by Geof Johnson
“I’ve thought about all that stuff before. But so what? It just happened that way, that’s all.”
“I don’t think so. I think it started long before that, when some folks in Ireland and Scotland were so frightened by the witch trials that they traveled through magic doorways to Rivershire. Eddan and Renn would never have been born, or if they had, they wouldn’t have taken the paths that they did. The patterns of their lives would’ve been different.” He nodded again. “And you wouldn’t exist, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation, and the human race would have little chance of surviving much longer.”
“But…I still don’t feel like I should be the one to make this choice. It’s intimidating.”
“I feel that you are exactly the one. I wouldn’t want anyone else to make it. You are a selfless person, the most selfless one I know, and you will only choose what is best for all of us, even if the choice ruins your life. Which I hope it won’t.”
Jamie took a deep breath and held it for a moment, then exhaled slowly and shook his head. “Well, if you say so. But I’m still not sure.”
“You’ll be fine. Trust me.” Uncle Charlie reached down and picked up his stick, then opened his knife again and resumed whittling. “What about Rivershire and the rest of that world? Are you are considering opening it up, too?”
“No. At least, not at first. I may allow a few more scientists access to it, but I’ll let Dr. Tindall help me with that. It has to be discrete. I also might let Fred’s dad organize his big family reunion there, with some of their distant cousins from Ireland.”
“What about the other families in Ireland and Scotland who may have relatives in Rivershire? Shouldn’t they be allowed to meet, also?”
“Maybe, if Mr. Callahan can set it up, but I’m not doing it. Too much work.” He rubbed his chin with one hand and gazed thoughtfully at the fire. “The biggest thing I’m worried about with the people of Eddan’s world is keeping them from getting swept aside and exploited by hordes of greedy jerks from Earth. That could easily happen, if we’re not careful.”
“I know.” Uncle Charlie cut a vicious curl from his stick and his jaw hardened. “My people have some experience with that.”
“I’m sure you do. That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. I need good advice on how to open up Eddan’s world, if we decide to do it, and I’m hoping to put together a panel of advisors so that we can do it in the smartest way possible. Some of them should be from Rivershire, I think. Would you be willing to help with that? We’ll pay you.”
Uncle Charlie inspected his stick, holding it close to his face and twirling it slowly between his ancient fingers. “I don’t know. I don’t really need money.”
“How about a trade, then? If I can think of something that you really want, will you do it?”
“I’ll consider it,” he said. “Eddan’s world. Is that what you’re always going to call it?”
“I don’t know if it’s up to me to decide. Most people there still think it’s Earth, so maybe we can call it New Earth.”
“New Earth. Sounds good.”
“I guess.” Jamie glanced at his watch and stood up with a low groan. “I gotta get back to Cullowhee. Thanks for the advice, Uncle Charlie. You were a big help.”
“I didn’t do anything. I just whittled.”
“Well, you made me feel better, anyway.” Jamie started to outline a doorway, but paused and turned back to face the old Cherokee. “Something I’ve been meaning to ask you. I know you don’t have any magical power because I’d be able to feel it, but…how do you know some of the things you do? I don’t see how you could, without some kind of power.”
“Me?” Uncle Charlie raised his eyebrows, then his face settled into a Sphinx-like smile. “I don’t know anything. I’m just a lazy old Indian.”
Chapter 24
Jamie strolled with Fred around the picnic pavilion at the river park, passing the time on a Saturday morning until everyone arrived. After much discussion with his friends, Jamie had decided to have the Big Event there because it was a public place, had plenty of room, and it was in Cullowhee so that it would be easier for his track teammates to come.
Almost all of them did. They wanted to help. Many of them were gathered around Uncle Charlie, Momma Sue, and Mrs. Malley, who sat at one of the tables, telling stories.
Dr. Tindall was also there with Dr. Westbrook and a few of their scientist friends, huddled on the lawn, holding stiff paper cups of coffee, and chatting.
Eric and Terry had agreed to help that day, too, and they stood away from everyone else at the edge of a nearby grassy knoll, dressed in black, looking tough with their sunglasses on and their guns holstered at their waists, sporting hard, dangerous expressions. Their job was to keep people away from what stood behind them, even though it was invisible.
Earlier, a Park Service employee had approached them about wearing weapons in the park, but Momma Sue hexed him and he went away happy and satisfied that nothing unusual was happening, although it was. One of the most unusual events ever, in Jamie’s opinion.
Only one television news crew had arrived so far, from the small station in Waynesville, and Jamie was disappointed. “Where is everybody?” he asked Fred. “I was hoping for a little better press coverage than this.”
“Some girl from the school paper is here.”
“Whoopee. Where are all the big shots? We sent press releases to all of them.”
“They probably think it’s a hoax. Just because you got your track buddies here to make it look like a real, happening event, doesn’t mean that people will believe it.”
Jamie heard the sound of tires crunching on gravel, and he turned to see a white van with a satellite dish on top and CNN painted on the sides, rolling slowly down the road that ran through the park. “Oh good,” Jamie said. “There’s somebody important. We can get started in a few minutes. Will you go spread the word?”
“Sure. Have you seen the rest of our gang, lately?”
Jamie pulled his phone from his pocket and began tapping a message, and he gestured with his chin. “They’re over there with the track team and Momma Sue and the others. Make sure they know to stick to the plan, and while you’re over there, tell Max to try to act natural. This needs to look legitimate, and I think he’s going to overdo his part if we don’t watch out.”
She headed toward the crowd gathered at the picnic table and said over her shoulder, “You texting your dad?”
Jamie nodded. “Him and John Paul. It’s almost time to bring Mr. Winston and get this thing started.”
Rollie, Nova, Bryce, and Melanie left the group around the two old witches and walked with Fred back toward Jamie. When they reached him, Bryce said, “I heard it’s almost show time.”
“Yep.” Jamie watched the crew step out of the CNN truck — a female reporter in a dark blue business suit, and a cameraman with a thick brown beard, dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans, lugging his equipment as he followed the perky-looking, too-much-hairspray woman toward the pavilion.
Jamie recognized her but couldn’t remember her name, and she called toward him, “Is this where the demonstration is supposed to take place?”
“This is it.”
“Good.” She narrowed her eyes and scanned the crowd. “Where’s the best spot, do you suppose, to see this real magic?” She accented the last few words as if they were distasteful, and Jamie could tell that she didn’t want to be there that morning.
Jamie pointed at the grassy knoll, where Eric and Terry stood guard. “Over that way, I think, but don’t get too close. Those are CIA agents.” Ex-CIA, he declined to add.
“CIA.” Her perfectly penciled eyebrows shot up. “Hmm. Interesting.”
“I heard it’s for real,” Bryce said, and leaned closer to her and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I think you’re going to get the scoop of a lifetime.”
“Really. And how do you know this?”
“A little birdie told me.”
Dang, Bryce, Jamie groaned inwardly and gritted his teeth. And I was worried about Max overdoing it.
She eyed Bryce for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not to believe him, then she abruptly turned to her cameraman and pointed at the knoll. “Let’s set up over there, Randy.” They walked toward the two ex-agents, and when the other television crew spotted them, they began to stir, too, and rushed to join them.
The crowd at the picnic table also started moving that way, but Uncle Charlie ambled toward Jamie and his friends instead. “I sure hope he doesn’t call me Magic Man,” Jamie said quietly.
“That could be a problem,” Melanie said, and they watched him saunter across the dew-covered grass.
When he joined them, Uncle Charlie said, “This looks like a good place to watch the action. You can give me the play-by-play on what’s really happening.”
“Don’t you know?” Nova widened her eyes. “We’re going to see real magic today.”
“That’s what I hear. Where is the master magician?”
“He’s coming.” Jamie texted a single word on his phone: Now. “But don’t call him a magician. He’s still a sorcerer, even if he is a weak one.”
The wide lawn around the picnic area was surrounded by woods. A thick smoke began to ooze out of it in a concentrated column, but it didn’t rise, it pushed toward them like a living thing, dark and ominous. Out of the opaque vapor walked three figures: Mr. Winston, carrying the magic walking stick Uncle Charlie had carved for him, and Carl and John Paul, wearing weapons and don’t-mess-with-us expressions. They flanked Mr. Winston like bodyguards.
They strode purposefully toward the knoll, and the two television crews hurried to meet them as the big group at the picnic table followed. “Hope this goes according to plan,” Jamie said and began heading that way, too. Fred and the rest of their friends came with him.
Mr. Winston walked to a spot midway between Eric and Terry and halted, while Carl and John Paul took up positons nearby. Mr. Winston gazed at the crowd for a moment, his eyes unreadable. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and he was dressed in a new black robe that Mrs. Tully had sewn for the occasion. His gray hair was still long but had filled out nicely since he’d taken the rejuvenation potion that Mrs. Malley had made for him. His shoulders were thrown back, and the tall librarian stood up to his full imposing height.
He raised his chin and said in a strong voice, “Good morning. I am Winston the Sorcerer.” He bowed, throwing one arm out gracefully. The two cameramen were busy filming him, but both reporters only watched skeptically with their arms crossed, waiting to see what he was going to do. Jamie’s track friends were muttering and pointing at him as if they’d never seen him before, though all of them had. They were following the script they’d worked out previously: act surprised and amazed.
“Today,” Mr. Winston continued, “is a most portentous day. A day of immense fate. A day of incredible wonder. Today I will show you something amazing, something never before seen by the people of this world, something spectacular and fantastic beyond your wildest imaginings. Something you will tell your grandchildren, and they will tell their grandchildren, over and over because it will be so unforgettable.”
“What do you mean by this world?” the reporter from the Waynesville TV station asked. “Are you from a different one?” Then he smirked.
“Yes,” Mr. Winston said simply.
“Oh…right. You’re a space alien, then.”
“I do not know what that is. I am a sorcerer, and I have the power to travel between worlds. Today, you will, too, if you have the courage and curiosity. Observe.” He turned, thrust his walking stick into the air and cried, “Behold!”
The top of the grassy knoll erupted in a towering ball of fire, two stories high. Everyone gasped and stared open-mouthed, even the jaded CNN reporter. Rollie leaned close to Jamie’s ear and said, “Cool trick. Is that real fire?”
“It’s an illusion, just like the smoke was. He’s using his walking stick to amplify his power.”
“Still, it looks totally real.”
“Can’t hurt you though. Watch what happens now.”
Mr. Winston stood with his back to the crowd and raised both arms over his head, then slowly lowered them, and the flames descended, too, as if he were pulling then to the ground. The last of the fire winked out, and in its place stood an open, glowing doorway.
“Wow,” the Waynesville reporter said.
Uncle Charlie whispered to Jamie, “Did you make that?”
“Yes, a lot earlier, before anybody got here. Then I hid it with my invisibility shield. It was the only way I could think to do it without giving myself away.”
The CNN reporter frowned at the doorway and said, “David Copperfield could probably do that.”
Mr. Winston turned to face her. “Is he a powerful sorcerer?”
“He’s a magician.”
“Ah! A trickster, then.”
“Isn’t that what you are?”
“See for yourself.” Mr. Winston gestured with his stick at the doorway on top of the knoll. “Through that portal lies another world. And on that world are more portals, one hundred of them, all for your inspection.”
“Wait.” The girl from the school paper raised her hand. “Are you saying we can go through that thing up there?”
“That is exactly what I am saying. You can see with your own eyes what wonders lay beyond.”
“Excellent,” the Waynesville reporter said. “I’m game.”
He started to walk up the knoll but Eric and Terry moved to block him. Mr. Winston held up a small silver locket and said, “You must take one of these with you, first.”
“What’s that for?”
“It will enable me to find you if you get lost on one of the worlds you are about to explore. It is a safety precaution.”
“Sure, I’ll wear it. Where do I get one?”
John Paul held out a wooden box and opened the lid. The reporter reached inside and pulled out one of the cheap necklaces and fumbled with it for a moment before fastening it around his neck. Other people from the crowd quickly lined up behind him. The reporter turned to his cameraman and said, “Hurry up, Brian. Let’s be the first ones.”
While the other newsman struggled to get his necklace on, Uncle Charlie whispered to Jamie. “Is that the locket with the wood chips from your walking stick?”
“Yes. I thought it would ruin everything if somebody got lost today.”
Mr. Winston walked up the hill and waited beside the doorway for the Waynesville television crew, then escorted them through when they were ready. The rest of the people in the crowd pressed toward John Paul, clamoring for their lockets. The CNN people were stuck near the back of the line, and the reporter wore a sour look, obviously miffed at being behind by the Waynesville team.
Uncle Charlie, Momma Sue, and Mrs. Malley waited with Jamie and his friends for the crowd to file through the portal ahead of them, Momma Sue laughing like a little girl while she patted Mrs. Malley on the shoulder. “We’re going through a magic doorway to see some new planets, Bella,” she said. Then she winked at Jamie. “My, oh my, what will they think of next?”
Jamie laughed and Uncle Charlie said, “I’m surprised they came today. This is nothing new for them.”
Fred shrugged. “They think it’ll be fun.”
“Where are the three witches from the monastery?”
“They’re at Mrs. Malley’s house. They were a little leery about dealing with a mob of people and reporters and everything.”
“I can understand that. It’s a little overwhelming, even for old pros like us.”
They followed the excited crowd through the portal, and on the other side, they found themselves on a desert plain. They faced two rows of glowing doorways, fifty on each side, extending directly away from them in parallel lines that were thirty yards apart. The crowd stared at them in amazement, even most of Jamie’s track teammates and the scientists.
Allison
approached Jamie and said, “This is awesome, dude!”
She raised her hand for a high five, but Jamie shook his head and touched a finger to his lips. “It’s Mr. Winston’s show, remember?”
“Oh yeah.” She winced and lowered her voice “Sorry about that. But it is pretty incredible, seeing all those doorways lined up like that. Where do they go?”
Jamie gestured at Mr. Winston, who was preparing to speak. “He’s fixing to explain.”
Mr. Winston waited with his back to the doorways, and he held both hands up until the gathering crowd quieted. Then he said, “Behind me are one hundred portals to one hundred worlds. You may investigate as many as you wish at your leisure, but make sure you have your locket.”
“How long do we have?” the school reporter asked.
“Three hours.”
“Is there free food?” the Waynesville cameraman said.
“No. But the wonders are free.”
The CNN crew seemed desperate to set up a shot, the reporter walking frantically about, trying to decide where to stand, and whether or not to ask for an interview or go through one of the portals. When the Waynesville team went through the nearest one, Bryce called to the CNN reporter, “Looks like you’re getting scooped.”
She turned and raced after them with her cameraman in tow.
Uncle Charlie chuckled as he watched them pass into another world. “No imagination. There are ninety-nine others, but she chose that one.” He turned to Jamie and said, “Where does that one go, by the way?”
“Another Earth-like world. They all do, but they’re a little different. None of them go to Rivershire, though. The last three on the right go to worlds that have two moons, and they’re full now. I thought that would be impressive.”
“I want to see those.” Nova grabbed Rollie by the arm. “Come on. You can be my escort.”