Allyson took Sonya out of the swing and checked her pamper. She then playfully said, “Ew, stinky-butt. You need a fresh pamper.”
“The diaper bag is next to me,” Everett informed.
“Okay, thanks,” Allyson said politely as she moved towards the couch with Sonya in her arms.
Sonya continued to fuss as her pamper was being changed. As Allyson was finishing up, Ellen was returning with volume forty.
When Ellen saw that Everett was holding his breath, she grinned. As she took a seat next to him she asked, “You can’t handle Sonya’s smelly pamper, Everett?”
“I can’t,” Everett agreed before taking another breath and holding it.
In an amused tone, Allyson said, “Don’t worry, Everett. I’ll get rid of the pamper in a moment.”
Everett nodded, and as Allyson carried Sonya and the dirty pamper into the kitchen, he breathed normally.
Ellen turned her attention to the Legacy volume and turned to page thirty before reading.
(Elsabeth’s handwriting)
May 16, 1684.
I had stepped off the boat and onto Boston harbor fifteen minutes ago. I was supposed to have been greeted by my twin sister Agatha and her husband Caleb as soon as I had arrived. Hopefully they had just gotten the time wrong and not anything worse.
Anyway, my travel from London to Boston was great and I hope my travel back to London will be just as great.
I’ll write more later.
Agatha and Caleb’s house has three floors with several rooms and a large ballroom. Caleb is one of Boston’s finest lawyers and it shows that he’s doing well to provide for my sister.
Agatha has been trying to give Caleb kids since their marriage, but she keeps miscarrying after a few months.
Anyway, Caleb showed up alone within a short time after I had placed my volume back into my bag. I asked where was Agatha and he had expressed his concern for her.
“Agatha hasn’t been acting herself for several weeks,” he told me.
After reaching Agatha and Caleb’s house I had to agree. After only three years apart she had looked at me as if we had just met. She had also called me Elizabeth when my name is Elsabeth. When I questioned her about it, she gave me a poor reason about a woman in the area named Elizabeth and the name ‘Elizabeth’ just came out.
I don’t know what is going on with Agatha, but I’m not returning to London until I know my sister is okay.
I’ll write more later.
May 17, 1684.
I had gone to town today with Agatha this morning. The people here seem nice. Their accent is something I have to get use to though.
When Agatha wasn’t around, a few of the ladies had expressed their concerns for Agatha. They told me what Caleb had told me—about how Agatha hasn’t been acting herself for several weeks.
When I asked these ladies what was going on around the time my sister began to act differently they could only tell me about Rebecca.
According to these ladies, Rebecca was new in town and within a short time Agatha and Rebecca were close like sisters. Then Rebecca left town and that was when Agatha began to act strangely.
During the coach ride back to the house, I asked Agatha about Rebecca. Her face drew dire as if I had mentioned a ghost. Her expression then eased up before telling me that Rebecca had moved to New York.
My sister and I are twenty years old and I could tell since we were as young as five years old if my sister was lying to me or telling me the truth, but this time, I couldn’t tell.
Her gestures and her manner of speaking were not my sister’s. How could my sister have changed so much after being in the colonies for only three years?
I’ll write more later.
May 20, 1684.
I was looking through Agatha’s Legacy volumes today. The last entry that she made was on March 31, 1684. That’s not like Agatha not to write in her volumes. Anyway, the final entry that Agatha had made talked about an incantation that Rebecca was going to teach her.
Rebecca is a sorceress and Agatha had known her for only six weeks. Both of those facts greatly disturb me.
I’ll write more later.
Before I had the opportunity to ask Agatha my questions about Rebecca being a sorceress, three British soldiers had barged into the house while demanding to know Rebecca’s whereabouts.
Rebecca is a wanted person and her crime is witchcraft. I could tell that the soldiers didn’t believe Agatha when she told them that Rebecca had left for New York, but they had finally left without anything to show for their visit.
It was then my turn to ask questions and Agatha was less pleased with what I had wanted to know than what the soldiers had wanted.
We fought for at least an hour and she failed to give me a satisfying answer to any of my questions.
As Agatha was storming away from me, I concluded one thing.
I’ll write more later.
May 26, 1684.
When I wrote my last entry, I suspected that Agatha was being influenced by a powerful spirit.
To prove my suspicion I spent five days creating my first incantation—an incantation that will make a mirror capable of reflecting souls and spirits.
This morning I had cast that incantation on the mirror in the guest room that I’m using and then I invited Agatha in. When Agatha crossed in front of the mirror, a woman who I had never seen before had reflected back in the mirror. I expected to find something, but this was a total surprise, and my gawking at her reflection had drawn her attention to it.
“It’s been many centuries… twelve I think since I had seen my true reflection, and I had forgotten what I had looked like,” she said with no alarm.
“Who are you?” I quickly asked.
The woman wearing my sister’s body thought for a moment before saying, “My name changes when I change bodies, and I can’t remember my original name.” She then gestured towards the mirror while saying, “The name to that face.”
“Where’s my sister?!” I demanded.
“I killed her as I had done with Rebecca and the others who I had swapped bodies with, and I do this to remain young,” she answered before rattling off a short incantation that shattered and threw mirror pieces at me.
I immediately threw myself to the floor and the pieces went over my head and stuck into the wall.
I rattled off an incantation of my own and threw the woman—who was wearing my sister’s body as if it was a garment that could be easily changed and thrown out when it no longer suited her—out the window. I had meant to throw her against the wall and by the time I got to the window and looked out, my bad aim had allowed this stranger to flee rapidly down the road.
I ran quickly to the front door, but after reaching the outside, I lost track of her.
I went to Caleb’s office and told him what I had done and the results of it.
Caleb rounded up ten men and then scoured the city and the countryside for her. That has been more than twelve hours ago and they haven’t returned yet.
I’ll write more when there’s more to tell.
June 4, 1684.
The mystery woman, who had taken over my sister’s body, had done another body switch with a Mohawk shaman—a woman from the fourth wizard line. However, this time she left the shaman in my sister’s body wandering the countryside several miles outside of Boston. We knew she was a Mohawk woman because she was speaking her native language.
I’ll write more when there’s more to tell.
June 14, 1684.
The body thief is still out there and Caleb believes she is now hiding among the Indian tribe to the west. Caleb and his men dropped pursuit at the edge of the Indian Territory.
Orenda—the Mohawk shaman who is now possessing my sister’s body—fears that her tribe won’t accept her in her current state, so she agreed to stay with us ‘palefaces’. Caleb had set her up in one of the guest rooms.
As for me, there is no way that I’m going back to London while knowing that the sorceress who
had killed my sister and stolen her body is out there and free to prey on other sorceresses, so I had sent word to England to send my personal belongings to me.
I’ll write more later.
“Ellen!” Everett called to grab her attention.
“What?” Ellen quickly asked in a confused tone while looking up from the volume.
“You’re breathing hard and you look pissed,” Everett pointed out.
“I am pissed,” Ellen grumbled.
“What’s in those pages?” Everett practically demanded to know.
“There’s a body thief out there—somewhere—and Elsabeth, one of my ancestors, had encountered her,” Ellen informed.
“A body thief?” Everett echoed in a confused tone.
“There’s something said in these pages about a sorceress who swaps bodies with other sorceresses like changing garments,” Ellen told him. “The sorceress has been doing it for centuries to remain young and when she got discovered she fled and hid among the Native Americans.”
“That’s why your great-grandma wants you to spot a sorceress from the fourth wizard line when you encounter one,” Everett guessed.
“I need to do more than that,” Ellen said. “I need the spell that Elsabeth had done to see souls and spirits in the mirror.” She gestured towards the book on incantations. “Let me have the spell book.”
“You’re not going to do spells after what you had told Harris?” Everett quickly questioned without handing over the book.
“I want to find the spell that will make a mirror capable of reflecting souls and spirits, and then I’m going to ask Harry to do it,” Ellen said as Harris stepped in with his plate of food and a glass of tea.
“Ask me to do what?” Harris questioned.
Allyson—while carrying Sonya and having Sonya drinking her bottle—followed Harris into the living room.
With volume forty open to page thirty, Ellen stood up with it and carried it to Harris while saying, “There’s a sorceress out there who’s been stealing bodies for centuries in order to remain young.”
“What are you talking about?” Harris quickly asked in an unknowledgeable tone.
“Read this,” Ellen insisted as she gestured towards the page. “This will tell you what I’m talking about.”
“Hold on,” Harris said before he went to put his plate and drink down on the coffee table.
Allyson sat down on the armchair with Sonya while Sonya drank her formula.
Once Harris’s hands were free, he took the volume from Ellen and began reading.
Everett looked through the book on incantations while looking for the incantation that Ellen had wanted to do.
Ellen waited for a short time before saying, “I would like for you to do the incantation for me that Elsabeth had done back then.”
“Hold on,” Harris said before finishing what Ellen had wanted him to read.
When Harris looked up from the book, Ellen added, “I want to look at Jessica and Karla in a mirror that is capable of seeing souls and spirits.”
Harris took a breath before asking, “And you’re going to invite them to the house and have them gaze into a mirror?”
Ellen thought for a moment before saying, “A compact mirror should work—and discreet.”
Harris slightly sighed before asking, “Is the incantation even in the book on incantations?”
“I could be wrong, but I think this is it,” Everett informed while lifting up the book on incantations.
Harris stepped up to Everett and after being handed the book, he read over the incantation.
The incantation didn’t take very long to read through and once Harris was done, he said, “This is it and it looks simple enough to do. But do you have a compact mirror to do the incantation on?”
Ellen slightly cringed before saying, “Actually I use the mirror in the school’s bathroom when I need to look into the mirror.”
“There’s one in my purse that you can have,” Allyson told Ellen. “And my purse is on the kitchen table.”
“Okay, thanks,” Ellen said gratefully before walking towards the kitchen.
Harris read over the incantation again, and when Ellen was returning with the compact mirror he said, “According to this incantation the only requirement before reciting the words is to draw three symbols in blood on the glass of the mirror—and I’m guessing anyone’s blood can be use, so I’ll prick my finger for the blood. Anyway, if the incantation is done correctly, the blood will seem to melt into the glass while changing the tint of the glass to a reddish color.”
Ellen opened up the compact mirror to see how wide its surface diameter was before asking, “How big do the symbols have to be?”
“It doesn’t say,” Harris said. “I’ll use a straight pin to prick my finger, and then I’ll use it to make the symbols.”
“Okay,” Ellen agreed. “Where’s a pin?”
“There’s a sewing kit in the kitchen cabinet alongside the bandages and alcohol,” Allyson supplied. “And I think that you guys should do the spell in the kitchen and away from Sonya.”
Ellen embarrassingly grinned before saying, “Right. I didn’t think of that.”
“Yes, well, you need to start thinking about that when you begin learning it,” Allyson told her.
“I will,” Ellen insisted.
“Okay, Ellen,” Harris began. Everett stood up. “Let’s get this over with.”
Ellen went into the kitchen first followed by Everett and then Harris. Harris was carrying the book on incantations.
Ellen and Everett stopped walking near the kitchen table. Harris put the book down on the table and then continued to the cabinet and got out a straight pin from the sewing kit.
Ellen handed Harris the compact mirror when he stepped up, and once Harris had the mirror, he took a seat at the table.
Ellen and Everett sat also and watched as Harris pricked his finger.
Once a nice bubble of blood was formed on Harris’s finger, Harris—while referring to the book—drew the symbols in blood onto the compact mirror. Once the symbols had been drawn out, he recited the incantation while reading from the book.
The incantation was four lines long, and once Harris said it in its entirety the blood spread itself into a thin layer while coating the entire mirror. Before everyone’s eyes, the redness of the blood changed from a red film over the glass to the glass itself being a reddish color.
Once the incantation was complete, Harris touched the mirror before saying, “It’s done. And if vampires really do exist and don’t have souls, I wonder if this was where the thought of them not having reflections came about.”
“Hey, that’s an interesting thought,” Ellen agreed.
“Wait!” Everett uttered. “Vampires are real?!”
Ellen shrugged before saying, “We don’t know for sure, but they’re rumored to be true.”
“They’re rumored to be true?” Everett echoed.
Harris was handing Ellen the compact mirror while saying, “The witches and wizards who care nothing about human life will perform vampiric acts when doing their spells. However, during the 1300’s a large number of vampiric acts were reported in one of the Italian cities and according to the Legacy volumes there were no witches or wizards in that city during the time of those deaths.”
“Great!” Everett sarcastically uttered. “So much for not having nightmares tonight.”
Ellen rubbed Everett’s arm in a consoling manner without saying a word. Everett grinned before leaning in and giving Ellen a passionate kiss.
“Okay, well, I’m going to eat while my food is still relatively warm,” Harris said while standing. He then stepped away.
Ellen ended the kiss before saying, “I want to get back to decoding that code sheet.”
“Alright,” Everett agreed as he and Ellen stood up.
Everett picked up the book on incantations from the table and then gestured for Ellen to leave the kitchen first. Ellen pleasantly grinned before walking int
o the living room followed by Everett.
After taking their seats on the couch, Everett searched the book on incantations for the proper line, and then slowly read the line aloud for Ellen to write down.
“Everett, if you’re at all magically endowed you might not want to read those lines out loud,” Harris warned after hearing the first line.
“We could accidentally activate a spell?” Ellen questioned.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but we shouldn’t risk it,” Harris told her.
“Right,” Ellen agreed as Harris took a bite of his fish.
“We have eight more to decipher and we can take turns writing them out,” Everett suggested.
“Sure; we can do that,” Ellen agreed politely. “I’ll write out the next two and then you can write out the two after that.”
“Okay,” Everett agreed. Ellen took the book and as she went to write out the next line, Everett had a thought. “Hey, are werewolves real?”
Ellen took a breath to answer, but before she could, Harris was the one to explain about the liken incantation.
After Everett learned about the likens, the venomous likens and how the full moon gave strength to wizards and witches, he said, “I read somewhere that certain spells can only work during a certain moon phase.”
“True,” Harris confirmed. “Those spells are called precision incantations and they are also the only type of spells that a wizard or a sorceress can’t perform.”
“Why not?” Ellen and Everett asked as Ellen looked up from what she was doing.
“All precision incantations are minor incantations, and when a wizard attempts to perform one… well, for a lack of a better analogy, it would be like flooding a carburetor engine.” When a confused expression came across Ellen’s face, Harris grinned before explaining, “Too much fuel in the carburetor will keep the engine from starting.”
Ellen grinned before asking, “So what would a wizard or a sorceress do if he or she needs to perform a precision incantation?”
“A lot of partisans would learn witchcraft as well, so a partisan with the knowledge of witchcraft would perform it… or the wizard or sorceress would cast another spell that would produce the same results,” Harris explained.
“Huh,” Ellen let out in an impressed tone before going back to what she was doing. Harris just grinned.
Legacy Page 30
