by Tom Larcombe
“Look, could that be the problem?” she asked, pointing to a TV in the window of a pawn shop.
The bulletin strip across the bottom of the TV screen read:
'Stock market closed for the day after third circuit breaker trips – see details at noon.'
“I don't know, but it might be.”
“What's it mean anyhow?” Andi asked.
“I'm not up on stock market terminology, but I know they've set it up to stop trading for a set period of time if there's a drop of a certain percentage. It sounds like the market dropped an awful lot today if they stopped trading entirely.”
The traffic on the street appeared normal as they finished their walk, except now Rynn felt a nervousness in the air.
Once they made it back to the office, Rynn sent all the children to their rooms to grab a couple changes of clothing. On their return she put Eugene and Cindy in charge and went to her own room. When she got back to the office she carried a bag containing several changes of clothing on one shoulder. Her emergency bag was on the other one.
* * *
By five o'clock everyone that was getting picked up was gone. One of the other teachers checked in with her before he left, but didn't volunteer to take any of the children with him. Rynn set up a cold dinner for the children and herself and then they looked for a room in the center of the building that had enough space for them to lay out the blankets she'd had the younger children retrieve earlier on. They ended up settling on the cafeteria. It was three rooms in from the outside of the building and had the largest flat space available.
Cindy produced a deck of cards she'd picked up when she got her clothing and the children played card games through the evening. At nine, Rynn clapped to get their attention.
“Okay, lights out.”
“You're kidding me, right?” Andi asked.
“No, I'm not. You're still at school so it's school rules.”
“But school's out.”
“Just go to bed. I have a feeling that we'll find out what the problem is tomorrow, and I want everyone well rested just in case.”
There were grumbles all around but no more outright opposition. Once the children were all bundled into their blankets Rynn shut the light out. She wasn't even the slightest bit tired while she waited, wrapped in her blankets, until she heard the last of the students' breathing deepen as they fell asleep.
Rynn got up, slipped out of the room, and paced the hallways. Around midnight she heard the sound of breaking glass towards the front of the school.
I was afraid of that, she thought. Even at night there were lights on all over the place in the school when everyone was here. Now there aren't.
She rushed towards the sound, listening for anything else out of place. The sound of broken glass crunching underfoot told her that someone had entered through the shattered window. Whispers carried to her ear as well.
“I'm telling you, there's got to be something worth taking in here. Have you seen how many people are normally around this place? Now it's deserted and they left in a rush,” a voice whispered.
Not quite deserted, Rynn thought.
“Yeah but this place gives me the creeps. I feel like it doesn't want me here,” a second voice replied.
“You pussy, let's get some stuff and get out,” the first voice again.
So probably just the two of them, I can handle two.
Rynn pitched her voice to carry.
“Not quite as deserted as you think,” she said.
She heard a set of footsteps crunch across the glass and quickly fade, as though someone were fleeing. Then she heard a noise she associated with her father and the shooting range he'd installed on their property. A distinct noise that signified a round being chambered in a pistol.
“It will be soon,” a voice called out.
“Don't be stupid,” Rynn said.
“Tell you what, show me where the good stuff is and I'll let you live.”
Rynn positioned herself in the hallway where she could see the door she thought the intruder would come through.
“Or be stupid, it's your own choice,” she said.
She drew on her power and set a trigger shield. If anything struck it, a second, much stronger shield, would be triggered into existence to protect her.
The intruder came through the door. He was wearing a hoodie in the colors of one of the gangs from the area. He carried a small caliber pistol turned sideways and, from all appearances, had no idea how to use it properly.
“There you are. I see you now lady. Show me where the good stuff is, or else.”
Rynn rolled her eyes.
“Or else what?” she asked.
“Or else this!” he said, brandishing the pistol.
“Give me a break, would you?”
“You don't understand, I'm holding a gun on you lady.”
“What is it, a .22 maybe? You aren't even holding it right. The slightest pressure will knock it out of your hand.”
The intruder looked confused, as if he had no idea what to do when brandishing his gun didn't bring the desired results.
“Let me help you with that, I'd hate for you to hurt yourself,” Rynn said.
She threw her hand downwards and focused her power on creating the same movement above the gun. It was struck by a solid chunk of air and went flying out of the intruder's hands. He stood there, stunned. Rynn gestured again and the gun slid across the floor to her foot. She bent down and picked it up.
“Now. You hold a gun like this,” she said.
Rynn held the gun upright, pointed at the intruder. She braced her right wrist with her left hand.
“I suppose I don't have to brace this one, it's much smaller than what I'm used to firing. Oh look, you still had the safety on.”
The click of the safety coming off finally penetrated the intruder's confusion. When he looked up he found himself staring down the barrel of his own gun. He bolted towards the door he'd used to enter the hallway and Rynn heard the crunch of broken glass again as he fled the building.
* * *
Chapter 4
Michael slipped into the house, hoping to avoid Joshua.
“What the hell happened to you?” Joshua asked.
So much for avoiding him.
“What do you think?” Michael asked.
“I don't understand why you run near the wards at all. You know it'll throw you back with as much force as you hit it with.”
“Because I like the illusion that I'm free and not kept locked in some sort of quarantine.”
Michael's temper was flaring again. Admitting that he was, essentially, kept locked up at all times was more than he could bear. He knew he was running his mouth off but couldn't stop himself.
“You know what? There's a lot I don't understand also. Tell me. Why do they need you here when the ward's always up? Why do they even bother to go to this much trouble for me? I'm a thorn in their side and yet here I am, still breathing instead of populating a shallow grave. I've heard the rumors about how they've taken care of some of their other problem wizards.”
Joshua's tone was conciliatory.
“I can actually answer those questions. I thought you already knew. I'm here, or Chris is when it's his shift, so you don't go blabbing to the people in the town. Magic needs to stay a secret. Wizards are powerful, but there are a lot more normal people in the world than there are wizards. If they decide to fear us, or hate us, they could wipe us out easily. If they don't know about magic then there's no problem.”
Joshua looked like he was going to add something else, but stopped. After a moment he went on to answer the second question.
“As for why they went through all the hassle. Do you know what happened to the previous three people they had in your position?”
Michael shook his head.
“Each and every one of them ended up accidentally killing themselves. None of them lasted more than three years. Each of them botched clearing a crystal and had it blow up on them.
The Board goes through all this trouble because you're good with energy flows. You can handle clearing the crystals without incident. They didn't want to lose anyone else, and they didn't want to lose you either. So you have a cushy job that would be dangerous for anyone else and you have time to reflect on your errors. They still hope that you'll give in and admit that magic needs to be kept secret.”
Joshua's tone and frank answers cooled Michael's temper. But he still felt the need to say something that would keep the finger of blame pointed where he thought it belonged.
“Why didn't anyone tell me the job I was doing was potentially dangerous?”
Michael realized he was whining and winced inwardly. Joshua simply ignored the tone and answered his question.
“I don't know. Maybe they thought it wouldn't be dangerous for you with your skills. Since you've been here almost thirty years with no incidents I guess they were right, weren't they?”
The silence drew out. Joshua looked at Michael quizzically, as though waiting for him to answer the question.
As if he thinks I'll actually agree that the Board did something with my best interests in mind, Michael thought. I'm betting there's some other reason also. He almost said something earlier and stopped. I bet whatever he was going to say would have shown that they aren't that altruistic.
Michael turned and stalked out of the room. His attempt at hauteur was only slightly damaged by the forgotten aches of his body, he destroyed the remainder of it completely when he slammed the door of his bedroom.
* * *
Michael woke to a series of staccato taps on the windowpane.
“Alright Calvin, I'm coming,” Michael slurred.
He stood up and shook his head. When he opened the window for Calvin, the crow skipped his normal preening routine and hopped onto Michael's arm.
“What's this?” Michael asked.
Calvin let out a “Caw” and launched himself towards the door then came back to Michael's arm. Michael obligingly opened the door and Calvin flew into the hall then returned to his arm again.
Michael was still dressed in yesterday's clothes, but when he started to pull his pants off to get changed Calvin buffeted him with his wings.
“Hey, stop that!”
Calvin launched himself towards the door. He landed on the floor in the hallway and looked at Michael expectantly.
“You want me to follow you or something?”
Calvin walked down the hall towards the stairs. Michael followed. When they got down to the kitchen, Calvin started pecking at the back door. Michael opened it.
“If you just wanted to go out, why'd you ask me to let you in?”
Calvin tapped at the screen door, ignoring the pet door that had just been opened. Michael sighed in exasperation and opened the door. Calvin walked onto the porch, turned, and looked at Michael expectantly again.
Michael stepped out onto the porch. Calvin pecked his big toe once and then took flight. He flew straight towards the garden and landed on the fence. Michael followed the flight with his eyes and when Calvin landed, he saw why the crow was acting out of sorts. There was someone in his garden.
“Hey!” Michael yelled, “What do you think you're doing?”
He ran towards the gate, so did the person inside the garden. Michael wasn't moving quickly with his bare feet and sore muscles. It looked like he was going to lose the race. He drew on his power and with a wild wave of his hand caused the gate to swing shut. A second draw on his power allowed him to close the latch. The trespasser reached the gate first, but by the time he got it open Michael had reached the other side.
“What are you doing in my garden?” Michael asked.
He took a closer look at the trespasser. It was a young boy, probably in his early teens, and he was scared out of his wits.
“How'd you do that? That gate swung shut all on its own.”
“Answer my question, what are you doing in my garden?”
The boy looked up at Michael and his eyes grew wide.
Great, I'm probably all bruised up from last night, I'm in filthy clothes, and my hair's a mess. I've terrified the kid.
Michael stopped blocking the gate.
“Come on out. Don't try to run though.”
The boy stepped through the gate. He was trembling and, if Michael was right, there were tears forming in his eyes. Michael's hands fell onto the boy's shoulders
The kitchen door burst open and heavy footsteps raced across the porch.
“What's going on?” Joshua called.
“I caught someone in my garden,” Michael replied. “Calvin let me know something was up so I came out to check.”
Calvin took flight from the fence, circling in the sky, and filling it with his cries.
The tears the boy had been trying to hold back started to roll down his cheeks.
“What are you going to do with me mister?” the boy asked softly.
“When you say you caught him, did you have to use anything... extra, to do it?” Joshua asked.
Michael raised one hand from the boy's shoulder and placed his index finger in front of his lips. He lowered his hand and turned to Joshua.
“Nope, beat him to the gate and got it closed,” Michael said.
“You want me to call the cops?” Joshua asked.
“Nah, the kid looks like he could use a good meal. I bet he's just hungry.”
Michael turned to the boy.
“Is that so? Were you stealing food because you're hungry?”
The boy, eyes still wide, nodded.
“What's your name kid?” Joshua asked brusquely.
The answer was so soft it was almost inaudible.
“Jeff.”
“Well Jeff, here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell me in your own words why you were stealing from me,” Michael said.
Jeff's eyes moved from Michael to Joshua. The larger man was flushed and breathing heavy. The yells had caught him off guard and he was wearing only powder blue boxer shorts and a white, no-sleeved undershirt.
Michael turned to follow the boy's gaze.
“You're scaring the kid Joshua. Go get dressed.”
Joshua looked at himself and realized he was standing in the middle of the back yard, barely clothed.
“Um... I'm just gonna go back inside. You're good Michael?”
Michael help back a chuckle, barely. He waved his hand towards to the porch.
“Go ahead, I'm pretty sure the boy here isn't any danger to me.”
He turned back to Jeff.
“So tell me, why were you stealing from me?”
He glanced up and noticed that the sun wasn't even fully above the horizon yet.
“and at this ungodly hour of the morning.”
Jeff bit his lower lip and appeared to be lost in thought.
“The truth now,” Michael said, “I'll know if you lie to me. And, by the way, don't mention what you saw. Most people would think you were nuts and the ones who didn't would be even more dangerous to you. They don't like people knowing things like that can be done, that magic really exists.”
Jeff swallowed and turned slightly pale.
“Cause I'm hungry. So's my sister and mom. I'm sure my mom hasn't been eating, that she's been giving her food to me and my sister. I thought maybe if I could bring home enough food, she might eat something too.”
“You doing it this early so you don't get caught?”
“No, I've got to go to school in another hour and a half. I wanted to be home with the food before my mom woke up. She doesn't have a job to go to any more, but she still sees us off every morning.”
Michael felt that every word the boy had said was true.
“Follow me,” Michael said, and walked into the garden.
He went to where he'd first seen the boy and saw a paper bag sitting on the ground under the tomato plants. He peered in and saw peas, greens, and tomatoes. He also noted that Jeff hadn't damaged any of the plants at all. He'd been very careful to pick t
he things he wanted without damaging anything.
Jeff stood a few steps away, having reluctantly followed as he was instructed.
“Pick up the bag,” Michael said, “and come over here.”
He walked to another planting bed rife with greenery. Michael started pulling the plants from the soil to reveal red radishes. He turned and beckoned to Jeff. When the boy came closer, Michael topped off the bag with the radishes.
“Now listen to me Jeff. I could've called the police. Instead I'm going to give you that bag of food and make you an offer. You take that home to your mom and tell her you got a job. You'll need to be here for thirty minutes before school every morning and two hours in the afternoon. In the mornings, I'll teach you to garden, set aside an area for you to start your own, and we'll harvest mine. You get to keep some of it.”
Jeff's face had taken on a guarded look at the start of the offer. When Michael offered to let him use land to garden on and show him how, a tentative smile broke through.
“What about the afternoon?” he asked.
“That will be more like work. I can use someone to clean up where I do my own work. I never seem to get around to it. I'll pay you ten dollars an hour and you'll do janitorial work.”
Jeff's eyes were wide again.
“Real money? Not just vegetables?”
“Yes, real money. I'd suggest giving most of it to your mom, but it will be yours to do with as you want. What do you say, do we have a deal? Or do you just go home with that bag and if I catch you again I call the cops?”
“We got a deal, mister. You want me to start tonight?”
“How about now. We'll start our half hour now and then I'll drive you home in time to get to school.”
Jeff nodded.
“First I'm going to introduce you to my guard,” Michael said.
He raised his thumb and forefinger to his lips and gave a piercing whistle.
“Calvin!” he called, and held his forearm out.
When the crow landed, Jeff shied back.
“It's okay. This is Calvin. He lives here and keeps the animals out of my garden.”