Chapter 5

Grace takes over the narrative:

Margaret O’Connell and her Husband returned that evening after supper. As promised, she brought the wedding dress and a box of books, but she also brought two lamps with her.

“These are Magic Powered lamps, which don’t require fuel or electricity to work. All that you need to do is activate the spell in them with your Talent, and then you can adjust the intensity of the lamp to the level that you require,” she told Owen and me, before demonstrating how to do that. With a little practice, Owen and I were soon able to light them and adjust their intensity.

We hung one in the small parlor, and the second in the kitchen. I was delighted to see how well it lit up the kitchen, as it would make it more pleasant to work there in the early morning and in the evening. The one in the small parlor also did a good job of lighting it.

The next items to be addressed were the Wedding Dress and the suit that they had brought for Owen. The dress was fantastic, and the most beautiful one that I had ever seen. It was made of white satin and lace with several petticoats and had a short train. Margie, she had insisted that we call her, held it up in front of me for a short time to see how it looked.

“This will be fine for you. I’ve already used the shrinkage spell on it, and it will fit you perfectly when you put it on,” she told me. Her Husband, Robert, had been showing Owen the suit at the same time.

“Allow us to take these upstairs to put them away, and we’ll be right back,” I told her, before Owen and I took the new clothes up to our bedroom and hung them in the wardrobe there before hurrying back downstairs.

“The books in the box are the Basic Series of Magic Books and are written in English. You shouldn’t have any trouble with them, but go over them and be sure that you understand how to do everything in them. What you have learned from the ‘Book of Dreams’ will help you understand what they are talking about, and the books will guide you in using what the ‘Book’ has taught you in return,” she told us. Her Husband brought up the next topic.

“This is the proposed sales agreement for the eight properties that you are selling us. It was drawn up by one of the Clan’s legal experts who researched the current legal requirements of Bulloch County. Go over it, and let us know if there are any questions or changes that you would like. When you are satisfied with it, we’ll all sign it and pay you the money for the land. It will be another ten days or so before the contractor will be here to begin paving Plantation Lane. The work will require about two weeks to complete, I’ve been told,” Robert informed us.

Margie had been sitting next to me during all of this and staring at her hands. Now she sat up with a horrified look on her face.

“A ring!” she gasped. “We’ve forgotten about a ring set, and that unfortunately will cost actual money. The Clan jewelers will need to be paid for an engagement ring set,” she told us, holding up her left hand so we could see the rings on her third finger.

“How much are these rings?” Owen asked in a voice full of dread.

“What they cost in our Realm has little relevance to what the rings are worth. The price of gold has increased tremendously from what it is in your world,” she told us.

“I still have these two gold double eagles from when we paid the back taxes on the property,” Owen told her as he removed the two coins from his pocket. Margie gasped in surprise on seeing them, as Owen handed them over.

“These are quite heavy. The jewelers may take them in exchange for an engagement ring set,” she told us with a smile, as she weighed them in her hand before she slipped the coins in the pocket of her dress.

“Are there any questions about Magic that we can help you with presently?” she asked following that.

“Just one,” I told her. “How can we get the ‘Book of Dreams’ to appear so we can read it?” I asked.

“The ‘Book’ will appear by itself when it considers that you are ready to read it. Until that time, you won’t be able to call it to you,” she told us. I was a bit disappointed by this, as she had been able to call the ‘Book’ to her previously, but accepted what she had said.

“If there aren’t any further questions, we’ll leave so you can do some studying. We’ll return tomorrow evening to see if you have any questions. Perhaps my Apprentice, Celeste, will accompany us along with her study guide, Frank,” Margaret told us, before she and her Husband vanished.

Owen and I were a bit startled when they vanished, but put it down to something that Wizards could do. Once alone however, we removed the books from the box they were in to examine them. On the inside of each book was a list of the books in that series and the sequence in which they were to be read or studied. Since there were two sets of books, we both started on the first book.

We read until very late that evening before turning off the Magic Powered lamp, which had made reading much easier then our oil lamps would have. It was so late in fact that I needed to make a little snack for us before going to bed for a very good night’s sleep. Consequently, it was rather late the next morning when we awoke.

Arriving in the kitchen to make breakfast, we were both amazed to find a marriage license sitting there on the large table.

“She said that it might take a couple of days,” Owen observed in surprise on seeing it.

“Apparently it didn’t,” I told him, as I carefully checked the paper license, but it had the signature of the correct county official on it as well as the official embossed seal from the county government.

“We need to put this away somewhere safe,” I told him.

“But how did it get here? Did the O’Connells bring it this morning? It certainly wasn’t here last night,” he stated.

“Perhaps it was delivered by whoever delivered the coal, the food, the suitcase, and the money back at the cabin,” I told him as a chill ran down my back at the thought.

“But that was... !” he started but stopped.

“She said that their benefactor could move through time, and you saw how they disappeared last night as well as how they appeared in the yard yesterday afternoon,” I told him. “Would it be so hard for someone like that to leave it here?”

“Put that way, probably not,” Owen replied before we adjourned to the den to file the marriage license in the desk there, where we were also keeping the documents for our property. Following that, we returned to making breakfast and those things that needed doing today.

That evening following supper, Margaret O’Connell and her Husband appeared in the small parlor again, startling both Owen and me with their sudden appearance, as we had been studying one of the books that they had left the previous night. They were dressed in robes tonight and they were accompanied by a young woman and another man, both in normal clothing.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you,” Margie told us. “We are all used to people just appearing at any time, it just seems perfectly normal to us.”

“You should call me Margie, and my Husband, Robert,” she reminded us before turning to introduce the other two people with her.

“This is my Apprentice, Celeste, and the gentleman is Frank Mahony who is helping her with her studies. He would be glad to help the two of you. Celeste could also help you, as she is nearly ready for her Third Level certification,” Margie told us while introducing those with her.

“Third Level?” Owen asked.

“There are various levels in the study of Magic, and they are directly related to one’s ability, and the size of one’s Talent. First Level is for beginners, and when those of the Clan taught in colleges, it was the Level that Freshmen were expected to attain to continue in the study of Magic. Third Level had to be obtained for graduation with a degree in Magic. Second Level was obtained somewhere in between.

“The Master’s Level Test had to be passed to obtain a Master’s Degree in Magic. The test for Senior Master had to be passed to obtain a PhD degree in Magic. Senior Master is not an easy Level to obtain. All of those degrees also required that the student complete the other requirements of the University for their degree.

“There is one other Level, but there is only one person at a time who may hold it, and that is the position of Grand Senior Master, which requires the most extensive ability to use Magic in addition to a Talent that is stronger than any others possess. It also requires that you be able to use not only White Magic but Green Magic. I am the Ninth Grand Senior Master. My Mother was the Eighth, but she retired after I qualified for the title of Grand Senior Master. In addition to my other abilities, I am a Were Creature and can become a female Siberian Tiger with all of its abilities. I hope that my Daughters will be able to surpass even my abilities,” Margie finished. Owen and I were staring at her in shock.

“A Tiger?” I asked in a petrified voice.

“Certainly,” she said moving over to a more open area, and seconds later there was a huge orange cat with black stripes and some white on its chest and face staring at us with its large cat’s eyes. It was at least 3’-6’’ tall at the shoulders with long white whiskers and a red tongue hanging over its large teeth. It quickly sat down and wrapped its long tail around its feet before yawning and licking its long sharp looking teeth.

While we were distracted by the presence of a Tiger in our parlor, Margie’s Husband, Robert, had also moved, and there was a bright flash of light behind us. On turning to see what it was, we discovered an even more terrifying sight behind us ... a Dragon! An eight foot or so tall Dragon with a triangular shaped head at the end of a long neck, with a mouth full of large sharp looking teeth. It had four legs, a scaly body, a pair of long folded wings, and a long scaled tail which it swished back and forth while being careful of the furniture. Celeste and Frank had moved to make room for the Dragon.

“This is Crendenor, my Dragon-form,” it told us in a voice that hissed.

“He can appear in several different sizes, but this is the size that he normally chooses to appear in first. He can appear small enough to walk around on your hand, but in his largest size he has a wing span of some 120 feet,” we were informed by a voice behind us. When Owen and I turned to see who was speaking, we received another shock, for standing there was an even more fearsome looking creature. A human like Tiger it stood on two feet and appeared to be about eight feet tall covered with striped fur like the tiger, but it could speak where the tiger had been silent.

“This is the Third or Warrior State of my Were-form. In it I can plan, speak, and perform Magic. Most Weres are not capable of attaining the Third State, as it requires a very strong Talent. I am called Macha K. in this form. In my Tiger-form, I am Macha. Crendenor is Robert’s Dragon-form, and he can breathe fire ... Magic fire,” the creature told us before it changed shape again and reappeared as Margie O’Connell. She was joined by her Husband who was back in his Human-form and wearing a robe, just as Margie was.

Owen and I didn’t know what to say and just stood there recovering for a time.

“Can all Wizards change into other beings?” Owen finally asked.

“Fortunately no, I inherited the ability from my Grandfather. His Father married into a Were family quite some time ago. Robert inherited the ability from his Great Grandmother,” Margie told us. “I’m not sure what my Daughters will inherit from the two of us,” she finished in an unsure voice. I was just glad that this house had such high ceilings that those eight foot tall apparitions hadn’t bumped into them.

“We didn’t mean to get into all of that tonight. We brought Celeste and Frank here so you could meet them ahead of the wedding. There will be a number of our other Relatives attending your wedding. We’ll also bring the appropriate music for the ceremony,” Margie told us in a much easier voice.

“Do you have any questions about what you have studied so far?” Frank asked while pointing to the books, where we had dropped them when they arrived.

“No, not any questions about what we have read, but we do have questions about something else,” I told him.

“We had both been lost in a snow storm when we separately found the cabin. Owen came from Pittsburgh, but I was in New York when I needed to flee, yet both of us found the cabin. When we left there, we arrived in Philadelphia! How could that happen? All of those places are hundreds of miles apart,” I asked in a confused voice.