Chapter 7
Later that day, Charlie met Rowan at June Park, where she found him sitting on a bench, feeding seeds to a number of small birds. After the incident with Roxy earlier that morning, she’d written him another email, asking to meet again. She hoped that even though Roxy seemed to somehow know that they were emailing each other, she still didn’t know the exact context of their messages. She’d had enough of the bounty hunter for one day.
Rowan didn’t notice Charlie approaching as she walked down the stone path toward him. He leaned forward, wearing a brown coat, with his elbows on his knees, and smiled at the assortment of chickadees, blue jays, and mourning doves hopping around in front of the park bench, enjoying the seeds. The sun reflected off his face, bathing him in a glow of warmth and golden color. His dark hair shone and his sparkling blue eyes complimented his gentle smile. Once again, Charlie melted at the sight of him. He was beautiful. And she wondered how someone so seemingly perfect could be the target of an arrogant bounty hunter.
Once Charlie got close enough to the bench, the birds flew away. Rowan looked up at her and smiled, saying hello and motioning for her to take a seat next to him.
“Sorry I scared the birds away,” said Charlie.
“Don’t worry,” said Rowan. “They’ll be back once you settle in.”
“What’s that you’re feeding them?”
“Sunflower seeds. Would you like some? They aren’t roasted like the ones you buy from the store, but it’s the way I like them. The birds do, too.”
“No thanks, that’s okay.”
Rowan nodded and, with his index finger and thumb, he flicked a seed into his mouth.
Charlie felt awkward, and she hoped it wasn’t showing. But if Rowan had noticed, he wasn’t letting on. She couldn’t stop thinking about the things that Roxy said. It had been eating at her all morning and what she wanted more than anything at that moment was to get honest and direct answers.
Only a few days ago, her life had been perfectly predictable and safe. There were no unexpected twists to worry about, and she had been completely happy, she thought, living her monotonous, boring life. Now all this talk about mortals, magic, bounty hunters, and wizards was starting to give her a headache. She wondered if the amount of books and video games she indulged in every day was beginning to have a strange effect on her mind.
For a long moment, Rowan and Charlie let the silence stretch out between them as they simply stared at a flock of geese in the pond that had yet to fly south before the winter months. The day was partly cloudy and quiet, and not so cold as to keep them from enjoying the weather. Then, once the smaller birds returned to feed on more sunflower seeds, Rowan interrupted the stillness.
“So, in your email you said there was something you wanted to talk about.”
“Yeah,” said Charlie, feeling nervous and not knowing where to begin. She didn’t want to sound crazy.
“Was it something I did?”
“No! You didn’t do anything, specifically. It’s just that I had a strange run-in with a woman named Roxy this morning. She claims to be a bounty hunter, and says that she knows you.”
“Oh,” Rowan fell silent, then placed his hand in the bag of seeds he carried and tossed some more to the birds.
“She said some really weird things,” Charlie continued, “like stuff about mortals and you hiding behind the mask of a wizard. Honestly, I feel bizarre even bringing it up. She knew about our emails too, which also seemed a bit odd.”
“I knew that using my email would probably tip her off to my whereabouts. But I took the risk because I wanted to get to know you.”
“You mean there really is a bounty hunter who’s out to get you?”
Rowan nodded.
Charlie’s heart beat faster. She didn’t want to believe that Roxy was telling the truth. But maybe all this time, Rowan was just too good to be true. Because really, who was she kidding? What sane gorgeous man would ever be interested in her? She was a geek. A nobody. She’d never had a chance with a guy like that in her teens and she definitely didn’t have a chance with a guy like that now. Unless, she thought, just as she wondered earlier that morning, Rowan was a criminal who was just setting her up for human trafficking.
“I need to know the truth about you,” said Charlie. “I mean, for the love of God, I don’t think I’d survive if you sold me into prostitution!”
“What?” said Rowan, looking at Charlie wide-eyed in astonishment; unable to help laughing out loud. “I’m not going to sell you into prostitution! Where did you get a crazy idea like that?”
“Oh sure, you say that now. But isn’t that what all criminals say? A criminal wouldn’t admit to being a criminal, would he? So what are you, some kind of computer wizard? Is that what Roxy meant? You hack into some kind of government database and steal women’s personal information so that you can woo them before handing them over to human traffickers for a price?”
“You must really have a wild imagination if you took the time to brew up a story like that. So is that what you think I am? A criminal?”
“Why else would a bounty hunter be looking for you? That’s how they make their living, right? They hunt bad guys. And I mean, it sort of all makes sense now, too.”
“What makes sense?”
“Why you seem to be so interested in me,” said Charlie, looking away sadly. “I mean, I’m not exactly a bombshell like Roxy. I’m just some geek with no life.”
Charlie choked back a sob and continued looking away, not wanting to look at Rowan for fear of losing control and crying. Then, she felt a warm hand sit atop her own and, turning her head back around, she found Rowan looking at her with soft eyes and a warm smile.
“You know, I tried telling you last night at the coffee shop,” he said. “But you wouldn’t believe me.”
“I wouldn’t believe what?” asked Charlie, unable to remember exactly which part of the night he was speaking of.
Rowan let go of her hand and reached into the bag of seeds he carried on his lap. He pulled out a single sunflower seed and held it between his index finger and thumb, examining it closely. Once he appeared satisfied with whatever he was looking for, he smiled.
“Look,” he said.
Charlie looked at the small seed intently. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to look for, but nevertheless, she inspected it carefully. Then, without warning, Rowan blew on the seed and flicked it away, where it then landed some distance into the grass.
Charlie raised her eyebrows at him curiously.
“Watch,” said Rowan, pointing to where the seed had fallen.
Charlie didn’t know where this was going, but decided to humor him anyway. Besides being a possible criminal, she hoped he wasn’t mentally ill as well.
But then something miraculous happened.
Charlie stared in disbelief as right before her very eyes, directly from where Rowan’s seed had fallen, a beautiful sunflower began to grow and take shape, not stopping until it was fully matured. In the midst of autumn where everywhere else leaves and flowers had begun to change color and die, right here before her under a partly clouded sky, the most bright and beautiful sunflower she had ever seen had sprouted from the cold earth. An impossibility unbelievably made possible. Her eyes were wide with amazement, and she stood up from the park bench and approached the flower to inspect more closely.
“How did you…” said Charlie, her words trailing off as she reached out and touched the warm petals of the newly born blossom.
“I told you,” said Rowan, a happy glint in his eye. “It’s magic.”
Once his words had registered in her mind, she turned around and looked at him again. “You mean you really are a…?”
“A wizard?”
Charlie nodded.
“Rowan Astaire,” said Rowan, bowing slightly, “traveling wizard at your service.”
Charlie looked over Rowan very carefully, waiting intently for the crack in his composure where he would final
ly break and start laughing about how good he had fooled her. He had to be joking. Wizards just weren’t real. They were the product of video games and good stories, fabled wise men of legends and sometimes Hollywood movies. One of her online friends played a wizard. Gandalf and Harry Potter were wizards! Not real life people sitting in parks and feeding birds. He liked LOLcats, for crying out loud! But Rowan’s expression never wavered. His belief in his statement never faltered. Charlie just couldn’t come to terms with it. It was too unbelievable. But that sunflower, how it just grew like that as if it were born of magic… If she hadn’t seen it for herself, she would never have believed it. It was hard to dismiss something as incredible as that.
“You look like you’re having a hard time coming to terms with this,” said Rowan, breaking the silence Charlie had left them in.
“Yeah, just a little,” said Charlie. “I mean you’re asking me to believe you’re a wizard – a real life magic user.”
“So the sunflower spell wasn’t enough to convince you?”
“Yes. I mean, no! I mean… do something else! Do some other trick just so I know that all of this isn’t some sort of illusion.”
Rowan nodded his head and agreed. So Charlie took a step back and prepared for whatever trick he attempted to do next, and hoped it had nothing to do with fire or explosions.
Rowan walked around the park bench and appeared to be deep in thought, as if he were trying to think up something good and more impressive than the magically sprouting sunflower. Then he stopped, his light bulb moment evidently clear through the excited expression on his face. Looking around to make sure nobody else was present, he walked over to a tree where several red and yellow leaves were barely holding onto their branches. Then, moving his hands through the air in a series of waving motions, he beckoned the leaves to leave their host tree.
Even though Charlie wanted to doubt his claim to being an actual wizard, she still expected something amazing to take place as she stood there watching. And that’s exactly what happened.
Like metal being drawn to a magnet, every leaf from the tree that Rowan was targeting were whisked off and collected into the middle of what looked like a minor whirlwind swirling before him. They swooshed and swirled as the sound of the wind increased in volume, and all the while Rowan laughed like he was having the time of his life. Then the leaves began forming together to take shape, and from that effort was born the image of a woman in the very likeness of Charlie herself, made completely of tree leaves. Charlie gasped and raised her hand to her mouth as the red and yellow lady lightly stepped toward her, her every footfall like the gentle sound of blowing leaves in the wind. The detail was amazing, right down to her facial structure and the wrinkles in her clothing. The leaf image smiled at her, and once her initial shock melted away, she smiled back. Then, as they reached out to each other and the ends of their fingertips connected, Charlie’s image made of red and yellow tree leaves fell apart and scattered in the wind.
Charlie looked at Rowan who stood leaning up against the newly naked tree, smiling victoriously.
“Now do you believe me?” he asked.
Charlie couldn’t deny it. She had witnessed indisputable proof of his ability to perform real magic, even if the very idea was still extraordinarily absurd. But how could she argue the facts?
“You’re a wizard,” said Charlie, surprisingly excited.