He’s a good mind witch, so maybe he can figure this out.”
She’s right, sent Lauren, as Jamie spluttered in protest. “Sounds like a plan. Why don’t you go fetch them?”
“We’re already here,” Nell said, walking out into the back yard with a pizza box, Aervyn skipping at her heels. “I came to trade Ginia for food, but there’s enough here for everyone. What do you need?”
As they all settled on the grass, lulled by gloriously cheesy pizza, Lauren explained what they were working on.
Aervyn spoke with his mouth full. “So it’s just like mind power, but we hafta hold the mouse when we turn it on?”
Jamie rolled his eyes and grabbed another slice. “I hope it’s that easy for you, short stuff.”
“Let’s give your mama a try first,” Lauren said. She looked at Nell. “We assume it will be easier for people who already know how to spellcode. I’ll pull you into mindlink so you can watch Ginia, and then I’ll walk you through it more slowly.”
Nell nodded and hooked easily into mind connection. After watching Ginia access Net power several times, she backed out. “Got it. It’s kind of like gathering energy for spellcasting.”
“Uh, huh,” Jamie said. “But it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
Nell smirked. “Watch and learn, brother mine.”
Big witches were sometimes no more mature than the witchlings, Lauren thought. When Ginia was ready to track the scanner readings, Nell closed her eyes, and Lauren dropped into monitoring to watch.
After several tries, they knew two things. One, Nell was indeed better than her brother. And two, that wasn’t saying much. She’d managed to get a couple of tiny bursts of light to fire, but that was about it. The power levels had been no more than a blip on Ginia’s screen.
Lauren hoped Aervyn wouldn’t squish the growing sense of pride she could sense in Ginia.
Go ahead, Jamie sent. Let Aervyn show us creaky old witches how it’s done.
She’ll be okay, sent Nell, with a small nod toward Ginia. I think. And if she’s not, we’ll deal.
Lauren wiped the tomato sauce off Super Boy Wonder Witch’s face. “Aervyn, why don’t you mindlink with me, and we can watch what Ginia does. Then I’ll walk you through it slowly.”
“Okay.” He finished wiping his mouth on his sleeve, causing Nell to roll her eyes.
Lauren dropped quickly into their very familiar connection, and together they watched the mental fireworks of Ginia accessing Net power.
I can do that, Aervyn sent.
Oh, boy. Let’s go through it a few more times, buddy. I know it moves kind of fast.
Nuh, uh, I can do it. Aervyn dropped out of mindlink long enough to take the mouse from his sister. Lauren watched in bemused awe as he set off his own mental fireworks seconds later.
Nell looked at her grinning son and shook her head. “I take it he can do it, too.”
“Yeah.” Lauren shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t even have time to clip you in to watch.”
Ginia looked at the computer readouts and waved at Jamie to take over. “Hey, Aervyn, can you do it again? This time turn on all the power, ’kay?”
Aervyn tried again. And a third time. He was consistent and fast, and Ginia was a very good coach. In a few minutes, they were all convinced he was accessing his full power. But Lauren, with a mind channel hooked into Jamie, could read his surprise. Aervyn’s spikes weren’t nearly as high as Ginia’s.
Well, damn, Jamie sent on a very narrow band. He’s got decent power, but Ginia’s far stronger.
Nell nodded in approval as she watched her two witchlings work together. Good.
Elorie walked into the back yard, sniffing. “Please tell me that’s food. I’m hungrier than a herd of seals.”
Nell shook her head and laughed. “Witches are always hungry. Glad you got my text to come here. Aervyn, honey, there are two more pizza boxes on the counter. Can you get them?”
Jamie pouted in protest. “There’s more, and you were hiding it?”
Two boxes thunked onto the ground at Elorie’s feet, causing her to jump. Aervyn giggled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get your toes.”
She rubbed his head. “I forgot you can teleport, sweetie. We don’t have any witchlings in Nova Scotia who can do that. It’s kind of handy when I’m this hungry, though—thanks!”
Jamie’s voice spoke in Lauren’s head. Do we hit her with this now?
We don’t have a lot of choice. She leaves the day after tomorrow.
Elorie looked around at all the computer equipment strewn in the grass and sobered. “Are