Crimes of Magic: The Yard Sale Wand, Page 2

  “Would you like some tea or coffee?” I asked.

  “Tea would be nice.”

  “Sugar or cream?”

  “A little sugar, but no cream. I’m a vegan.”

  I went back out to the waiting room and turned on the tea kettle. Rachel only had individually packaged tea bags, so I selected a Chamomile and an Earl Grey. The water quickly came to a boil, and I poured some into a coffee mug. Rachel had sugar in packets, so I grabbed a couple of those and a spoon. I went back into the office and set the cup, sugar, tea and spoon in front of Willow. They had been getting to know each other while I made the tea.

  “Thanks,” Willow said as she opened the Chamomile tea and put the bag in the hot water.

  “The Professor here is my magic expert,” Rachel said.

  “That’s what Caite told me,” Willow replied. “She has only good things to say about you, Professor. She likes you.”

  “I like Caite as well,” I replied. “How long have you known her?”

  “I joined the coven two years ago. I was looking for a coven that was accepting new initiates. A witch told me that there was a coven of younger witches that met at Moonstone, so I went there, and they accepted me. I’m the youngest witch in the coven.”

  “Caite said you have a wand to show us,” Rachel said.

  “Yes, I found it last week at a yard sale in Astoria while I was visiting my parents,” Willow said as she reached into her hemp bag. “I paid ten dollars for it, which isn’t cheap for what looks like a toy at a yard sale, but I could feel an energy when I held it, and I had to have it.”

  Willow placed a wooden wand in the center of the desk. The wand was a little less than a foot and a half long and was made of dark brown, fine-grained wood. About one-third of the length was thicker, about an inch in diameter. This part of the wand had four glyphs carved into it. The rest of the wand tapered to a rounded point. The tapered part had a long sigil engraved into it that ended with an arrowhead near the tip of the wand. I placed my hand on the thicker part and rolled it back and forth on the desktop. The point of the wand wobbled a little as I rolled it.

  “What are you doing?” Willow asked.

  “I’m checking to see if it’s hand-made, which it is,” I replied. “If it had been made on a lathe, it would roll perfectly symmetrically. You can see how the point wobbles when I roll it, demonstrating imperfection.”

  “Is that bad?” Willow asked.

  “On the contrary,” I said. “It makes it more likely that it’s old, which is good.”

  “Can you tell if it’s magic?” Willow asked.

  “I think so,” I said. “Let me get my bag.”

  I retrieved my magic kit from Rachel’s printer table and removed the Coriolis.

  “That must be the magic pendulum Caite told me about,” Willow said.

  “We call it the Coriolis,” Rachel said.

  I took a charcoal pencil out of my bag and drew a symbol in the blank space on the Coriolis. This symbol, combined with the two symbols engraved on the pendulum, activated it. Normally, I draw the symbol that turns the pendulum into a detector of magic. The use of magic causes disturbances in the natural world. This is because the rules of the universe are being hacked for a short time in a defined place. The disturbances persist for some time after the use of magic has stopped. The greater the magic, the longer the disturbances persist until the hack has decayed.

  One of these disturbances is a disruption of the Coriolis force. The use of magic causes the Coriolis force to reverse, and possibly even strengthen in the wrong direction in the physical area the magic is used. After the magic has ended, the reversed Coriolis effect diminishes and pauses. Eventually it returns to its normal direction and gradually increases to its previous strength.

  This time, I drew a different symbol on the pendulum.

  “I just activated the pendulum to detect magical devices,” I said. “The pendulum will generate a field of magic that will resonate with any magical device within a foot of the pendulum. This resonance will cause the pendulum to swing back and forth in line with the magical resonance.”

  “Awesome,” Willow whispered.

  I reached into my bag and removed a small, telescoping tripod. The tripod was made to stand on a tabletop and hold a camera. I had removed the screw that would attach the camera, leaving only the aluminum top and the telescoping aluminum legs. It was important that there be no iron in the tripod. I expanded the tripod and set it on the table.

  “This is an aluminum tripod, so it doesn’t contain any iron, which as you may know, interferes with magic. The two of you should step back a couple of feet so that if either of you has magic, it won’t interfere with the test.”

  “I don’t have any magic,” Willow said.

  “We’re just playing it safe,” I said. I knew that Rachel was wearing her Mojo, an amulet of protection, that might have interfered with the test; but I didn’t need to go into all that for Willow.

  I attached the suspending string of the Coriolis to the tripod so that the tip of the pendulum was about three inches above the desk. I got the wand, placed it under the Coriolis, and started the pendulum swinging in a counter-clockwise circle.

  “This will generate the field of magic,” I said. “If the wand is a magical device, the Coriolis will change its pattern to back and forth instead of circular.”

  As we watched, the Coriolis slowed, making smaller circles. Then the small circles became small ellipses. After about half a minute, the Coriolis was swinging back and forth in a two-inch line along the wand. It continued this swinging pattern without further changes.

  “What does this mean?” Willow asked.

  “Well, the swing pattern isn’t very large. I’ve tried this over other magical devices and the Coriolis usually swings about five inches. I think this means that the wand is a magical device, but it isn’t activated. It’s dormant and not capable of magic now.”

  “That’s too bad,” Willow said.

  “What about the symbols on the wand?” Rachel asked. “That long, complicated symbol reminds me of the sigil on the Witch’s Artifact.”

  “Yes, it’s similar, but different,” I said. Speaking of that Artifact, it would only work for one person, and that person had to activate it before it could work magic.”

  “That’s according to the evil Master Wizard Seth, who is definitely not trustworthy,” Rachel stated firmly.”

  “I believe his story, though,” I said. “We can try to activate it so that you can use it,” I told Willow.

  “Really? That would be awesome. What do we have to do?”

  “We’ll need a couple of drops of your blood,” I replied.

  Willow’s face went pale. “Oh no, I’m afraid of needles. I can’t do that.”

  “Willow!” Rachel said. “You have a dozen holes in your ears. How can you be afraid of needles?”

  “It’s not the pain; it’s the blood. I can’t bear the sight of blood. That’s one of the reasons I’m a vegan. I’m strictly non-violent. I’m opposed to the use of force against all animals, including people, specially me.”

  “What are we going to do?” Rachel asked.

  “Ever since I heard the story from Seth, I’ve been prepared for something like this,” I said. “I have a lancet in my bag. It’s the kind diabetics use to prick their fingers to test for blood sugar. I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t hurt much.”

  “Like I said, it’s not the pain; it’s the blood. Why do you need my blood.”

  “If I’m right, and this wand is activated like the Artifact, we need to let one or two drops of your blood run down the length of this sigil toward the tip of the wand. Then the wand will be activated so that only you can use it.”

  “Use it for what?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “Couldn’t that be dangerous?” Willow asked.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “You want me to bleed on that wand so that I can make it do something, and we don�
�t even know what it is?”

  “When you put it that way, it does sound a little scary,” I observed.

  “I just don’t know if I can do it.”

  “What you have right now is a stick,” I said. “If you want to know if it’s a magic wand, this is the only way I know of to find out.”

  “OK, but I can’t watch,” Willow agreed reluctantly.

  “That’s OK, I can handle it,” I said.

  I took the package containing the lancet out of my bag along with an alcohol wipe. I put a new needle into the lancet and wiped Willow’s finger with the alcohol swab.

  “OK Rachel, can you come around to Willow’s other side and hold her hand? Willow, you just hold Rachel’s hand and look into her eyes.”

  When they were both ready, I cocked the lancet and pricked Willow’s finger. She flinched, but didn’t say anything. I held the wand vertically with the point on the desktop and squeezed two drops of blood onto the top end of the long sigil that ran down the length of the taper. The blood ran down the wand following the sigil to the point. I pulled a Kleenex from the box on Rachel’s desk and wrapped it on Willow’s finger. I took a second Kleenex and wiped the blood off of the wand.

  “All done,” I said.

  “I’m glad that’s over,” Willow said. “Did it work?”

  “Let’s find out,” I said.

  I slid the wand back under the Coriolis and started it swinging in a counter-clockwise circle. The swinging pattern quickly changed into a five-inch, back and forth swing along the length of the wand.

  “Fantastic,” Rachel said as she sat back down behind her desk. “It’s magical.”

  “Yes, I expect that the wand is activated, but not performing any magic at the moment.”

  “Make it do something,” Willow said.

  “I think it will only work for you,” I replied.

  “What do I do?”

  “I have an idea,” I said. “Stand up.”

  We all three stood up, Rachel behind her desk and Willow and I on the other side.

  “See these four symbols engraved into the thick part of the wand? This part is the handle that you will grasp. Now notice that one of the symbols is off by itself near the end of the handle just before the wand starts to taper.”

  “Yes, I see that,” Willow replied.

  “I think, if you hold the wand by the handle and place your thumb on top of that lone symbol, then the wand will do magic.”

  “Wow, that’s scary. Do I have to say some magic words?”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary, but it might help you focus and coordinate with the gesture you make with the wand.”

  “Those aren’t very good instructions,” Willow said.

  “That’s all I’ve got,” I replied.

  “OK,” Willow said tentatively. “I’ll give it a try.”

  Willow picked up the wand and held it in her right hand. She rotated it so that the lone symbol, which I thought of as the trigger symbol, would be under her thumb. She placed her thumb down over the trigger symbol and waved it over the desk.

  “Abracadabra!” Willow said.

  Rachel fell down behind her desk like a marionette with its strings cut.

  “Oh my goddess! What have I done?” Willow screamed as the wand dropped to the floor. “Is she dead? What have I done?”

  Chapter 3

  I rushed around the desk and stretched Rachel out on the floor. I put my fingers on her neck and felt a slow, steady pulse. I put my ear to her chest and heard her taking slow breaths.

  “Rachel! Rachel!” I cried as I gently shook her shoulders—no response. I took her hand and slapped the back of it twice—still no response.

  “She’s alive,” I said, “but unresponsive.”

  “Call 911!” Willow screamed. “Call 911!”

  “No, we can get her to the hospital before an ambulance even arrives. Good Sam isn’t far from here. You grab her bag and get her car keys. I’ll carry her down to the car.”

  I picked up Rachel in my arms. She was a little heavier than I expected. I walked swiftly out of the office and down the stairs with Willow right behind me.

  “That Honda is her car,” I said.

  Willow already had the car keys in her hand and she unlocked the doors with the remote. I opened the driver-side back door, and Willow went around to the passenger side. With me lifting and Willow pulling Rachel’s shoulders, we got her into the back seat lying on her side.

  Willow got into the passenger seat and handed me the keys. I slid back the driver’s seat, buckled up, started up Fred, and headed toward Good Samaritan Hospital. That part of Northwest Portland always has lots of street traffic and pedestrians, especially on a Saturday, so instead of going down the busy NW 23rd Avenue, I went over a couple of blocks and down a less-popular avenue.

  Willow had done an excellent job helping me get Rachel into the car, but now that her adrenaline was wearing off, she began to cry.

  “Professor, I’ve killed Rachel,” Willow sobbed. “I’m going to prison, and I deserve it. I’ve devoted my life to non-violence, and just look at what I’ve done.”

  “It’s not your fault, Willow. It was an accident. It’s really my fault for activating a magical device that we really don’t know anything about.”

  Just about the time I was going to turn onto NW 23rd, a voice from the back seat said,

  “Why are you driving Fred, and why was I asleep in the back seat?”

  “Rachel!” I exclaimed. Are you OK?”

  “Sure, I’m OK, I’m still just a little sleepy. Why was I sleeping in the back seat?”

  “You were asleep?” Willow said. “I thought I had killed you.”

  “No, you didn’t kill me, but I don’t remember falling asleep, and I certainly wouldn’t have gotten into Fred’s back seat.”

  “We had a magical accident,” I said. “We need to take you to the emergency room and get you checked out.”

  “I am not going to the emergency room,” Rachel stated emphatically. “I feel fine. Where are we?”

  “We were just about to go into Good Sam’s emergency room,” I said.

  “Well go on past, and turn around and take us back to the office.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m absolutely sure. Now turn around or let me drive.”

  “Thank the goddess you’re OK,” Willow said. “We were both afraid you would die.”

  “I thought you were in a magical coma,” I said.

  “What happened to me?” Rachel asked. “The last thing I remember is you were going to prick Willow’s finger.”

  “You don’t remember us activating the wand?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Don’t you remember me waving the wand at you and saying ‘Abracadabra’?” Willow asked.

  “No, none of that.”

  “Evidently the wand casts a sleeping spell that includes amnesia for a couple of minutes before the spell was cast,” I speculated.

  “So it’s a Snoozer Wand,” Rachel declared. Once again, Rachel had bestowed a name.

  “Did it hurt?” Willow asked.

  “No, I don’t remember feeling a thing. Right now, I feel like I woke up from a nap that was too short and not very restful. My head is just a little fuzzy.”

  “We’d better keep a close eye on you,” I said.

  When we arrived back at Rachel’s office, I locked the car and gave the keys to Rachel. Willow handed Rachel her bag, and we went upstairs to the office. The outer door to the office was wide open.

  “You didn’t even close the door?” Rachel said accusingly.

  “We were in a rush,” I said.

  “More like a panic,” Willow declared.

  “OK, you’re forgiven. Everything looks undisturbed.”

  We went into the inner office, and I picked Willow’s wand up off the floor where she had dropped it.

  “Here’s your wand,” I said as I offered it to her.

  “Get that thing away
from me!” Willow said with just a little bit of terror in her voice. “That thing is evil and dangerous. I’m not going to touch it.”

  “But it’s magic,” I said.

  “Black magic!” Willow declared. “I’m a white witch dedicated to white magic, healing magic. I’m opposed to violence. That thing might as well be a gun. I’m having nothing to do with it.”

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “I don’t care, just get it away from me. Get rid of it.”

  “Can I buy it from you?” I asked.

  “I can’t take money for that thing. That’s blood money. I’m sorry I ever found it.”

  “OK, Willow. Calm down,” Rachel said soothingly. “Professor, take the wand out into the waiting room and make a cup of tea for Willow. Willow, just sit here with me for a few minutes.”

  I did as I was told. I took my time making the tea. Rachel is much better at comforting people than I am. I wouldn’t know what to do or say, so it was best for me to just stay out of the way. I opened a Chamomile tea pouch and put the bag in a fresh mug of hot water. The sugar was still on Rachel’s desk, so I waited for the tea to finish steeping before I threw away the teabag and took the mug into Rachel’s office.

  Rachel and Willow were sitting together in front of the desk, so I went around the desk and sat in Rachel’s chair before setting the mug in front of Willow.

  “Thanks, Professor. I feel better now. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

  “Think nothing of it, Willow. I completely understand.”

  “Rachel and I have decided that you should have the wand. You can keep it out of the wrong hands. I’ll feel better knowing that it won’t be used for evil.”

  “I’ll do it,” I said. “I promise that I’ll keep it safe to the best of my ability.”

  “Here, take my card,” Rachel said, “and write your phone number on this pad. I want to check in with you tomorrow and see how you’re doing.”

  “Thanks, Rachel,” Willow said as she wrote her phone number, “and I’m sorry I zapped you.”

  “I’m fine now,” Rachel said. My head is clear again, and I feel perfectly normal. Will you be OK driving home?”