“You’re back. That was fast,” Angus said. He looked at the clock on the wall.

“Where is everyone? It’s just you, Jason and Johnny. We weren’t gone that long.” Fiona hugged her uncle.

“That’s correct. You’ve been gone five minutes our time, but there was a lot that needed to be done, so everyone hurried off. Hello Elspet, Callum, Jimmy. Glad to see you all safe. Don’t worry about the others. They’ll all be back shortly. Now, do you have the stone?” Angus put his hand out.

Jason and Johnny put their books down and stood around the orb. “That’s a fine looking stone,” Johnny said.

“It’s tanzanite and we had to go to the end of the world to get it,” Callum said, chuckling.

“Are you ready?” They nodded. Angus slipped the stone into place. “That’s the tenth one. See how bright the jewels are now. Amazing.” Whirling colors shot around the room and the dragon appeared on the wall. “It’s almost complete. Only two more to go. Can you feel the energy? It’s almost blinding now. Amazing; simply amazing. I’ll never get used to this display.” They watched the glowing orb in silence until Angus spoke. “I suppose our next guest will be showing up shortly. Who is it this time?”

“Serbel. We’ll call him Jeremy. The other day when we were at the shops with Mairi, I saw all these key chains. I wrote down all the ‘J’ names. We’ve covered most of them.” Johnny scratched his chin. “Why don’t you all have a seat on the settee and tell us about your trip. By the time you’re finished all the others should be back.”

                             *  *  *

Drayton’s necklace lit up. He counted the colored stones. “Ten of them. If I can just survive this until the 12^th one is in, I’ll take that orb and disappear. Once I have the power to go back in time, Phelan will never be able to find me. I might just go back before he was around and kill him when he first appears.” He slouched against the wall. “I want to get out of this place.”

Drayton didn’t notice the man running down the hall and disappearing out of the door. Serbel ran as though he was an eagle flying, silently and fast. Drayton fell asleep out of boredom.

Sometime during the early afternoon Drayton woke up. A shadow blocked the sun, sending shivers through his body. He opened his eyes. “Phelan. How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to see you wasting your life away. I’ve had enough of you and your slothfulness. I’ve come up with a plan.” Without another word the wizard flew at Drayton and entered his body. Drayton screamed in anger and pain.

“Your body is mine now.” Phelan’s wicked laugh filled the empty castle with an evil chill.

Drayton heard Phelan speak. “You’ve taken possession of my body? Why is it that I can hear you? Who is in control, you or me?”

“I am in complete control. Though we can hear each other and speak to each other, I decide what your body does. You have wasted too much time. The tenth stone is in the orb now. That leaves only two more. With your body I can leave this castle and do the things that need to be done without having to depend on you. I wish I’d thought of it days ago.” Phelan walked over to the castle door. “It feels nice to have a human body once again.”

Drayton panicked. “Get out. It’s my body, not yours.”

“I’m sorry to say this, boy, but from now on you don’t exist, except in your mind. I would suggest you accept it and be quiet. Keep this in mind, boy. Though I am in control, you will feel hunger and pleasure and pain. Since I am not in my own body yet, simply controlling yours, it won’t change much. If you don’t cooperate, I will make sure you feel a lot of pain and little pleasure.” Phelan roared and ran off into the woods.

                                    *  *  *

          Serbel knocked at Angus’s door. Jason opened it. “Welcome, Serbel. Come in. Come in.”

          Serbel looked at the others in the croft. “Hello.” He nodded and smiled.

          “Without asking a lot of questions, your name from this moment on is Jeremy. It’s good to see you. It’s been a long time.” Johnny hugged his old friend.

          “Yes, Jeremy, it is grand seeing you again. You can call me Jason and this is Johnny. You recognize Jimmy, of course. The children are Fiona, Elspet and Callum. Others will arrive soon. You’ll be overwhelmed.”

          “I already am,” Jeremy snickered.

          Fiona walked over to Jeremy. “I have to tell you that your traps were lame. I mean, come on, Jeremy. Those prisoner ghosts had about as much intelligence as my big toe.”

          “Oh really. I thought I’d done a good job with my selections. I thank you for sharing your opinion,” Jeremy said.

          Callum chuckled. “She’s right. Those traps were so easy. Thanks for doing that. It was nice not to have to do some of those other things that we had to do in Iceland and Spain. How did you like Tierra del Fuego when you were there?”

          “It was a dismal place,” Jeremy said. “I had a miserable time getting there and I couldn’t wait to leave. There was only some Indian tribe there at the time. They welcomed me and I appreciated that, but it was so isolated and lonely and cold. Remember, I was born and raised in the desert.”

          “It still is a miserable place; colder than a witch’s tooth,” Jimmy added.

          “A witch’s tooth? I’ve not heard that saying before,” Serbel said.

          “You’ll be learning a lot of new words here,” Callum added.

          The door opened. Mairi and Jeffrey came in carrying bags of food. “Serbel! It’s good to see you.” Jeffrey shook his friend’s hand.

          “His name is Jeremy now,” Elspet said.

          “I’m so glad you made it home in one piece, all of you. So, how was it?” Mairi unloaded the groceries from the bags.

          “Interesting, Mum. What did you bring to eat?” Fiona looked in the bags. “Brilliant! Chocolate covered biscuits.”

          “Forget the biscuits and tell us about your journey? Did you find yourself in a lot of danger?” Mairi’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

          Fiona looked over at Jeremy and giggled. “I’ll tell you later, Mum.”

          “Jeremy, sit over here with me,” Angus said. “The lot of them will be walking through that door any minute and there won’t be room to breathe. I’ll fill you in on what’s happening.”