The Conjurer

The sound of distant carriages echoed in the empty tunnels like roaring thunder. It was dark when he gained consciousness. The forty-year-old coach driver did not know where he was, but he could remember what happened to him; gangs had stopped his stagecoach while he was on the road to the Red Mountain and forced him to step down. He had nothing of any value, so he wrongly thought they wanted to take his coach. They had weapons, and he knew he couldn’t fight them so he chose to comply. Then, everything went black.

    He could feel his head hurting where he was hit as he tried to stand. He walked dizzily towards the light and came out of the round opening of a deadened underground-tunnel only to find himself in an underground junction of four tunnels. The man sighed as he realised where he was. How was it possible that he didn’t know? The underground network of tunnels was practically his home. However, he didn’t remember ever seeing the tunnels so empty or lined with stacks of crated goods before, but then as he realised what that meant, his heart raced. He was at the part of the net that nobody dared enter; it was where the tunnels’ gang lived.

    The wide tunnels where the underground criminals took refuge were dimly lit by a few, scattered lanterns. The driver knew that he had to get out of that place. He believed in his instinct and in his years of working through the net of tunnels to get him to safety, but as he leapt towards the middle tunnel he saw three big men with axes coming out of it. Then more armed gangsters came through the tunnel on the right. The driver had nowhere else to run for but the left side tunnel. However, when he turned to leave, he was startled by the sight of something dark coming out of it that froze him in his place. It was a short person covered in black from head to toe. The driver could not see her face but he realised it was a hunched old woman with long, black hair coming down to her waist. She was small and held a walking stick, but her sudden appearance sent shivers down his spine. The driver stepped back away from her but two men held him and brought him to a chair where he was made to sit. The woman said something in an obscure language that the driver had never heard before and suddenly he felt paralyzed; it was like he was held back to the chair with invisible chains. The woman went and tore his sleeve then she pinched his arm with a needle. After that, she drew two circles on the ground using strange black sand; one of the circles went around the man’s chair and in the other, the woman placed a dark metal bowel. She threw more of her black sand inside the bowel and spoke her incantations. Black flames burst out inside the bowel. The woman threw the needle that was covered with the man’s blood into the fire and continued muttering in the same language. The driver’s eyes goggled as he watched, in fear, a rope of smoke that came out of the fire and snaked towards him in stealthy silence. He tried to move but he couldn’t even tilt his head away from the approaching trail of smoke that he finally breathed all in. The man’s head dropped, and for a second, the gangsters thought he was dead but then the witch went and spoke to him and he responded.

     ‘Who are you?’ asked the witch, her voice shrill and steady.

     ‘I am your servant,’ the man answered soberly.

The Donners

Nature’s elements—the essential ingredients of life on earth, over which many dreamed of having control even if the possibility of manipulating the elements was naturally believed to be a myth—were for some an exclusive wealth. In a little place by the sea, controlling the elements was a birthright and it was a secret of a hardly small group of people; it was the secret of a whole town.

    Leonardo and Ursula Donner were two normal teenagers and for many years, they had nothing exceptional other than the fact that Leo was the laziest boy in town, who could sleep for a whole day, and Ursula the most hot-headed and outspoken girl of her age. Their everyday life was so simple, as simple as their town, and so was their morning routine. They would wake up at seven in the morning, and after a delicious breakfast with their mother, Ursula would go to her summer music lessons, and Leo would retire back to bed; that was his chosen occupation ever since he had finished school—there was nothing more typical than life in Curtlane town.

    In a place marked by people with larger-than-life family names; like the Fields, the Storms and the Sailors, Mrs Teresa Donner had the good name and reputation of being the proud owner of the largest and the most blooming home garden in Curtlane town of Celavia, and for her food inventions that never failed to please. Teresa didn’t work, but assuming from where they lived; a three-level mansion that spread over two acres of land by the edge of the town and from Teresa’s ‘we have enough’ responses, the young Donners had always believed that they were wealthy and never truly wondered or once worried about their income. She was also known, by most people in town, as a widow for fourteen years. Her earth-brown hair matched the colour of her eyes and that of Leonardo and Ursula’s, which was the only thing they had taken after her. Known by their signature fiery-ginger hair, Leonardo and Ursula resembled their father in every other way possible.

    They had few relatives out of town and a good uncle in Curtlane town, his name was Sebastian Govad, Teresa’s older and only brother. He lived somewhere in the heart of town, but for some reason, he was always the one who came to see them, and they never visited him where he lived. He loved being around them and they treasured his company. Even though he wasn’t always available, he never missed an important event in their lives, and for Leo and Ursula, who hardly knew their real father, that was fatherly enough.  

    For many generations, the Donners lived in Curtlane town and knew nowhere else. It was an industrial town framed from the northeast by the sea and the south by a vast forest. The population was so small that almost all the people there knew each other. Curtlane town had always been known to embrace nature like no other town or city in Celavia ever had. It had warm weather in the summer and rarely cold winters. In the morning, the smell of the cool sea breeze was its most lovable feature, and at night the clear shimmering sky was its most noticeable one. Standing by the edge of the forest, the Donners’ old house was conveniently remote but it was not too far from the heart of the town.

    Leonardo and Ursula never had huge expectations for themselves. Their greatest hope was to travel outside their small town in the holidays, but Teresa had bigger dreams for them that, at times, could sound exaggerated. ‘One day you two will be great,’ so she would always tell them. ‘You will experience a life much bigger than this town and beyond your wildest imagination.’ They never took those words seriously, not as much as she did. They were nothing more to them than motherly words of encouragement, but Teresa believed in what she said with all her heart. She always spoke of the day this would happen, the day that, according to her, was surely coming.

    One usual morning, Leo woke up to the sound of loud drumming at his door. Four rhythmic beats followed by a second-paced two more. It was Ursula, Leo was sure of it as he rolled awake. This was how she woke him up almost every day. The door was not locked, but it was her way of getting him on his feet; no other alarm was ever that effective. She repeated the marching pattern. Leo opened his eyes and looked at the clock—around seven. She wouldn’t stop until he opened the door; it annoyed him, but he knew she didn’t care. Finally, he managed to get out of bed as the beating continued.

    ‘Stop that! I’m up.’ Still heavy with sleep and his head pulsing with the beat, Leo almost tripped as he put on his shoes and hurried, furiously, to open the door. ‘What?!’ he yelled once he saw her face.

    ‘khhh!’ Ursula held up Toffee, her honey-coloured cat, an adorable fluffy creature that Leo absolutely hated, and mimicked her angry hiss.

    ‘Get that thing away from me,’ Leo warned. His wild hair over his face made him look a lot more frightening than the cat. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ 

    ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Ursula asked back as she lowered Toffee, her freckled nose crinkling as she frowned. ‘Enough sleeping!’

    ‘Can’t you see I’m up now? Stop SHOUTING!’

    It seemed that Leo wasn’t the only one who could not stand Ursula’s loudness —Toffee wriggled and kicked and finally leapt out of Ursula’s hands. The heavy-furred cat led their way downstairs and hid somewhere in the dark living room as Leo and Ursula turned the other way. They marched straight to their mother’s realm of exotic herbs, spices and unusual dried fruits and vegetables; the kitchen. At the kitchen table, breakfast was ready and Teresa was busy making a lunchbox for Ursula. The young girl, pulling her sleepy brother from the sleeve of his sweatshirt, walked him to the breakfast table like a surrendered captive.

    ‘Here,’ said Ursula rushing to sit at the table, ‘my morning chore. I hope you’re happy.’

    ‘Thanks, darling,’ said Teresa, her kind face cheering as she saw them coming. ‘Good morning Leo. I miss you. I can’t remember the last time I saw you out of your room.’ Ursula smiled as she put a stuffed fork in her mouth.

    ‘It’s seven,’ said Leo heavily.

    ‘And you slept almost all day yesterday,’ said Teresa.

    ‘Yesterday? He slept for the whole summer. Is this your summer hibernation?’ Ursula asked as she stuffed her mouth full of food.

    ‘Just swallow that,’ said Leo pouring himself coffee.

    ‘Seriously, Leo, you spend an awful amount of time sleeping lately. Are you depressed?’ asked Teresa, looking concerned.

    ‘I’m fine,’ said Leo hardly wanting this conversation to continue.

    ‘Then you have to have something else to do besides sleeping,’ said Teresa, ‘something to invest your mind in, since you’ve decided not to attend college this year.’

    ‘That’s not exactly the point of having a break, is it?’ said Leo.

    ‘The only thing he’s invested in is reading scary books,’ said Ursula.

    ‘They make for good bedtime stories. Would you like to hear one?’

    Ursula laughed. ‘No thanks,’ she said, ‘not while your hair looks like a bush hit by lightning.’ Leo made a funny, scary face at his sister—she laughed again and pushed him away. Seeing her children laugh, was the only thing that made Teresa smile.

    ‘Go out, make some friends,’ said Teresa leaning slightly over the table and looking Leo piercingly in the eyes. He sat back, arms folded.

    ‘I have friends,’ he said almost defiantly.

    ‘You had friends,’ Ursula corrected.

    ‘I don’t need any friends,’ said Leo in frustration.

    ‘We all need friends, Leo,’ said Teresa seriously. Leo didn’t answer and they stayed quiet for some time. ‘Oh, by the way, I'll be going out tonight with your uncle. We have to buy some things for the house.’

    ‘We just can’t do without him,’ said Leo. ‘He already spends a lot of his time with us, wouldn’t it be great if he could come and live here?’

    ‘Yes mum, that’ll be great. This house is too big for only the three of us,’ said Ursula looking imploringly at her mother.

    ‘I asked him once if he would like that, but he refused. He says that his house is close to his work,’ said Teresa looking away still occupied with something after she had finished packing the lunchbox.

    ‘This isn’t a good reason. Curtlane town is not that big anyway, you can circle it all with a car in an hour,’ said Leo.

    ‘Don’t exaggerate. Anyway, that was his reason,’ said Teresa, still not looking at them.

    ‘Why do I feel that you don’t want him to stay with us?’ said Leo.

    ‘How can you say that?’ Teresa was surprised. ‘Of course, I want my own brother to stay with us, but he doesn’t want to leave his place. There is nothing I can say to convince him, okay?’

    ‘He hates change, that’s the real reason,’ said Ursula. ‘Oh no!’ Ursula stood. She was shocked to see the time on the kitchen clock. ‘I’m late again. It isn’t seven, it's seven forty—bad Leo.’ She tossed her perfect curls off her face in a hurry.

    ‘You’ve been late almost every day since school started,’ said Teresa who had lost track of the time herself. Ursula ran to the door, taking her jacket on the way.

    ‘Wait!’ Teresa called from the kitchen, ‘you can't take the bike now. Despite what your brother thinks, Curtlane town feels smaller than it actually is.’

    ‘Yes, of course, you're right,’ said Ursula, struggling to wear her jacket.

    ‘Leo, darling, why don’t you—’

    ‘Why not mum,’ said Leo, getting up. He knew what his mother was going to ask. It was what she asked of him almost every time Ursula was late. Leo owned a car, a small car but a big present from their uncle, and as Leo was the only one who knew how to drive it, it became his. And, somehow, it became his duty to drive Ursula whenever she was late for something.

    ‘Thanks, Leo,’ said Ursula, when she saw him coming out of the kitchen.

    ‘I understand now why you so urgently wake me up every morning.’

    ‘So you’d drive me to school? That’s hurtful, Leonardo,’ said Ursula acting upset.

    ‘I was actually going to say to save time for eating,’ said Leo.

    ‘Shut up. You know what? I will learn how to drive one day and I won’t ask any more favours from you,’ said Ursula as she got into the car.

    ‘It’s so easy to get to you, have you noticed?’ asked Leo.

    ‘So you’d be annoying just to test my patience? Well, you didn’t get to me,’ said Ursula as they drove off.

    ‘You called me Leonardo, I’m pretty sure I did.’ Leo smiled darkly.

    ‘I called you that because it’s your name.’

    ‘No, this is how you call me when you’re angry with me, otherwise, it’s Leo.’

    ‘I do not.’

    ‘You just did.’

    ‘I did not!’

    ‘Yes, you did.’

    ‘Leonardo, stop it.’