Chapter 46

Tom leaned in towards his mother and looked into her eyes.

In a conspirator’s voice, he said, “Guess what Mum, I did become a wizard. Do you want to see me do magic?”

Mary sat back and smiled at Tom. She had always loved her son’s sense of humour; he was so like his father. In many ways, she had felt that she had lost Ray all over again when Tom had walked out of her life because he couldn’t tolerate Bill putting Ray down.

She knew that she hadn’t helped because she had backed Bill at the time. She also knew that she had hurt her son terribly when she had done that. It shouldn’t have surprised her when he refused to come and see her if Bill was with her. Yet he still sent a gift and a card for her birthday and for Christmas.

She decided right there and then that she wasn’t going to waste her life mourning Bill. Things had started to go bad between them as soon as he moved in with her permanently. She knew she was well shot of the fat, lazy, beer-guzzling bastard.

She would rather have Tom back in her life.

“Show me something magical, Mr White Wizard.”

Nena giggled at Mary calling Tom the same thing that she had. Tom also smiled and then looked around the room. “If you had a choice, what colour would you have painted these walls, Mum?”

Mary looked at the walls in her lounge room. They had once been a bright yellow, but they had faded into a rather nasty burnt-shade as if they had been subjected to a lot of heat. Whoever had painted them last hadn’t done a good job of it either.

If she’d had her way, she would have repainted them years ago. “A very pale green like the walls we painted in the house in Dysart.”

“Ah, yes, I remember doing that. I think I was in grade six at the time.”

“Yes, you were,” Mary agreed with her son.

Tom nodded and stood. He muttered a couple of spells, then said, “Repairo,” as he waved his hands around the room in a dramatic way. All of the lumps, divots and paint dribbles on the walls smoothed out, and the walls became flat surfaces. Then the walls changed colour to pale green and shone as if freshly painted.

The trims on the doorways and windowsills now gleamed white as did the ceiling as he if he had repainted them too. The wooden floor sparkled as if it had been sanded back and revarnished. All of the cobwebs had disappeared, and the furniture now looked like new.

“I think that was the shade,” Tom said with satisfaction. He turned and observed the shocked look in his mother’s still battered face. Mary was as pale as the walls and almost the same colour.

“Oh, my, oh, my,” was all that she could say as her eyes flicked around the refurbished room.

Tom went back to kneel beside her, “Mum, that was how I planned to clean up the property. You have to keep what I can do secret, or it will get me into a lot of trouble. Nena can also do some magic, so you have to keep her secret too.”

“Is she a wizard, like you?” Mary had to ask Tom. Her eyes were wide in shock and kept moving about the room, but she was not hysterical. Tom had always loved how his mum took things in her stride.

Tom shook his head, “Not quite, she has the potential to be a mage with some more training. She can use four of the six main disciplines but not nearly to the same degree that I can. However, she can still do enough to get us into trouble if she isn’t careful.”

“I see,” said Mary. “I think I need to go lie down.” She looked around the room and then back at Tom. She surprised him by grinning and then saying, “You can finish decorating while I go heal up a bit more.”

“Um, okay, Mum. Here let me help you,” Tom said. He waved his finger at his mother, and she rose out of the chair as if she were sitting in an invisible one. Tom then directed her to her room and gently spun her around and then lowered her to sit on the side of her bed.

He grinned at her. “I’ll let Nena come and help you from here.” He then turned and went back to the kitchen to prepare a meal for dinner while Nena went to help Mary get comfortable.

Tom whistled as he started to work on getting dinner ready.

About twenty minutes later, Nena joined Tom.

“Your mum is amazing,” Nena said as she went to the bench and put the jug back on to boil.

“She does have resilience,” Tom said as he worked at cutting up some onions for the casserole he was going to put on. He had already floured the meat and primed the large casserole dish that he knew well. His mother had gotten it as a wedding present.