Castle Kidnapped by John Dechancie Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: John Dechancie
âYou're the only magician around here who can handle that, Sheila."
Sheila looked deflated. âWe're going to have to ask for Prince Trent's help. Earth magic is the hardest of all. I'm nowhere near being good at it."
âThen by all means we should ask Prince Trent to help. I'll go over to Halfway and phone him. Or maybe you should."
âI will,â Sheila said. âBut you're coming back to Earth with me, Linda."
âI should stay here and keep and eye out."
âYou're right, you should."
âSheila, I'm coming with you,â Snowclaw stated.
âDon't be silly. You can't go running around Earth looking the way you do."
âSo change me."
âHuh?"
âDo your witchy stuff on me and make me look different."
âGee, I never thought of that. I don't know if I can."
âGive it a shot."
Osmirik said, âAppearance spells are not very difficult, even within the scope of Earth magic."
Sheila shrugged. âI'll give it a try. It'd be nice to have someone along with me. Especially you, Snowy."
âI want to find Gene just as much as anyone. After all, we're buddies."
âHowever, there may still be a problem concerning the locator spell,â Osmirik said. âMight I inquire, what is the approximate human population of your world?"
Linda said, âLast time I heard it was five billion."
Osmirik was stunned. âFive ... billion souls, you say? Five thousand millions?"
âIs that a lot?"
âWell, I should say so. I had no idea. The task of locating Gene out of that mass of humanity..."
âLooks like we're getting nowhere fast,â Sheila said glumly. âMaybe we should concentrate on looking elsewhere."
âBut Gene never passed through the portal,â Linda objected. âYou keep bringing up the possibility that he might be off in another aspect somewhere. Why?"
âBecause of that darn portal wandering,â Sheila said. âIt's just possible there's been some foul play here, somebody fiddling with the portal's placement. Maybe Gene did it himself."
âBut Gene's no magician."
âSomeone he was with? Maybe Trent ... though I can't bring myself to believe that. Or maybe what's-her-name is back. Princess Ferne."
A troubled silence fell.
Dalton broke it by directing an aside to Jeremy. âCastle politics, son. Palace intrigue."
âThere's a lot going on here that I don't understand,â Jeremy said.
âWell, look,â Sheila said. âI'll go to Earth and work on the problem at that end. Linda, you stay here and help Osmirik at this end. Search the castle first, then start looking for some way of finding out if he went through another portal."
âEasier said than done,â Osmirik said. âThe task of processing endless data through the spell is the real problem."
âProcessing data?â Linda said. âToo bad you can't mix computers and magic."
âWho says you can't?â Sheila wanted to know.
âWell, we don't have a computer, anyway."
âHere's one,â Jeremy said, and everyone looked at him. He brought the Toshiba up from the floor and set it on the table. He flipped up the screen.
Osmirik jumped up and went over to him. âMay I see that, please?"
âSure.â Jeremy turned on the power supply. âWorks on batteries.â He jiggled the switch. âFunny thing. You know, the first time I tried to turn it on in the castle, it didn't work. I didn't know what was going on, âcause I know I recharged the batteries the other day, and I haven't used it since. But I fiddled with it, and now it works fine."
âBoy, that's a first,â Linda said.
âHuh? What do you mean?"
âElectricity isn't supposed to work in the castle."
âYeah? How come?"
âOnly magic works here."
Sheila said, âThat may be his talent."
âEveryone gets a magical talent in this place,â Linda told him. âYours might be being able to work a
Sheila looked deflated. âWe're going to have to ask for Prince Trent's help. Earth magic is the hardest of all. I'm nowhere near being good at it."
âThen by all means we should ask Prince Trent to help. I'll go over to Halfway and phone him. Or maybe you should."
âI will,â Sheila said. âBut you're coming back to Earth with me, Linda."
âI should stay here and keep and eye out."
âYou're right, you should."
âSheila, I'm coming with you,â Snowclaw stated.
âDon't be silly. You can't go running around Earth looking the way you do."
âSo change me."
âHuh?"
âDo your witchy stuff on me and make me look different."
âGee, I never thought of that. I don't know if I can."
âGive it a shot."
Osmirik said, âAppearance spells are not very difficult, even within the scope of Earth magic."
Sheila shrugged. âI'll give it a try. It'd be nice to have someone along with me. Especially you, Snowy."
âI want to find Gene just as much as anyone. After all, we're buddies."
âHowever, there may still be a problem concerning the locator spell,â Osmirik said. âMight I inquire, what is the approximate human population of your world?"
Linda said, âLast time I heard it was five billion."
Osmirik was stunned. âFive ... billion souls, you say? Five thousand millions?"
âIs that a lot?"
âWell, I should say so. I had no idea. The task of locating Gene out of that mass of humanity..."
âLooks like we're getting nowhere fast,â Sheila said glumly. âMaybe we should concentrate on looking elsewhere."
âBut Gene never passed through the portal,â Linda objected. âYou keep bringing up the possibility that he might be off in another aspect somewhere. Why?"
âBecause of that darn portal wandering,â Sheila said. âIt's just possible there's been some foul play here, somebody fiddling with the portal's placement. Maybe Gene did it himself."
âBut Gene's no magician."
âSomeone he was with? Maybe Trent ... though I can't bring myself to believe that. Or maybe what's-her-name is back. Princess Ferne."
A troubled silence fell.
Dalton broke it by directing an aside to Jeremy. âCastle politics, son. Palace intrigue."
âThere's a lot going on here that I don't understand,â Jeremy said.
âWell, look,â Sheila said. âI'll go to Earth and work on the problem at that end. Linda, you stay here and help Osmirik at this end. Search the castle first, then start looking for some way of finding out if he went through another portal."
âEasier said than done,â Osmirik said. âThe task of processing endless data through the spell is the real problem."
âProcessing data?â Linda said. âToo bad you can't mix computers and magic."
âWho says you can't?â Sheila wanted to know.
âWell, we don't have a computer, anyway."
âHere's one,â Jeremy said, and everyone looked at him. He brought the Toshiba up from the floor and set it on the table. He flipped up the screen.
Osmirik jumped up and went over to him. âMay I see that, please?"
âSure.â Jeremy turned on the power supply. âWorks on batteries.â He jiggled the switch. âFunny thing. You know, the first time I tried to turn it on in the castle, it didn't work. I didn't know what was going on, âcause I know I recharged the batteries the other day, and I haven't used it since. But I fiddled with it, and now it works fine."
âBoy, that's a first,â Linda said.
âHuh? What do you mean?"
âElectricity isn't supposed to work in the castle."
âYeah? How come?"
âOnly magic works here."
Sheila said, âThat may be his talent."
âEveryone gets a magical talent in this place,â Linda told him. âYours might be being able to work a
Similar Books
Presidential Lottery
James A. Michener
Staying Away at Christmas
Katie Fforde
52 Pickup
Elmore Leonard
The Tower of Bones
Frank P. Ryan
Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey
Andrew Grey
Richard III
Desmond Seward
Can't Stop Won't Stop
Jeff Chang
Dragon Traders
JB McDonald
The Case of the Lady in Apartment 308
Lass Small
Rites of Spring
Diana Peterfreund