Jaci Dawn

A fist landed in the middle of the large, old, oak desk. The In-box and Out-box rattled, paperweight shifted, papers jiggled, and the little man in the blue suit jumped from the force of the blow. The little man adjusted his black-framed glasses nervously.
“WHAT do you mean, noone can find any trace of my family heirloom? You HAVE rounded up every known practitioner of magic, have you not?”
“Er, no. No, we have not. Some have, er, run away. Kids, mostly. Teenagers.”
“”Incompetent police work. Incompetent. How hard is it to track down teenagers?” The voice dropped low. “Magic has been used. Just track the damn magic. Someone has used a magic wand – at least one someone. How hard is it?”
“Well, sir, we have been able to track down the where to all of those instances, but never the who. We have patrols out, searching for all the familiars, and we’ve made good progress at eliminating them. The fact is, we simply have no sightings…”
“Tracks? Can’t turn dogs loose out there? What?” The voice sounded kinder than the face behind it looked.
Fred gulped, his Adam’s apple moved visibly. “The dogs have caught no scent. The Peabody kids, for instance, moved the entire attic out from under our noses. There was no trace of them, no one found their cell phones, nothing. The last cell phone ping was inside the house, hours after the kids disappeared.”
The eyes closed and Fred was spared the baleful stare for a moment. He took the moment to pat down his sparse hair and compose himself. Then the eyes were open, staring him down.
“Did anyone consider shape-shifters? That they used magic to turn themselves into animals?”
“Oh, yes, yes! We did consider that. We sent out some spies. The raven reported some mice a few days ago, but they … just … disappeared, without a trace. The crows that told the raven about the mice couldn’t remember anything except that one mouse had a long spear or something that it poked at them.”
The man at the head of the desk looked upward, as if praying. He blew out a long breath. “The raven should have been onsite with the crows. I do not want any more second-hand news from birds whose highest mental capacity is how to crack walnuts in the road.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll try to relay that to…”
“I will tell the raven myself. Now, let me go over a few other details with you, Fred. Please. Sit down.”
Fred did so, reluctantly.
“My friend reports that his pet toad has been killed. Do you know anything about that?”
“Um. Toad? No. No, sir, I would most certainly remember if a report of a dead toad had crossed my desk.”
“The toad is in the morgue. I want you to go down and get the coroner’s report. I want to know the exact cause of death, you understand?”
Fred understood.
“And, Fred, before you leave. I have one more favor to ask of you.”
Fred knew it was not a ‘favor’, but an order. He nodded as he slowly stood up.
“Find my family heirloom before you start noticing changes in me. Do.You.Understand?”
“Yes. Yes, sir.”
Fred exited the large office, nodded at the brunette receptionist, passed the ornate mirror, and entered the wide hallway that always smelled of lemon wood polish, brass cleaner, and dust out of a vacuum. He thought about the changes he had noticed in his employer: wrinkles beside the eyes, thinning hair, the new toupee (poorly placed), and the age spots on those large hands that could crush a larynx with not more trouble than one crushed a beer can.
The boss was aging rapidly.

Ella had an idea where they were headed now. She felt excitement, but also worried: it seemed like such an obvious place for a certain group of teenagers to head for. Surely, whoever had orchestrated this sudden crack-down on magic, wizards, and witches would think of this place. There was an ‘unless’, and that depended on the person’s resources, and Dish’s parents willingness to talk. Then, there was the problem that Deke had transferred all of the property in the Peabody attic to Dish’s family cabin. If whoever was behind this had conducted any kind of an investigation into the property days ago, he (or she) would know that the attic contents were now stored there.
They were all cuddled into a ‘den’ of scotch broom, Himalayan blackberry, and wild grass. The mice had dined on old blackberries. The rabbits munched on pine needles, bark, and anything green that poked up out of the half-melted snow. Their tummies full, they crowded into the little den set against the base of the large scotch broom and compared notes.
Ella laid it all out on the table: the stolen wands that Gran was carrying (at least one of which was magic), Deke’s use of magic, the murder of the toad, and the addition of Kyle to the team. She felt Dylan and Madison deserved the truth.
Madison, in turn, revealed that she had been in possession of her own wand since her 16th birthday, a gift from her indulgent father. Dylan reminded them all that his mother was also free, disguised as a white tail doe.
They all tried to imagine what the ‘stolen talisman’ could possibly be, and who might have taken it, and who might be the angry wizard. It had to be someone in power, they agreed.
Deke sat in the corner, paws deep in his pockets. “What is a talisman, anyway?”
“The ring in that story about the elves,” Madison replied, citing a popular movie.
“Any kind of totem, or inscribed stone, or ring. They’re usually thought to possess magic powers. A totem might be a small carved animal that carries a protective spirit.”
“A small carved animal? Like what kind of animal, El?”
“Well, an eagle, or a seal, or a rabbit. Like, something native peoples believe in.”
“Could it be a button?”
“I don’t know about that, but I guess so.”
Kyle burped. “Sorry. I was just thinking maybe it was a stolen wand. You said your dad had several and that Gran-the-Man took them all. Maybe someone snuck an extra wand into your dad’s collection, and that’s the one that is magic.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Aric snapped. “Why would someone frame my dad?”
“Maybe not frame. Maybe the thief knew about the wand collection and figured that would be a good place to hide the stolen wand until he – or she – could come back to retrieve it. Like, it’s a ‘hot’ wand, and they needed to wait to use it or sell it?”
“You read too many mystery novels,” Madison chuckled.
“No, wait. That is plausible…” Ella was scratching her ear. “Kitsune didn’t show up until after Gran tried the magic thing. Maybe that particular wand is a trigger.”
“But why hide it with your dad’s stuff? Who even knows about that?”
Aric and Ella exchanged glances. “Anyone he was in college school plays with. Anyone who comes to our annual New Year’s Eve Party, or the Hallowe’en costume party, or the big summer barbecue. Dad likes to get them out and show them to people, because he hand carved every single one of them. They are rather unique looking.”
“That sure widens the circle of suspects.”
“And it doesn’t answer how we’re going to get our parents out of jail, or who lost this magic wand or token, and how we can make them not mad anymore.”
“Totem, not token.”
“Whatever. They’re still going to be mad, even if we find a way to return it. I mean, they’ve already done a lot of damage to the wizarding community.”
“Maybe it wasn’t theirs to begin with, and whoever took it, took it to return it to the rightful owner.”
“That’s a good point, Kyle. It could be that our mission is to find the talisman and return it to the rightful owner, and that will set everything right, again.” Ella looked excited for the first time in the past few days.
Kyle and Madison readily agreed, giving each other a high five. Deke slumped in the corner, paws in pockets, looking glum. Aric paced.
“I have a question,” he finally said. He looked at everyone. “Why did Kitsune wait to show up after Gran used the wand? Why did he put GPS coordinates in our heads, especially if he knows what the talisman is? Why are we all headed away from our parents?”
A silence fell under the scotch broom.
Deke and Ella both started to speak at the same time, “No -”
Deke nodded at Ella, “You go.”
“Okay. No, Kitsune is not the enemy. He’s not trying to trick us. He already told us that he’s good Kitsune, and his alter-ego is Mr. Nagasaki. He’s cool. I think he would have come the first few times Twerp used his magic, but they were all in awkward places, like the crawlspace under our house. No.”
Deke nodded. “That, and he made sure we found Kyle. Kyle hasn’t got any way to conceal something, and he was just lonely. If he thought Gran had the wand, he could’ve taken it right then, and none of us could have resisted.”
“So why is he free to use magic, and we’re not?”
“Elemental magic. Don’t you guys read anything about magic? Kitsune is an element, not like a conjure. Whoever is mad isn’t looking at elementals.”
Kyle’s jaw dropped. “That’s why they never saw my mom leave her studio. She’s an elemental.”
Everyone stared at him, now. He made a rabbit’s attempt to shrug. “A shape-shifter. An animal guide. I didn’t inherit her magic, if that’s what you’re thinking. I have to learn mine, just like you guys.”
“Everyone but me,” Ella muttered. “I apparently have no magic powers, except to speak to other mice.”
“Well, to be fair, Dork, you never believed in magic.” Aric gave her shoulder a friendly punch.
She nodded. “Know what? I’m really tired, and I think we should get some rest before we make tomorrow’s trek. I think we’re headed to Dish’s parent’s cabin.”
“I’ll take first watch,” Aric said, hoisting his barbed wire strand.