"Where'd you learn the parlor tricks?" I ask Whit. "Sweet. You're becoming a rather charming wizard."
He shrugs. "I thought I should do something nice for someone else for a change, instead of just worrying about us all of the time," he says, and turns back to the merrymaking kids. "You guys want to come with us?" he offers.
Wow. The things that can happen when you black out for a few minutes. Suddenly my brother's become Mr. Whitford Fountain-of-Charity Allgood, Esq.
"You gonna open a soup kitchen next?" I say with a big smile.
"Maybe," he says. "Why not?" And then my brother conjures up a big pot of hot tomato soup, with bowls and spoons, and just the right amount for everybody.
Chapter 13
Wisty
With the help of some spells that appear in Whit's journal, we're able to find our way back to Garfunkel's department store, which thankfully is only several miles away. But trying to dodge New Order surveillance with a stream of dirty, chattering kids in tow is no picnic, let me tell you. I'm never becoming a camp counselor.
As we stride in, the first thing I notice from the back of the crowd-where I'm rounding up stray kids like a kindergarten teacher's aide-is Janine. She's our most reliable Freeland icon after Margo. Her eyes light up brightly as she runs past the empty cosmetics counters to welcome her hero.
My brother, Whit, that is. In case I haven't mentioned this enough, a lot of girls adore Whit. Which, I guess, makes his faithfulness to Celia kind of extra impressive.
"You did it!" Janine clutches him before he has a chance to explain that these kids aren't the ones we were supposed to rescue. "This is way beyond our expectations! We didn't think -"