Chapter 19

We did not rush off to my parent's for Christmas break this year. I was at a critical point in my studies of Magic and I needed time and quiet to complete them. The six days between 14 and 19 December allowed me to finish what I had been working on for the past several months.

On the morning of Tuesday, the 20th of December, we loaded the Rolls and headed for my parent's house. It was a pleasant drive, as the Rolls is a excellent road car. We got waves and honks from quite a few on the highway who either recognized it as a Rolls, or who just liked antique cars.

It was a little short on luggage capacity, but that was no longer a problem for us. I could move any of my wives' dresses or other things that they required to wherever we were. Actually, I could now move us to my parent's house if necessary, as I knew the exact destination very well. I believed, however, that something like that wasn't in our best interest at this time.

We were greeted warmly on arrival by my Mother, but she and later my Dad both gave the Rolls a curious look.

"Did you buy a new car?" Mom asked, naively.

"That's not a new car, Gail," Dad told her, as he joined us. "It's a rather old car. Maybe even an antique. What brand of car is that, Mark?"

"It's a 1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, Dad."

"1956!" Mom gasped. "Couldn't you afford a newer car?"

"Mom, it's an antique like Dad said and a very expensive car. The O'Connells have owned it since it was new. They just haven't used it much in the past ten years or so," I told her. My parents had gone over to look more closely at the car while I was explaining this.

"And it still runs all right?" Mom asked, worried.

"Yes, it still runs fine. It was just recently overhauled, and it's a nice car to drive," I assured her. My wives had been smiling throughout all of this.

"Well, come inside," Mom said. "Your room is all made up. We thought you would be here earlier than this."

"I had some studying to do," I explained.

"Studying? For school?" Mom asked.

"No, this is for something else that I'm working on," I told her, without being specific.

"Dad will help you with the luggage," Mom told us, as she and my wives returned to the house.

"You studying something important?" Dad asked, as we unloaded the luggage.

"Yes, a project I'm working on. It's required quite a bit of time," I told him.

"History?" he asked.

"Ah ... yes. History," I said without going any further.

My parents were amazed to learn that Katie and Margie were in college now and taking Linguistics. My wives told Mom all about their problems with proper dress at the school, and about how the other female students dressed or rather didn't.

"Mother, you just wouldn't believe the way some of those girls show up for class," Margie finished telling Mom that evening. "They look like sluts with everything exposed and hanging out!"

"Yes," Mom agreed, "girls today do dress very revealingly. Much more so than when I was a young woman. That's one of the reasons that I like you girls so much. You're always well dressed and polite. That's another thing that the younger generation seems to have lost. Many of them are so uncouth, and noisy too."

Friday, we went looking for a Christmas tree again this year and for more wreaths. We had everything set up by late that afternoon. My wives had also gotten presents for my parents and siblings. I, however, was having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year, and it was evident to my wives.

"What's wrong, Mark?" Margie asked me later that day.

"I'm nearly ready for my Second Level exams," I told her, "and need to talk to Brian or maybe visit him, and all of these other things are getting in the way of that."

"Patience, darling husband," she whispered coming into my arms and kissing me passionately.

"Hey, none of that you two," Katie said, as she entered the room. "Not unless I can join you!" she smirked.

"Mark is worried about his Magic studies," Margie told her.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked.

"He needs to talk to Brian," Margie told her.

"OK. So after we leave here contact Brian. What's the problem? You've done that before," Katie said.

"I guess I'm just anxious," I told her.

"If there is one thing we have learned in the last 160 years, it's patience, Sweetie," Katie told me, as she came into my arms, and kissed me as passionately as Margie had. I tried to relax after that, but it was still a chore.

We muddled through the remaining days until Christmas. My wives helped with the baking and grocery shopping on Saturday. On Sunday they sang in the choir at church again, and also at midnight services on the 24th. The pastor was delighted to see them again. Uncle Dan and Aunt Vicky came by on Sunday evening for a visit. It was good to see them again and I had a long chat with Uncle Dan. He and Dad were getting along a lot better now. They didn't stay the night though.

On Christmas there were presents to be opened and the usual holiday dinner. My brothers and brothers-in-law were disappointed that we hadn't brought any ale with us this year. The children were all a year older this year, and my wives didn't get as upset as previously. Of course they had finished their periods before we departed from home. They were very passionate the entire time here, and I used the spell to isolate our room each night so that no one heard us.

Wednesday the 26th was cleanup and laundry day, and we made our excuses and headed home on the 27th. I felt a lot better when we got home that evening. Friday morning, the 28th, I was ready to contact Brian.

"Is there anything you want me to tell Brian?" I asked my wives before I started.

"No, but we need to visit them again sometime. We need to set something up, but we aren't sure when we can go," Katie told me.

"I'll talk to him," I promised before I went into the library and prepared to talk to him. It turned out to be easier than I had anticipated, and he seemed to be glad to hear from me.

"How are you doing, Mark?" Brian asked.

"All right, but I need to talk to you about my studies," I told him.

"All right, can you come here?" he asked.

"Come there?"

"Yes, have you gotten to the point in your studies where you can create a portal to us here?" Brian wanted to know.

"A portal?" I asked, and the enchantment and other work necessary popped into my mind, and I really hate to say this as it sounds so corny, 'as if by magic'.

"Maybe," I told him, as I was astonished that I knew just how to do such a thing. It had barely been mentioned in the last book that I had read.

"Give it a try and if necessary, I'll help you," Brian told me.

"I'll need to gather some materials first," I told him. "I'll get in touch with you again in a bit."

"I'll await hearing from you," Brian told me.

I quickly went about gathering the required materials, and then looked around for a place to put the portal where it would be inconspicuous and settled for a door on the back wall of the library that went to a closet.

It took me time to arrange the materials required, and carefully create the required symbols in a circle on the floor of the closet in chalk. I was ready to proceed in about ninety minutes. I had enchanted and placed two stones to serve as the base of the portal, and then created the portal itself on them with the powerful spell and glyph that had come into my mind when Brian had asked if I knew how to create one. As I finished chanting the spell, the back of the closet wavered and then cleared revealing the grove where I had studied in the Otherworld. I was shocked that it had seemed so easy. I excitedly called my wives.

"Katie, Margie, come see this!"

"What is it? What have you done?" Margie asked, as they entered the library and saw me standing by the closet door.

"I created a portal to the Otherworld," I told them.

"What?" Katie asked in shock. "How did you do that?" She was clearly amazed, as was Margie.

"Brian asked if I had reached the point in my studies where I could create a portal to them, and the knowledge of how to do it just popped into my mind. We can visit the Otherworld whenever we need to now," I told them.

"If we're going to go, we need to take clothes with us," Margie said, first thing.

"Why?" I asked her.

"So we can change clothes," she answered, as if it were obvious.

"They have all of the clothes that we need, and besides we can return to get anything that we may need," I told them.

"Is it permanent?" Katie asked in wonder.

"I'm pretty sure that it is," I told her.

"Well, all right. Let's go," Katie said, and we walked through the portal and into the grove where we had been married and I had studied in the Otherworld. Brian appeared there a few minutes later.

"That's amazing!" Brian said on seeing us standing there with the portal behind us. It was just an opening in the air between two trees with half of each stone that I had enchanted on either side of it, and not at all like the fancy entrance portal that we had come through when we first visited here.

"You can't just leave it open though," Brian told me.

"If I close it, will I be able to reopen it?" I asked, unsure of myself.

"Yes, just use a single word as an opening and closing charm," he told me, and the knowledge came to me even as he was speaking. I used a single word and a sign to close the portal. The two half stones remained to mark its location.

"Excellent!" Brian said in admiration. "You're turning into quite the Sorcerer, young Mark."

"Your cottage is ready. It's the same one that you used the last time," he told us next.

"We didn't bring any money," Margie said in anguish.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Brian told her in a jolly voice. "You won't need to pay for anything here now. The ale is a tremendous success, and the brewers will be happy to cover whatever you may need while you are here."

We quickly fell into our old routine here, and before we knew it everyone was celebrating New Year's. There was a grand party on New Year's Eve with plenty of ale, and we wound up drinking way too much of it. After New Year's, I spent a lot of time with Brian discussing what I had learned and what I still needed to work on.

It was really hard to leave on Wednesday, the 9th of January, but my portal is a linear one and wouldn't adjust time as the larger main portal here could. That required a much more powerful spell, and would have to be created here in the Otherworld where time was more flexible than in our world.

When my watch indicated that it was noon on Wednesday the 9th of January, I spoke the word and made the sign necessary to open the portal and we stepped through it and back into the library at my wives home. I spoke the word and made the sign to close the portal and then closed the closet door. It had been an enjoyable experience. We had spent twelve days there and they had gone by like nothing.

Thursday, the 10th, we went into the university to pick up our schedules and any new books required for the semester that started on Monday the 14th.

The opening weeks of 2013 were wet, but not too cold. Temperatures ran into the high fifties to low sixties late in the day and the low thirties most nights. By late February, we started on the garden, as the weather was warm enough. This year we only planted half of the fields and let the other half lie-fallow with only a cover crop on them to prevent erosion. We still had much of what had been preserved and frozen last fall available, and didn't have the time to dedicate to planting all of the fields this year.

School closed after classes on Friday, 15 March, for spring break, and we returned to the Otherworld on Saturday, the 16th of March, for just over a week's visit. It only required saying the word and making the sign to open the portal and step through to the Otherworld. Our cottage was ready for us and we quickly fell into the routine there again.

After Saint Patrick's Day, which they did celebrate as they believe in any excuse for a party, I started on my exams for Second Level Sorcerer. During that week I was questioned by several senior Sorcerers including Brian on my knowledge of Magic, and had several practical tests of my abilities. They seemed surprised that I had been able to establish the portal back in December, and I was awarded Second Level status with a provisional start on Third Level because of the portal. My wives spent much of their time in conference with the brewers that week.