Return of the Clonsayee

by Elaine Bassett

  When they arrived at the estate, Airasten blurted out, “Whoa, what is this place? I’ve never seen anything like it!”

  Bev ignored him and continued to the walkway. Bev whispered Dianna’s words of protection, “Ginoi ah-zinav alfais visroz.” Carson looked at her. “It basically means I’m home with visitors.”

  He nodded and asked, “Who are you talking to?”

  “No one. Just remembering the greeting.” However she was addressing something. She felt a presence that she couldn’t explain watching them.

  As they continued up the walkway, Carson looked around the yard then at the house. He had to admit that Ned had been doing a fine job with keeping the old place up. It looked the same as it had the last time he’d seen it years ago, when he was courting Bev. The place still made him shiver, but he’d never tell her that. He quickly followed his wife through the already unlocked door. Airasten and Airabelle had taken off and were flying around the open floor space of the mansion.

  Bev smiled at Carson. “I think I will begin in the study. Would you care to join me?”

  Carson pointed in the direction of the study. “Down that hall?”

  She nodded, as he asked, “Do you mind if I take a look around and check things out?”

  “That’s thoughtful of you. Go right ahead. You know where to find me.” Bev kissed him on the cheek and walked down the hall. She located the secret catch for the double doors and opened them once again. She entered the room leaving the doors partially open in case Carson should follow her.

  Bev walked to a large picture that appeared to be resting on the floor. She whispered, “Nusuewen bonai daji nisahwee.”

  The picture transformed into a secret doorway that would allow her to enter Dianna’s special room. Bev walked to the door that was within the ornate picture frame. She half smiled as she reached out to touch the handle. It was bittersweet to be going back through this doorway.

  The door’s hinges creaked, as it opened without her help. Bev stepped through into the darkness. She noticed an odor permeating through the room that she would never forget. Bev felt a prickling sensation across her arms as the flames in the fireplace across the room flared, illuminating the entire area. She looked around the octagon shaped room, noticing the bookcases filled with legendary Spellcraft writings, the most sought after potion books. Placed on the shelves in between some of the books were rare magical objects.

  She knew Carson hated this room. The last time he’d come in here, it became too intense for him. He left quickly to recover in the study. She hoped he was comfortable walking through the other rooms with Airabelle and Airasten.

  Bev started searching the shelves, looking for answers as to what beckoned her to keep returning to this house in her nightmares. She wasn’t even fully sure what was significant about the dreams. When she awoke from one, she could only remember bits and pieces. After taking several books down from the shelves and looking at the titles, Bev realized she could return from this quest empty handed. She persisted in the search, determined to find the root of her nightmares. She climbed the library’s ladder looking at each shelf, skimming the titles of the books. When Bev reached the fifth shelf, she continued to glance over several of the books’ spines and finally reached for a particular book. She pulled it out and read the cover, Dreams. Bingo. Bev withdrew down the ladder with the book. She sat on the only chair in the room and began reading.

  Bev could faintly hear Carson and Airabelle talking in the other room. She figured that Airasten must be feeling overwhelmed because he was quiet. She was amused by the differences in the two birds. Airabelle was babbling about having a séance. Bev rolled her eyes and kept reading. Typical Airabelle. Next she’ll be telling ghost stories.

  She continued reading until she came to a segment that caught her attention. Bev pointed to the words as she read. She thought: I’ve finally found what I was looking for! She read on. As she perused the book, she didn’t realize she was whispering the spell. Bev stopped reading and stared into the fire in a trance-like state. She kept repeating the spell over and over as she was seeing her nightmare in the fire.

  In Bev’s mind it seemed as if she was actually viewing the house through a bubble. In the image she saw herself in the study listening to Dianna speak. She saw a housemaid standing at the study’s entrance with her ear pressed to one of the doors. The maid began repeating the words as she heard them. Dianna’s dog started howling. The servant knew that Dianna would soon come out of the study to check as to why the dog was making a racket. The maid left the doorway and pretended to work nearby. Dianna left the room to check on her pet. She then brought the animal into the study with her. The wolf-like dog soon pawed the door open and left the room.

  In her dream Bev followed the dog. She noticed that the animal began acting strangely. Finally it disappeared into a closet where it transformed into a changeling. The changeling then roamed around the house like a naughty child, stealing items and moving objects. The creature continued to alter from dog to changeling over time. When the servants became aware of the unusual happenings, they grew paranoid and begin making up stories to explain what was happening. Dianna tried to persuade them that everything was fine; the strange occurrences were due to innocent things members of the staff were doing without communicating with each other. She had an answer for all their concerns.

  In the meantime, Dianna was doing her own investigation. She finally discovered the truth when she spotted the changeling moving down a hallway. She followed it to her bedroom and waited outside the doorway until she gained her composure. She then entered the room only to discover her beloved pet on her bed. She walked over and patted the animal. Dianna told her beloved dog everything was going to be okay. She would take care of it.

  Dianna kept the pet with her at all times. She eventually saw the dog transform into the changeling. She nurtured it and the creature began to trust her. The changeling became very protective of her.

  During this time Dianna had a mysterious sorcerer friend who would come to visit on occasion. The dog developed a distrust of the man. Whenever the sorcerer came to visit the dog growled and followed him from room to room. Dianna would scold her pet for its behavior. She constantly made excuses for the dog.

  One day while the group was in a room together, Bev caught a look from the sorcerer toward the dog that was disturbing. When he became aware of Bev watching, he glared at her as well. Though his manners disturbed her, Bev kept the event to herself.

  Several nights later the changeling left Dianna’s side and was discovered by a servant. The servant began shrieking and running throughout the house. Dianna couldn’t convince the maid to stop screaming so she put a quieting spell on the woman. The servant immediately packed her belongings and left the estate. As time went on, several of the other servants packed their things and left.

  Dianna made the most of the skeleton staff and everything went on as normal, until she was visited by the Goddess of the Universe in a robed disguise. Dianna pleaded with the goddess to let her keep the pet. The goddess agreed that she could make the dog a guardian of the residence, but with the agreement that the creature would never leave the house again. Dianna reluctantly accepted the terms because up until this time the dog had followed her everywhere.

  Bev watched the fire and remembered the day Dianna taught her the spell to transform a pet into a guardian. The spell she learned would transform any being into a ghost-like form. This form would then protect an object for eternity unless the goddess was willing to release it.

  Dianna made certain that Bev could recite the spell without errors. Then Dianna spoke the words and transformed her pet into a guardian. It had frightened Bev to watch the transformation take place. She remembered that the dog had the spookiest eyes. If she looked into its eyes for very long, the guardian would appear in the retina of its eyes.

  Now Bev knew why her subconscious drew her back to Dianna’s mansion. She looked away from the fire. Ever since she left the un
derground chamber protected by the guardian, the memory kept trying to surface. It all came back to her now. She recalled that Dianna had also taught her a subtle twist to the spell, in order to summon the Goddess of the Universe. That was the spell Bev automatically recited when she was in trouble in the sacred room. After reciting the spell, she had passed out because the memory was too intense.

  Bev’s gaze returned to the fire. She began to whisper the spell and the vision continued. She saw the night Dianna had invited the sorcerer over for dinner. Bev didn’t remember looking at the man very much as a child, but now in her dream she viewed the sorcerer as a handsome brooding man. Dianna had dismissed most of the servants that night before they sat down to eat dinner. The servants had all left but two, Kharissa’s mother and Ned. The dog tried to get Bev’s attention, but she gave the pet a snack under the table trying to appease it. The dog then crawled under the suitor’s chair.

  After serving the main course of the meal, Kharissa’s mother left the room to prepare dessert in the kitchen. Bev saw that whenever the sorcerer stopped eating, his demeanor became menacing as he fixated his gaze on Dianna. The man began whispering. Dianna leaned forward in an attempt to hear what he was saying. She asked him to repeat his words, but he continued to whisper. The doors to the dining room swung shut and locked. A concerned look crossed Dianna’s face. As she tried to stand, she was swept off her feet and began levitating over the table. Bev screamed. The man began to shout out the words now as the room spun wildly in erratic directions. Bev began calling on the Goddess of the Universe for help by speaking her own spell as the room continued to spin wildly out of control. Objects were flying around the room creating chaos, as Dianna was powerless to move. She looked death-like. As the man continued to utter his spell, the guardian turned from its dog shape into the changeling. Bev screamed as it came up behind the sorcerer and wrapped its form around the man strangling him. Then with its tail the creature sliced the sorcerer’s throat. The room stopped spinning abruptly as the man tried vainly to continue mouthing words. He died before completing the spell. Dianna was still in a trance, levitated above the table when the hooded goddess appeared. The room was a disaster. Bev was crying inconsolably.

  The vision showed Bev that she awoke the next day in her own bed with a fever. Kharissa’s mother had been sitting at her bedside taking care of her. When Bev’s eyes opened, Kharissa’s mother gently sponged her face with a wet washcloth then she left the room to fetch Dianna. Dianna walked quickly to Bev’s bedside and told her she had developed a fever. Bev tried to ask questions but Dianna kept changing the subject.

  Bev closed her eyes then looked away from the fire. She remembered reading in Dianna’s journal about the sorcerer and the last dinner they shared. Dianna wrote that before she learned of the man’s perfidy, she let her guard down and invited him over for dinner. She was not aware that he had concocted a potion for a long lasting sickness spell that he later put in her drink. During the meal Dianna became nauseous. The sorcerer was able to bind her as he began muttering a spell. Before he was able to completely finish the spell a commotion erupted. After Bev implored the Goddess of the Universe for aid, the goddess appeared and freed Dianna.

  The two sisters did not realize the purpose of the potion. When Dianna’s illness didn’t pass, she realized what had happened and she tried to reverse the poison. She was reluctant to leave Bridgeiro for fear it would speed up the illness. Dianna was unable to eradicate the effects of the poison. Although she was half immortal, eventually the poison killed her.

  All of the sudden Bev’s thoughts were interrupted, as she smelled Dianna’s perfume. She heard a dog’s vicious bark and protective growl. She immediately came to her senses as she heard Carson yelling. Bev felt light headed, but managed to get to her feet and stagger to the framed doorway. She panicked as she remembered that Carson, Airabelle and Airasten were in the house. She now realized the guardian had been loose in the house the whole time.

  Bev stumbled over the framed doorway as she called out, “Carson, where are you?” She felt dizzy and tried to keep from passing out as she listened to Airabelle’s screech. Bev wanted to cry. She was petrified of what could be happening when she didn’t hear Carson. She stood quietly and pulled her wand out of her hair. With wand in hand, she firmly stated, “Caiorz awlsic reywar!”

  Bev was transported immediately to the sitting room with Carson and the birds. Time stood still. The others were frozen in mid stride or flight. Bev glanced around the room and saw the guardian leaping for Airabelle. Bev walked to stand before Airabelle. She released the guardian. As the guardian recognized her, it bowed down to the ground. Bev looked around making sure the others were okay, before she banished Dianna’s pet to another place in the house where it would be secure.

  She released Carson and the birds from their frozen state by waving her wand above her head. Airabelle began chattering nonstop. In her chattering all that could be understood were the words, “Where did it go?” Airasten landed on the back of a chair, gripping the upholstery with his talons.

  Carson had slumped over the back of a settee. Bev walked him around the couch to sit down so he could catch his breath. She left to get a glass of water in the kitchen. As Bev was returning to Carson, she saw Kharissa walk into the sitting room.

  The housekeeper saw the chaos and the look on Carson’s face. Kharissa ran toward Carson asking, “Mr. Jones, is that you? Are you all right?”

  Bev brought him the glass of water. He took a drink. Carson tried to explain what happened.

  Kharissa shook her head. “Mr. Jones, you met the family pet. I am so sorry. I let him out when I left so he could roam.”

  Kharissa turned to Bev and said, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea you’d be coming back so soon.”

  Carson looked at Bev. “The family pet?” Bev gave him a pained smile.

  Airabelle kept screeching, “I knew this place was haunted! I knew this place was haunted!”

  Kharissa held out her hand to Airabelle. She landed on Kharissa’s finger and looked into her eyes. “Not haunted, just different.” Airasten fluttered to the back of Carson’s settee, afraid to move further away. “We are just different from most.” Dianna’s perfume wafted strongly through the air. Airabelle calmed. Kharissa placed Airabelle on the back of the settee with Airasten and the two huddled together.

  Everyone sat and rehashed the events leading up to the encounter with the family pet.

  Carson said, “It just came suddenly, around the corner from out of nowhere and made a mad dash straight for us. I could hear its claws on the floor and a ferocious bark. It is something I won’t soon forget.” He shivered at the thought of the possibilities of what could have been.

  He looked at Bev. “You came just in time.”

  “I second that,” was Airabelle’s response.

  Kharissa said, “The creature can be quite intimidating to say the least.”

  Bev let out an exhausted sigh that blew a loose strand of hair out of her vision and said, “I think we can be going very soon. I found what I was looking for. I think I will leave you with Kharissa while I take care of a few things.”

  Airabelle exaggerated, “Don’t leave us alone, please.”

  Bev gave the bird a quick glance as she turned to walk down the hall. “You’re in capable hands.” She playfully waved her wand, but nothing happened.

  She returned to the study to tidy up and secure things. She went back through the mystic doorway into the octagon room. Bev set her wand on the table, as she looked around for the Dreams book that she had been previously reading. She couldn’t locate it, so she retraced her steps. The only explanation Bev could think of for its disappearance was that when she stood to rescue Carson, the book must have slipped off her lap and landed in the fire. She was perplexed and kept searching, but finally had to go with that theory. She picked up her wand from the table and thought: That’s a shame. Bev took a final glance at the fire and left the room.

  Bev secur
ed everything in the study. She closed and sealed the double doors behind her. She walked to the front room where she heard their voices. Kharissa was giving the others her own tour of the mansion from her perspective. Bev was relieved to hear laughter again. She was thankful Kharissa had shown up when she did.

  When Carson saw Bev, he asked, “Is everything okay?”

  She nodded. “I think it’s time to be going.”

  She hugged and thanked Kharissa. Carson had already stepped away and was halfway down the stairs. Bev paused in the entryway. She set her wand on the mirrored stand with a sigh. She touched it once again. Without saying a word or looking back, Bev walked out the door, softly closing it behind her.

  Kharissa froze and thought: Child, you’ll be back for that.

  Bev hurried down the steps and caught up with Carson. He stopped, looked at her face and took her hand in his. “Where’s your wand?” He tucked a strand of Bev’s hair behind her ear.

  Her face lit up in a smile, and she held a finger up to signal for him to wait. Bev ran back to the house.

  Kharissa walked over to the mirrored stand and opened the drawer. She looked over the choices of scarves and a comb. She motioned for Bev to join her. Kharissa removed the pins from Bev’s hair and combed out the tangles. Bev rewrapped her hair in a French twist then reached over and slid her wand back into place.

  Kharissa held out the scarf that she had chosen for Bev. “Dianna would have been so proud of you, ma’am. If I do say so myself, you truly resemble her in so many ways.”

  Bev looked in the mirror. She thanked Kharissa for her help and headed out the door.

  Kharissa thought: A sorceress without her magic wand is like a fairy tale without a happy ending.

  Bev caught up to Carson. As she spun around for him, he said, “Ah, now that’s more like it.” They continued with Airabelle and Airasten to their Passageway and crossed over to the office.