The chain of coincidences 2/11

Malcolm the wizard sat gloomily on the steps of his caravan eating fish and chips. Two weeks ago he'd been famous in a small way as 'Mephisto the Magnificent'. He'd quite enjoyed his time with the circus.

Providing he kept out of the way of the witches in the alternate world, he didn't have any worries. He could make a nice quiet living, practice his magic every day and no longer had to worry about getting even with that human apprentice brat.

Then it had all gone wrong. Somehow the kid had managed to return unharmed from the parallel world where he'd asked some sailors to maroon her. Not even he'd known which world it was, there were hundreds of them.

He'd had a real shock when purely by chance, he'd recognised her sitting in the front row of the circus. Fortunately he'd had a trick ready to hand which enabled him to dispose of her for good but he'd had to leave the circus in a hurry in case someone started to ask questions.

He put the last couple of chips in his mouth and was just going to crumple up the newspaper and throw it away, when he recognised the kid's picture. He read the article and then looked at the date of the paper.

It just wasn't possible. Somehow she'd managed to escape again and get back home. There was something very strange going on. The only way she could keep escaping him, must mean that there was magical interference from somewhere.

The witches at the Gate were the obvious culprits. They must have given her some sort of safety spell. However, there was one positive thing to come out of the paper, at least he now knew the name of the village where she lived.

He started thinking furiously. He'd have to adopt some sort of disguise in case he was recognised and go and live somewhere handy nearby to study her movements. With a bit of luck he'd be able to think of a plan to get rid of her, only this time he would make sure it was foolproof.