Red Witch: Book Two of the Wizard Born Series Read Free Page B

Spencer? If he’s gonna run his mouth, he’ll hurt the team.”
    Jamie rubbed his chin for a moment. “We could talk to the coach, but I don’t think that’ll fix the problem.” He stood and straightened his shirt. “How ’bout if we run some of Manny’s workouts this week? We’ll tell Spencer that if he can keep up, we’ll suggest that he ought to be a captain.”
    Bryce laughed. “If he can keep up on one of Manny’s workouts, he deserves to be captain!”
    * * *
    Late Thursday afternoon, Jamie and Bryce were already in the school parking lot, walking around and warming down after a hard workout, when Spencer plodded up, gasping and red-faced.
    “Hey, Spencer!” Bryce looked at his watch. “You’re two-and-a-half minutes behind.”
    Spencer staggered past them, bent over and heaved.
    “Yeah, running those last two miles under eleven minutes used to get to me all the time,” Jamie said. “Especially after running those first eight miles hard.”
    “Next week we gotta run the last two under ten-thirty,” Bryce said. “That’ll be fun.”
    Spencer retched again and Bryce said, “Hey, you still want me to talk to Coach about you being captain?”
    Spencer shook his head wordlessly, still bent over, hands on his knees. Bryce elbowed Jamie and grinned as they walked toward the locker room.
    * * *
    Saturday morning, Jamie and Bryce ran shoulder-to-shoulder across the back field of their high school toward the meager crowd that waited in the sunshine. Jamie glanced over his shoulder to see the nearest runner dozens of yards behind. “Wanna kick?”
    “Nah,” Bryce said between breaths. Two strides before the finish, Jamie slowed and Bryce finished first, a half-second ahead of Jamie. They slapped hands and Jamie glanced at his watch. “Good race, Buddy.”
    As they walked around, catching their breath, someone called Jamie’s name. He looked over to see his parents with his grandmother.
    “Nice race, Son,” Carl said when Jamie joined them.
    Rachel handed Jamie a water bottle. “Why did you slow up?”
    “It was Bryce’s turn to win,” Jamie said, still breathing heavily. “We have an agreement to take turns if it’s an easy meet.”
    Evelyn frowned. “Sounds a little cocky to me.”
    “I didn’t mean to. It’s just that we were pretty sure one of us would win, but neither of us is shooting for a cross country scholarship, so….” He shrugged.
    “Okay, that makes sense,” Carl said.
    “Jamie,” Rachel said, “today’s your Great Uncle Ray’s birthday, and we thought maybe we could celebrate with a picnic.” She winked. “At our special spot. The one that’s out of this world .”
    Jamie laughed. “Do you want to tell them about you-know-what tonight?”
    “If it’s okay. Connie, Gina, and Cory are coming, too.”
    “Oh, wow.” Jamie ran one hand through his sweaty, curly hair. “I guess we’ll tell the whole family at once. That’ll be interesting.”
    “Don’t forget about my sister,” Rachel said. “But if we tell Sophie, it’ll have to wait until she comes for Thanksgiving.”
    “What can I get Uncle Ray for his birthday?”
    “Something to remember the occasion. A gag gift, maybe.”
    Jamie’s face lit up. “I know.” He leaned close to Evelyn and whispered something in her ear.
    She laughed and said, “Perfect. You can get it made at that shop downtown.”
    * * *
    Fred and Jamie watched as Evelyn shepherded Aunt Connie and Uncle Ray toward them through the magic doorway onto the expansive rocky ledge.
    “They look stunned,” Fred said.
    Jamie glanced over at his cousin Gina and her husband Cory, who stood near the edge of the cliff, holding hands and looking at the moonlit valley below. “They seem to be doing okay.”
    Larry stood near the doorway, gesturing broadly at Jamie’s aunt and uncle. “Come on, Connie and Ray, it’s great! If I can handle it, anybody can.”
    Connie looked up. “Three moons?”
    “They were all full last week,” Evelyn