Shifting (17 page)

“I wish this day would never end!” said Colin, catching his breath.

“I don’t suppose there’s a candy that can make this day repeat?” asked Meghan, agreeing.

“No, wouldn’t that be a nice one though,” thought Jae, grinning happily. The twins thought he looked happier than he had in months.

“Not to be the bearer of bad news,” said Uncle Eddy casually, “but like it or not, the day is ending.” The twins were about to protest, when a bush outside the mill rustled; someone was out there and it was not a ghost this time.

“Show yourself!” demanded Jae, running out to investigate. The twins cautiously followed.

They saw a hand letting go of a branch, hiding a face, and the trio jumped into the bush, attempting to catch the spy, but no one was there.

“Where could they have gone?” questioned Jae. No one answered. Uncle Eddy and Timothy searched from the air. They found nothing.

“When we first came out,” said Colin, “I swear there was a face in that bush.” Their uncle had the same concerned look as Jae.

“I’m afraid too many eyes are upon us,” said Eddy. “Colin, keep that book safe.” Eddy then turned to Jae. “I want to personally thank you for helping Meghan and Colin, Jae. I realize this must be a burden. I know your rules are strict.”

Jae shrugged, not appearing concerned. It was something the twins had forgotten, even though they had just taken exams reminding them of how strict the rules were. Could this be what was troubling Jae? Meghan felt confident this could not be the whole problem, not by the severity of her nightmare, but she would be sure to write it down.

Their uncle vanished, and Timothy, as usual, escorted them to the wagons. The three walked in silence, having had their perfect day, again, ruined. Their brooding ended hastily as they 83

found themselves being ambushed, again. It was the Three D’s, and in the same location as before.

“Trouble is not even close to what you three are in,” sneered Darcy Scraggs.

“Do you think it was them spying on us?” sent Meghan to Colin.

“I can’t picture them spying and not getting caught,” he shot back.

“Colin, this is the second time they have ambushed us in the same spot. I don’t want to give them credit any more than you do; however, they might at least be smart enough to spy without getting caught.”

“Touche,” he answered. “So how do we find out how much they know, then?”

“Still working on that,” she replied.

The twins and Jae stood back to back to back, watching the three girls circling them. Timothy fretted overhead. Jae looked sick. The twins could tell he was thinking that this time, they did know something. Colin was determined not to crash out of the picture again, and tried to calm his nerves.

“So Darcy, going to let Miss Hadrian do all the talking for you again? Its always so much fun listening to her,” said Meghan.

Dulcy reeled with anger and started to open her mouth, but Darcy motioned for her to shut it.

“Why do you always need to make her more upset?” asked Colin.

“I’m trying to keep her sidetracked while we think of a way out of this, and hopefully not make things worse for Jae in the process.”

“What is it now that you think we’ve done, Darcy?” asked Meghan. “You claimed you knew something before. Far as I can tell, you’re full of crap.”

What followed next was not what any of trio expected.

An enormous blast of air swept Meghan off her feet; she flew backwards, her head barely missing a tree.

“Darcy! You’ve done magic against someone,” shouted a stunned Jae. “What is wrong with you?” Jae was expecting the Balaton to show up any second. Being caught off guard, she hit him next, leaving Colin standing on his own.

“I have every right to use magic on you three! You’re hiding something. I’ve had some very interesting conversations with a certain member of the Viancourt, and that certain member cast a spell, allowing me to do magic and not… get… caught,” she taunted. “I suggest you turn over what you’ve been hiding!” She aimed the demand at Colin, who was wide eyed with fear. “Oh, don’t worry. I know you don’t have it on you, but I expect you to deliver it to me by tomorrow!

Then the authorities can deal with you, and you,” she spat at Jae, who assisted Meghan off the ground.

“Why are you doing this, Darcy? Do you hate my family that much?”

“It’s not a matter of hate, Jae. It’s a matter of survival. You and your family have gotten lazy.

You’re becoming a hazard to the group.”

“So that’s it. You and a few select others think my family is holding you all back. How so, exactly?”

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“You three know so little,” she sneered, shaking her head. “Dulcy, Daveena,” she ordered, snapping her fingers for them to follow her. They followed without further instruction. “Don’t forget! By tomorrow! Or you’ll all be… homeless,” she jeered malevolently.

Something snapped inside Colin. He faced the Three D’s backsides and raised his hand to strike. Jae realized instantly what he was about to do, and at the same moment Colin sent his spell, Jae shouted one to block it.

“Emissio,” yelled Colin.

“Obstructo.” Jae’s spell found Colin’s, blocking it from hitting its target.

“It’s not worth it, Colin,” rushed Jae. “If that spell hit one of them, we would be in serious trouble.”

“I’m sorry, Jae, I couldn’t help myself.”

“If I coulda, and got away with it, I would’ve done it myself!” he said bitterly.

The three sat down on the ground and waited for the Three D’s to fully disappear. Timothy floated back down.

“Are you all right? Do you want me to fetch Uncle Eddy?”

“No, its fine, Timothy,” said Colin. “I don’t think we should worry Uncle Eddy about this.” Timothy floated next to Colin’s ear.

“Is this another secret?”

Colin nodded yes.

Timothy swirled high into the air in delight of having a second secret. Jae examined the scene; Nona licked a small cut on Meghan’s arm, which went through her shirt. Colin hadn’t been knocked down, so he was fine, physically speaking, and Jae was a bit disheveled, but uninjured.

“I’m afraid I don’t have enough energy to heal your arm, Meghan. I feel drained here.” Healing wasn’t something Colin was ready to try yet.

“We don’t look that bad,” said Colin. “We do need to come up with some kind of plan, though,” he suggested.

“Any ideas?” Meghan asked Jae. She lifted her arm, wincing; her cut was about two inches long but not deep.

“I did have a thought,” said Jae. “It’s possible, not likely, but possible she’s just still angry over not being able to expose you.”

“Hm, revenge, sounds fun,” Meghan said sarcastically. Nona attached her body to Meghan’s arm and began licking her wound again.

“What I’m wondering, more than anything,” said Jae, “Is how a certain Viancourt member got hold of a spell that can hide doing magic against another person. I wasn’t aware anything like that existed.”

“And of all the people to give it to, why Darcy?” said Meghan, vexed.

“When we say certain Viancourt member, we are talking about Garner Sadorus, right?” asked Colin.

“Yes,” muttered Meghan.

“If Garner wanted information, say for example, about two new strangers that Darcy would have easier access to…” suggested Jae. “Remember the day you first met Uncle Eddy, when you had the ghost candy, Colin?”

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“The person on the roof,” he recalled.

“I can’t be sure of course, but this could have something to do with what you saw,” guessed Jae.

“Lots of interesting questions we’ve got here, too bad we don’t have any answers,” droned Meghan.

As they arrived home, in a daze, Colin noticed something astonishing.

“Meghan, look,” he grabbed her arm from where Nona had just detached herself.

“It’s gone, the cut, it’s not there!” Meghan picked up the Catawitch, snuggling it to her face.

“Nona, did you do this? You are by far, the coolest cat ever!” They tried to forget about the horrible afternoon as they entered the Mochrie house; once in, it was not too difficult to do. Sheila and Mireya had spent the morning decorating the place in autumn colors. The smell of pies baking wafted invitingly from the kitchen. They decided there was not much they could do over the holiday about the Darcy situation; they’d have to let it play out. One thing they could say for certain: Colin was not turning over the Magicante today, tomorrow, or any other day!

The rest of the day managed to be quite pleasant, with Mrs. Mochrie serving up a most delicious pre-holiday feast, which Ivan missed, and Irving interrupted, with exciting news.

“I’ve been promoted!”

Everyone cheered and congratulated Irving on getting his management of the bank back. The twins hoped it wasn’t a sick joke by Garner Sadorus, to give Mr. Mochrie back his old job, only to strip it from him again once he had ousted his son, and the Jacoby’s.

Thanksgiving arrived and the Mochrie house was full, being that both Irving and Ivan were at home, rather than at work. The entire Svoda village was shut down, even the hospital; there were no patients.

Colin thought of the sick girl he had seen there. Who was she? Was she better, and if so, why hadn’t he seen her around? His face reddened thinking about the girl. Meghan gazed oddly at him, attempting to invade his thoughts. He didn’t allow it.

At noon, three guests arrived for a pre-feast gathering. They included Billie Sadorus, plus the Jackal sisters, owners of The Jackal Lantern. They were dressed in their usual 1930’s style dresses, acting prim and proper, that is, until they downed Sheila Mochrie’s pumpkin brandy (known to be the best in the village).

“If we’re lucky, mom’ll let us try a little,” said Jae, licking his lips.

“Could I get one of you youngsters to bring a plate down to Corny,” asked Mrs. Mochrie. “I wish I could get him out of that dark cellar and up to the table, he’s just so darn stubborn.” Meghan arrogantly volunteered.

Jae snickered.

“Be careful, he might bite if you get too close.” The way Jae said it gave her the creeps.

“You’re coming with me,” she said, dragging Colin along. “It’s a shame he won’t come up, he’s missing all the fun,” she said, adding, “Of course, fun doesn’t ever last too long around here.” They climbed down the ladder into the dank basement; one single candle was lit in the far corner. Meghan held her skirt off the dusty floor. Colin held the tray.

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“Where is he?” she asked, straining her eyes to see. He wasn’t on his bed. Colin quietly put down the tray and tiptoed back to the ladder, hoping to escape without seeing Corny. “Maybe he’s out?” Meghan suggested, turning to face her brother. “Colin! Don’t move,” she whispered with a voice that always wanted to make him run.

“Hi there, Mr. Corny, sir. We brought you some Thanksgiving Dinner, still hot, over there,” she pointed toward the tray.

Colin felt Corny’s hot, tobacco-stenched breath on his neck, and decided to take a slow step forward before turning around; he could not stand the thought of having the man behind him, out of sight.

Corny’s face hid in the shadows, but his gritty teeth poked through his unkempt beard. He stepped forward into the light holding a tablet of paper in his hand; he ripped out a page and handed it to Colin. It was covered in non-coherent scribbling.

“Thanks, Corny, I’ll… hang it in my room,” stammered Colin, trying to be nice. The old man tore out another page forcing Colin to take it; it was covered in the same scribbling. “We have to go now,” he told Corny. Colin grasped the pages and then followed Meghan, who was already half way up the ladder. As his head poked up into the house there was a pull at Colin’s leg and he slipped down two rungs, coming face to face with Corny’s sour-breathed tobacco mouth. Colin tried to hold his breath, and heard the tearing of another page. Corny vigorously forced it into Colin’s hand and then shuffled back to his bed, ignoring the holiday dinner. Colin scurried up the ladder. Meghan sat laughing in the hallway, explaining to Jae that Colin apparently had a new best friend.

“Ha ha, very funny, Sis. Don’t think you’d be laughing if it were you.”

“No, but I would,” laughed Jae. “Sorry, but Corny taking to anyone, is pretty funny. You’re the first person he’s gotten close to since he came to live with us.”

“Great! Thrilling! Can we eat now?” he asked through his teeth, laying the scribbled pages on the stair.

“We don’t eat here,” said Jae, still laughing. “We all gather together for the real feast, later tonight,” he added, getting more serious.

“Is this one of those occasions we dress up for?” hoped Meghan.

“Definitely,” replied Jae.

Back in the sitting room, the supply of pumpkin brandy dwindled. Sheila permitted the twins and Jae to try a small glass. It was like drinking pumpkin pie, but with a warming tingle at the end.

Irving, Sheila, Billie and the Jackal sisters sat around the fire, with brandy loosened tongues.

Sheila listened intently to a story being told by the Jackal sisters. Meghan watched as Ivan glanced over the sisters, one of whom caught his eye and winked; he shifted away, frowning smugly.

“Something tells me those sisters aren’t so prim and proper,” said Meghan.

“They are are quite proper, but the brandy does tend to bring out a sinister side,” whispered Jae.

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Billie smiled at them, tipping her glass in their direction, catching it just before the brandy dripped over the edge. She made a funny face and put her fingers to her lips mouthing,

“Oops…” and then nearly did it again.

“They’re looped,” said Colin, feeling cheerful.

Ivan left the room without a word. The sisters and Billie were laughing hysterically; the older sister named Kalila was finishing a story.

“And to think, I came that close, that week, of publishing that story as our moral of the week.”

“I caught it just in time,” yelped the sister named Kalida. “It was already headed to press.”

“I say, that would have been mighty funny to see the look on Garner and Ravana’s faces, if that story’d been published,” exclaimed Irving Mochrie, in tears from laughing so hard.

Sheila slid out of her chair.