The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (22 page)

“Hush, Jamie. It’ll only take a minute.”

The three of them went through the doorway, back into the family room, where they found John Paul, carrying folding chairs under each arm. “Huh?” He gave a start. “Brinna. Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m just giving her a quick tour of my house,” Rachel said.

“Well...good.” He grinned awkwardly. “Welcome to our world, I guess. I’d go with you, but Carl’s on my case about hurrying.”

“That’s because we need to.” Jamie glared at his mother, but she ignored him.

“John Paul,” Rachel said, “why don’t you run into the other house and say hello to us on the laptop. It’s over behind the table.”

“Oh, sure.”

He disappeared through the glowing doorway and Brinna slowly turned and looked at the family room. “I’m really on another world? And this is your house?” Her brow wrinkled and she pursed her lips. “Strange...I thought it would be more different.”

Rachel frowned at the supplies cluttering the floor. “It’s not usually this messy.”

Then they heard John Paul’s voice coming from the computer by the wall. “Hello. Can you hear me?”

“John Paul?” Brinna said, stepping quickly to the monitor and waving. “Is that really you?”

“Yep. I’m in the other house.”

On the screen, Jamie saw his grandmother behind John Paul, standing near the front door with her list in her hand. Adele walked past her and went outside.

“That was Adele, wasn’t it?” Brinna said.

“Yeah,” Jamie said. “Watch. She should be coming our way any second now.”

They turned and stared at the glowing doorway behind them, and a moment later, Adele stepped through.”

“Such magic,” Brinna said softly.

“I gotta go, Brinna,” John Paul said. “I gotta grab another load of stuff.”

“You should too, Jamie,” he heard his grandmother say from behind John Paul.

“Mom, I need to get back to work.” Jamie turned and picked up the floor lamp that was standing nearby. “Please don’t take long.”

“We won’t. I know you’re antsy to close the doorway.”

Jamie headed for the steps of the stone house right as Lisa and Fred were walking out of the front door. Lisa said, “Rachel’s giving Brinna a tour? I heard it from the laptop. I want to help.”

Jamie shook his head. “Not you, too? I need to close the doorway soon!”

“Relax,” she said over her shoulder. “You worry too much.” Then she disappeared through the glowing portal.

Fred shrugged. “I’m still working.”

“Where is everybody? There’s still plenty of stuff in the family room.”

“They’re in there, somewhere.” She nodded her head toward the stone house.

Jamie scowled and walked up the steps with the floor lamp in his hands. “Can we move a little faster?” he shouted.

Carl met him at the door on his way out and patted Jamie on his shoulder. “You sound like me. Can you make a doorway to the garage so John Paul and I can get the portable shower?”

Jamie let out an exasperated breath and set the lamp down on the stoop. “Please make it quick.”

Carl called for John Paul while Jamie outlined a second doorway to his house in Hendersonville. The tall blue plastic box that looked like a portapotty was sitting on the concrete floor next to his mother’s car in the garage, and he waited impatiently while the two men lifted it and carried it out. Jamie closed the doorway the instant they stepped back through to Eddan’s world.

Jamie found his grandmother inside the stone house, standing by the fireplace with Mrs. Tully, the two of them going over the list that Evelyn held in one hand. “Where do you want this?” Jamie showed them the floor lamp.

“Set it by the sitting area for now,” Evelyn said. “Darn! We’ll need an extension cord for it, long enough to plug in with the laptop.” She pulled a pencil from behind her ear and made a note on the paper. “Will you tell your father, please?”

“Sure.” Jamie looked into the first bedroom and saw Rollie with his mother, blowing up one of the air mattresses. “Hey!” Jamie called to them. “We can do that later. Let’s get the rest of the stuff.”

Rollie gave him an irritated look and put the air mattress down. Jamie heard the back door close, and Carl and John Paul walked in from the kitchen. Carl said, “We set up the shower about twenty feet from the house, and we decided to stretch the hose down to the river because the water looked clean. That way you won’t drain the well dry when you shower.”

“Does it work?” Jamie asked.

“Works good,” John Paul said. “We pumped some water into the tank and tested it. It’s cold, though.”

“I can take care of that, later.” He walked with them toward the front door. “Let’s hurry and get the rest of the stuff.”

They were nearly finished moving everything before Rachel, Lisa, and Brinna returned. “It’s about time,” Jamie said, standing on the stone steps and watching them walk through the portal to the yard.

“I’m sorry, Master Jamie,” Brinna said. “It’s my fault. I’ve never been to another world before.”

Jamie opened his mouth for an angry reply, but caught himself and took a calming breath. “It’s okay, Brinna, I understand. But could you please not call me Master Jamie?” He glanced at the glowing doorway again, then looked back into the stone house. He raised his voice and said, “Can we
please
hurry up? I — need — to — close — the — portal!”

Rollie appeared, carrying a small cardboard box. “Dude, you need to chill. I could hear you all the way into your family room in Hendersonville.”

“This is taking way too long!”

“Well, this is the last of the stuff, so you can close it for now.”

“Finally.” He gestured and the doorway winked out.

Rollie said as they walked up the steps, “Have you felt any magic?”

“No. Have you?”

“Should I be able to?”

“Maybe.” Jamie cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, “Fred?”

She poked her head out of the second bedroom and frowned. “Will you stop yelling? You’re driving everybody crazy.”

“Sorry. Have you felt any magic?”

She lowered her eyebrows at him. “No, so relax.”

Adele came out of the first bedroom and said, “Jamie, Lisa and I have to go back to work.”

“Argh! I just closed the doorway.”

She turned to Rollie. “What’s eatin’ him?”

Rollie shrugged. “Moving day stress.”

“All right.” Jamie took another calming breath and said. “Everybody who’s going back to Hendersonville better meet in the yard in two minutes.”

Rollie shook his head at Jamie and gestured gently with both hands. “Chill, baby. Chill.”

A few minutes later, everyone assembled in the yard to say goodbye. Adele wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and hugged Rollie again, who wore an embarrassed half-smile. “My baby boy!” She squeezed him harder and Rollie gurgled.

“Don’t kill him, Adele,” Lisa said.

“But I won’t see him for...I don’t know
how
long.” She patted his face and looked at him fondly. “I’ll miss you.”

“You can go to Rachel’s house anytime you want and see him on the computer,” Lisa said.

“Jamie?” John Paul said. “Is it possible for me to video chat from my computer at my house to your laptop here? I can use Skype, can’t I, since you’re connected to the Internet?”

“I guess so. Why?”

John Paul glanced at Brinna and scratched his jaw with one finger. “Well, I may want to check in and see how you’re doing and all...just to make sure you’re okay.”

“He means, can he talk to Brinna on it,” Lisa said with a grin. Brinna’s face turned bright red.

Jamie smiled. “Just let my parents know when you’re going to be home and we’ll call you from here.”

“I close my shop at five o’clock,” Brinna said. “Then I can come here to...to help Ma cook.” She nodded. “Or I can come before I open in the morning. Or I can get my brother to mind the shop for me and I can —”

Brinna hushed when her mother gave her a hard look, and then she looked demurely at her feet.

“Okay, fine,” Carl said. “Everybody get your goodbye hugs and let’s go home. Jamie, can you make a doorway for us, please?”

Chapter 17

After their parents left and the doorway winked out, Jamie, Fred, and Rollie stood in the front yard of the stone house and stared at each other with the same disbelieving expressions. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?” Fred said. “We’re spending spring break at a dead wizard’s house on another world.”

Rollie chuckled and said, “Can we get souvenir T-shirts?”

Jamie look at Fred and Rollie. “Listen, you guys. We need to be careful with our magic while we’re here. We need to keep a low profile and try not to be noticed, so no big spells, okay?”

“Don’t look at me.” Rollie wiggled his fingers at Jamie and made spooky eyes. “You’re the one doing all the hocus pocus.”

Fred cupped one hand to her ear. “Do I hear a bell ringing?”

Mrs. Tully turned, her eyes filled with concern. “That could be a fire.” They all looked in the direction she was facing. Off in the distance, beyond the low hills, an angry plume of smoke could be seen climbing to the clouds. She frowned. “I think that’s coming from Mr. Darby’s farm.”

“That can’t be good,” Jamie said, then took two steps toward it and launched himself into the air, Superman-style. As he gained altitude and flew away, he heard Fred call after him, but he didn’t look back.

The air whistled in his ears and his hair blew back as he zoomed over the treetops in the direction of the ashen column billowing skyward. He smelled the smoke as he neared, and when he reached the farm, he slowed and hovered in the air to survey the scene.

Below him was a weathered barn with its roof ablaze and flames leaping from the open door and between the cracks in the wood. A dozen men and women formed a bucket line to the well nearby, flinging pitiful splashes of water on the inferno.

Jamie cupped his hands and yelled from mid-air, “Are all of the animals out?”

Everyone on the ground looked up at him, and their eyes widened and their mouths fell open, but they didn’t immediately answer. Jamie yelled his question again and a stocky, balding man in brown wool work clothes called back, “One of my horses is still inside. She won’t come out.”

Jamie dropped to the ground, ignoring the startled stares of the people around him, and he studied the flaming doorway of the barn. Without a word, he raised his hands and his shield shimmered around him, then he boldly strode through the fiery opening while the onlookers shouted in surprise.

Jamie was safely enclosed in the bubble of his shield, and it pushed the flames aside as he pressed forward, searching the interior for the horse.
There. At the far end
. The frightened animal paced in a small area that had not yet been touched by the fire, whinnying and snorting, her eyes wide and rolling.

Jamie reached out with his mind to reassure her.
You will be safe. I will lead you out
. Her mind was a storm of hornets, and she paced until he reached her and expanded his shield to cover her, too.
See? We are safe together
. She seemed to calm a little, and he guided her toward the blazing door with one hand resting on her neck, slick with perspiration. She started to rear back when they reached the wall of flames, but Jamie reassured her again and hurried her through to the barnyard beyond.

He dropped his shield and was immediately greeted by a wave of cool air and cheers from the men and women around him. The stocky man rushed to the horse and examined her as Jamie stood by, and after a few moments, announced her condition. “She seems to be okay. Tail’s a little singed, but that’s all.”

“Good,” Jamie said. “Everybody stand back and let me take care of the fire.”

Jamie rose in the air again, high above roof level, and studied the burning barn while deciding on a course of action.
I can put it out like I did that building in Hendersonville a few years ago
. He raised his hands and willed an invisible shell to form in the shape of the barn, and he lowered it into place until it fitted snuggly around the flaming structure. The shell allowed no air to pass through, and in a couple of minutes, the fire began to die out. After all the flames were gone, Jamie made a few air holes in the shell to see if the wood might reignite, and when it didn’t, he released his will and the shell dissolved.

Jamie settled softly to the ground and was immediately swarmed by the amazed spectators. The stocky farmer clapped him on the shoulder and grinned. “Well done, young man, well done! That was some fine magic!”

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I might’ve been able to save your barn.”

“You saved my horse, and maybe some of my equipment, too, and for that I am a thousand times grateful.”

“Who are you?” A woman said from behind him, and Jamie turned to see the enthusiastic, delighted faces around him. “You must be a sorcerer.” Her eyes were eager, excited. “We haven’t had one around here for many months.”

“But you’re not Renn,” the farmer said. “What’s your name, son? I’m Van Darby.” He stuck out his hand and Jamie shook it, then looked around again.

“I...I’m nobody,” Jamie stammered. “I...I gotta go.” He leaped in the air and flew away, ignoring the shouted questions that followed him.

What have I done?
he thought as he streaked back to the stone house.

Jamie landed in the yard and paced, hands on his hips.
That was dumb. Dumb — dumb — dumb!
Now everybody will know I’m a sorcerer
. The front door burst open and everyone spilled out.

“Jamie, what did you do?” Fred demanded when she reached him.

“I put out the fire. It was the barn.”

“Were the animals saved?” Mrs. Tully asked.

“I had to rescue a horse. She wouldn’t come out, so I used my shield and went in and got her.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Mr. Darby can ill afford to lose one.”

“I think the barn’s a loss, though.”

“I guess he’ll have a barn raising soon,” Brinna said.

“If he can scrape up the money for the lumber,” Mrs. Tully said. “He didn’t have a good crop last fall.”

“But you saved his horse, and that’s something.”