Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and out of it dropped a boy neither Arturo nor Cassandra knew, toting a large, heavy book.
Ric got up, shook his head, and quickly checked himself. He had found a spell that allowed him to “trace the path” of the previous spell, and, despite fears of what
might happen to him if he cast it, he felt responsible for Mr. Mendes’ fate, and cast it. Now here he was, and if his hand was any indication, he was still 13 (good,)
and, since his hand didn’t look like a girl’s, he thought he was still a male (better,) but he couldn’t be sure until he … and he had to check that in private. And, best
of all, he still had the book with him, so he could (hopefully) extract himself out of whatever situation he had landed in.)
He took in the older man, her pregnant daughter, and the wedding dress at a glance.
“Uh—this is gonna be an odd question …” Ric hedged—then just rushed out, “Were you pregnant ten minutes ago?”
“NO,” wailed the woman.
Well, that answers that question, he thought to himself.
Her wail turned into a cry of pain, and Ric’s eyes widened as he saw the damp spot on the floor, and realized she was going into labor. “Oh, geez, oh geez—” He
had to fix this; he and Josh had screwed up big, and he had to fix this for Mr. Mendes.
“Look, I can’t explain this—but I need to take that kid when she has it; that kid is mine!” he declared authoritatively.
Arturo just looked at him in shock, and gaped at his daughter, too shocked to even be angry. Cassandra gave Ric a look of her own, of dull, blank amazement.
Ric felt the color rush to his cheeks, as he realized how that might statement might be taken. “Well, no, I don’t mean it like that …” he tried to hedge. There was no
way he could explain this!
He was cut off, by another shriek of pain from the woman.
He thought hurriedly. Maybe the labor would turn out normally—and it was dangerous to mess around with another spell from the book. But he had heard that
sometimes women were in labor for hours—and, looking at the confused but fast-angering father, he knew he couldn’t wait that long. Besides, this woman didn’t
deserve to go through painful labor with a kid that wasn’t hers. He rapidly paged through the book, found a spell he thought was appropriate, and quickly recited
it, hoping for the best.
There was a pop! And suddenly, the belly of the lady in the wedding dress had shrunk down to size again, her dress itself was cleaned from any fluid discharge,
and there was a basket on the floor, containing a baby boy who resembled Mr. Mendes. Wrapped in a blanket, he didn’t look like a newborn; he looked at least a
year old, in fact. Ric heaved a huge sigh of relief.
He went to collect the basket, and opened his mouth to excuse himself.
He was cut off—again—this time by the father.
“How could you do this to me, Cassandra? You have a child—on the day of your wedding, no less!” he shouted.
“Father—” the lady—Cassandra—protested, no doubt trying to point out that she had no choice in the matter.
“You are no longer a virgin; you are unclean,” he spat. “You prostitute!” He screamed profanities at her, calling her a prostitute again, but using even crueler words.
Ric was appalled. Before he could stop himself, he shouted at the man, “How can you say such things to your own daughter—you giant ASS!”
Instantly he regretted it, as Arturo swung down on him. His expression worked between shock and rage.
Ric was frightened—but only for a moment. He rapidly paged through the book, and as the angry man approached him, Ric recited a spell. The man began to
change …