The Catchers Page 5

Trixie then sighed.

  “And we’re leaving,” she said, interrupting their argument, as she helped Jamie up to his feet.

  “ANY TIME, ANY PLACE, WEE MAN!” shouted the duck, waving a wing angrily in the air as they walked away.

  “Yes, a peaceful pleasant place, most of the time,” muttered Colin.

  Jamie then whispered to Trixie a few moments later. “What was that about?”

  “Oh, it’s a long, silly feud they have been having for some time, you see Marty wasn’t always the little friendly figure you see today, Marty was once a fully grown adult wizard who was working at the Ministry in the mail office, but one day he was caught trying to steal gold from the Ministry vaults and his punishment was to have his magical powers removed, and then he was shrunk down to the size you see now and for several years he was detained in the Ministry’s prison, the cupboard prison,” replied Trixie.

  “Cupboard prison? That’s a weird name for a prison,” Jamie said.

  “Not really, the whole prison fits in a cupboard, because all the inmates are shrunk down to fit in the tiny space,” Trixie replied.

  “Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense,” agreed Jamie.

  “Anyway, now Marty’s out on probation and working with us until the council see fit to return his powers and his original size,” continued Trixie with her explanation.

  “But why does he hate that duck?” asked Jamie again.

  “As you just found out, that duck is very rude and Marty hates it when other people are ruder than him, so I guess they just don’t get along, because otherwise I’m sure they could just be good friends.”

  “Very good rude friends,” added Jamie, before the two of them began laughing.

  They soon reached the centre of Teathorpe village and the little group made their way along the old main street where many old established shops had been, for many long years. Strolling casually along they passed Mr Murgulligies’ butchers, who had all the finest meats hanging in the window, like goose, pheasant and, of course, Orc tongue.

  Then they passed on by Mrs Polliet’s bakery where you could get a cupcake as big as your head with a cherry to match, and then they continued on past Miss Handover’s candle shop, which was always brightly lit up, because unfortunately it was once again on fire.

  “Out the way!” cried a large fire-fighting wizard with a water hose in his hand as he dashed towards the shop.

  “Yes, very nice shop, when it’s not on fire,” muttered Colin as they strolled on.

  Then finally they reached one particular shop that brought a big smile to everybody’s face.

  “I think it’s time,” grinned Colin looking at Jamie.

  “Time for what?” Jamie asked before looking up to read the shop sign.

  “The Wanda Emporium” he said, reading the sign out loud. “Is this a…?”

  “Yep!” grinned Colin.

  “Really it’s a…?” Jamie continued in more disbelief.

  “Yes!” replied Trixie eagerly.

  “You mean it really is a…?” Jamie asked once more excitedly.

  “Sugar plum fairies, yes, it’s a wand shop,” snapped Marty in amazement that Jamie was so excited about a little magical thing like getting his first wand.

  “Come on,” Trixie said excitedly before opening the old wooden front door and stepping in.

  “If you’re going to stay with us, you’re going to need a wand, everybody has a wand,” said Colin as they entered the shop.

  “I want a wand!” Marty exclaimed excitedly.

  “Nope, not going to happen!” replied Colin.

  “Ah, coconuts!” grumbled Marty sulkily.

  Jamie then followed the others inside and once in he immediately stopped and stared in excited wonder at what he saw. In front of him lay a very large open room, with very high walls and a very large domed glass ceiling over the top. Down the middle of the room was a long wooden pathway, just big enough for two people to stroll along it, and either side of the path were rows and rows of the most amazing and spectacular-looking trees that Jamie had ever seen.

  “I thought this was a wand shop?” asked Jamie, confused by all the trees. “It looks like a garden centre.”

  “It is a wand shop,” replied Trixie. “Where do you think wands come from?”

  Then from amongst the trees came a female voice calling out to them.

  “Hello! Good morning! Just hold on a second please, I’ll be right with you.”

  Then a rather tall, thin, middle-aged lady, with long frizzy blonde hair, dressed in a long green anorak and wearing a long green and yellow flowery dress underneath it, and a pair of large green wellies on her feet, suddenly stepped out from behind a tree and stood in front of them.

  “Hello, Martha” Colin greeted her cheerfully.

  “Oh, good morning, Colin,” she replied back just as cheerfully before stepping closer to see everyone. “What brings you here today then? Not lost your wand to a Dwarf in a game of cards again, I hope?” she asked cheekily.

  Trixie then glared at her Uncle with a stern look.

  “You told me you had dropped it in the swamp of lost things, while putting back that stone gremlin the other week.”

  “No, no I still have it, see?” replied Colin, quickly pulling out his crooked old wand as he stepped away from Trixie. “No, the reason we are here today is because I have brought this young man to get his first wand.”

  Colin then gave Jamie a gentle push forward so Martha could see him up close.

  “Hi,” said Jamie nervously.

  “First wand, hey? He seems a bit old to be having his first wand?” she replied eyeing Jamie up curiously.

  “He’s not a magic dweller, he’s a human, from the other world,” replied Trixie explaining why.

  “Oh, how delightful, a human boy in my shop, I haven’t seen one of those in years,” Martha said excitedly, stepping closer to get a good look at Jamie. “So what’s your name, young man?” she asked, bending down slightly to talk to him.

  “Jamie,” he replied.

  “Well, Jamie, welcome to my wand emporium, here I have some of the finest and best wands in the whole of Magicdom, and all of them are grown lovingly right here from these very wonderful trees in my shop,” she said proudly as she gently patted the trunk of the tree that stood next to her. “Now come along, young man, follow me, and let’s get you a wand.”

  Martha then spun quickly around and began to stroll along the central wooden path towards the back of the shop.

  “Here, I have some of the finest examples of the rarest trees, from all over the world,” she said proudly as they walked between the trees. “They grow in perfect harmony here, for all wand-making and wand distribution purposes.”

  “What’s this one?” asked Jamie curiously as he stared at a short bushy round tree with large red leaves.

  “Welsh walnut, a lovely colour this time of the year,” Martha replied with a smile.

  “And this one?” Jamie then asked, pointing to the next tree, which was a mighty tall fir tree with blue tartan needles.

  “Scottish pine, my dear, it has lovely strong limbs for wand-making, but does like a bit of a drink,” she replied with a wink.

  They then moved on a bit further until Jamie enquired about another tree.

  “What’s this one?” he asked, pointing to a bright pink flowery tree slightly further apart from the others, but before Martha could reply, a pink flowery branch suddenly shot out and slapped him across the face.

  “Ooh!” cried Jamie, rubbing his cheek in pain.

  “That would be the Chinese fighting blossom, and as you can see it has a bit of a kick,” Martha replied.

  “But that was a slap!” Trixie said, pointing out the obvious mistake.

  Suddenly a lower bran
ch shot out and hit Colin right between the legs.

  “Oohoohooo!” he cried out before falling to his knees and holding himself in a lot of pain.

  “Ah, I see now!” Trixie nodded before moving on.

  After slowly making their way past many more wonderful and strange trees, they reached the back of the room where they were greeted by row after row of white plastic shelving full of boxes of wands waiting to be bought.

  “It looks like a supermarket,” said Jamie in surprise to see such a thing in an old established magical shop.

  “A what?” asked Trixie, never having heard the word before.

  “Never mind,” replied Jamie, not wanting to waste time on a boring explanation.

  “Now, feel free to browse, and try out a few if you want,” said Martha happily as she stood by the checkout till. “But damages must be paid for,” she then muttered.

  The little group then wandered between the rows of shelves and began comparing wands.

  “How about this one?” asked Trixie holding up a long ordinary wooden stick.

  “It’s English oak, a fine traditional wand.”

  “It’s a stick,” replied Jamie, unimpressed.

  Trixie put it back on the shelf and they continued on browsing the shelves as the typical light shop music played overhead.

  “How about this one, Jamie?” asked Colin, holding up a short grey stick. “It’s Grey Ash, a lovely nurturing wood, perfect for young growing wizards.”

  “I don’t know,” shrugged Jamie.

  “Okay, we’ll keep looking,” Colin said, putting it back.

  “Oh look, the I-wand eight is out!” said Trixie excitedly standing by a shelf of perfectly straight white sticks.

  “No, you have the seven already,” replied Colin, walking on.

  “But it’s eight, that means it’s better than seven,” grumbled Trixie.

  “No,” replied Colin again, making Trixie sigh heavily in frustration.

  Then, as Jamie stepped along to the next set of shelving, he came to a box full of long black straight sticks and he immediately picked one up.

  “Hey, I like the look of this one!” he said turning around to face the others as he held it out. Everyone immediately screamed in terror and ducked for cover.

  “Hold it down, Jamie, hold it down!” cried Colin hiding behind the end of the shelf.

  Jamie immediately pointed the wand down to the floor and then the others cautiously stood up again.

  “Oh my word, I thought we were goners!” sighed Marty in relief peering up out of Colin’s top pocket.

  “Don’t you know wands are dangerous?” asked Trixie before she took it from Jamie’s hand.

  “Sorry!” replied Jamie nervously. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “It’s okay, young man, just never point a wand at another person unless you know what you are doing,” Colin replied before taking the wand from Trixie and giving it a good look over. “Oh it’s a Black peppermint, a wonderful minty tree, this could work for you very well, is this the one you want?” he then asked.

  “Yes please,” Jamie replied excitedly.

  “Okay then, to the till!” declared Colin before they strolled back along the row of wands until they found Martha again waiting to serve them.

  “Oh, the black peppermint, a good choice for your first wand,” Martha smiled as she held up the wand. “Would you like some detailing on it?” she then enquired.

  “Detailing? What’s detailing?” replied Jamie curiously.

  A few minutes later the little group left the Wanda Emporium and began strolling along the street again. Jamie proudly held his black peppermint wand up, which was now covered with silver flames and had a white skull on the handle which he had picked out for the detailing, and as they strolled along Trixie once again reminded him of what Colin had said in the shop.

  “Don’t walk around holding it out like that Jamie, you may accidentally blow something up, or worse.”

  “Worse?” Jamie asked, wondering what could be worse than blowing something up.

  “Well, I once heard about a wizard who accidentally turned his friend’s head into a large cabbage, he was holding his new wand out like you are when he tripped over and… zap! Cabbage head!”

  “Cabbage head!” Jamie repeated Trixie’s description in horror. He then immediately pointed his wand down at the ground.

  “Yes, I think it would best if you put it away for now” added Colin. “You won’t need to use it at the moment.” So Jamie quickly shoved the wand into his jeans pocket making sure it was tucked in safe, before they continued on.

  “Right, let’s go to the yard now and see if there’s any work for us today,” Colin said eagerly.

  “What’s the yard?” asked Jamie as they walked.

  “It’s the building of the Teathorpe branch of the catchers,” replied Trixie. “It’s where we receive all our jobs, and where Streak lives when he’s not out with us, it’s not far, just on the other side of the village.”

  So they walked briskly for a good few minutes along the village streets heading for the far side of Teathorpe and as they made their way there, Trixie began to explain Magic to Jamie.

  “Now, there are three types of magic, conjuring which is all wand stuff, that’s just basic spells, creating, fixing and exploding things.”

  “Right, creating, fixing and exploding,” repeated Jamie trying, to remember everything that Trixie was telling him.

  “Then there are potions and poisons, they are all cauldron-mixing spells, fun to try but very tricky to accomplish.”

  “Yeah, only bother if you like sitting around for hours doing very little,” added Marty.

  Trixie glared at him because potions were one of her favourite types of magic and as far as she was concerned it took a lot of patience and hard studying to produce a good potion and she enjoyed that type of thing.

  “Potions require patience and preparation and some of the best witches and wizards in the world are potion-makers, so ignore him,” she replied before sticking out her tongue at Marty. “And finally there is also natural magic,” she continued. “The most powerful and dangerous magic there is, all wizards and witches have it in them, but only a few truly gain control of it.”

  “What is natural magic?” asked Jamie, intrigued.

  “It’s sort of inside of you,” said Colin, patting his chest. “It dwells in here and can be controlled if you practise enough.”

  “Like burping your ABCs,” grinned Marty.

  “Yes, kind of,” sighed Colin.

  “But how?” asked Jamie.

  “Well it takes concentration and many long years, but when you do, you will have the power to do things with just a simple flick of your hand, or by just a single thought,” replied Trixie.

  “Wow!” Jamie exclaimed excitedly.

  “But it’s also the most dangerous type of magic that one can do, and unfortunately nearly every wizard or witch who has ever progressed in natural magic ends up turning bad,” added Colin.

  “Like the dark wizard I saw yesterday?” asked Jamie.

  “Yes, just like that,” replied Colin. “However, there is an upside, they rarely live long, because almost all of them inevitably get a dark spell wrong at some point, and end up blowing themselves up,” Colin smiled, tickled by the thought.

  “Or turning themselves into ducks,” added Marty, chuckling.

  “The duck’s not evil, leave it alone,” replied Trixie, sternly.

  Jamie continued on, thinking about what the others had just said to him. “So this dark wizard could just blow himself up one day?” he then asked.

  “Quite possibly,” replied Colin nodding. “You see, with great power comes great stupidity,”

  “Oh,” Jamie said with relief knowi
ng that maybe the dark wizard he had seen may, at any point, just blow himself up, and then he chuckled to himself as he pictured in his mind dark wizards and witches blowing themselves up all over the place.

  “You know, I was just wondering, don’t you have schools where you can learn all this?” he then asked curiously.

  “Well, yes we do, but they’re horrible, nasty, dull places, where you’re held in a room all day against your will, repeating the same old things over and over again until you can’t remember your name, age or cereal preference. It’s just horrible!” Colin replied with a shudder.

  “Barbaric!” added Marty, just as disgusted.

  “Really?” Jamie asked in disbelief.

  “No, it’s not that bad,” Trixie replied with a sigh. “It’s just magic schools are mainly run by the wizards and witches who are unfortunately fairly bad at magic, so the standards of learning are pretty low.”

  “Oh, that seems wrong doesn’t it?” asked Jamie.

  “Well, maybe, but what else are they going to do? As they say, those that can’t, teach!” grinned Trixie.

  “Yes, magic schools are just not natural, you’re far better off learning everything you need to know out here in Mother Nature’s classroom,” added Colin waving his arms about joyously. “An apprenticeship is the best way, learn as you go, that’s how I’ve always done it.”

  “And that’s why he’s banned from archery and darts,” chuckled Marty, making everyone laugh.

  After another minute of walking they turned a corner into quiet country lane where the long yellow grass hung over onto the track and the tall blue trees hung over and provided shade from the morning sunshine.

  “Well, here we are,” Colin declared as they approached a large old rickety wooden gate that sat along an old red-brick wall, which just happened to be the entrance to the catcher’s yard.

  “Welcome to the Teathorpe branch of the department of the magical creature catchers,” announced Colin in a deep, booming, dramatic voice. “Da-da!” he cried excitedly, pushing the gate open for Jamie to see inside.

  Looking in eagerly, Jamie could see a large, open, cobblestoned yard with two single-storey red-brick sheds running along either side of it down towards a large red-brick house that sat across the far end of the cobble yard.