Winging It

by A. A. Albright

  We left her to her chat and made our way inside. The hallway was long, narrow, and low-ceilinged, with areas where people could hang up their coats and leave their snow boots. I guessed that even if they travelled to and from work using magic, they must still go outside for some fresh air – or maybe just to argue with their friends and family on the phone.

  ‘She didn’t see us,’ I gasped, relieved.

  ‘Of course she didn’t,’ Will replied. ‘Your spells are amazing.’

  I pushed open the next door, wishing my cheeks weren’t beginning to burn, and we found ourselves in the large, open area we had seen from the ledge below. Although there was a packing area, where witches were boxing up brooms, there mostly seemed to be research going on. I could see a table where different sorts of bristles were laid out, and another table where a group of workers were carefully examining different lengths of wood. Over by the bright, curved window, some flying experiments were taking place.

  So far, so normal – for a magical broom-making facility, at least. There wasn’t much here that hadn’t been in the Warren Lane branch.

  I felt an insistent tapping on my shoulder. ‘Look over in that trolley, Wanda,’ Will said. ‘By that back hallway. The brooms inside it look just like the one I gave you.’

  I walked over, with him following close behind. The trolley Will had noticed was a low, long, hand-operated vehicle, with the words, ‘Defective brooms. To be shredded once full,’ painted on its side.

  Just as I was drawing close, a tired-looking young man came out through a door marked Quality Control and began to push the trolley.

  The door he had just come out through opened once again, and the face I hated more than any in the world peeped out. ‘I have a camera over the shredder, Matthew!’ said Minister Plimpton, glaring at the young man. ‘So just you be sure and destroy every single one of those brooms. If you don’t want to go the same way as Benny and his friends. And hurry back once you’ve done that lot, will you? The brooms don’t check themselves.’

  She slammed the door shut behind her, and disappeared from view. The young man gritted his teeth, and began to push the trolley away. ‘Should we follow him?’ asked Will. ‘Or should we try and get into that room?’

  I shrugged my shoulders. The only thing I really wanted to do just then was dive into bed and pull the covers over my head. Something big was happening here. Something involving brooms that were just like the ones my father used to make. I didn’t want to think about what that meant. My heart began to thud way too fast, and my hands began to shake.

  ‘Hey.’ Will pressed his hand into mine. ‘Are you all right?’

  I brushed him off. ‘Of course I am. We need to stay on that Matthew guy. That’s what we need to do. He’s our best way into that Quality Control room. Even if the door isn’t locked, the Minister could be right behind it. She’ll hardly not notice us opening a door, no matter how invisible we are.’

  We rushed after Matthew. He was approaching a set of swinging doors, and we stayed close to him as he awkwardly pushed the trolley through. He was really struggling, and not a single person in the building offered to help. It went against every fibre of my being not to hold the doors open for him, but I couldn’t give myself away.

  ‘Poor guy,’ said Will. ‘Why does everyone give the weredogs the crappiest jobs?’

  I arched a brow, and Will cleared his throat.

  ‘I mean, not that I care,’ he amended. ‘Why would I? The more cheap labour, the better.’

  Matthew didn’t go too far. There was a huge shredding machine, and I watched in agony as he placed one perfect broom after another into it. He looked down at each and every broom before he placed it inside, and shook his head miserably.

  ‘Can’t say I blame him for hating having to do this,’ said Will. ‘I’m itching to go and rescue all of those brooms myself. Do you reckon that’s what happened with the broom I gave you? Maybe that Jeff guy had to shred them, but he managed to sneak one out?’

  ‘Quality Control was one of Benny’s many jobs,’ I replied. ‘The weredog. But all three of those guys were obsessed with brooms. I have the feeling that each of them wanted to get that broom out, and for me to find this place. I just can’t believe it’s been here all this time. I knew that the broom you gave me was special. I should have figured this out months ago.’

  ‘How could you?’ Will spoke soothingly. ‘You can’t be expected to solve every single mystery in the magical world. Even if you are amazing at it. Do you think ... Wanda ... do you think there’s even more to this? Do you think ...?’

  I shook my head and scrunched my eyes shut. I couldn’t stand Will being so nice to me. It meant that he and I had come to the same conclusion. ‘I think that if I do think too much about this, I might just seize up with nerves. Come on. Matthew is finished shredding. Let’s stay close to him.’

  20. No Small Matter

  When we arrived back at Quality Control, Mathew punched so many numbers into the keypad by the door that I struggled to follow the sequence. When it finally opened, we had plenty of time to get in around him.

  I guess I’d been expecting a big revelation to come once we were inside. Instead, I was faced with another enormous room. There was a kitchenette area to the side, and another trolley – although this one had no writing on it at all. On the far wall of the room, a conveyor belt was chugging along, sending brooms into the Quality Control room from somewhere beyond.

  The conveyor moved slowly, stopping and starting, sending one broom through every five minutes or so. Matthew picked each one up, took a great deal of time examining it for flaws, and then placed it into one of the two trolleys.

  Almost all of the brooms that came through were stunning pieces – Plimpton Elites, according to Will. The whole time we stood there, though, only one of the other brooms arrived. Just like when Matthew was at the shredder, he balked when he saw the superior broom. Reluctantly, he placed it into the trolley to be discarded. Will and I winced, knowing full well that it would be going into the shredder very soon.

  On the same wall through which the conveyor belt seemed to be travelling, there was another door. The sign upon it said, ‘Private: No entry.’

  ‘I guess that’s where the Minister went,’ said Will. ‘Judging by the keypad, that section is locked down tight, too. Kind of reminds me of that movie – The Wizard of Oz. Makes me wonder who – or what – is behind the curtain.’

  I looked at the wall, hardly daring to wonder the same thing myself. Who was behind there? Man or machine?

  ‘So what do we do?’ Will asked. ‘Wait it out?’

  It seemed like the only option. I would just have to ignore the fact that I had really needed to pee for quite a while now. We couldn’t even slump down into a chair – the only one in the room was a swivel chair on wheels, and there was no way my bum was going to make it onto that seat without making the chair move. I eyed the second locked door, trying to think of an appropriate spell to get us through.

  ‘If we were vampires we could get in there without anyone noticing,’ Will mused. ‘Vaporize ourselves and fly in through a crack. I guess we could use a walk through walls spell, but something tells me that this place will have wards up against that sort of thing.’

  ‘Maybe.’ I eyed the conveyor belt. It had stopped, and a little bell next to the door began to ring.

  Mathew rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchenette. He pulled a tray, a plate, a small jug and a glass from a cupboard above the counter, then opened up the refrigerator, and took out an enormous apple tart. As he sliced it and arranged a little bowl of cream on the tray alongside, I felt my mouth begin to water. When he filled the glass to the brim with orange juice, he nearly sent me over the edge.

  ‘You’re salivating,’ Will said with a smile.

  ‘I just realised I haven’t eaten much since yesterday.’ My stomach rumbled, confirming what I said. ‘Some roasted chestnuts before the race. A few pastries. I’m so tempted to steal that apple
tart right now. You think we could convince him we’re ghosts?’

  ‘Sure. Hungry ghosts. He’s not going to panic at that at all. Hey, I think I’ve got some mints in my pocket.’ He fished out a packet of mints and passed it to me. There were only four left. I crammed two into my mouth and passed the packet back to Will.

  Just when I expected Matthew to sit down and devour the food he’d prepared, he went to the door marked Private, and hit a buzzer. A few moments later, Justine appeared, opening the door the merest crack and surveying the tray of food.

  ‘Is that a bowl of cream, Matthew?’

  Matthew’s hands began to shake. ‘Y-yes. There was no ice cream, so I thought I’d improvise.’

  ‘You are not paid to improvise.’ She snatched the tray from his hand. ‘Now get out to the main floor and empty the rubbish bins, before I fire you.’

  She gave him one last look of loathing, and slammed the door in his face.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Will kicked the chair in anger. Luckily, Matthew had chosen that moment to kick the trolley of the Plimpton Elite brooms, and hadn’t noticed Will’s outburst. As he pushed the brooms outside, I finally slumped into the chair, my eyes straying once again to the conveyor belt.

  ‘We might not be vampires,’ I said. ‘But we can make ourselves fairly small with a shrinking spell.’

  Wills face paled. ‘A shrinking spell. Wanda, they require just as much of a matter redistribution as walking through walls.’

  ‘Maybe,’ I agreed. ‘But at least we won’t have the trouble of wards to get past if we shrink ourselves.’

  He looked confused for a moment, until he realised where I was looking. His eyes followed mine to the small gap – perhaps six or seven inches or so – above the conveyor belt. ‘You want us to shrink ourselves tiny enough to get through that gap? And I suppose you expect us to remain invisible while we do it, too. Do you know how difficult even the shrinking part is? You need to feel it. Feel every small particle of yourself, feel how separate each one is from the other. Feel how they can break apart, shrink away to nothing, and somehow come back together again.’ His voice trailed off for the last few words, and he looked at the floor.

  ‘I’ve done a shrinking spell before,’ I said. ‘My mother taught me. I’m good to go on that score. And you already know I can hold more than one spell at once. Well, most of the time.’

  His eyes stayed firmly down. ‘Here’s the thing, Wanda. You and I might have both gotten our power pretty late in life, but when you did get yours you got a whole lot more.’

  ‘Are you saying you want me to do a spell for both of us again? I can do that.’

  He seemed to be biting his tongue for some reason. Even wringing his fingers. ‘This is a lot bigger, and you know it. You’ll need physical contact with me. And I’ll need to, y’know, bond my life force to yours willingly, otherwise you won’t be able to shrink me. Either that, or you’ll have to go in without me. And what if something happens to you once you do go through alone? I won’t be able to do anything about it.’

  I tilted my head, studying his expression. ‘You’re saying you’d be worried about me?’

  ‘In a way.’ He refused to meet my eyes. ‘I told you – I want to oust Minister Plimpton for my own reasons. And I can’t very well do it without you. So yeah, I’d be worried.’

  ‘I hardly thought your reasons would be altruistic, Will, never mind emotional. Although I’ve gotta say, I do find it a bit odd that you feel the need to reiterate your lack of feelings for me over and over. What’s that saying about protesting too much?’

  He snorted. ‘Yeah, right. Because a guy with a girl like Mandy Parker on his arm is really going to give you a second glance. Look, are you taking me through with you or not?’

  ‘Come on then.’ I held out my hand. ‘Physical contact doesn’t bother me. I already had your sweaty hand holding onto me for dear life on the broom. And I don’t have girl cooties either, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

  He let out an exasperated laugh as he slowly took my palm in his. ‘You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever known.’

  ‘The feeling is mutual, Will. Believe me.’

  His skin was cold and clammy, but then so was mine. It did surprise me that his hand was shaking just a little. But what surprised me even more was the jolt I felt, as soon as we connected. It started off as a sharp, concentrated surge of electricity, but turned into a warm, delicious fizz that travelled from my hand, all the way up through my body. I glanced at him in wonder.

  ‘It’s just because I’m bonding my life force to yours,’ he said in a croaky voice. ‘That irritating itch will be gone once the spell is done. Now can we just get on with this? Mandy will be worried about me.’

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I gritted my teeth, and began the spell:

  ‘Matter we are,

  Matter is all,

  Matter through matter,

  Make our matter small.’

  Will swallowed, and looked down at our joined hands, both growing smaller along with the rest of our bodies. To my surprise, the wizard broom was shrinking, too. It must have been because I was holding it with my other hand. It was a spot of luck, though, because I hadn’t exactly planned ahead. Until I saw the broom begin to shrink, I hadn’t even considered how we were going to climb up onto the conveyor belt once we were pint-sized cuties.

  The feeling of coming apart and back together again was intoxicating and terrifying, all at once. The super-secret truth, that I would never ever tell, was that holding Will’s hand made it a lot less scary. What was with that? Why did I feel so at home with him, even when he was being the biggest jerk in the world?

  By the time we were as small as we were going to get, his hand was still in mine. I quickly pulled away and threw my leg over the broom. ‘Come on, Berry. Let’s get this show on the road.’

  21. Behind the Curtain

  He perched on the back, holding onto the shaft this time, not touching me as we flew. The gap was just big enough for us to make it through – although we did have to lower our heads as we passed under.

  When we came out at the other side, I expected to find more of the same – a high-tech, modern room with shining equipment. Instead, I found myself gawping at what looked like someone’s living quarters. There was an unmade bed on the far wall, and an open door revealed a small bathroom. There was a small table with two chairs, and a couch and television. There was a work area, albeit a messy one. A large table was spread with wood and bristles, tools and designs. An auburn-haired man sat on a high stool at the table, with his arms crossed at his chest. Minister Plimpton stood over him, clearly annoyed.

  ‘You have to take a break, my darling,’ she said. ‘You’ve been working all day. Come over to the dining table and eat your afternoon snack.’

  He picked up a piece of wood and began to sand it, ignoring her.

  ‘This is because we only have cream instead of ice cream, isn’t it?’ the Minister persisted. ‘I told you, I can pop out and be back in a jiffy.’

  He finally fixed his eyes on hers. They were large, pale blue, and intelligent. ‘I couldn’t care less if you milked the cow yourself, Justine. I know what day today is. I’m not an idiot.’

  ‘Here.’ She slid a small plastic cup across the table. In it were two dark-coloured pills. ‘Take these. It’ll help with the stress.’

  ‘I’m not stressed!’ He swept his hand out and knocked the pills to the floor. ‘I want to go out there! I want to go and finish my race!’

  She sighed, bending down and picking up the pills. She moved towards him and, swift as you like, shoved them in his mouth and clamped it shut.

  ‘Who am I?’ she said, a moment after he had swallowed.

  He looked up at her, smiling. His hand reached out to stroke her arm. ‘Justine! My beautiful wife. When did you get here?’

  She smiled lovingly back at him and placed a kiss on his cheek. ‘Never mind that. How are you feeling today, my love?’
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  He beamed. ‘I made thirty Elites, Justine. Thirty!’

  ‘Goodness. That’s just wonderful, my darling. And ... you didn’t make any other brooms, did you?’

  He scrunched up his forehead. ‘Other brooms? Why would I make other brooms? Hey, is it snack time yet?’

  She pulled him by the arm and led him to the table. ‘Here you are. Fresh juice, just the way you like it. And just because I love you so much, I am going to pop out and get you some of your favourite vanilla ice cream.’ She kissed him again, walked to the door and let herself out.

  Will and I sat, unmoving, on the hovering broom. ‘Wanda,’ he said quietly. ‘Are you all right?’

  I swallowed. ‘What do you care? You’ve finally got all the dirt on the Minister you need.’ I jumped down off the broom. ‘Are you ready?’

  ‘Ready? Ready for what? Shouldn’t we go and get your coven?’

  I shook my head. ‘No. Thanks to the Leadership Clause, Justine is in charge of everything right now. We were lucky to get in here when we did. No one else will stand a chance, and they definitely won’t be given a search warrant. We have to get him out of here. That’s the only way we’ll ever prove this.’

  He sighed, but nodded. ‘You’re right. But Wanda ... if he doesn’t ... you know what I’m trying to say. Just don’t take it personally, okay?’

  I smiled tightly. ‘Me? Never. Now hold my hand.’

  Will grasped my hand, firmly this time. Once again, I felt the almighty surge as our bond re-established.

  ‘Matter we are,

  Matter is all,

  Matter through matter,

  Make our matter tall.’

  As we grew, I murmured, ‘We were unheard and out of sight, now bring our forms back to the light.’

  It took a moment for the man to notice that two people had suddenly appeared in his room. When he finally did, he dropped his glass to the ground.