Doorways to Infinity (23 page)

“Miss Duffy painted that. She did all of the art in the house.”

Coach Dave nodded and turned back to the painting. “She’s really good. My mom is a watercolor artist. I never got the hang of it, but I love it.”

A few of the girls emerged from one of the bedrooms, led by Allison, who said, “Jamie, you’ve got to have a party! This house would be excellent.”

“For sure,” Logan said, relaxing on the couch with Max and Bryce. “Bring some tunes and pizza…it’d be perfect, like our own special place.”

Frankie, who was one of the seniors on the team, nodded and said, “We didn’t get to have an end-of-season party this fall.”

“We’ve never had a real party here, Jamie,” Bryce said.

Suddenly, everyone had returned to the main room, and they were all looking at Jamie, waiting for his answer. He felt as if they were ganging up on him.

“Uh….”
Have a party? Here?
Jamie glanced at the expectant faces around him, and his mind began to race as he tried to think of a reason why they shouldn’t.
Would they mess up the house? Would someone find out, like the NSA or FBI?
He took a deep breath and held it until he decided.
They’re my teammates, and I should trust them
. “Okay, but you gotta help clean up afterward.”

The smiles spread quickly among them, some of his teammates exchanging fist bumps, a few girls hugging. Even the coaches looked pleased.

Jamie was surprised by their reaction, which was stronger than he expected, and he quickly searched inside himself for his own.
It might be fun
, he realized.
A party
.

Allison patted him on the back. “We’ll clean up. Even the boys will help, ’cause I’ll make ’em. We’ll bring the food, so you won’t have to buy anything. Do you have a grill here?”

“No, but I could probably borrow my dad’s. For that matter, he and my mom may want to come for a little while. They’ve been wanting to meet everybody on the team. Is that okay?”

“’Course it’s okay,” DeSean said. “It’s your house, your rules.”

Chapter 11

Jamie realized that he needed to tell Dr. Tindall about the CIA agents and the assassin, so he went by her office on Thursday to talk with her. She listened quietly while he explained about Eric and Terry and how Jamie and his friends were now involved in the search for Phillip Cage.

“I’m sorry I waited to tell you,” he said when he finished. “There was just so much other stuff going on and I was afraid it would complicate things.”

“Well….” She leaned back in her office chair and draped her hands over the armrests. “It’s complicated all right, but no more than any other part of this craziness.”

“The CIA business shouldn’t affect you and your grad students while you’re working on Eddan’s world, though.”

“That reminds me. We still need to get Yvonne and Alan to do the magic oath and take a tour of Rivershire before we begin the project. We’d like to get started with our research in about a week and a half, which is the Monday after finals. Is that okay?”

He said it was, and she added, “By the way, your gramma called and invited me to the party this Saturday. Maybe we could go a little early and bring my grad students with us so they can see the town and the boarding house where they’ll be staying, and maybe meet a few of the locals. It might be easier on everybody that way.”

“My Gramma’s coming to the team party?”

“Well, yes. You didn’t know? You invited your parents, and I think they invited her, and maybe Fred and Rollie’s parents, too.”

“Oh. That’s more than I expected.” Jamie stared vacantly at Dr. Tindall for a few seconds until he recovered his wits. “Uh…yeah, sure, that’s fine. Is anybody else coming that I don’t know about?”

“I would imagine your aunt and uncle would.”

Jamie massaged the bridge of his nose with the fingertips of one hand while he thought it over. “That’s a lot of people in my little house. Maybe we should have the party at the school. It’s bigger, and it’s got two bathrooms.”

“Maybe we could have it outside. Will it be cold? You could have a bonfire. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? Or would that ruin the grass on the playground?”

“It shouldn’t be too cold, and I can fix the grass.” He wiggled his fingers. “With my magic. I can get it to grow back in about two minutes.”

“Really? I’d love to see that.”

“It’s an easy spell, one that I worked out myself.”

“Where would you get the firewood? Do we have to bring some with us?”

“I know a spot where there’s plenty. I’ll make a doorway there and get my teammates to help gather it.”

“I can’t remember the last time I went to a bonfire.” She smiled. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ll bring some food.”

“And a lawn chair and a lightweight jacket. Tell your grad students, too.”

“But I can’t tell them why.” She chuckled. “I’ve been keeping them in the dark ever since I asked them to work on this project. All they know is that we’re doing sample surveys, but they don’t know where.”

“They’re going to be surprised.”

* * *

Jamie and his friends walked up the stairs to the second floor of the athletic center around four o’clock Saturday afternoon, carrying their supplies for the party. When they reached the top step, they found a disorderly assemblage of ice chests, folding chairs, cardboard boxes full of food, blankets, and Jamie’s teammates, filling the hall near the open doorway of Coach Harrison’s office.

Nova frowned as they picked their way through the clutter. “Looks like a bomb went off in here.”

Max was leaning against the wall with several of other runners, and he waved when he saw them. “Hey, Jamie and his buddies finally made it.”

“Is everybody else here?” Bryce said.

Max pointed at the door to the office. “In there.”

“Fred,” Jamie said, “you want to help with the oath this time?”

“How many have to do it?”

“Three, I think.”

Fred pulled her small white Bible from her purse. They went into the crowded room and found both coaches, the rest of the boys and girls from the track team, Coach Harrison’s wife, and Dr. Tindall and her grad students.

Earlier, Jamie had insisted on one condition for the party — no dates. Only Coach Harrison was exempt. Jamie didn’t want to tell anyone else about the magic. If someone on the team had a problem with that, they could stay home. Nobody did. They all came.

Jamie and Fred wasted no time administering the magic oath, and left it to the others to explain things to the ones who took it, Dr. Tindall talking and gesturing rapidly to her grad students and Coach Harrison speaking gently in one corner to his frightened-looking wife, Suzanne.

Cody and Ivan had musical instrument cases at their feet, a banjo and a guitar.

Rollie eyed them and said, “Hey, Jamie, maybe I should bring my dummy.”

“You gonna do some ventriloquism tonight?”

“I might. Can you make a quick doorway back to my dorm?”

Jamie stepped to the only clear space in the room and outlined a portal, while Mrs. Harrison and the two graduate students, Yvonne and Alan, flinched and turned pale. Rollie walked through it and quickly returned with Rufus, his foam rubber dummy. Rollie put his hand inside it, moved its mouth and said, “I’m ready. I got my dummy, Rollie.”

A few of the boys laughed, and Cody said, “Awesome, man. Hey, Coach, can we use your PA? Then everybody will be able to hear him.”

“Naw,” Logan said. “Then you guys might sing through it, and we might be able to hear
you
.”

Ivan scowled. “We’re not that bad.”

Jamie wrinkled his brow. “I didn’t know you guys played.”

“We’ve been trying to get a bluegrass group together,” Cody said, “but it’s hard ’cause we’re so busy. We just jam around some. Don’t know a lot of songs.”

“I love bluegrass,” Dr. Tindall said. “I look forward to hearing you.”

“I don’t,” Logan said.

Cody ignored him and turned back to Coach Harrison. “So, can we use the PA?”

Coach gestured toward a closed door near the back of the room. “It’s in that storage closet, on the bottom. Both microphone stands are in there, too, last I checked. Better bring that orange extension cord that’s with it.”

“Is that going to bother the neighbors by the school?” Melanie said.

“It’s a small PA,” Ivan said. “It’s not that loud.”

“If the neighbors hear it,” Jamie said, “they’ll probably come to the party.”

Allison grinned. “That would be cool.”

“I thought you wanted to have a team party.” Jamie said.

“The more, the merrier. Besides, I’ve never partied with people from another planet before.”

“All right. As long as we have enough food.” Jamie scanned the room. “Everybody ready? Grab your stuff and let’s go.”

They filed through the open portal to the playground of the Rivershire School, toting their food, folding chairs, ice chests, instruments, and the PA system. They unloaded everything onto the grass, and Allison announced, “We’re going into town real quick to have a look around, while you guys get the firewood.”

“I brought some money,” Katie said. “I want to buy a souvenir.”

Jamie set down his box full of food. “Well, they don’t sell T-shirts or coffee mugs with Rivershire printed on them. And you’d better hurry, too, because everything closes early here.”

“I’ll go with them,” Melanie said. “I know my way around. We can go to Brinna’s shop, at least. She’ll be open for another hour or so.”

Nova and Fred also went with the girls as they hurried off toward the south gates of town, so many ponytails bobbing at once, it was like watching a retreating herd of eager young horses, except for Fred and Nova, Fred’s thick red curls flowing loose and Nova’s wild dreadlocks tinkling with tiny bells.

Frankie glowered at them as they left. “That’s just like them, leaving us with all the work.”

“Won’t be that hard,” Jamie said. “There are plenty of us to help gather firewood.”

Coach Harrison, who was standing with his shell-shocked wife, said, “I’m going to stay here and finishing explaining things.” He nodded toward her and Jamie thought,
She’s having to process a lot in a short amount of time. Hope we didn’t overwhelm her
. He couldn’t help with the explanations, though, because his teammates were urging him to hurry, another pack of impatient ponies.

Jamie outlined a doorway and pushed it open, revealing the woods beyond.

“Is that where you got your walking stick?” Rollie asked.

Jamie nodded and went through it while all of the boys followed with Coach Dave.

They were surrounded by tall, mature trees, most of them bare of their leaves with winter approaching. Their trunks cast long, sharp shadows in the slanting afternoon sunlight, stretching uniformly eastward across the forest floor.

Branches and sticks lay everywhere, and Jamie gestured at some and said, “Grab anything you can, and lug it back to the school.”

“What about bigger stuff?” DeSean said. “You got an axe or a hatchet?”

“Don’t need one. I’ll do this.” Jamie aimed one finger at a nearby fallen tree, summoned his will, and sent a stream of white-hot energy that instantly cut it in two.

“Oh…wow! Do that again, man.” He grinned, and Jamie sliced another section off. “Jamie, you’re a handy guy, for a freshman.”

Jamie cut up several more logs and big branches, and they began lugging armloads of wood back through the open doorway to the school and dumping them onto the ground, about seventy-five feet from the main building. Soon they had an impressive pile, with a second one as a reserve, and they stood around it and admired their work.

“That ought to last us,” Amir said as he brushed his hands together. “Anybody bring matches or a lighter?”

“Don’t need it,” Jamie said. “I’ll take care of it.” He turned when he heard someone call his name, and he saw Mr. Bass, the maintenance man, walking across the road, pulling a wheeled ice chest, a popup chair slung over one shoulder. “How’d you get here?” Jamie asked.

He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the building behind him. “Through the portal in your granddaddy’s warehouse. I came a little early in case you need some help. Heard there was a crowd coming.”

“What do you mean?”

“Word got around about your party, and I think some of the families from the school are coming.”

“Huh. Are we going to have enough food?”

“Most of ’em are farmers, remember? They’ll bring food.” He looked past the massive woodpile to where Cody and Ivan were setting up the small PA, next to the wall of the school. “We’re gonna have music tonight? Great! I’ll go give ’em a hand.”

Mr. Bass went inside and opened the nearest window a few inches for the extension cord, which they passed through for him to plug into an electrical outlet. He returned with a couple of chairs, one in each hand, and said, “You may want to get your buddies to bring some more of these. Not everybody has lawn chairs, you know. Might want to get those two big folding tables from the back of the main room, too, so we’ll have something to put the food on.”

“Good idea.” Jamie turned to a few of his teammates and said, “Can some of you guys take care of that?” Then he raked the fingers of one hand through his hair and looked around at the growing chaos. “Uh, what else do I need to do?”

“Isn’t it time to get your parents?” Bryce said. “They were expecting you fifteen minutes ago.”

“Yeah, geez…glad you reminded me.” He outlined another doorway and pushed it open to see his mother and gramma waiting in his family room in Hendersonville.

“It’s about time,” Rachel said. “Can someone give us a hand, please? We have a lot of stuff.”

Jamie and Bryce went through to find the house crowded with friends and family. Aunt Connie and Uncle Ray were there, along with Granddaddy Pete and Grannie Darla, Fred’s parents and Sammi, and Rollie’s parents, too. Jamie’s father stood at the back door with the grill, a large bag of charcoal at his feet. Cluttering the family room floor were a couple of ice chests, several cardboard boxes of food, lawn chairs, and a stack of old blankets.

Jamie surveyed the jumble of party supplies and said, “Wow. That
is
a lot of stuff.”