by Geof Johnson
“What’s wrong?” Jamie asked. She looks like she’s about to cry.
“I can’t go on after you,” she mumbled. “People will think I’m stupid. They don’t want to see me dance.”
Jamie sat next to her, while Rollie stood nearby. “Sure they do,” Jamie said.
She sniffed, looking at the floor. “No, they don’t.”
A very grownup thought came to Jamie. “Fred, you look beautiful and you’re a great dancer. Me and Rollie know that. Those people out there deserve to know that, too.”
“Do you really think so?” She looked up.
“Of course,” Rollie said. “I wanna see you dance tonight on that big stage.”
Jamie grabbed Fred’s hand and squeezed it. “What say we stand up, do the chant together, and you go knock ’em dead?”
“Okay.” She stood along with Jamie.
They closed ranks, put their hands one atop the other, and did the chant.
We’re the Crew,
We can’t be beat,
Everybody smell our feet!
After the familiar tingling had subsided, Fred’s face seemed more relaxed.
“Ready?” Jamie said.
She nodded. They went back through the side door to the back of the stage and waited. When the other act finished, Jamie went out and let Mrs. Nelson know that Fred was ready.
The principal introduced her and the music started. Fred walked onstage looking as poised and confident as if she were dancing for her friends and family on her patio.
* * *
On the way home, Evelyn asked, “What was wrong with Fred?”
“She just had a little stage fright, that’s all,” Jamie said. “Me and Rollie… I mean Rollie and I had a pep talk with her. She just needed some encouragement.”
“Well, she certainly did dance beautifully,” Rachel said. “I thought all three of you did well.”
“I don’t know how you did that trick with the block,” Carl said, “but you really had the audience going. That was something. How’d you do that?”
When Jamie didn’t answer, Carl said, “I know, can’t tell.”
That’s right, Jamie thought. And you’d never believe me if I did.
* * *
Jamie had trouble falling asleep that night, still buzzing from the thrill of his performance and the standing ovation. Every performer wanted them, craved them, he knew, even though he was only eight years old. He also knew that he had nearly ruined the night for Fred.
Jamie felt his power, more so every day. He wanted to fly over Hendersonville in dizzying spirals, whooping at the top of his lungs and blasting the tops off of mountains, but he couldn’t. His oath prevented him. But he could use his magic, real magic, in a show, and do any trick ever done, even by the best magicians. Unfortunately, in his zeal to show off for his friends and schoolmates, it didn’t occur to him that it would affect anyone else, but it had. His performance had cast a huge shadow that Fred had to dance in, and she almost couldn’t do it.
He could hear his grandmother in his head. Don’t be selfish, Jamie. The universe doesn’t revolve around you.
He resolved right then to never try to outshine his friends again. Other people, maybe, but not Fred and Rollie.
* * *
It was always at the edge of his consciousness — tickling, probing, whispering — but sometimes it was more than he could stand. On nights like this, Renn wanted to scream, Back off! I’m trying to concentrate. But if he wanted to study, his only option was to put the dragon’s head staff back in its case, the oblong wooden box with the obscure warnings carved along its sides. Somehow, it blocked his connection with the dragon’s head and gave him some peace, though short-lived. He couldn’t bear to be without it for long.
He’d found the staff by sheer luck at a small curio shop in a town near the coast. The shop’s owner had no idea what it was really worth, of its power, and thought he was getting the better of the bargain. But how could he know? Only a sorcerer could wield it. In the hands of a lesser man it was nothing but a walking stick. Even the red stones in its eye sockets were not particularly valuable. But in the hands of the right sorcerer, it was valuable beyond imagining.
Somehow, the staff amplified its wielder’s power, like a lens focusing the sun’s rays. With it in his hands, no one could stand up to him, not even the powerful old sorcerer whom he still sought. The look on Eddan’s face as the spell penetrated his shield was priceless, a memory he’d not soon forget. As he savored the thought, Renn could almost smell the burning flesh of the wound on the old man’s chest.
He laughed aloud and returned to his book.
Chapter 23
One day in early summer, Rachel found Jamie reading in his room. “Sweetie, you’re going to stay with Rollie this weekend, okay?”
“How come?”
“Your dad and I are taking your Gramma to Greensboro to help her pack up her furniture. She’s found a buyer for her condo.”
“What’s she gonna do with her stuff?”
“She’s bringing it here, back to Hendersonville.”
“To our house?”
“No, she’s putting it in storage until she buys a condo here.”
“She’s not gonna move out, is she?”
“Well, not yet, anyway.”
“Good.” He didn’t want to think about life without his grandmother.
“And even when she does, she won’t move far.”
“She’s always gonna be close?”
“Yes, always.”
* * *
Jamie answered the front door the next Saturday morning to find Fred, who looked like she’d been crying. Before he could even say hello, she blurted out, “I lost one of my earrings!”
“What?”
“My emerald earrings that Gina gave me. I lost one. You gotta help me find it. She’s coming today, and I gotta wear them.”
Gina and his Great Aunt Connie were coming that afternoon, stopping in for a couple of days before going to Asheville to look for an apartment for Gina.
“Why don’t you get your mom or dad to help you?”
“Mom went to Charlotte this morning to see her aunt, and my dad won’t get off the computer.”
“Okay, gimme a second.” Jamie ran to the kitchen to tell his mom where he was going and went across the street with Fred to her house.
“I think it’s somewhere in my bedroom,” she said as they walked upstairs. “I always keep them on my dresser, but I woke up this morning and one was gone.”
“Did you look under the dresser?”
“I looked everywhere. Maybe you can use your magic to find it.”
Jamie was always keen to use his magic. “I don’t know how to do it, but I can try.” He looked around her room, so different from his. Everything was pink, white or red, and fluffy and lacy. And neat.
It smells girly in here, he thought as he sat on the shiny pink comforter covering her canopy bed. “Let me hold the other one.” He held up one finger. “But if I find it, no kissing.”
She gave a tight nod and handed him the other earring. He inspected it closely, then wrapped his fist around it and closed his eyes.
“Do you see anything?” Fred asked.
“Mmmm, it’s here. Some place dark.” His brow furrowed in concentration. “But there’s a little bit of light…a strip….” He opened his eyes and pointed to the dresser. “It’s under there.”
“I looked already.”
“That’s where it is. Look real good, all the way in the back left corner, I think.”
Fred got on her hands and knees and slipped her hand under the dresser as far as her arm would reach and felt around. “I…I got it!” She pulled her dusty hand out and blew the earring clean. “Oh, thank you!”
She started to throw her arms around him but Jamie held his hands in front of him. “Remember, no kissing.”
“Okay, just a hug.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek anyway.
“
Doggone it, Fred!” Jamie wiped his face as she laughed and spun away.
* * *
Jamie was a little angry that Fred was invited for dinner that night. She sat on one side of Gina and he sat on the other.
“This is so exciting, Gina.” Rachel said. “Starting your first job and living in your own apartment.”
“I’m really looking forward to it. I’m tired of being in school.”
“It’ll be wonderful having you so close,” Evelyn said. “Asheville is just a hop, skip, and a jump away.”
“I know, and if I get lonely for a home cooked meal, I can come see you, right?”
“You should come every weekend,” Jamie said.
Fred nodded. “You should come every day.”
Gina laughed. “I don’t know, I don’t want you to get sick of me.”
“You’re welcome here anytime,” Rachel said.
Gina looked at Fred. “I heard you’re tap dancing now. I’m so happy.”
Jamie scowled. “She’s just doing it because you did.”
“Well, I can’t wait to see the video of your talent show. Fred, I also hear you’re going to church with us tomorrow.”
“Uh huh. That’s our church now. I get to sit by you.”
“Me, too!” Jamie said.
“Can I spend the night?” Fred asked. “Please? Then I can have breakfast with you in the morning.”
Connie started to say something, but Evelyn jumped in. “No, Sweetheart, there’s not enough room. Gina and her mother will both be in the guest room tonight.”
“Jamie can sleep in the clubhouse, and Gina and I can have his room,” Fred said.
“You sleep in the clubhouse,” Jamie said. She’s trying to hog Gina again.
* * *
The next day after church, Evelyn and Connie sat in the gazebo, rocking and catching up.
“The next time I come here, let’s go look at condos,” Connie said.
“Are you going to be needing one, too?”
“Maybe. Ray’s open to the idea, especially now that Gina’s moving to Asheville. Wouldn’t it be great if we could both get condos in the same complex?”
“Side by side.” Evelyn laughed.
“That would keep Ray on his toes!”
* * *
Summer slipped by all too fast. Seemingly endless days of Jamie and his friends playing in the clubhouse or swimming in the pool had come to an end and school was about to start.
On the last night of summer vacation, Jamie was the only one awake in the house. He got out of bed and pulled his curtain aside. The back yard, flooded with moonlight, was calling him.
He was a young horse feeling his oats, eager to race across the pasture and show his stuff. The urge to use his magic was strong, so compelling that he couldn’t sleep, and he had to do something about it before he exploded. Still in his pajamas, he picked up his tennis shoes and tiptoed downstairs, carefully avoiding the squeaky spots, and went to the back door, where he slipped on his shoes.
He stepped onto the deck and looked up at the moon, full and glorious in the cloudless sky, washing the landscape with alabaster light. He walked out to the center of the yard, held his hands by his side, let his head fall back, and closed his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and slowly rose in the air. He opened his eyes and held his arms out as a dancer might, gracefully turning in the air as he gained altitude, higher than the house, higher than the trees. He was unafraid.
He rose higher and higher, until the houses below looked like tiny boxes. He hung motionless in the air, arms out, soaking up the moonlight.
It’s so beautiful. I wish I could do this during daylight. But he couldn’t, his oath prevented him.
After a few minutes, he thought, I can sleep now, and descended to the ground, went inside, back to his bed.
* * *
Two weeks later, Fred plopped on the bus seat next to Jamie, a determined look on her face. “We gotta help Rollie.”
“What can we do?” Jamie said.
“I don’t know, but he’s missed the first two weeks of school already, and I heard my mom say that they’re gonna put him in the hospital if he doesn’t get better soon.”
“The hospital? Why? He’s just got the flu or something.”
Fred gave him the look that said she meant business.
“Okay, but I still don’t know what we can do.”
Fred whispered and wiggled her fingers. “Can’t you do some magic?”
“I’m not a healer. Healers are born, not made.”
Fred looked at him, one eye squinted. “And how do you know that?”
“I don’t know.” He turned and stared out the bus window. “I don’t know how I know, but I know it’s true.”
When they got off the bus, they dropped off their backpacks at Jamie’s house and told his grandmother they were going to see Rollie.
“Maybe the chant will help,” Fred said as they crossed the street. “Maybe the tingling will chase the germs out.”
They knocked on the door and Rollie’s mom answered. She smiled when she saw them, but said, “I’m sorry, but he’s too sick for company, and we don’t want you to catch it.”
“We just want to cheer him up,” Jamie said. “We won’t touch anything.”
“And we’ll wash our hands really good when we leave,” Fred said.
Adele seemed skeptical for a long moment. “Okay, but don’t stay long.”
They thanked her and went upstairs to Rollie’s room, where they found him on a bed strewn with comic books, awake, but looking puny.
“Hey, we thought we might be able to make you feel better,” Jamie said.
Rollie smiled weakly. “Thanks.”
Fred looked out of the bedroom door to see if Rollie’s mother was nearby, then turned back to the room. “Rollie, we want to try something. We think maybe the chant will help.”
“You’re crazy,” Rollie said softly.
“Come on, Jamie.” Fred put her hand on top of Rollie’s. “Hurry, before his mom comes upstairs.”
Jamie hesitated, the fingertips of one hand on his temple. “We have to make a triangle.”
“What?”
“We gotta make a triangle. It’s a powerful symbol in magic, because it has three sides, and three is a magic number.”
“You been reading about real magic?”
“No, I remember.”
“Remember from what?”
“I don’t know.” Jamie looked at Fred. “I just know.”
“Okay, whatever you say. What do we do?”
Jamie stepped to the left side of Rollie’s bed. “Get on the other side.”
Fred did, and Jamie said, “Hold his hand with your right hand.” He took Rollie’s other hand in his left. “Now hold my hand across the bed.”
“I get it,” Fred said. “We just made a triangle with our arms.”
Jamie immediately felt the tingle.
“That feels nice.” Rollie closed his eyes and smiled.
“Excellent,” Jamie said. “Now we gotta make it stronger. Fred, you think about how good you feel, and I will, too. Rollie, try to think about me and Fred.”
“It’s hard.”
Jamie let go with his left hand and put it on Rollie’s forehead. “Clear your mind first. Think about…think about the pool. Just floating in the pool. It’s a warm, lazy day, and you’re just relaxing, floating kinda easy.”
Rollie closed his eyes again, and after a moment he said, “Yeah, I’m in the pool. I’m floating.”
Jamie took Rollie’s hand again.
“All right, you just keep floating, and Fred and I are gonna float with you. We’re all back in the pool, floating and feeling good.”
Fred had her eyes closed, too. “I can almost feel the water.”
“The tingle feels stronger… and warm. Warm and good.” Rollie’s face relaxed with a contented look, eyes still closed.
Jamie closed his eyes. It does feel warm and nice. It was a pleasant sensation. H
e didn’t know how long they stayed that way, but when he heard Rollie’s mother call from downstairs, the tingling subsided.
Rollie gave a little gasp. “That was nice.” He opened his eyes sleepily. “I think I need a nap.”
“Get better, okay?” Fred said.
Rollie closed his eyes. “I think I will.”
Monday morning, Rollie was back on the school bus with his friends.
Chapter 24
A week later, the kids were lying in Jamie’s back yard after school, looking at clouds again.
“Jamie, the other day at Rollie’s, you said something about remembering,” Fred said. “What were you talking about, something you heard, or saw on TV?”
“No. It’s just…something. Things pop into my head, things I couldn’t possibly have done before, but I remember doing them.”
“That’s crazy talk.”
“No, we’re out here talking about magic, real magic,” Rollie said. “That’s crazy talk. We’re talking about Jamie floating and blastin’ stuff, and making me better when I was sick.”
“And making me confident at the talent show.”
“You probably did that without magic,” Jamie said.
“No, it was magic. As soon as we did the chant, bang, I was ready to go. I would’ve danced in front of anybody.”
“I’m glad you danced.”
“Let’s lie on our backs and hold hands and make a triangle again, think about floating.”
“No, I might actually float again,” Jamie said. “My Gramma might see.”
They lay in silence for a few moments. “The other night, I snuck out here and floated up.” Jamie pointed at the sky. “Way up there in the moonlight.”
“Sounds scary,” Rollie said.
“Nah, it was beautiful. Wish you guys coulda been up there with me.”
“Count me out.”
Fred rolled on her side and looked at Jamie. “I’d like to go sometime.”
“I’ll take you. You’ll love it.”
Jamie wondered what that would be like, just him and Fred.
* * *
“Why won’t your Gramma let us in?” Rollie said one day after they’d gotten off the bus.
Jamie rang the doorbell again. “Maybe she’s on the phone or in the bathroom.” They waited another minute. “I’m tired of this. I need to walk the dogs.” He put his hand on the door latch, closed his eyes, and they heard a click. Then he pushed the door open.