Summer's Cauldron (23 page)

“I’m surprised at you, Alex,” his father said, squinting through sad eyes.

“We didn’t do this, Dad,” Alex said, his voice squeaking with emotion. This statement broke the spell of silence holding the rest of the Guild mute.

“We were trying to do the right thing and they were doing the wrong thing and somehow they turned everything around,” Nina said.

“It was those maggot mouthed Measly Mages,” Daphne said.

“Trap,” Ben said. “It was a trap.”

“They trapped us with our own worst traits,” Rafael said.

“Mmm, they tricked us by pretending to be as awful as they usually are,” Clark said.

“They convinced us they were going to do something horrid and now we’re in trouble for trying to stop them,” Victoria said.

“I have no doubt you are all innocent of trying to steal the town statue,” Alex’s father said. Alex felt a knot in his stomach unclench. “But you are guilty of being gullible enough to be led into this mess like a gaggle of newborn geese. Your first mistake was in not coming to me and reporting what you suspected. I assume you failed to do that because of the manner in which you obtained the information.”

The museum was suddenly so quiet Alex could hear himself breathing.

“Right,” Alex’s father said as he glanced over at Deputy Dervis. “Hopefully that will be a lesson you will all take to heart. Kyle, why don’t you head downtown and find these kids’ parents. I’ll meet you at the jail house.”

“Okay, Logan,” Deputy Dervis said, sounding almost cheerful. Deputy Dervis had a nearly indefatigable mood. He was almost always smiling and happy, even when things seemed to be completely wrong. “What should I tell the parents?”

“Say their kids are in some trouble and I’ll explain when they see me,” Alex’s father said.

“Good,” Deputy Dervis said as he headed for the entrance door. “I hate explaining this kind of thing.” When Deputy Dervis was out of the building, Alex’s father let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t know what got into your heads,” Alex’s fathers said, “but short of some sort of miracle, I don’t see how you’re not all going to be punished for this.”

“But…” Alex started to say when his father raised a hand for silence.

“But you were seen pulling Sylvester’s magic sack over the old town statue by the mayor, the town warlock, and his deputy,” Alex’s father said.

 “I was taking the sack off,” Alex mumbled, wishing he had never touched that confounded canvas bag. Maybe Nina was right — maybe he had been dropped on his head as a child.

“Looks like the same thing from where we stood,” Alex father said. “If you’re lucky, the town council will be lenient with their punishment. Maybe make you paint the museum or pick up trash around town for a month. Unfortunately, I can’t speak on your behalf. I’m already going to look bad enough in the eyes of the town council for not recusing myself from this case.”

“Don’t get in trouble for us, Dad,” Alex said, realizing for the first time how much his misadventure would affect his father’s standing as the town warlock.

“I couldn’t very well let the mayor take charge of the investigation, now could I?” Alex’s father said, his tone brittle. “I’m sure that’s what he would have done, given the chance. Then who knows what sort of evidence might ‘pop up’ indicating some new crime you’d be guilty of.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Alex said, hanging his head.

“You should be,” his father said, staring down at Alex and Nina. “You have far more important things to be concerning yourself with than what the Mad Mages may or may not be getting up to.”

“We did learn something at the carnival,” Alex said, raising his head and hoping to redeem himself at least somewhat in his father’s eyes.

“There are at least four followers of the Shadow Wraith in the carnival and we’re pretty sure we know who they are,” Nina blurted out. Alex sighed. Apparently, his sister also wanted redemption.

“And we know the magical artifact is small enough to carry,” Alex said. “Someone has it with them down in the town center.”

“That’s good,” Alex’s father said, “because none of you are going near that carnival again. You’re all grounded until further notice.”

Alex and the Guild let out a collective sigh, but no one questioned Alex’s father’s authority to ground everyone there. As it turned out, the entire Guild was grounded together. After an afternoon spent in the local jailhouse, with the parents of the Guild members arriving to hear the accusations against their children and listening to Alex’s father’s interpretation of the events, it was collectively decided, at Alex’s mother’s suggestion, that the Guild be confined during the daylight hours to the Ravenstar family home. The thinking was, not only would this placate the mayor and the town council, but it would keep Alex and the Guild safely away from the carnival and all the dangers it contained.

Alex realized it was the best possible outcome, given the charges and the evidence arrayed against them, and kept his mouth firmly shut while the adults explained their decision. One advantage of the plan was that it mollified many of the fears of the parents of the other Guild members about possible encounters with the followers of the Shadow Wraith.

With the exception of Victoria’s father, most of the parents seemed to think letting their child hang around with Alex, the known nemesis of the Shadow Wraith, was simply too dangerous. However, they all seemed to agree confining the Guild to the Ravenstar home, which was well known to be protected by powerful magic, would be safer than keeping the kids at home individually. This also allowed the parents to follow Alex’s father’s suggestion — that they all attend the carnival in hopes of building upon the information Alex and the Guild had managed to obtain. The parents of the Guild would begin by making sure George the giant, Oanadin the dwarf, and the Siren Sisters Elektra and Medea, always had someone watching them.

Alex admitted it was a good plan, even if he and his friends had no part in it. Given his extraordinary failure in judgment at the museum, Alex was in no mood to question the judgment of others, especially his parents.

His father had been right. Alex had let his mind become so clouded by anger and dislike of Anna and Dillon and the Mad Mages that he had turned his attention from the danger threatening the whole town. Only an idiot would worry about what the Mad Mages were up to when there were followers of the Shadow Wraith hiding in the carnival and plotting to set the vile creature loose upon the world. Apparently, Alex was an idiot, because that was exactly what he had done. And, in doing so, he had managed to limit his options and his ability to fight back against the Shadow Wraith and its followers.

These thoughts clouded Alex’s mood the rest of the day, through dinner, and into the evening. Later that night, Alex and his family sat simmering in silence around the kitchen table as they sipped at root beer floats, trying to stave off the stifling heat still oppressing the valley like some overstoked stove threatening to explode.

“I’m going to talk to Maybelle about this heat,” his mother finally said, breaking the quiet as she wiped her forehead with an embroidered handkerchief.

“She can’t do anything,” his father said, sipping at the straw in his frosted-glass mug. “I spoke to her this morning. Says she has no idea what’s wrong with the weather. None of her spells do a thing to change the heat.”

“Well…” his mother said and then fell back into silence. They all knew what that information implied — the weather had something to do with the arrival of the carnival and the Shadow Wraith’s followers.

Nina loudly slurped the last of her root beer float through her straw and slumped back in her chair. “This is the best grounding we ever had,” she said with a sigh.

Alex blinked at his sister and then burst out laughing. She was right. How often would they get root beer floats and not glares from their parents when they were grounded? Alex’s parents held back a moment longer, but soon joined the laughter. It helped ease the tension hanging over the table and the family all evening. When they had recovered their composure, Alex’s father placed his hands on the table and looked at Alex and Nina.

“This is not an accusation,” his father began, “merely a bit of information. It seems something went missing at the museum today. I spoke with Mr. Whipplewhip and he says Grandpa Griffin’s twin tracking coins disappeared from their display case.”

Alex frowned at the news. The coins had been used by Alex’s great-great grandfather to foil a bank robber back in the late 1800s. The coins were magically linked so that if you held one, you could always find the other. His great-great grandfather had gotten wind of the bank robbery and planted one of the coins in the bank’s vault.

“I don’t know why someone would take such a thing,” his father continued. “They aren’t that complicated to make. A decent mage could make one with little effort. They’re only kept for historical value.”

“Maybe we should do that for the children’s shoes,” Alex mother said. “So we’ll know where they are when they’re late for dinner again.”

“Very funny, Mom,” Nina said with a pout.

“We didn’t see anything missing at the museum,” Alex said, sipping at the last of his root beer float. “And we didn’t take anything.”

“Like I said, it wasn’t an accusation,” Alex’s father said.

“You’re wild and reckless,” his mother added, “but you’re not a thief.”

“Keep an eye out for them,” his father said. “Mr. Whipplewhip is in a tizzy about them and I imagine you and your friends will get blamed for them being stolen even if we have a good idea who might have taken them.”

“Sure, Dad,” Alex said. He knew exactly who had taken the magic coins.

Half an hour later, while striping off his clothes and getting ready to take a shower, he discovered where at least one of the coins was — in his back pocket.

Alex examined the coin in the light from his bedside lamp. It was a simple silver coin, with the Runewood emblem pressed into one face and the date and denomination stamped on the opposite side. A two-dollar coin from 1848, it was definitely worth more than its face value due to its historical significance. Alex knew Anna and Dillon were responsible, but how had the coin come to be in his back pocket?

Then he remembered the look on Anna’s face and the whispered words on her lips just before she had left the museum. She must have placed the coin near the statues before she fled the museum the first time, after placing Sylvester’s Sack on the statue’s heads. Then she waited until Alex was close enough and floated the coin with magic into his pocket. Had his father not mentioned the missing coins, Alex would never have noticed an old coin among the other money in his pockets. He would likely have grabbed it from his dresser the next morning and stuffed it in his pocket the way he did every morning with the previous day’s leftover change. And Anna and the Mad Mages would have been able to track him wherever he went, allowing them to follow him and the Guild, or alert Dillon’s father, the mayor, if they tried to leave the house and break their confinement.

Alex hated to admit it, but it was another brilliant plan by the new leader of the Mad Mages. But now that he knew, he could give Anna a surprise. Alex probed the coin with his magic sense and grinned. His father had been right. It would be easy to magically link this coin to another and by doing so, allow him to link through this third coin to the coin Anna held. That would allow him to mislead her about where he was and when.

Alex was still grinning when he settled into bed. The grin stayed on his face as he slipped into astral form for his nightly lesson with Batami. As he floated up from his body, he saw something outside the window. Another astral form. At first, he thought it was Batami, come to collect him in person. With a start, he realized it wasn’t Batami. But it was someone he knew. Outside his window, a pale ephemeral blue glow outlining its form, floated the figure in black he had been chasing for so many days.

Chapter 17: Beyond the Barrier

Alex was uncertain what to think or what to feel. He floated in astral form above his bed and body, staring out the window in shock at his fellow astral traveler — the figure in black.
The figure in black is a Spirit Mage
, Alex thought.

Should he be afraid? Was the figure there to harm him? It didn’t seem so. It simply floated outside his window, staring from behind the cowl of its cloak. Alex could see the soul-essence within its breast, blazing brightly with a pure white light. He doubted a follower of the Shadow Wraith would have such a clear soul-essence. But could he be certain?

The figure had so far only led him toward discovering the influence of the Shadow Wraith in the carnival, but was that merely the way Alex chose to see it? Why was the figure in black leading him toward the Shadow Wraith’s followers? Was it to expose them? Or was it to deliver him into their clutches? And what did this mysterious person want with him now?

That question seemed to be answered when the figure reached out a cloaked arm and gestured for Alex to follow. Then the figure floated away from the window. Had he still been in his body, Alex would have instinctively swallowed against the trepidation he felt spreading through his mind. Instead, he ignored the feeling of fear flickering at the edge of his awareness and floated out through the bedroom window and into the dim moonlight.

The astral figure in black did not waste time waiting to see if Alex was following. It flew through the night, gliding above the rooftops, heading toward the carnival grounds in the open field behind the Town Hall. Alex followed closely, but not too closely, keeping what he hoped was a safe distance from the figure as he searched around for signs of anything that might indicate possible betrayal. He had already been led in to a trap once that day and he had no desire to let his curiosity again turn to gullibility.

As they neared the carnival grounds, the cloaked figure slowed and descended to hover a few inches above the earth, outside the main entrance. Alex floated to a stop several feet away. The figure momentarily turned to Alex, possibly to make sure he was paying attention, then it extended its arm toward the carnival and floated forward.