Pour Some Magic on Me: A Shoplifter's Guide to Wizardry, page 20
“I, um, shoot. I have a student pass. Only, I must have left it.”
The woman began pulling the door closed. “Sorry, nobody rides for free,” she said, clearly annoyed at me.
At that moment, I saw the car with the wizards waiting to leave my neighborhood and pull into traffic. If the bus drove off without me, I had nowhere to hide. I took a step back, realizing that when I stopped holding the racquet, I was completely solid again. I guess that’s why the driver didn’t react. As the bus turned on its signal and started to merge, I regripped the racquet in my hand and ran to the rear of the bus. Then, I closed my eyes and stepped into it. I was poking halfway through the floor. Luckily, the few riders were facing forward. The bus began to pick up speed, and I had to run to keep up. I tried to reach out and pull myself up the rest of the way but only succeeded in flailing my arms around. I almost tossed the racquet on the floor but stopped myself. What if I suddenly became solid? I might be impaled by the bus. That sent a shiver through me. I might have just killed myself. Barney's warning came to mind; this stuff was dangerous.
I was straining to remain hidden in the bus but within a few yards, it began to pull away. Even at a full sprint, it left me standing in the middle of a busy street. A car behind me hit its breaks and skidded about a foot too late. Fortunately, I was untouchable. Unfortunately, a quick chain reaction happened, and several cars slammed on their breaks. The result was predictable and before I could do a thing, there were two or three minor accidents.
On the plus side, while I was trying to get on the bus, the car carrying the wizards had passed by. They were already well ahead before I created the small pileup. There was a chance that they’d missed the whole thing. Meanwhile, a big, fat guy climbed out of his pickup, which had been rear ended, and he was heading my way. He was glaring at me. In fact, several people started in on me. I didn’t have time to apologize or even see if everyone was okay. I took off.
I had run for a while when I discovered that the racquet wasn't making me fuzzy anymore. I slowed enough to check for sure. My body and arms appeared completely solid. I shifted the racquet around to see if it had something to do with the way I was holding it. It didn't. I even searched for a spot to put batteries. I didn't find anything and felt sort of stupid for looking. That got me wondering about a few things, like why I didn't freak out anyone involved in the fender benders, and how come, if I was nothing but air, I didn't sink into the ground? For that matter, if a stout wind came along, would I simply blow away?
I didn't have an answer for any of it. From the first, I was able to use the racquet without sinking into the ground. I could only guess that whoever made it, put some rules on it. If I got it working again, I'd have to experiment.
All around me, heavy, morning traffic buzzed by, but no one paid attention to a lone girl walking on the sidewalk. Most importantly, the car carrying my pursuers was nowhere in sight. Now that I had a minute to think, I began to wonder why Fraggle had tried to warn me. Why, unless, maybe he was worried he wouldn't get his bracelet back if the magicians caught me? How had he known they were after me or that they'd come across the country to find me? And he said the gnomes tipped them off. That might explain a few things—bastards. They sort of double-double-crossed me. I wondered what the gnomes gained by working with them.
There were a lot of unknowns. My immediate concern was finding a safe spot so I could figure out what to do next. I didn't think it was safe to return to my neighborhood just then. I still thought my best bet was to try Trevor's house. It wasn't too far away now. I decided to walk because I didn't know how much running I was going to have to do later. I also noticed that my laces were loose and the shoestrings were flopping around with each step. It was a miracle that I hadn't taken a nosedive already. I knelt to tie them. Before I finished, I looked up and saw the car full of my pursuers drive by on the opposite side of the road. They whizzed past, seemingly missing me while I was crouched down. I saw that I was somewhat obscured by the shade of a nearby tree. I couldn't believe my luck.
Luck. The horseshoe. Maybe? I waited a few seconds before rising. The easiest way to Trevor's was to keep going on the same street for almost another mile. I didn't want to risk being seen, however, even if I was somehow protected by a streak of luck. I took a smaller street at the next corner. The new direction would add an extra twenty minutes by foot, but I thought it was worth it. Away from the busier street, I felt calmer. My mind returned to the many unanswered questions. Suddenly, I thought of my mother. Whatever I did, I had to keep her from the house. I had no idea how I was going to do that. I began to hurry.
Chapter 28
Before I reached Trevor's, I lagged a few houses away to make sure the woman and her associates weren't waiting for me. It was a stupid thought, but there were grounds for my paranoia. They weren't there, but Trevor was, at least his dad's truck was. I hurried to the house and knocked on the front door. No one answered. I went to the window and peered in. No lights; no movement. I rang the doorbell and again got no reply. I stood on the stoop wondering what was going on. I guessed it was possible that they had gotten home and then left again. Trevor's car hadn't moved from where he'd parked it days ago, though, so if they weren't home, someone must have given them a ride. I decided to go in anyway.
Rex greeted me at the back of the house. I saw that he had fresh water. The swamp cooler was also still dripping after being hosed down. "Hey, buddy, where's everybody?”
Rex lifted a spotted paw for me to shake. "That's a good boy," I cooed. Obviously encouraged by my baby-talk, he laid back and exposed his belly for me to scratch. I spent a couple of seconds petting the old dog. "Go on, boy. Go lay down." He lumbered off, and I retrieved the garage key.
I needn't have bothered because it was open, as was the door into the house. I put the key back. The guys didn't always lock up the house, especially if they weren't going to be away long. It appeared that I might have just missed them, so maybe they'd be back soon. I was somewhat hesitant about the meeting. Hey, so, why didn't you tell me you were a werewolf? Or...guess what? I've been hanging with some dopehead gnomes, and they sold me out to a bunch of evil wizards! What if Amanda had been wrong and Trevor and his dad weren't werewolves? They might want to have me committed.
As it turned out, all my worries were for nothing. I got myself a Coke from the fridge and sat down a minute to think. The cooler was moving the evaporated air around well enough to cool me off. When I popped open my drink, I thought I heard a noise above the droning fan of the cooler. I set my Coke on the table and grabbed my racquet. The kitchen was only dimly lit from the morning light seeping through the living room window, but I could see that I remained solid. Maybe the object's magic was used up for good. Who knew? Anyway, it was solid enough to hit an intruder. I tip-toed down the hall until I stood in front of Trevor's closed bedroom door. I eased it open a few inches at a time. It was darker in there than in the hall, making it hard to see if someone was waiting to jump me. When my eyes adjusted, I saw someone on the bed. "Trev?" I whispered.
"He won't hear you."
I almost shit myself. I spun around and completely forgot I was supposed to whack any would-be attackers with my racquet. That was a good thing because it was Charlie, Trevor's dad. "Oh my God," I said. "You scared the hell out of me."
He pointed to the racquet. "You taking up badminton?"
"What? Oh, no, it's… never mind. What's going on?"
"Come on. We'll talk in the kitchen."
I started to shut the door, but he said to leave it open. "It'll let in more cool air, and like I said, he won't hear us."
Charlie led the way, and I reluctantly followed. I took one last concerned look at my comatose boyfriend. Charlie retrieved a cold beer. Another unusual thing because I never saw him drink in the morning. He looked like he might need it. His normal rough stubble was now the beginnings of a full beard. His eyes were bloodshot.
"You look like hell," I said.
He ran a tired hand over his face. "Missed a few night's sleep."
"Chasing the moon?" I said.
His eyes narrowed. "What?"
I took a deep breath. "I have recently discovered that magic is real: gnomes are real; elves are real; goblins are real; and werewolves are real; at least wereskunks are real, so all indications are that werewolves are real, too."
Charlie took a long swig of his beer. "Yeah…"
"Yeah? Really? Not, ‘holy shit for real,’ or ‘you're fucking crazy’?"
He sighed. "Why don't you tell me what's been going on?"
"First, what's wrong with Trev? Is he all right?"
Charlie put his strong forearms on the table as if to steady himself. “He’s fine. He’s worn out. That’s all.”
“Like you?”
He shook his head. “I’m used to it. It’s harder when you’re young.”
“‘It’ being?” I asked.
“The change.”
He took another drink of his beer. It was clear he didn’t like talking about it, so I greased the conversation. “What I said about seeing a wereskunk wasn’t a joke. At the mall, one changed right in front of me.”
“The mall? Really? Huh. Which way was the transformation?”
“Um, one minute he was a little critter, and the next, he was a guy.”
“Interesting. That’s not how it is for us.” He snapped his finger. “We don’t just change. In that, it’s like the movies. It’s ugly and brutal and painful.”
“So, how come it wasn’t like that with the skunk man, err, boy?”
He shrugged. “Different species; different rules. If nobody noticed, though, they had to have crossed over recently.”
“What are you saying? Crossed over from where?”
“The people you’ve seen, elves, goblins, all the rest, they come from another world. Their magic is stronger at first.”
“You’re from another world?”
“No, not me, or Trevor. Our ancestors were. Well, mine were.”
“I’m getting lost. Can you take it from the top? What world?”
“There’s another world--very different from ours--a world with an entirely different set of rules, a place where magic is as natural as, say, gravity. For a long time, people passed easily between them. The magic folk did, anyway. The rulers of the other world, however, put a stop to it, at least for the wizards. They stopped crossing hundreds of years ago. But not the rest of us. Our magic was different; we were different. We could still cross.”
“I don’t understand. Elves, werewolves, wizards, aren’t they all magical creatures?”
“No. We’re different. The wizards can manipulate the world and people, but they aren’t made of magic. Well, that’s not quite right. Look, I’m not an authority. All I have are stories, passed down through generations. Most of us, those who are human enough or who can appear human, often end up marrying regular folk. Over generations, the abilities, sometimes even magic, fades.”
“But you’re still a werewolf, right?”
“Yeah. My great-grandfather ’pierced the veil‘ they like to call it. He married a normal woman, as did their two children and so on. Each generation was more human than the last. I feel the pull of the moon, but…”
“But?”
A deep shadow covered his face. “I stopped changing not long after Trevor’s mother left.”
“She was human? She knew?” I asked.
“No, I mean she wasn’t human. She was pureblood. Her parents were first generation immigrants. She ran under the stars and, for a while, I ran with her, but like I said, as I got older, I found it harder to change.”
“So, no turning into a werewolf because you get bit?”
He grinned. “No, that’s pure Hollywood. You can get an infection, though.”
“So, no wolf-man either?”
“One or the other, man or wolf. Big, intelligent wolves, but still wolves.”
Something occurred to me. “Then, Trevor is more like his mom?” Charlie nodded. “What happened to her?”
“After he was born, we fought a lot; that’s an understatement. She would leave. She stayed away longer and longer, until one day, she didn’t come back. For a lot of years, I went looking for her, I’m ashamed to say. Back then, I could still become a wolf, sometimes. I’ve run every forest in California at one time or another. Never a sign. Now, I take Trev. He searches for her.”
“Sounds like you’re using him as a bloodhound.”
“No, not for me. I finally gave up. Trevor didn’t, though. He never has. Regardless, his bloodline is so strong, he can’t fight the change yet. We have to go away when it’s upon him, and he still wants to find her. So, every full moon we go on a camping trip.”
“Where’d you go this time?”
“Washington State, close to the Canadian border. No luck,” he said sadly.
I think he was fooling himself because he didn’t look like he was over her, or ever would be. I decided to change the subject. “You know about the rest of the magic beings, the wizards, too?”
“Not a lot, especially about trolls and elves and such. I know they're like us, displaced people, and funny as it might sound, they marry regular people, too.”
I pictured the gross-looking, frog things from Red Lion’s kitchen and the way they flirted with some of the waitresses. “Not so strange,” I admitted. He raised an eyebrow, but I didn’t want to get into it. “And the wizards?”
“That’s a different story. They keep their secrets closer to the vest. This much I know, they are the masters where they come from. It’s why most of us, including my ancestors, left. Another thing, they’ve wanted to do the same here, right from the start, but their magic isn’t as strong here.”
“Then, they leave you alone?”
“Mostly, though not always. They still have power, don’t get me wrong, but not enough to put us under their thumbs, like in the other world. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you?”
I hesitated. Somehow or other, I was connected to these people, the magicians anyway; I had to be, otherwise how come all their stuff worked for me? Or, as with the bracelet, how come its magic kept working even after I didn’t have it? Then, there was Amanda, the bracelet worked for her, too. It didn’t after she took it off, though. I thought about her extraordinary sense of smell. I bet somewhere in her family tree, there was a witch, or maybe even a werewolf.
“Do you have an overdeveloped sense of smell, even when you’re not, you know?”
“Walking on all fours?” he smirked. “Sure. Not quite as good as old Rex out there but close. I could tell you what was on the hamburger you ate yesterday by your breath.”
“That’s disgusting. Amanda’s isn’t that strong,” I thought out loud.
“Your friend? Oh, she’s got some werewolf in her all right, from way, way back, I bet. It’s got to be almost bred out of her line now, but the strong sense of smell is the last to go.”
“Wait,” I said, “like Smitty, Trev’s cousin? Amanda thought he was a werewolf. You too for that matter.”
“Did she now? Good for her. She’s half right anyway. Smitty is on my side, less werewolf than even I am. He doesn’t transform.”
“He’s got the good hair, though.”
Charlie spit out some of his beer. “Sorry,” he said, “that’s funny. I’ll have to share that one.”
“It’s true. You all have great hair and teeth.”
He pulled his lips back. “Never had a single cavity.”
“Hmm, that’s interesting. Anyway, so here’s what happened a couple of nights ago.” I told him about everything, even stealing Trev’s birthday present, which I’d have to replace when the day came because his dad would know that I stole it. Charlie asked a few questions but mostly listened. Clearly, some of the things I told him bothered him, especially when I said how I followed the gnomes through the doghouse. He studied me for a long time.
“You know, the first time Trevor brought you around, I liked you, even before you said a single thing. You had this smell about you, like a garden, like a great big bouquet of flowers. It wasn’t a perfume, and I used to wonder where it came from. The first time I met your mom, I knew; it came from her.”
“She does love her plants,” I said. “Maybe, you know with your advanced nose, you smell them on us, like the pollen, maybe?”
He shook his head. “Nope, not it. I can smell fresh dirt under your nails if you dug in the ground, even after you wash them. This is deeper than that. The smell comes from you.”
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It means you and your mom are unique. Possibly some magical creatures in your closet as well. Got to be something special there, though, if what you’re telling me is true.”
“Can you do magic?” I asked.
“Not me, or even Trev, though I guess some folks might think so. We can sniff out anything, see almost perfectly at night, and never get lost.” He smiled, “And we have great hair.” He sobered a bit. “But if you can, I don’t know where that comes from. What do you know about your dad?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing. Mom kind of spaces out whenever I bring him up. Oh my God, Mom. I’ve got to warn her. They’ve already been to my house. Can I use your phone? I can leave a message for her at work. She usually checks in during the day in case her itinerary changes.”
“Sure, absolutely. You can use Trev’s; he won’t wake up. Or use the one in here.”
I nodded and reached for the nearby kitchen phone. Charlie waited while I dialed. I was about to call Barbara, the office secretary, when I hesitated. What was I going to say? Please tell my mom not to go home because angry wizards are looking for me. I cradled the receiver in the crook of my arm and the dial tone began to beep.
