“I’ll help, too,” Teddy said. “I’m not sure what I can do other than stand lookout, but I think I ought to be there.”
“You just want to watch and see how it works,” I said.
“Well, yeah.”
I looked to Owen, who shrugged. “We may need all the lookouts we can get.”
Granny fixed Dean with a steely glare. “So you will make proper restitution?”
He looked like a ten-year-old who’d been caught stealing candy. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And you won’t use your power for nefarious purposes in the future?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Good. We’ll deal with your criminal nature once you’ve taken care of this.” She turned to Teddy.
“You’ll have to see to it that he behaves. He can’t pull a fast one on you.”
Teddy grinned. As the next-to-youngest in the family and the youngest boy, being asked to play watchdog on his older brother was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. “I’ll watch him like a hawk.”
“What’ll you be watching, Teddy?” Mom asked as she came through the back door with an armload of groceries.
His mouth hung open, and he looked so guilty I was amazed she didn’t notice. “I, uh, was talking about the next time Molly and Frank ask Beth and me to watch Davy. He gets into everything if you don’t watch him.”
She shook her head wearily as she put the grocery bags on the counter. “I swear, that child. If Molly would learn to say no and set some limits, it would do him a world of good. Now, boys, there are some more groceries outside you could carry in.”
Dean, Teddy, and Owen moved to head for the back door, but Mom stopped Owen. “You’re company. We won’t put you to work.” She flashed him a flirtatious smile. “That will have to wait for your next visit. By then, you’ll count as family.”
“I’ll look forward to that, then.” He turned to me and said, “Katie, weren’t you going to show me that thing today?”
I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but I knew an escape plan when I heard one. “Oh yeah, that thing I was going to show you. How long until dinner, Mom?”
“At least a couple of hours.”
“That should be plenty of time if we head out now. We’ll be back in time for dinner.” We passed the boys on the back steps as they came up with arms loaded with grocery bags. When we were out of earshot, I asked, “The thing?”
“I thought we’d pay a visit to our friend.”
“Ah yes, the town welcoming committee should be there to greet him.”
“I’ve been in Texas a few days, so I think I’m getting the hang of this southern hospitality. I’d feel bad if someone didn’t welcome him to town.”
We took his rental car and drove to the motel. “His car’s parked in front of his room,” I said. “So he’s probably still here.”
“That’s good. I think we need to have a chat with him.”
“You think he’ll let us in the door?”
“He will if he doesn’t know it’s us.”
“You might need to hide us in general. Nita’s probably still staking out his room with a digital camera from the lobby window.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I might have given her the impression that he was the lead singer of an up-and-coming rock band.”
We got out of the car, and I noticed that the door to the housekeeping closet was slightly ajar. I stepped in, grabbed an armload of towels, and said, “We could be housekeeping.”
“Good idea.”
On the way to Idris’s room, Owen whispered something under his breath. I felt the tingle of magic building around us and wondered what we looked like. At a nod from Owen, I rapped on the door and called out, “Housekeeping!”
I held my breath while we waited for a response. After nearly a minute, I knocked again and jiggled the door handle. Then, finally, Idris opened the door a crack. “What is it?” he snapped.
“Fresh towels,” I said, barging forward, Owen in my wake. Idris stepped reluctantly out of our way.
He had a laptop computer, a cell phone, and a bunch of papers spread out on the bed, along with a Texas map. When we were well inside the room, the door abruptly slammed shut, even though no one touched it, and I felt the magic surrounding us fade away.
“You!” Idris cried out, staring in shock at Owen. I dropped the pile of towels on the foot of the bed, and he turned to notice me. “You, too! What are you doing here?”