A Wizard Alone New Millennium Edition Read Free

Thanks, though.
    She turned away in thought, breaking off the silent communication between them. Kit found that he, too, was scowling against the pain, and he let out a long breath of aggravation at his own helplessness. Why is it so embarrassing to be sad? he thought, annoyed. And not just for me. Nita’s overwhelming pain embarrassed her as badly as it did him, so Kit had to be careful not to “notice” it. Yet there wasn’t anything he seemed able to do for her at the moment. He felt like an idiot—unable to think of anything useful to say, and just as idiotic when he was tempted to keep saying the same things over and over: “It’ll pass,” “You’ll come out of it eventually.” They all sounded heartless and stupid. And besides, how quick would I come out of it if it were my mama who died?
    Kit let out a long breath. There was nothing to do but keep letting Nita know that he was there, one day at a time. So he’d taken care of today’s responsibility.
    The phone rang, mercifully relieving Kit of his guilt for thinking that doing the right thing for his best friend was some kind of awful burden.
    “ Igotitlgotitlgotit! ” Carmela shrieked from upstairs. “ HolaMiguelque— ” A pause. “Oh. Sorry. Kit!! ”
    “What?”
    “ Tom ás El Jefe. ”
    “Oh.” Kit went to get the portable phone from its cradle in the kitchen. His mother, deep in the business of deboning a chicken, glanced at him as he passed and said nothing, but her smile had a little edge of ruefulness about it. She was still getting her head around the concept that a man she routinely saw at hospital fund-raisers, a successful writer for commercial television and a pillar of the community, was also one of two Senior wizards for the New York metropolitan area. Ponch, Kit’s big black Labrador-cum-Border-collie-cum-whatever, was now lying on the floor with his head down on his paws, carefully watching every move Kit’s mother made that had anything to do with the chicken. As Kit stepped over him, the dog spared him no more than an upward glance, then turned his attention straight back to the food.
    Kit smiled slightly, picked up the phone and hit the “go” button. His sister was saying, “And so then I told him—Oh, finally! Kit, don’t hog the line; I’m expecting a call. Why can’t you two just do the magic telepathy thing like you do with Nita? It’d be cheaper!”
    “ Vamos, ” Kit said, trying not to sound too severe.
    “Bye, sweetie,” Tom Swale said on the other end.
    “Bye-bye, Mr. Tom,” Carmela said, and hung up the upstairs phone.
    Kit grinned. “‘Magic telepathy,’” he said. “Like she cares that much about the phone bill.”
    Tom laughed. “Explaining the differences of communications between you and me and you and Nita might make more trouble than it’s worth,” he said. “Better let her get away with it just this once. Am I interrupting anything?”
    “I just finished dealing with a hardware conflict,” Kit said. “Handled now, I think. What’s up?”
    “I wouldn’t mind a consultation, if you have the time.”
    He wants a consultation from me? That’s new. “Sure,” Kit said. “I’ll be right over.”
    “Thanks.”
    Kit hung up, and saw the look his mother was giving him. “When’s it going to be ready, Mama?” he said. “I won’t be late. Not too late, anyway.”
    “About six. It doesn’t matter if you’re a little late… It’ll keep.” She gave him a warning look. “You’re not going anywhere sudden, are you?” This had become her code phrase for Kit leaving on wizardly business.
    “Nope,” Kit said. “Tom just needs some advice, it looks like.”
    His father wandered back into the kitchen. “The TV working okay now?” Kit said.
    “Working?” his pop said. “Well, yeah. But possibly not the way the manufacturer intended.”
    Kit looked at his pop, uncomprehending. His father went back into the living room. Kit followed.
    Where the TV normally would have shown a