Two rows of two tables were arranged orderly to the left of the dartboard and were set up near the beginning of the long section of the ‘L’ shaped counter. The walk area between the barstools at the counter and the chairs at the tables was four feet wide.
Beyond the four tables and six feet from the long section of the counter was a pool table. Past the pool table were two more rows of four tables. Six feet from the last two tables was a stage that was big enough to hold a small music band.
When Ellen and Harris stepped in, they stopped just inside the entrance and gazed over the room.
No one was at the touch-screen video game. Six customers were sitting at the counter, randomly spaced. Two couples were taking turns at the dartboard while using one of the tables near the dartboard to hold their drinks. Two men were taking turns at the pool table. A group of four was sitting at one of the eight tables and a group of three was at another table.
Jane—the only waitress working at the time—was setting drinks down on the table with the group of three, and after Ellen and Harris saw her, they walked her way.
Ellen and Harris didn’t see the young chimpanzee that was sitting on the very next stool to the third customer at the counter until the chimpanzee leaped down into the aisle with apple slices in her hand.
Ellen and Harris came to a halt just as the chimpanzee looked at Ellen and stared grippingly into her eyes. The stare only lasted for a second before the chimpanzee wobbled towards Ellen while letting out sounds that she would make when happily intrigued.
“Wilma!” the owner uttered in a voice of authority, which grabbed everyone’s attention. Wilma ignored her owner as she moved towards Ellen. “Wilma! Come here!”
Wilma, while acting as if her owner wasn’t yelling, stepped up to Ellen and offered her an apple slice.
Ellen took the offer before responding as if she was speaking to a child, “For me? Thank you… I’m not hungry right now though.”
Wilma’s owner stepped up behind Wilma before telling Ellen and Harris, “I’m not sure what came over Wilma. She has never acted like this before.”
“It’s fine,” Ellen said while slightly acting as if she didn’t know quite how to react. “Your chimp… Wilma’s cute. I’m not sure how sanitary it is though to eat after her.”
“I honestly don’t know either,” Wilma’s owner said as Jane moved closer while carrying an empty drink tray. “So perhaps I should take that.”
“I don’t know how chimpanzees would react when their feelings get hurt and giving back Wilma’s gift might do that,” Ellen said. “So I’ll just get rid of it later.”
The owner grinned before saying, “Okay. I’m Ralph by the way.”
“Hi; I’m Ellen,” she said while noticing that Jane was walking towards them.
“And I’m Harris,” he said while offering his hand to shake hands.
Ralph shook Harris’s hand while saying, “Normally Wilma only shares her fruit with Fred.”
“Fred and Wilma,” Ellen quipped in an amused tone.
“Yes,” Ralph agreed with an amused grin. “I own Wilma’s mate as well, and yes, I named them after the ‘Flintstones’. I don’t take Fred out because he’s a little more… uncivilized.”
Ellen gave Ralph the thumbs-up sign and before she could respond with more than that, Jane amusingly said, “I guess we can add chimpanzees to the list of animals that you attract.”
“Apparently,” Ellen amusingly agreed.
“You attract animals?” Ralph questioned in a confused tone.
Ellen grinned before saying, “You can consider me the animals’ pied piper who doesn’t need a musical pipe.”
“So that’s why Wilma went to you the way she did,” Ralph said in an understanding tone.
“That’s why,” Ellen agreed before gesturing towards Jane. “Anyway, as of a few minutes ago, I used to be Jane’s next door neighbor. I’m moving to Savannah, Georgia, and I didn’t want to leave without saying ‘bye’ to her.”
“I’m glad,” Jane said as she went to put her empty drink tray down on the counter. “And I want a hug from you.”
“Of course,” Ellen said before she and Jane gave each other a hug. Wilma made smooching sounds during the hug. After Ellen broke the hug, she turned towards Wilma. “Did Wilma think that Jane and I were going to kiss?”
“That’s actually what she does when she wants a kiss,” Ralph informed as Wilma continued to make smooching sounds.
“And how sanitary is that?” Ellen asked.
Ralph shrugged before saying, “I’ve seen people do it.”
Ellen politely grinned before bending over to Wilma’s height, and then fought the urge to pull back when Wilma kissed her.
The kiss was only a peck and when it ended, Ellen stood upright again while holding her polite grin in a slightly squeamish manner. She then saw the amused grin on Harris’s face.
“What?” Ellen asked.
Harris shook his head with a grin before saying, “Your reaction just reminds me of that movie, ‘Escape from the Planet of the Apes’ that’s all.”
Ellen thought for a second before saying, “I haven’t seen it.”
“We’ll have to fix that,” Harris told her.
Ellen gave him a smirk before saying sarcastically, “And I look forward to that.”
“The ‘Planet of the Apes’ series are good movies,” Ralph told Ellen. “Of course you might need to be a science fiction fan to appreciate them.”
“I like some science fiction,” Ellen admitted.
“Then you might enjoy them,” Ralph said.
“It was good knowing you, Jane, but Ellen and I need to get going,” Harris urged. “Being that Ellen is sixteen, she probably shouldn’t be in here anyway.”
“Ellen is allowed in before eight,” Jane said while gesturing towards a sign behind the counter. “The only things she’s allowed to get though are the food items that we sell and sodas.”
“I can play darts and pool also,” Ellen added.
“Yes, well, we didn’t come in for a game of darts or pool,” Harris informed.
“I know,” Ellen retorted. “And I’m ready to go.”
“You know my physical address, my phone number and my Email address, so I would like for us to keep in touch with each other,” Jane told Ellen.
Ellen nodded with a grin before saying, “I will.” Ellen then turned towards the chimpanzee. “It was good meeting you, Wilma. And you too, Ralph.”
“Nice meeting you,” Ralph echoed.
“Bye,” Harris told Jane and Ralph before he and Ellen turned and walked towards the door.
After Ellen and Harris joined Allyson and Sonya in the SUV, Harris drove away; however, before they got on the highway towards Saint Louis, Harris stopped at a fast-food restaurant for their evening meal.
Once they were on the highway, Harris drove straight to Saint Louis and then agreed with Allyson to get a hotel room there before continuing to the next city.
Ellen called Martha as soon as they entered the hotel room, and early the following morning, Ellen, Harris, Allyson and Sonya met Martha, Wendi, Wendi’s husband and Tony for breakfast.
Once the breakfast was over, Ellen, Harris, Allyson and Sonya got back on the road and continued on.
Nashville, Tennessee was the next major city that Harris came to. Allyson had never been to Nashville, but had always wanted to go there. Ellen had wanted to see the sights as well, so soon after they entered the Nashville’s city limits, Harris pulled into a hotel’s parking lot. Once they rented a room for the night they went sightseeing.
Sonya woke up crying at 5:30 A.M., Sunday, which woke up Ellen, Harris and Allyson. Allyson changed her pamper and then Ellen gave her her formula. Once Sonya was fed and everyone was dressed, the SUV was repacked with his or her items. They then checked out at 6:15 A.M.
Before leaving Nashville, they went to a pancake house for breakfast.
By 7:30 A.M., they were back on the highway.
> Harris drove from Nashville to Atlanta, Georgia, and once they entered Atlanta, he stopped for gas and lunch. Allyson took over driving after they ate and she drove from Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. However, Allyson couldn’t maneuver the SUV with a trailer hitched to it very well, so after entering the city limits, Harris took over driving at the first gas station that they came to.
A small branch public library was two blocks from Harris and Allyson’s house, and when Harris was approaching the library Allyson pointed out that fact to Ellen.
After Harris parked the SUV in front of his house, he, Ellen and Luke Marshall (Harris’s next door neighbor) unloaded the trailer as Allyson and Phoebe (Luke’s wife) talked in the kitchen while caring for Sonya.
Harris and Allyson’s house had a master bedroom with a half-bath, two other smaller rooms across the hall from the master bedroom (one of the smaller rooms was set up as a spare bedroom with a full size bed while the other was set up as a study), a full bathroom, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a basement with another half-bath, and a two-car garage. The basement was set up as a second living room and a laundry room with a washer and dryer.
The upstairs living room had an average size couch, a matching love seat, a matching armchair, a matching ottoman, a nice size TV and a stereo system.
The downstairs living room had a couch, a matching armchair and an average size TV.
Ellen’s bed that she had brought with her from Kansas City was a twin bed, and she jumped on Allyson’s offer to take the full size bed.
Within an hour, the spare bedroom was turned into Ellen’s bedroom. The study was turned into Sonya’s bedroom with Ellen’s former twin bed set up next to Sonya’s crib, and the study items were set up in the basement.
Once everything was set up, and the trailer and the SUV were emptied, Harris and Luke went to the nearest U-Haul facility and turned in the trailer. Once the trailer was turned in, Harris drove to the airport, turned in the rented SUV and reclaimed his SUV from the long-term parking lot.
As Harris and Luke returned with the SUV, Harris parked in the two-car garage next to his and Allyson’s second vehicle—a four-door car that was barely more than a year old.
Chapter Thirteen
Monday morning after breakfast, Allyson buckled Sonya into the infant car seat in the SUV and then took the driver’s seat. Ellen took the front passenger seat of the SUV. Harris took the driver’s seat of the car.
Once everyone was in his or her vehicle and ready to leave the garage, Allyson drove away first and then Harris.
Allyson drove to Ellen’s new high school to finalize Ellen’s registration. Ellen didn’t know what all she needed, so she wore her book bag on her back, which held her books and gym clothes that she used at her last school.
Once Ellen got her school schedule and her assigned locker information she went straight to her first class—history— which was already fifteen minutes into the class.
The classroom’s door was closed, and as Ellen reached for the doorknob, her motion became frozen in place before taking hold of the doorknob when she felt the presence of another one of Merlin’s descendants.
Inside the classroom, the students’ desks were set up as four rows of eight with three of the desks near the back empty.
The sixteen-year-old Jessica Harman—to Jessica’s perspective—sat in the fourth seat of the second row to the left from her teacher, Mr. Guildford, and when she felt Ellen’s presence, she turned towards the door before mumbling, “Why is Karla at the door?”
Jessica’s eyes had widened in surprised when Ellen cautiously stepped through the door.
Ellen stopped just inside the door and—with an unreadable expression across her face—locked eyes with Jessica.
“May I help you, young lady?” Mr. Guildford questioned while breaking Ellen’s stare.
Ellen turned towards Mr. Guildford before glancing at her schedule and saying, “I’m Ellen Anderson, and I’m a transfer student, Mr. ‘Gild-ford’.”
As the students laughed, except for Jessica, the teacher corrected, “It’s pronounced ‘Gil-ferd’ and please bring me any papers that you have for me.”
“Of course, Mr. ‘Gil-ferd’—to both,” Ellen said before walking towards him while ignoring the stares that she was getting.
Just before Ellen could step up to the front of the class, Jessica’s hand shot up.
“What is it, Jessica?” Mr. Guildford asked.
Ellen was handing Mr. Guildford the papers when Jessica put down her hand and said, “I would like for Ellen Anderson to tell us a little bit about herself.”
Ellen turned towards Jessica as Mr. Guildford said, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but we all would like to hear a little bit about you.”
“Okay,” Ellen began before breaking her stare on Jessica and glancing around the room. “I’m sixteen. I’m from Kansas City, Missouri. I was living with my older brother and his wife, but thirteen days ago, my brother and his wife were both killed in an auto accident. My mother had passed away last June from a brain tumor and so I’m now living with my sister-in-law’s brother and his wife…”
“What about your father?” Jessica interrupted with.
“Estranged,” Ellen got out before amending. “We have met though… more so since my brother’s funeral. And I had preferred living with my sister-in-law’s brother than my father… and that’s pretty much how I ended up here in Savannah, Georgia. And that’s all I have.”
Jessica’s expression had clearly showed that she wanted to know more. Mr. Guildford saw the expression as well, as he asked, “Does anyone have a question for Ellen?” When no one spoke, Mr. Guildford turned towards Jessica. “Jessica, you look as though you have something on your mind.”
Jessica deliberated for a moment before shaking her head and saying, “History is the only thing on my mind.”
“I’m sure it is,” Mr. Guildford said sarcastically before turning towards Ellen. “Ellen, please take a seat at one of the empty seats.”
“Yes, Mr. Guildford,” Ellen told him before she walked towards the empty seats.
Once Ellen had sat down, Calvin—the student closest to her—introduced himself to her and then offered to share his book. Ellen didn’t have the correct book in her book bag for the class and agreed before moving her desk so she could see Calvin’s book.
In the school’s parking lot, once Sonya was in the infant car seat and Allyson in the driver’s seat, Allyson drove to the daycare center to work and care for Sonya there.
Once Mr. Guildford dismissed his class, Jessica hurried in order to leave the class behind Ellen; however, before she could step away from her desk, Mr. Guildford called, “I would like to see you, Jessica… before you leave.”
Jessica slightly huffed before saying, “Yes, Mr. Guildford.” She then stepped up to his desk. “Yes, Mr. Guildford?”
Mr. Guildford handed an assignment paper back to Jessica that had a ‘C-’ on it before saying, “You were in my class last year, Jessica, and I had seen the kind of work that you’re capable of. Getting C’s, D’s, or even F’s isn’t you.”
Jessica glanced at what paper it was before saying, “I was working on another project at the time that I was doing this assignment. I guess I put too much time in my other project than what I should’ve. I’ll do better next time, Mr. Guildford.”
Mr. Guildford nodded before saying, “As you know, I’ll drop the lowest grade. Let this one be the one that I drop.”
“Yes,” Jessica agreed. “May I go now?”
“Go,” Mr. Guildford told her.
Jessica nodded before leaving. As soon as she stepped into the hall, she looked around. When she couldn’t see who she was looking for, she let out a sigh. After a moment of looking around she went to her next class—gym.
Ellen’s next class was the same gym class as Jessica’s, and as Ellen was slowly finding her way to the gym, Jessica had caught up with her.
Ellen was twenty
feet from the gym door when she felt Jessica’s presence.
Jessica saw that Ellen had made a gesture as if she was going to look behind her, but when Ellen stopped herself, Jessica called, “Ellen Anderson!”
Ellen stopped walking and took a deep breath before facing Jessica and questioning, “Your name is Jessica, right?”
She nodded, and as she stepped up, she said, “It’s Jessica Harman.”
“Okay,” Ellen said in an indifferent tone. “So what’s up?”
“I think you know what’s up,” Jessica accused.
“For argument sake, let’s assume that I don’t,” Ellen prompted.
Jessica shot her a slightly annoyed look before saying, “You can feel when I’m near and so can I with you. As I do, you carry the mark of Merlin.”
“The mark of Merlin?” Ellen questioned while trying to sound oblivious to what Jessica was saying. “What’s that?”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Jessica ordered.
“I don’t carry this mark of Merlin,” Ellen insisted. “In fact, the only marks that I carry are scars from my tomboy days. Would you like to see them?”
“Show me your chest,” Jessica ordered as she glanced towards where the mark would be.
“I like boys,” Ellen quipped. “I’m flattered though.”
“What?! No!” Jessica uttered before gesturing towards the left side of Ellen’s upper chest. “The mark of Merlin would be right there, and I believe you know that.”
Ellen sighed before pulling her shirt to the side while exposing the left side of her upper chest. After giving Jessica enough time to look, she asked in an annoyed tone, “Would you like to see the right side now?”
Jessica was thrown by not seeing the birthmark, and after her astonishment had worn off, she said, “I was certain that you had the mark.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have this mark that you’re speaking of,” Ellen slightly hissed.
“I’m sorry,” Jessica said before deciding to show Ellen her birthmark, which was the mark of the Raven Coven with a waning gibbous moon. “You had never seen this mark before?”
Legacy Page 22
