honest-to-goodness magic. And don’t say there’s no such thing,” he added quickly, “because there is, and you’re seeing it right now.” He ended the spell and the shimmer vanished. “I inherited the memories and power of a two-hundred-year-old wizard. Fred and Nova are both witches. Fred is what you call a Dream Talker, who can visit with me in dreams, and Nova is called a Reader. She can sense people’s emotions and tell if they’re lying or jealous or whatever.”

“This can’t be.” She shook her head firmly. “It just can’t…it can’t! I’m a scientist, and I…I mean…it’s just…oh God.” She sat down heavily in her chair and covered her face with her hands. “Am I hallucinating?”

Boy, she’s having a really hard time with this
. “No ma’am, it’s real. I felt like I had to show you this because I need your help.”

She dropped her hands and said in a small voice, “My help?”

“Yes ma’am. There are a lot of things happening with this stuff right now, and they’re starting to get a little ahead of me. I don’t want to make any bad mistakes with what we’re attempting because there’s no do-over button, if you know what I mean. So I decided to come to you.”