Читать книгу Legacy: The Mark of Merlin - Gerald Pruett - Страница 6

Chapter One

“Are you Harris Bradley, the brother to Tanya Anderson?” he heard a man ask after he had sluggishly answered the phone as he continued to lie in bed.

It was the first Tuesday of October at 3:58 A.M., Savannah, Georgia time within the first two decades of the twenty-first century, and the phone call had awakened Harris and his wife Allyson.

The twenty-six-year-old man glanced at the alarm clock before he answered with his British accent, “Yes. Who is this?”

“This is Detective Sykes of the Kansas City Police Department. Your sister Tanya and her husband Michael were involved in a serious auto accident. I’m sorry, Mr. Bradley, but your sister and brother-in-law had died soon after reaching the hospital.”

“My God!” Harris uttered as he shot up into a sitting position, along with swinging his feet around until they were touching the floor.

“What is it?!” Harris’s twenty-three-year-old wife asked worriedly in her southern accent as she too sat up.

Harris gestured for Allyson to wait as Detective Sykes continued with, “The doctor was able to deliver your sister’s daughter in time though.”

“Oh God, that’s right!” Harris uttered in a tone as if the memory of his sister being pregnant was brought back suddenly. “She was eight months pregnant with a girl. How is she?”

“What’s going on?!” Allyson demanded.

Harris again gestured for Allyson to wait as Detective Sykes replied, “In spite of her being born premature she’s doing excellent; however, according to my paperwork, you, your wife and Michael’s sixteen-year-old sister Ellen are the only ones listed as being Tanya and Michael’s next of kin.”

“Yes, well, we are the only ones living within the States,” Harris said. “To Tanya that is. Ellen does have relatives, but I don’t know where or how to get in touch with them.”

“Okay, well, Ellen is a minor, and so I’ll need you and your wife to come to Kansas City and claim custody of Ellen and your newborn niece. Otherwise the two will be placed in foster homes.”

“Yes, of course. My wife and I will be there as soon as humanly possible,” Harris assured Detective Sykes.

“Where will we be as soon as humanly possible?” Allyson again demanded to know.

When Harris again gestured for Allyson to wait, Allyson just grunted her annoyance of not being answered.

“Okay, I’ll see you and your wife when you two get here. Bye,” Detective Sykes said during Allyson’s grunt.

“Bye,” Harris said in a low and distant tone.

As Harris was hanging up the phone, Allyson demanded, “Will you tell me what in hell is going on?!”

In the same low and distant tone, Harris said, “Tanya and Michael were in an accident.”

“Oh my God!” Allyson uttered as her worry deepened. “Are they okay?!”

“No; they’re not,” Harris said. “They both were killed, but the doctor was able to deliver their daughter before it was too late.”

“Oh my God!” Allyson uttered in a shock tone.

“We have to leave for Kansas City tonight,” Harris informed as he went to stand up.

“Yes; of course,” Allyson said as she quickly stood as well. Harris went to put on his pants as Allyson went to put on a robe. “I’ll pack and you can call the airport for flight schedules.” Once Harris put on and buttoned his pants, he stood introverted as tears filled his eyes. “Harry?”

Harris came out of his thoughts and looked at Allyson. As tears flowed down his cheeks he said, “Tanya’s dead.”

Allyson moved to and gave Harris a consoling hug. As she gently stroke Harris’s hair, Harris cried harder.

After a few seconds Allyson told Harris, “Tanya still needs you, Harry. Her daughter needs you.”

Harris broke the hug and as he collected his composure, he said, “Right.” He then gestured towards the bedroom door. “I’ll call the airport.”

When Allyson gave Harris a sympathetic nod, Harris turned and left the room.

In Kansas City, Missouri, at a two-story house within a nice neighborhood, an attractive and socially liked sixteen-year-old girl—a girl who actually looked slightly younger than her actual age—had been awakened from her sleep from the noise of someone pounding on the front door.

As she moved from the stairs towards the door with a baseball bat in a ready-to-strike position, she yelled out, “I called the police!”

“We are the police—I’m Detective Bradshaw of the Kansas City Police Department!” a male voice shouted back. The teenager went to the peephole and saw three men who were each dressed in a business casual manner. “Ellen Anderson?! Did you hear me?! I’m Detective Bradshaw of the Kansas City Police Department!”

“Hold your badge up at the peephole to where I can see it,” Ellen ordered.

“For Pete’s sake,” Ellen heard before watching one of the three men holding up a badge. “There! Satisfied?”

Ellen slightly hesitated and without verbally answering Detective Bradshaw she put the bat down and went to unlock the front door.

Once the door was open, Ellen demanded to know, “What’s this about?”

“Can we come in?” Detective Bradshaw asked politely.

“Can you give me a second so I can stash my drugs?” Ellen jokingly requested. When the three shot her disturbed looks she quickly continued with, “Come in and look. I’m joking. I don’t even do drugs.”

As the three men stepped in, the second man said, “Yes, well, all joking aside, we’re here on serious business.”

“I didn’t think you woke me to sell me tickets to the Policemen’s Ball,” Ellen retorted as the third man shut the door. “And I know I didn’t do anything wrong, which brings me back to my recent question—what’s this about?”

“Ellen Anderson, I am Jared Claiborne… a social worker,” the second man said while extending his hand to shake hands. Ellen just stared at his hand as if it was disease-infected, and after a brief moment, Jared dropped his handshake offer. “Yes, well, anyway, I’m here… we’re here because we have terrible news about your brother Michael and sister-in-law Tanya.”

“What about them?!” Ellen demanded to know in a worried tone.

“There was an accident on the highway…” Jared was only able to get out.

“They’re okay though, right?!” Ellen quickly interrupted with.

“I’m… I’m afraid not,” Jared informed. “They died after reaching the hospital.”

Ellen’s knees buckled slightly and before she fell completely, she went to sit down at where she was standing.

Detective Bradshaw went to catch her, but before he could she uttered, “No! I need to sit!”

“Okay,” Detective Bradshaw said while backing off and allowing her to sit.

Just after Ellen sat down she cried into her hands.

Jared waited for a brief moment before squatting next to Ellen and saying gently, “Before Tanya died, the doctor was successfully able to deliver her daughter.”

Ellen raised her head slightly before asking in a slight stupor, “The baby’s alive?”

“She is,” Jared said before stating at what hospital her niece was in.

“I’m an aunt,” Ellen said somberly.

“Ellen, I’ll need you to come with me,” Jared informed her before he stood again.

“Come with… where?” Ellen asked somberly.

“There’s a foster couple with a room prepared for you,” Jared said. “They’re caring for two kids already so…”

“No!” Ellen quickly uttered in an unyielding tone.

“Being that you’re a minor, you can’t stay here alone,” Jared told her.

“I want to see my niece,” Ellen insisted.

“I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Hunter will allow it during visitation hours,” Jared said.

Ellen stood up and demanded through her clench teeth, “I want to see my niece now!”

Before Jared or the two detectives could respond, there was a knock at the door followed by a woman calling out, “Ellen! It’s Jane.”

“She’s my neighbor,” Ellen supplied as Detective Brad-shaw moved towards the door.

Detective Bradshaw pulled out his badge, and once he opened the door, he held it up for Jane to see.

After a second of staring at the badge, Jane faced Ellen before saying, “Ellen can be headstrong and at times a smart-aleck, but she’s no criminal or troublemaker.”

“Mike and Tanya are dead,” Ellen got out before she began sobbing again.

“Dead?!” Jane uttered in a shocked tone. “How?!”

“They were involved in an accident on the highway,” Detective Bradshaw said. “The doctor was able to save their baby though.”

“Okay, well, may I enter?” Jane strongly requested. “So I can console her.”

Detective Bradshaw gestured for her to proceed while saying, “Come in.”

Seconds later, as Ellen was embracing Jane’s consoling hug, Jane asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Ellen pulled back and as she wiped the tears from her eyes, she asked, “Can I stay with you tonight?”

“Yes, of course,” Jane said.

Ellen faced Jared before asking in a snippy tone, “That’s okay, right?”

“It will be okay for tonight… what’s left of it anyway,” Jared said. “Until you reach eighteen though, a more stable residence for you must be found. Of course finding you a stable home would be a lot easier if you had living relatives.”

“I do have living relatives,” Ellen quickly said.

“You do?” Jared questioned in a surprised tone. “I was under the impression that Mike was your only living blood relative.”

Ellen shook her head while saying, “My dad—Mitchell Anderson—is still alive and kicking… somewhere. Of course the last report on him was three years ago just after he had gotten out of prison, so that could’ve change since then. And my dad has a twin brother… who I’ve never met, so spin the wheel on if he’s still alive…”

“Okay, so you don’t know the whereabouts of any living blood relative?” Jared asked.

Ellen shook her head before saying, “I consider Tanya’s brother Harry and his wife Allyson as family.”

“Yes, well, for you to live with your sister-in-law’s relatives is one option I can bring up to my supervisor,” Jared told her. “Of course Harry and Allyson will have to agree to it.”

Ellen grinned before saying, “They like me, so I don’t think that they will refuse to let me live with them for a couple of years.”

Jared nodded before saying, “Okay, well, I’ll let you go home with Jane for right now and I’ll see you in a few hours. And hopefully by then, I will have better news for you.”

Ellen nodded before saying, “You can take your time getting back to me… unless Harry and Allyson agree for me to move in with them.”

Jared amusingly grinned before saying, “Goodnight, Ellen.”

Ellen slightly waved while echoing, “Goodnight.”

Detective Bradshaw, his partner and Jane also echoed, “Goodnight.”

Detective Bradshaw, his partner and Jared then left the house, and once the door was shut behind them, Jane told Ellen, “Go grab what you’ll need, honey.”

“Can you take me to the hospital… to see my niece?” Ellen asked before she told her which hospital.

“You should rest a while…” Jane was only able to get out.

“I don’t need to,” Ellen insisted.

“You look exhausted.”

“I’m fine,” Ellen again insisted.

“Humor me and sleep… actually sleep for an hour, and then I’ll take you to the hospital,” Jane prompted.

Ellen slightly hesitated before sighing and saying, “Fine. I’ll sleep for an hour.”

“Okay,” Jane said with a grin. “Now go get your things. You’ll sleep at my place.”

Ellen nodded before turning and walking towards the stairs.

Within a short time, Jane was lying alongside Ellen in Jane’s guest bed, and after a minute of Ellen lying still, Ellen’s tears flowed uncontrollably. Jane put her arm over Ellen and allowed her to cry. Within an hour Ellen had cried herself to sleep, and once Jane knew for certain that Ellen was asleep, she eased herself out of bed and went to her room.

Jane didn’t want to wake Ellen after she was asleep for an hour, and so Ellen had awakened on her own while needing to use the bathroom after five hours of sleeping.

Jane was in the living room while dusting off her wooden furniture, and when Ellen stepped in, she accused in an unhappy tone, “You failed to wake me.”

Jane looked at Ellen before saying, “You needed your sleep more than you needed to see your niece. Plus I’d never said that I would wake you after an hour.”

“Okay, well, I’m up now,” Ellen retorted. “I want to go to the hospital.”

“Would you like to eat first?” Jane prompted.

“I’ll eat later!” Ellen quickly and impatiently uttered.

“Okay,” Jane quickly agreed. “Let me finish what I’m doing—it will only take a minute—and then we can go.”

“Fine,” Ellen agreed unhappily.

“Oh and I called your school,” Jane said as an afterthought. “I told them why you wouldn’t be in school today and possibly for the rest of the week.”

“Thanks,” Ellen said in an appreciative tone. “School had never even crossed my mind.”

Jane grinned before saying, “I didn’t think it had… and you’re welcome.”

Ellen just responded with a slight grin.

Within twenty minutes Ellen and Jane were told to take a seat in the waiting room, and within an hour after that, the hospital staff gave into Ellen’s relentless nagging on wanting to see her niece.

Ellen’s niece was only wearing a pamper, and being that she was four weeks premature, Ellen and Jane were only allowed to look at the baby through the clear hood of the infant incubator that the staff had her in. Other newborns were in the room as well.

Ellen had only looked at her sleeping niece for a second before saying, “She’s beautiful.”

Ellen then noticed a birthmark just below her niece’s left collarbone that looked like a waning crescent moon. The birthmark’s diameter was seven-sixteenth of an inch, and to the right of it from an onlooker’s point of view (on the side towards the left arm) were three freckles. The first freckle missed touching the birthmark at what would be the moon’s equator by only one-sixteenth of an inch. Again from an onlooker’s point of view, the second freckle was one-fourth of an inch to the right of the first one. The third freckle was above the first two by one-fourth of an inch and centered. The third freckle was the darkest of the three.

“Oh my God!” Ellen uttered delightfully before pointing. Jane looked to where she was pointing. “There. I’ve seen pictures of my grandpa… my dad’s dad and he had the exact same moon-stars birthmark…”

“Cool.”

“Except my grandpa’s birthmark looked as if it was one day to a new moon while hers looks as if it’s three days to a new moon,” Ellen continued. After a short silence, Ellen told her niece, “I wish your mom and dad could be here, baby girl.”

Jane put her arm around Ellen’s shoulder while saying, “Perhaps they’re here in spirit.”

Ellen thought for a second before saying, “Perhaps they are.” Jane then heard Ellen’s stomach growling.

“Ellen Anderson, you need to eat something,” Jane insisted. “And don’t tell me you’re fine.”

“Okay, I’ll go to the cafeteria.”

“There are several fast-food restaurants around here. Wouldn’t you rather go to one of them?” When Ellen glanced at her niece, Jane continued with, “You can’t camp out here and be with her twenty-four seven.”

Ellen slightly sighed before announcing where she wanted to eat.

Jane nodded with a grin while saying, “Let’s go.”

“I’ll be back, baby girl,” Ellen told her niece before she and Jane left.

Forty-five minutes after Ellen and Jane had left the hospital, a nurse led Harris and Allyson to their niece’s infant incubator. As they were approaching the room, the nurse told them, “A teenage girl by the name of Ellen Anderson was here earlier.”

“She’s no longer here?” Harris quickly asked.

“She left… I believe to get something to eat,” the nurse said. “I overheard her telling one of the other nurses that she’ll be back.”

“Good, I need to see her,” Harris said as they reached the room.

The nurse continued through the door. As she stopped at the infant incubator, the nurse said, “I would like to introduce you two to your niece. She’s sleeping right now, and as of yet, she has no name.”

“When her other aunt gets back we three will come up with a name for her,” Allyson said as Harris stared at the moon-stars birthmark as if he was seeing the mark of the devil. “Right, honey?” When Harris didn’t respond Allyson turned to look. “Harris?!”

Harris broke the stare that he was giving his niece’s birthmark, and as he turned towards Allyson he uttered, “Huh?”

“Are you okay?” Allyson sympathetically asked.

Harris did a quick glance at the birthmark again before facing Allyson and answering with a façade pleasant grin. “Yes. I was just admiring our niece’s birthmark.”

“Yes, everyone here thinks that it looks like a moon and three stars,” the nurse said. “A unique birthmark to say the least.”

“Yes; it is very unique,” Harris agreed in a tone that Allyson detected a bit of worry.

Allyson stared curiously at Harris as the nurse said, “Okay, well, I’ll let you two have a little privacy with your niece.”

“Thank you,” Harris said as he turned towards the birthmark again.

As the nurse was leaving, Allyson accused, “You’re staring at her as if she was some demon.”

“She’s not a demon,” Harris said earnestly as he continued to stare at the birthmark.

“Okay,” Allyson said when Harris didn’t elaborate. “I’m glad that we agree on that. Would you mind explaining to me as to why you’re staring at her as if she was one though?”

“That mark ended with my great-grandmother,” Harris quickly said. “I never heard of it resurfacing… or becoming more prominent than before after vanishing from the bloodline.”

“Honey, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re making as much sense as a rooster trying to lay an egg.”

“The birthmark, it’s the mark of Merlin.”

Allyson shot Harris a curious look before asking, “The mark of Merlin who?”

Harris stared into Allyson’s eyes while saying, “It’s the mark of the wizard Merlin.”

Allyson busted out laughing before saying, “You had me going there.” When Harris shot her an annoyed look, Allyson stopped laughing and continued with, “Oh, you’re serious.”

“I am,” Harris insisted. “Tanya, my cousins and I are descendants of Merlin. And of course there are more descendants out there… somewhere.”

“You do know that Merlin is only a mythical character, don’t you?”

“A shadowing-truth spell was cast several hundred years ago that turned truth into rumors, and then over the years those rumors became myth and legends.”

“Honey, I think the stress of you losing your sister is getting to you.”

“Merlin existed. He’s the reason why twins are common in my family.”

“Okay, we’re back to the rooster that’s trying to lay the egg.”

“Merlin was a very powerful wizard,” Harris began. “He had power over the Earth, Air, Fire, Water and all of the beasts of the land. Any of his descendants would be as equally powerful as he and he feared the worst. So he cast a spell on himself. Each time he would father children his powers would split.

“His direct sons and daughters were always born as triplets, and each triplet born would carry his mark for identification. One would have the power over the Earth and Air. Merlin would know which triplet it was because the freckle nearest the moon-shaped birthmark would be the darkest one. Another would have the power over the Fire and Water; the darker freckle was the one on the right… to our right I mean. The last triplet would have the power over the beasts; the darker freckle would be above the other two.

“That was where he had meant for the separation of his powers to end, but it didn’t. It kept splitting. Every three generations twins were born and each twin would receive half of his or her parent’s powers. The moon-shaped birthmark had also changed from its original full moon appearance. It gradually moved through all of the waning moon phases. It appeared as a waning gibbous moon, a third quarter moon and a waning crescent moon until it had faded completely… and it had. When my great-grandmother gave birth to my grandmother and her twin sister, the mark of Merlin was gone.”

Allyson looked towards the birthmark while saying, “So going off of what you had said… and assuming that you haven’t completely lost your mind, your ancestors had power over the beasts.”

“Not the beasts,” Harris said as he turned towards his niece’s birthmark.

“Well, the darker freckle is above the other two and according to what you had said, it’s the power over the beasts,” Allyson retorted.

“Wait! That’s not right,” Harris insisted. “I was told that our line had the power over the Fire and Water.”

“Perhaps you were told wrong,” Allyson suggested as Harris turned towards the door as if he had heard someone coming. Allyson followed Harris’s momentary stare as she continued to say, “Or perhaps one of your relatives was pulling your leg. You wouldn’t be the first one to have been taken in by an urban legend.”

“The stories of my ancestors are real,” Harris again insisted as Ellen and Jane were reaching the door. “They were well documented.”

“What were well documented?” Ellen asked as she and Jane entered.

Harris stared confusingly at Ellen and slightly hesitated to say, “History of my ancestry.” He then went to give Ellen a hug. “It’s good to see you, Ellen. Of course I would’ve liked it to have been under better circumstances.”

“Likewise,” Ellen said as she hugged Harris. As the hug was ending, Ellen continued to say, “And the history of my ancestry isn’t documented, but when I was visiting my dad in prison four years ago he decided to share some stories with me. The stupid idiot actually thought it would make us closer, but his stories just confirmed what Mike had been telling me all along; about how I should fear for my safety around him…” Ellen shook her head in disgust. “He should’ve kept his stupid mouth shut. Because before that, I thought that my brother was just making things up about him.”

“You were never around him, right?” Allyson asked as she went to give Ellen a hug.

During the hug, Ellen said, “He went to prison a few months before I was even born—thank God.” Ellen and Allyson then broke the hug. “If my dad would’ve helped raise me I probably would be all messed up.”

Harris amusingly grinned before jokingly asking, “You mean, you’re not messed up?”

Ellen amusingly grinned before saying, “You think I’m messed up now, just imagine me two or three times worse.”

“Now there’s a terrifying thought,” Harris jokingly retorted.

When Ellen shot him a smirk, Allyson said, “Ellen, you don’t have to answer if it’s too personal for you. But what did your father do to get sent to prison for thirteen years?”

Ellen took a breath before answering with, “My dad and my dad’s dad had kidnapped Mike, my other three brothers and my sister, and during the act of running from the law, everyone except for my dad and Mike was accidentally killed. So he was charged with five counts of kidnapping and five counts of involuntary manslaughter. He would’ve gotten more time in prison, but he turned state’s evidence against someone that the FBI had really wanted in prison. Anyway, this is Jane, my neighbor. Jane, meet Harris and Allyson.”

“Nice to meet you, Jane,” Harris and Allyson said.

“Nice to meet you two,” Jane said. “Ellen told me about you two.”

“Good things I hope,” Harris jokingly said.

“They were,” Jane said with a grin. “She thinks quite a lot about you two.”

“Before I start blushing, can we change the subject, please?” Ellen prompted.

“I don’t think I had ever seen you blush before,” Harris said. “That’s a sight I might even pay to see.”

“Don’t get out your money just yet,” Ellen said. “I don’t blush easy.”

Harris amusingly grinned, and without saying the pun that was clearly on his mind, he said, “Anyway, we do need to shift the subject to our niece. She needs a name.”

“I was thinking Paige,” Ellen said, which brought a grin across Allyson’s face.

Harris mulled it over for a brief moment before responding with, “Paige is a fine name… it’s even the name of Allyson’s mother. But is there any reason that you’re suggesting the name Paige?”

Ellen glanced at Allyson before saying, “She’s a page from my grandpa’s life.”

“How so?” Harris questioned.

“She has my grandpa’s birthmark,” Ellen said. Harris stared at Ellen as if she was a ghost. “Wh-what? Did I say something wrong?”

“Your grandpa had the moon-stars birthmark?!” Harris demanded to know.

“Yeah, it’s a trait within my dad’s side of the family that gets passed down from parent to child; however, it didn’t get passed down to my dad or his twin brother.”

“The birthmark reappeared because Tanya and Mike both had the recessive gene for it,” Allyson suggested.

When a disquieting expression came across Harris’s face, Ellen asked, “What’s going on?”

“Ellen, what do you know about the moon-stars birthmark?” Harris prompted.

“It’s cool looking,” Ellen said as she looked towards her niece.

“Yes, there’s that,” Harris agreed. Ellen turned back towards Harris. “But have you ever heard the phrase ‘the mark of Merlin’ or ‘the Merlin’s mark’?”

Ellen slowly shook her head before asking, “Is that a book?”

“The name of the birthmark that our niece has is actually called ‘the mark of Merlin’ and it originated in England more than a millennium ago.”

“How do you know this?” Ellen quickly asked.

“My ancestors had carried the mark of Merlin as well,” Harris said.

“Would that make you and Ellen blood relatives?” Jane asked Harris.

“Our common ancestor is too far in the distant past for us to be considered blood relatives,” Harris assured Jane.

“How can you be so sure?” Ellen asked.

“Look at the darkest freckle to our niece’s birthmark,” Harris prompted.

“Okay, what about it?”

“The darkest freckle remains constant from parent to child and in my family’s line the one clockwise to it was the darkest,” Harris explained.

“Okay, well, why is the birthmark called the mark of Merlin?” Ellen asked.

Harris shot a worried glance at Jane before saying, “I hope you and Jane are open-minded.”

Ellen and Jane gave Harris baffled looks as Ellen said, “I believe I have an open mind.”

“Okay, here’s what I know,” Harris said before turning towards Allyson. “Oh and I will be making long distant calls— possibly many of them—to London to find out what I don’t know.”

Allyson amusingly grinned before saying, “Perhaps your parents can tell us more about it once they get here.”

“Maybe, but I think it would be my grandmother who would know more about it. Anyway, here’s what I know.” Harris then restated what he had told Allyson for Ellen and Jane to hear.

Ellen’s eyes grew wide, and once Harris was done she asked, “So our niece is a wizard?”

“Well, for a girl I think the proper term is a sorceress, but yeah,” Harris confirmed.

“And my family’s line has… had anyway, the power over the beasts?”

Harris nodded while saying, “Correct.”

“Is that why birds, rabbits, mice and squirrels don’t seem to be afraid of me, and why every stray dog around my house comes to me all willy-nilly while wagging its tail every time I’m in sight of one?”

Harris gave Ellen a curious look before saying, “In my understanding, you have to recite a one-time incantation to activate your power over the beasts, and I thought that the ability would be forever lost once the birthmark had vanished from the family’s line.”

“I have actually seen a sparrow land on Ellen’s head one day,” Jane began. “So perhaps the animals not fearing Ellen is a residual trait.”

“I’m definitely going to be calling my grandmother about this,” Harris announced.

“In the meantime, this baby girl still needs a name,” Allyson pointed out.

“Yes,” Harris quickly agreed.

“What was your great-grandmother’s name?” Ellen asked. “The one who had carried the mark of Merlin?”

“Sonya Rosemary Clifton,” Harris replied.

“Then I propose that we name our niece Sonya Paige… Anderson,” Ellen suggested.

Harris grinned before saying, “That sounds like an excellent name.”

“It does,” Allyson agreed.

Ellen grinned just before a thought had occurred to her. “Wait! If Sonya is a sorceress then would she be a good sorceress or an evil one?”

“And there lies the root of my worry,” Harris said.

Everyone shot Harris a curious look as Ellen asked, “What do you mean?”

“From Merlin’s time to modern times—in the Fire and Water line alone—there have been good sorcerer-slash-sorceress, bad ones, angels and even the devil incarnate.”

“So in other words, spin the wheel and the choices are angel, devil and everywhere in between,” Ellen replied.

“Exactly,” Harris confirmed.

“Great!” Ellen sarcastically uttered.

“What was your grandfather like?” Jane asked.

Ellen shrugged before saying, “From the stories I’ve been told he definitely wasn’t an angel, but he wasn’t the ‘go out of your way to hurt someone’ type either. So I’ll guess that he was near the center of the two extremes. Of course that could’ve been different though if he would’ve known that he was a wizard. And speaking of being a wizard… or even a sorceress, once Sonya is old enough, will she be able to perform magic or—if it really exists—witchcraft?”

“Witches and warlocks do exist,” Harris began. “And Sonya would still have to learn the incantation to any spell as any other witch or warlock would, but by her being a sorceress, her magic-casting ability will be greatly better than theirs. In fact, many witches and warlocks are actually the children, the grandchildren and so on of a wizard or a sorceress.”

“So if I wanted to study witchcraft, how powerful could I become?” Ellen asked curiously.

“Way to go, Harris,” Harris scolded himself. Everyone shot him a curious look. “Putting dangerous ideas in a teenager’s head.”

“Learning the truth just makes me wonder,” Ellen retorted. “And since the idea is there, how powerful can I become?”

Harris slightly sighed before saying, “As a witch, you would be two… perhaps even three times more powerful than anyone not descended from Merlin…”

“Cool!” Ellen interrupted with.

Harris gestured for her to wait as he continued with, “However—depending on if the moon-shaped birthmark is a full moon, a waning gibbous, a third-quarter moon or a waning crescent moon—your power would be respectively anywhere between one-sixteenth as powerful to half as powerful as the people who carry the mark of Merlin.”

“Well, it’s still cool that I could be more powerful than the average person,” Ellen thought aloud.

“Yeah, well, if you want to learn witchcraft, let me introduce you to my cousin Sadie,” Harris insisted.

“I met Sadie at Mike and Tanya’s wedding,” Ellen reminded him. “She was Tanya’s bridesmaid.”

“Okay, then let me reintroduce you two,” Harris corrected.

Ellen gave Harris a curious look while asking, “Why?”

“She’s a practicing witch and she’s a safety nut,” Harris said.

Ellen grinned before saying, “I guess learning witchcraft under Sadie wouldn’t hurt… so to speak.”

Before anything else was said, a nurse stepped in and told them, “Sorry to interrupt you folks, but I need to check on the kids.”

“It’s fine,” Allyson assured her. “Don’t let us keep you from doing your job.”

“So have you folks decided on a name?” the nurse asked as she moved towards one of the cribs.

“We have,” Ellen and Allyson said. Allyson grinned while gesturing for Ellen to continue.

Ellen grinned as she continued with, “Her name is Sonya Paige Anderson.”

“Pretty,” the nurse said.

“Thanks,” Ellen said.

“We should get out of your way,” Harris told the nurse.

“What do you mean get out of the way?” Ellen quickly demanded to know.

“I want to go to your house and use your phone and computer,” Harris said.

“I’m staying here, but I’ll give you my house key,” Ellen said as she went to pull out the key from her pocket.

When Harris shot Ellen a curious look, Jane said, “She doesn’t want Sonya out of her sight.”

Harris gave an understanding nod before saying, “Ellen, Sonya isn’t going to disappear from life if you’re not around her.”

“I know that,” Ellen quickly said. “I just want to visit, and if the nurse will let me, I want to feed her when the time comes.”

Before the nurse could respond, Allyson strongly suggested, “Ellen, Sonya’s weak right now, and until she’s stronger we should let the hospital staff feed her.”

“And in the meantime, you don’t need to be underfoot,” Jane added.

“So we will all go back to your place, so I can use your phone and computer, yes?” Harris requested.

Ellen slightly huffed before saying, “Yes.”

“Before you folks go, you should make Sonya’s name official by filling out the paperwork,” the nurse suggested.

“Right,” Harris said before looking at Ellen. “Let’s go fill out the paperwork.”

“Fine,” Ellen said before she followed Harris out of the room. Jane followed Ellen while Allyson followed Jane.