“That’s a very bad idea,” Allyson told Ellen.
“Why?” Ellen quickly asked. “I’ve been to prison.” She realized as to how that had sounded at the same time when she caught a curious look from Claire. “To visit my dad I’m mean.”
Allyson amusingly grinned before saying, “Ellen, Sally would feel your presence as soon as you get… within so many feet of her. She will know what you are and she mustn’t find out.”
“If she talks to Jessica or Karla, she might know about me already,” Ellen retorted.
“True; however, you did the right thing by acting uninformed about the mark of Merlin, and if you go see Sally while asking specific questions, Sally will know that you’re not as uninformed as you had let on,” Allyson pointed out.
“Well, we need to find out what had changed,” Ellen insisted. “Why Sally had shot Peter instead of talking to him?”
“I’ll go and talk to Sally,” Claire volunteered. “I’ll find out.”
“Are you sure, Claire?” Allyson questioned incredulously.
“I’m sure,” Claire said fervidly. “I want to know as much as Ellen does, but not for the same reason. I will need someone to watch Spencer though as I do it.”
“I’ll watch Spencer,” Allyson volunteered. “When will you visit Sally?”
“Well, Saturdays and Sundays are the days when people can visit the inmates,” Claire began. “So I’ll go this Saturday.”
“Okay,” Allyson began. “How soon Saturday will you need me here?”
“I’ll need to find out when the visiting hours are, so I’ll have to get back to you on that part,” Claire said.
“Okay,” Allyson said with a nod. “Anyway, Ellen. Everett. We should get going.”
“We haven’t looked at all the notepads,” Ellen pointed out.
“I believe that these notepads will help you more than they will help me, Ellen,” Claire began. “So take them with you.”
Ellen nodded while saying, “Thanks.”
Claire nodded with a slight grin before putting the notepads and the documents back into the briefcase, and after everyone said his or her ‘goodbyes’ Ellen, Allyson and Everett left Claire’s house.
Before Allyson entered her parents’ house, she put the briefcase in the SUV and grabbed Sonya’s diaper bag.
Inside Martin and Paige’s house, Paige was cooking in the kitchen. In the living room, Martin was sitting in an armchair while watching the news. Not far from the couch or the armchair, Stacie was singing a lullaby to Sonya while rocking her in a rocking chair.
Sonya was dozing off in Stacie’s arms when Ellen, Allyson and Everett entered the house, and the shutting of the door had startled Sonya awake.
Sonya began crying, and once Ellen, Allyson and Everett entered the living room, Stacie told them, “Sonya was almost asleep until that door shutting had startled her.”
“Sorry,” Allyson said while putting the diaper bag down near the couch.
As Ellen and Allyson moved towards Stacie and Sonya, Everett went and sat down on the couch. When he glanced towards Martin, Martin started small-talk about baseball.
As Allyson and Ellen stepped up to Stacie and Sonya, Sonya’s eyes locked on Ellen first for a moment before she looked at Allyson. Her crying quickly turned into a sniffle.
Allyson lightly rubbed Sonya’s cheek while saying, “I’m sorry, Sweetie.”
Ellen gently took Sonya’s hand while asking, “Did we wake you, baby girl? We’re sorry.”
Stacie began singing her lullaby again, and within a short time, Sonya’s eyes began to droop close once more.
After hearing Stacie’s lullaby for a short time, Ellen let go of Sonya’s hand while yawning. She then whispered, “Your lullaby is making me sleepy.” Stacie amusingly grinned as she continued to sing to Sonya. Ellen gestured towards the couch next to Everett as she continued with, “I’m going to the couch before you put me to sleep.”
Martin had heard what Ellen had said and replied, “Paige and Stacie both have that tranquil effect on people when they sing lullaby-type songs.”
“I’ve noticed,” Ellen agreed before taking a seat next to Everett. “I had also noticed earlier that if I had my eyes closed, I wouldn’t know if it was Stacie speaking or Paige.”
Stacie grinned before saying, “I took advantage of that a few times in high school by calling my school and pretending to be my mom. I eventually got busted though and grounded over it.”
Ellen giggled before saying, “I know a few girls at my old school who would try that too if they sounded anything like their mothers.”
Everett took and held Ellen’s hand.
“Sonya is sound asleep,” Allyson said as Paige entered the living room.
As everyone turned towards Paige, Paige said, “Dinner will be ready soon.”
“Does the table need setting, Mom?” Allyson asked.
“It does,” Paige replied.
As Allyson was walking towards the kitchen, Stacie asked, “Dad, will you get the bassinet from the other room?”
“Do you babysit a lot?” Ellen asked, curiously as Martin was standing up.
“Not since our nieces and nephews got grown,” Paige replied as Martin walked towards the next room.
“But you have a bassinet,” Ellen pointed out in a confused tone.
Stacie grinned before explaining, “We got the bassinet the day after we heard about Allyson and Harris getting custody of you and Sonya—of course you don’t need the bassinet.”
Ellen amusingly grinned before agreeing, “No. Not for fifteen years now.”
Paige and Allyson stepped away and entered the kitchen.
When Martin returned with the bassinet he suggested, “We should set it up in the kitchen, so we can keep an eye on Sonya while we eat—just in case she would wake up.”
“Alright,” Stacie agreed before she stood and—while carefully carrying Sonya to keep from waking her—followed Ellen, Everett and Martin into the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen—and as an afterthought—Everett said, “Oh, I still need to call home and let my parents know that I’m eating dinner with a friend.”
“You can use that phone,” Paige told him while gesturing towards it.
“Okay, thanks,” Everett said before walking towards the phone.
Martin had found a close-to-the-table yet not-in-the-way spot to put the bassinet, and after Martin had gestured to place Sonya in it, Stacie gently did so to keep from waking her.
Paige had fixed fries, fried okra and baked beans with the catfish, and during dinner, everyone talked casually.
Midway through the meal, Stacie talked everyone into playing cards afterwards, and after they moved onto playing cards, they played for an hour before ending.
Soon after the final hand of cards had ended, Ellen, Allyson and Everett said their ‘goodbyes’ to Paige, Martin and Stacie. Ellen was the one to carry Sonya to the SUV. Allyson carried the diaper bag and a plate of leftovers for Harris.
Chapter Seventeen
Everett went back to the house with Ellen, Allyson and Sonya. Sonya was wide awake, and after they entered the house, Ellen placed Sonya in her swing and one of Tanya’s music CDs was turned on for Sonya to hear.
Allyson put Sonya’s diaper bag down next to the couch and then continued into the kitchen with her purse and the plate of leftover catfish. Once in the kitchen, Allyson placed her purse on the table and the leftovers were put into the refrigerator.
Once Sonya was content swinging in her swing and listening to her mom’s CD, Ellen gestured towards the couch while telling Everett, “Have a seat. I’m going to get the book… that I think we need.”
“Okay,” Everett agreed before turning towards the couch. As Ellen was leaving the living room, Everett was taking a seat on the couch.
Allyson went downstairs to the laundry room and pulled out the laundry from the dryer while dumping them into an empty basket.
After Ellen returned with the book on incan
tations with the missing four pages and an unwritten-in five-course notebook, she took a seat on the couch next to Everett. She then pulled out the paper that Spencer had given her, and while following the serial number looking codes she flipped to the first indicated page.
As Ellen was writing down the first line, Allyson returned to the upstairs living room with the basket of unfolded laundry.
Allyson took a seat on the love seat before suggesting, “If you two prefer watching TV instead of listening to the stereo, go downstairs and watch the TV down there. I’ll watch Sonya.”
“I’m good,” Ellen quickly said before thinking about what Everett may want. “Unless, Everett, you want to watch TV.”
Everett amusingly grinned before saying, “I’m good. In fact, I actually like the songs that are playing. I don’t recognize the singer though.”
Ellen grinned before saying, “The singer is Sonya’s mom.”
“Nice,” Everett said delightfully.
Ellen nodded before turning her attention to another page for the next line. Allyson turned her attention on folding the laundry.
Within a short time, as Ellen was finishing up the first multi-line serial number looking code, Harris returned home from work.
Everyone turned towards Harris before Allyson glanced at her watch and said, “You’re home earlier than I expected.”
“Yes, well, my hard-drive had gone out on my computer at work,” Harris explained. “Someone from the IT department was replacing it when I left work and it will take a few more hours to reinstall the files on my system.”
“Okay, well, we ate supper at my parents’ house,” Allyson began. “It was catfish and I brought you home a plate. It’s in the refrigerator.”
“Okay, thanks,” Harris said before turning his attention to Everett. Everett’s attention was on Harris as well. “Hi, I’m Harris. And you are?”
“Everett,” he said while standing up to shake hands.
While shaking his hand, Harris questioned, “The same Everett I’d heard who could see auras?”
“Yes, Sir,” Everett confirmed before ending the handshake. “Your aura is almost the same pink shade as Ellen’s aura.”
“Okay, well, I was under the impression that you didn’t want anything to do with Ellen,” Harris said as Allyson stood up.
“I explained things to Everett,” Ellen supplied as Allyson stepped up next to Harris.
“What exactly did you explained to Everett?” Harris questioned calmly just before noticing the book on incantations that Ellen had.
“He suspected that we were witches, and I felt that his suspicions were more dangerous than knowing the truth,” Ellen explained. “So I told him everything about us.”
“After learning the truth, I found that I had feelings for Ellen,” Everett added while retaking his seat next to Ellen.
“And now you’re learning incantations before fulfilling your promise to my mom?” Harris questioned in a slightly betrayed tone.
“No-no,” Ellen quickly said. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Then what are you doing with the book on incantations?” Harris asked.
“We had visited Claire earlier and while there, Spencer had handed Ellen a code sheet that he made out,” Allyson was the one to explain. Harris gave Allyson a confused look. “And then Spencer spoke to Ellen—his first words that he had spoken in years. Spencer told Ellen that the missing pages can be found within.”
“So I’m using the code sheet to re-create the missing pages,” Ellen added. “I was finishing up my first set when you stepped in.”
“May I see what you had written out?” Harris requested.
“Of course,” Ellen said before handing him the notebook.
Harris took the time to read what was written before grinning and saying excitingly, “This is a vivacious incantation.”
“It must be a nice incantation too,” Ellen presumed. “So what does it do?”
“By pulling electricity from the light fixtures like your great-grandmother had done would normally fry the wizard or the sorceress performing the incantation,” Harris began. “I was wondering how she had pulled it off without frying herself and this incantation was how she did it.”
“So that’s a combat incantation?” Ellen questioned.
“No; it’s definitely a defensive incantation,” Harris corrected. “Any wizard or sorceress… or even a witch, as far as that matters, who performs this incantation will be able to endure massive currents of electricity to travel through his or her body without harm. Being struck by lightning would be no more hazardous than getting hit by a very small hailstone, which is good when confronting someone from the Raven coven.”
“What does lightning strikes have to do with the Raven?” Ellen quickly asked.
“Well, as you know, the members of the Raven coven have the power over the Earth and Air,” Harris began. “And pulling lightning from the air is a part of the Air’s power.”
Ellen gave Harris a curious look before saying, “I would think that it would be a part of the Brimstone’s power, since they can create and control severe thunderstorms.”
“Members of the Brimstone Coven may be able to bring forth fierce thunderstorms with tornadoes, and dissipate them just as easily, but they can’t control the lightning strikes or the tornadoes. However, members of the Raven Coven can control them both like an expert rifleman shooting his rifle; however, if a member of the Raven Coven would bring forth a severe thunderstorm he or she wouldn’t be able to dissipate it. The storm would sweep through the land with its destruction until it had died out on its own.”
“It’s weird that the power to control the thunderstorms and the power to control the lightning strikes were split up like that,” Ellen commented.
Harris grinned before saying, “Well, you have to understand that lightning is nothing more than the discharge of atmospheric electricity, and the atmosphere is a part of the air, and the air is what the members of the Raven Coven can control.”
“Okay-okay, I get it,” Ellen quickly said. “So I guess that the members of the Brimstone Coven wouldn’t bring forth a thunderstorm in a fight against the Raven Coven.”
“They wouldn’t,” Harris agreed. “They would; however, throw fireballs.”
“And—I’m guessing that—the only counter that the Raven has for a fireball is to knock it off course with a gust of wind,” Ellen surmised.
“Very good,” Harris praised before indicating to the notebook. “Anyway, Spencer had created a code sheet that gave you this?”
“Uh-huh,” Ellen said with a nod.
“Huh?” Harris let out as if a thought had occurred to him.
“What is it, Harry?” Allyson questioned.
“I’m thinking that Spencer might be a receptive,” Harris supplied.
“What’s a receptive?” Ellen quickly asked.
“A receptive is a person who can’t see or hear or even sense ghosts, but can be greatly influenced by them,” Harris explained. “A ghost can make a receptive say or do almost anything that it wants and the receptive will think that his or her actions or thoughts were his or her own.”
“The only ghost that can give me these is my great-grandmother,” Ellen presumed. “And I’m being… watched by her spirit?”
“If her spirit is here, I’ll say that it’s attached to the Legacy volumes,” Harris supplied. “In fact, throughout the centuries, there have been spirits attached to my family’s Legacy volumes.”
“That thought is a bit comforting and eerie at the same time,” Ellen commented.
“I know what you mean,” Harris said with a grin. “Anyway, may I see the code sheet?”
“Sure,” Ellen said before handing Harris the code sheet. “‘P’ is for page and ‘L’ is for line. Also as with the first incantation that I re-created, I think that each grouping is a complete incantation.”
“Okay,” Harris said as he turned his attention towards the code sheet. “Did you underline som
e of these or…?”
“Spencer did,” Ellen finished.
“Look up this first single underlined one,” Harris requested. “It’s on page twelve and line one.”
“Okay,” Ellen said before picking up the book. After opening to the page, she continued with, “The opening phrase is actually on the first four lines and here it is. ‘Descendants of Merlin can’t sense the presence of the fourth wizard line, so the following incantation was created to change that.’ The fourth wizard line? I thought there were only three wizard lines.”
“True Native American shamans are considered to be the fourth wizard line, and the three wizard lines learned of the fourth wizard line when Pocahontas and the Powhatan shaman Tomocomo came to London on June 12th, 1616,” Harris informed. “In fact, that information is in one of my family’s Legacy volumes, but I’m not sure which one.”
“Is Tomocomo related to Merlin?” Allyson asked.
“No, in fact, not any of the Native American shamans are related to Merlin,” Harris replied. “Their ability also doesn’t get split in half every three generations, nor do they carry a specific birthmark.”
“Interesting,” Allyson commented.
“Okay, well, the phrase continues with, ‘A pair of eyeglasses with corrective lenses or clear glass lenses is required for this incantation. Refer to volume forty on page thirty to learn why the following incantation is important.’”
Ellen put down the book on the coffee table and stood up before announcing, “I’m going to get volume forty.”
Harris grinned and as he placed the code sheet on the coffee table, he said, “While you’re doing that, I’ll go warm up my plate of catfish.”
“And I’ll continue with the next decipher,” Everett informed before picking up the code sheet.
“That’s fine,” Ellen said as Everett went to decipher the next multiple-line code.
As Ellen was leaving the room, Harris was entering the kitchen. Sonya began fussing and Allyson went to check on her.
“Honey, will you warm up a bottle from the refrigerator for me?” Allyson called after Harris. “And make sure it’s not too hot.”
“Okay,” Harris replied.
Legacy Page 29
