Budding Magic

  Chapter Fourteen

  "About time," Rhoswen said irritably. She eyed the small basket suspiciously, and then broke out in a big smile when she saw what was inside it. "Pecan pie! I love pecan pie."

  "That's not all," Vevila grinned. "Look at the signature on the side here."

  "It's a pocket!" Rhoswen said happily. "So what all is in here."

  "Almost all of Celeste's kitchen," Kane said proudly.

  They laughed when they heard Celeste sigh into the link.

  Vevila started singing…

  "The sisters and I all riding a wild ride,"

  "With this beastie of a donkey," Alana sang out,

  "all shaggy and high."

  "With Celeste's favorite blankets," Kellan sang,

  "and let's not forget her favorite magical basket," Kane sang

  "and now a stolen pie," Rhoswen sang happily

  "With a Chinese man sitting up front," Meifen sang out.

  "Awe-EEe, Awe-EE," Kingdom complained.

  The song paused as they all laughed. Meifen simply couldn't sing a note. It came all out of pitch and strained.

  "oh that reminds me, who's idea was this," Kellan sang holding up the note.

  "to bring along this paper, which stolen items do come,"

  "That was my idea, to study on the way," Rhoswen sang out.

  "She didn't mean it to bring a chicken, and then a brick,"

  "But it was changed from stolen to stolen or lost forever in time," Alana sang

  "so now it brings us more than before."

  "We had to put it into a special box," Rhoswen continued.

  "A pocket box," Alana clarified.

  "because of the strange things it tends to bring.

  "You changed it without talking to us first?" Kellan asked irritably.

  "You don't tell us everything you are doing," Alana argued, stopping the wagon.

  "I do when it concerns all of us," Kellan argued.

  "Really," Alana questioned. "What about your decision to visit up north? You made a commitment before even talking to us!"

  "What choice was there," Kellan asked stung. "It needed to be done."

  "Yes," Rhoswen told her. "But we should have had a say in just how we were going to manage that. Maybe we wanted to go tomorrow when Dara could go with us. It is doubtful that one more day would have made any difference."

  "Or we could have asked Celeste to look up there for us," Alana argued.

  "And what about me?" Vevila stopped them all. "Whose brainy idea was it to wrap me up in a blanket, and steal me away?"

  "We were just trying to lessen how badly you would feel about last night," Kellan told her.

  "Well it didn't work," Vevila said angrily, "just ask Kane. I really would have liked a bath first—you nit!"

  "I'm sorry," Kellan said feeling very contrite.

  "Looks like you are not done practicing your meetings," Meifen told them. He took the reins from Alana's unresisting fingers.

  "Kingdom come," he called out.

  "I'm hungry," Vevila called out.

  "You know what we packed up," Kane told her. "But we also put some porridge into a bowl for you. It has blueberries. Kellan can heat it."

  Kane looked at Kellan speculatively.

  "I want some of that pecan pie," Rhoswen announced and pulled the basket towards her. "Did anyone remember to bring plates and forks?

  "Second basket," Kellan reminded her.

  "I'd like the porridge," Vevila told them. "My stomach feels a little off."

  "Mine too," Chet said.

  "No wonder," Rhoswen said unsympathetically. "You nearly devoured the first basket."

  "Nerves," he said sheepishly.

  "Kellan can teach us," Kane declared.

  "What?" Kellan asked confused.

  "Teach us how to heat things," Kane reminded her. "You said you would, well now seems the time."

  They all looked up at her. She had meant to experiment with it, but had forgotten.

  "Okay," she told them, "but it's going to be a little rough. I never did check to actually see how I was doing it. It would have been easier with Dara here to describe what she would have seen."

  "If she's not busy," Alana reminded them. "We can link her in."

  "Kellan can heat things up magically," Kane explained to Chet seeing his puzzled expression. "We can also link up to each other over distances and talk to each other, hence linking with Dara."

  "Oh," he said curiously. "I guess I'll just watch then."

  "There won't be much to watch," Kane told him, "but you're welcome."

  :Dara,: Alana called to her twin. :We are going to have Kellan teach us how to heat Vevila's porridge. Do you have time to link with us?:

  :I have time,: Dara agreed. :Our patient is still eating. I'll just go up to our room first.:

  After working around Celeste and her uncle, she was pretty sure she knew how Kellan had done the trick, but she didn't want to miss any learning's with her sisters. Besides, she missed them. It had only been a few hours, but she did. It was really quiet around here. She didn't think she would like being separated away from all of them to learn the healing. She would have to think about how to manage that.

  :Here,: Dara called out.

  :This is going to be more difficult than water,: Kellan told them. :With water, you can just blast it. With this, some of it would burn. No one likes burned porridge. If it's small enough, I like to hold it in my hand. You have to be careful though that you don't burn yourself. Just drop it if you go too far. It's not worth the burn.:

  :Sounds like you've done that,: Alana questioned.

  :Grandmother didn't warn me,: Kellan told them.

  :She wouldn't,: Dara commented.

  :What did she die of?: Kane asked.

  :Meanness,: Alana muttered into the link.

  :She fell,: Dara answered. :She apparently fell and was hurt for a long time before she died. That wouldn't happen to any of us, Druantia wouldn't allow it.:

  :Druantia turned away from her when she tried to have the baby Celeste killed,: Rhoswen told them.

  :I knew she had to have done something really foul,: Alana confirmed. :Druantia doesn't just abandon us for no reason. Never has, never will.:

  :This bowl is going to be warm just from me holding it,: Kellan reminded them. :Anyway, I think of pushing energy out from the palm of my hand. I can do it from the fingertips, but this way the energy seeps in with more balance. Magical energy seems to release as heat unless we tell it to be something else. I just slowly add magical energy until it's the temperature that I want.:

  :That seems awfully easy,: Kane complained.

  Kellan handed the warmed bowl over to Vevila, who accepted it graciously.

  :From what I've learned with Celeste,: Dara told them. :The magical energy is easy. The hard part is figuring out how to pattern it so it will do what you want. I'd show you some of that, but Vevila is eating.:

  :That's okay,: Vevila told her. :We've been watching you. We know about the—bugs!:

  :I'm glad,: Dara told them. :I can't teach you everything I'm learning—some of it just wouldn't work for you anyway—but I hope you can pick up what will work for you. If you need a repeat of something you see us doing, write it down so we won't forget to show it to you. Stefan is a very good teacher. He's smart, funny, and really good with magic.:

  :I wish he could work with me,: Kellan thought wistfully.

  :Why wouldn't he?: Dara asked.

  :Oh!: Kellan felt embarrassed, :did I say that out loud?:

  :Yes,: they all told her.

  :I'm just still waiting for my special forte,: she said self-consciously.

  :It's something,: Dara told them. : Stefan has been paying attention to you. I think it might be elemental.:

  :He's watching—me?: Kellan asked surprised. She hadn't noticed.

  :Yes,: Dara confirmed. :And speaking of such, it seems our patient is finished eating. I'll get back with you later—I really miss you, all o
f you.:

  :We miss you, too,: Alana told her. :Next time, we need to plan our outings better.:

  They all thought their farewells into the link, and then broke away. They were surprised to see Chet studying them intently. He looked away mortified for having been caught staring.

  "So what did you see?" Kane asked him curiously.

  "Only Kellan handing a hot bowl of porridge over to Vevila, and her eating it up. It smelled really good," he answered wistfully.

  "I hope Katherine can cook," Rhoswen smirked at him.

  "Oh she can," he smirked back.

  "We are coming to the wheat fields, I think," Meifen announced.

  "Wow!" Kellan said appreciating the crop. "I think they are going to get a second harvest. This is looking really good."

  "Hi, Mister Jerold," Kane called out.

  "Hello, miss," Jerold called back eyeing the big donkey. "Hello there, Chet."

  "How's it going?" Kellan asked when they got a little closer. "The crop looks bumper."

  "How's the beer?" Vevila asked scrunching up her nose. She didn't like beer.

  "Been experimenting with adding chocolate," he grinned at Vevila. "Even you might like it."

  "Don't think so," she replied. "You would just be ruining good chocolate!"

  He laughed, delighted with her scrunched up nose. He was surprised to see them dressed as boys, but then, his own daughter on occasion dressed similarly. His expression grew grave when he noticed that Rhoswen and Kane's hair was shorn. He had at first just thought it was pulled back.

  "This is Meifen," Rhoswen introduced them. "He brought us Kingdom here." She pointed at the donkey.

  "Awe-EE, Awe-EE," Kingdom greeted him.

  Mister Jerold jumped back. Alana snickered.

  "He is a bit of a show off," Meifen stood in the wagon and gave him a slight bow.

  They were pleased to see that Mister Jerold returned the bow.

  "Their mother, Aine, has died," Meifen told him. He was gratified when Mister Jerold removed his hat.

  "I'm very sorry to hear that," he told the girls. First Keegan and then Aine, he sighed, feeling worried for the girls.

  "Us too," Vevila told him.

  "Would you like to come up to the house?" He asked.

  Kellan looked toward her sisters before answering. She preferred not to. It was getting late. No one was jumping to accept the invitation.

  "Not this time," Kellan answered, "maybe on the way back. We want to see the effect of mama's magic on the northern corner."

  "Do you ladies know anything about the raven?" He asked them.

  "A burn to your forearm," Kellan asked.

  "Something like that," he answered with a frown.

  "Did all your people get so burned," Alana asked him.

  "Something like that," he answered again, "even the littlest."

  "Have you been to the edge of the property?" Alana asked.

  "Seen the new gully," he answered frowning. "Wasn't sure of what that was about so just headed back. The wife didn't need those fancy scarves anyway."

  "The burns appeared at the moment our mother died," Kellan told him. "So did all the rest of the magical shenanigans. The people marked with the raven were trusted by her, concerning the problems to come. The same people can see to cross back and forth across the barrier. So far we have found a crossing in front of our house, and through the back of Celeste's barn. It seems that areas without the gully can be crossed."

  Jerold knew about the O'Byrne, all those living on O'Byrne land had better understand about the family's magic. They knew something was up, of course, when the raven was burned into their forearms. He smiled to himself thinking about his grandma. She had just humphed and continued with the planting of her flowers. He had to admit to himself that he had worried some when he came upon the gully, not enough to go to the O'Byrne house though.

  "We had no idea that mother and father were working on this," Alana told him when she saw him frowning. "They had been working on it for a long time, to have done so much."

  "Why would they have done such a thing?" he pondered.

  "Mother believed that Ireland will be going through a potato famine so severe that millions of the Irish will perish," Rhoswen told him, "and the English will not lift a finger to help us. Mother and father did this to protect our people, from the English, but also from our own starving people."

  "That was why she raised a holler about us planting spuds," he murmured, "was wondering about that. And just when is this all supposed to happen? We've had potato failures before and been fine—hungry—but fine."

  "This one will be bad," Meifen told him showing him his own brand, "I was called to bring the big donkey, and to assist the daughters of Keegan and Aine. There will be no one in Ireland unaffected. It will last for many years."

  Kellan was surprised by Meifen's comments. Up until then, he hadn't talked much about the upcoming problems. She also noticed that until Meifen spoke up, Mister Jerold had not been taking them seriously. He thought they were just scared little girls.

  Mister Jerold looked up to meet her eyes. He shivered as he met the solemn purple gaze. He had not been really listening. He straightened up and thought about what they were saying. He had been of a mind that as long as it didn't come knocking, he wasn't really interested. He was interested now.

  "Mother said it would not happen for several years," Alana told him. "That we had time to prepare, but it would never be enough."

  "If you cross the barrier and look back," Kellan told him, "it will appear as if the land was swallowed up by the ocean. Your family will have been listed as lost. If you want it differently, you will need to contact the registry with a story as to why you weren't home."

  "I will think on this," he told them.

  "Trust no one without the mark," Kane told him. "Lord Jaspin is marked. You can't see it because it is on his head. He was so marked at birth. He can be trusted."

  "Mama told him it would be best for him and Corin to return to England," Vevila told him. "I think he will do that. His work here is gone."

  "What of you?" Jerold asked the sisters.

  "We will be moving to America before the occurrence," Rhoswen surprised him by saying. "Druantia has said so."

  "Take care of yourselves," Kellan told him solemnly. "We will be checking the rest of the properties. Our Uncle Stefan is staying near the house. If you need something, go to him."

  "Kingdom come," Meifen called out and they started on their way again.

  "Is that what all this is about?" Chet asked with concern.

  "Well, yes," Kellan answered him. "Didn't Mr. Buckley tell you about it?"

  "No, actually," Chet said angrily. "He didn't"

  "We talked to the villagers who had gathered at Celeste's house," Kellan told him, "but we went into detail with him about what mama's prophecy consisted of. He was to prepare the village."

  They rode in silence. Vevila didn't even have a song to start. They were tired and discouraged. Kellan had switched with Alana and was riding beside Meifen. Alana looked to be snoozing, but they all knew that she wasn't.

  They stopped at a stream to do their business and to eat. For once Chet wasn't feeling very hungry. The more he rode toward the north, the more anxious he felt. When he had started this venture, he had no idea of the gravity of their situation. Now, he was glad he did, but also regretted that he did. It was a lot easier when all he had to do was fantasize about his fair Katherine and repair the manor's roof.

  They hopped into the wagon and Kingdom pulled them down the dirt road. Meifen started quizzing the girls about different magical aspects. Chet listened with interest. It actually made sense. Similar to the way the professors talked about physics.

  He had noticed the purple sheen to the Chinese man's eyes and had wondered about his relationship to the O'Byrne family. It was Rhoswen who told him that he was another child of Druantia, from a clan in China, not really related to the O'Byrne family at all.

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