“Okay,” Ellen said while pondering her thoughts. “So what happened to Everett’s grandma?”
“It depends on who you ask,” Ted said.
“Okay,” Ellen said in a confused tone. “What does that mean?”
“The police declared Everett’s grandma’s death as a suicide,” Andy began. “However, Everett claims that she was murdered by someone from Jessica and Karla’s family.”
“And witchcraft was the murder weapon,” Ted added.
“And since he sees me as a witch, I can understand his revulsion of me,” Ellen said.
“At least you know it’s nothing personal,” Ted quipped.
When Ellen shot him a smirk, Andy said, “Everett doesn’t want anyone to know about this, so if you could, keep this to yourself.”
“Of course,” Ellen agreed. “But why are you telling me?”
“Humoring Everett’s delusions were getting old when it was just Jessica, Karla and their relatives, and now adding you to the witch list, I think he had gone beyond irrational belief to needing professional help,” Andy explained.
“Mmm,” Ellen replied. “So are Everett and his grandma the only ones in his family who can see auras? Like his mom or dad?”
“Everett’s dad can’t and his mom had died when he was born,” Andy said. Ellen bowed her head in sorrow. “Did I say something wrong?”
“My brother and his wife died thirteen days ago and this talk of deaths is just getting to me,” Ellen replied.
“I’m sorry,” Andy said.
“You’re fine,” Ellen assured him.
“So how did your brother and sister-in-law die?” Ted asked.
“In an auto accident,” Ellen said sullenly. “Anyway, how long ago did Everett’s grandma… die?”
“Eight years ago,” Andy said.
“Do you know how it happened?” Ellen asked.
“You are sure asking a lot of questions over this incident,” Ted pointed out.
Ellen grinned before saying, “Sorry. I have an inquiring mind and a bad habit of going overboard when I ask my questions. Tanya, my sister-in-law would tease me about how I would make a good reporter or a good detective.”
Andy grinned before saying, “Everett’s grandma was a prosecuting attorney or worked in the prosecuting office… I’m not sure which. She was investigating Jessica and Karla’s grandpa for witchcraft, and at some point during her investigation and in front of police officers, she casually stepped out into traffic and in front of a bus that was traveling thirty miles per hour.”
Ellen cringed while uttering, “Oh God!”
“Yeah,” Andy agreed.
“So how long have you two have known Everett?” Ellen asked.
The conversation turned casual, and after Ellen left the food-line with her food tray, she gazed over the room.
Ellen had spotted Karla and three of her friends (two boys and a girl) at a nearby table when Ted offered, “You can sit with us.”
“Earlier I was invited to sit with Karla and her friends and I was going to do it,” Ellen told him. “Thanks for the offer though.”
“Okay,” Ted said before he, Ellen and Andy went their respective ways.
When Ellen stepped up to Karla’s table and stopped, Karla said, “Everyone, this is Ellen. Ellen, meet Dawn, Gary and Derek.”
“Hi,” Ellen, Dawn, Gary and Derek said.
“Have a seat,” Gary added.
As Ellen was sitting down, Derek asked, “So what was the commotion all about in the food-line?”
“Oh, you saw that?” Ellen asked.
“Well, we saw as much as we could from over here,” Dawn said. “So what was it about?”
“It was a misunderstanding… that I accidentally caused,” Ellen lied.
“Really?” Derek questioned in an amused tone. “What was it about?”
“I actually was hoping to let the incident die gracefully,” Ellen began. “So if you don’t mind, let’s move on to a different subject.”
“Alright,” Derek agreed in an amused tone. “So what kind of music do you like?”
“I can listen to most music, except for rap and few individual songs that I find annoying rather than entertaining,” Ellen said as she saw that Karla looked more tired than when they first met. “You look utterly exhausted, Karla.”
“That’s because I am,” Karla said with a polite grin.
“Perhaps you should take Jessica up on her offer,” Ellen suggested.
“What offer?” Karla genuinely questioned.
“About caring for your grandfather,” Ellen reminded her.
“Oh,” Karla said in a tone as if the knowledge had come back to her. “I’ll be okay watching him tonight. He normally doesn’t keep me up two days in a row.”
Ellen nodded with a polite grin before asking, “So what happened to your grandfather that he needs a daytime nurse and someone to watch him at night?”
Karla took a breath before answering sullenly, “He had a severe stroke more than a year ago that prevents him from verbal communication and walking and holding things. The doctors say that his mind is a prisoner of his own body and claim that his condition is permanent… but I don’t think so. His condition has been improving for the past six months.”
“That’s good,” Ellen said with a slight grin.
“It is,” Karla agreed.
“Moving onto a more pleasant topic,” Dawn prompted. Ellen amusingly grinned as Dawn continued with, “Tell us about you… like where are you from?”
Ellen held her grin as she answered Dawn’s question.
Chapter Fourteen
At the end of the school day, Ellen—while carrying her book bag—left the building while talking to two of her new friends, Chloe and Nathan, from her last class—Geometry.
After walking a few feet from the entrance towards the street, she saw the SUV parallel parked on the street in front of the school with Allyson patiently waiting at the driver’s seat.
Nathan was talking about a science fiction movie that he had recently seen and when he saw that Ellen’s attention was drawn elsewhere, he continued with, “And you don’t care anything about this, do you, Ellen?”
“What?” Ellen questioned while turning back towards Nathan.
“You don’t like science fiction,” Nathan accused.
“I like some science fiction,” Ellen insisted.
“Not enough to hold your interest though,” Nathan retorted.
“I’m sorry,” Ellen began. “I was listening to you up to the point when I saw my ride waiting for me. And the movie does sound interesting. I might rent it… and then we’ll have more to talk about.”
Nathan amusingly grinned before saying, “I own it actually. Perhaps we could watch it together some time.”
Ellen glanced at Chloe and saw a tolerant look on her face before saying, “As long as it’s a group thing, I’m in.”
“Oh… of course I had meant it as a group thing,” Nathan said in a tone as if to play it cool.
Ellen amusingly grinned before gesturing towards the SUV and saying, “My ride is waiting, so I’d better get going.”
“Of course,” Nathan and Chloe said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Later,” Ellen said before walking away.
“I’ll watch that movie with you,” Chloe told Nathan.
“If you’d like,” Nathan replied in an indifferent tone.
Chloe hesitated for a moment before finding the courage to say, “Nathan, I know you see me as a sister, but I’m not your sister.”
Nathan chose his words before saying, “I have known how you feel about me for the past year, but we have known each other as far back as I can remember and to date you would feel too much like incest for me… sis.”
Chloe rolled her eyes before walking away and grumbling, “I’m going home.”
“Chloe, I’m sorry that I don’t feel the way that you do,” Nathan sincerely said while catching up and walking beside her.
“Me too,” Chloe said sullenly without looking at him.
Ellen stepped up to the SUV and saw that Sonya was sleeping in the backseat before opening the front passenger’s door.
Allyson turned towards Ellen when she heard the door opening, and as Ellen was getting in, Allyson asked, “So how was your first day at school?”
Ellen had placed her book bag on the floorboard, and as she was shutting her door, she said, “Informative and slightly unsettling.”
“Unsettling?” Allyson echoed while giving Ellen her full attention. “How?”
“There’s a set of sixteen-year-old twins at this school named Jessica and Karla Harman,” Ellen began as she put on her seat belt. “They carry the birthmark of the Raven Coven with a waning gibbous moon.”
“A waning gibbous!” Allyson echoed in astonishment. “Wow! According to Harry, that’s rare for a wizard to have that much power for this day and age.”
“I thoughts so too,” Ellen agreed.
“Do they look menacing?”
Ellen shook her head while saying, “No, they… they don’t. In fact, Karla seems to be very friendly.”
“What about Jessica?” Allyson quickly asked.
“Jessica is more cautious than Karla,” Ellen said. “She doesn’t seem to be threatening though.”
“Be careful around them both,” Allyson strongly advised. “Okay?”
“Definitely,” Ellen agreed. “In fact, I played dumb when Jessica confronted me about the moon-stars birthmark being the mark of Merlin.”
“I think you did the right thing,” Allyson told her before turning her attention forward and starting the SUV.
“Yes, well, I also met a boy named Everett who can spot a witch and a sorceress from across the room,” Ellen supplied.
“What do you mean?” Allyson questioned as she backed up slightly.
As Allyson was putting the SUV into drive, Ellen said, “Everett can see people’s auras, and the color of everyone’s aura falls in the grayscale; everyone except for Merlin’s descendants. Merlin’s descendants have auras that are pink, purple and lavender in color.”
“Everett told you this?” Allyson asked as she pulled into the street.
“No, his friends told me that after Everett had left the food-line to avoid being around me.”
“People know about you?!” Allyson demanded to know.
“No, according to his friends, the only ones who might trust Everett’s ability is Everett’s family.”
“His friends don’t trust his ability?” Allyson questioned.
“His friends are tired of humoring his irrational belief, and that’s Andy’s words,” Ellen got out before thinking about what was actually said. “Well, not word for word.”
Allyson amusingly grinned before asking, “Did you learn anything else?”
“I have actually,” Ellen began. “Eight years ago, Everett’s grandmother had the ability to see people’s auras too and she was investigating Jessica and Karla’s grandfather for being a warlock. The investigation ended when Everett’s grandmother stepped in front of a moving bus and was killed.”
“Hey, I remember that incident,” Allyson quickly said. “My aunt and I were waiting at the very next bus stop when that woman committed suicide.”
“Well, according to Everett’s friends, Everett… and maybe his family too believe that witchcraft had killed her,” Ellen supplied.
“Is that possible?” Allyson asked.
“I’m as new to this as you are,” Ellen replied.
“Right,” Allyson agreed in a slightly embarrassed tone.
“Is Harry home?” Ellen asked.
“No, he’s at work and he’ll be working late tonight and for the rest of this week in order to catch up on his work,” Allyson said.
Ellen thought for a second before saying, “I guess I could send Sadie an Email and ask her if witchcraft could compel someone to commit suicide.”
“Don’t forget to begin your Emails with the phrase In The Wizards of Buckingham,” Allyson reminded her.
Ellen grinned before saying, “I haven’t forgotten.”
Before anything else was said, Sonya woke up and began crying. When Allyson saw that Ellen was removing her seat belt, she quickly asked, “What are you doing?”
Ellen gestured towards the seat next to Sonya while saying, “I’m going to climb over the seat and give Sonya her bottle.”
“You don’t climb over the seats while a vehicle is moving,” Allyson ordered. “And I prefer that you don’t climb over them at all.”
“Fine,” Ellen said before seeing a place to pull over up ahead. She gestured towards it while saying, “Pull over up there and I’ll get in back.”
“I’ve been working with her today on taking a pacifier,” Allyson said as she was preparing to pull over. “Try that before the bottle.”
“Okay,” Ellen agreed.
As soon as Allyson parked, Ellen got out of the SUV and then climbed into the backseat next to Sonya.
“Check her and see if she needs changing,” Allyson suggested. Ellen checked Sonya’s pamper before saying, “Oh yeah, she definitely needs changing.”
“Do you want me to do it?” Allyson asked.
“I can do it; you can drive,” Ellen said as she went to take Sonya from her car seat.
“I won’t be driving while Sonya’s out of her car seat,” Allyson informed.
Ellen nodded with a grin before she went to change Sonya’s pamper.
Sonya cried during the time that it took for Ellen to change Sonya’s pamper and to put her back into the infant car seat. As Allyson drove away again, Ellen was trying to get Sonya to take her pacifier.
After Sonya spit out her pacifier for the third time, Ellen announced, “She won’t take it.”
“Okay, go ahead and try the bottle,” Allyson said.
Ellen tried the bottle and when Sonya realized that it was her formula and not the pacifier, she quit crying and drank eagerly.
“The bottle was what she wanted,” Ellen said as she held the bottle for Sonya to drink.
After a brief moment of silence Allyson asked, “Oh, how was school itself?”
“It was okay,” Ellen got out before a thought came to her. “Oh, I need different gym clothes.”
“Alright. I need a few things from the store anyway, so we can go now.”
Allyson drove to a department store and found an open parking spot that was facing a large pet store, which was sharing the same parking lot as the department store.
As Allyson was parking the SUV, Ellen read the pet store’s sign, “Lester’s Pet Store. Pets, pet supplies, pet grooming and dog training.”
“They had just opened up recently and I heard that Lester —the owner—used to train police dogs.”
“Cool,” Ellen could only think to say.
After Ellen had placed Sonya into the stroller and turned on the CD player, she pushed the stroller towards the store entrance. Allyson walked beside Ellen.
Ellen while pushing Sonya in her stroller and Allyson while pushing the shopping cart went to the clothing department first for Ellen’s gym clothes. As they were leaving the clothing department they came face to face with Everett and his ten-year-old sister from Everett’s stepmother. Everett’s sister was carrying a Halloween costume.
Everett’s harsh gaze had locked on Sonya, and after a brief moment of awkward silence, Ellen said, “Everett, hi. Strange that we would run into you here. This is Allyson. Her husband and my brother’s wife are brother and sister… were anyway. And the bundle of joy who you’re intensely focused on—who I will protect with my life—is Sonya, my brother’s daughter.”
Everett’s harsh gaze changed into a scowl towards Ellen as Allyson said, “Hi, Everett.”
Ellen attempted to emit friendliness and held a friendly smile. Everett didn’t buy it though and ordered coldly, “Let’s go, Megan.”
“Hey, Megan was my mom’s name as well,” Ellen delightfully said.
“Bye,” Megan cheerfully said.
“Bye,” Ellen and Allyson echoed.
“You’re so rude,” Megan accused as she and Everett were leaving.
“Just keep walking,” Everett ordered.
“So he’s Everett,” Allyson said while staring at him.
“Yep, and crap!” Ellen grumbled. “He saw Sonya’s aura. He knows about her.”
“It will be okay,” Allyson said while putting her hand on Ellen’s shoulder. “I doubt that he would be stupid enough to go after an infant.”
“I hope not,” Ellen said as she watched Everett and Megan walking away.
Allyson slightly pulled on Ellen’s arm while saying, “Let’s go. There are other items I want to get.”
“Okay,” Ellen said before pushing Sonya behind Allyson.
During the passing minutes, Ellen and Allyson had collected a few items from several departments before they came near the costume aisle.
Allyson was the one to stop first. When Ellen stopped and looked towards Allyson, Allyson told her, “You need a costume.”
Ellen slightly chuckled before saying, “I haven’t been trick-or-treating for four years.”
“You’re a sophomore in high school,” Allyson pointed out. “You just might get invited to a costume party.”
“You would let me go to a party?” Ellen questioned.
“You might’ve proven yourself to be a stubborn young lady, but you have also shown to have good judgment when it comes to things,” Allyson said. “So all-in-all, I have no reason not to allow you to go to a costume party.”
Ellen grinned before saying, “Thanks.”
Allyson grinned before questioning, “So any thoughts as to what you want to dress as this year?”
“Don’t know,” Ellen said as she pushed Sonya down the costume aisle. “We need to get Sonya a costume too though.”
“I had planned to,” Allyson said as she followed with the shopping cart. “And if you don’t find anything that you like, I know where there’s a party store that sells a better selection of costumes.”
“Okay,” Ellen said as she went to look at the costumes. Ellen looked at the quality of two of the costumes before turning towards Allyson. “Are they better costumes at the party store?”
Legacy Page 24
