Colin's book, the Magicante, flew up into the air and fell hard and flat landing with a thud on the ground. It opened itself and the pages began to flip back and forth. The leaves began to shimmer and glow, detaching themselves from the pages.
He got to his feet with a gasp when the leaves formed into a whirling tornado, which sped down the camp road. The cranky voice of the Magicante spoke with a forceful sternness.
"Find your sister, Colin, and do so with haste! She cannot face the coming storm alone."
"What do you mean?" he yelled at the book, his heart pumping heavily.
The magic book said nothing else and slammed shut.
Colin grabbed it off the ground and ran after the tornado, hoping it would lead to Meghan.
His panic heightened when the tornado veered off into the woods. Surprisingly, it destroyed nothing in its path; plants and trees miraculously bent out of the tornado's way, allowing Colin to pass through before standing erect once again. "Meghan! Hold on, I'm coming!" he yelled, hoping she could hear him. The pain splitting through her intensified and Colin nearly fell over as the same feeling filled his own mind. He blocked her, hard as he could, for fear that he would not be able to continue standing if he did not. What the heck was happening to his sister?
Seconds later, he skidded to a stop and dropped the Magicante onto the ground. The twisted oak towered in front of him. Colin found Meghan on her knees beneath the oak. Meghan screamed. Colin had no idea what to do.
"Get it off me!" she pleaded. "Get it off!" her arms flailed as if she were trying to bat away a horde of stinging insects. Colin leaned down and tried to pick her up, only to instantly let go when she shrieked in anguish.
"Tell me what's wrong," he begged her. However, the only reply was another horrifying scream.
Colin, desperate for help, opened the Magicante, hoping it would take them home as before, but this time the voice had an unwelcome response.
"I am truly sorry, boy, but you are on your own this time. You have another way."
Colin did not understand. What did the book mean by another way?
"Colin," mumbled Meghan.
"I'm right here. Hang on," he told her, furiously thinking of how he would get her home. In his haste, his hand brushed against her forehead.
"Ouch!" he yelled, yanking it away. Meghan's skin was hot as a skillet. "She shouldn't even be alive," he said aloud. He had never heard of a fever like this before.
Colin pleaded with Magicante. "I don't understand what you mean by another way."
"I am not without compassion, boy," replied the book. "But you have little time to prepare. You must do this on your own!"
Colin stared at his moaning sister, blocking her thoughts so he could think.
"What's my other way?" he asked himself. He had no idea what the Magicante wanted him to do. He held the now useless Magicante under one arm and grasped Meghan with the other. He closed his eyes tightly and wished desperately to understand what the book meant by another way. Meghan's breath started coming in gasps.
"I just want to go home!" he bellowed in determined desperation.
The moment he said it, the ground beneath his feet began to swirl underneath him. He gasped, grasping Meghan tighter.
What. Was. Happening?
Because it seemed like he was using magic, all on his own.
Without the help of the magic book.
And that was impossible.
He was small-for-his-age, Colin Jacoby, target of every local bully.
Not someone who could use magic.
Right?