Letters

The purple texts are orientation helpers.

* * *  separates the blog-installments - I'm not sure this is meaningful, but there they are. 


Friday, two weeks later.

The shutdown of the old brewery in Elsinore was the reason for much gnashing of teeth. Parents went unemployed. Children came late to school, the workers in the shipyard had lost their spirit, in short disorder reigned everywhere.
Susan felt the damp spirit permeating the town as something almost physical. She waited impatiently for release. But of course the teachers were affected by the dismal spirit as well and given them a test. Today when the Winter holidays began! Susan felt almost defiant as she marked the wrong words in the text with ease. These old school test were so easy.

She was going to the Unicorn Farm tonight. She could hardly wait. Her parents had reluctantly allowed her to go alone by train to the Farm, little did they know that Susan had no intention of ever using the train ticket in her purse. She was going to use her portal, of course. Her mind wandered. Heidi and the twins had known something about the evil man and the folder from that Belgian tourist resort. But their letter had been short, almost insultingly so. But then, she was going to meet them tonight.
The teacher came in, carrying a mug of steaming coffee. This brought Susan back from her musings. Hurriedly she gathered her stray hairs back in the hairclip, and filled out the missing words in the second half of the test.

Susan felt like a wreck. The school work felt so insignificant compared to the evil man, and the chaos that threatened her magical world. She was lucky that she was good at the ordinary school subjects, else her notes would have suffered this semester, earning her a solid scolding and maybe even a week of grounding, a worse punishment than a solid beating in Susan's opinion.

The teacher rated their test during the long break, and Susan was as usual in the top five of the class. Now she could relax on that account at least.
She said good bye to her class mates, wishing them a happy holiday and ran home. She ate lunch all alone, and packed her gear in a small bag. She did not know if the portal could handle her bike, but did not dare leave it in the old lumber yard for a week in case it could not, so she decided on walking.
Her parents returned home, and Dad bade her go to the grocer's at the end of the street for a crate of beer before she left for Heidi's place. "Might be they closed the brewery in town," Dad said, "but they still make the best beer."
"I'm going to lug a crate of beer all that way," Susan asked.
"Well yes," Dad said, "Those plastic crates are not that heavy. When I was your age the crates were made of wood, and one crate was 50 bottles of beer. Now it's only 30, and you're a big girl, off you go."
Actually Susan did remember the wooden crates, she even remembered carrying one of them for a few steps, they were heavy as lead. They had gotten some empty ones from the beer depot down the street when they went out of use. Susan of course used hers for books and stuff. Linda's were home to an ever expanding collection of horse magazines.
Susan took the money, dressed in her winter clothes, and put her wand in a pocket. She did not want to try and carry one of those heavy buggers all the way without a little bit of magic. She had not forgotten about the DO-NOT rule, but she was not going far, she was not going to use magic on or in front of people. Hell-no! she was not going to ruin her only joy.
At the grocer's she bought the beer, and also some sherbet powder, mostly lemon and strawberry flavoured, and then one of the new ones. It was supposed to taste like cherries. Susan liked the fizzy, popping feel of sherbet powders, but suspected she would not like the cherry variation.
Then she carried the crate a little way from the grocer's. Pausing between two street lamps, she tasted the sherbet powder, confirming her suspicion that cherry sherbet tasted nasty. Then, after a quick look around her, she cast a spell to make the crate lighter to carry.
She took care not to show that she could carry the crate with ease now, but walked as fast as she deemed wise in the thickening darkness. She dumped the crate in the back yard, cancelled the spell, and went inside again.
She carefully placed her wand inside the bag again. then she slung the bag over her shoulder. She went into Linda's room, and gave her the rest of the cherry flavoured sherbet, and said goodbye. She quickly hugged her father. She hugged her mother for a longer time, listened to her admonishing, and promised once again to take care, look closely at the time tables before boarding the trains at the central station, eat her sandwiches, mind her manners at Heidi's place, and not speak to strangers (she was not going to obey this one). And yes, she was totally able to walk all alone to the train station. After all it was not even six o'clock, and she knew the way.
She waved goodbye and headed for the railway station. But when she reached the end of the road and was out of sight, she turned left and doubled back via a parallel street. It was only a short detour on her way to the old lumber yard.

***

Susan hurried towards the old lumber yard. The rain was letting off, but still the inclemency of the weather kept people indoors, helped by the fact that it was dinnertime or just after. Everybody were busy in their homes, and Susan only met one young man hurrying townwards on his bike.
She was more than a bit nervous, she needed to go to the bathroom, but now there was no turning back. She had arrived at the lumber yard and after a quick glance behind her, she turned right and was soon swallowed in the shadows. The enormous walnut tree was a massive presence on her right, and she happily let her fingers caress its wet bark. The thick branches stretched skywards over her head, like a gigantic windswept parasol. She wove between bushes and lesser trees, and found the portal with practised ease.
But still she hesitated. It was the first time she was going through it alone.

In the end she closed her eyes, clutched her bag and jumped. She felt the familiar, yet frightening sensation of vertigo.
When the world stopped spinning, she opened her eyes again and was relieved to see the old, crude furniture at the Unicorn Farm. For a moment she just stood there, happy that she had arrived in one piece, attentively listening and smelling her surroundings.
Noting happened. She went to the window and looked out. The rain had stopped, it had not rained as much here as  at home, but everything was still dripping wet. Suddenly she felt the loneliness of the place like a physical presence. It was dark, she was far away from home, nobody knew just where she was. Anything could happen ... she felt an urge to get up and run, and quickly she opened the little door. The door to the outside was really low, like in Grandma's kitchen she had to duck to get through without banging her head on the top frame. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest. The Farm did not even have a phone, There was just no way she could call for help if anything happened ....

Susan closed the door silently and stood with the back to the building. "Take it easy, now!" she said to herself, "there's no reason to panic. If nobody knows you're here, nobody will come for you. And somebody knows you're here, Susan!" she chided herself. Heidi knew she was coming tonight, as did Tage and  Lis, and their parents Sandra and Kai. They were waiting for her at the Magician's Home. She pulled out her wand and made a small ball of greenish light. It soared up over her head and shed its light on the surroundings. Susan drew a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I'm at the Unicorn Farm," she thought, "I'm an apprentice witch, actually a quite good apprentice witch, Nothing bad can happen here."
Susan slowly began to puzzle out why he was so panicky. These last few weeks had been extraordinarily taxing. After all the drama with Torben and David in the Christmas holidays, there had been the stress of an new term at school, where the other pupils and even a few of the teachers had been relentlessly bullying her. Not that she minded as much any more, but to be at the receiving end of all that crap every day at school was hard. The weekends had not been relaxing either. Linda's birthday party had not been a total success, but no major mishaps had happened, and Persephone had stayed happy and invisible all through the party. There had been more boring visits with beer drinking friends, and then Stellan's dying friend, although it was nobody close to Susan, Stellan's sadness had still rubbed off on her.

She began walking, letting the green light hover a bit behind her, lighting the way, She had to wade through a small stream that had not been here before. All the rain, an the smelting snow must have made it. It ran towards the beach, and Susan made a mental note on exploring where it went, A small waterfall almost had to be at the end, where it met the cliffs. Susan had never seen a real waterfall, so even a small one would be exiting.
She crossed the line of trees separating the Unicorn Farm from the rest of the peninsula and extinguished her light. She did not put the wand back in the bottom of her bag, but kept it handy, she was still not quite at ease in the dark, mostly deserted place. The moon had risen. And even though there was not much left of it, it gave off just enough light to let her find the paths through the stubble fields. This time a year the peninsula had an almost grim air to it. The summerhouses were mostly uninhabited, and the houses where people lived around the year were few and far between.
As she walked on towards the Magician's House she could hear the foghorns in the harbour at the root of the peninsula. Now and then a sporadic answering hoot from a barge rose shrilly over the deeper fog horn notes. This was a sound Susan was used to, coming from Elsinore. It felt reassuringly homelike.
Finally, but in reality only ten minutes after stepping through the portal, she stood in the inviting light falling thorough the many small windows of the door to the low, yellow house that was the target of her journey. She rang the bell and Sandra and Heidi opened the door. A warm, welcoming chaos overtook her.
"We're having pizza tonight," Heidi said jubilantly, "Father just left to get them at the place near the bridge. It's open all year finally. Not just in summer. And you're going to sleep in my room. Come!"
Susan smiled, and let Heidi lead her to her room where a cot had been placed. She put down her bag at a chair and sat on the cot. She felt hungry and happy. It was a wonderful house, and Susan felt at home here.

Kai returned, slamming the door,  and they ran down the stairs to greet him. Kai was for once dressed in inconspicuous clothes, nothing of the magician about him now, just a normal father.
While they ate the pizzas and drank a lot of coke and orange juice they just talked and talked.
"We even were at a burial," Tage said. "Our old aunt Margit, I think you met her last summer, Susan. She died at the first day of the new year. And she was buried at the old cemetery on the mainland." Susan remembered an old, no an ancient lady, with sky blue eyes and wrinkles all over. She had had warm, dry hands and a charming smile as she said hello to Susan, but that was all she remembered.
"She always told us she was going to die on the first day of the new year, but only Mom believed her," Lis added. Susan did not know what to say, and the talk turned to newly plastered streets off the mainland, street lights and schoolwork. Susan just sat and listened, more than half asleep.
 "It's time for bed," Sandra said. "You're getting up early tomorrow, and it has been a long day for all of us." Susan was grateful, that Sandra did not mention her, and more than pleased to slip between the crisp, white covers in Heidi's room.
"Tomorrow," she said sleepily.
"Yes, tomorrow," Heidi answered and put out the light.

***

Next morning Susan awoke in the dark. It was very early, very cold, and the rain had turned to snow. Susan went to the windows and looked out into a white world. It was snowing; blowing even more than on that infamous day where she braved a blizzard to buy sugar. And that had been on paved roads. Here on the island there were only footpaths through stubble-fields and copses and along the cliff with a sheer drop down to the beach. Clearly it would be sheer foolishness to brave the elements to get to the Unicorn Farm.
"Oy, Susan!" Heidi said from her bed. "Get your chin up. Have you forgotten that we're witches and wizards. Tage and Lis will bring us along, when they 'port there"
Susan's smile was enough to brighten even the darkest day. They woke up the rest of the magician's family with their happy shouts.

While eating breakfast with the whole family Susan placed the folder from Fontaine de Jouvence on the table, and asked if anybody had seen it before.
"But yes," Kai said, "that is one of several folders that  were handed out to the wizarding families in the beginning of the Christmas holidays. I did not like the place much, and put it somewhere on a table. It must have ended up in your books."
"I think I threw out the rest," Sandra added. "Those resorts are always priced much over our ability. And they have such an artificial feel. Complete with puffed up movie stars and blondes out of bleach bottles." 
Tage and Lis smiled at one another. "In the movies that man in the circle would be the villain," Lis said and pointed at Torben's friend.
"He sure looks the part," Sandra said. "Hmm, he reminds me of somebody. Someone I once knew. I think he has something to do with transport. A helicopter maybe. Oh bother. Look at the clock. It's time to run."

They quickly put on their scarves, boots, gloves and so on,  and Tage and Lis grabbed one of Susan's and Heidi's hands each. The now-familiar dizziness enclosed Susan and when the fog cleared, they stood behind the big bales at the Unicorn Farm.
They walked quickly into the barn, where they shed all the layers of clothes and dressed in the striped skirts and trousers of the Farm's school uniform.
Here their ways parted, Heidi, Tage and Lis all pulled on the short purple tunics that marked them as members of the transformations team and left the barn with Jon, the black Norwegian, that as always had something of the pirate over him.
Susan found a green tunic in the stacks, and looked around for more of the elements team. She spotted Marja and Josta, the fair haired Finnish sister and brother. They were soon joined by the tall Veronika, also from Denmark, Swedish Kalle and Anna, also brother and sister and cousins of Helge. Then Knud, alone of all in black tunic, came sauntering from somewhere in the back of the barn. Last came Kirstin and Rósa together with Gilvi and Thora, the professors. They were almost covered in snow. They hurriedly shook out their clothes, but still a fair amount of snow clung to them. When they too had donned the school uniform, Gilvi spoke to them all:  "Well my Elementarian apprentices. Let' get some snow magic on."

***

Susan was about to despair. The snow was still swirling, whirling and dancing around her. She was suspended mid-air by ice rings, produced by Gilvi's magic and the snow was relentlessly whipping her all over. All her futile spells had only made her hair go frizzy and wild, impairing her vision and adding to the whipping sensations.
All of a sudden it dawned upon her, she was trying too hard. She relaxed, trying to imagine a small jet of hot air emerging from the tip of her wand, warming her from top to toe, melting the ice rings and letting her free to move again. She looked down through hair and swirling snowflakes, saw green-white swirls beginning to form at the tip of the wand. Smiling she cheered them on, and they grew, caressing her arms, tingeing the swirling snow a gentle green, tickling her just a little bit, and first slowly then faster and faster the ice rings melted. Susan pointed her wand downwards, as she had been told to do, and descended, more like a snowflake dancing and swirling than like a human child.
Susan was comfortably hot now in the snow, she danced with the snowflakes in the meadow, over the fences and into the small copse of rowans near the school. This was snow magic! She had been told not to overdo her first trip, and she softly returned and came to rest near the big bales of straw on the other side of the barn. Some of the apprentices already stood there, only clad in the striped shirts or trousers and green tunics. All had small threads of lightly tinged snowflakes swirling from their wands, encasing them and keeping them warm. It was an eerie and wonderful sight.
She saw a silver-white shower of snow coming at her over the bales, and My, the slim Norwegian girl, softly descended beside her. They smiled at one another, but kept quiet. Shortly after Rósa landed in a shower of golden snowflakes, and in a massive gust of bluish purple snow Terje alighted beside them. He was not the last one. For once Anna was the last. Her reddish snow was the most violently coloured of all, and she looked very tired. Martine expanded her swirls to encompass Anna as well, as her reddish swirls sputtered and died off. "I think you overdid it." Martine said. "Did you not hear Gilvi's warning?" Anna looked embarrassed, but was spared the pain of answering as Gilvi came up to them, pointing his wand at them.
"That was impressing!" Gilvi's voice rang out. "You all did very well. Now get inside, there's hot cocoa and steaming buns for everybody." As an afterthought he added, "And no panic, Helge, I'll repair that fence!" Helge looked at him, rubbing his backside with a lopsided smile.

***

During the break where all were treated to hot cocoa and steaming buns, Susan tried to keep an eye on David. He seemed quite normal, and Torben was also back to his cordial self. After the break all the teams met in the barn for a session on languages. "Icelandic," Gilvi began, "is alike to all the other Nordic languages. This makes it possible to guess the meaning of many of the words. But the grammar is different enough to make it necessary for you to use your brain. Today you'll have to learn how to count. It will be easy for most of you. Sorry Marja, Aamu, Jouka, Nata, and  Josta. You'll have to work a bit harder."
Gilvi's wand swished rhythmically, and words sprang from the tip, soared over his head and fastened themselves to the blackboard:
Einn - tveir - þrír - fjórir - fimm - sex - sjö - átta - níu - tíu - ellefu - tólf - þrettán - fjórtán - fimmtán - sextán - sautján - átján - nítján - tuttugu.
It was a challenge, and soon all the apprentices knew how to count to twenty in Icelandic.
"And why do you have to learn Icelandic?" Gilvi asked. "Because it is the language Thora and I speak?" he asked with a twinkle; and many of the apprentices laughed. "No, of course not. Icelandic is the key to all other Nordic languages, and furthermore one of many vehicles of magic. Latin is another one, ancient Greek, Church Slavonic, Pali or Sanskrit or even Pig Latin or music are some of the other. It is mostly dependent on the tradition in the land you come from. I'm sure Taavi and Tähti can - and do - cast spells in Finnish as well. But we have decided to go with Icelandic."

Susan began thinking. She had always felt attracted to languages like Pig Latin and Robber's Language (Røversprog) She remembered how angry Linda had been when Susan and one of Linda's classmates spent days learning Røversprog and talking faster and faster with one another.
"Susan!" Gilvi's voice woke her from her reveries. "What are you thinking of?"
"Røversprog," she answered. "I became quite good at it some years ago. Would that really be useful for casting of spells?" she asked.
"Yes it would." Gilvi answered soberly. "But before you consider casting and making your own spells, I'd suggest that you learn how to cast the basic ones properly. What was the words for today's snow magic, and how do you explain their meaning?"
Susan had listened closely in the morning, she wanted to learn everything, and she had a good memory for words. "The first half was the spell: 'Létt eins og snjór'," she answered; pronouncing the Icelandic syllables slowly and distinctly. "And this means 'light as snow', thus expressing my wish to flow and soar through the air, like a snowflake driven by the wind. To do this, I have to angle my wand downwards, so that the small jet of air is carrying me upwards. If I happen to point it upwards, I'll fall down, maybe hurting myself. The other half of the snow magic was the heating of the air just around me ..."
"Stop!" Gilvi said. "I am convinced. Would you please pay as good attention always!"
"Yes," Susan said. "I will."

The short winter days were not long enough to allow full program, everybody had to be home by nightfall.
Susan and Heidi left The Farm a bit late. They crossed the magical line of trees, and ran over snowclad fields. Tage and Lis waited for them at the barrier at the end of the road. As they caught up with them, Heidi came up to walk besides Susan instead of following behind her.
"Did you notice David and Torben today?" Susan asked.
"Yes, they seemed totally normal to me. Maybe even too normal. It was a bit spooky to see them smile and eat buns just like the rest of us."
"Yes. I see what you mean. But villains can't just be villainous all the time, I think," Susan said. "My granny once lived in a boarding house where she befriended a criminal master mind - she did not know he was a criminal of course. She always told us that he was such a fine man, a real gentleman. And she was shocked when he was arrested."
"Sounds right." Tage said. "Villains do not go around laughing an evil laughter all day, like in the comics. They would be found out far too easy at that."
They walked through the falling darkness and reached the yellow house just as the street-lamps lit. They happily shed all their coats and mufflers and gathered round the table.
 
"I'd like to go to that French holiday resort sometime," Susan said. "It sounds as if it is a place to relax among fellow wizards."
"Didn't you say that resorts like that one were artificial and no fun, when we talked about it this morning?" Heidi asked.
"Maybe I did," Susan said, "but then again, it could be nice. I'd like to pat a shark."
"It sounds like a nice enough place," Kai said dreamily. "Maybe we could go there some time?"
"Mom," Heidi said. " I think Dad and Susan have been hypnotized or something. That awful place! This morning they did not want to go."
"Out of the mouth of infants!" Sandra burst out. "Suggestive paper I dare bet." Let me have it.

***

Kai handed Sandra the folder. "Fonts de Jouvences" she read, "That place is called 'The fountain of youth'. So very phony." She held her wand over the paper, and it quivered like a hungry dog. Then black smoke sprang from the tip.
"Yup, suggestive paper. Heidi get me some brandy, 6 small glasses and a copper plate - and a teaspoon."
Sandra placed the folder in the middle of the table on the copper plate, "Kveik!" she commanded. The folder burst into multicoloured, almost hypnotic flames. When they had burned down, Sandra ground the paper with the spoon, poured a small amount of brandy in each of the six glasses, and put a pinch of the still hot ashes into each of them. She distributed the glasses and raised her own: "Skilum!" she said, and emptied her glass. Kai, Tage and Lis were quick to follow her example, but Susan and Heidi looked at her with distrust. Normally they were forbidden to touch alcohol, and now Sandra bade them drink it.
"Oh, go on and drink it!" she said with a stern look. "That small amount won't hurt you!"  They raised their glasses and drank. It tasted awful. It burned, it scorched their throat. Susan started coughing. and Heidi looked as if she was choking. Tage and Lis did not look happy either, their faces were drawn and their mouths clenched tight. But Susan felt her mind clearing.
"Thank you, my love!" Kai said. "You have broken the chains that held me. I am now the master of my own mind again."
"Oh what a perfectly awful thing to do. Is this what happened to my parents with the invitation to Unicorn Farm?" Susan asked.
"No, or rather at least not as forcefully. Gilvi and I only used a mild suggestion, they still were free to say 'no' if they wanted to."
"Boy, I'm glad to hear that. I hate that magic gives us such power over other peoples' mind."
"Yes this was bad." Sandra said. "It was black magic. I hope that we're the only ones having studied that folder closely, but I fear not." We'll have to convene all the teachers here tonight.

"No." Susan exclaimed. "Do not call Torben. He's in league with the owner of the Fontes-whatever place. Remember what we said about the person on that blasted folder being the villain in the movie? Wait a sec."  She ran upstairs and got her folder: "Look at this!" she said as she pulled the photo from her folder and threw it at the table. "This is the owner, and Torben shaking his hand."
Sandra snatched the photo and stared at it for a second, then she passed it on to Kai. "What is this? Where do that photo come from? What more do you know? Now is the time to tell everything!" Sandra looked more angry than any of the children ever had seen her. Heidi cowered in fear, and a tear rolled from her eyes. Susan took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Oh Heidi, I'm not angry at you, but at that ... idiot there." she said pointing at the photo in Kai's hands.
Lis began telling the story from an end. Beginning way back with things Sandra and Kai had heard before; their suspicion that David was doing things he should not have been able to. She told the story of the derelict powerhouse where the withered fronds had hidden them while they watched Torben and David brewing up the strange potions. She told of Helge's part in their adventure and the happenings at Unicorn farm. Then Tage took over;  telling abut their useless tracking of Torben at the railway station. and adding more details to the strange Christmas party at the Unicorn farm. "I wonder why nothing came off it," Tage said. "I think personally that it was some kind of alibi and test run. Maybe those fumes installed some false memories in the rest of the teachers"
Then Susan rose, opened her folder and told about Stellan and his photos, "... and then Percy warned me, that he was a bad man!"
"Percy?" Sandra asked, "who is he?"
"Percy is not a he, she's a she. Her real name is Persephone, and she is a ghost in my home."
"Persephone? A girl, a bit taller than you. Long, flowing hair, big eyes, rather shy?"  Susan nodded, and Sandra went on. "I once knew a girl like that. And Persephone is not exactly a common name. It could very well be the same girl. She was my friend for a time, we lived next to one another, then she moved to Elsinore. We wrote letters at least once a week, and she even visited me a couple of times. I think she was a witch as well, although we didn't speak about it. Then one day my letters returned, unopened. I never found out what happened."
Susan looked up: "She told me, her mother would not answer her questions about that man, whom she - the mother - called very bad. Now I'm speculating. Maybe that man killed Percy ...  I don't think she realized she was dead until long after the fact. And her mother did not answer, because she never heard her questions at all. I don't know anything, but it fits."
"Everything fits if you try hard enough. Could you please go home and persuade Percy to come here tonight?" Sandra asked.
"Now?" Susan asked. "But ... I mean ...  my parents. What if they're at home? They are going to ask a zillion questions if I suddenly come home, and I have to go back to the Unicorn Farm to use the portal."
"Tage can 'port with you there and go with you home as well." Kai said. Then he can go and see if they're at home or not. Your parents are much more apt to remember Lis or Heidi, than Tage, girls' parents are just that way until the girls get old enough for boyfriends."

***

Susan and Tage donned their winter gear once again. They held one another' hands tightly, as Tage teleported them to the Unicorn Farm. Fresh air hit Susan's face and she opened her eyes to the whiteness of the meadow behind the farm. It was deserted. During the winter holidays everybody left before sunset. Susan and Tage walked hand in hand over to the small kitchen entrance. They were careful to obliterate their footprints and close the door behind them. They opened the door to the storage room and found everything as Susan had left it. The blue shimmer of an active portal looked reassuring in the gloom. Anyway it was strange being alone in the big room. Susan was happy that Tage was around, and Tage admitted to himself that he found Susan very brave for coming here all alone the day before.
Together they jumped through the portal and stood beneath the huge walnut tree. The weather was different here, no snow, but rain and sleet coming hard at them. "Oh. I forgot that the weather here is often warmer." Susan said. "Although warmer in this case means more unpleasant."
Tage asked if she was sure they were all alone here, and at Susan's affirmation pulled out his wand and cast an umbrella spell on them. "Phew, thanks!" Susan said. "I want to learn that one."
They took the shortcut to Susan's house. Everything was dark. Together they went up the driveway leading through the front garden and along the house.
"Do you have the main entrance at the back," Tage asked.
"Yes," Susan said. There was an entrance at the front as well, but it was some sort of agency long ago, and lead directly into our living room. My father built a wall instead of the door when I was small. Oh, I hope nobody's at home tonight. Saturday is normally their night out."

Tage went alone around the corner while Susan stood pressed against the wall. He rang the bell. Twice. Nothing happened. They waited for a long time. Then Susan went to a niche in the back wall, fumbled behind the statue and pulled out the spare key. She opened the door and led the way up the stairs to the attic. As was her wont she took the key to the attic with her and hung it on the spike near the ovoid hole in the insulation. She pulled Tage with her into the small room and sat by the table there:
"Percy," she said softly. "I have brought you a visitor, we need your help." Susan repeated this a couple of times phrased in different ways. Suddenly Tage shivered, Susan put a warning finger to her lips.
"Who is this?" a transparent voice asked.
"His name is Tage, and if we're right, you know his mother."
"His mother, I don't know very many mothers. My own left me some years ago."
"Do you remember moving?" Susan asked.
The white shape shivered.
"Was that a yes?" Susan asked. "You're very immaterial tonight."
Percy became more girl-like, less transparent, and now they could see her nodding.
"In the place, where you lived earlier. Did you have a friend there?"
Percy nodded again.
"Was her name Cassandra, normally known as Sandra?" Susan asked. Percy nodded again and threw herself to the floor, putting her arms around Susan's legs. She felt like she was immersed in a creeping fog, but she kept still.
"You have to help us. That bad man, you know, the one in the photo. He's up to more of his bad tricks. Sandra is in danger."
Percy was growing steadily less ghostlike, more solid, and she asked: "How, what, I mean. How can I help you. I'm not alive any more. I can't do anything."
"Yes you can. You can draw. You can come along and answer a lot of questions. Tell us what we need to know." Susan said in a steady voice.
"Can I come along?" Percy wondered "I can't go anywhere, or can I. And how."
"Well," Susan asked. How do you get around in this house?"
"Like this," Percy answered, got up and glided over the floorboards.
"And can't you go just anywhere like that?"
"No, only to places I know."
"You could go with us?" Susan said. "Tage and I can hold your hands, then we could go together and help Sandra fight the bad, bad man. You know, I'll tell you a secret. Tage here, he's a wizard. He can bring us everywhere he wants to."
"My daddy was a wizard too. He was big and strong and not afraid of anything. I always dreamed of being like him. I'll come."

"Let's get outside,"  Tage said. "Maybe your parents will be home soon."
Susan went down the stairs with Percy and then Tage following her. While she locked the door and put the key back in place, Tage scouted the surroundings. They were just about to leave, when Tage came back. "Somebody's coming." he whispered loudly. A car came up the narrow path to the house. "It's my parents' car. Quickly. Let's climb the fence to next door." It was not the first time Susan had climbed that fence, but she had never done so in the dark and rain before. The top was slippery and wet. "Oh, this is stupid," she gasped and pulled out her wand. Tage did the same, and quickly they soared over the fence, down into the neighbouring backyard. It was a mirror image of the one they just left. They stood for a while, until their hearts stopped racing. They heard the sounds of slamming car doors and Susan's Mom's voice telling Linda to get inside "But I saw something." Susan recognized Linda's voice. "I saw Susan's stupid ghost over there in the corner by the fence."
"Oh, don't get started on that again." Mom said. "I'm sure it was the white cat from across the street. I'm not even sure that ghost is real at all. Susan can be very peculiar, you know."
Susan blanched. Tage and Percy both squeezed her hands.
"Let me go!" Linda's voice was loud an petulant. "I want to go and see for myself!"
"With all our noise, and your yelling that cat is far away by now." Susan's father said. "Let's get inside. It's late already."
"Let me go!" Percy whispered. "Susan's stupid ghost! I'll show them!"
"No!" Susan whispered, terrified. "Don't. You'll just ruin our chance at stopping the bad man."
"Stay, oh please stay here, Percy," Tage implored.
Finally they heard the door closing. When they were sure nobody was coming they quietly went out to the street, Susan and Tage each holding one of Percy's ghostly hands. Safely out on the street they turned left, aiming for the least busy road to the portal.

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