Rich Boy: Growing Pains - 9. Chapter 9

"What’s wrong with him?" Dechaun asked as they entered the Badger dorm and put Colin on his bed. Jamie immediately bent over him and began to cast a spell that would ascertain his condition.

"He wore himself out," Worthington said softly.

"It’s nearly dinner time," Dechaun said, and Worthington noticed his campers were all awake and getting dressed for dinner.

"I’ll take them," Carl said softly from the doorway, and Worthington nodded as Jamie stood up looking grim.

We need Richie. Jamie said mentally. Whatever drug is in him, I don’t know enough to counter it without risking harming him.

I’ll get the satellite phone. Brandon replied and left for his dorm.

I need to take my campers to dinner too. Jamie said next.

Go. Worthington sent. Brandon and I will take care of him.

Once I get them to the dining hall, I’ll go back out and set up a stronger shield over the entire camp. Jamie sent. I don’t think they’ll attack around the campers, but it’s better to be safe.

"Yes," Worthington said aloud as Carl got the Badgers organized and out the door. Most of them cast worried looks in Colin’s direction but didn’t say anything as Jamie left after them and Brandon returned with the satellite phone in his hand and a frown on his face.

"Could they be jamming the satellite?" Brandon asked.

"If they’re government, they probably could do that," Worthington admitted. "Doesn’t the camp have a landline?"

"I’ll try that," Brandon said and departed. Worthington sat down on the bed next to Colin and held his hand in a gesture of worry. He felt tired after all the spell casting from earlier, but stretched out his abilities, drawing in power to replenish what he’d already used. If there were any more fighting, he’d need every bit of strength he could get. At this range, the MR were all too far away to use as a power source, and Brandon was near as exhausted as he was. If there were another fight, they’d be in trouble.

Jamie’s shield going up over the camp was a relief. At least he was at nearly full power despite the magic he’d flung around earlier. Worthington’s brother hadn’t been shielding against bullets and grenades, as well as gas. That left him in far better condition, which was a good thing just now.

Brandon returned ten minutes later with a large frown on his face. Colin hadn’t stirred at all, but his breathing was at least deep and regular. As far as Worthington could tell he would probably be okay, and would hopefully wake up when the drug he’d been dosed with wore off. Hopefully, it would not be too long.

"The landline has been dead all afternoon according to the staffer in the main building," Brandon informed him. "I saw Mr. Hall on my way back, and he wants us to take Colin to see the nurse. One of the campers told him Colin was sick."

"Jamie can take care of their interest in Colin’s condition," Worthington said grimly. "I think you need to get to the dining hall and get some food for yourself, and me. We need to eat and then rest a bit. For some reason, I don’t think this is over yet."

"What are they going to do?" Brandon asked. "There are over 240 kids in here right now, not to mention the dozen counselors and the staffers. Do you think they’re going to come in here with guns blazing?"

"They’ll have to punch through Jamie’s shield to get through." Worthington chuckled a bit, but then sobered up. "We go on those hikes almost every day, though. If they strike at one of those…"

"They’re going to tuck tail and run." Brandon snorted. "We gave them a bloody nose, fucked up their little trap and got out no problem. When Colin wakes up, we’ll have three Adept-level mages against whatever they can throw at us."

"I’d feel much safer in Clairville with a bunch of dwarves around me," Worthington muttered.

"Okay, I’ll go get the food," Brandon said with a shake of his head. While he waited, he thought about all the possible methods of contacting the outside world, especially those who could muster the strength to pull him and the others out of here without the soldiers interfering. He had no doubt they were real soldiers, and that thought scared him.

Had he been wrong to not immediately spread the word of the government mages? If they were sending real soldiers against him, to capture or kill mages, that was a threat to all mages everywhere. This was exactly why the Great Secret had been kept all these years, and it gave him some real doubts about the plans of King Odras and his dwarves.

Then again, if mages were known about, it would be hard for the government to secretly kidnap them.

When Brandon returned with a plate of food, Worthington ate it quietly, still thinking about the best way to contact someone for help. He had already decided that Nick Wooten or Dakota Ungashick were the best choices. They were closer to his current location than anyone else, they were in Clairville and could get the assistance of the dwarves (however much that might cost him financially), and they had sworn oaths to him, binding themselves to him at a minimal level with magic.

All those factors meant he would expend far less energy in contacting them than he would try to reach anyone else. Despite Brandon’s optimism, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this fight was far from over. The soldiers had been beaten back, not defeated and there was a difference there. Worthington could not put up half the fight he had earlier, and after this spell at contacting help, he’d be even less able.

"What are we going to do?" Brandon asked when Worthington finished eating. The food had helped, and he felt stronger already.

"I’m going to call for help," Worthington said as they snapped into place in their link. He drew lightly on Brandon, who had recharged fairly well but was still relatively weak. This spell took concentration and the layering of spell on top of spell in a set sequence. When it was ready, he flung it out like a net, waiting for it to reach as far as Clairville and its intended recipients.

"Fuck." He muttered as he felt it rebound against something just outside the boundary of the protective shield Jamie had woven at the camp.

"What was that?" Brandon’s voice was alarmed as Worthington shook his head to get rid of the effects of the spell’s backlash.

"You still think they’re going to slink off with their tails between their legs?" Worthington snapped angrily at him. "They put up a fucking block over the camp so we can’t call for help."

"Shit." Brandon murmured. "What are we going to do now? We’re cut off."

"They can’t get in here, at least," Worthington muttered. "Get Jamie and Carl and tell them to meet back here later tonight, after lights out. Maybe Colin will be awake by then. Tell Jamie to set a ward off on this side of the shield so that anyone approaching it decides to go back to bed."

"Okay." Brandon nodded and took their plates with him when he left.

Worthington couldn’t deny the feelings welling up inside him as he sat there looking at Colin’s sleeping form. No, they weren’t some deep feelings of love for the guy. They were a lot worse.

Worthington felt helpless.

He had to wonder if the Light had planned this, but he knew better than that. The Light had some intelligence, given it by the expectations of mages over centuries, but it was not an omnipotent being. It was rather a manifestation of magic, and when it had required him to go to this camp as payment for its help, it could not have known this would happen here.

They could not just hop on their motorcycles and ride away this time. For one thing, their motorcycles were not here. Nor were the buses available that had delivered the campers. They would return on the day the campers were to leave, as would Elizabeth to pick them up and take them back home.

There was the van and two vehicles used by the camp staff. It would be a minor spell to get the camp staff to loan them the use of the vehicles, and they could run in one of them. If the soldiers attacked them though, Worthington couldn’t be sure that they would escape. He imagined a wild chase through the mountain roads with military vehicles and realized that none of the vehicles in the camp were of good enough condition to speed them away to safety.

So running was not an option.

There were over 250 innocents here in this campground, and while a Dark mage wouldn’t be concerned about them, Worthington had to admit he was concerned. It was one thing to use people like Briggs for teaching Colin magic but another thing to leave them here defenseless. He could assume the soldiers would mean none of them harm because none of them had magical abilities, but did he know that for sure?

Unless he and the others fled the camp, though, they were definitely caught in any potential crossfire. Bullets had been bouncing off his shield earlier today. What if that had been in the middle of the camp with kids everywhere? The thought of Dechaun or any of his Badgers being wounded by ricocheting bullets was enough to make him sick to his stomach.

While he waited, he decided Colin didn’t need to be lying there in the nude. He’d never really looked at Colin while the guy was asleep, and his eyes scanned over Colin’s body. Colin wasn’t exactly skinny, but neither was he built-up. Soft, his cock was about average, uncircumcised, and nestled in a small bush of carrot-colored hair. He even had a cute little outie belly button that Worthington hadn’t really noticed before.

"I know I’m cute, but you don’t have to stare at me like that." Colin’s voice startled him, and it was slightly slurred, but Worthington met those green eyes with relief.

"You’re awake," Worthington said softly.

"Yeah, but I got a massive headache." Colin murmured as he shifted on the bed and lifted one hand to his head. "What happened?"

"What’s the last thing you remember?" Worthington asked.

"I was fucking that girl, the Manzanita counselor." Colin murmured. "That was different alright."

"How’d you like it?" Worthington asked, not wanting to really deal with the next set of questions or explanations.

"Not bad, but I’d rather fuck Briggs again." Colin murmured. "Right now, I don’t feel like fucking anything though. What the hell happened?"

"You were abducted," Worthington answered.

"By who?" Colin asked with a frown. "Is that why my head hurts, and I feel all fuzzy?"

"You were shot with a tranquilizer dart of some kind," Worthington explained. Now that Colin was awake he felt confident enough to try some healing and did so gently.

"Thanks, that feels better." Colin murmured. "It’s not quite so bad now. So, obviously, they didn’t succeed. Who was after me?"

"The government," Worthington said and spent several minutes explaining to Colin what had happened.

"Thanks for saving me, again," Colin said with a slight chuckle.

"Be sure to thank Jamie too," Worthington told him, and Colin grimaced. "If he hadn’t come along, I’d have been dead, and they’d have had you."

"Great." Colin frowned. "So, what happens now? Are they still out there?"

"We assume so," Worthington said as the sounds of campers arriving back at the dorms came down the hallway. That was odd, they should be in the dining hall for after-dinner entertainment for several more hours.

We’ve got big trouble. Jamie’s voice came into his head and was filled with overtones of concern.

Colin’s awake. Worthington replied mentally. "If you can sit up, Colin, you better get dressed. Sorry, but we left your clothes back in that little clearing."

"What’s Jamie saying?" Colin asked. "I can hear he’s talking to you but not what he’s saying."

That’s good news, I think. Jamie replied.

"There’s trouble of some kind," Worthington said aloud to Colin. What’s going on, brother?

There are some vehicles at the main gate. Jamie replied. They just pulled up a few minutes ago, and Hall went out to meet them. He came back in, told all the counselors to take the kids back to the dorms and then said we have to go get you and Colin to meet the men at the gates. He won’t say anything more than that, and there are too many people watching to just spell him.

"Hey boss man, carrot’s awake huh?" Dechaune asked as he led the campers from their dorm into the room. Colin had just managed to pull his shorts on and was sitting back down after being slightly dizzy. "Something’s weird going on outside. There’s like all these military Hummers at the gate, and Mr. Hall told us all to go back to our dorms. You know what’s going on, boss man?"

"Dechaun, I want you to listen to me very carefully," Worthington said slowly. "Get all the guys, and I want all of you to take your showers now, okay?"

"What’s going on?" Dechaun said with a worried look on his face. "You in some kind of trouble?"

"Remember me telling you that having money can be as bad as having no money?" Worthington asked.

"I still don’t believe it." Dechaun snorted.

"For now, let’s just say I managed to collect some powerful enemies and I’m not even out of high school yet." Worthington smiled. "Now, can you do me that favor and get everyone to take long showers?"

"For you, yeah." Dechaun nodded and went into the main part of the dorm, shouting at his fellow campers they were all going to shower early. The last of them had just left the room with their shower kits when Mr. Hall stormed into the room with Carl, Brandon, and Jamie in tow.

"You both need to come with me." Mr. Hall said woodenly, not noticing how Brandon shut the door behind them. Worthington didn’t bother saying anything, he just entered the man’s mind and found exactly what he expected there. The wards ended at the main gate, and Jamie’s ward-off spell had been meant for campers, not staff. He must have stepped over the line of the protection ward because the compulsion on his mind was to lock down the camp, put all the campers and staff into one location and then bring the guys out. With a mental flexing, he broke the compulsion and withdrew from Mr. Hall’s mind.

"What the hell is going on here?" The man demanded angrily with eyes widening in surprise. "What the hell was that?"

"You didn’t wipe his memory?" Jamie asked with surprise.

"What the hell did you do?" Hall shouted, backing up a few steps. "What the hell are you?"

We are mages, magic is real, and you only wish you were dreaming. Worthington said inside the man’s mind and barely resisted the urge to smile as the man nearly collapsed on wobbly knees. "Brandon, grab him a chair so he can sit down."

"I don’t believe this," Hall said, but his mind showed he was slowly processing what was happening. "Those agents at the gate, they did something, made me do what I did? How?"

"If I knew this was going to happen, we’d have never come here or risked getting the campers involved in anything," Worthington said aloud. "The long and short of it is that magic exists, all of us in here can do magic. A few months ago I ran across a secret government organization that tries to keep people like us under control, and they don’t care what methods they use to do that. Earlier today they tried to kidnap Colin."

"That’s not right," Hall said with a frown. "I mean, it doesn’t matter what you are, the government doesn’t have a right to just kidnap you. You can’t go out there. I mean, I don’t know what we can do to stop them coming in here and just taking you, but it’s not right for them to be able to do that."

"Oh, we can stop them from coming into the camp area," Jamie said firmly.

"That won’t be a problem." Worthington agreed. "The problem is going to be what happens when they try to come in."

"I’m sorry, you can’t do anything that would hurt the campers," Hall said with a frown as he struggled to examine the situation. "I don’t like the government trying to take good kids, and you boys are all good kids, but I won’t see us put the campers in danger either."

"That’s why getting everyone into the dorms and keeping them there is a good idea," Worthington admitted. "We’ve put a fair amount of protections on these buildings already, and all of you will be safe here. You need to get all the campers, all the staff, and even the cooks to be in here if you can."

"I can do that," Hall said, and he gave them a sharp look. "What are you going to do?"

"We’re going to ask them what they want." Worthington shrugged. "Then we’ll ask them nicely to go away."

"I see," Hall said. "Uh, why are you telling me all this? You could just do what they did, right? Make me do what you want me to do?"

"We could, but you’ll be better able to keep the campers and everyone else safe if you know exactly what is going on and why you’re doing this," Worthington explained. "I have had some experience in having regular people help in these situations, and it’s always better if you do it knowing everything."

"If I had any doubts about you boys, that would take care of them," Hall said with a nod of his head. "You at least ask, and care about people’s free wills. Those government goons just make you hop when they say so. I’ll get everyone in here, and we’ll do some sing-along or something like that. You be safe, though, and let me know when it’s all clear."

"We will," Worthington said. When the man left the room, Jamie raised an eyebrow.

"Is that wise?" Jamie asked.

"After this is over, we’ll wipe his memories." Worthington shrugged, and Colin snorted.

"What’s so funny?" Carl asked him.

"Think about it," Colin smirked. "He’s thinking we’re the good guys because we told him what’s up and let him choose, but Worthington here isn’t really doing that."

"I was pretty sure he’d help." Worthington shrugged. "If he weren’t going to, I’d have just used magic, but right now I want to spare every bit of power I have."

"So?" Carl asked turning back to Colin.

"Don’t you get it?" Colin’s voice was just a bit snide, and he got a warning look from Worthington.

"See what?" Carl asked.

"Worthington got Hall to support us by making him think we were ethically different from the government agents outside," Brandon said with a sigh. "The truth is, Worthington would do the same as they did, or more, and probably will before this is all over. Hall’s supporting us on a lie and will never know it."

"But we are the good guys, right?" Carl asked with a worried frown. "I mean, we’re not the bad guys, right? We haven’t done anything wrong."

"It all depends on your point of view," Jamie said with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately, Carl right now is not the time to be having this discussion."

"No, it’s not." Brandon agreed and then frowned before reaching behind him and opening the door to reveal Dechaun standing there with his ear still to the door. "What is it Dechaun?"

"Uh, I wasn’t…" Dechaun started to protest, backing away.

"Oh get your butt in here." Worthington snarled, and the boy paled before scampering inside. "Where’s everyone else?"

"Taking showers," Dechaun said proudly. "I didn’t hear anything, I swear."

"Do you think you can lie to me after what you heard?" Worthington asked.

"No." The boy said in a dejected tone as he looked at the ground. "Whatcha goin’ to do to me?"

"I’m going to put you to work," Worthington said with a confident tone and the boy looked up at him with surprise. "I’m always on the lookout for good people I can trust, and I’ve been keeping on eye on you for the last week. You’re someone that can be trusted, Dechaun, so I’m going to trust you to do two things for me."

"What’s that?" Dechaun asked.

"First off you’re going to keep on eye on Mr. Hall," Worthington told him as he made it up on the spot. "I don’t trust him, but I can’t keep an eye on him. You’ll do that for me, and you run to me and tell me if he does anything that would be bad for me. Can you do that?"

"I can do that." Dechaun nodded enthusiastically.

"Good," Worthington said. "The other thing is as long as he’s doing what he’s supposed to, and you heard what he’s supposed to be doing right? Tell me if you missed anything."

"I heard it all," Dechaun admitted.

"Good." Worthington nodded. "Now, the second thing is as long as he’s doing what he’s supposed to I want you to help him. Keep an eye on the campers. You can’t get distracted, help make sure no one sneaks off. If they do, you tell a counselor or a staffer, okay?"

"I’m not a snitch," Dechaun said defensively.

"No, you’re my lookout while I show a few government goons that they can’t fuck with me," Worthington said forcefully and knew it had been the right thing to say by the bright smile Dechaun threw at him.

"Okay then," Dechaun said.

"Good, and you’ll be making money doing this, too," Worthington said and saw Dechaun’s face light up.

"You don’t have to pay me, boss man," Dechaun said softly.

"If I’m your boss, I have to pay you, Dechaun," Worthington said. "We’ll start you off at a $100 an hour for now. That starts from when you took the guys and told them to get in the showers, and it stops when we all go to bed."

"It’s your money." Dechaun shrugged, but he was grinning.

"Good, now get to work and keep an eye on Mr. Hall," Worthington said, and Dechaun scampered out of the room.

"You going to wipe him too when it’s all done?" Jamie asked with a smirk.

"No, he is a good kid," Worthington said. "I’ll put on the same blocks I do on the MR, and maybe give him an anklet too. You never know when someone like him will be useful. He’s young enough that most people just ignore someone his age."

"So what are you planning?" Jamie asked. "Have you fully recovered from earlier?"

"No," Worthington admitted. "We’ll need to avoid a fight if we can. They want to talk, so I say we go talk to them. What do you think? You’re just as much an Adept as I am."

"You’ve got more training for shit like this." Jamie countered. "I’ll defer to you unless I think you’re making a big mistake."

"Okay." Worthington agreed with a nod. It was always good to know who was in charge, and what conditions anyone involved might have. "Colin, how are you feeling?"

"I’m still kind of out of it," Colin admitted. "I won’t be much use to you if it comes to a fight."

"You stay behind us, and if things go bad, put up the strongest shield you can see around us." Worthington decided. "That will give Jamie and me time to go on the offense. Remember the lesson on shields against bullets. As I found out today, it’s not an exaggeration how much power it takes."

"I can do that." Colin nodded and proceeded to finish getting dressed. When he was ready, they all nodded at each other and walked out of the dorm. Mr. Hall had people gathering in the common room already and nodded at them briefly. It looked like all the adults and counselors were there, and the kids that weren’t were in their dorms or the showers like the Badgers. That was fine as far as Worthington was concerned.

As soon as they left the dorm building, a spotlight hit them, dazzling all of them with its brightness. Colin, Jamie, and Worthington all put up strong shields at that, but when there was no immediate attack, Worthington signaled for Colin to hold his shield while he and Jamie dropped theirs. With Jamie at his side, Brandon behind him, Carl behind his brother, and Colin at the rear, Worthington walked slowly towards the gate while resisting the urge to cover his eyes. A probing thought showed the light wasn’t shielded magically, and he used the least amount of power as necessary to fling a rock from the ground at the light. It shattered, and there was the loud noise of people cussing as a mage shield sprang up over the group at the gate.

As the spots of purple faded from his vision, and his eyes adjusted again to the relative darkness of the night, Worthington saw what they were facing. There were four military-style Humvees in front of the gate, a black SUV, and a heavy-duty truck that had the now-broken spotlight on the back. In front of the gate were several soldiers with assault weapons wearing camouflage uniforms and two men in dark suits. With them was another man wearing camouflage but not carrying any weapons or wearing the flak vests of the soldiers. He was talking to the two suits while staring at the approaching group.

"They’re just kids." One of the dark-suits said as they reached the main gate, stopping just inside the protective ward Jamie had set up earlier. "I thought you said they were dangerous terrorists."

"They managed to fight off several of my best men earlier today." A soldier who appeared to be an officer said.

"They’re not even armed." The same dark-suit complained.

"They just shot out the light, didn’t they?" The not-soldier in camouflage said. Yes, he was the mage. "Now they’re here, do what you’re here to do."

"I am Special Agent Richard Darlin of the F.B.I." The dark-suit who had not spoken until now said gruffly. "We are here to serve arrest warrants that have been issued for Worthington Michael Sinclair the Fifth, Jameson Bradwell, and any others who might be in their presence."

"I am Worthington Sinclair," Worthington said in a carefully controlled tone. "Let me see the warrants."

"You will have to step outside the gate," Agent Darling frowned.

"If you have a warrant, why don’t you step inside?" Worthington retorted, and the man frowned before stepping forward. He almost laughed when the ward flashed, and the man was flung back several feet to land on his ass. His partner had his gun out and pointed at them, as did most of the dozen or so soldiers standing around the vehicles, including the one on the machine gun that was on top of one of the hummers.

"Stop playing your tricks, Sinclair." The mage in camouflage spat out. "We have enough firepower here to level this camp. Your game is up, and you will surrender. I don’t know how you beat the scrambler, but we’ll find that out and everything we want to know by the time we’re done with you."

"What are you talking about?" The agent still on his feet demanded.

"What are the charges we are facing?" Worthington asked calmly.

"Assaulting federal officers to start with." The mage sneered. "Interfering with an ongoing investigation is another charge. Oh, and let’s see, interfering with official business earlier today, assaulting U.S. Army soldiers, and there are the twelve cases of murder for the soldiers you killed a few weeks ago."

"So it was you who tried to kill me, having a sniper shoot at me while I was on a motorcycle," Worthington said quietly.

"What’s he talking about?" The officer-soldier demanded. "You said he just attacked those troops for no reason."

"Who are you going to believe, this kid or me?" The mage asked. As he spoke, Worthington could see him working his magic and lashed out with a whip-like cord of power that flared as it met the man’s shields.

"Be nice and let the man think for himself." Worthington snarled.

"What the hell is that?" The soldier demanded as he looked at the whip of power still in Worthington’s hands.

"It’s magic, the same stuff I threw at your soldiers earlier today when they tried to kidnap one of my people." Worthington retorted, and the officer frowned.

"Your people?" The mage scoffed. "You mean the government’s people. We found an untrained mage and was taking him in for training. It’s the law."

"What law?" Worthington demanded. "I have not heard of Congress passing any laws dealing with mages."

"What are you talking about?" The soldier demanded.

"Tsk, tsk, you employ soldiers and agents without them knowing the truth?" Worthington asked.

"They know." The mage said, and this time his magical move was too quick for Worthington to react. The soldier’s face slackened though, and then he blinked a few times. "I was just keeping their memories blocked in case you tried to use your abilities on them before we could bind you. You will not find out information about us until we have you safely in custody."

"I do know." The officer said in a tight voice. "Executive Order 09-3250A states that any mage who is not registered and licensed by the government shall surrender to government authority and be restrained until they have been judged to be harmless or law-abiding. You are at this moment informed that you have been judged to be dangerous and will surrender to lawful authority or be dealt with summarily."

"I see," Worthington said and accepted what was being said as truth for now. "It is interesting that no one seems to have heard about this Executive Order before."

"It is classified." The officer said. "You will submit to the authority of the government before you endanger any more innocent lives."

"No," Worthington said. "I may just be in high school, but I know you can’t arrest me. It is illegal for the military to arrest citizens."

"Boy, where you’re going there’s no quibbling about what can and cannot be done under the law." The mage snorted.

"Thank you for taking a great weight off of my mind," Worthington said with real relief and almost laughed at their confused looks as he turned around and led his little group back to the dormitory building. There was no attack, and looking back when he reached the building showed that the soldiers appeared to be setting up to watch, and wait.

That was good, such as it was. At least it gave him time.

"Now what?" Jamie asked.

"Now we keep this place well shielded, and we wait," Worthington said softly.

"What do we wait for?" Carl asked in a scared voice.

"The cavalry," Worthington answered and went back inside where two hundred and fifty voices were just finishing kumbaya.