When they reached Angela’s house, he paused after getting out of the car. He wasn’t sure they should all go in again. Everyone insisted they wanted to go in, however. He didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t go in, so he followed as well. Someone might think he didn’t care if he stayed outside by himself.
Angela’s parents didn’t seem worried about everyone wanting to see Angela at all. The only thing they seemed to be worried about was their daughter. She was sleeping even more than she had the previous day apparently.
Angela’s parents were actually excited at the chance of waking up their daughter with a loud group of friends. They all crowded into the room. Angela’s mother shook her daughter gently, trying to wake her long enough to see her friends.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around the room. Through bleary eyes, she mumbled, “Hi guys. Good to see you. I’m so tired. Can you guys come back later? I just need a few more minutes of sleep.” With that, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
They looked at each other while the mother tried again to wake her daughter up. This time she didn’t even stir. Seeing that there wasn’t much they could do they slipped out of the room.
Once outside, Merlin said, “We have to go to Little Rock. We can get the mirror and bring it back here to break the curse.”
“I agree,” Shirley said, “but we need a plan. My brother can drive us there. We just need some gas and food money.”
Everyone looked at Arthur at that, who shrugged and said, “Sure, I can do that. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“We also need an excuse to get away from our homes,” Robert added.
“I can take care of that,” said Peter. My father is out of town again. You can tell your parents that you are coming to spend the night with me.”
“That might work for you guys, but that won’t work for me,” said Shirley. “I somehow doubt my father would be happy with me spending the night at a boy’s house.”
“Hmm,” Peter thought out loud for a moment, then continued, “What if you told your father, you were spending the night with Belle instead of me?”
“That might work. What if one of our parents wants to talk to an adult?”
No one had a quick answer for that. Then Merlin had an idea. “What if we gave them the old man’s number? He can cover for us.”
Everyone nodded, and Robert said, “Not bad, not bad at all.”
“I’ll call him and let him know just in case one of them calls,” Shirley said.
After that, there really wasn’t much to do so they headed home, each concentrating on what they could do to help.
He didn’t have money or food to contribute, but he did have his power. Because of that, he spent the rest of the night dreaming up different spells for different occasions. He also decided to experiment and see if he could enchant something, at least temporarily.
He looked around, trying to decide what to start with. He was a little jealous of Robert and Arthur being so good with weapons now. Perhaps he needed something of his own. Finally, he picked up a tiny pebble that he had taken out of his shoe. Concentrating, he began the verses.
“When I throw this tiny rock,
Change into a big block.
When I throw this tiny rock,
Change into a big block.
When I throw this tiny rock,
Change into a big block.”
Nothing happened. Then again, he hadn’t wanted anything to happen yet anyway. Merlin guessed he would only know if it worked if he actually threw the rock, which would, in turn, waste the verses making them useless. He supposed he would just have to trust it worked.
Taking that on faith, he decided to try a few more enchantments. Looking around, he wondered what other items would be needed. Probably something to defend himself with. What could he use, he thought to himself. Finally, he picked up a nickel from the kitchen counter and concentrated on the image of the nickel changing into a shield if anything was about to hurt him.
“When I am in a pickle,
Make a shield from this nickel.
When I am in a pickle,
Make a shield from this nickel.
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When I am in a pickle,
Make a shield from this nickel.”
Again, nothing happened. Not knowing what else to do, he continued doing similar spells the rest of the night. Pretty soon, he had several small cloth bags of variously spelled knick-knacks. Luckily, his Merlin costume had come with them. Again, something he owed Arthur a thank you for. Arthur had given it to him for his birthday. While he might have done it as a joke, it had turned out well after all.
It wasn’t until well into the evening that he noticed that the spells were making him tired. While each one wasn’t much effort, each succeeding spell took a little more out of him. He ended up having to take breaks, which actually was a good idea anyway since it gave him time to compose new spells. It was during one of these times that he fell asleep at the kitchen table.
He awoke the next morning late because he had forgotten to set his alarm. Luckily, however, he was still in time to get ready and grab a few things he might need for the trip. His parents had reluctantly agreed to let him spend the night with Peter, which actually surprised him. After all, it was a school night.
With the need to grab his things and get ready, he barely made it to the bus stop before the bus arrived. The bus ride and classes blended together and passed by quickly. The school day flew by until suddenly, it was time to meet the old man.
As he had said he would be, the old man was waiting in front of the school at the end of the day. When everyone arrived, he began, “I did find out where she is in the city. She hasn’t gone too far and is in Little Rock. She has rented an abandoned warehouse on 7th Street and Gingerbread Lane and a house at 77 Noble Circle.”
“Do you know which place she is keeping the mirror at?” Robert asked.
The old man shook his head, “No. It could be in either place.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Shirley asked. “For example, does she have any powers of her own?”
“She does know some spells she found in a magic book,” the old man admitted. “You might want to sneak in to get the mirror instead of trying to fight her.”
“That’s good to know,” said Robert.
“Anything else?” Arthur asked. He seemed almost disappointed that there wasn’t going to be a direct fight. Maybe he had been wanting to use his newfound ability with swords.
“That’s about it,” the old man said. “I wish I could help you more, but I am trying to cut her options down. I don’t want her skipping town on me again before I can reach her.”
“Okay,” Shirley said, “We’ll call you if we think of anything else.”
Merlin noticed that Peter seemed oddly quiet and wondered why. Then again, he was nervous about everything. They were traveling to another city to steal a magic mirror from an evil spell-casting substitute teacher. That could make anyone nervous. Could they even trust the old man?
With everything being said, they headed to where Shirley’s brother had parked. It looked like everyone else had already packed their stuff into the car. In fact, there was so much stuff that they had tied a few of the duffel bags to the top of the car.
Why hadn’t he thought of that? They had already packed themselves into the car and filled it up even before they added the luggage. Now the car was bursting at the seams. He didn’t look forward to the long drive. It was going to be a grueling experience. Hopefully, everyone remembered to wear deodorant.
Shirley and her brother were in the front seat of course. Merlin wondered where he would be stuck. He almost wanted to sing in joy when he saw the other three pile into the back seat, leaving him to get in front.
While it was still crowded, it wasn’t as crowded as sitting next to Arthur would have been. He also had more leg room this way. Sheesh, poor Arthur. He must have really felt squished in the back seat. As the car roared to life, he silently said the words, “Let the complaining begin!”
The trip was about what he expected, which was horrible. Arthur wanted to sing every song on the radio, even though he didn’t know the words. In fact, the only person who knew the words was Shirley’s brother. Oh, and Shirley of course.
Actually, Merlin wasn’t even sure there were any words in the songs. Calling them songs was also very generous on his part. Apparently, Shirley’s brother was a Screamo lover. To Merlin’s ears, it sounded like angry screaming and grunting.
Finally, he could take no more and began muttering a spell under his breath.
“Although I might be such a jerk,
let this CD no longer work.
Although I might be such a jerk,
let this CD no longer work.”
He was about to finish the spell with the last lines when he realized the spell might ruin the CD and cost the brother some money. Just because he didn’t like the music didn’t necessarily mean he should do whatever he wanted. Sighing, he groaned and decided to sit there and endure the music. After all, the brother was doing them a favor.
Ugh, he made a silent moan. It was going to be a long trip. Even though Little Rock wasn’t that far away, it would take an hour to get there. Then they would have to find both locations. Hopefully, the mirror would be in the first place, and they could get back home before bedtime. He wasn’t really comfortable with what they were doing.
As they entered the city limits, one of the tires started making odd noises. A few seconds later, Shirley’s brother pulled over the car. Getting out, he started saying a few choice words. Merlin didn’t have a hard time guessing what had happened.
He was tempted to try a magic spell but was worried that while it might temporarily fix the tire, the spell might only last as long as he concentrated. Since Shirley’s brother had a spare tire, it was probably a better idea to change it. Of course, that meant they had to take everything out of the trunk.
That turned out to be quite an eye-opening experience. When a huge sword was taken out of the trunk, he could only turn and stare at Arthur. Really?
When a bow with a quiver of arrows followed, he could only shake his head and put a hand over his face. Looking at Robert, he just stared.
By the moon and stars. Were his friends that...special? How useful was a sword or a bow and arrows? They were there to get a mirror, not fight the Sheriff of Nottingham.
He raised an eyebrow when he noticed how many bags Shirley had packed. Somehow, he didn’t think she had filled them with clothes, however. Merlin was so tempted to open them and find out what was inside. Judging from what he had seen from Robert and Arthur, he wondered if it was a detective-type of item. What those items might be, he had no idea, however. All he could think of was a microscope or a magnifying glass. What did she have in her bags?