The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (4 page)

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“You sound like Fred.”

“Sorry. But I just worked four hours at the gift shop, sitting on a stool behind the cash register, and I feel like cutting loose.”

“I don’t.”

Bryce looked at Jamie sideways. “Just keep up. You can do it.”

They ran past the brick-and-wood entrance sign at the end of the subdivision and turned north on the two-lane road, staying on the narrow grassy shoulder. All of the trees were still bare, but tiny buds were forming on the tips of the branches, little hints that spring was coming.

Winters in Hendersonville weren’t harsh, but they weren’t Waikiki, either.
“Well, what is?”
Jamie could hear Mrs. Callahan’s cheerful voice in his head and he nearly laughed out loud.

They settled into a comfortable pace, running side-by-side. Jamie said, “How did your date with Melanie go last night?”

“Great. Always great.” Bryce smiled whimsically.

“What did you do?”

“She came over, and we hung out in my game room. She’s a cheap date.” He gave a short laugh. “Really, she is. She’s happy just playing pool or foosball. I don’t have to take her someplace fancy, which is good, ’cause I can’t afford it.”

Jamie glanced at Bryce and Bryce said, “Really, I can’t. I only use the money I make at the gift shop, and that’s not much.” He shook his head. “Now Sally, she was a different story. She always wanted to eat out or something and I always had to pay, I mean
always
. One night, right before we stopped dating, I suggested that we go to the dollar theater to save money, and she acted all insulted, like I’d asked her to have dinner with terrorists or...shop at the thrift store.”

“I don’t think Melanie’s used to having money, from what Fred tells me.”

“No, which is good. But she wouldn’t mind having a new car right now.” He chuckled as he ran. “That old clunker is a rolling junk heap. She’s spending more money keeping it running than she would on a new car, I think. Or at least, a
newer
car, one with the doors all painted the same color.”

“I bet she appreciates riding in your BMW.”

“Yeah.” Bryce ran several more strides before continuing, “I quit driving it to school.”

“What? How are you getting there?”

“The bus.”

“No way. You’re a senior, dude. Seniors aren’t allowed to, according to Rollie.”

Bryce chuckled again and said, “Yeah, it’s weird, but...I gotta do it. My folks can’t take me, not that I’d want them to. The last thing I need is for people seeing my mom drop me off at school in her Lexus.”

“But the bus? Seriously?”

“Somebody keyed my car at school a couple weeks ago. Put a scratch all the way down the driver’s side. My dad went ballistic, and he put it in the shop the next day.”

“Should’ve brought it to my house. I could’ve fixed it.”

“Since when did you know how to do body work?”

“I don’t. I use this.” Jamie wiggled his fingers, his family and friends’ official sign language for magic.

“Ohhhh. That’s cool. Do you use it on your Buick?”

“All the time. That’s why the paint job still looks good. I try not to overdo it, though. Don’t want to make it too obvious.”

“How about the other maintenance stuff, like brakes or whatever?”

“Can’t do brakes, ’cause that’s a wear-and-tear issue, and I don’t know a spell for that. But it still doesn’t need them. It doesn’t even have fifty thousand miles on it yet. My gramma didn’t drive it all that much before she gave it to me, just to the store and stuff. I had to put new tires on it, though.”

They turned left onto another road and headed straight north. As they passed a small mobile home park, a couple of scruffy mutts came tearing after them with a vengeance, all guns blazing, barking and growling for blood. Bryce calmly looked at Jamie and said, “You gonna take care of that?”

They stopped, and Jamie held his hands before him as the dogs bore down on them like furry interceptor missiles. When the animals were within a few yards, they suddenly skidded to a halt with confused looks in their eyes, then sat on their haunches and gazed at Jamie and Bryce expectantly, tongues out, smiling doggy smiles.

The boys scratched the suddenly docile dogs behind their ears as if they were old friends, the mutts’ tails
thwipping
rhythmically in the dirt. Bryce said, “That’s a convenient little talent you have there, Jamie.”

Jamie gave the dog he was petting one last scratch. “All right, you two,” he said to the mutts. “You need to go home so my friend and I can finish our run, okay?” Both animals whined before turning and trotting back toward the mobile homes.

Jamie and Bryce resumed their run and Bryce said, “Are you good with all animals?”

“Sorta. I’m best with dogs, though. Cats’ brains are too weird.”

“How about horses? They’re smart.”

“Never tried.”

“I still don’t see how you do that.”

“It’s pretty easy, really, as far as magic goes. Dogs want to cooperate with humans. It’s why they are such a successful species.”

They ran in silence for a few minutes before Bryce said, “Think you’ll ever get rid of your Buick?”

“I don’t know. Can’t really afford a new car.”

“I’ll trade you my BMW for it.”

“Really? Okay.” Jamie ran a few strides and said, “Wait...no. Then I’ll have the same problem you do...people might call
me
Richie Rich.”

“Right.” Bryce worked his lower jaw from side to side, as if chewing on something unsavory. “You see, money is a curse if you’re not a materialist like my parents...or Sally.”

“But Melanie’s not.”

“No.” A smile lit Bryce’s face for a moment.

They turned south and ran in silence again, each lost in their own thoughts and the rhythms of their bodies. There were longer gaps between houses, with long wooded stretches and a few open fields. Finally, Jamie said, “You know, it’s a curse having magical power, too, if you can’t use it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I have to be careful about using it out in the open because I don’t want strangers to see, so I pretty much can only do it around the house. But my parents don’t want me being lazy and doing chores with it, so I have to do everything the hard way.” He ran a few strides and caught his breath. “Like, a couple weeks ago, I had to get the ladder out and clean the last of the leaves off the roof and the gutters, and that was a pain. If I could’ve used magic, I’d have been done in a snap. But I had to drag the blower up there do it the hard way.”

“You get no sympathy from me.”

“Hey, your family has a service do it for you, I bet.”

“Well, yeah.” Bryce trotted on, his face thoughtful. “You know, a leaf blower is pretty amazing, if you think about it. Not that long ago, people had to use rakes and they got blisters and sore backs and stuff. Nowadays, we can just crank up the blower and...
poof
.” He gestured with one hand. “Gone, like magic. I bet a leaf blower would probably seem like magic to someone from a world that’s not as technologically advanced as ours.”

“Like Eddan’s old world,” Jamie said.

“They didn’t have stuff like that?”

“They didn’t even have steam engines when Eddan lived there. No railroads or anything like that, and I doubt they do now. It’s only been eighteen years.”

“They would think a leaf blower is magic, then.”

“Boys like us would think it was a godsend.” They chuckled together and turned on the road that led back to Jamie’s house.

Chapter 4

Jamie looked in his rearview mirror as Rollie dropped into the back seat of Jamie’s old Buick, the one his grandmother had given him not long after she’d moved out of his house.

“I’m ready to roll, baby,” Rollie said as he clicked his seatbelt in place.

Jamie backed out of his driveway and Fred glanced over her shoulder at Rollie and said, “I’ve been looking through the spell books we got from Rita and Cassandra’s house, and I think I found a compulsion spell we can use on our parents.”

“To get us a car?” Rollie asked, eyes hopeful.

“Unh hunh. It’s supposed to be a subtle spell, and it’s a clear, tasteless potion, so you can pour it in their tea or coffee and they won’t know.”

“When can you make it?”

“Fred?” Jamie said as he steered the car out of their subdivision. “Don’t you think they’ll figure it out eventually?”

“Maybe. But hopefully not until after they get me a car.”

“And didn’t you promise your mom you wouldn’t make any potions without her approval?”

Fred wrinkled her nose at Jamie. “Don’t be such a Goody Two Shoes. It’s not like I’m hurting anybody or anything.”

“Oh, right. Just your parents’ bank account. And your chances of going to college next year because they’d be broke.”

“I still might get more scholarship money. Melanie’s been helping me search online for grants and stuff. She’s found several good sources for herself, and now she’s got just about enough to pay for everything next year.”

“She’s probably going to be valedictorian. There’s a lot more money available to people like her.”

“My grades are good.”

“Not as good as hers.”

“Melanie thinks they might be good enough to get some money.”

“Enough to pay for everything?”

Fred scowled at the dashboard for a moment before replying, “No.”

“So if your parents buy you a car, how are you going to pay for school?”

Fred’s scowl deepened. “I’m not talking to you right now.”

“I wish my GPA was better,” Rollie said. “If I hadn’t goofed off so much last year, I wouldn’t be in this fix.” He blew out a long gust of air with his cheeks puffed out. “But maybe Coach can still get me a scholarship. Somebody from Video Productions class is gonna film the next few games, and I might get more playing time if we have a big enough lead. We play West Henderson on Friday, and they lost by twenty-seven last week.”

“So you’ll get
lots
of playing time,” Fred said with a nod. “You’ll dazzle them with your speed, and the camera guy will get it on film, and you’ll get a scholarship. And Jamie and I will be there cheering you on. Right, Jamie?”

“I thought you weren’t talking to me.”

She gave a tiny shrug. “Just this once.”

They drove in silence for a while until they were near the entrance to North Henderson High. “Jamie?” Fred said. “Are you going straight to work after school?”

“Got to.

“I have to stay after for a meeting with my lit teacher, so I’ll get a ride home with Melanie.”

“Thought she had cheerleading practice.”

“She’s off today. Their coach has a doctor’s appointment.”

Jamie drove into the parking lot and into an open space, and then turned the car off. Fred put her hand on the door but turned to Jamie before opening it. “You know, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a ride
if — I — had — a — car!
” Then she wrinkled her nose at him again, opened the door and stepped out.

“She’s got a point, you know,” Rollie said from the back seat.

Jamie turned and glared at him. “Not you, too?”

* * *

“It won’t open, Melanie.” Fred pulled hard on the door handle to Melanie’s old rattletrap. Most of the car was a dull red color, except for one white door. The front bumper was dented, and the tail pipe was rusted and held in place by a coat hanger wrapped around the frame.

“Hold on. That’s a new problem.” Melanie flung her book bag into the back seat and walked around to join Fred. She banged the door fiercely with the bottom of one fist, but when she pulled on the handle, it wouldn’t budge. Then she leaned back and kicked it with sole of her foot, grunting as she did. She tried the door again, but it held fast. Melanie let out an exasperated sigh. “You’ll just have to climb in from the other side.” She glanced skyward and frowned at the clouds. “Better make it quick, though. Looks like it’s about to pour any second now.”

Fred felt a flush of embarrassment as she scanned the nearly empty parking lot to see if anyone was watching, then she hurried around the car and slid in from the driver’s side.

Melanie climbed in behind her and slammed the door shut. “Ooooooohhhh! I hate this car!” She shook both fists at the steering wheel.

“At least you have one.”

“If you want to call it that.” She turned the key in the ignition and said, “First thing I’m doing when cheerleading is over is getting a job! Then I’m gonna save up and buy a better car.” She pressed the accelerator and the vehicle shuddered for a moment before nudging out of the parking space, acrid-smelling blue-gray smoke spewing out voluminously behind them in a toxic cloud.

“I don’t see how you can save enough between now and August. Even good used cars aren’t cheap. I checked.”

“I’ll work seventy hours a week if I have to.” The car hiccupped and nearly stalled before belching another prodigious blast of smoke and chugging forward.

“I bet it’s a real switch riding in Bryce’s car, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Melanie said as she steered down the road toward Fred’s neighborhood. “Except that Bryce hates his car. Really really hates it. He tried to get me to drive my car last time we went out.”

“Did you?”

“I told him it wouldn’t start, which wasn’t exactly a lie. It would start, but it would conk out every half mile or so.” Just then, the car gave a sickening cough and slowed momentarily as a light rain began slicking the windshield. She patted the dash and said, “Just get us to Fred’s house, okay? That’s not a lot to ask.”

“So how was your date on Saturday?”

Melanie clicked on the windshield wipers and her face pressed into a smile. “Awesome.” She glanced at Fred. “They’re always awesome.”

“I’m so glad, Melanie. You deserve it.”

“You know, I was kinda jealous of you because you had Jamie and he’s so wonderful, and I was stuck with Michael and he was so...bleah.” She stuck out her tongue and made a wretched face.

“Then why did you stay with him for so long?”

“Because nobody else would ask me out! It was Michael or nothing.”

Fred took a deep breath and watched the wipers slap back and forth. “I know how you feel. I wanted Jamie so badly, but he wouldn’t ask me out because of the evil wizard and all that.”