WitchKids

By Chris Loblaw

Mallory and Kean are best friends trying to adapt to the hectic life at high school, just like any normal kid. But when they discover that they've suddenly gained the power of wild magic, normal goes out the window. A strange boy falls out of nowhere to land at their feet, lost and alone, and they work together to try and find a way home for him. But along the way, they encounter a spell that causes chaos as it spreads from person to person, and an evil magician who seeks to exact his revenge on the world. How will they stop him, and what's the source of this powerful spell?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Loblaw
• Release date: Apr 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458142436

Chris Loblaw

I've been writing stories for over 30 years, starting with a riveting tale of a purple cow jumping into space back in grade 3. The complexity of my storytelling has improved. In addition to the 4 novels in this series, I have written a variety of non-fiction articles for numerous publications, and in the course of that, have interviewed some truly interesting and inspirational people.Most of my non-writing time and effort is devoted to being dad to the best kid in the world. In my spare time, I'm an active civic/political busybody and a volunteer for some of the great organizations trying to make life better.

Book preview

WitchKids

Book 1 of The Spellbound Railway Series

By Chris Loblaw

Copyright 2011 Chris Loblaw, all rights reserved.

Cover Illustration by Keith Armour. Copyright 2011, all rights reserved

ISBN 978-0-9869650-4-3 

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Also in The Spellbound Railway Series:

Book 2: Kingmaker

Book 3: The Patchwork Boy

Book 4: The Ember and the Knife

All books available through the author’s website, chrisloblaw.com

For now, for ever, for always, for Kristen. All my love

"The rattled door

was battered in

by deathly winter wind

The lives inside

flickered and died

And Herlech Gate walked in"

-Old nursery rhyme, origin unknown

.

Prologue

A long night had finally passed and the dawn was creeping up on the horizon. Robert looked at the thin line of colour that divided the night and approaching day, and desperately wanted to be on the other side of this night of disappointment.

It had started so well. Just a few hours ago, the girl of his dreams had come up to the roof of the old Alexander theatre to stand beside Robert and watch the meteor shower that had flashed above them. Her name was Karen, a name that Robert thought had the perfect blend of seriousness and softness. He liked to say her name out loud when he was alone in a room, just to hear it fill the air around him. Karen was at his side, her fingers swaying beside her and almost touching his, and Robert had wondered how it was possible that she didn’t hear the pounding of his heart when she was this close. It was funny: the stars were dancing in the sky above, in a way that would never happen again in his lifetime, but all he could think about was the girl beside him.

And when the pace of the shower had slowed, the teachers chaperoning this strange science trip had set up a snack table for the students. Robert made an attempt to be a gentleman and offer to bring Karen a drink, but she had caught sight of her best friends, and she had dashed off to the other side of the roof to whisper and giggle with them.. Robert had sighed the first sad sigh of the night, poured himself a can of root beer into a red plastic cup, and sat down on his sleeping bag to sip his drink and try not to feel invisible.

It was now 2AM. Robert’s eyes were stinging with a need for sleep but he didn’t want to stop watching Karen. He saw her lean in to whisper something to her best friend Jenna, and both girls giggled and scanned the roof, looking for someone on the other side.. For one brief moment he thought that maybe, just maybe she was looking for him. He sat up straight and prepared what he really hoped was a charming smile to send her way when she found him. Karen saw him looking back at her and gave him a perfunctory wave before resuming her search. He lowered his head and pretended to fall asleep, as the smile faded off of his face.

The sound of the students chatting and laughing drifted off into a calm silence, as the rest of the class burrowed into their sleeping bags and fell asleep. Robert really wanted to fall asleep too, to put the heartache behind him and rest, but his mind kept racing over the details of his not-quite-relationship with Karen. He spent the coldest hours of the night wrapped up in his sleeping bag and reliving the first time he had met Karen in grade nine gym class, the dozens of times he had walked home with her, and that one amazing time he had been invited to a party at her house. Somewhere in all those memories he wanted to find a clue on how to win her heart. At least he could hope to find a way to move on. It would have been easier if Karen was mean or cruel to him, but she was always so nice.

Robert flipped on his flashlight and made a few notes for the field trip assignment. His astronomy teacher Miss Dubrofsky would expect a detailed journal of his observations of the meteor shower. His drama teacher Mr. Donald wanted a descriptive sketch of this building that they were using as an observatory. The building was called The Old Alexander Theatre. It was originally a Mechanist’s union hall when it was built in 1903, and it had been renovated and re-purposed into a theatre for the community of New Tecumseh about 20 years ago. It was far enough away from the outlying suburb of Toronto that they lived in, that the bright light from the city was harder to see, making the location better for watching celestial events. Also, Mr. Donald the drama teacher was a member of the theatre’s board of directors and that gave him special access to the facility. The building and the interior were nice enough, but Robert just wanted to be at home. He would have been happier never having seen this place at all.

The last few hours before dawn were quiet and incredibly lonely. The only excitement happened at 4AM, when a few of the students woke up shivering from the cold and complaining of frozen toes. The teachers had dutifully gathered up everyone who was too cold and took them inside to finish the night in the heated lobby. Robert had just shook his head and went back to pretending to sleep when Mr. Donald asked him if he wanted to come in too. It was better being alone out here. Robert had dressed properly for a night outside. His fingers were a little cold, but a cup of his hot chocolate would fix that. He had groaned when his mom had handed him the thermos full of hot chocolate as he was leaving for the trip, as if he was a nine-year-old heading off for his first campout, but he was very grateful to have it now.

He stood alone on the rooftop with his second cup of hot chocolate as the last few meteors sporadically sputtered and shot across the multicoloured sky. Ms. Dubrofsky had said that a meteor shower of this magnitude and peculiar presentation was a rare occurrence, and most people would go their whole lifetime without seeing anything like it again. The dots of light had danced at a frenzied pace, with hints of colour shifting as they moved. It had felt like they were alive and overjoyed to be with each other.

Robert finished the drink and put the now empty cup on the ground. He stared off into glowing light of dawn. Two meteors dashed from opposite corners of the sky to meet in the middle and momentarily circle each other before they faded from sight. He imagined that’s what it would look like if Karen suddenly declared her love for him: she would see him across a room, after searching for him, and she would move quickly to him. He’d be pulled towards her, both of them moving faster until they met and embraced, spinning together until they slowed to a stop. He wanted to hold her forever and keep her safe and warm, but all he had in his arms right now was cold reality

Robert closed his eyes and held his hands tightly to his side as he waited for this sad longing to subside. He wished he could do anything at all to make Karen notice him, to feel even a fraction of what he feels for her. From deep within him a power awakened, a strange, fluttering feeling that was lost and unnoticed in the shadow of his heartache. This new power pulsed in a rhythm that was mirrored by a final, single meteor that flickered and hung impossibly in the sky at the division line between night and day. The flashing and the power within built in intensity until Robert found the words to give this new found power a shape and a purpose. His eyes snapped open and his arms outspread to the wind as he whispered his simple plea. Love me. A wave of scintillating light rolled out from his outstretched hands and washed over the town in front of him. That last lone meteor flashed into a sympathetic brilliance that forced Robert to close his eyes, and then it fell sparkling from the sky.

Chapter 1-First Day of School

Kean skidded around the corner and whipped his head around to try and get his bearings. The odds weren’t good. This was only his third time in the halls of Cartier secondary School, and first time on his own.

The first visit had been a grade 8 field trip to see a local school band competition. They had shuffled directly off the bus into the auditorium, and directly back afterwards. The second visit had been a tour of the school for prospective students that his parents had dragged him to last April. He had been too busy trying to act cool for the pretty high school senior giving the tour to notice anything other than her beautiful smile. So now, on his first day of high school, he was running blindly from a pack of unruly tenth graders and trying to navigate the confusing maze of corridors. He had so far avoided dashing into a very embarrassing wrong turn like into an open garbage bin or straight into the girl's washroom, but his pursuers were closing in and he was starting to get desperate. The pack of boys running after Kean were determined to catch him and give him an unpleasant and humiliating initiation into high school life. His only crime? Being a grade nine student, or as the mob was howling behind him, Minor niner-GET HIM. Kean took a chance and zipped down the dim narrow hallway to the left, hoping that it would meet up with the main entrance stairs. His guess paid off and he emerged in the open foyer at the entrance. Kean slipped down the stairs and into the auditorium. The room was serving its primary function as the school’s cafeteria, with students milling around and shouting genially at each other from across the room. Kean wove through the hungry masses towards the curtain at the back of the cafetorium that hid the stage during the day.

He was hoping to vanish in the crowd, but if the guys found him here, it wouldn't be the end of the world. The truth was that he wasn't really afraid of whatever hazing the boys had to dish out. There was a certain amount of formality to the process, and there were rules of how much they would be able to do to him while they were inside school walls. If this had been taking place outside of the school or not during school hours, it would have been a very different situation. But it was the middle of the day in the crowded cafetorium so it was very unlikely that anything horrible would be done to him. Kean could handle a little roughhousing. He wasn’t like some of the other fragile and nervous kids in homeroom, the ones who couldn’t hold up so well to this kind of stress. They were already so scared and confused that even shouting at them would have caused heart attacks or wet pants. It was better if the initiation gang caught him and vented their meanness on him instead.

Kean sat down at the end of a long table beside one of those scared kids, a chubby boy named Kyle. Kean felt a little strange sitting at a lunch table with no food in front of him. His lunch was back in his locker two floors up and on the other side of this massive educational fortress. He would just have to pass the time until the bell rang and then rush to his next class. He’d figure out what to do after that during geography class. If he could even find his classroom, that is.

He couldn't tell if Kyle had even seen him, with his head tucked so far down that it almost touched the table. Kyle did not look like he wanted to be in the cafetorium surrounded by strange kids. Kean gave him a little nudge to get his attention, hoping to say hello and give the scared kid a smile to tell him that he wasn’t alone. Kyle ignored him completely, and kept pushing a soggy french fry around a plate soaked with ketchup and malt vinegar. Kean felt very bad for the loneliness that Kyle seemed caught in.

The initiation squad came barrelling into the cafetorium and looked all around the room, like a pack of hounds that have lost the scent. Kean slipped down low in his seat, even lower than Kyle, and held his breath as he waited for them to leave. Kyle suddenly stood up and shouted in a squeaky voice here! He's right here! Kean glared at him but Kyle kept shouting and pointing frantically at him. The pack of boys started pushing through the crowd to get to him. Every kid in the room stared at the pack's intended victim, ready to watch the scene play out right there. Reminding himself to worry less about Kyle in the future, Kean bolted from his seat and up the three steps to the stage. Slipping behind the curtain gave him a momentary advantage and he carefully moved around in the dim light of backstage to find the exit.

It felt like it took forever to find the door leading to the dressing rooms. Kean’s heart was pounding in anticipation of being pounced on by shadowy figures. The idea of nobly taking the punishment to save kids like Kyle seemed pretty dumb at that moment. He found the door handle and yanked on it repeatedly with no success. His sweaty hand slipped off the handle and panic started to rise in his chest. Maybe he was a little bit afraid of the bullies after all. Kean pushed on the handle instead of pulling it, and the door finally opened.