“Thank you for relaying my message, Lucy,” he said with a nod of appreciation, observing how quickly she checked out the half dozen books for the two girls. “I’m looking forward to visiting with Mina again, and–oh, hello, Molly.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Artemas, but I saw Miss Mayfield on the phone and thought I’d catch a quick word with Lucy,” she said, stepping up to the main desk. Molly happily explained that her father had okayed a special tour of the museum after the first of January if Lucy was interested.
“That’d be great!” she replied. “And thanks for asking your dad, Molly.”
“I’ll let you know an exact day and time soon. Happy to help.”
“Happy to be a nuisance is more like it,” Christopher said as he walked up behind his sister. “Are you bothering Artemas?”
“No.”
“I’m waiting for Mina while she’s on the telephone,” Artemas said. “Molly’s no bother.”
Molly smirked at her brother. “See?”
“Done!” Mina said, hanging up the receiver. “Now where were we?” she asked, hoping to return to their conversation. A middle-aged gentleman in a brown leather jacket and scarf walked up to check out some books. A moment later, the woman in the maroon coat with the fur collar also approached with an armful of mysteries to check out. Christopher, Molly and Artemas simultaneously stepped back to give them some room.
“We’ll get out of your way,” Artemas said. “It’s starting to get congested.”
“I’ll be done before you can recite the alphabet,” Mina replied with a smile. “And how are you today, Mr. Porter?” she said to the man at the desk.
“Fine, thanks.”
Mina opened the back cover of each book Mr. Porter had brought to the desk and scanned them into the computer one by one as he slipped on a pair of driving gloves and adjusted the scarf around his neck. Lucy assisted Mina by stamping the return date in every book and stacking them in a small pile. While the woman in the maroon coat waited her turn, she searched through her purse and mumbled to herself.
“Seems I could use a few more bookmarkers,” she said with a slight laugh. “Always losing them around the house. I’ll grab some more if you don’t mind.”
“Please help yourself,” Lucy said as she inked up the rubber stamper.
“Thanks,” the woman said. She reached over and took several bookmarkers from a small display on the desk, placed them carefully in her purse and patted it. “Those should last me a month,” she said, winking at Christopher and Molly. She noticed Mr. Porter gathering up his books and quickly grabbed a few more bookmarkers. “Perhaps you could use some too, young man,” she kindly said, placing them into his hand.
Instantly the woman took a step backward, somewhat off balance, and held onto the edge of the front desk, appearing as if ready to pass out. Molly ran up to her to prevent her from falling just as Lucy grabbed the woman by the hand to help steady her.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” Mina excitedly asked, about to scan the last book.
“I– I suddenly feel very dizzy,” the woman softly said, looking around at everyone as if waking up from a deep and troubling sleep. “I’m a bit disoriented.” She stood up straight and took a deep breath.
“Do you feel sick?” Lucy asked. “Do you need a doctor?”
“No. I don’t think so, miss. I just feel, well, out of place, if that makes sense.” She smiled and tried to shake off the strange sensation that overwhelmed her. “Perhaps I should sit down while you ladies finish checking out my books.”
“A good idea,” Artemas said, brushing past Mr. Porter to assist the woman to a nearby chair. Several people in the library craned their heads to view the commotion.
Lucy also went over to the woman to make sure she was comfortable while Mina checked out Mr. Porter’s last book. He placed the bookmarkers the woman had handed him into his coat pocket and quickly gathered up his selections.
“I hope she feels better,” he said.
“I’m sure she’ll be all right,” Mina replied. “I’ll keep you posted next time you stop by.”
“Thanks,” Mr. Porter said before heading toward the front door.
Christopher and Molly watched as the gentleman departed, both feeling pangs of uneasiness and somewhat disoriented themselves.
“Something strikes me as odd about what just happened,” Molly whispered to her brother.
“Same here,” Christopher replied, scratching his head. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Molly looked at her brother and nodded. “I can’t help but recall Prince Jeremiah losing his balance on the coronation platform just as Belthasar’s spirit left his body and entered into the cat that had leaped into his arms.”
“And remember how Morgus Vandar stumbled about after he placed his hand into that cloud of moths? That’s the moment when Belthasar’s spirit had left his body,” Christopher said suspiciously. He suddenly bolted toward the door and stepped outside just as Artemas returned to Molly’s side.
“What’s going on? Where’d your brother go in such a hurry?”
“He had to check on something outdoors,” Molly said, gently taking hold of the magician’s cloak sleeve. “And I think we should join him,” she softly added. “Let’s go.”
They met Christopher outside on top of the library steps keeping an eagle eye on Mr. Porter. The gentleman climbed into his car parked halfway down the block and drove away through the bright and snowy streets. Christopher glanced at Molly and Artemas with a pained expression.
“Maybe I should run and follow him.”
Molly shrugged. “And then what?”
Christopher merely shook his head and looked at Artemas for an answer. “We think Belthasar’s spirit was in that woman in the library, the one in the maroon coat.”
“And she nearly fainted when Belthasar passed into Mr. Porter after the woman placed the bookmarkers in his hand,” Molly added. She felt cold and empty inside knowing that Belthasar was so close to them in their own world.
“I can’t deny that that was my suspicion as well when the woman lost her balance,” Artemas said. “Or perhaps the woman is simply ill and our imaginations are running wild. Maybe we shouldn’t make such a big deal out of this incident.”
Molly crinkled her face, looking askance at the magician. “I’m having a hard time making myself believe that.”
Artemas shrugged. “Maybe you’re right.”
Christopher exhaled deeply, his breath rising into the air like a swiftly moving ghost. “So our enemy is back,” he said, folding his arms to keep warm.
“And he just drove away under our very noses,” Molly glumly added.
Artemas draped the hood of his cloak over his head to fight off the morning chill. “So it would appear,” he whispered to himself with a raised eyebrow, glancing through the glass library door at the individuals gathered around the main desk. “So it would appear...”
“What’d you say?” Molly asked.
“Oh, nothing. Nothing.” Artemas clapped his hands, jarring everyone back to reality. “Forget about rescuing princesses and foiling false coronations. Now our task really gets difficult. In the meantime,” he said with a grin, “let’s go back inside before we all freeze into snowmen!”
“I can’t make up my mind,” Artemas said at the dining room table later that evening, “whether this pizza meal is even more delicious than the barbequed pepper burger I ate in your backyard last year.” He mentally debated the issue until his eyes lit up with a solution. “I guess I’ll have to declare a tie!”
“I vote for chocolate cake!” Vergil exclaimed as he wrapped a stringy length of mozzarella cheese around his finger.
“Not until after dinner,” Mrs. Jordan said, wiping off a spot of tomato sauce on Vergil’s nose. “We should have named you Pizza Face.”
“Or maybe cheese brain?” Molly quipped.
“That was your backup name!” Christopher said between gulps of soda.
Molly lightly flicked a finger at her brother. “Don’t bother me, little gnat.”
“Well, I’m glad we can still laugh after all that’s happened today,” Mr. Jordan said. “It’s important to keep our sense of humor and hold this family together. With Belthasar on the prowl, well…”
“I knew he’d return here sooner or later,” Artemas said, “especially after all those e-mails we’d sent him. He has responded to our challenge in his own devious way.”
“I probably should have followed him,” Christopher said with a tinge of regret. “Maybe we should stake him out.”
“Chances are that Belthasar is not even in Mr. Porter anymore,” Mr. Jordan said. “From how you described the events in the library, it seems like Belthasar wanted you to know he was here. It was all a show to taunt you, I think.”
“I think so too,” Artemas said. “If he ever plans to strike, it will be without warning. That’s why we have to be extra vigilant.”
“And that’s why some of us won’t be getting a full night’s sleep,” Mr. Jordan added. “If Chris, Artemas and I each stay up for a two or three hour shift during the night, I’ll feel a lot better. Just as a precaution,” he said with a reassuring glance at his wife.
“Then please allow me to take the middle shift,” Artemas said, rubbing his brow. “I haven’t been getting a full night’s sleep because of my persistent headache, so I’ll be the least inconvenienced if I set an alarm for say, two o’clock?”
“A deal,” Mr. Jordan agreed. “You’ll find me catching up on some reading in the living room until then. Chris, you can set your alarm for five.”
“Will do.”
So several hours later at the stroke of two, Artemas relieved Mr. Jordan so he could get some sleep and took over the watch in the living room. The house stood still and silent. Magic lay in the kitchen near the door, sound asleep. Artemas uneasily flipped through a magazine, continually glancing at a clock on the wall. He set the magazine down after a few moments, not in the mood to read. He sat back in an easy chair and watched the clock slowly tick off each minute.
When two-thirty arrived, Artemas stood and listened for any sign of movement in the house. Everything was as quiet as could be. Artemas took a deep breath, tiptoed to the hallway and grabbed his cloak hanging upon a coat tree in the corner. He slipped it on, carefully unlocked the front door and stepped out into the chilly darkness.
Five minutes later he stood near a snow-covered park bench cloaked in the shadow of a towering pine tree. Artemas bent down and saw that a small rock had been placed beneath the bench to hold down a plastic grocery bag and a tiny envelope. He opened the bag containing two small items and carefully removed one of them, a photograph, and stepped out of the shadows to examine it.
“Hmmm… That looks manageable,” he said to himself. “Not too difficult.”
He removed the second item which had been wrapped in waxed paper and secured with a piece of tape. Artemas sniffed it a few times and nodded. “Smells good. Unfortunately, I can’t have this for a midnight snack.”
He hastily placed the two items back into the plastic bag and stuffed it in one of his cloak pockets. Artemas next opened the envelope and removed a folded note, reading the three words scrawled upon the paper in red ink.
Everything is set.
Artemas crumpled the note. His heart raced. He tossed the piece of paper and the envelope into a trash can in the corner of the park before hurrying home to finish his watch. When he finally plopped back down in the easy chair, he knew he’d be awake until dawn since not a speck of sleep would find him tonight. Too many unsettling things were about to happen. He grabbed a magazine and hastily flipped through the pages, his ocean blue eyes staring at groups of words but reading none of them as the minutes of the bitter winter night slowly ticked away.
CHAPTER NINE
The Final Test
“Marvelous moats!” a voice boomed from the basement the next morning, followed by a stampede of rumbling footfalls up the wooden staircase.
“What’s wrong?” Molly cried. She darted out of the kitchen where she was fixing herself a mug of hot chocolate. Magic followed her, barking up a storm as his tail waved like a dancing garden hose.
Christopher flew down the stairs and nearly collided with Molly and Magic as they barreled into the hallway. He grabbed hold of the railing to stop himself just as Artemas burst out of the basement door on the side of the staircase. His eyes were as wild as a madman’s, yet his face glowed with an obvious sense of satisfaction. He gazed at Christopher, Molly and Magic for several moments, too giddy to utter a single word.
“Are you all right, Artemas?” Molly said, her heart racing. “You scared us half to death!”
Christopher sat on a lower step and petted Magic to calm him. “Yeah, what’s going on? I bet our neighbors down the block heard that!”
“I apologize for my outburst,” Artemas said, slightly out of breath. “But the most amazing thing has happened.” He buried his face in his hands for a moment, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “I just couldn’t contain my excitement. I feel as if I could fly!”
“What are you talking about?” Molly knelt down to take her turn petting Magic. The dog licked her face a few times which she didn’t appreciate.
Artemas stepped closer and squatted down, glancing from side to side as if making sure nobody was spying on him. “I finally discovered it!” he whispered. “I’ve at last perfected my spell!”
Christopher’s eyes widened. “Do you mean…?”
Artemas nodded gleefully. “Yes! Yes! That’s the one!”
Molly gasped as she held Magic close to her, gazing proudly at the magician. “You finally created something living that can withstand the sunlight?”
“I’m about to,” he said. “I’ve conducted preliminary tests in the basement with your father’s permission. There’s a stream of sunlight pouring in through one of the windows. But I’d like to perform the final test outdoors just to be certain, perhaps in the backyard where it’s still shady.”
“Can we help?” Christopher eagerly asked.
“You can be a witness,” Artemas said. “You too, Molly.”
“Great. We’ll bring Magic along for good luck!”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he agreed, gently scratching the Wheaten Terrier behind its ears. “Your parents and Vergil are invited too. I think they should witness this historic moment.”
“Mom and Vergil are grocery shopping and Dad walked down to the hardware store,” Christopher said. “But you can show them later. Let’s not wait.”
“I don’t want to wait either,” Artemas replied, “but this may be a one-time show. My powers are fading each day I’m in your world. Once I perform the final test, they may be too weakened until I return through the timedoor to recharge them, so to speak.”
“If they have to miss the big event, so be it,” Molly said, not wanting to wait another moment. “Grab your cloak, Artemas, and let’s head outdoors. It’s show time!”
Christopher and Molly rushed out the back door with Magic in excited pursuit. The dog raced around the snowy backyard dappled with sun and shadow, occasionally flopping on his back and blissfully making a canine version of a snow angel. Whenever he passed through a splash of sunlight, his beige and gray coat shimmered with faint traces of gold.
Before joining them outside, Artemas observed the trio through the backdoor window, nervously tugging at his beard. He reached inside a cloak pocket and removed the photograph he had retrieved in the park last night, quickly studying it a final time before placing it back. He then slipped his thumb into a second pocket, pulled it open and looked down inside. Artemas inhaled deeply and nodded.
“That would have made an excellent midnight snack,” he muttered, removing his thumb. He took one more glance outside the window and sighed. “Well, let’s see how good of an actor I really am.” The magician stepped through the back door a moment later, quietly apprehensive like a student entering
a classroom on final exam day.
Two feet of snow blanketed the yard, and a towering bare maple tree stood guard in the far corner. A row of hedges and small trees separated the adjoining property along the left side of the yard near the upper driveway. A four foot high stone wall stretched along the back and right borders with a small cast iron gate built into the right side. Tall evergreens in the adjacent yards perfumed the air with sweet pine. A picnic table and barbeque near the house were covered with large gray stretch tarps to protect them. Piles of fluffy snow lay undisturbed on each, patiently awaiting the warmth of a distant spring.
“I think I’ll conduct my experiment along the back wall,” Artemas said, pointing to the shadiest section as he trudged through the snow.
“What are you going to create?” Christopher asked. The late morning air was quiet except for the chirping of birds hidden in the nearby pines. Magic offered an occasional bark to get their attention.
“I suppose it would be appropriate to recreate another rose,” he replied with a playful wink at Molly.
“You’re never going to let me forget about that, are you,” she said with a grin. “I promise not to interfere this time, Artemas. And as there are no balcony doors to open around here, I don’t see how I can.”
“We’ll make sure nothing gets in the way,” Christopher promised.
“Nothing will,” Artemas said, burying his hands in his cloak pockets to keep warm. He took a deep breath and shrugged. “Well then, I suppose I should begin.”
He walked toward the back wall, passing beside Magic as Christopher and Molly followed in his footprints. Magic barked and made a chaotic path through the snow, following Artemas and nudging him with his nose. Artemas petted the dog on the head.
“No time to play now, Magic. There’s work to be done.”
Magic wagged his tail and bolted past Artemas, then quickly turned around and blocked his way, whimpering while pawing at the magician’s cloak. Molly scowled.
“Behave, Magic!” She slapped her hands just above the knees, trying to get the dog to run to her. “Get over here and quit bothering Artemas.”
The Endora Trilogy (The Complete Series) Page 52