by Geof Johnson
“I don’t know if it would matter, Mrs. Callahan. Fred’s already part of a triad.”
“What?”
“Me and Rollie and her. The Crew.”
“Oh.” She blinked at him. “I forgot about that.”
“Yeah, and we have a pretty strong bond. I don’t know if those ladies’ magic could override it.”
“It’s not worth the risk,” Carl said.
“No, of course not. Fred hates them too much to do it, anyway, and she said they can’t force her to do it because it won’t work unless she does it willingly. It does mean that she’s going to stay chained up until we can get her out of there.”
Larry shook his head and pressed his mouth into a grim line. “God, I hate those women for doing this to our little girl.”
Rachel put her hand on Larry’s shoulder. “We all do, Larry.”
There was a long moment of silence before Jamie said, “By the way, Fred wants me to tell Melanie and Bryce right away. And she wants me to tell them how I found out.”
Everyone looked at him silently for a moment. Larry sighed and said, “Fine. Get them to do the oath.”
Lisa sat down beside Rachel, a strange smile on her face. “I’m so happy right now…I’m giddy.”
“Me too, Lisa.” Rachel smiled. “So many emotions percolating in me right now.” She put her arm around Lisa’s shoulders and gave her a big squeeze. “This isn’t such a bad Christmas after all, is it?”
Chapter 31
Jamie couldn’t help but chuckle as Bryce and Melanie, kneeling around the coffee table with him and Rollie, gaped at their hands, watching the glow fade, their fingertips the last to dim.
Rollie laughed. “Boy, I never get tired of that!” He poked Bryce in the arm. “Feels cool, doesn’t it?”
Bryce looked at Jamie and lowered his eyebrows. “What in the heck was that?”
“It was magic, Bryce,” Rachel said, a smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. She stood nearby with Carl and her mother, Evelyn. Cory and Gina sat on the couch with Ray, Gina’s father. Gina, dressed in red pants and sweatshirt and a green Christmas vest, had her hand over her mouth and her eyes twinkled.
“No!” Bryce frowned. “What is it, really?”
Connie stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a small towel. “It’s really magic, Bryce.”
Melanie stood and stared at the Bible on the table. Then she looked around the room. “What is going on?”
Jamie stood, too. “We just made you do that oath because it’s magic and it’s binding. We need to tell you about why Fred was kidnapped and how I got in touch with her.”
“Or rather, how she got in touch with you,” Rollie said, standing and straightening his red flannel shirt.
“Right.” Bryce and Melanie looked at Jamie with expectant faces and he said, “I have magic power. Real magic. I’m a sorcerer. I’ve been in touch with Fred through our dreams and found out she’s been kidnapped by two women. Two witches.”
The room was silent as Bryce and Melanie stared at Jamie with incredulous looks on their faces.
“They don’t believe you,” Gina said. “Show them something.”
Jamie held his hands out and the yellow shimmer of his shield formed, then he gestured to make himself invisible.
“Cool!” Cory said.
“It’s just a trick,” Bryce said.
Jamie dropped his shield. “How about now?” He floated from the floor and paused about a foot in the air.
Bryce shook his head.
“Jamie, make the doorway to that other world with the three moons,” Gina said. “They’ll get it then.”
“It’s kinda cold there right now. I checked earlier in case it came to this.”
Cory sat up on the edge of the couch. “I agree with Gina. Bryce won’t be able to deny that!”
“Other world?” Melanie said weakly.
Jamie gave a little laugh and traced the outlines of the magic doorway. He pushed it open, revealing the rocky landscape beyond.
Melanie gasped and put her hand to her face while Bryce took a step backward. Rachel handed them their coats, and they accepted them without taking their eyes off the surreal vista Jamie had revealed.
Rollie sat on the couch next to Cory, leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “I think I’ll sit this one out. Ya’ seen one three moon world, ya’ seen ’em all.” He looked at Evelyn. “Mrs. Walsh, did you make any Christmas cookies?”
* * *
Jamie took off his coat in the family room as the doorway winked out behind him. Bryce stared numbly at the space where the doorway had been while Melanie looked at the faces around Jamie’s family room. “All this time?” she said. “He’s been a real magician and we didn’t know it?”
“Sorcerer.” Jamie shook his head. “I’m a sorcerer, not a magician.”
“Sorcerers do real magic,” Gina and Cory said in unison, then laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Melanie frowned.
“He’s sensitive about that,” Gina said.
“Hmph.” Bryce stared at the floor for a moment before looking at Jamie. “Why did you have Rollie do the oath with us if he’s known about this for so long?”
“I think it strengthens the magic and makes the oath more binding,” Jamie said. “You can understand why we don’t want you to tell anyone.”
“But if you have all this power, why not just go get Fred and bring her home? With that thing.” Bryce gestured to where the doorway had been.
“I told you, we don’t know where she is. The witches won’t tell her.”
Melanie plopped in a wooden armchair beside the Christmas tree. “Witches, sorcerers, magic…wow.” She gave a little nervous laugh. “It’s overwhelming.” Her awed expression turned thoughtful. “But if Fred really is a witch, and she can visit Jamie in dreams, can she get into the witches’ dreams, too?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“What if she were to give them nightmares? I mean, really bad ones, all night long After a couple nights of that, they’d be so sleep deprived that they might make a mistake and give away their location.”
Carl, who was sitting on the armrest of the couch, nodded. “That might work.”
Jamie frowned. “She’ll need to be careful. Those witches are already hurting her with that voodoo doll. Who knows what they’d do if they’re exhausted?”
“It seems like Fred’s best bet right now,” Bryce said. “Unless she can find a spell in one of those magic books that’ll unlock the chain on her ankle.”
“I don’t think there is one,” Jamie said. “I could do it,” — he snapped his fingers — “like that, ’cause I’m a sorcerer, but witches don’t have that kind of power. They have power over people and…nature, I guess.”
“Organic things,” Melanie said. “I bet she can make love potions.” And she glanced at Bryce, who was looking the other way.
“Right.” Jamie studied Melanie for a moment. Why’d she look at Bryce like that?
Carl rubbed his jaw. “Jamie, in the meantime, tell Fred not to try anything crazy. She’s alive, and we want to keep her that way.”
Rollie brushed cookie crumbs from his shirt. “Well, I think I’m gonna head home. I could use a nap.”
“Rollie?” Melanie said. “Are you excited about the big Talent Search contest this Saturday?”
Rollie shrugged as he stood. “Not really. I might not go.”
“What?” Jamie said.
“I don’t want to go if Fred’s not going.” He picked up his coat from the back of a nearby chair. “I’ll give it ’till Wednesday, and if she’s not home by then, I’m going to back out.”
“But what about the prize money?” Bryce said. “I thought you were hoping to use that for college.”
“Well, there’s no guarantee I’d win anyway. If I have to, I can live at home next year and work part-time and go to the community college.”
Bryce put his hand on Rollie’s shoulder. “Whatever you go
tta do, Dude. But I still think you ought to do the talent show.”
“Nah. Not without Fred.” Rollie gave a little wave and left.
* * *
Jamie smiled at Fred as soon as her form materialized beside him. “Merry Christmas.” He kissed her. “I didn’t bring your present.”
Fred laughed. “That’s okay, since you can’t, anyway.” She grabbed his hands. “Did you tell my parents? And Melanie and Bryce?”
“Your parents are happy and thrilled that you’re alive.” Then he told her about his afternoon with Melanie and Bryce.
“Wish I could’ve seen the looks on their faces!” Fred smiled.
“They were stunned, to say the least.” He gave her hands a little shake. “Did you make any potions or anything today?”
“No. Rita and Cassandra ignored me most of the day. But they did give me a new box of Pop Tarts. I guess that was my Christmas present.”
“But you didn’t get them anything,” he said drily.
“I’d like to give them something.” She let go of one of Jamie’s hands and made a fist, scowling as she did. Fred’s face grew serious. “I’ve been scouring those spell books to see if I can find something useful in them, and I think I did. It’s a counter-charm to the knockout powder they used on me.”
“How are you going to make that if the women are always with you when you’re working?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet. But I memorized the recipe — the formula, as you would call it — in case the opportunity arises. I am not going to get knocked out by those hags again. I hate it. Makes me feel awful.”
“Mmm.” He fingered his lower lip. “Oh, by the way, Melanie had a good idea about how to get the witches to tell you where you are. Can you get into their dreams?”
“Ew!” She made a face. “What for?”
“To give ’em nightmares. Keep ’em awake for a few nights and they’ll slip up, I bet.”
“I’m pretty sure I can do it, but it’s so…gross.” She stuck out her tongue.
“Think of it as a way to get even with them for torturing you with that doll.”
Her face brightened. “Wouldn’t mind doing that.” She narrowed her eyes and nodded. “But not tonight. It’s Christmas.” She put her arms around his neck and looked at him suggestively.
“Fred, I’ve been thinking.”
“Think later. Kiss now.”
“No, hear me out, before I forget. You know how you believe you’re a lot more powerful than those other two witches? And we were thinking that it’s because you got some of my magic when our mom’s touched bellies when they were pregnant and all that?”
“And playing in your yard, too. I probably absorbed some of Eddan’s magic there.”
“Right. Let’s suppose you did, but….” He held up one finger. “Suppose, just suppose, that you were born to be a witch. That you were already a witch before our moms even met.”
“Huh? That’s nuts.”
“I don’t think so. We can assume now that a certain percentage of witches naturally occur in the human population and —”
She put a finger to his lips. “No geek-talk, please.”
“Okay. But witches are born naturally, anyway, like Rita and Cassandra, right? So think about what our moms said about the time they met in Lamaze class. You and I started kicking in their wombs like crazy before they even touched.”
“Like we wanted to meet each other. That’s what my mom said.”
“I think that you were already a witch and I was a sorcerer, and we sensed each other’s magic when our moms got us close together. That’s why we kicked so hard.”
Fred gave a little shrug. “Could be.”
“And you absorbed more magic when our moms touched and from playing in my back yard and stuff. You got an extra helpin’ of magic mojo!” He grinned. “That’s why you’re stronger than the average witch.”
Fred pursed her lips and looked at the opposite wall. “Maybe. Just maybe.” She looked at Jamie. “I overheard Rita tell Cassandra that she thinks I may be stronger than the voodoo queen that gave them the doll.”
“Wow. What are the chances of a sorcerer and a witch being boyfriend and girlfriend? Wonder what the odds are.”
She dragged her fingertip slowly along the edge of his jaw. “Did you ever stop to think that it wasn’t chance at all? That maybe we were fated to be together? Hmm?”
“You mean, like there’s a higher power involved?”
“Just giving you a little something to think about, Mr. Science.”
Chapter 32
Fred’s nose itched and she rubbed it with the back of her hand to suppress the sneeze she felt coming on. Dust and bits of herbs littered the table in front of her, and the particles that had become airborne had found their way into her eyes, forcing her to blink constantly as they watered.
“You need to work faster, Fred,” Rita said, sitting on the other side of the folding table with Cassandra.
“I’m going as fast as I can.” Fred pressed the pestle into the mortar. “Why don’t you get a food processor or something if you want to make big batches of this stuff?”
“You still need to connect magically with it. I don’t think you can do that with a food processor.”
Fred had connected with the spells so many times, she barely thought about it anymore as she worked. It was automatic. “I — can — certainly — try,” she grunted as she ground. She stopped and shook her hand. “I’m getting a cramp. How many have I made?”
Cassandra counted the little plastic zip-top bags in front of her. “Twenty-seven. Only…uh….”
“Twenty-three to go,” Rita finished for her.
“How did you get so many orders for love powder?” Fred said, dumping the contents of the dark green ceramic mortar into the white bowl beside her.
“We did a website like you said. Percy made it for us.” Rita proudly held up a bag and waved it at Fred. “We got almost fifty orders for these on the first day. The very first day! You were right.”
“Percy…that’s Geraldine’s son? He knows how to set up a web store?”
“Yep. He’s a smart kid.”
So much for my getting access to a computer.
“Now you got a lot of work to do,” Cassandra said, sealing another bag. “Can you hurry so we can finish by supper?”
Me and my big mouth. I’ll be doing this all afternoon, looks like. Fred dropped the pestle and picked up one of the little bags from the pile on the table. “Where’d you get these little things, anyway? They’re kinda cute, like mini-sandwich bags.”
“Big Dan orders them in bulk. It’s what he sells his cocaine in.”
Cocaine. Great. We’re strolling down Lowlife Lane, now. She set the bag down beside her.
“But that Percy did a great job on our site, I think,” Cassandra said. “Geraldine suggested we change the name of the spell to amore powder. For marketing purposes.” She cackled. “Marketing. Us. Who’d a’ thought? We’re gonna be big-time, now.”
And my hand is gonna fall off. Fred eyed the pile of bags. Those might come in handy. I need something to put the knockout powder or the counter charm in if I ever get the chance to make them. When Rita and Cassandra weren’t looking, Fred snuck a little bag from the table and tucked it under her thigh. Then she quickly picked up the mortar and pestle again.
Fred finished another batch and handed the white bowl to Rita, who dumped its contents onto a sheet of paper, then tilted the paper and tapped the powder into a zip-top bag that Cassandra held open for her. I’m doing most of the work here, Fred thought angrily. “This is really inefficient,” Fred said. “If you’re not going to get a food processor, then at least get a bigger mortar and pestle. And if you set up another table, this one wouldn’t be so crowded.”
Rita surveyed the cluttered work surface. “Maybe we could get a card table, Cass. You and I could work on that and Fred could make the powders on this one.”
“Maybe one of you could help make
the powders and you could get Geraldine or somebody to help package them,” Fred said.
“We won’t be bringing anybody over to help, at least not until you do the blood bond. We don’t want anybody knowing you’re here.”
Cassandra added another full bag to the pile. “You ready to do the bond today?”
Fred glanced at her but didn’t answer.
“I thought so,” Rita said. She pulled the doll from her pocket.
“What’s that for?” Fred said. “I didn’t do anything.”
Rita grabbed the pin and stuck it into the doll’s leg. “Ow!” Fred yelped as she grabbed her thigh. It was all she could do to keep from jerking her leg up and revealing the bag. That hurts! She kept it hidden by a terrific act of willpower, her teeth gritted against the pain.
Rita withdrew the pin and said, “Every day you refuse to do the bond, we’re gonna stick the doll. We’re tired of dealing with you being chained up and having to take care of you.”
You’re tired of it? Fred wanted to scream. How do you think I feel?
“So,” Rita continued, “if you don’t want to keep getting hurt, you might want to think about doing the blood bond.”
Fred glared at her and massaged her thigh. And you might want to start being nice to me, because when my boyfriend finds me, he’s gonna turn you into a toad. No, you already are one. A pig. A big fat pig… with phony red hair.
They had to stop working when they ran out of Adam and Eve root. They’d only filled forty-five bags, and Rita griped as they packed up for the day.
Cassandra rubbed her lower back when they finished putting the herbs in the box. “Rita, let’s just leave this stuff in here. I’m tired of hauling it back and forth.”
Rita and Cassandra dragged the table to the far corner next to the window. Then they set the box on it and Rita brushed her hands together and scanned the room. “We’re done here. Fred. It’s Cassandra’s night to babysit you, so she’ll be doing dinner.” She barked a short, ugly laugh. “What’s on the menu tonight, Cass?” she asked as they walked out.