Bumblestook: Book 1, The Accidental Wizard (25 page)

“That was fast,” Farley said admiringly.

“My mom says I’m very organized for my age,” said Fiona. “Now all we have left is what to take with us.”

Farley frowned as he concentrated. “Well, we need the crystal—can’t forget that! We’ll need Yap’s leash and we better take some dog biscuits. He gets a little wild when he’s hungry. Speaking of food, maybe we should take water and some protein bars, just in case we’re not back in time for dinner. And-and flashlights—in case it gets dark…” He hesitated, remembering what his mother had told him, just the night before, about going out after dark.

Fiona’s pen paused, as she and Farley exchanged looks of apprehension.

Farley’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth tightened in a grim line. “This could get dangerous. We should take some weapons. My dad’s got a pocket-knife.”

“Mine too. It’s in a kitchen drawer. I’ll grab it on the way out. And we can put everything in our school backpacks.” Fiona finished writing it all down and looked up. “I think that’s it.”

Farley stuck out his chin. “Right. Well, I guess we better get a move-on.”

“I’ll just leave a note for my parents—so they don’t worry,” Fiona said, scribbling a quick message.

Dear Mom and Dad, Gone to save the Bumblestooks. Don’t worry. Be back soon. P.S.
We know about our secret super powers.

She wedged it into the pink elephant’s upraised trunk. Next, she got her backpack from her closet, stuffed the crystal and the list inside, then joined Farley at the door.

“Time to hit the road,” said Farley, taking a deep breath and straightening his thin shoulders.

The two of them crept into the hallway.

**************************************

Tom stood back as Yap dug furiously, his quick little paws spraying dirt for several feet behind him. The pup was a good two feet into a glorious hole, delighting in the feel and smell of rich dark dirt.

“If it’s to China you’re trying to get, you’d get there faster on a jumbo jet!” Tom quipped.

Yap looked up, his sparkling white coat flecked with black specks of dirt. “Nah! I’m jes diggin.”

“Why?”

“Nothin’ else ta do,” Yap explained. “Farley’s inside and I’m not allowed,” he pouted.

“You will be, though. Once Mrs. Faire realizes, you
know
where to
go
.”

Yap wrinkled his furry brow and cocked his head, puzzled. “But, I’m not sposed to
go
anywhere! Not without Farley anyways. Where does Mrs. Faire want me to go?”

Tom sighed. The young G-r-r-rog was four years old (
six
in Human years) and still frustratingly immature. Bungaree kits often had a brisk trade in secrets and a bag full of tricks, by the time
they
were six!

At that moment, Farley and Fiona emerged from the house, sparing him further explanation. The kids were being uncharacteristically quiet (closing the screen door carefully, instead of letting it slam) but Tom and Yap’s keen sense of hearing alerted them all the same. They both watched as the children approached; Fiona carrying a backpack, Farley holding something long and thin in one hand.

“Not the leash! I
hate
the leash!” Yap (ears flat against the side of his head) whined out of the side of his mouth.

“Cmon, Yap,” Farley said, drawing close and clipping the despised leash onto the pup’s jeweled collar. “We’ve got work to do!”

Yap threw a desperate look toward the Bungaree, as Farley dragged him off.

Tom grew increasingly suspicious of Farley and Fiona’s surreptitious behavior; watching them whisper together, as they set off across the yard toward the side gate. Convinced that the children were sneaking off without their parent’s permission, he was torn as to what his next course of action should be.

On the one hand, he thought, he should run into the house and alert Tom and Olivia. On the other hand, the kids might come to harm while he wasn’t watching them! The sight of the children, stepping through the gate, galvanized him into action; sending him streaking across the lawn, with a speed that belied his chubby form. He followed at a discreet distance, as they crossed over into the Bumblestook yard and headed for the big, grey rock in the corner of the front lawn.

***************************************

“I’ll be the lookout while you talk to the rock,” Fiona said as they neared the granite form. She took up a position several feet from Big Grey, while Farley knelt by its side.

“Big Grey, it’s me, Farley,” the boy whispered. Placing a hand against the rock’s rough surface, he felt it warming up in preparation for speech.

“
Farley—safe
?”

“I’m okay, but someone broke into our house and now Mom and Dad
and
Mr. Bartholeumous are missing! They mighta got carried away by a tornado!”

“
Bartholeumous—here
?”

“Yeah, he went in the house to help, but a tornado came and tore a huge hole in the roof and now we can’t find
any
of them!”

“
Did not—sense—Bartholeumous
.”

“Huh, that’s weird. He was outside, in the yard, with me and Mr. Faire. He’s a Secret Agent, so maybe he used some kinda invisibility gadget. Anyway, I came to ask if you saw anything strange going on.”

Big Grey fell silent as it processed this information. It could find no reference as to what a ‘Secret Agent’ was or did, but Farley’s mention of an ‘invisibility gadget’ sparked a connection. A group of small rocks and pebbles had recorded an odd, atmospheric disturbance at the side of the house, where Farley and Mr. Faire had stood, earlier that day. This led to a new thought process—
could the unusual phenomena have been deliberately employed by the Wizard, to obscure his presence from the Earthbound?

The rock being experienced a sudden surge of energy, similar to an increase in adrenalin, throughout its silicon pathways. It felt an urgent need to reroute all of its resources to protect its Human friend.

“
Another—being—in yard
,” it finally said.

“Who?” Farley asked.

“
Not—Human. Unknown. Identified by—drop in—surface temperature
.”

“Huh! Y’know, when that shadow-thing touched me last night,
it
felt cold.”

“
Same being
.”

“So-o-o, it came back,” Farley mused. “I’ll bet it has something to do with whatever happened to my parents!”

“
Tracked—it
.”

“You know where it went?” Farley asked excitedly.

“
Affirmative
,” Big Grey replied simply.

Farley threw his arms around the rock being, laying his cheek against its warm side.

“Thanks, Big Grey! You just gave us our first break in the case! Can you tell me how to find it?”

“
Must—go with—Farley
.”

“What? How? You’re w-a-a-ay too heavy for me to carry!”

“
Must—break off—small part—of whole
.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Small part—connect—with whole
.”

“You mean, if I take a piece of you with me, I can talk to you?”

“
Affirmative
.”

“Alright, what do I do?”

“ Observe.”

Farley gasped, as a thin, glowing, red line suddenly appeared; bubbling and hissing, as it slowly etched its way across a corner of Big Grey’s surface.

“What’s that?” Fiona asked, drawing close.

“I think it’s hot lava,” Farley replied. “Big Grey figured out a way to come with us.”

Quickly, he explained the plan. To her credit, Fiona didn’t even blink an eye at the idea of chasing a shadow, on the advice of a talking rock! They both continued to watch, as the trickle of lava advanced; eating its way through the hard granite. Finally, a palm-sized, roughly triangular shard broke off and fell into the grass.

“Wait,” Fiona cautioned. Grabbing a bottle of water from her backpack, she splashed its contents onto the slice of rock. Steam arose as it cooled. “Okay.”

Farley snatched it up; placing it against his ear, as one might hold a conch shell, to hear the sounds of the sea.

“Come in Big Grey! Big Grey, can you hear me?”

The rock being emitted a raspy sound, which Farley recognized as a rare expression of surprise, similar to Human laughter.

“Too—close. Must acquire—distance—from whole. Place—small rock—against—another rock. Then—speak
.”

“Oh, okay, we’ll test it later. But how do we know which way to go?” Farley asked.

“
Hold—in two—hands
,” Big Grey instructed.

Farley did so, cupping the rock wedge in both hands; the base of the triangular shape spanning his palms, the narrow tip resting on his fingers. From its center, tiny, quartz particles began to glow; creating a dotted line of blinking lights, pointing north, toward the mountains.

“
Light—shows—way
,” Big Grey instructed.

Farley turned and the line of lights moved as well; continuing to point to the mountains, no matter which direction he faced.

“Wow! Fiona, look at this. It’s like a compass. All we have to do is follow it!”

Fiona’s eyebrows arched delicately in appreciation and she eyed the rock being with a new-found respect.

After thanking Big Grey, Farley, Fiona and Yap headed around to the back door of the house, as the front door was barricaded, by a formidable criss-cross of bright-yellow crime-scene tape. Once inside, Farley led the way to the kitchen pantry, where his father stored his magic tricks, high on the top shelf, well out of Farley’s reach. Fiona scaled the shelves like a monkey; retrieving a wooden box, resembling a small pirate’s chest. Inside, were miscellaneous magic tricks and a pocket-knife. Fiona grabbed the knife and replaced the box.

Next, as per the list, they headed for the master bedroom. Pausing in the doorway, they stared upwards, in pop-eyed disbelief, at the gaping hole that was once the ceiling. Then, proceeding cautiously, they stepped over bits of broken furniture and bric-a-brac. Not much was left of the bedroom suite, now suitable only as kindling. Shredded, floral fabric, (all that remained of the curtains) fluttered forlornly in the breeze.

Farley swallowed, eyes bright with tears, as he waded through the debris to the closet; its sliding door missing, its contents tossed. He rifled through the jumble of clothing, shoes and miscellaneous closet treasures; choosing a pink scarf (adorned with white poodle puppies) and a wide, purple tie (decorated with silver lightning bolts). Handing these off to Fiona, he dove back into the closet depths; emerging with a plastic wand and shiny, black magician’s cape. Wrapping the wand inside the cape, he passed the bundle to Fiona. She regarded him curiously (these weren’t on the list!) but didn’t object, as she sensed a strong, emotional attachment.

Next, they made their way quickly through the house; gathering the items on the list and stuffing them into Farley’s backpack. Then, exiting through the back door, they headed once more, for the front yard.

Farley checked the granite compass. Its tiny, twinkling, lights, continued to point north, so they set off down the block; cautiously darting behind trees and bushes, as they headed for the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

A large, orange-striped tabby followed, not far behind.

“That does it!” Olivia said with satisfaction. She checked off the final item on her list, as Lance placed a drop of glue on the sound system in the den. It had taken the rest of the afternoon, but she and Lance had succeeded in super-duper-gluing every single breakable item in their home. “We are now officially Bumblestook-proof!” she declared.

Lance screwed the cap back on the tube of precious liquid. “What do you say we take a little test drive, just to be sure?”

“What—?” Olivia gasped, as Lance picked up a small statue of a Chinese lion dog, held it high and let it fall! It bounced several times, before coming to rest on its side. Olivia rushed to scoop it up, thoroughly examining its comically wide mouth, lolling tongue and bulging eyes, for the slightest sign of damage. Finding the figurine intact, she sighed with relief, then whirled to face her husband.

“How could you? This was my mother’s!”

Lance waved the tube of glue defensively. “I super-duper-glued it.”

“Yes, but you didn’t know for sure that it would work.”

“There’s a guarantee,” said Lance, pointing to the fine print.

“If you were so sure, why didn’t you try it on something that belonged to
your
mother! Like
this
ugly thing?” Olivia snatched a blue and green speckled vase from a shelf.

“Careful,” Lance said, reaching out to grab it. “That’s an antique!”

Olivia stepped back, holding the vase just out of reach.

“Oops!” she said as it slipped out of her hand and plummeted to the floor.

It was Lance’s turn to gasp, as the vase bounced and spun across the wooden floorboards. He quickly retrieved it, subjecting it to a thorough examination.

“Not a chip or crack,” he pronounced, returning it to the shelf.

“How fortunate for you,” said Olivia, turning on her heel to walk out of the room.

“Wait! Check this out!” Lance called out to her.

Olivia turned back, to see her husband juggling several items from her collection of crystal figurines. She watched anxiously, as he swayed back, forth and sideways, in an effort to keep the sparkling treasures in the air.

“Whoops,” he said, as a little glass unicorn went spinning across the floor. “Uh-oh,” he remarked as a tiny elephant flew across the room and bounced off the wall. “Guess I need more practice,” he explained, as a crystal swan sailed into the bookshelf.

“Alright already, you’ve made your point,” Olivia said, gathering up her crystal treasures.

“Well, obviously it works on the small stuff, but what about the big things, like say, the big screen T.V. ?”

“You’re not suggesting—” Olivia began.

“Wait right here,” Lance said, dashing out of the room. He returned shortly, with a baseball bat and strode right up to the large television.