Shadow Witch (18 page)

“You could be a doctor,” Leora said with a nod, “like the lady at the clinic.”

“You can be anything if you are willing to learn and work hard,” Jamie said. “I promise.”

“Come on!” Aiven ran to the hall. “Maybe we can see a car.”

They followed him into the small formal living room at the front of the house that Jamie’s family rarely used. They crowded before the window and Aiven pointed to a house catty-cornered across the street. “That’s where Fred lives.”

“Fred the witch?” Sarah said.

“Yes, and Rollie lives over there.” He pointed at the house directly in front of them. “There’s more magic around here than anywhere in the whole world, maybe in all the worlds.”

“Jamie,” Leora said, “are we really on another world?”

“Yes, we definitely are. If you could see the moon here, you’d really understand.”

“Or a car.” Aiven pointed at the blue Chevy in the driveway. “That’s Jamie’s car. It goes really fast, like this!” He flattened his hand and swept it through the air. “Zoom! And it doesn’t need a horse or a mule or anything to pull it.”

“Can we see it?” Blane asked. “Let’s go outside.”

“Um,” Jamie said, “we need to stay out of sight of the neighbors. Maybe another car will go by in a second. Be real quiet and let me listen for one.” His eyes narrowed in concentration and his mouth tightened.

“What’s he doing?” Roni whispered.

“Shhh.” Evelyn put her finger to her lips. “He’s using his magic hearing, I think.”

After a few seconds, Jamie shrugged. “Something’s coming, but I think it’s just the mail truck. It’s not exactly going to zoom by.”

All of the children stared out of the window, silent as mice, and soon the white, box-shaped USPS truck puttered into view and stopped at Fred’s mailbox.

“Did you see
that?
” Blane said, his eyes as wide as they could be. “It’s moving by itself, like...like it has magic.”

Jamie shook his head. “It’s not magic, though. Really, I keep telling you, it’s just technology.”

The truck rolled to the next house and Roni said, “Sure looks like magic.”

“It was designed and built by ordinary people.” Jamie turned to Evelyn and said, “I found a science history DVD collection I was thinking about getting for the school. It’s got stuff about the invention of all kinds of things, like the phone and the automobile and whatever.”

“How are they going to watch them?”

“On a television.” She frowned and Jamie quickly added, “I won’t install cable at the school, just a DVD player. It’ll be a big help to them, I think. We used to watch stuff like that all the time when I was in school.”

Evelyn glanced at Connie, who shrugged and said, “I retired before DVDs became common in my old school, but I think it’s a good idea.”

“Look!” Aiven pointed again, and a white SUV drove by, passing the mail truck and rolling out of sight. All of the children except for Sammi pressed closer to the window and their mouths dropped open.

“It is practically flying!” Leora said.

Jamie smiled. “It’s only going about twenty-five miles per hour. That’s nothing.”

Aiven nodded earnestly, eyes still on the road. “You should have been with me when Mr. Sikes took me for a ride in his red truck. We went on a road called the Interstate, and we drove seventy miles an hour, we did.”

“You are
lying
, Aiven,” Milly said.

“No he’s not,” Jamie said. “Some people drive faster than that, though they have to pay a fine if they get caught.”

“That’s all well and good,” Evelyn said, “but we’re not here to stare out of the window all day. You kids need to run around and get some exercise.”

“The yard!” Aiven turned and rushed off. “Come on,” he said over his shoulder. “You’ve
got
to see this.”

They followed him down the hall to the family room, and Aiven ran to the back door. “This is the way.” He turned the dead bolt, flung the door wide and dashed outside, Sammi right on his heels.

The other children looked at Evelyn and she waved one hand. “Go on. It’s okay.”

They took off after Aiven and Sammi. Evelyn, Connie and Jamie trailed behind them. The children squealed when they saw the playset, Sammi already climbing into one of the swings and Aiven clambering up the steps to the slide.

Evelyn heard a faint roar and Jamie raised one finger and said, “I think a plane is coming. Look, everybody.”

All of the children stopped what they were doing and turned their heads up as a single-engine Cessna flew above them. Aiven pointed at it triumphantly. “See? What did I tell you? You never saw anything like that before, did you? We are
definitely
on another world, we are.”

All of the children, even Sammi, gaped and followed its flight across the blue sky. Connie said, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Jamie laughed. “Those kids probably feel like they’re in someplace like Oz.”

Evelyn chuckled, too, and turned back to the house. “I’m going to grab their lunches and get them something to drink.” She stepped inside and was on her way to the kitchen when she heard the doorbell ring.
Who could that be?
She went to answer it, and when she opened the front door, she saw the thin, prune-faced widow from down the street.

“Hello, Mrs. Wysoki. What brings you here?”

The gray-haired busy-body tried to peer around Evelyn into the house and frowned. “I heard a bunch of youngsters shrieking in your yard, so I came over to make sure they weren’t trespassing or anything. I know Jamie and his friends are all grown up and wouldn’t be doing that.”

“It’s just some kids from a school that my sister and I are volunteering at this summer. We, uh, stopped by on our way back from a field trip so they could play in the yard for a bit.”

“School? In the summer?”

“It’s a...it’s a summer camp. You know about those, don’t you?”

“Oh. Yes.” She put an age-spotted hand flat on her chest. “But I looked through a crack in the fence to see who they were, and they’re dressed so strangely. So old-fashioned, except for the pretty girl with the short dark hair.”

“Well, uh...it’s a...it’s History Day at camp. We have themes sometimes, you know. They’re supposed to dress up like people from history, so they’re all wearing pioneer clothes, like the Little House on the Prairie TV show.”

Mrs. Wysoki nodded once. “They do look like those characters, I suppose. That was my favorite show. Do you know if it’s still on? I can’t seem to find it on the channel listings.”

“They cancelled that years ago, I’m sorry to say.”

“Oh my, what a shame. I was just telling my daughter the other day that —”

Evelyn cleared her throat loudly and said, “I’d love to talk more about it, Mrs. Wysoki, but I’ve got to get back to the kids.”

“Oh, I understand.” Mrs. Wysoki waved goodbye and Evelyn closed the door, leaned against it and exhaled heavily.
Whew, that was close.We need to be more careful
.

Jamie waited on the couch while the kids played in his backyard, and got up and checked his watch when he heard the doorbell ring.
It’s about time he got here. I need to get those kids back to the school
.

He opened the front door to find Uncle Charlie, waiting with his usual placid expression. “I was wondering when you’d show up,” Jamie said as he shook the old Cherokee’s hand. “How did you get here?”

“In my old truck. It’s running pretty well since you fixed it with your magic. Now my daughter doesn’t have to drive me around anymore. She was getting tired of doing that.” He laughed softly. “Are you ready to go find the special piece of wood that I can carve into your walking stick?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Jamie led him down the hall to the family room and Uncle Charlie said, “What was all the squealing I heard coming from your yard? Sounds like a flock of banshees.”

“Kids from the school on Eddan’s world.” Jamie opened the back door and they stepped out onto the deck. The playset at the back of the yard was covered with children. “My gramma wanted to bring them here so they could get a look at the
real
Earth, as Aiven calls it. They’re still having a hard time accepting that there is such a thing.”

“The children will probably accept it long before their parents do.”

Jamie watched the kids playing for a moment, two of them on the swings and a couple on the slide, the rest of them climbing in and out of the clubhouse. “It’s a big concept to adjust to. Kids are better at being flexible in their thinking than adults, I believe.” Jamie called the children together and he made a doorway for them to go back to the school on Eddan’s world.

When they got there, Jamie and Uncle Charlie went with Aiven to the barn and helped him hitch Sugar up to the old two-wheeled carriage.

Aiven tightened the last strap on the horse and looked at Jamie expectantly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I can drive for you.”

“I think I can handle it. I’m not too bad with horses myself, you know.”

“But you’re not as good as me.”

“I know. Nobody is. But I’m pretty sure I can get Sugar to take us where we want to go. Besides, it would be crowded on the seat.”

Uncle Charlie climbed into the carriage and Jamie followed him and took the reins. Jamie waved over his shoulder to Aiven as they drove out of the barn and around the side of the school building. When they reached the road out front, Jamie stopped Sugar and turned to Uncle Charlie. “So where should we go to find my special stick?”

“Where are the woods around here?”

“We can go either way.” Jamie pointed to his right. “If we go north, we’ll have to go through town and eventually over the river. There are some nice stands of trees that way, I think. Or we could go south, and we’ll find more just past some of the farms. How am I supposed to know which way is better?”

Uncle Charlie shrugged. “Ask the horse.”

“How would she know?”

Uncle Charlie tapped his skull. “It’s just a hunch. There is something special about this horse, I think.”

Jamie eyed Sugar and said, “Take us to the best woods for finding a branch that Uncle Charlie can carve into my special walking stick. Can you do that?”

Sugar looked over her shoulder at him and snorted, then pulled the carriage onto the road and turned left.

“I guess it’s that way,” Jamie said.

The school’s property, which was mostly one large open field, extended for almost three hundred yards before they came to the next farm, marked by a weathered wooden fence. There, neat rows of crops covered the ground for several acres.

Jamie took a deep breath through his nose and smiled. “I love it out here. It’s really nice.”

“It is unspoiled.” Uncle Charlie gazed about them with an unreadable expression, then turned to Jamie and said, “I hope you do not ruin this in your rush to modernize these people.”

“What makes you think I’m rushing, or modernizing, for that matter?”

“You have introduced solar power and electric lights and modern plumbing, haven’t you? Others will want those conveniences now. And some have seen your father’s truck. These people will be changed forever by just those little bits of technology.”

“I know, but I’m determined to do things right. I want to help them as much as I can, and I think the school is the best place to start. That way, they can learn to do more on their own.”

“How about cars and modern manufacturing? Will you bring these people those things, and coal-powered electric plants, and all the pollution that goes with it?”

“No. Green energy only. It can be done, we just have to be smart about it. I’m doing it at my stone house and the school.” Jamie swept one arm widely about him. “I would hate to be the one who messed this up.”

“Your heart is in the right place. You will have some people fighting your plans, I suspect.”

“I’m already getting that from the town council.” Jamie told him about the local politicians trying to meddle in the school’s affairs.

Uncle Charlie shook his head and sighed. “They are not so different from politicians on our world, are they? Same old problems.”

Jamie nodded and they rode in silence for a few minutes. As they neared a cabin on their right, Jamie pointed and said, “That’s Mrs. Malley’s house. Do you want to stop in and say hello?”

“We will never get out of there in time to find your wood. That old witch loves to chat.”

“I made a permanent doorway joining her house with Momma Sue’s. Fred said they spend a lot of time together.”

“Aren’t you worried about some stranger sneaking through the doorway when no one is home?”

“Momma Sue put one of her industrial-strength hexes on it. Nobody gets through it unless they have a counter charm.”

“Speaking of witches, you said something on the phone the other day about a little runaway girl. Tell me about her.”

Jamie quickly related Sammi’s story while they rolled past another farm. When he finished, Jamie said, “I was hoping you might have some insight into why she’s here.” Uncle Charlie arched one eyebrow and Jamie added, “I mean, what her purpose is for coming, and why she heard me and Fred and our moms talking, out of all the people she could have been listening to. How does she fit in the Big Cosmic Scheme of things?”

“Do you really think there is a scheme, as you call it?”

“Well, yeah. There are too many coincidences to be pure chance. Don’t you think so?”

“Could be.” He gave a small shrug. “Why do you think Sammi only has one purpose? You have accomplished many amazing things with your magic, and so has Fred. Rollie, too, since he helped save that little boy’s life here and tricked the demon through the doorway. All of you have multiple purposes, so why not Sammi?”

Jamie scratched his chin. “I never thought of it that way.”

“And her most important purpose could be that she is here for Mrs. Callahan and your mother.”

“Don’t forget Rollie’s mom. She dotes on Sammi just like the rest of them.” The fields on the left side of the road were giving way to high grass and small trees as they drove on. “Sammi may have found another young witch. That may be part of her role, too.” He told Uncle Charlie about Nova, the teenage girl who lived on the North Carolina coast.