The Wizard's Knot

By W.H. Beswick

David Kent is just an ordinary teenager living in the small town of Tylerville, who dreams of leaving and seeing the world. Nothing ever happens in Tylerville, at least not to David. One day, a new magic store opens called The Wizard's Knot. It is run by a mysterious man from Wales. The two things happen. David gets a job at the store. Then he finds the green stone. Life as the young boy will never be the same. He finds wizards, witches, and demons are all real.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. H. Beswick
• Release date: Apr 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476407913

W.H. Beswick

Lives in Corvallis Oregon

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Nothing happens here, Officer Clyde Nathan thought as he turned onto Main Street. If you asked Clyde, it wasn't much of a main street. But people rarely asked him anything—except if he thought it would rain or if those kids were still going up to Miller's Creek. The young officer had to stand there and listen to someone prattle on and on about how something should be done about Miller's Creek. Goodness knows what those kids were doing up there.

Clyde knew precisely what the kids were doing up there. It was the same thing every kid had been doing up there for years. It was an American tradition. What town didn't have a lover's lane? Clyde used to go there himself. That, or the Sunset Drive-in, until it was closed down.

Officer Nathan had jumped at the chance to take over the graveyard shift when that moron Crooking had retired from the department. Clyde wasn't a people person, which made his career choice odd. A police officer would need some social skills. Nathan seemed to lack those.

Sheriff Andrews was thrilled to stick Nathan on the night shift. There wasn't a day someone didn't call to complain about his officer. Now, the little creep was out of the way. All he had to do all night was drive around the dark, empty streets to keep an eye out for trouble. Since there was rarely any trouble, Andrew's phone stopped ringing.

It was the perfect solution for Andrews and Clyde.

The skinny officer steered his car down the dimly lit street, glancing to the right and left, looking for any signs of trouble in the dark windows of the stores. But everything looked just like it did last night, the night before, and so on.

Trouble, Clyde thought. That's what this town needs if you ask me. A little trouble. Just enough to wake it up.

Officer Clyde Nathan thought people should be asking for his opinion on many things. He believed himself to be a well-read man. Not that Clyde had read many books, but the cop did read the inside flaps of some books, glanced at the newspaper's front page, and had a subscription to Science Weekly. He tried to read the magazine to give him credit, but most of the time, he couldn't understand the articles. It didn't help that those writing the articles could have been better writers. They used words he needed help understanding or finding in his small dictionary. If you were to ask Clyde, a good writer used words everyone understood.

Having finished his patrol of Main Street, Clyde turned onto First Street, where the few lawyers and accountants in town had offices. At the end of First was the town hall, which housed the Mayor's office, Sheriff's office, City Clerk, and several other city offices.

He quickly looked around and saw everything was in its place, including that ridiculously big fountain in the middle of the quad. He glanced at his watch and decided it was time for a coffee break. Several months of working in the graveyard taught him that he had to get to Mel's by four If he wanted a good cup of coffee and a fresh donut.

Officer Nathan was about to turn onto Elm Avenue to cut across to Oak Avenue over to Mel's all-night diner. He looked to the left and slammed on his brakes. The skinny officer sat in his car, staring at a small circular building on what should have been a vacant lot.

Hank's Barbeque had burnt down a few years back, leaving nothing but a big black spot. There had been a beauty parlor there before that, but it closed when all the clients ended up with blue hair. Before that, it was a candle shop. But one hot summer, the owner's entire stock melted in one day. Since the fire, the lot sat empty, slowly covered with weeds. There had been talk of putting in an ice cream parlor. Still, no one had ever said anything about a royal-purple building with brightly painted pictures of stars, planets, and strange-looking symbols.

Clyde put his patrol car in park and climbed out. He sniffed loudly as he adjusted his holster and patted the gun on his hip.

So trouble has come to town at last, Clyde snorted as he studied the odd building. The skinny officer frowned at the three triangle-shaped black glass windows. All the other stores in town had big display windows so you could look in and check their wares and, more importantly, see who was inside. But you couldn't see a thing through these windows. And why the strange shape?

Peculiar, Clyde said to himself. Maybe they think it will bring in the customers. Better chance to sell them something.

Clyde didn't realize it, but the shock of finding a brightly painted building where there should only be dirt, rocks, and weeds was fading away. He was now thinking it needed to be in a better location. Everyone knew the best place for a store was Main Street. Officer Nathan looked at the sign mounted on the top of the store. Most stores in town had a nicely painted sign mounted over the door. Since the town pretty much shut down by six or seven on Saturdays, there was no need for neon or brightly lit signs. But this store had large letters lining the top that seemed to shimmer with gold light.

Wizard's Knot, Clyde muttered as he read the sign. Silly name...the owner must be a fool if he thinks anyone in this town would be interested in magic. I give him a month, two at the most.

Officer Nathan climbed back into his car and drove off into the night, hoping the coffee at Mel’s would be fresh and the donuts warm.

A few people stopped to look at the store the following day, frowned, and moved on. Most told themselves, of course, there had been builders and trucks. Purple stores just don't pop up out of the ground. The city clerk stopped and made a mental note to check his files to ensure the new store's paperwork was on file and in order. But by the time he got to his office and had his first cup of coffee, he had moved on to other city business.

By the end of the week, everyone had become used to the purple building and moved on to debate whether the high school football team would go all the way this year. Hardly anyone noticed the small sign taped to the door.

GRAND OPENING...REALLY SOON...WAIT FOR THE MAGIC!!!

CHAPTER 1

David Kent was ordinary. The fact was, everything about David was quite ordinary. His hair was an ordinary brown, and his eyes were not blazing or intense; they were just brown. Nothing about his face would make him stand out in a crowd or classroom, which was helpful when the teacher was looking for someone to humiliate in front of their peers. David was passed over nine out of ten times, which suited him fine most of the time.

David's clothes did not stand out, thanks to his mother's somewhat dull fashion taste. No one complimented him on his outfits except his mother and grandmother; they didn't count. But David was reaching an age when he realized that girls noticed what he was wearing. He had looked in magazines hoping to discover what a girl would like, but not even girls could agree on what they liked... fashion-wise.

It wasn't all bad being ordinary. David was never the last one picked for a team. He was always picked somewhere in the middle, usually with the statement, David is pretty good, which meant he could at least throw and catch the ball. The real upside was there was no expectation of greatness. It never fell upon his shoulders to win the game. There would be no pitching, no-hitters, or scoring the winning touchdown in David's future. This would bother him from time to time. It would pass.

Another upside to being ordinary was David was just at the size where Julius Lamont (don't call him Julius to his face), the school bully, figured that David just might fight back. Not that the bully couldn't take him; there was just easier prey. So, except for the occasional sneer or glare in his direction, David could wander the grounds of John Tyler High without real fear of his head being pushed into a toilet and knowing his lunch money would remain safely in his pocket.

It occurred to me that you may not know who John Tyler was. Well, he was a President. Yes, a President of the United States. Sadly, he is one of those presidents who didn't do much during his four years. Perhaps it was because he wasn't elected to the office. He replaced William Harrison, a famous Indian fighter and the only President to die in office after only a month. I wish I could tell you he died of something exciting, but it was just pneumonia.

As a matter of fact, the town was named Tylerville. No one was quite sure why. There was a rumor that a relative of Tyler settled here, but that was never confirmed. According to Ms. Beasley, the head librarian and self-appointed town historian and local gossip, the courthouses, along with all the town records, were burned by 'those damn rebels.' But she assured anyone who asked that the town was named after President Tyler. This confused most people since the town was established in 1692. John Tyler wasn't even born yet, let alone President. How could the town be named after him? The other problem was the Civil War, which started around April 1861. The courthouse fire was sometime between December 1860 and January 1861. Since the war hadn't started, no one was sure what 'damn rebels' Ms. Beasley was talking about. However, the bottom line is that no one knows why the town was named after an unremarkable president.

David's father worked as the city's District Supervisor for Internal and External Social Improvements and Developments. Please don't ask me to explain Mr. Kent's job because I am not quite sure what his duties are. It involves a lot of paperwork. He has a nice corner office and a secretary.

Her name was Ms. Wellington. She was one of the few people living in Tylerville who hadn't been born there. As a matter of fact, she didn't look like a local, with her long silver-gold hair and white pearl glasses that framed her green eyes. She wore clothes that a city employee really couldn't afford. Ms. Wellington was always the picture of perfection, with every hair in place and dressed like she had just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Needless to say, every single man in town had asked her out and had been turned down. This kind of aloofness and her insistence that everyone call her Ms. Wellington had caused more than one eyebrow to be raised. She didn't seem to care, leaving her home daily, reporting to work, and sitting at her small desk. She answered the phone, filled out documents, and studied several large books that stayed on her desk.

More about Ms. Wellington later.

I mentioned David's father because he told him it was fitting that the town was named after John Tyler. The town itself was pretty unremarkable. No great battles were fought here, no famous person was born here, or anything else noteworthy. Everyone in town went about their business in a cheerful and content manner.

Most of the town worked for the Tyler Tire Company. The Tyler Tire Company made the tires for anything with wheels, and if you were to believe, David Shepherd, Head of Public Relations, made the best gosh darn tires in the world. This was true since every car, truck, tractor, and bike in town had Tyler Tires. But David had never been outside Tylerville, so he wasn’t sure what the rest of the world was riding on.

David wasn't dumb, but he wasn't the smartest, either. He found, with a little bit of work and some threats from his mother, that he could get high B's and the occasional A's. Actually, his high grades were in history, which bothered him. As David could tell, school is meant to prepare you for college. Which was to prepare you for whatever job you ended up in. Now, a talent for remembering past events' names, dates, and places seemed to lead to only one job....history teacher.

Mr. Watershaw was David’s history teacher. Watershaw looked about as old as the subject he taught. He made himself seem older by wearing what appeared to be the same gray tweed suit every day. The only change in his appearance was the color of his bowties. Red on Monday, blue on Tuesday, green on Wednesday, and black on Thursday. Friday was up for grabs; it could have been any color, including a yellow one with butterflies. As for his shoes, he wore the same scuffed-up black wingtips every day. The one exciting thing about his outfit was his gold pocket watch and chain in his vest pocket. What fascinated David about it was you had to wind the thing up. He had asked Mr. Watershaw how often he had to wind it, and the old teacher told him, Once a day. David asked him why he hadn't bought a new watch so he wouldn't have to wind it. It was then he found out that Mr. Watershaw had been given the watch from his father, and his father had received it from his father. David was surprised that the watch was almost two hundred years old.

This suddenly made Mr. Watershaw very interesting until he started teaching his class. It wasn't what he taught but how he taught it. He would stand in front of the class, lecturing in a monotone voice, making the already boring subject more boring. Few things scared David, but the image of an older version of himself standing in front of a classroom filled with half-awake kids who made jokes about your bowties and tweed suits terrified him. 

David wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he grew up and hadn't given it much thought until his parents pointed out that David would graduate soon. He might want to consider his future. Most of the kids in Tyler High had accepted that they would get jobs at Tyler Tire Company. In contrast, others hoped for a city job, the second biggest employer in the town. It should be noted that teachers were considered city employees.

That bothered David, too.

A small group would leave Tylerville to attend college, usually in nearby Benton. It was interesting that only some of these students returned to Tylerville. David would lie awake at night, wondering why they never came back. The only thing he could think of was that...it must be very unusual out there.

The other thing that kept David awake at night was Aurora Shepherd. He had known Aurora most of his life. They lived next door to each other for as long as he could remember. From kindergarten on, Aurora and David had walked to school together. They laughed and chatted together until junior high.

Then something changed.

David didn't notice it at first, but soon, it became apparent that other boys were talking to Aurora, laughing with her, and offering to walk her to her next class. He still got to walk her to school and back home. Now, her conversations were more about cheerleading, student government, astrology, and how cute some other boy was.

We have already established that David was not cute.

The final blow came when, one Monday morning, David came out to meet Aurora, but she was already standing there with Chuck Davis. His life-long friend looked up at David, gave him a small smile, and told him she would be walking with Chuck today. She hoped he didn't mind. David muttered something that sounded like sure, but it was a word he wasn't supposed to say. David watched them walk off, chatting and laughing, but what hurt most was they were holding hands.

It had been years since he had walked Aurora to school. They rarely talked except for a smile or quick hi in the school hallways. Ordinary David couldn't understand why he was in love with a girl who barely knew he existed.

CHAPTER 2

Aurora Shepherd had a dream. It is not a dream of being an actress, president, or head cheerleader, but a real dream, you know, the kind you have when you sleep. Aurora had a lot of dreams. She was a big believer in dreams and what they meant. She also believed in Astrology. The young redhead believed that if you studied the skies and their movements and interpreted your dreams, you could find your path in life and follow it. Watching the skies and following her star charts had helped Aurora become a cheerleader, class president, and maybe queen of the fall dance. That is if she read her chart right, but Leo and Gemini being in her house could sometimes be confusing. Confusing or not, Aurora was a cheerleader, as her chart predicted.

It never occurred to the fifteen-year-old that her success came not from above but from the fact she was a rare combination of beauty and brains. Aurora had long red hair that seemed to float around her face. This long, curly hair enhanced what some would call a lovely face. And yes, she did have green eyes that blazed when she got angry.

The fact that Aurora was a cheerleader didn't mean she was dumb. Her straight-A grade point average and being on the honor roll for the second year were evidence of that. Like most cheerleaders, she was very popular, which resulted in her being elected class president. Aurora would tell you all her success was because all her stars and planets were in the right place on election day if you asked.

Being famous and a cheerleader also had a downside. Every jock and non-jock had asked her out. Aurora had accepted some of the dates. But it rarely got past two or three dates before she realized that hugging and kissing was all that was on the boy's mind. The deal breaker for every guy had been when Aurora asked what his sign was. Every single guy had busted out laughing. Of course, they stopped laughing when their date jumped out of the car or shoved them out the front door.

I hope you understand now that Aurora had a dream. She had an absolute dream and was anxious to find its meaning.

That was the problem with dreams. They needed to be interpreted. You might dream about a purple dog with yellow spots running across a lawn of blue grass in front of a black house with no windows. The dream is not about an odd-colored dog running around in front of a strange house. You must figure out what the dog means and what the colors represent. Even the dog running might mean something.

It should come as no surprise that thousands of books, websites, and people claim to know how to tell you the meaning of your dreams. But almost all these things cost money. Aurora's father was well paid for being the company spokesperson for Tyler Tire Company, but not so well paid that his daughter could throw money away on what he called These foolish things.

So Aurora was stuck with this dream banging around in her head and had no idea what it meant.

It really was a simple dream. Aurora was dressed in her dream wedding gown, walking down the aisle of what seemed to be a church with all her family and friends smiling. As she approached the altar, a man's dark outline became more visible. But as she got closer, the glare from something bright blocked out her groom's face. Aurora reached the front and was about to look into the face of her true love when reality or technology stepped in.

Her alarm clock went off.

Aurora couldn't believe it. A loud buzzing interrupted the most important dream of her life. She rolled over and took her anger out on Murphy. Murphy was the teddy bear that had been her companion for as long as she could remember. He was used to the beatings. He was one tough teddy bear.

Aside from dreams and the stars, Aurora was a big believer in love. She was sure that love was the most powerful force in the universe. The cheerleader thought that if she could find her one true love, everything else in her life would fall into place.

Those who are not cheerleaders, class presidents, intelligent, popular, and pretty would be confused. Aurora had her life right in place. But the young redhead would shake her head, let off a deep sigh, and tell you there was more to life than shaking pom-poms and spelling out letters in front of a loud crowd. Most likely, she would look to the heavens and smile.

The answer is up there, Aurora would say. We just have to open our eyes.

Every morning, Aurora would jog up and down the streets of Tylerville. She would take a different route—not for the change of scenery but just to look. The young teenager took in the quiet streets with the lovely houses, well-trimmed lawns, and overly friendly people and thought. Aurora couldn't put her finger on it, but she would bet her last dollar that something wasn't right in this town. It was just too nice and friendly.

Aurora was jogging down Main Street, thinking she might just stop for a muffin and latte when she spotted David walking out of the coffee shop. She stopped in her tracks and gasped.

Suddenly, her head was filled with all the images of how badly she had treated David over the past few years. She had broken their friendship off when she had been in her dating phase, as she liked to call it. She had a quick series of boyfriends. All disappointing. During this phase, Aurora pushed David away. As she saw her old friend walking down the street, she remembered all the happy times she had spent with David. She almost called out, but shame made her turn and duck around the corner.

Stupid, stupid, Aurora thought to herself as she jogged. When are you going to grow up and talk to him?

Aurora jogged down the street, stopped, and blinked.

Well, that is new, Aurora said as she stared at the roundish building. She walked up to the purple store and touched it to make sure it was real. The teenager pressed her nose against the window but couldn't see a thing. She frowned, stepped back, and looked up at the letters that seemed to shimmer in the morning sun. Her eyes drifted over the paintings of the stars and planets, thinking, Nice detail.

Naturally, she noticed the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Aurora raised her eyebrows as she spotted the two signs on the door. One sign announcing the grand opening and a smaller one:

SHOP CLERK NEEDED

GOOD PAY

KNOWLEDGE OF ASTROLGY WOULD BE NICE.

CHAPTER 3

Julius Lamont was big. He had always been big. He had been a big baby, a big boy, and now he was a big teenager. With someone Julius's size and muscle, football would be his calling. The young kid had no real interest in football. He liked to watch it. Regardless, Julius had a life-changing experience earlier than most.

When he was in third grade, the teacher asked Julius to answer a question about the tenth president of the United States. Julius' brain just seemed to freeze. The only names that popped into his head were Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Nixon. He couldn't even think of the name of the dufus in office now. He was sure that his dad had been President. So, all he could do was sit there and slowly turn red.

To be fair, Julius wasn't dumb, just not well-read. If you went to his house, you would find very few books. But that aside, this was the first time he had been called on. For some reason, his mind went totally blank.

Poor Julius bit his lips and thought, but no name came to mind. He heard a couple of snickers and snorts, but that was all right. He was about to say he didn't know when Henry Rossi jumped to his feet, laughing and jumping around.

Julius is a dummy! Julius is a dummy, Henry laughed as he pointed his finger at the big boy. He doesn't know who John Tyler is! He doesn't know who John Tyler is!

Henry Rossi was a small, skinny kid with black, greasy hair and thick glasses that made his eyes look huge and round. He wore shirts that were buttoned to the neck and jeans that were pressed with a crease. Yes, Henry was a nerd. He was also the self-appointed genius of the class. He constantly bragged about all the books he had read and how much brighter he was than everyone else in the room.

David was sitting in the back row with Aurora, watching Henry dance about, and thinking, If you're so smart, why are you making fun of a guy twice your size?

Aurora leaned close to David, saying, This isn't going to end well for Henry.

Yeah, not a real smart thing to do, David sighed.

Julius sat and fumed, mad at himself for not knowing the answer to such an easy question. But he was even madder at Henry for his little song and dance. He brought his two big hands together and flexed his fingers, which caused them to make a loud cracking sound. The class looked over at Julius, and suddenly, everyone was afraid, except for Henry, who kept up his mocking until the teacher walked right up to him and ordered him to sit down.

Like the rest of the class, the teacher had seen the sudden change come over Julius.

The big, quiet boy with a small smile had changed. In a split second, he became the school bully. The teacher walked to the front of the class and looked down the row of students. He realized Henry was still giggling.

The little dweeb doesn't even know what's coming, he thought to himself as he looked at the clock and realized the bell for lunch was about to ring. The fates had set the ball in motion, and he could not stop it.

The bell rang, and the classroom quickly emptied, except for Julius, who just sat there. The teacher gathered up his things and noticed the boy.

Julius, it’s lunchtime, he smiled.

Yeah, lunchtime, Julius muttered as he reached his feet and slammed his fist into his palm.

Julius, did you bring your lunch? the teacher asked, hoping to stop the coming events. You could sit in the classroom and eat...if you like.

Yeah, brought a sandwich. Lunchtime.

The teacher watched the large boy lumber out of the room, still pounding his fist into his hand and muttering. He thought about going to the principal to tell him what would happen. Julius Lamont was about to punch the kid who had humiliated him. Sadly, until Julius threw that first punch, he could do nothing.

Interesting, he muttered. The fate of two lives depends on whether Julius throws that punch. History is like that. One small event can change the course of time and lives.

Julius walked down the hallway with one goal: To find Henry Rossi. He turned a corner and stopped at the sight of David Kent and Aurora Shepherd. They both leaned back against their lockers and smiled weakly. He could see the