Chapter 1

In 1584, Reginald Scott published ‘The Discoverie of Witchcraft’. At the time of its publication, it enraged King James I, as he believed the mere presence of the book would bolster secular thought within the British realm, which flew directly in the face of his own Christianity and widely-publicized intentions of converting the entirety of his kingdom to his beliefs. Among the wider public, most people either couldn’t read, or hadn’t read the book. Therefore, they had no informed opinion of their own. But the fear-mongering tactics of the church were no less formidable than they are today. So, most people, uninformed, would resoundingly echo the denoucement that the book was fully of messages straight from Satan himself.

In the centuries since, historians have deemed the contents of the book to be less nefarious. While it has certainly been controversial, its primary impact has been within the realms of stage magic. Therefore, it is believed that the earliest collection of actual witchcraft magic must lie earlier in history. And indeed, there are scads of historical records that allude to, or outright cite, far older works on the subject.

Folklore contained countless oral histories about written texts on witchcraft magic that were supposedly housed in the Great Library of Alexandria. Conveniently for these storytellers, they were able to say that all such evidence of their claims burned with the library itself. In addition, ancient Romans believed that books on magic were first created by the Persians, as Pliny the Elder referenced in his writings. As if more confusion were needed, some ancient peoples believed that Moses had learned many secrets of magic during his time in Egypt, and later shared these with the Jews of his time. On and on, the myths sprawl from Mesopotamia to Greece to Egypt to Rome. With every generation of storytellers, those myths grew and mutated into fantastic tales all their own. Until, gradually, people just stopped sharing stories with one another. Gone were the days of fireside tales delivered by grandparents. World-changing inventions eventually allowed individuals to move away from the fellowship patterns of their ancestors and the myth-building tales of the past. And while the storytelling traditions died, references to their supposed source material withered also.

George Fleming was a man obsessed with history and, more specifically, historic books. This worked out very well for him, since he owned a book shop. Fleming’s Rare Books was a small storefront operation in a non-descript strip mall in a generally unremarkable mid-sized American college town.

There were many people who would have considered George to be the luckiest man alive. He was worth billions of dollars, after all. No, his little book shop didn’t bring him riches - quite the opposite. But people tended to see a man with no obvious financial worries, who seemed to be in good spirits most of the time and spent his days doing something he loved. So, it wasn’t surprising that many people coveted George’s situation.

However, those who knew George well might not have been so eager to trade places with him. He had lost his parents when he was only 10 years old due to an automobile accident. His father was the one who had amassed wealth worth so many billions and as sole heir, George had suddenly become the richest child in the western world. Devastated over the death of his parents, George retreated into his studies. Sadly, possessing great amounts of money tended to draw those with larcenous intent out of the woodwork, hoping to find an easy payday. Because of this, George built a wall around his emotions, hoping to shield himself from those who only meant to use him.

In his late teens, while attending an Ivy League university, George met a delightful young woman named Katherine, or ‘Kat’, as she preferred to be called. Her outgoing and generally positive outlook worked wonders on him. Over the course of just a few short months, he became a bit less guarded, eventually opening himself to a place where he no longer assumed the worst about people – unless they started talking about money.

Initially, George was so suspicious of new people that he’d even been concerned about Kat. But when he looked back on those days, he couldn’t believe his own fears had made him suspicious of her. At 19 years-old, she had been a tiny slip of a girl; maybe five-and-a-half feet tall and maybe 110 pounds, she seemed smaller than petite. Her slender body seemed like it belonged to a much younger person. She had a face that could have been featured in an old Noxzema ad; clean, fresh, naturally beautiful. With a smattering of tiny little freckles across the bridge of her nose and light hazel, slightly green eyes that pierced into George. The whole of her, including her sweet but tomboyish demeanor, was so refreshing that she broke down his defenses without initially knowing how paranoid he was.

One day, after a lecture, she introduced herself. “Hey there, handsome! My name is Kat”, she offered her hand, “what’s your name?”

George’s head immediately began to comically swivel back and forth, trying to identify who the girl was talking to. She stood patiently while he slowly digested the fact that there were no other people within earshot. “M ... me?”

She nodded and continued to smile. “Yep. I noticed you a couple weeks ago and I thought to myself, ‘There’s a good-lookin’ guy with a nice face, I wonder what his name is’. So, I’m here now, trying to solve the mystery.”

He finally looked down and noticed her hand, still waiting for him to shake it. He did so while stammering, “I ... my name ... I’m George. It’s nice to meet you, Kat.”

“And you, sir”, she replied with a grin. “So, would you like to maybe get a cup of coffee with me sometime? I’ve seen you taking notes like a madman, you probably have a better idea of what’s going on in this class than I do.”

George’s face had begun to flush with embarrassment as soon as their hands touched. He waved his other hand at nothing, trying to push away her compliment. “Nah, it’s easy stuff. I bet you’re doing at least as well as I am, if not better.”

“No, really”, she began, “I mean, at a basic level, I understand what etymology is, but how in the world are we supposed to come up with our own standards for finding the original root of a word? It seems a little ... backwards to me. Don’t we already know the roots of our language? And even if we don’t, aren’t the standards already set?”

George shook his head slightly. “I get where you’re coming from, but there are whole swaths of our daily language that still baffle us. Not only newer words, or even slang, but also with some words or phrases that have fallen out of use. Many people think the reason ‘older’ verbiage becomes antiquated is that we never understood where it came from originally, so we lose its original meaning. As far as coming up with our own standard, I think that’s just the professor’s way of making sure we actually understand the methodology.”

“Huh”, Kat said. “See? That’s why I think we should get together and talk about it more – in just two minutes, you’ve made me care more about the subject than the professor has all semester.”

George’s face felt a little hot and his hands began to sweat a bit. Trying to suppress his nerves, he asked, “Sure ... uhm ... what time works best for you?”

“Hmm”, Kat suddenly frowned, “I should have thought this through more. Outside of class time, I’m generally working, so I don’t really know what time will be best. Hey! How ‘bout I get your phone number? Then, I can just call you and we can set a time then.”

George happily agreed, asking her to leave a message on the answering machine if he didn’t pick up.

A couple days later, George noticed the blinking light on his machine and his heart jumped into his throat. He was certain Kat must trying to extract money from him, or maybe she’d simply found a reason to avoid him altogether. Mustering all his courage, he pushed his insecurities aside momentarily and pressed the playback button. He was elated to hear her sing-songy voice, requesting that he join her the next day for lunch in the cafe on the quad.

After a night of tossing nervously in bed, George finally found lunchtime approaching. He grabbed his book satchel and headed to the cafe. He found her there, rapt in her studies with a coffee cup in hand. Over the next hour and a half, they discussed the class they shared. More importantly, George found out a lot about Kat by simply asking questions that allowed her to giggle and ramble about herself. Eventually, Kat announced that she had to get to work, and before George could get his wallet from his pocket, Kat had already paid the entire bill.

“You really helped me a lot today, George. Let me take care of it, okay?”

George was nearly dumbstruck. “O ... okay. Thanks.”

Over the next few years, George and Kat became nearly-inseparable, only parting company when they had no other choice. He traveled with her to her hometown during a Christmas break, meeting her parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and many of her cousins. The warmth of the familial holiday filled George with a sense of belonging he hadn’t felt in many years. Kat’s parents were just pleased that she’d found a decent-looking, nice guy to spend her time with while away from home.

During that trip, Kat and her mother dragged George along for a gift-buying shopping spree. George’s brain automatically began to throw up red flags. Thankfully, Kat noticed something was wrong and asked him.

“Hey there ... what’s on your mind? You look like you’re upset”, she prompted him.

George tried to think of a way to broach the subject without showing his paranoia. “I ... it’s just that I don’t really know any of these people, Kat. How am I supposed to buy gifts for them? I don’t know what they want.”

“Is that all? Honey, you don’t have to buy a single thing! I want you to come along so I can keep you close to me, and mom wants you to be her personal giftbag carrying burro.”

He relaxed, visibly. “Whew. I was getting worried over nothing then. I’m glad I was wrong.” He kissed her briefly and began to smile.

During their outing, one of the many, many shops they visited was a popular lingerie store. Apparently, Kat had already told her mother that she would be stopping there to grab some ‘unmentionables’ for herself. Though it took all of George’s inner grit to tamp down his embarrassment, he went in the store with them and stood to one side as the two ladies perused the racks. At one point, Kat held up a lacy bra that was probably 10 sizes too big for her. After sharing a giggle with her mother, Kat asked a salesgirl to look in the back to see if they had a smaller size with the same pattern and material.

The salesgirl looked Kat up and down before saying, “I’m sorry, honey. We only carry sizes for women who are more ... developed.”

“Hey, don’t shortchange me! I’m almost a B-cup”, she puffed out her little chest with pride. Though George didn’t detect any animosity in Kat’s voice, something about her statement made the girl follow Kat’s directions. She went to the back and eventually returned with a much smaller version of the bra Kat had been jokingly modeling. A few hours and many more stores later, the shopping trip was completed.

After dinner, Kat’s father wanted to smoke a cigar and pulled George along to the screened-in back porch for a conversation.

“How long have you and Kat been seeing each other?” Frank asked.

“Almost 3 years”, George said. “She’s a wonderful young lady.”

Frank nodded. “Yes, she is. So, what are your plans for the future? Are you and Kat thinking of gettin’ married?”

George had been half-expecting this discussion. “We haven’t talked about it. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking about it some.”

Frank took a long drag off his cigar and exhaled slowly, the smoke curling around his head. “Well, since she’s my little girl, I have to ask you - How do you plan to support her? Don’t get me wrong, I’m mighty impressed that you’re gonna be an Ivy League school graduate and all. But Kat tells me you’re studying Ancient History or somthin’. Is that right?”

George nodded, “Yes sir, that’s correct.”

“How in the world do you plan to make a living off of that? I’m genuinely curious.”

George sighed but his face held a gentle smile. “I’m in a luxurious position, financially. So, I can honestly say that, if we do get married, Kat will never want for any material thing. Now, I don’t know you that well, Frank. But I believe that I know you well enough to know that what I just said probably won’t be enough of an explanation. Is that right?”

Frank’s eyebrows had shot upward while George had been speaking. He nodded, “You would be right, young man.”

“Understood. Well, the short version is that I inherited a great deal of money when my parents died.”

Frank sat forward suddenly. “Wait a second! Are you trying to tell me you’re from THAT Fleming family?”

George sighed, “Yes sir. I’m the only surviving Fleming, at least in my direct lineage.”

“But didn’t you and Kat come here on a Greyhound bus?” Frank asked, confused.

George nodded. “Yes sir. There are a couple reasons for that. First, I don’t see a need to spend money without good reason. If there’s a need, or even a very strong desire for something that can be bought, then it makes sense to pay extra. Otherwise, it seems silly to throw money away for a temporary upgrade in status or perceived luxury.”

Frank relaxed and resumed leaning back in his chair. “Makes good sense t’ me.”

George continued, “Second, and most importantly, I have never told Kat about the money. For the first few months after we met, I didn’t say anything because I was so used to people trying to leech off of me. Then, I felt like I needed to make sure she actually liked me, not the money. Now, I’m just waiting for the right time to tell her. But springing it on her right before coming to visit her family on Christmas didn’t seem right at all. So, I just booked the least expensive option that would be safe for she and I to travel together. Hence, the bus.”

Frank was nodding while listening. “I get where you’re comin’ from’, but don’t you have a car?”

“So far, I haven’t needed one. I have a license, but before I moved to the university, a chauffeur would drive me everywhere, whether I wanted it or not. And now, my rent house is only a few blocks from campus - no need to drive or spend money for a car that would sit still most of the time.”

Frank was still quietly alternating between shaking his head and nodding, his cigar temporarily forgotten as it smoldered in the ashtray. “Well, I’m very sorry for your loss, George. I mean that sincerely. I can’t imagine what losing both parents must’ve felt like, especially for a kid. And though it’s good that you won’t have any money worries, it stinks that it worked out that way. But ... how are you planning to spend your time? You’re a young, intelligent fella. You can’t just sit on your backside and live off the money your parents earned, can you?”

“I don’t plan to”, George answered. “Honestly, I’ve thought about this a great deal. And I think my time will probably be split between my own passion projects and helping to run my parent’s charitable foundation. The foundation already pays me a nominal salary for my work there. The lawyers have informed me that the salary will increase as more of my time becomes available to them.”

Frank seemed satisfied that his potential son-in-law wouldn’t be a lay-about-in-law. “What kind of ‘passion projects’ are you thinking of?”

“For as long as I can remember”, George began, “I’ve been fascinated by the Great Library of Alexandria, in ancient Egypt. We know without question that it was a real building that existed in a real place, and we know when it existed. Sadly, we know most of that because of the way it was destroyed. That much is historically proven. But we don’t know exactly what was in the library. There have been so many far-fetched tales about what might have been inside that facility that can be hard to tell truth from fantasy sometimes. But what intrigues me more than that is ‘what happened to the items that were saved from the fire?’ I mean, it’s a statistical probability that some things must have survived. I would love to get my hands on those items. I want to study them myself and understand them. Then, I would probably arrange for the items to be loaned to a museum, using the foundation’s charity to underwrite the whole thing.”

Frank had returned some of his attention to his cigar. “Hmm. You really are into that stuff, huh? I have to admit, the whole ancient Egypt thing doesn’t really get my attention. But as long as you’ve got something that lights a candle under you, might as well enjoy it while you can, I suppose.”

George had been rather animated while describing his avocation. Settling himself again, he nervously broached the sensitive subject he most hated. “Frank, I’m not sure how to bring this up, but I have to say something...”

“Go ahead and spit it out”, Frank answered.

“If Kat and I do decide to get married, I want you to rest easy knowing she will be taken care of for the rest of her life. However, just because she will have access to my inherited money does not mean you or the rest of your family would. I know it’s rude of me to even bring this up, but it’s necessary for me to say it, for my own sake. I’ve spent most of my life afraid that people were trying to scam from me or just use my friendliness for their gain. Because of that, I try real hard to avoid discussing matters of finance with people I care about. I hope you can understand this.”

“That ... actually makes a lot of sense”, Frank said while exhaling another curl of smoke.

George continued, “Obviously, if Kat needs something, she’ll get it. That’s a given. And, if there were a time when your family desperately needed something only money could provide, I have to assume that Kat would bring that request to me. Long story short – if she and I do get married, there will be a prenuptial agreement that lays all of this out, plus a lot more details, I’m sure. But for now, please know that I will not deny Kat any single thing she needs or wants dearly. But that does not automatically include her whole family. Again, I’m sorry for saying it so rudely.”

Frank’s face slowly revealed a wide grin. “No need to apologize, young man. Ya’ know, indirectly, I’ve been working for your family my whole adult life. And I’d like to think I’ve done pretty well for me and mine. I’m not about to do anything that would make you think I’m not grateful. Thank the Lord above, we don’t need a thing we don’t already have. I’ve been able to buy this house and a summer cottage, plus put away enough to pay for my retirement and all 5 kids’ college funds. We’re doin’ okay.”

“Wait ... you work for one of my dad’s companies?”

“Sure. I’ve been working for Tradewinds since I got out of college”, Frank replied.

George looked confused for a moment.

“It’s a subsidiary of Fleming Aerospace”, Frank clarified. “Has been since the mid-60’s.”

“Huh ... well, how ‘bout that? I knew my father had widely-varied business interests and I knew they were scattered all over. But I didn’t know one of them was in this city.” George shook his head once.

“Yes indeed. We still manufacture a wide array of internal airplane parts for commercial and military use. Hell, we even have some of our products in the Space Shuttle.”

“Cool!” George responded.

“Yeah, it is pretty cool”, Frank said. “But I said all that so you’ll know that Kat wasn’t raised dirt poor or anything. Now, her mother and I never spoiled her or our other kids. But they aren’t going into the wider world penniless. So, you can rest a bit easier too.”

Frank continued, “Now, you’re gonna have to talk with Kat about all this. And you looked pretty damn nervous just talking to me. So, when you decide to talk to her, I would recommend a couple shots of bourbon before you get started.” Frank laughed so much his whole body shook.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind”, George said with a smile. “I have to ask you to not say anything to anybody about this yet, not even Kat’s mom. Please.”

Frank considered it for a moment, then replied. “Just don’t wait too long, young man. I can keep some things from my wife for a while. But she always gets it out of me in the long run. There’s a lesson you can learn from me, young man. Remember it, because Kat’s the same way.” He smiled and slapped George on the shoulder.

Only a few weeks later, back at George’s home, the money subject was broached. While he washed and rinsed their dinner dishes, she dried them and put them away. As they shared this mundane chore, he and Kat had been discussing the need of a car. “Besides, it’s not like you can’t afford it, honey”, she said.

That little comment made George’s blood feel cold. Had Frank told Kat about their conversation? What did Kat really know about his situation? Was this going to be the moment that forced him to separate himself from her?

“Wha ... what do you mean?” George asked when his nerves allowed him to speak.

Kat was still drying and putting away dishes, so she hadn’t noticed that his face had lost its color. Still as carefree and direct as ever, she replied, “Aw c’mon, babe - I know you must have some money. I mean ... you work for a foundation that has your last name on the plaque, for Christ’s sake!”

“So, because of that, you assume I’m rich?” George nervously asked.

Kat shook her head, “I don’t know about ‘rich’, but it stands to reason that your family must be doing well enough.”

George shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Careful to keep his tone calm, he asked, “What do you actually know about my family?”

“Just what you’ve told me. Your parents died when you were young, but they left some money behind for you and the foundation handles everything.” She put away the last dish and finally turned to face him, noting his ashen complexion. “Baby, what’s wrong? Did I say the wrong thing?”

He shook his head and sat heavily in a chair by the kitchen table. “No. You didn’t say anything wrong, sweetie. But I think it’s time for me to tell you some more about ... well, me.”

Concerned, she took the seat across from him and held his hands in hers.

He was still so nervous that his guts felt as if they wanted to leave through his mouth. Bracing himself, he began. “Have you never heard of the Fleming family before?”

She shook her head, “Not ‘til I met you. Why? Is your family famous or something?”

George shrugged. “The name wasn’t really famous until my parents died.” He sighed. “It might help if you know some family history.” Kat nodded for him to continue, so he did.

“My grandfather was an engineer, hired straight out of college by a ship builder. Not long after, World War 2 began and the U.S. started gearing up and arming for war. Without going into all the details, suffice to say that the once-humble shipwright operation soon became an extremely busy, and extremely profitable, concern. In less than a year, they went from christening a couple merchant marine ships per year to one per month – plus at least one warship every six months.”

“By the time the war ended, my grandfather had been promoted several times and eventually ended up on the board of directors. During the remainder of his working life, he built a sizable portfolio of assets. And all of it was given to my father when granddad passed.”

“So, that was the seed money for your family’s foundation?” Kat asked.

George shook his head. “No. At the time of granddad’s death, his net worth was probably 20 million, give or take. My father then used that capital and spent his adult life building an even larger portfolio, much more diversified and international in scope. By the time he died, my father had built a fortune worth about 18 billion dollars.”

“Are you shitting me?!” Kat exclaimed. “So, your family ... and you ... but you live...”, she stammered.

George waited a moment for Kat to compose herself before he continued. “Kat, sweetie, I didn’t tell you before because I was afraid it would change our relationship. I love you more than I know how to say, and ... almost everyone that knows about my inheritance tries to scam me or just uses me because of it. I was so afraid that if you knew about the money, you’d either run away or only stay for the money.”

Kat’s face immediately changed. She was hurt. “You thought I would want you just because of money? When I met you, I didn’t know if you had a pot to piss in. And it didn’t matter. After I got to know you better, you told me you had a job and that was good enough for me. I didn’t ask you about money. I didn’t insist on going places or having you buy things for me. I have stayed with you because I like the person sitting at this table with me right now.”

George saw the tears rolling down Kat’s cheeks, which caused his eyes to well up also. “Baby, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you before. I was just so scared of losing what we have.”

“Damn it, that’s not the point!” Kat yelled. “I’m not mad that you have money – whatever - good for you! But I am mad that you didn’t feel like you could trust me. Actually, that’s not right ... I’m not mad at all. I’m hurt. You’ve cut me to the bone.” And she stood up.

“Where are you...”, George tried to ask.

“I’m gonna go stay at the dorms tonight. I know some girls that’ll let me sleep there until I feel like talking to you again”, Kat said without looking at him. She put on her coat and grabbed her purse before walking angrily out the front door. Though George expected her to slam the door closed, she didn’t. She closed it quietly, which somehow unnerved him more.

Two days later, George got back to his house following classes and found Kat sitting at the kitchen table again. She’d brewed a pot of coffee and was sipping a cup as he entered.

“Hey...”, he ventured.

“Hey.” she answered. “Listen, we need to talk. And by that, I mean that you need to let me talk and you just listen for a while, okay?”

George nodded and took a seat.

She took a deep breath. “Last night, it occurred to me that this is our first real fight. We’ve known each other for almost 3 years, and we’ve never even had a heated argument before the other day.”

Though it was true, it hadn’t occurred to George. His eyebrows rose and he nodded.

She continued. “I suppose that’s a pretty damn good track record. But here’s what I needed to say, so listen up, buster. I’m sorry that your parents died, especially when you were so young. That must have been devastating and I’m not sure I want to try imagining how hard it was for you.”

George shifted in his seat and opened his mouth to speak. She held up a hand to let him know she wasn’t finished.

“Also, I think I understand why you’d be so paranoid about other people’s intentions. BUT you should understand how much it hurt me that you didn’t feel like you could trust me. George, honey, I love you so much, it feels like I might bust wide open. Ever since we got back from Christmas at my folks’ place, I’ve been waiting and hoping you’d ask me to marry you. ‘Cause I want to marry you, George. I want to make babies with you and grow old together.” She’d begun tearing up again. “But now ... I don’t know ... I need to know that you do trust me. I need to know there won’t be secrets between us because when we work together, we can solve anything.”

George’s eyes began to get misty as prepared himself to respond. He cleared his throat and spoke, “Kat, baby, I have been so strangled with fear about being used for money that I wasn’t fully honest with you. I was wrong. And I promise to you, that I will never treat you with such distrust again. This is a solemn oath. You have my word.”

They rounded the table toward one another and hugged tightly, kissing occasionally as they dried each other’s tears. Reluctantly, he pulled away from her and said, “There are still some things we need to be clear about, as it relates to money.”

She nodded and took her seat again. “Okay, what are you thinking?”

“Well, if we do get married – which I want too, by the way – then I think it would be best for both of us if we had a prenuptial agreement.” He judged her face for a moment, afraid of seeing her expression change for the worst. It did not.

He continued, “In very broad terms, it would ensure that the foundation is protected and that if I ever broke the marital trust, you would be ... compensated. Now, I talked with your dad about this while we were at their house and”, Kat’s eyes shot up. George patted her hand before he kept speaking. “I just wanted him to know that you would be financially well-placed, if you and I did decide to get married.”

“So, you were thinking about proposing to me?” Kat asked as her face lit up again.

“Well sure! I just hadn’t worked up the nerve to do anything about it yet”, he answered. “As usual, you beat me to it. But, if you’re serious, then I think we should go shopping for a ring together tomorrow.” He began muttering, talking to himself, “Might be better that way anyway, now that I think about it. You’ll get a ring that you like, and we can make sure it fits properly.”