Free RS01. The Reluctant Sorcerer by Simon Hawke

held the twig out, mumbled a fire spell, and the twig burst into flame.
    “Oh, thanks,” said Brewster absently, drawing on the pipe as Mick held the burning twig to the tobacco.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    By now, you’re probably thinking. Now wait a minute... Doesn’t Brewster realize that by introducing technology into the past, much less into an entirely different universe, he’s interfering with history and incurring all the risks that implies? Well, in a word, no.
    For one thing, Brewster still hasn’t figured out that he’s in another universe. (Give him time. He’s actually doing pretty well, all things considered.) For another, scientists often tend to be rather literal-minded, and when presented with a problem, they simply consider that problem in terms of a solution. (Remember the Manhattan Project?) Scientists love problems, and Brewster was certainly no exception. He became caught up in Mick’s enthusiasm and did not really pause to consider all the ramifications of what he was about to do. This is not at all unusual. It is extremely doubtful that Dr. Victor Frankenstein, for instance, paused to consider all the ramifications of creating life before he embarked upon his famous project. (For that matter, some people argue that the Creator did not really pause to consider all the ramifications of creating life. Such people are called philosophers.) In any case, it never even occurred to Brewster that he might be meddling with history, or playing around with things “man was not meant to know,” or any of that negative existential stuff. Like countless scientists and tinkerers before him, who might have thought twice had they paused to consider what innovations such as television, nuclear energy, or microchips might lead to, he simply considered the problem in terms of a solution, scratched his head, and solved it.
    In theory, that is.
    In practice, of course, it was somewhat more complicated, and the moment Brewster realized that Mick was seriously interested in actually doing it, why then, it became another interesting problem-the problem of putting theory into practice, which is something else scientists dearly love to do. They will blissfully go through life solving problem after problem, something they have in common with engineers, and as long as they’re kept busy, they’ll be happy. (Trust me, you really don’t want to have scientists with nothing but time on their hands. When that happens, they start writing novels.) The immediate problem, of course, was finding a suitable location for the project, as Mick’s smithy-despite being built to accommodate his normal-sized customers-was much too small. Mick, however, had a perfect solution to the problem.
    “I know just the place,” he said as they walked the trail leading out from behind his little cottage to the foothills. “As it happens, I’d already considered offerin’ its use to you.” He paused to yank on the rope he held in his hand. Tethered at the other end of the rope was the little peregrine bush. Brewster had never seen anyone walk a bush on a leash before, but Mick explained that he did it every day. Most of the time, he kept the bush inside the smithy, where he was afraid it did not get enough light. Taking it for walks helped, but Mick had to use the leash, not so much because he was afraid the bush would wander off, for it didn’t move too quickly, but because it had a tendency to burrow its roots into the ground if left alone and then it was a pain to dig it up again.
    “You never know,” said Mick, once he got the bush moving again, “it might take a while to find this other missin’ magic chariot of yours, and while I would be honored to have you for a house guest, my humble cottage is really much too small for your proper comfort and the smithy wouldn’t do at all, y’see. Nay, I have just the place in mind. My laboratory would suit our purpose admirably, I think.” Brewster’s ears perked up and he stopped on the trail.