Chapter Eighteen
It took Ellen and Everett more than thirty minutes to decode everything on the sheet of paper that Spencer had given Ellen.
Harris looked over the ten incantations that were created before saying, “These are definitely vivacious incantations… and they look very impressive.”
“Thanks,” Ellen said with a pleasant grin.
“Do you mind if I send Sadie a copy of these?” Harris requested.
“I don’t mind,” Ellen assured him. “I trust you and your judgment.”
“Thanks,” Harris said with a grin.
“So what do those spells do?” Everett asked.
“Okay, well, most of these will forever defensively enhance the wizard or the witch who would cast it,” Harris began before explaining what seven of the ten incantations would do. He couldn’t figure out what three of the incantations would do, but he was hoping that Sadie could.
After Harris explained what the incantations would do, Allyson said, “Everett. Ellen. It’s getting late. Ellen, if you have homework to do, you don’t have much time to get it done.”
Ellen and Everett looked at the clock in the room before Everett said, “I have homework that I should be doing as well. Can someone give me a lift home?”
“I’ll drive you home,” Harris volunteered.
“Thanks,” Everett said.
“I’ll go with you guys,” Ellen added.
“Okay,” Harris said while he, Ellen and Everett stood up.
Harris gave Allyson a quick kiss before he, Ellen and Everett left the house.
Everett’s navigational directions to his two-story house took them past the department store and Lester’s Pet Store, and after Harris drove four more blocks into the residential area, they came to Everett’s house.
Megan was sitting at her desk in her room on the second floor while doing her homework when a car pulled up in front of the house and caught her attention.
Megan got up and went to the window. When she looked out, she saw Ellen and Everett getting out of the car.
“Everett was eating supper with her?” Megan wondered aloud before she watched Everett stepping up to Ellen and giving her a kiss. “Oh my God!”
Megan watched Ellen and Everett as they said their ‘goodbyes’ and when she saw Everett walking towards the front door, she left her room and made her way downstairs.
Lance was sitting on the couch and watching TV in the living room. When Everett entered the room with his book bag, Lance asked, “So how was dinner?”
“It was good,” Everett replied as Megan walked into the living room. Everett turned to look and saw the curious stare that Megan was giving him. “What?”
“I thought Miss Kansas City was bad news,” Megan pointed out as Kristen was entering the room. “At least that was what you had said last night, and then I saw you kissing her out front.”
“You were kissing that girl we saw last night, who had stopped Sergeant from hurting someone?” Kristen questioned as Everett was putting down his book bag on the couch.
“Her name is Ellen, and she and I had talked at school today,” Everett informed. “I was very wrong about her. She’s not what I thought she was.”
“And now Ellen is your girlfriend?” Megan asked curiously.
After a slight hesitation, Everett finally said, “Ye… yeah.”
Lance scooted to the edge of his seat before asking, “What all do you know about this girl?”
“I know pretty much actually,” Everett replied.
“Such as?” Lance prompted.
“Her name is Ellen Anderson,” Everett began. “She lives with Harris and Allyson Bradley. Harris’s sister was married to Ellen’s brother…”
“Wait!” Lance quickly interrupted with. “She lives with her sister-in-law’s family?”
“She does.”
“That’s unusual,” Lance informed.
“Well, Ellen’s brother and sister-in-law were Ellen’s legal guardians, and two Tuesdays ago they were killed in an auto accident. Ellen’s sister-in-law was also eight months pregnant…”
“With Sonya,” Megan guessed.
Everett glanced at Megan before continuing with, “Yes, with Sonya. Ellen’s sister-in-law lived long enough for Sonya to be born.”
“And Sonya would be the baby who Ellen was pushing in the baby stroller yesterday?” Kristen asked.
“Yes,” Everett confirmed.
“So I take it that Ellen has no living blood relatives other than Sonya,” Lance assumed.
“Actually, Ellen’s dad is alive and living in Independence, Missouri, and her dad’s brother is also alive and just moved to Kansas City, Missouri.”
“Ellen’s father allowed Ellen to move here with his daughter-in-law’s relative instead of having Ellen living with him?” Kristen asked.
“It was Ellen’s choice,” Everett informed. “In fact, Ellen wants very little to do with her dad and uncle.”
“Why?” Lance quickly asked.
Everett thought for a second before saying, “The reason why might be a personal subject that I shouldn’t be discussing.”
“Did her father or uncle sexually abuse her?” Megan asked.
“No!” Everett uttered. “God no! And a ten-year-old is too young to be even thinking like that.”
“I hear things,” Megan confessed.
“And we’ll be talking later to find out what else you might be hearing,” Kristen told her.
Megan smirked before saying sarcastically, “I can’t wait.”
As Kristen was shooting Megan a warning look, Lance asked, “So what is the reason? And I don’t care if it’s a personal subject or not.”
Everett sighed before saying, “Before Ellen was born… in fact, at the time when Ellen’s mom…”
“Megan,” Megan interrupted with. When everyone shot her a curious look, she continued with, “Ellen told me and Everett that her mom’s name was also Megan.”
“Anyway,” Everett uttered while ignoring the interruption. “At the time when Ellen’s mom Megan was pregnant with Ellen, Ellen’s dad and her grandpa had kidnapped her brothers and her only sister… I can’t remember how many brothers. Anyway, while Ellen’s dad was trying to outrun the law, he got involved in an auto accident that killed everyone, except for him and Ellen’s oldest brother… which Ellen’s oldest brother is Sonya’s father. Anyway, her dad went to prison for multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter and was released from prison three years ago.”
“Do you know the name of Ellen’s dad?” Lance asked.
Everett thought for a second before saying, “I don’t think Ellen had said. I do know that Ellen’s dad and Ellen’s uncle are twin brothers.”
“What’s Ellen’s brother’s name?”
“I want to say Mike,” Everett replied. “I’m not certain though.”
“And how old is Ellen?” Lance asked.
“Sixteen,” Everett replied.
“And when did she turn sixteen?” Lance asked.
“July 19th,” Everett told him.
“She drives?” Megan was the one to ask.
Everett shot Megan a confused look while saying, “She doesn’t. And as far as I know she doesn’t have a driver’s license.”
“Why not?” Megan asked.
“Megan!” Kristen called. “Is your homework done?”
“Almost,” Megan replied.
“Well go do it,” Kristen ordered.
“Fine,” Megan grumbled before walking away.
Before Megan could leave, Lance said, “Megan did have a good question. Why doesn’t Ellen have her driver’s license?”
“I never asked and she never said,” Everett replied as Megan was leaving the room; however, Megan stopped outside the room and listened.
“What else can you tell me about Ellen?” Lance prompted.
Everett shrugged before saying, “She’s a nice girl and I like her.”
“Yes, well, I hope you’re smart enough
not to get this nice girl pregnant,” Lance told him.
“I am, Dad,” Everett assured him.
“Yesterday you had told me that she has a pink aura,” Kristen reminded him.
“She does,” Everett agreed. “She’s a nice person though.”
“So you were wrong about what colorful auras mean?” Kristen asked.
“Yeah… I guess I was,” Everett lied with a tell.
Lance saw the tell and pointed out, “You don’t believe that you’re wrong, but you’re confessing that you were.” Everett just stared nervously at Lance. “Why?”
Everett slightly hesitated to say, “Because Ellen is a nice person in spite of her pink aura. So I might be right about what it means for someone to have a colorful aura, but I was wrong to think that everyone with a colorful aura is ominous.”
“I would like to meet Ellen,” Kristen informed.
“So do I,” Lance said.
“I want you to invite her over tomorrow for dinner,” Kristen added.
“Okay,” Everett agreed. “I will invite her. Now is the interrogation over?”
“Where’s Ellen’s mom right now?” Lance asked as an afterthought.
“She died of a brain tumor last June,” Everett replied. “Now is that it?”
“Can you think of anything else to tell me about Ellen?” Lance asked.
Everett shrugged before saying, “That’s all I can think of… and I do have homework that I need to do.”
As Everett was picking up his book bag, Lance told him, “I’m done with the questions, so go do your homework.” Lance then spoke louder. “Megan, go do yours too and quit eavesdropping.”
Megan stepped in before asking, “How did you know that I was still here?”
“I have good hearing, Sweetie, and I can determine where you are at from the sound of your footsteps,” Lance pointed out. “And your footsteps stopped just outside the door.”
“So you’ll have to walk away and then…” Everett was only able to get out.
“Everett!” Lance uttered. “Don’t be teaching her how to be sneaky. And both of you, go do your homework.”
“Let’s go, Megan,” Everett said while gesturing for Megan to exit first. When Megan left the room Everett followed.
Lance stood and followed Everett for a short distance to make sure that Everett and Megan were actually walking away. As he stepped back into the living room he told Kristen, “Once I get to the station tomorrow, I’ll see if I can get more info on Ellen Anderson.”
“If Everett learns that you’re checking up on his girlfriend he may never forgive you,” Kristen pointed out.
“He believes that Ellen is a witch, but not an ominous one,” Lance countered. “Everett’s girlfriend or not I want to learn more about Ellen.”
“Please keep it discreet,” Kristen requested.
“I will,” Lance promised.
“Okay.” Kristen gestured towards the couch while continuing with, “I’ll join you on the couch and watch TV.”
Lance nodded before he and Kristen sat on the couch and cuddled.
After Ellen and Harris returned home, Ellen checked her Emails and saw an Email from Sadie. After opening the Email she saw that the answer to her question was,
Ellen,
In ‘The Wizards of Buckingham’ there are a few incantations that can disguise a murder as a suicide, but one that would compel someone to commit suicide isn’t anything I have in my book.
I hope that had answered your question.
Sadie.
Ellen also had Emails from her dad, Billie, Marcie, Rayray, Jeanie and a few other friends from Kansas City. She went through her Emails one at a time and answered them. After answering the last Email, she did her homework, read for an hour in one of the Legacy volumes and then went to bed.
Wednesday morning, minutes before the first class was to begin, Ellen was walking to her locker with her book bag and the small purse that Allyson had given her. As Ellen was approaching her locker, she saw that Everett had beaten her there.
As Ellen stepped up to Everett, she tapped him on his shoulder, which made him jump. Ellen slightly jumped as well from Everett’s abrupt movement and when Everett jerked around to look, Ellen questioned in a concerned tone, “Are you okay?”
“Will you please make a noise when stepping up behind me?” Everett requested strongly. “And yes, I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you,” Ellen assured him.
“I know,” Everett said with slight regret in his voice. “I just don’t like being snuck up on and startled.”
“So I gathered,” Ellen told him. “So how was your night?”
Everett slightly grinned before saying, “It was nice. And thank you for not prying as to why I don’t like being snuck up on.” Ellen grinned before nodding. Everett took hold of Ellen’s hand before continuing with, “My mom wants you to come over for dinner tonight.” A slightly surprised expression came across Ellen’s face. “And… and I would like that too.”
Ellen grinned, and after a short deliberation, she said, “I will have to call Allyson and let her know not to pick me up after school.”
Everett grinned before saying, “Of course.” He then leaned in and gave Ellen a kiss.
Ellen and Everett broke the kiss when Danny cleared his throat. As the two separated Ellen said, “Morning, Danny.”
“Hey, Danny,” Everett said while overlapping Ellen.
“I see that you two had gotten better acquainted,” Danny said while continuing to his locker.
“Yes,” Ellen agreed in an amused tone as she moved to her locker. “So how are you doing, Danny?”
“Good,” Danny replied. “And you two?”
“Good,” Ellen and Everett echoed.
“I’ll walk you to your first class,” Everett told Ellen as Ellen was opening her locker.
“I rather that you didn’t walk me to class,” Danny joked before Ellen could respond. “People might talk.”
Everett shot Danny a confused look before correcting, “I will walk Ellen to her first class; not you.”
“I’m joking with you, man,” Danny said in an amused tone. “I knew you were talking to Ellen.”
“Okay, Everett,” Ellen finally told him in an amused tone while putting up what she needed to put up and keeping her purse, her history book and her five-course notebook.
Just after Ellen and Everett began walking towards Ellen’s first class, Everett hesitated to say, “My dad… Detective Delaney interrogated me about you; about your dad; about why you weren’t living with him.”
“Okay,” Ellen said in a tone as if she didn’t know what Everett was getting at.
“I told him… about your dad and… and siblings. I told him everything that you had told me.”
“That’s fine,” Ellen assured him. “He’s your dad, and being that your dad is a police detective, he’s most likely less trusting of strangers. And I have no problems with your dad knowing.”
“Okay,” Everett said in a relieved tone.
“Ooh, but there might be something I need to tell you about my dad before your dad tells you,” Ellen confessed.
“What’s that?”
“Before my dad had kidnapped my brothers and sister, he worked for a man named Clayton Seawall.”
Okay,” Everett said in a confused tone. “Who’s Clayton Seawall?”
“Before sixteen… seventeen years ago, he was Kansas City’s top drug lord-slash-weapons dealer-slash-murderer,” Ellen replied. “After the accident that killed my brothers and sister, my dad took a plea bargain and helped send Clayton Seawall to prison. In fact, that’s why my dad had only gotten thirteen years in prison and not more.”
“So your dad has killed people?” Everett asked.
“No,” Ellen answered quickly. “He claims that he had never killed deliberately; however, his job for Clayton Seawall was cleaning up evidence of any crime that Clayton had committed and disposing of the bodies
of whom Clayton had killed. And as I said, I wanted you to hear this from me and not your dad.”
Everett took Ellen’s hand and held it while saying, “It’s fine.”
Ellen grinned, and while continuing to hold Everett’s hand as they walked, she started a casual conversation. As they were approaching the classroom, Jessica was approaching as well from the opposite direction.
Ellen saw the curious expression on Jessica’s face towards her and Everett being together, but chose to ignore it along with any suspicions of Jessica being the one who was hurting people.
“Good morning, Jess,” Ellen told her.
Jessica was looking at Everett before shaking off her thought. She then looked towards Ellen while saying in a confused tone, “Yeah. Good morning. Are you two… what?”
Ellen slightly lifted Everett’s hand while saying, “We have plans to see a movie this Friday.”
“Cool,” Jessica said in a tone as if she didn’t know what else to say. She then gestured towards the classroom. “Well, I’m going to class.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Ellen told her. Jessica just politely grinned before turning towards the classroom.
As Jessica was walking into the classroom, Everett said, “I’d better get to class.”
Ellen nodded while saying, “See ya in gym class.”
“See ya,” Everett echoed before giving Ellen a quick kiss. He and Ellen then went their respective ways.
Except for two students, Ellen’s classmates had beaten her to the classroom, and most of them were chatting to their neighboring classmate.
“Good morning,” Calvin told Ellen as she was putting her book and notebook down on the desk.
“Good morning,” Ellen echoed before taking her seat.
After Ellen got settled she pulled out the compact mirror from her purse. She then tried for a short time to capture Jessica’s reflection in the mirror, but because of the distance between the two, she couldn’t properly see Jessica’s reflection. However, with what she could see around her, everything and everyone had looked normal.
“That’s an odd color mirror,” Calvin said while seeing it just before Ellen was able to put it away.
“Yes,” Ellen agreed while putting the mirror back into her purse.
Legacy Page 31
