Shadow Witch (12 page)

“In the meantime, you can do it the old-fashioned way, with tools and hard work.” Mrs. Wallace put one hand on her hip and frowned at Aiven. “In fact, I’d prefer that you do it the old-fashioned way. There’s no reason to use magic unless you’re lazy.”

“You sound like Mrs. Tully.”

“That’s because we think alike. That’s why we’re friends.” She glanced around the room before turning back to Sammi. “Now, you and I are going to go through these boxes and sort school supplies. Can you handle that?”

“Yes ma’am, I think so.”

“Good. Let’s get started.”

According to Mrs. Wallace, each new student was going to be issued a basic set of workbooks and school supplies, including a waterproof backpack, which made Sammi envious. It didn’t have Hello Kitty on it, or any of her favorite cartoon characters, but it was a beautiful deep blue color with several zippered pouches in it, and flaps and snaps and pockets and special secret places to put small things.

She pulled one from a big cardboard box on the floor and held it to her nose, inhaling deeply. It smelled so wonderful, so new, so
not
like the thrift store, where her old backpack had come from. She bit her lip and turned to Mrs. Wallace, who was clearing some space on the countertop to stack the sorted supplies. Sammi was dying to ask if she could have one of the blue treasures, and Mrs. Wallace looked up from her task and saw Sammi staring at her with one clutched to her chest.

Mrs. Wallace opened her mouth as if she were going to rebuke Sammi, but instead, picked up a clipboard from the counter beside her and inspected it closely, with her reading glasses perched on her nose. She counted on her fingers silently for a moment and then turned back to Sammi. “I bet you’re going to need a new backpack for school this fall, aren’t you? Would you like one of those?”

Sammi nodded eagerly and held her breath.

“Well, Aiven’s already gotten one and....” She glanced at the clipboard again. “We may need to order more before school starts, but there’s plenty of time. So why don’t you take one?”

“Thank you! Thank you Mrs. Wallace.” Sammi felt a smile break across her face.

“You’re welcome. It wouldn’t be fair for Aiven to have one and not you.”

“Mine is at home,” Aiven said, looking up from the desk he was assembling. “Mrs. Tully put it away because she doesn’t want me playing with it. She said I’ll get it dirty.”

“She’s probably right,” Mrs. Wallace said. “While we’re at it....” She reached into a box at her feet and pulled something out, something bright red in a small zippered pouch. “You may as well take one of these, too.” She stepped through the clutter on the floor and handed it to Sammi. “It’s a plastic rain poncho.”

“Oh, wow,” Sammi said quietly as she regarded the new prize in her hands. “What are these for?”

“For when it rains, you silly goose,” Aiven said.

Sammi wrinkled her nose at him. “I knew that.”

“Some of these kids will probably end up walking to school in bad weather,” Mrs. Wallace said. “They’ll learn better if they’re not soaking wet.”

“Seems like you thought of everything,” Sammi said.

“Not hardly.” Mrs. Wallace picked up another clipboard and showed it to Sammi. “I have a list a mile long of things we forgot. My sister and I have to order more stuff all the time. We need to get a phone installed here right away.” She looked around the room at the disarray and sighed deeply. “But at least it’s only June. Hopefully we’ll get it together before school officially starts.”

“When is that?”

“The first Monday in September.”

They all turned when they heard the knock on the front door.

“Must be somebody else coming to stare at the ceiling fans,” Aiven said.

Mrs. Wallace left to answer it while Sammi and Aiven waited. Mrs. Wallace returned a couple of minutes later with a woman and a young girl, who looked to be about Sammi’s age. She wore a long, old-fashioned dress like her mother and held her mother’s hand tightly, a wary look in her eyes, while her mother stared at the ceiling fans with a look of unabashed amazement.

“Aiven, Sammi,” Mrs. Wallace said, “this is Mrs. Hale and her daughter, Leora, who may be attending school here.”

Mrs. Hale didn’t respond immediately, gaping at the fans and overhead lights instead. “So it’s true,” she said softly and turned to Mrs. Wallace. “It is magic.”

“No.” Mrs. Wallace smiled gently. “I don’t have any magic at all. Now my grandson, Jamie, he’s the wizard in the family.”

“Jamie the Sorcerer? He is a most powerful wizard, he is. I saw him at the Founders’ Festival.”

“So,” Mrs. Wallace looked at the girl, who was trying to hide behind her mother’s legs. “You think you might like to come to our school? How old are you?”

The girl wouldn’t answer, so her mother said, “She turned seven last month.”

“You’re the same age as Sammi.” Mrs. Wallace gestured at Sammi and her smile broadened.

“Will Sammi be coming to school here, also?” Mrs. Hale asked.

“No, she lives on Earth. We’re not sure where she’ll be going to school just yet.”

“Earth? But....” Mrs. Hale wrinkled her brow. “
This
is Earth.”

“No it’s not,” Aiven said. “I’ve been to the real Earth. It’s really, really different. They have cars and airplanes and television and everything! The planes fly through the air like this.” He held his arms out and made a roaring sound. “I saw them when Mr. Sikes took me to the airport in Hendersonville.”

Mrs. Hale stared at him blankly and Mrs. Wallace said, “Don’t worry about it right now, Mrs. Hale. We’re just glad you came to see us today. Can you stay for a while?”

“I’m on my way to the market. I have a wagonload of melons and strawberries to sell. We were passing by, so we decided to some in and see what the excitement is all about. This school has all of my neighbors’ tongues a’ flapping.”

“Maybe Leora could stay with us for a little bit and we can bring her to you at the market when we go to lunch. I’m sure Aiven and Sammi could use the company this morning.”

“I don’t need the company,” Aiven said quickly, but when Mrs. Wallace gave him a stern look, he cleared his throat. “Sammi might, though, because she’s a girl, and...Leora’s a girl, and....” His eyes became desperate as he looked at Mrs. Wallace and groped for words.

The corners of Mrs. Wallace’s mouth pulled up slightly and she turned back to Leora. “We could use the help getting the school ready. We have lots of boxes to sort through.”

Leora still seemed unsure, her eyebrows drawn down, and still maintaining a fierce grip on her mother’s hand. Sammi ran to the counter and grabbed her new backpack, then hurried back and showed it to Leora. “Look what you get if you come to school here! It’s free, and it’s got all kinds of neat pockets, and even a little tag where you can write your name.” She began unzipping compartments and undoing flaps while Leora stared. Leora reached out a tentative hand and touched it, then looked at Mrs. Wallace.

Mrs. Wallace nodded. “That’s not all you’ll get, but we can’t give anybody anything until we get it all sorted. Won’t you please stay and help for just a little while?” She turned back to the girl’s mother. “Unless you feel uncomfortable leaving her here.”

“You are Jamie the Sorcerer’s grandmother, and my neighbors speak highly of you and your sister. I will leave it up to Leora.” Mrs. Hale patted her daughter gently on the shoulder. “What do you think, honey bear?”

Leora eyed the backpack, still in Sammi’s hands, then she looked at Sammi, who was smiling eagerly at her. Finally she looked up at her mother and nodded.

Sammi squealed and took Leora’s hand. “You can be my friend, and we can play and everything!”

“She can be Aiven’s friend, too,” Mrs. Wallace said. “Right, Aiven?”

He answered with a frown, and Mrs. Wallace chuckled and turned back to Mrs. Hale. “So, it’s settled. We’ll keep her for a couple of hours and bring her to you at the market. That will give her enough time to decide if she likes it here or not.”

“I am sure she will enjoy it.” Mrs. Hale gazed about, at the ceiling fans spinning overhead, at the bright fluorescent lights, and the countless boxes of books and supplies. “Is it really free? The school?”

“Yes. Everything is paid for. She’ll have to bring her own lunch, though.”

“But why is Jamie the Sorcerer doing this? Is he really from another world?”

“Yes, he’s really from another world. Sammi and I both are, and my sister, too, who will be here tomorrow. Jamie is doing this because he wants all the children here to have the same opportunities that the rich kids have.”

“And he doesn’t like to be called Jamie the Sorcerer or Master Jamie,” Aiven said. “He just wants to be called Jamie.”

“Does he really have the soul of Eddan the Sorcerer?” Mrs. Hale asked.

“Only his memories and power,” Evelyn said. “Jamie has his own soul, I assure you. I ought to know, I helped raise him.”

“And she helped raise Fred the Witch, and Rollie, too,” Aiven added.

“The dark-skinned boy who was so funny at the Founders’ Festival?” Mrs. Hale asked.

“He has magic, too,” Aiven said.

Mrs. Hale shook her head while she took it all in, and Mrs. Wallace took her gently by the elbow and said, “I know you need to get your melons to the market, so let me show you the rest of the school before you go.”

“Show her the restrooms!” Aiven nodded eagerly.

“Of course.” Mrs. Wallace led the young mother to the back hall.

Leora watched them go for a moment, and finally seemed to get the courage to speak. “Do you know Fred the Witch, too?” she said to Sammi. “My neighbor bought a love potion from her.”

“I’m staying with Fred at her house.”

“Where are your parents?”

“They died. I’m an orphan.”

“I’m an orphan, too,” Aiven said, as if it were something to be proud of, a member of a select club.

“But he lives here, with Mrs. Tully. I live in Hendersonville now. That’s on Earth.”

“But
this
is Earth.”

“I’m telling you it’s not,” Aiven said firmly. “Jamie made a doorway and showed me. The real Earth is so different you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Maybe Jamie will show you sometime,” Sammi said. “We could go to his house and play on his playset. It’s got swings and a slide and lots of stuff.”

“And a clubhouse, too,” Aiven said. “His father built it. He helped build this school. He can build
anything
.”

Sammi took a deep breath and regarded the new girl closely for the first time. She had freckles on her nose and cheeks, and her straight hair was pale red, almost blonde, and tied back with a green ribbon. Her eyes were the lightest blue and seemed serious. Her long dress completely covered her legs, and she had on brown ankle-high lace-up leather boots, scuffed and worn. Leora pointed at Sammi’s shoes and said, “What do you call those?”

“They’re sneakers. Watch!” Sammi stamped both feet and the lights on the sides flashed wildly.

“Oh,” Leora whispered, barely a breath.

“Aren’t they great?” Sammi danced in a tight circle and her shoes continued their dazzling show while Leora watched, transfixed. “Mrs. Wallace bought them for me because my old ones were falling apart. She bought me these clothes, too.” She gestured at her lemon yellow T-shirt and red shorts.

Leora looked down at her dress and frowned. “My ma makes all of my clothes. We can’t afford to buy them at the shop.”

“Well...it’s a very nice dress,” Sammi said with an appreciative nod. “How many do you have?”

“Two. My other one I can only wear for special things, like birthdays, or the Founders’ Festival, but Ma is sewing another for me so that I’ll have enough for school.”

Only two dresses?
“Uh... I don’t even have one. I only brought one outfit with me when I ran away, and it was old and crummy, and that’s why Mrs. Wallace bought me some clothes.”

“You ran away?” Aiven said. “Why?”

“Because....” Sammi sucked in her breath and held it for a moment. “Because my foster father is a bad man, and he hurt me, so I ran away to Fred’s house.”

Aiven held the wrench and screwdriver loosely by his side as he looked at the two girls. “I didn’t run away. My uncle left me behind. He made me get off his horse at Jamie’s stone house and...and he rode away. I slept under the bushes that night in the rain.” His eyes became sad for a second, but then they brightened and he said, “But that doesn’t matter now, because Mrs. Tully lets me stay with her and I get my own room with a nice bed, and she’s the best cook in town, she is.” He nodded firmly. “And she wants me to go to school here, and this is going to be the best school, too. Those rich kids in the big houses are going to be
jealous
.” He pronounced the last word with fierce emphasis.

Leora eyed Sammi’s clothes and wrinkled her brow. “You dress so strangely.”

Sammi glanced down at her shirt and shorts and frowned. “What’s strange about it? All the kids dress like this where I’m from.”

“No one wears a proper dress?”

“Mrs. Wallace does, sometimes,” Aiven said. “She told me so. But she wears short pants, too, most of the time. She said it’s too hot for anything else right now.”

“Mrs. Gundy,” Sammi said, “she was my foster mother. She bought me a dress from the thrift store once, but it was too small, so I didn’t have to wear it. It was gross.”

Leora wrinkled her brow again. “Gross?”

“It was yucky.” Sammi could tell that Leora still didn’t understand.

“It means she didn’t like it,” Aiven said. “I learned those words from Jamie and Fred and Rollie.”

“Did your foster mother hurt you, too?” Leora asked.

“No. She was pretty nice, I guess.” She held her breath again and hoped that Leora wouldn’t ask any more about her foster parents. She was relieved when Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Hale returned.

The two women headed for the front door and Mrs. Wallace said, “Okay, kids, I’m going to buy some strawberries from Mrs. Hale before she leaves, and then we’re going to get back to work.”

Evelyn locked the front door of the school when they left for lunch and said, “No, Aiven, we don’t need to take the carriage. It’s only a short walk to the market.” She put the key back into her pocket and nodded for the kids to follow her. “Besides, there are four of us. It would be crowded on that little bench seat.”