Chapter 1

We arrived at Uncle Thad’s farm near the Nantahala Mountains in Macon County, North Carolina late on the afternoon of Monday, the 23rd of November. We had taken our time, leaving the Baltimore area on Sunday morning to travel I-95 to Washington D.C. From there we moved on to Virginia where we picked up I-85 south of Richmond and continued south on I-85 to the area of Greenville, N.C., where we stopped for the night. We had changed license plates back to our North Carolina plates at a rest stop in Virginia.

Early on Monday morning, we left our motel and I-85 for I-40 West going across North Carolina. It was a bit over five hours to Asheville where we stopped again for fuel, lunch, and a break. Continuing west on I-40 to Exit 27, we turned onto US 23 / 74 for about twenty-five miles or so before taking US 23 / 441 into Franklin, and then the local roads to Uncle Thad’s farm.

Everything seemed peaceful when we arrived at the farm, and the weather was pleasant. Certainly nothing like the chilly weather in Elizabeth had been.

We honked the horn as we drove up the driveway to the farmhouse, so as not to startle them and get shot at. Only a few people were out on the porch when we exited the pickup.

“We thought you might be back,” Uncle Thad said, as we moved onto the porch. There were handshakes with the men and hugs from the women who were all looking at Jill expectantly.

“We followed what was going on in New Jersey,” Uncle Thad said to cover the silence from the women. “You appear to have really confused them,” he added when there was no other chatter from them.

“You two still want a room together?” Aunt Grania finally asked.

“Yes, we’re still together,” Jill answered, but stopped there to look at the other women with a puzzled expression.

“A couple of you give Max a hand unloading the truck,” Uncle Thad directed, as Aunt Grania led Jill and several other women inside. I noticed that Melany was among them. She looked very contented and in good health. She also appeared to have lost a few pounds. Farm life appeared to agree with her.

We spent a short time getting resettled in our old room after unloading the pickup. We were finished in time for supper and to watch the news on the television. There wasn’t much in the news about things in Elizabeth or its surrounding area.

It was at supper that Aunt Grania and the other women brought up the plans for the week and the latest gossip.

“I’m glad that you got here today,” she told Jill after grace was said. “You can help with the preparations for Thanksgiving. There is plenty of baking and cooking to do,”she added.

“Who all is coming?” Jill asked.

“Now that you and Max are back, we would like you to bring the Kanes here,” Uncle Thad told us.

“And Calisa,” Melany added.

“Sure, that won’t be a problem. I can also bring Angus Bryden. He was Nick’s teacher, and we spent a considerable time at his house. He lives alone in his family’s house outside of Erie, and doesn’t have anyone to celebrate the holiday with,” I told them.

“That sounds good. Nick mentioned him to me many times while I was studying with him,” Thad recalled.

“Melany’s beau will be here from Franklin also,” several of the young girls told us with a giggle.

“Do you have a suitor, Melany?” Jill asked, as Melany blushed, and Aunt Grania gave the girls a harsh look.

“Yes, he is one of the O’Donnell Cousins and has a Talent comparable to mine,” she told us.

“I’m glad that you have found someone,” Jill told her with a smile.

“When would you like me to bring the others here?” I asked Thad.

“On Thanksgiving would be best, but it would be good to alert them that you are coming to get them ahead of time so they will be ready,” Thad told me.

“Will your children and their Families be here also?” I asked.

“They will be dropping by during the day, but will be having the Thanksgiving meal at their own houses. We would need a room the size of a restaurant to have everyone here for the meal,” he told us.

“That’s not to mention doing all of the cooking,” Aunt Grania added. “It will be enough with the extra people who we are inviting,” she finished.

“Now, Grace, it will be like when the children were growing up, and you’ll have these other ladies to help with the cooking and the baking,” Thad told his Wife who only frowned at him.

“It won’t be a problem,” Jill told everyone at the table. “We can use Magic for part of the preparations,” she added to looks of surprise from the other women.

“What Magic?” came from several of them.

“I learned a lot of Magic too while we were away,” she told them.

“I want to see some of this Magic,” her Aunt told her.

“Many of them are simple things and can be done even by those with minor Talents,” Jill assured her.

“I can alert all of them tomorrow,” I told Thad while the women discussed what would be worked on tomorrow.

Following supper and the news, Jill and I returned to our room. We had been very careful on the way here not to draw any attention to ourselves. We had used all of the license plates that we had at different times, and had really watched our speed, especially in Virginia where they still have airplanes and helicopters watching for speeders. In fact, we really didn’t relax until we reached Asheville here in North Carolina and were nearly to the O’Donnells’ farms.

Following the meal, we relaxed but had one more thing to do. We hadn’t counted the money that we had seized in New Jersey on the way here. Jill decided that we should count it now before going to bed.

“We’re home now, we should count the money,” she insisted.

“All right, where is all of it?” I asked, as she had been the one in charge of storing it.

“Part is in the little safe, and the rest is in my backpack. There wasn’t room for all of it in the safe,” she told me.

We emptied both containers and started counting and placing the money in piles. The piles were consolidated into bundles of ten thousand dollars, and then into larger bundles of one hundred thousand dollars. We wound up with seventeen large bundles with some money left over.

“About one and three quarters of a million dollars,” I said as we finished.

“A good bit of that came from the Don’s safe,” Jill told me, as she had been the one emptying the safe.

“A tidy sum,” I admitted before we gathered it up to place it in the box with the rest of the money. I had called it to me earlier to get the spare rubber bands and bags from it. There was just enough room in it for the new additions.

“We will soon need either a bigger container or a second one,” I told her before returning it to its hiding place.

We slept close together that night under the blanket and the quilt that covered the bed. The temperature had been in the fifties here that day, but it had quickly cooled off after sunset. Additionally, Uncle Thad had turned down the thermostat when they went to bed. The house had quickly cooled down without the heat from the radiators to keep it warm. The bed clothes that Jill had purchased in Elizabeth kept us quite warm along with the blanket and the quilt.

Our room was quite chilly in the morning when we were awakened by the others moving around and the sounds coming from the bathroom as people used it. We got up and dressed quickly before going to the bathroom also.

The kitchen was warm when we reached it with both stoves going as breakfast was prepared. Jill helped the other women, while Thad talked to me about that day’s work.

“We’ve been working on the machinery, cleaning it up, and getting it ready for next spring, but now that you here, can you help us with some of the needed repairs?” he asked.

“Sure, what sort of repairs?” I asked.

“Mainly it’s things that are worn or broken. We don’t know any spells that will fix them,” he confessed.

“Okay, there are some spells that I learned while at Angus’s house that should help, but I can’t guarantee that I will be able to fix everything,” I told him.

“If you can fix a part of what needs repairing, it will be a big help,” he told me.

Because it was winter, and there were no crops to tend, plus the fact that the sun rose later this time of the year, everyone had gotten up later than they did in the summer. Therefore it was nearly 0800 hrs before Thad and I went out to the equipment sheds to look at what needed repair. The women had already finished the breakfast dishes, and they were starting on the baking and the other preparations for Thanksgiving.

There were a number of worn items that I was able to successfully repair using spells that I had learned in my studies, but some items were beyond even my abilities to repair them, and would need to be replaced. Thad was thankful for what I had done, and resigned to buying some parts.

By 1030 hrs, we were finished for the day, and I prepared to transfer to Nick’s house to invite them to Thanksgiving dinner here. I would also be transferring to Angus’s house to invite him. I expected an argument from him, as he preferred to remain at home most of the time.

Appearing in front of Nick and Kaera’s house in Sneedville, I noticed that it was much cooler here than it had been at the O’Donnell’s farm. Approaching their front door, I rang the bell.

“Max!” Nick said in surprise on opening the door a few seconds later. “Come in, come in, it’s rather cool out there. What brings you here? Is there trouble?” he continued. On entering, I noticed that their house while warm, was not overly so. Kaera appeared then with her apron on. She gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s so nice to see you, Max,” she said before a frown appeared on her face. “Is something wrong?” she also asked.

“No, nothing is wrong. Thad is planning a big Thanksgiving dinner, and you are invited,” I told them.

“Really!” both asked in shock.

“We’ve never been to his farm, or met his children. There were only some pictures of them in letters that we exchanged,” Nick told me.