by Geof Johnson
Fred grinned and turned to Jamie. “That’s it. She’s definitely a witch.”
“Cool,” Melanie said. “I didn’t feel a thing when I touched it.”
“Me either,” Bryce said.
Rollie gestured at it and said, “Go ahead. Show us the message, Fred. That’s the cool part.”
Fred flipped open the saucer-sized mirror and held it so that Sammi could see, and everyone else squeezed in to look over Sammi’s shoulders. Sammi saw her reflection in the round glass for only an instant before the image shimmered and a new one appeared. It was of an old woman, with dark, leathery skin and a wide nose. Her thick gray hair was pulled back from her face and her eyes were hard black marbles.
Momma Sue.
She broke into a wide grin and said, “Fred the Firecracker. That was an interesting message you left on my mirror. Done found yourself another witch! A young ’un, no less.” She gave one, firm nod. “And yes, you should bring her to me, soon as possible. Preferably Sunday. Gonna be an interestin’ day, sure ’nuff, ’specially if that girl really is a Shadow Witch. Never met one, myself.”
She narrowed her eyes and paused for a moment. “You said somethin’ about some man might be chasin’ after that child, so you look after her real good, you hear? Don’t let nobody snatch her. Tell that sorcerer boyfriend of yours to blast anybody that tries to get her.” She grinned again and winked. “And bring that handsome friend a’ yours, Rollie Wilkins.” She threw back her head and laughed. “I gots to go now. See ya Sunday.”
“Oh brother,” Rollie groaned. “Tell her I’m going to Eddan’s world to help my dad with the new bathroom.”
“So that’s why you broke up with Tanisha, Rollie,” Bryce said. “So you could go out with Momma Sue.”
Sammi gave Fred a questioning look and Fred said, “Momma Sue teased Rollie big time when she first met him. Said he looked sweeter than a piece of dark caramel candy, or something like that.”
Sammi giggled, and Rollie shook his head and walked off, muttering to himself.
“Fred, you ready to go?” Jamie said. “I gotta hurry so I can get back to the stone house and help my dad.”
“I’m waiting on you.”
Jamie held his arms out theatrically. “Stand back everyone, and give the wizard room to work.” He began tracing the glowing outlines of a doorway, and when it was finished, he pushed it open, stepped aside and said, “Ta-da! A magic portal.” Sammi felt her mouth fall open and she caught her breath as she stared at what lay beyond, a vision of something exotic and unlikely. Through the impossible new space in Fred’s living room she saw gnarled, ancient trees, draped in gray Spanish moss like tattered blankets, and an old house.
Fred picked up a spiral notebook from the table and Bryce said, “What’s that for?”
“Taking notes. Momma Sue makes fun of me for doing it, but I can’t remember everything she tells me when she teaches me spells and stuff.” She turned to Sammi. “Are you ready?” Sammi nodded and Fred said to the rest of her friends, “We’ll see you in a few hours. Jamie, don’t forget about us.”
“I’ll come get you around five o’clock.”
Fred took Sammi’s hand and led her to the doorway. Sammi gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as she passed through, until she felt soft grass beneath her feet, then she looked over her shoulder and watched the magic portal wink out. She blinked at the place where it had been and turned to Fred, who barely shrugged.
They were standing in the front yard of a rambling, one-story house with a rusted tin roof, white paint peeling from the wooden siding. A porch stretched across the front, and the roof sagged over it like a tired old woman.
They walked up the steps and the front door eased open on its own. Sammi gasped but Fred chuckled. “Momma Sue’s showing off for you, Sammi.” They went inside, the worn wooden floor creaking under their feet, and Fred called, “We’re here, Momma Sue.”
“I know, child. We’re in the other room.”
“We?” Sammi said.
“I think Mrs. Malley is with her,” Fred said as they passed through the front room to an open doorway on the next wall. Sammi’s head was on a swivel as they went, but Fred walked too fast for Sammi to take it all in. She saw shelves covered with books and plants, and strange knick knacks were everywhere, some hanging from the ceiling by bits of string.
They entered the adjoining room, and at the far end by the window, sitting like queens in matching cushioned chairs, were two old women. One, wearing a flowing, bright orange blouse and a multi-colored, billowing skirt, was Momma Sue. The other was a gray-haired woman in a brown woolen dress, a slight smile on her lips.
“Fred the Firecracker,” Momma Sue said with a wide, yellow-toothed grin. She turned her attention to Sammi. “And you must be the Shadow Witch. Got such pretty, dark eyes, don’t you? Look like wide slices of midnight.”
Sammi was too nervous to answer, her mouth suddenly dry as dust and her heart fluttering like hummingbird wings. Fred said, “This is Sammi Price.” Fred gestured at the other old woman. “Sammi, this is Mrs. Bella Malley. She’s from Eddan’s world. How are your eyes, Mrs. Malley?”
“Good as new, since your boyfriend fixed them.” She smiled and winked at Sammi.
“Your hair looks fuller. Did you do something to it?”
“I made a rejuvenation potion, I did.” She patted her scalp gently. “It’s coming in darker, too. And my voice is stronger. I don’t sound like a rusty old hinge anymore.”
“She makes a good potion,” Momma Sue said. “We been tradin’ recipes, since Jamie made us a doorway.” Her gaze turned to the far wall, and Sammi followed it to see a glowing portal inside of a regular, wooden door that looked freshly painted white.
“That’s new,” Fred said. “Who built that?”
“My grandson,” Mrs. Malley said and looked at Sammi. “That’s my house on the other side of it, on my world, the one you call Eddan’s world. Jamie made a permanent magic doorway so Sue and I can visit whenever we want.”
“We’re practically roommates now,” Momma Sue said with a short laugh. “But we got her grandson to put us in a real door over it so we can close it from time to time and get some privacy.”
Mrs. Malley gestured with her thumb at Momma Sue. “This old hag gets on my nerves sometimes, she does.” Her face was dead serious as she stared at Sammi, then she winked again and Sammi felt herself smile.
Momma Sue laughed and waved one hand, then looked firmly at Sammi and pursed her lips. “So, you are a Shadow Witch, I hear.”
Sammi nodded, but Momma Sue frowned. “Can’t you speak?”
“Yes ma’am,” Sammi managed to say in a small voice.
Momma Sue smiled warmly at her. “It’s all right, child. Relax. No one’s going to hurt you here. You’re as safe as you could possibly be, and you’re with friends.”
Sammi nodded again, then she said in a stronger voice, “Okay.”
“You are a rare witch, Sammi.” Momma Sue glanced at Mrs. Malley. “Bella, you ever met one a’ these?”
“Never. I did not even know there was such a thing, a Shadow Witch. Can you listen to us with your power while we are here in this house?”
Sammi shook her head and Momma Sue said, “That’s ’cause of my wards and hexes. Don’t nobody listen to me if I don’t want ’em to.”
Mrs. Malley leaned forward in her seat and wrinkled her brow, her kind face suddenly intense. “Please tell us more about your power, Sammi.”
Sammi told them, in a halting voice at first, about what she could do as a witch. Both women listen quietly, with only a few questions as Sammi explained what she knew of her magic.
When she finished, Momma Sue said, “And you’re an orphan? How did that come to be? You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s okay.” Sammi related how her father had shot her mother because she was a witch, when Sammi was three years old. Momma’s Sue’s face grew tight, and she put her fingertips of one
hand to her temple and looked at her lap.
Mrs. Malley shook her head, her eyes angry. “That would not happen where I am from. Witches are treated with respect.”
Momma Sue looked up, her mouth a grim line. “It ain’t easy being a witch, Sammi. Wasn’t that long ago that folks were hangin’ and burnin’ girls like us. They’re still real suspicious of us, and they say we’re cavortin’ with the Devil and other such nonsense.”
“Like Rollie’s dad used to say,” Fred said.
Momma Sue nodded firmly. “But we’re not bad at all, at least most of us. Rita and Cassandra were exceptions to the rule, I think. We don’t hurt people, Sammi. We do good. That’s the most important thing I want you to learn from me and Mrs. Malley, what witches do with our power.”
“I’ll do good, Momma Sue,” Sammi said earnestly. “I promise.”
“I know you will. Now come here so I can get a feel of you.” Momma Sue sat forward in her chair and Sammi stepped closer. Momma Sue took Sammi’s hands in hers, and closed her eyes and hummed softly to herself.
After a long moment she let go of Sammi and said, “There’s power in you, for sure. Not ripe yet, but it will be.”
Mrs. Malley waved Sammi over to her. “Let me see.” She took Sammi’s hands, too, and then said with a nod, “She’s like a flower bulb, waiting in the ground to grow.”
“You can’t do spells just yet, but you will before too long,” Momma Sue said, “after you start your womanly cycles.”
“My what?” Sammi asked.
“When you start your period,” Fred said.“We can talk about it later.”
“Just because you’re not a woman yet doesn’t mean you’re too young to learn,” Momma Sue continued. “If we’re going to train Fred, we might as well train you at the same time. I want you to come with Fred every time she comes here. Can you do that?”
Sammi felt her heart beat fast again, but for a different reason. “You mean...you’re going to teach me how to be a witch?”
“Of course. We can’t have you going off and learning spells all willy-nilly, trial and error. You might hurt someone that way. We’ll teach you right, won’t we Bella?”
“It shall be fun, I believe.” Mrs. Malley had a gleam in her eye. “I have not trained a witch in years.”
“I’ll bring her if I can,” Fred said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to her, just yet. She could end up back in Bartram County.”
Momma Sue shook her head. “You can’t let that happen, Fred. That girl needs to be where she’s safe. We can’t let that awful foster daddy get a’ hold of her again.” She turned to Sammi. “Tell me more about this fellow. Fred only mentioned a little bit on the magic mirror.”
Sammi told them about Duane Gundy, how he’d hurt her and her foster mother. Her voice cracked when she started to explain how he crept into her room at night.
Momma’s Sue listened silently, her jaw clenched tightly and her eyes like black steel.
Mrs. Malley shook one finger gently at Sammi. “You ran away just in time it seems, before he could take your virtue. You did the right thing, running to Fred’s house.”
“Sammi told me that’s not the main reason she came to my house,” Fred said.
“Oh? Well, what is the main reason, Sammi?”
All eyes turned to Sammi and she felt her chin drop. She couldn’t help it. Their eyes were so heavy she couldn’t bear their collective weight. Her mouth suddenly turned dry again and she struggled to talk. “Because...because they love each other so much,” she finally managed to mumble. “And Jamie’s family, and Rollie’s.” She swallowed hard and her chin fell all the way to her chest. “They all do.”
Sammi looked up to see Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley gazing at her, their faces soft and warm as sunshine. Sammi said, “That’s why I came.”
“Well,” Momma Sue, “that’s the best reason of all.”
“Love has a very powerful magic of its own,” Mrs. Malley said.
Momma Sue nodded and grinned. “Just ask Fred about that! Her and that blond-haired boyfriend a’ hers.”
Sammi glanced at Fred and was surprised to see Fred blushing almost as red as her hair. Fred cleared her throat and said, “Sammie thinks that our families may be some kind of triad.”
Momma Sue twisted one side of her mouth up and drew her eyebrows together. “Why...that may well be. That would explain a lot. You all have overcome three big crises in less than a year.” She counted on her fingers. “Jamie had to kill that evil, powerful sorcerer, Renn. You had to trick those two bad witches and escape from ’em. Strong and experienced witches, no less. And Rollie had to outrun a demon and get it to go through a magic doorway to another world. Nobody’s ever done that and lived to tell about, no sir.” She sat back in her chair and nodded firmly. “Ain’t nothin’ trivial about any of those accomplishments. You got lotsa powerful, powerful magic flowin’ around you three. Your families could be part of it. I never heard a’ that before, but that could be true.” She turned to Mrs. Malley. “What do you think?”
Mrs. Malley shrugged and raised her eyebrows. “This is all new to me, but it is interesting.” She nodded gently. “But I must say my life has gotten very interesting since you and your friends stopped by my house and fixed my eyes, Fred.”
Fred took a deep breath and the normal color returned to her face. “Jamie thinks our combined magic is attracting these big problems, like gravity. Magical gravity.”
Sammi’s face fell. Am I a problem?Is that what they think I am? She looked up at Fred, who seemed to read her mind. Fred put her hand on Sammi’s shoulder and smiled softly at her. “I don’t mean that you’re a problem. We’re glad you came to us. We just have to figure out how to take care of you. That’s all.”
Sammi felt better. Momma Sue stood and straightened her skirt. “Well, that’s enough chattin’ for now. We need to get to learnin’ spells. In light of Sammi’s situation, I think we should work on some stronger wards and hexes for you Fred, so you can keep that girl safe. Have you made her a protective pendant yet?”
“No ma’am. I don’t have any spare necklaces right now. I used them all up making pendants for our moms and Mrs. Wallace and everybody.”
“Don’t matter. We can use one of mine. I think I have a few spares lyin’ around.” She looked at Sammi. “That can be a little gift from me to you. An initiation present for joinin’ the Witches’ Guild.”
Fred wrinkled her brow. “Is there such a thing?”
“No, but we could start one. We got four witches in my livin’ room right now. We get any more, I’m gonna need a bigger house.”
She and Mrs. Malley laughed heartily, and Momma Sue gestured for them to follow her into her kitchen.
* * *
Duane Gundy stumbled over a tree root in his dirt driveway and cursed loudly as he walked from his car to his front stoop. He had not slept in over thirty-six hours, and the stimulating effect of the black pills had worn off. Now everything hurt.
His head felt like an anaconda was squeezing his skull. The late-afternoon summer sun hurt his eyes, forcing him to squint. His jaw ached from grinding his teeth, and his stomach was in a pharmaceutically induced knot. His hand shook as he tried to fit the key in the deadbolt lock, and he finally gave up and pounded on the door with the flat of his hand.
“Open up, Brenda.”
“Is that you, Duane?” came a voice from inside.
“No, it’s Santa Claus. Open the damn door.”
She let him in, and he staggered to the sofa and collapsed on it with a groan. His wife looked at him with one hand pressed to her chest and her face lined with concern. “Any luck?” she asked.
“Does it look like I had any luck?”
“You were gone so long.”
“I went to the bus station in Haynesville to find out if anybody saw Sammi buy a ticket, but they told me I had to ask whoever worked the night shift. So I went back around midnight, and they had some dumb goober working the counter, but he d
idn’t remember who he sold what to. He couldn’t remember his name if it wasn’t printed on his badge.” Gundy kicked his boots off and put his feet up on the coffee table.
“I tried to get him to look up his record of ticket sales for Thursday night, but he said he couldn’t give me those without a court order. So I reached across the counter and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, but he screamed like a little girl and the security cop threw me out.”
“Oh, Duane, I wish you wouldn’t do things like that.” She bit her lip and lowered her brow. “But...but somebody’s bound to have seen her, shouldn’t they?”
“I don’t think she went there.” He rolled his head around and felt the bones in his neck pop. “Sammi’s too chicken to go to a place like that. It’s got creepy winos and druggies hanging around outside. She’d be scared.” He stretched his legs, grimacing at the soreness in his calves. “I’d know for sure, though, if I could get a look at their surveillance footage.”
“Do you think they’d let you?”
“Maybe.” But not as Duane Gundy. He thought of his trunk full of disguises and the glimmering of a plan began to form in his mind. “If she left town, she got a ride, more than likely.”
“You don’t think she hitchhiked, do you?”
“Nah. She don’t have the guts. I think she’s still in town somewhere, hidin’ out. If she ain’t at Libby’s house, she’s somewhere else.”
“But where? We’ve asked everybody that Sammi knows.”
“Somebody’s probably got her and they’re lyin’ about it. But I’ll find her, sooner or later.”
“Duane? What if somebody abducted her? I couldn’t bear it.”
“I’d have to kill ’em.” He narrowed his eyes. “But she took her backpack and some of her stuff. The little ingrate ran away, I know it.”
She wrung her hands for a moment and sighed. Then she picked up a suitcase that was sitting next to the wall and started carrying it toward the back of the house.