The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series by Geof Johnson Page A

section of the trail for a while.”
    “What am I going to tell him when he asks why?”
    “I don’t know. We definitely can’t tell anybody outside of our family about this.”
    “What are we going to do about the demon?”
    “I don’t know that either, Dad.” He scratched his scalp and stared out the window as they drove out of the park. “I’ll have to think about it.”
    “Why don’t you come fishing with us?” John Paul said. “Fishing always helps me think.”
    “I got something I gotta do with Rollie and Bryce. I’ll make a doorway for you, though.”
    Carl steered the truck onto the main road. “John Paul, I want you to stay for dinner. We need to talk about this.”
    “I’ll bring Fred.” Jamie said. “She may be able to help.”
    * * *
    Jamie drove his old blue Buick past the Hendersonville city limit sign while he finished telling Rollie and Bryce about what he’d seen earlier that day.
    “A real demon?” Rollie widened his eyes. “You mean, like from Hell?”
    “I don’t know where it’s from,” Jamie said, “but it slipped through an opening from somewhere and now it’s killing hikers on the Appalachian Trail.”
    “Man,” Bryce said from the back seat. “I gotta start hanging out with a different group of friends. Too much weird stuff happening with you guys.”
    Jamie looked in the rearview mirror at Bryce. “I can turn around right now and take you home if you want.”
    “Heck no. Not until we do this experiment with Rollie. I want to see how fast he can go. What’s the men’s world record for the mile run?”
    “Three-forty-three. I think Rollie will smash that.”
    Rollie crossed his arms and frowned. “I still think this is silly.”
    “Like I told Fred when we first figured out that she was a witch,” Jamie said. “You need to know the limits of your power.”
    Rollie slapped the seat beside him. “I don’t have no power!” Then he cleared his throat and said in a lower voice, “I mean, I don’t have any power.”
    “It’s okay, Rollie. Gramma’s not here to correct your grammar.” Jamie turned right at a fork in the road and said, “But you definitely have power, and we need to see how much.”
    “Do you really think Rollie can break the speed of sound?” Bryce said. “Will we hear a sonic boom?”
    “Not if my theory is correct. Rollie isn’t actually moving through the air all that fast, so there shouldn’t be a sonic boom. He’s not moving through space quickly, he’s moving space itself.”
    Rollie gave Jamie a sideways look. “Just when I think you’re getting less geeky, you go and say stuff like that.”
    “How far out are we going?” Bryce said. “This road looks deserted enough, and it’s pretty straight.”
    “This is good.” Jamie slowed and pulled to the side before stopping. “You guys get out here. Bryce, you got your phone?” Bryce held it up for Jamie to see and he and Rollie stepped out of the car.
    “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll call you when I’m ready,” Jamie said, then he checked his odometer and drove on. At exactly one mile, he pulled over onto the shoulder, parked, and got out. He slipped his phone from his back pocket, called Bryce, and held it to his ear with his shoulder. “Okay, I’m good.” Jamie set his watch to stopwatch mode and waited for Bryce’s reply.
    “Hang on,” he heard Bryce say. There was a short pause, and Jamie heard Bryce and Rollie talking. Then Bryce put the phone back to his mouth and said, “Ready? Go!”
    Jamie pressed the start button on his stopwatch and looked down the narrow, two-lane road. Scrubby oaks, just beginning to put out new leaves, lined both sides as far as Jamie could see. Off in the distance, he saw a tiny blur, fast approaching. It grew larger with each second, and Jamie glanced at the time. Twenty seconds . From straight on, Jamie couldn’t see the individual phases of Rollie’s travel, he only saw only one continuous blur. At about the