Josh came back with a big smile on his face. “Folks, I’ve got an idea. It came to me while I was … um, thinking about ideas.”
Jenny giggled. “We should take more bathroom breaks, What’s your idea?”
Josh turned to Mr. Symarian. “You said this usually works for you, which means there’s something different here. I think it’s because Jenny is supposed to read the spell.”
“Well,” Mr. Symarian said, “that would be most unusual. There are great powers involved, ways of doing things…”
“Kid’s makin’ sense,” Sid interrupted. “The way I see it, this is her caper. First she found the key, then she brought you the scroll. That’s the whole Megilla right there, if you ask me. Maybe it’s time we aughta take a back seat and let the little lady drive.”
“Very well,” their teacher said, a bit stiffly. “This is highly irregular, but it seems our little orange friend has a point.” At the mention of the word “orange” the demon shot the teacher a withering look, but chose to say nothing.
“OK, then” Jenny said brightly, hoping to diffuse the tension. “Let’s try it. Mr. Symarian, where do I sit?”
In a few minutes there were once again seated around the table, their faces lit only by the flickering black candles. Jenny began to read the strange words from the little notebook. As soon as she started to speak, she could feel the book begin to grow colder in her hands. By the time she had finished the second paragraph a sound had risen all around them in the darkness, an elusive and papery sound, like many voices whispering from far away.
Gradually the voices grew closer, louder. The air in the middle of the table began to shimmer. Jenny looked up in alarm. To her surprise, she found herself continuing to speak the incantation, the words just coming to her now, as though she had always known them. She could dimly see Josh staring at her from across the table, a strange look upon his face. In the darkness between them something seemed to be moving in lazy slithering circles. A shape was slowly forming…