“Be safe,” Agnes said. She grabbed Salem’s hand and looked deeply into his eyes.
“I will, doll, don’t worry. I will,” Salem promised.
He leaned forward to kiss Agnes on the cheek, but at the last moment, Agnes turned her head—whether by accident or on purpose, Gelbus couldn’t say for sure—and they kissed full on the lips.
Gelbus flushed and averted his eyes. Isn’t there enough of that going on in the teevee? When he looked back at the two, he saw Agnes was smiling.
Maybe she had done it on purpose.
Frieda stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ignatius. There was no more kissing. Gelbus didn’t think he could handle it, if there were; his skin was liable to melt away from his bones, he was so hot. When Frieda and Ignatius parted, they still held each other’s hands, and were looking longingly into one another’s eyes. Maria’s stony disposition broke, and she smiled as she watched her grandfather say his farewells to the dark witch he had become smitten with.
Sherlock whined as he watched. Gelbus didn’t think it was a whine of annoyance, but one of sadness.
Gelbus would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t touched by their exchange. It was sweet and wholesome; exactly what they all needed to see after the nasty business in Ashbourne.
“We’ll be back in no time,” Ignatius said as he and Frieda parted.
Maria nodded. Sherlock whined again. Agnes held up her hand in a motionless wave.
Ignatius and Salem opened a portal through which Gelbus could see the edge of the Dark Forest, a clearing, and tall grass. It was Oriceran, all right.
The two wizards stepped through. Ignatius offered Maria, Frieda, and Sherlock one final look over his shoulder, then he and Salem disappeared. The portal showered the room in gold sparks as it closed, and all Gelbus could see was the teevee, playing upbeat music and showing a large sandwich they called ‘The Big Mac’.
The five remaining friends were silent as the teevee played on and on.
Finally, Maria cleared her throat and spoke up. “Well, I think it’s time we had a little fun. What do you guys think?”
They all nodded and looked to each other with smiles on their faces.
Sherlock tilted his head back and howled like a wolf. Gelbus laughed and scratched the Bloodhound’s back.
They got to Low Way Family Fun Center around the same time that Ignatius and Salem had finished digging up Zimmy Ba, and Harry and his small army of Arachnids were about to pounce on the two unsuspecting wizards. Maria didn’t know this.
She pulled the door open and ushered her friends inside. Agnes led the way, seeming to be the most calm out of the four, as she had been there once or twice in the past.
Gelbus paused a few steps beyond the threshold. He had never seen anything like this place. It was as if he was looking up at the night sky, at the galaxies and distant stars, except he was inside. This was a strange magic he did not understand. The floors were the same way: carpeted, yet in a pattern of space-like designs. Each step felt like he was going to fall into a dark oblivion.
Sherlock padded past him, his head held high, his nose sniffing the air deeply. The scents filling the place were of pizza, pretzels, old beer soaked into the wooden countertops at the bar, old leather shoes just begging to be chewed into an unrecognizable hulk, and sweat. These were some of Sherlock’s favorite smells, and they hit him in an explosion of senses. His mouth watered as he approached the front counter.
The door banged shut behind them, and Maria walked by the group to take the lead. Frieda had much the same reaction as Gelbus. Her mouth hung open, her eyes were wide, and her heart hadn’t beat this frantically since she had kissed Ignatius for the first time. There was so much going on in this building. A few older gentlemen in matching pink shirts threw balls down a wooden strip of lane much harder than their ages should have allowed them. Then, in an explosion of white bottle-shaped things, an impact that sounded like rumbling thunder, the ball plowed through into darkness, seemingly gone forever. But it always came back.
Magic, Frieda thought.
Behind these ball-throwing areas, people held long sticks and rammed them into smaller rock-like balls on top of a green felt table. These men and women were smoking long, cylindrical white pipes that hung from their mouths. They laughed and seemed like they were having a good time. Around the corner was a place called ‘ARCADE’. She heard even more laughter and uproarious noises. She was almost too afraid to look, but curiosity got the best of her. She walked around the corner and saw that the building stretched bigger than she could have imagined. How they managed to do that when it hadn’t looked this big on the outside, Frieda had no idea. There were only a few people out in the open, but they also held sticks and seemed to be hitting small balls of many different bright colors up large areas of green felt. It was like the table game behind her, but much bigger.
“Putt-putt,” Maria supplied from behind her. “It’s pretty fun.”
“Putt-putt,” Frieda repeated.
“Yeah, but magic people like ourselves are probably better off avoiding it.”
“Why so?”
Agnes joined the conversation, coming up on Frieda’s left and looking out to the putt-putt area. “Well, Maria here had a slight run in at a different putt-putt course that involved an exploding clown head.”
“The Silver Griffins opened an investigation and everything,” Maria said, nodding. “It was a whole big deal. But I think I can control my magic a little better now.” She sighed. “Just know that putt-putt can get pretty frustrating. It’s definitely not a good
