“Jae, GO!” demanded Meghan. “We’ll be okay!” Overhead, the two creatures spotted the three youngsters standing below. They snarled and nosedived toward them; one headed for Jae, the other at the twins.
Jae bounded into the pine room as the creature swooped to where he had been standing, smashing into the ground with a cut off shriek.
The twins ducked and covered; the claws of the second diving creature missed them by inches. They lay on the ground watching it fly back up, preparing for another dive. The second creature bounded off the ground and joined it a moment later. Together, they hovered about twenty feet in the air and let out a howling screech more terrifying than anything the twins had ever heard before.
“Oh, crap!” cried Meghan. “Get out your book, Colin. We needed to leave like yesterday!” They crawled toward the tree room that Jae had just jumped into, which was now completely dark. As they moved closer to the entrance, a moan filtered out of the darkened space. The twins froze, on their stomachs, on the ground.
“He-hello,” stammered Meghan, hoping no one, or nothing, would answer. A distressed face lifted up off the pine covered ground.
CHAPTER TEN
“Jae!” exclaimed Colin.
“Oh no,” said Meghan. They crawled inside and helped Jae sit up.
“What happened?” asked the twins.
“I waited too long,” he answered slowly, trying to get his head about him. Hearing another shrieking howl was enough to bring them all back to reality.
Jae sprang to his feet.
“If we don’t get out of here right now, we’re dead! I cannot fight them on my own.”
“We’ve got that one covered,” said Meghan, adding under her breath, “I hope.”
Colin had an idea. “Book, um, Magicante, I’m sorry my sister insulted you, but we could really use your help right now.”
It worked!
The book flung open and the cranky voice, only slightly audible over the screeching beasts, declared, “That took you long enough. Shall we go, then?”
“Grab hold of the book,” Colin yelled shakily.
The shrieking was only a few feet away, and even through their pine cover, they could feel air swooshing under the creatures webbed wings.
Jae threw a distrustful look at the twins. “What is that?” he demanded, aiming his gaze at the book.
“Explain later,” Colin answered. “Grab hold of it!”
Jae did.
“Uh, now, Colin,” implored Meghan, her eyes bearing down on him.
“Take the three of us to camp, NOW!” he shouted.
The shrieking and howling was instantly distant and they found themselves close by the Jacoby campsite hearing only the distant howls of the creatures.
“It worked,” let out Colin in a relieved exhale. It hadn’t just been a fluke thing.
Jae appeared more stunned at the magical exit than even the twins’ reactions to all they had seen that night.
“How did you do that?” he interrogated, backing away from them. “Who are you?”
“How did we do that?” returned Meghan. “How about, who are you? And how do you do, what you do?” Her questions were much more important, after all, they’d just watched a large group of people vanish into a tree.
“Not that I don’t want to discuss this,” Colin snuck in, “but can we go somewhere more hidden?”
“We do need cover,” agreed Jae, although rather distrustfully. “I don’t understand though. How is it you know about magic?”
“Magic?” questioned Meghan.
“Some place safer, please,” protested Colin.
“Where do you suggest?” Meghan asked him testily. “We can’t just sneak Jae into our trailer. How would we explain it to Uncle Arnon?”
“He’ll understand, once we explain,” said Colin, not believing a word he was saying.
“Uncle Arnon will never understand,” Meghan said, agitated.
“But he wouldn’t turn away someone in need of help.”
“We would still have to explain that we went out after curfew,” she reminded. The twins went on arguing, getting louder with each sentence.
“Hey!” Jae interrupted sharply. “You’re going to wake up the whole stupid camp arguing so loud!” He took a deep breath and put one hand on his hip, the other to his head. “I think I have a solution, follow me.”
The twins apprehensively followed Jae back to where the gypsies had been camped. The sites were empty now.
“Where did the wagons go?” asked Colin.
“Yeah, what are we doing here?” added Meghan. “There’s nothing here.”
“Just give me a second,” said Jae with an air of impatience. He raised his palm, facing outward and murmured, “Apirire.”
The air in front of him took on an ethereal quality, shimmering a ghostly silhouette.
When it dissipated, a gypsy wagon appeared.
The twins gasped in unison.
“Where did that come from?” asked Colin, mystified.
“It was here all along, hidden,” Jae answered. “We decided to hide them, seeing as it might be years before they get used again.”
“So they have been used in the last few years?” asked Meghan. “We’ve never seen anyone.”
“Far as I know they have been.” Jae didn’t elaborate.
It was the twins’ first time being near enough to see the fine detail in the ornate woodcarvings that covered the outside of the wagon. They’d gotten close before, just enough to sneak a peek. But never near enough, or long enough to look so closely.
They shuddered, surprised to see shapes of the bat-wolf creatures carved at the sides of the door. The twins’ thoughts swirled madly in their minds, feeling heavy. What kind of crazy non-sensical world had they just crashed in?
A book that could magically move them from place to place. And talk!
A handful of frightening creatures that were only supposed to exist in books and movies.
And a caravan of gypsies that spoke of magic and disappeared through rooms in a fallen down pine tree in the middle of the woods.
“I promise we will be safe in here,” insisted Jae, less arrogantly. He opened the door and motioned for them to enter.
“What do you think?” Meghan asked her brother, silently.
“Now you care about what I think,” he shot back. “We’ve come this far, we might as well see what’s inside.”
“Why aren’t you going in then?”
He may have wanted to go in, but she was well aware he did not want to go in first.
“Ah, hello you two, up here,” said Jae impatiently.
Meghan pushed Colin in front of her; his glare was piercing as he walked up the stairs. She followed behind. Before entering, Meghan glanced sideways at Uncle Arnon’s trailer; it was dark inside, with no sign of movement. At least that was going right. She hoped they’d successfully get back inside before he awakened though.
As Colin stepped through the door, Meghan sensed his glare turn to awe and she understood why a second later. From inside, it did not look like a normal sized wagon at all, but rather a large banquet hall, equipped with a long wooden table, chairs, dishes and kitchen.
The main room was spacious, with the table taking up a good portion of the space. A cold, unlit stone fireplace covered half of the wall behind the table, while candle-filled wall sconces and chandeliers lit up the interior of the wagon.
“The candles are forever burning candles,” explained Jae. He held one in his hand to show them. “See, never burn down, will last forever.”
Meghan wanted to ask how, but decided against it. They walked deeper into the room.
“It all makes sense now,” realized Colin. “This is how you fit all those people into just one wagon.”
“You noticed that?” Jae said, surprised at Colin’s keen eye. “Come on, I’ll show you where my family and I lived while we were here.” The twins followed him to a back wall, lined with doors. There was a copper knocker on the
door, spelling the name Mochrie.
“Is that your family name, Mochrie?” asked Colin.
Jae nodded yes.
Inside was another room, much smaller. It included a velvet couch and chair, set in front of another stone fireplace. A teapot sat on the hearth next to a small pile of wood. Jae continued the tour, although it was a quick tour as the room contained just one corner desk and an old rocking chair. Four more doors lined the back wall of the room.
“Those are our bedrooms. My sister,” he started tensely. “My sister and I share a room, and then my parents would be over there,” he said pointing to another. He did not explain the two others doors.
The twins had many questions, and yet, no idea where to begin. Jae leaned over to the fireplace and waved his hand over the half-burnt wood inside; a roaring fire instantly warmed the room.
“Sit,” he said to the twins, helping himself to the chair near the fireplace. Glad to get off their feet, they obliged and sat on the couch across from him. The twins had never seen any smoke coming out of the wagons and wondered how that worked. There was clearly a chimney leading somewhere…
A few long minutes passed without any of the three speaking. Meghan and Colin were eager to ask questions, but Jae appeared deep in thought, leaning his elbow on the side of his chair, leaning his chin on his elbow. Meghan finally decided they had waited long enough.
“So, Jae,” she startled him.
“Sorry,” he said. “Got lost for a minute.”
“How is all this possible?” asked Meghan. “I have never seen anything like this before.”
Jae’s eyes rose in suspicion and he motioned toward Colin’s book.
“Appears you’ve seen a few things like it before.” A bit of arrogance returned in his voice.
“I bought this book today,” Colin explained. “I have no idea what it is, or where it came from.”
“Today?” Jae questioned Colin, with a hint of disbelief. “Can I have a look?”
Colin, at first hesitant, handed over the Magicante, hoping Jae could shed some light on his recent purchase.
Jae flipped through the pages. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Where did you get it?”
“From the flea market in town, at the Blue Moon Festival.”
Jae closed it and handed the Magicante back to Colin.
“How did the book get us back here?” Jae asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” shrugged Colin. “I believe it only happened because we were in danger and needed to get out of a place fast. There was a message on one of the leaves.”
“There was a message on a leaf for you?” confirmed Jae.
Colin nodded yes.
“That is odd,” said Jae, peering again at the book with great interest. Colin held the book closer, afraid for a moment he might want it again.
Jae let out a wry laugh. “Don’t worry. I have no need of that book, although it did help us out of quite a jam.”
“So that is our short and sweet story, how about yours?” grilled Meghan.
Jae took a deep breath and started.
“First, you have to understand that for the safety of my people, there is a lot I cannot tell you, and for your own safety, there are some things you cannot know.” Jae’s severe tone caught Meghan and Colin off guard.
“Can you at least tell us who you are, and what those horrific creatures are?”
“Those creatures… are called Scratchers. And I hope before, or after I leave, they will not decide to come back.”
Colin interrupted. “You mean they might come back?”
“Yes, maybe no. The Scratchers hunt and kill my people. Sometimes we do not see them for months, and then sometimes, far too often.”
“Those things are hunting you all the time?” reiterated Colin.
“Yes.”
Meghan and Colin linked their minds to discuss this news privately.
“Do you think we should tell him about what we saw earlier tonight, Col? It was the reason we were trying to find them after all.”
“Maybe it could help them,” Colin thought back. “If those things are hunting them all the time, it sounds like they need all the help they can get!”
“Jae, we have something to tell you,” started Meghan nervously. “Maybe this will help, or maybe we were just really, really stupid and should not have followed you.”
Jae leaned forward, intrigued by what they had to say.
“The reason we were there tonight was that we were trying to warn you. We followed a couple of your people into the woods earlier in the evening, yeah-yeah, bad idea,” she agreed, seeing a look of are you crazy on his face. “Besides that point, we ended up at the tree, and those Scratcher thingies arrived. We hid… inside the tree.”
“They were there, hours before?” cried out Jae in disbelief.
“Yes,” answered Colin with a shudder.
“How could they have known where we were heading?” Jae pondered over this question, gravely.
“Anyway,” said Meghan, continuing. “We were stuck in the tree, confused as heck, and then someone else arrived. It looked like a person, but it was impossible to see for sure since their voice was distorted and they hid under a dark cloak.”
“It’s true then! There is a Scratchman.” Jae huffed angrily, but did not explain further. He stood up and began pacing. “This is so unbelievable.”
“Why do they hunt you?” asked Colin, boldly.
“Why? Many reasons I guess.” It was clear he did not want to discuss why. “The most confusing part is that somehow, they always know where we are, and where we are headed.”
Jae looked at the twins, cautiously.
“How do I explain so it makes sense? You see, when I met you and said we travel a lot, this is true. What I left out is that we rarely travel here, in this world, even though this is the world we are originally from.”
The twins looked perplexed.
“We travel through doorways to other realities,” he continued. “You might think of them as other realms or dimensions. The thing is, these doorways are said to be secure and closed, before and after we use them. It is a mystery as to how the Scratchers always track us down. Sometimes, like today, there will be just a few. But other times there are more… many more.”
“You mean there are more of them?” Colin’s voice dropped and he sank deeper into the sofa.
“Oh, yes. A lot more.”
“Wait! Hold up a sec! I am still trying to understand this world travel thingy,” said Meghan.
Jae explained again.
“There are doorways to other worlds, other realms, dimensions, realities… whatever you want to call it. You simply need the right key to open the door.”
“I believe it!” exclaimed Colin. “It is just like all the books I read.”
“It is all very real,” said Jae, morosely. “We travel between worlds to survive. Always trying to stay ahead of the hunters, but never seeming to be able to do so.”
“Can’t you just hunt and kill them, instead?” asked Meghan, still perplexed.
“We tried. So far though, we have not found a way to kill them, only to injure, temporarily.”
“So if I get this all straight,” sighed Meghan, trying to make sense of everything she had witnessed and heard that night. “You are gypsies with real magical powers that travel between worlds, realities or whatever you want to call them, trying to escape those Scratchers, who hunt you constantly, but you cannot kill them, or outrun them for long?”
“That about sums up what I can tell you safely,” said Jae.
“And somehow, Colin purchased a book that also turns out to be magical in some way, and on the very day we would need it the most,” Meghan added thoughtfully.
“That mystifies me just as much as it does you two,” noted Jae. “As I said, I have never seen a book like that before.”
Silence overtook the threesome again and for a long time the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Jae was the first
to break the silence.
“Even though it went wrong, thanks for trying to warn us. I think what you have told me might be useful, once I get back to my family.”
“Can you rejoin them then? Do you know which world they moved on to?” asked Colin.
“Yes, I can get back to them. But not until the end of the month. You see, the door only opens at certain times and as you have seen, it does not stay open long.”
Colin lost himself in thought for a moment.
“The blue moon,” he blurted out. “It opens again on the second full moon, doesn’t it?”
Jae grinned in impressed surprise. “Good guess.”
“My brother watches a lot of Sci-Fi Channel,” Meghan said, as an excuse for her brother’s geeky brain.
“I’ve heard of that, never seen it though,” Jae responded.
Colin could have easily gotten them off subject discussing his favorite shows, followed by movies, and then books, so Meghan kept hold of the conversation.
“So basically, Jae, this means you have to stay here by yourself for an entire month. I’m sorry. It is completely our fault. We thought you were in trouble. Trouble you were not expecting.”
“Who in their right mind would think we were? It can’t be helped now. Besides, maybe the information you gave me will help us better our fight. Still, I have never been away from my family before. We train for these situations, but it is the first time someone has not made it through in time.”
Colin decided it was time to get back to the twins’ original question.
“How do you do all this?” he asked, waving his arm and pointing to the inside of the wagon. “And who are you?”
Jae sat quietly, struggling to come up with an answer.
“The best way I can answer is to take you back to the beginning. When this world began, ages and ages ago, it was a magical world. Everyone knew of and practiced magic. The short version of the story is that there was a war; one that lasted many years. You could probably guess over what.”
“Power?” assumed Colin. “It’s the reason for nearly any war. Fantasy or real.”
“And this war was no different. By the end of it, nearly every living person had been stripped of their magical powers. There were survivors though, and they banded together hoping to better their chances of fixing what had gone wrong. Over time, people forgot about magic and when it showed itself, they started to fear it. The survivors became outcasts, travelers trying to stay hidden from a world that no longer accepted them. They became the Svoda Gypsies, my ancestors.”
Awaken (The Witches, The Spell Book, and The Magic Tree) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 1) Page 9