"I don't feel comfortable doing this," Jessica said as they bicycled away from her house. It was still an hour to the real sunset, but the sun was doing a rehearsal for that act by dropping below the layer of fog that was growing over the ocean.

Justin almost stopped his bike to turn and look at her with his "double dog dare you" look, but he thought better of it. If they stopped moving it would make it easier for Jessica to turn around and go back.

"Doing what?" Justin replied, trying to act like he didn't know what she meant.

"Going out to meet some strange man just before dark."

"What's the problem?"

"If you were a girl, you'd understand the problem."

"Well I'm not a girl, and I don't understand your problem."

"Don't you ever read the newspapers? Girls get kidnapped all the time. Boys too, sometimes."

"Well, you don't have to go, you know. You can turn around and go home."

"I'm not letting you go alone."

"What are you gonna do? Protect me?"

"Maybe I am."

"Yeah. Sure. How? Gonna hit him with your purse?" Justin, of course, knew that Jessica wasn't carrying a purse. She didn't even own one as far as he knew. When he looked back at her he was glad she didn't, because if she had had a purse she would have been beating him with it.

She glared at him, then said, "If there's two of us and something bad happens, at least one of us might get away to tell the cops."

"Jess, nothing bad's going to happen," Justin responded, though Jessica's worrying was starting to make him nervous. "Look, if Tethion was a really bad guy he could have done anything he wanted to us up on the mountain where there was no one around. Why would he wait until tonight and come down here, close to town?"

Jessica was silent for a while, trying to come up with an answer to that. Justin was starting to think he'd stumped her with his brilliant logic when she spoke again.

"I don't have to explain why he's waited. For all we know, he's totally out of his freakin' mind! People who are out of their minds don't do things the way normal people do. Like this whole wizard thing. How do we know he's really a wizard?"

"Well, he did that spell so we could understand him."

"Did he? How do we know it really was a spell? Maybe he was just talking gobbledeegook, and then started speaking normally. Maybe it's an act. Maybe he's done it so much he even believes it himself. Who knows?"

Justin hadn't thought of that, and it made him a little more nervous. But he wasn't about to admit it to Jessica, so he kept pedaling. He was relieved at the sound of her bicycle behind him. She wasn't turning back.

After a few minutes she said testily, "I don't know why you said we'd buy him a cheeseburger, anyway."

"I don't know, either," Justin replied. And that was true. Before they'd started to leave he'd offered to bring the wizard some more food. And then, after they'd started to walk away, he'd suddenly turned around and off the top of his head offered to buy Tethion a cheeseburger. "It just seemed like a good thing to do."

"Has it occurred to you, mister expert on wizards, that maybe Tethion put a spell on you to get you to buy him some food?"

That possibility had not occurred to Justin, and he could have kicked himself for not thinking of it. How often had that happened in his books, a wizard getting someone to do something and the victim not even realizing the wizard was pulling his strings like a marionette. Now he was seriously tempted to turn back, and if Jessica hadn't been there, he probably would have. A few minutes later they were approaching the Shipwreck Burger.

It had taken a little explaining before Tethion had understood what a cheeseburger was. And then it had taken a bit more discussion deciding how and where they should meet. Surprisingly, when Justin suggested meeting near the Shipwreck Burger, the little hamburger stand near the ruins of the old high school, Tethion already had been there. He explained that he'd found it by following the scent of charring meat.

"But I had no opportunity to investigate further. Some thuggish brutes suddenly appeared and began acting very threatening. You don't have to speak the language of people like that to know what they mean. I had to leave."

Tethion had seemed reluctant to return to the hamburger stand, and it certainly didn't seem wise for Justin and Jessica to walk right up to the order window with him. An old haul road for the Ebbettsport sawmill ran behind the burger place. The mill had closed and then burned down when Justin's father was a boy, but the road was still there, overgrown and used as a walking path. Tethion had discovered it in his earlier visit to the Shipwreck Burger. It offered plenty of concealment, so that's where they agreed to meet.

When Justin and Jessica were just within sight of the Shipwreck Burger, they turned off into the path that connected the mill road and the street. They Left their bikes there and walked back the few yards to the road. There was no one waiting.

Jessica looked all the way around, then turned to Justin. "Maybe he decided not to come," she said, with undisguised relief.

"But I did decide to come," a voice said, seemingly from nowhere. And then Tethion appeared, standing just in front of a bush.

Jessica gave a yelp and demanded, "How did you do that?"

Tethion smiled and made a small flourish with his staff. "I believe I mentioned the spell of obscuration earlier today," he said. "That was it. I heard someone coming, and not being certain if it was you, I hid myself. In my many travels I've learned that there are times when it is best not to be seen."

Justin was confused. "You made yourself invisible. I thought you said that couldn't be done."

"It can't be," Tethion replied, "as far as I know."

"But we couldn't see you. You were invisible."

"No, I wasn't. Not really. The spell merely tricked your eyes into looking around me. If you'd known where to look, and if you'd had some training and a talent for such things, or were able to work a counter spell, you'd have been able to find me quite easily. Or if I happened to move. That's a problem with spells of obscuration. One must remain motionless or the spell begins to fail very quickly. Motion catches the eye, you know. And another problem with the spell is that it makes one very hungry. You spoke of a cheeseburger?"

"You'd better wait here while we go," Justin started to say when Tethion suddenly disappeared.

Justin and Jessica looked at each other, but, before they could say anything, a voice called out to them. "Hey, it's Runty Ranstrom!"

They turned to see the hulking figure of Derwin Schnook stumping along towards them. Derwin was about the last person they wanted to meet, excepting maybe Lars and his buddies.

Derwin was actually several months younger than Justin, but he stood more than a foot taller. When they'd been in the first grade together, Derwin had been the tallest boy in the class, and he never lost that advantage, growing as fast as anyone else in the class and faster than most. He was also by far the widest boy in the class. He had been an unusually large baby, a fact that seemed to have made an impression on his mother, who still brought up the subject of how large he'd been at birth at every opportunity. In the following years, his weight had increased even faster than his height

He kept his weight growing by eating constantly. In the school lunch room he'd suck down his own lunch faster than a starving stray dog could devour a can of Alpo. Then he'd start foraging around, inspecting everyone else's lunches. When Derwin's bulk loomed overhead, his slightly squeaky, whiney voice demanding, "Gimme those Twinkies!" few refused him. Justin couldn't count the number of candy bars he'd lost to Derwin, even half-eaten ones. Derwin was well-fed, at least during the school year.

The rumor was that when football practice had started last week, the football coach at Elbridge Middle School had penciled Derwin in as starting center on sight. Then he'd called up the high school to see if he could borrow an extra-extra large uniform. And Derwin had instituted his own private training regime of eating even more than usual.

So, when they saw Derwin approaching on the path from the Shipwreck Burger, they knew what was coming - the Derwin shake down. They started backing away, debating whether to try and make a run for it. That was an iffy proposition. For all his size, Derwin was surprisingly fast.

Justin looked around for Tethion, to see if he had reappeared. Perhaps the presence of the strange man would deter Derwin. But Tethion was still nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Runt!" Derwin called. "Stop right there!"

Derwin's voice was not really very intimidating. In fact, it was a bit funny, especially when he became excited. But, coming from the jowly face and the barrel-like body, made to seem even larger by the bulky, oversized hooded sweatshirt he wore, it was intimidating enough to make them stop in their tracks. Derwin continued stumping towards them until he was almost within arm's reach.

"I'm hungry!" he said. "Buy me a burger."

They were both silent at first, uncertain how to respond. If they bought Derwin a burger, and they knew it wouldn't be just one burger, they wouldn't have enough left to buy anything for Tethion. Then Jessica got up her courage. Derwin didn't bother the girls too much anymore. His buddies had started razzing him when he did.

She stood up as tall as she could and jutted her chin out towards him. "We're not buying you a burger, Derwin."

"Ok, then buy me a double cheeseburger," he shot back. "With fries. Double fries!"

Movement caught Justin's eye. For just a brief moment, he saw Tethion taking a step, behind Derwin and to his right. And then Tethion blinked out of sight again.

"Well? What are you standing here for? Go get my double cheeseburger and double fries. And don't try sneaking any for yourselves"

Justin spotted Tethion taking another step. He looked at Jessica. It was obvious by the look on her face that she'd seen him too.

"We're not buying you anything, Derwin," Justin said defiantly.

Derwin looked a bit surprised. Defiance was something he wasn't familiar with, but it only threw him off for a moment. His eyes narrowed and he glared at them. "Fine. Gimme some money and I'll buy it myself."

The hood of Derwin's sweatshirt had been down. Now it started to rise, seemingly by itself, and drape over Derwin's head. Barely visible above it was a hand grasping the material, pulling it up and setting it in place. Derwin reached up with a start and swatted at the hood. He looked quickly left, right, left again.

"We don't have any money," Jessica said. She felt a small lie was justifiable under the circumstances.

"Yeah, right," Derwin sneered. "You're goin' to the Shipwreck Burger but you ain't got no money. You think I'm stupid or some'in?"

"Or something, yeah." Justin replied. "Look at it this way, Derwin. We don't have any money for you." Knowing Tethion was standing right behind Derwin made Justin feel a whole lot bolder.

"Lemme see your wallet, Runt," Derwin demanded. "I'll borrow what I need. Maybe you're gonna buy me two double-cheeseburgers."

Justin drew himself up as tall as he could, which wasn't nearly tall enough, and crossed his arms across his chest. "No!" he said.

Now, at this point, Justin started getting a little nervous. No one he knew had ever stood up to Derwin before, except maybe some guys a few years older who were as big as he was. But Derwin didn't bother those guys much to begin with, so there was not much there on which to base a guess of how he would react.

And then a disembodied voice boomed out of nowhere. By the odd inflections they knew it had to be Tethion.

"You are a scoundrel and a rapscallion! You are a disgrace to your father and your father's fathers before him. Go! And leave these people alone!"

Derwin whirled around to see who had spoken. He looked rapidly from one side to the other, then slowly scanned the entire lane. He turned back to face Justin and Jessica. Justin had to give him credit. He didn't scare easily.

"How'd you do that?" he demanded. "You learn ventriloquism or some'in?"

"It wasn't me," they both said in unison.

"Yeah, well there ain't no one else here, so who was it?"

"It wasn't us," Jessica said. "And it wasn't you. So it must have been no one. He's the only one here besides us."

"Very funny," Derwin sneered. "Now gimme some money. My cheeseburger's gettin' cold."

A hand and arm appeared behind Derwin, the hand holding Tethion's staff. The staff flicked forwards to whack Derwin solidly in the rear, then disappeared again.

Derwin yelped, clutched his bottom and jumped forward, almost landing on Justin. He spun around looking wildly for his assailant.

"Wha'the…." he said, his voice higher and whinier than usual. "Who's there? Who did that?"

"I don't see anyone? Do you see anyone, Justin?"

"Nope. I don't see anyone. You see anyone, Derwin?"

"There has to be someone!" he insisted. "Someone kicked me in the butt! Hey! Whoever you are, come out and show yourself! You coward! Come out and face me!"

"Um, who are you talking to, Derwin?"

"There's no one there. Do you see something we don't?"

"There has to be someone!"

"But there's no one…." Jessica started to say. Then she lowered her voice. "Unless it's the poltergeist."

"The polter…polter…?" Derwin asked, his voice uncertain. "What's a poltergeese?"

"It's a ghost," Justin explained. "It plays tricks on people. They can be really nasty sometimes."

"You mean you haven't heard the story about the ghost that haunts the Shipwreck Burger?" Jessica chipped in. "I thought everyone knew about that."

"I ain't never heard about no ghost." Derwin tried to sound defiant, but his voice was starting to tremble a little.

"Oh, it happened a long, long time ago," Jessica explained. "Back in the 1950's - before my mother was even born."

"Yeah," Justin added. "I heard it from my grandfather. He was here back in those days."

"The story my mother heard was that there was this boy, see. And some bullies were picking on him one day. And he tried to run away from them and he ran out into the street and a car hit him."

"No, no," Justin butted in. "It wasn't a car. It was a logging truck. A big truck with a big, heavy load of logs. Ran him right down. Ran right over him."

"Yeah, that's right," Jessica stepped back in. "It wasn't a car. It was a logging truck. And it just smashed him to a pulp."

"When they went to put in him the coffin, they had to get some big sponges," Justin said gravely. "'Cuz all that was left of him was like a big puddle of spaghetti sauce. They had to sponge him up and then wring the sponges out into the coffin."

It was Jessica's turn again. "And what they couldn't pick up with the sponges, the firemen came and they washed down the street with their hoses, right here in front of the Shipwreck Burger. And bits of his skin and hair and teeth and pieces of his liver and his brains all got washed away down the storm drain. That one," she pointed, "right on the corner."

"And ever since," Justin said solemnly, "his ghost has roamed through the night, outside the Shipwreck Burger, searching for the bullies who caused his death. He wants to take revenge on them."

Derwin had been taking short steps back and towards the street as they spoke, so that Justin and Jessica had had to turn away from Tethion to look at him. They were watching his face to see if he was buying their story. At first it seemed doubtful, then Derwin's jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide - so wide that it almost seemed to change the shape of his face. He was staring out into the lane. They turned to look at what Derwin saw.

There, appearing to hang in mid-air, about five feet off the ground, was a light. It was about the right height for the top of Tethion's staff, and if Justin squinted a little he could just make out the fingers of wood grasping the crystal. But Derwin wasn't noticing them. He just saw a spot of cold, white light hanging in mid-air.

The disembodied voice boomed out. Looking closely Justin could just barely make out moving lips, suspended in the air. "I…told…you…to…be…GONE…fat…pig…of…a…man! GO! Back to your stye! And never come here again!"

Derwin almost knocked Jessica over as he took off running towards the street. Tethion appeared briefly, stooping to pick up a stone which he threw after the retreating figure. Then he disappeared again. When Derwin had turned onto the street and was well away, Tethion reappeared.

"Wow, that was great!" Justin said.

"Think Derwin will ever come back here again?" Jessica asked.

"When he gets hungry enough, maybe."

"From the looks of him, that may be a fair time," Tethion said with a quiet laugh.

They agreed that Tethion should wait in the shadows near the bicycles while Justin and Jessica went for the cheeseburger. They returned a few minutes later.

Jessica removed the cheeseburger from the bag and partially unwrapped it. She handed it to Tethion. He took it, looked at it, smelled it and said, "So this is a cheeseburger." He took a bite, chewing slowly, then took another. "That's very good. Very good. I wonder if I could learn to prepare one when I return home?"

He shifted the cheeseburger so that he was holding it with one hand. With his free hand he lifted the top bun and examined the contents.

"Finely chopped meat, I see. Onion slices. What looks to be a form of tomatl, more red than what we grow. A leaf I do not recognize." He dipped a finger into the melted cheese and tasted it. "Ah, this must be the cheese, though it's of a variety I am not familiar with." Tethion replaced the top bun and quickly finished the cheeseburger. "Some other flavor there I do not recognize."

"That's their special sauce," Jessica said. "It's a secret."

Justin pulled the paper pouch of fries out of the bag and handed them to Tethion. "These are French fries," he said.

Tethion took one of the fries and examined it. The Shipwreck Burger made their own French fries, from whole potatoes, so they were thick and irregular. "This is a fried French?" he asked. He took a bite of it. "Hmmm. Batata," he said.

"It's made from a potato," Jessica said. "It's called a French fry because of the way it's cooked - in hot oil."

"Hmm. You call it potato; we would call it batata. It seems very like the tubers we grow." He took another and ate it. "Cooked in hot oil, you say. We seldom cook that way, though they do in the kingdoms to the south. It's good. I will have to try it when I return home."

Tethion finished off the French fries quickly. "Well, those were quite good and I thank you. Now I should be getting back to The Well."

They started back down the old mill road. It was getting quite dark now, especially with the way the trees turned the road into a tunnel in places. When they reached a place where a trail led out to the street Justin and Jessica decided to go back that way. They were on the edge of town, but there were still scattered streetlights. Tethion accompanied them to the curb.

"Well, good night, Tethion," Jessica said.

"Hope you enjoyed the cheeseburger," Justin added.

"That I did, and again I thank you," Tethion replied. Then he paused. He was looking over their heads. "What are those and why are they up there?"

Justin and Jessica both turned around and looked up. A pair of shoes, tied together by the shoelaces, dangled from a telephone line.

"This Timmie, he couldn't retrieve these boots? These cross-trainers as you call them?"

"No. They're stuck up there until the laces rot and they fall down. Then sooner or later they'll end up in the trash."

"So, would you say they've been abandoned?"

"I suppose so."

Tethion looked thoughtful. Then he raised his staff and began mumbling. He pointed the end of the staff at the shoes. One of the shoes began rocking back and forth as Tethion gently moved the staff. Then it flipped over the wire once, twice, a third time.

"Hmmm. That doesn't seem to be doing it."

Again, Tethion mumbled something and began rotating the tip of the staff in the opposite direction. The shoe circled the wire, going the other way. Finally the pair fell to the ground. Jessica went out to retrieve them. She handed them to Tethion.

"By rights you should return these to this Timmie, but I am in fairly desperate need of footwear." He held up one foot and displayed the sole of the moccasin-like boot he wore. The sole had been repeatedly patched and could have used more patches. "I have a small store of coinage, though I have my doubts as to whether any of it would be honored here. Still, what would be a fair price?"

"You got them off the wire, they're yours. Finders keepers." Justin was feeling very generous with Timmie's shoes. Besides, Timmie had the most generous allowance of anyone he knew and had already replaced them. Part of the reason Lars and his friends had taken the shoes was because Timmie had been showing them off.

"Well, if you think it's proper…."

Tethion sat down on the curb and removed one of his boots. He tried on one of the shoes. Timmie Dahlstedt was famous for his large feet, but the cross-trainers were not quite large enough. Tethion set the shoe down. He took his staff and planted it squarely on the shoe. He mumbled an incantation. Nothing seemed to happen, but when he tried the shoe on again it stretched noticeably. He repeated the performance with the other shoe, then stood up and took a few steps.

"Ah, that is quite remarkable," he said. "If you could bring a few score of these to the Misty Shore you'd make your fortune. I'm not sure if the spell of fitment will last, but we'll see. I can always work it again as necessary. And now I must be off."

"You can find your way back in the dark?"

"I think I'll be able to manage." The crystal on top his staff began to glow softly. "Will you be…what was that expression? Ok?"

"No problem. We have streetlights most of the way home."

"Then I wish you a goodnight, my friends."

Tethion turned and started up the pathway into the trees. He quickly faded from view, as if he'd done his obscuration spell again.