With the shoplifters taken care of, The Wizard can address the problem at hand. The Wizard seems to be somewhat surprised about Bobbie’s apparent ability, but not too surprised. I wonder why? Another thing, who is Naomi? Cindy tells The Wizard she has detected another person who is in the wrong body. The Wizard already knows about her and invites the two girls and their parents to his shop. That might prove to be an interesting visit.

The two families visit Randy in the hospital. The girls have some time alone with Randy and tell him they are aware of his inner dream. They are able to tell him about their transitions. They also learn more about his transfer between worlds. Randy has a relapse, but before the girls go, Bobbie senses one more thing about Randy’s condition.

I am posting these chapters today because I am going to be on the road tomorrow and Friday. I will post Chapter 7 on Saturday.

I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.

My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

“Bobbie, I guess other than your own transformation this is the first one of these you’ve seen. What do you think?”

“I think I don’t ever want you to get mad at me. Cindy told me you threatened to turn her into a toad, once.”

“I wasn’t really going to do that. I was just making a point. Cindy had a lot to learn back then. Well, she still does, but it is a different type of learning now.

“This must be pretty important for all of you to be gathered around like that.”

“Yes, Your Wisdom, we think it is.” Cindy was taking command. “What do you know about Randal Mantooth? We think something is going on that you need to know about.”

“Randal Mantooth, hmmm? I don’t think I’ve come across anything about a Randal Mantooth. I’ve been ‘Down Under’ for the last few weeks and spent some time in New Zealand, also. As small as the population is down there, there has been plenty to do.”

The scene shifted and they could see The Wizard peering into his crystal ball. “Hmmm, that’s strange. Oh dear, the poor fellow. Goodness, there is hardly anything in here about him. Did you know about this, Cindy?”

“Do you mean that he’s a girl? Yes, sir, I sensed it, but it was different. It was kinda like I wasn’t tuned in, but since then, it has gotten stronger. There’s something else. Bobbie can tell he’s real sick. She says he’s dying. He’s in the hospital now. What they told my dad pretty much says the same thing.”

“Cindy, that’s adult talk again,” Bobbie admonished.

The Wizard turned his head and looked at Bobbie. “How long have you been able to do this?”

“That’s the first time. It was almost like I could see what was not working right. I wasn’t sure about the names, but Cindy told me what they were.”

“That is certainly interesting. I’m going to have to talk to Naomi about that. That certainly explains some things. Oh well, back to this problem with Randy. Let’s see what else we can see.

“This is odd. There’s nothing before about two years ago. Is something wrong with this blasted crystal ball? Well if there is, it’s still under warranty.”

“Your Wisdom,” Cindy piped up, “I can tell you why it’s not working.”

“You can! Have you learned how to do something else?”

“I don’t think so. This was just good detective work. He’s not from this world. He came from a world that is pretty close to this one. I went there before the spirit brought me back here. It’s not as nice a world as this one. There’s still a lot of war and stuff going on.

“Something happened and he was brought or thrown across. He didn’t know what happened. He knows that this world is different and he thought he was hallucinating, or something. He keeps hearing voices and thinks some people are trying to kill him. He’s sick and he’s scared, but he knows he’s not as crazy as he thought he was.”

“No wonder there isn’t anything in here about him; this ball isn’t multidimensional. Where is Glinda’s book when I need it? It isn’t easy for some to go from one world to another. Dorothy is real good at it, but she hasn’t done any moves since about 1910. She’s happy just staying in OZ. You should visit her sometime. You’re about the same age. Maddy would get along real well with the lion and tiger, but Toto can be a bit obnoxious at times. That wizard isn’t half the wizard I am. He’s a Johnny-come-lately. Why ….

“Sir, we need to talk about Randy.”

“Oh yes, we certainly do. It’s just that …. Oh well, never mind. I need to do some research about this young fellow and this might take a while.”

“We don’t think he has much time,” Cindy said with a bit of exasperation. “They can’t identify him and they’re going to think all his identification is forged. He doesn’t have any health care, and they won’t think he’s a citizen of the U.S.”

“Cindy, the reason you had trouble reading Randy is that he is a bit out of phase with this dimension. His aura is not totally synchronized with this universe. It gets easier after a while, but the first time someone goes through, things can get a little discombobulated. Normally, beings that come across are not subject to transformations, and I might have to get an OK on this from the boss. I’ll have to get back to you on this. This isn’t going to be a routine thing no matter what we do.

“I have some things to do now. I want you to visit Randy and see what you can find out about how he got here.

“Maddy, how’s your practice with small things going? Are you able to do any more since we tried that different thought pattern?”

“Mress, sometimes I can keep things up and leave the room. That’s a lot of fun. I pretend they are birds and kill them. I’m going to work on some starlings that are down in that bunch of trees if Cindy will let me out. No one’s going to miss a couple hundred starlings.”

The Wizard chuckled, “There’s no question you’re all cat. It would probably do well for you to get out once in a while and practice your skills — no blue birds or robins, though. We don’t have any problems with starlings. There’re too many of them and they don’t belong on your side of the Atlantic. They are harming many of the native species, too.

“Cindy, have you come across anyone lately that we might be able to advance in the system? Unless there is a major change, the shop will be in the mall next week. I’ve a couple of assignments coming up, and of course there might be some unexpected drop-ins.”

“Daddy and I were looking at a warehouse with Bobbie and her dad. They are thinking about changing it into loft apartment. I started getting a feeling about someone who was in the building next door. I think it’s one of those ‘special’ clubs. Anyway, this rather tall lady came out and I realized she was the one. Some guy picked her up. They hugged and kissed, but it was a brother/sister kind of thing.”

“That would be Sonia Hennie. She’s a famous dancer at the Kandy Kane Klub. Her parents kicked her out of the house years ago, and when her kid brother defended her, they made his life miserable. He ran away and she took him in. She sacrificed the money she’d been making as a dancer to put her brother through college and medical school. That was the money to pay for her surgery. She doesn’t like that life that much and had hopes of finding someone who was understanding and willing to marry her in spite of the fact she couldn’t have children.

“We are going to take care of all of that. She gave up the best part of her life for her brother and she deserves a better outcome.”

“What are you going to do? I think it would be real nice if you let her grow up as a real girl.”

The Wizard could be seen pondering Cindy’s statement. He gave a wry smile as he started to speak, “I think you will just have to find out for yourselves. Why don’t you come to the mall? It might be good for your parents to come too. They might like the shop.

“I’ve got to go. I’m going to be in Kabul for the next week. I have some serious abuse cases to address. There’s nothing in the Koran that says it’s okay to abuse one’s wives. Let me know when you find out more about Randy.”

“Hi, Randy, how’re you feeling?

Randy looked away from the television program he was trying to fathom and saw Cindy and Bobbie standing there and smiling hopefully at him. He recognized Mr. Lewis and assumed the woman next to him was his wife and the other two were Bobbie’s parents.

“At last, my angels have arrived. I’ve been hoping you would. The doctors and nurses here are very nice but they are not like you two.”

Stan introduced Marissa, and Amos and Sally Schmedlap. They said they would be waiting for the girls down in the reception area. They could stay with Randy as long as the doctors and nurses let them. They, Stan for sure would probably come back and talk with him further after a while.

“Randy, are the doctors going to let you go home soon?” a very concerned Bobbie asked and then realized that Randy had no home. “I’m sorry, Randy, that was a stupid question.”

“No, it wasn’t a stupid question. You want me to get out of here and I wish I could, but I don’t think the outlook is very good.

“In some ways, I feel pretty good; better than I have in a while. They put me on dialysis because of my kidneys, and that has helped a lot. They did a bunch of tests including an MRI. I almost couldn’t do that one. If they came after me when I was inside that thing, I wouldn’t be able to get out. It doesn’t look good for my liver, though. They are going to put a drain in my side to see if they can get rid of the infection. They’re going to do a biopsy. Do you know what that is?”

“I do,” said Cindy. “They must think you have cancer.”

“Angels, there are all sorts of things that are wrong with me. They have given me drugs, anti-psy- something or other. They help a little. I don’t think anyone is after me right now, but they could be back. I can hear them talking. I don’t understand what they are saying, but I think they are planning to get me.”

“Randy, Bobbie and I won’t let anyone get you. We have some good connections. There are some things we need to tell you and we need to find out how you got here in the first place.” The girls pulled up their chairs. Bobbie had closed the door a bit and they hoped they could have a little privacy.

“The first thing we need to tell you is that we know something about you that the doctors will never find out unless you tell them.”

“What’s that?”

“You wish you could be called Christine.”

“How, wha…? Who told you that? I’ve never told anyone that. Now they are really going to think I’m crazy.” Tears started running out of the corners of his eyes.

Cindy reached out and tried to cover his hand with hers. That wasn’t possible, but she hopped her warmth and gentle touch she provided would ease his mind a bit. “This world is different than the one you came from in many ways. It’s not just those little things we talked about yesterday. There’s magic here, real magic. Bobbie and I are partially the results of that magic.

“You don’t have to believe me, but this is the truth. A little more than a year ago I was a 35 year old man, a very unhappy man I might add. I found out there really is magic in this world. I was allowed to occupy this body because the original occupant had to leave. I am still learning how to be a girl, and I have never been happier.

“Bobbie, tell Randy about what happened to you.”

“Are you sure I can? I mean, I thought we were restricted.” Bobbie was a bit worried because she had never tried to tell anyone about how she had been blessed. She was still a bit worried that her dream would be snatched from her.”

“If you think about it: you’ll realize it has to be OK because we are talking about it.”

Bobbie tried to put together a short story of her life. “All my life, I knew I was a girl, and the best part was my family believed me. They took me to a psychologist who believed me, too. They were going to get hormones for me and let me live as a girl until I could get the final surgery. Then Daddy got hurt and lost his job. The only thing that saved me was that I could hide how I felt. I love sports and I’m real good at them. Nobody thought I was strange or gay or anything like that.

“Then Cindy came back to school after she almost drowned. We had never been friends before, but when she came back to school, she was different. I mean, she looked the same, but there was something different about her. She started looking at me all the time, and every once in a while would smile and nod. I didn’t understand what she was doing.

“We had birthday parties for the students and we would get cards, no gifts, except Cindy put a gift certificate in mine. It was good for one sexual reassignment at the Spells-R-Us shop. No one but my family could read it that way. Everyone else thought it was a department store gift certificate. How did she know? What business was it of hers that I was a girl in a boy’s body? I thought she was crazy, and so did my parents.

“Cindy didn’t give up. She had the courage to bring her parents and her cat to our house to try to convince the rest of my family that she was legitimate and that the gift card was real. She was very convincing, and when my family agreed to let me try to use the certificate, the change happened almost immediately. It seems The Wizard was just waiting for their approval.

“Anyway, here I am, and I can assure you that I am all girl. Cindy has a gift. She can detect people like you and me, or least the way I was. She can’t do anything about it; however, The Wizard can.”

Randy was taking this all in; however, the girls weren’t sure he believed them. “Are you telling me that you can do something to turn me into the girl I know I am?”

“We don’t know. There seem to be some problems with the fact that you are not from this world. The Wizard wants us to find out anything we can about how you got to this world. Apparently, the sort of transfer you experienced doesn’t happen very often. Dorothy Gale is one of a few mortals who seemed to be able to go back and forth without much difficulty.”

“Dorothy Gale! You mean the Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz?”

“That’s the one. I think she made at least five trips before she decided to stay in OZ forever. That’s what The Wizard told us.”

Randy was getting confused. “Let me get this straight. The Wizard of OZ really exists?”

“In some universes, according to The Wizard,” Cindy said rather matter of factly.

“By ‘The Wizard’ you are referring to The Wizard who has that shop that keeps appearing here and there; the guy who turns guys into bimbos; the guy who tricks everyone who comes into his shop?”

“That’s the one,” Cindy said in the Wizards defense, “but he is not as bad as the stories make him appear. Bobbie and I watched him work a couple of changes yesterday and he was really quite nice about what he did. He could have been real nasty, but he wasn’t.” She didn’t mention that the fact that the girl was pregnant with twins may have affected The Wizard’s decision.

“The Wizard is very concerned about you; however, he needs to know how you got here. I think he wants to try to fix things, but there are some things going on that he hasn’t told us about. Apparently, magic doesn’t work the same for beings who just came across.”

Randy started to squirm and look around. “The voices are coming back. I think they found me.”

“Bobbie, get the nurse. I think we are going to have to leave.” Turning to Randy, she asked. “Randy, what happened? How did you get here?”

“I don’t know. I think it happened during a storm. They were coming after me. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them. I was crossing the river bridge. There was a storm starting and the lightning was really bad.”

“What bridge were you crossing?”

“The steel bridge: the one that crosses the west fork of the river down by the industrial park. It was real strange. There were all these sparks coming off the supports. I think they call it St. Elmo’s fire. Then lightning hit both ends of the bridge at the same time. It was real bright and real loud. Suddenly, I was falling, not far, maybe five feet, and it was raining very hard, but there was no more lightning.”

“Randy, that bridge isn’t steel. It’s concrete. The steel one was demolished years ago, before I was born.”

“All I can say is that it was steel and then it was concrete. That’s when it had to happen.”

Cindy was going to ask another question but was disrupted by a nurse followed by Bobbie entering the room. “Mr. Mantooth, are you alright?”

“I don’t think so. They’re back. I can hear them. I’m going to have to get out of here. They’re going to kill me. I’m sure of it.”

The nurse injected a hypodermic into Randy’s IV. “This will make you feel better about things in just a few minutes.

“Mr. Mantooth needs his rest. It would probably be a good thing if you girls said goodbye for the day.”

Bobbie and Cindy watched as Randy visibly calmed down. He wasn’t a bad looking young man. He had been bathed and shaved and his hair had been combed out. The nurses were definitely looking out for him. They came over and kissed his forehead. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Cindy promised. “If you can think of anything more, we’ll tell our friend.”

Cindy heard a stifled gasp from Bobbie as she stood back from the bed. She was as white as a ghost, at least figuratively because Cindy knew that ghosts didn’t have ‘color’.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered as they entered the long hallway.

“He’s dying.”

“You told me that before. The doctors are trying to fix it.”

“No, this is worse. I saw it when I kissed him. It’s in his brain. It’s real ugly and it’s like the roots of a tree. It’s going everywhere. I think it’s a creature of some sort. It’s evil and it’s not going to let him go. We have to do something. It’s not fair.”

Bobbie was in tears and Cindy realized there might be questions, so she pulled Bobbie into a rest room so she could compose herself. “You are going to have to be strong. The doctors don’t need to know about what you can do. Let’s fix your makeup. We can talk about it when we get out of the hospital.”

Bobbie gradually composed herself while Cindy checked on the repairs. “I’m OK now. Let’s go.”

Their parents were talking to one of the doctors in waiting area. “Did you have a nice visit?” Marissa asked.

“It was OK. He looks a lot better than he has before, but he started getting upset and the voices were coming back. The nurse gave him some medicine to help him relax.”

“Mr. Lewis, we’ll let you know as soon as we find out anything. The government offices won’t be open until tomorrow, and maybe then we will find out why he has dropped off the face of the earth.” They said their goodbyes and walked out into the heat of the late afternoon.

Next: What are they going to do about Randy? He has no place to go. There is only one solution. They visit the SRU shop with some interesting results. There are several interesting transformations.

Portia