Chapter 12

Allen and I knew nothing of all of this until we saw the report that evening on television. We had arisen early on Tuesday morning, and taken care of our morning preparations before transferring to the Hardtrick farm to inquire about potential places to stay while things cooled off in Boston, and the government lost interest in us.

The Hardtrick children were nearly finished with their chores, and Jill was making breakfast with Max’s help when we arrived. Naturally, everyone had to stop what they were doing to see what we wanted. Even Jill was outside to see us after a couple of minutes when what she had been frying was finished.

“We’re so glad that you’re back,” the twins, Alaster and Megan, said, as they were the first to appear near us.

“What have you been doing?” Grace, their younger Sister, asked when she appeared a few seconds later.

“Is everything okay?” Max asked when he appeared right after the children. All of the cats had arrived just after Max.

“Everything is okay for now,” I told all of them before Jill appeared in her apron a few seconds later.

“I’m glad that you are back, but did you have to arrive while I was making breakfast?” she demanded.

“Sorry, we know that you get up early, so we came as early as possible, even though you are an hour behind Boston,” I told her.

“Finish up your chores, children, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes,” Jill told her children before turning to me.

“Come in and help me in the kitchen, Maureen,” she invited following that, and we two headed back into the house leaving Allen and Max in the yard alone.

“SO, is everything really all right?” Jill asked when we reached the kitchen. I debated what to tell her for a second, but decided to give her the whole truth.

“Allen is still learning Magic, and still has a long way to go,” I started. “Everything was pretty much all right until last Thursday, when three government Wizards arrived at the FBI building in Chelsea,” I continues.

“What happened then? Was there trouble?” Jill asked in a worried voice.

“There wasn’t a lot then. Allen detected them when they entered the building and promptly disappeared. There was some kind of confusion when the Wizards entered the building, so they were a bit busy for a while and couldn’t do anything to follow him or me. I detected his transfer spell and then the Wizards before joining him. He had transferred to a place where we had practiced transferring.

“We stayed away from the FBI building until that evening, when we returned to the hotel where I was staying to keep an eye on Allen at work. We transferred all or most of our things to a secure storage place before returning to pick up his car, which was a trap where they hoped to catch us. Instead, we accumulated a huge amount of Magic before I cast a sleep spell to put everyone in the FBI building to sleep. Then we retrieved his car, and drove to a hotel out in the country to spend the night.

“Friday morning we spied on the Wizards from a hotel van across the street from the FBI building. They eventually came out of the building and cast a ward on the first floor of the building. Their Talents are so pitiful that it took casting the wards eight times to cover just the first floor of the building,” I told Jill to a gasp from her.

“Eight times, and they only covered the first floor?” she demanded.

“Yes, three times on each side and once on each end. It was just pitiful,” I told her.

“They don’t sound like anything that either of you would need to worry about. So why are you here?” she asked.

“There’s more,” I told her with a smile.

“You couldn’t resist screwing with them, could you?” she asked with a big grin.

“We followed them to their hotel on Friday when they left the FBI building, and I was going to freeze them in their rooms that night, but we waited until Sunday night instead. I froze them in their rooms for seventy-two hours, and warded their rooms for the same period of time, just to screw with the government.

“God, Jill, their Talents are just pitiful, especially the two Americans. The Frenchman is a bit stronger, but none of them are even comparable to the O’Donnells. I found it hard to believe that the government would even hire them,” I told her.

“The O’Donnells have pretty fair Talents, at least most of them do,” Jill agreed. “What happened next?”

“Yesterday, Monday, when the Wizards didn’t show up for work, they apparently sent people to get them. That was followed by sending a SWAT Team to break into the rooms. None of that worked, as they couldn’t get through the wards that I had left on the rooms,” I added.

“Is that what we saw on the news last night was all about?” she asked with a chuckle.

“Yes, that was it. Now we need a place to live while things cool down,” I told her, before remembering what I had left out.

“Oh yes, there was one other thing, well two actually. The Frenchman is really working for an organization called the Equal Rights for Humans Party, which is a human based group that wants to rid the world of those with extra powers and who can do Magic, namely the Paranormals.

“He also had a book on Black Magic, which I kept and will give to Angus for his library,” I finished, before we were interrupted by the others coming in for breakfast.

“Have all of you washed up?” Jill demanded, and it was obvious from their downcast eyes, that they hadn’t.

“Go wash up, then you can eat,” she told them and even Allen and Max went to wash up.

“Don’t say anything about what you told me about the Wizards while the children are present. Wait until it’s just Max and us. I don’t want the children to worry,” Jill told me while they were gone.

Jill and I had breakfast on the table when the others returned from cleaning up. Max and Allen had been back before the children, and Jill told Max that there was more to why we were there. Not much else was said while everyone ate, but as we finished, Max had questions.

“So you two are on the lam,” he said, making it clear that Allen had told him what had occurred in Boston.

“Yes, we need to stay away from Boston for a while until things cool down there. We aren’t sure how long that will take,” I told him.

“But we don’t want to endanger you or any of your friends,” Allen added.

“That makes sense. Still there are a lot of places that we have visited since we retired after taking revenge on those who had killed my Sons and caused my first Wife to hang herself,” Max said leading up to something.

“Maureen, do you remember when we went to visit Pigeon Forge and Dollywood?” he asked next.

“Somewhat! I remember Dollywood. That was the summer after the twins were born, wasn’t it?” I asked.

“Yes, it was,” Jill said with a smile. “I’m sure they don’t remember it at all, though,” she added. Alaster and Megan were looking at us with blank expressions on their faces.

“We’ve been to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood?” Megan asked in a confused voice.

“Yes dear, but you two were only a little over a year old then. You both liked the rides and the candy though,” Jill assured her Daughter.

“What does this have to do with us staying out of Boston?” Allen asked.

“While we were on vacation, we traveled to Walden Creek and then Walland, Tennessee to escape the hustle and bustle of the major tourist attractions. Walden Creek was already almost as expensive as Dollywood, so we moved further on to Walland.

“We met a farmer, Samuel Duffield, while in Walland, who was having a hard time. He owed the county back taxes on his land, and most of his equipment was old and was broken. We helped him out by paying the taxes, and then working on his equipment. He managed to get a crop in that year and has done very well since then. Jill and I go by every couple of years to see him, and now he has a very modern farm and several houses that he rents out to supplement his income. He would probably rent one of the houses to you at a reduced rate as a favor to us,” Max told us, before adding, “He, his Wife, and their Children all have minor Talents.”

“We could transfer you there, if you are interested,” Jill volunteered. “If you like the area and reach an agreement with Samuel for a house, you could drive Allen’s car there,” she finished. I looked at Allen and shrugged, still not having eliminated the habit.

“What do we have to lose?” I asked.

“Do you think we would endanger those people?” Allen asked.

“Trust me that Walland, Tennessee is well off the beaten path. It is also a rather small town, and Samuel lives several miles from it, out in the country. They go into town every couple of weeks for supplies and fuel,” Max told him.

“All right, we’ll try it. Like Maureen said, ‘What do we have to lose’?” Allen agreed.

“Who all wants to go?” Jill asked and everyone raised a hand. “We need to change clothes then,” Jill told them, and all of the Hardtricks left to change clothes.

“This will give me a chance to talk to the cats. They have been waiting very patiently,” I told Allen. We collected some scraps for the cats before going out to the barn to visit them until the Hardtricks were ready to leave. The cats wanted to hear about everything that we had done, especially the sex we’d had. There wasn’t time for everything, before the Hardtricks were ready to leave, but we hit the most important parts. We soon joined Max and his family in their front yard. We all joined hands before Max cast the transfer spell drawing on all of our Talents.

Walland is a small community in Blount County, Tennessee. It is located in Miller’s Cove, a valley in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. To the north, it is walled off by the Chilhowee Mountains, to the southwest lies Hurricane Mountain, and to the southeast is Bates Mountain. These mountains divide Miller’s Cove from the much larger Tuckaleechee Cove at the base of the Smokies. Little River flows from its source on the north slope of Clingmans Dome to split Miller’s Cove into eastern and western sections. The Duffield farm, of some 120 acres, is located in West Miller’s Cove some three plus miles from Walland.

We appeared in the front yard of another farm a second after Max cast the transfer spell. The large farmhouse there was partly surrounded by trees, and there were equipment sheds and a barn off to the side of the house and behind it. The house was located some 150 feet from the road, which we later learned was West Millers Grove Road. We had only been standing there on the lawn for a few seconds when a youngster, who had been playing on the lawn, called out to his Father.

“Pa, your friends are here with some others,” he shouted in a loud voice. Shortly the front door of the house opened, and a man hurried in our direction. He was smiling.

“Morning, Max,” he said with a smile as he approached.

“Morning, Sam. How are you?” Max asked, as the two men shook hands.

“Can’t complain. What brings you down this way so early in the year?” Samuel Duffield asked. I could see that he was typical of many Scot-Irish, being about 5’-10 inches tall, maybe 175 pounds, about 43 years old with black hair and gray eyes. He had the suntan and the wrinkles of a farmer who spent a lot of time out in his fields.

“This is my Niece, Maureen, and her fiance, Allen. They need a place to stay until things settle down where they usually live,” Max told him, introducing us.

“I could feel all of your Talents when you arrived, but this close, those two are nearly overpowering,” Sam said with a smile. “Have they upset the government?” he asked still with a smile.