As Tommy slept, a wizard came into his dream and said, "Tommy, this is the night you must come with me." And soon Tommy flew through the air on a journey that took him to London in the year, 1876. There on the outskirts of the city, among quaint old homes, he found himself hovering above a cobble stone street.
Just then, two other children his age flew in to join him, Janie from Los Angeles and Ahmed from Cairo.
"There is no time to lose," the wizard told the children. "Cedrick, an 8 year old boy has been kidnapped and his life is in danger.
"Some evil Englishmen have seized him and they are taking him away to work in a grimy factory, never again to be seen by his family. He could be worked to death!
"I need the three of you to follow me as we fly over the streets of London to find him and rescue him. Come quickly." And with that, the three children sailed high in the air, right behind the wizard as they flew over roof tops and chimneys until over a dark alley, they spotted Cedrick.
His hands were tied behind his back and a cloth stuffed into his mouth. "Shut your trap," the first man said to him, while the other man led the way to the factory.
But the wizard called out from the air, "Un hand that child," and he landed in front of the men who were terrified at the sight of a flying wizard, his blue robe blowing in the breeze and his tall pointed hat standing high over his head, as his stern stare gripped their attention.
"Tommy and Ahmed, set down here and untie Cedrick," the wizard called out. "And remove the cloth from his mouth.
"Janie, if you look to your right, on the next block are two police officers patrolling the street. Go get them." With that, the terrified men tried to run. But the wizard blocked their path and with the sweep of his left hand, his magical powers froze their legs.
That instant Janie arrived with the police officers and the wizard told them what had happened as he turned the two evil men over to them. "Officers, this is Cedrick and here is the address of his home and his parents. They are at the police station this very moment pleading for help in finding their son."
"Don't worry son," said one of the officers. "You are safe now. We will take you home to your parents and we will put these bad men in jail so they can never harm you or any other child again."
"Now I must leave you," the wizard told the police officers. "For I must return Tommy, Janie and Ahmed to their homes and to their parents." And with those words, the wizard flew high into the air, the children flying right behind him. And one by one, he thanked them and delivered them home.
Tommy was the last child to arrive home. As the wizard tucked him in bed, he said to Tommy, "That was quite an adventure wasn't it son. Perhaps some day you can again fly through the air, land in a distant city in another time and rescue someone else in dire need."
"I hope so," replied the dazzled 8 year old. "Thank you. I will never forget this night."
The next morning when his parents awoke him for school, Tommy told them all about it, including Cedrick. But his parents just laughed at their little boy's imagination and whisked him off to school.
But Cedrick's name stuck with Tommy's mother. She told her husband, "My family was from London, and my great-grandfather was named Cedrick.
"Legend has it, when he was 8 years old he was kidnapped by two men and was rescued by a wizard and three children. But with the generations that followed, we thought this was just a fantasy.
"But now I wonder, could this have really happened? Could it be true?"
Dick
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