Chapter 24

The following character appears throughout the rest of the story:

Theresa

Witch, Herbal specialist, 5'-6" tall, 52 years old, 145 pounds, 38C-26-38, gray hair, blue eyes

By the second week of June things were going well enough for me to bring up to my wives the sad neglected state of the front gates and the perimeter fence. They were in bad need of maintenance and repair.

"Can't you do the repairs by Magic?" Katie asked after I had explained things, as she bounced one daughter on her knee while the other one slept.

"Not really. The fences are too extensive for that and the rust really needs to be removed, the repairs made, the iron primed, and then painted. When that is finished, there is a preservation spell that I can use to keep them in that state nearly indefinitely," I told them.

"Who can we get to do the work?" Margie asked, as she rocked both daughters in their crib.

"Let me call Uncle Dan, and see who he recommends. He would know someone who is reliable and does good work," I told them.

On the phone, Uncle Dan wanted to know how bad the problem was. I was unable to describe it adequately and told him that I would meet him at my parents' house in a-half hour.

"How can you do that?" he asked. "Aren't you in central Georgia?"

"Yes, but I'll be at Mom's in a-half hour," I told him. Going through the portal, I was there well before Uncle Dan arrived and said hi to Mom. She was miffed that I hadn't asked her to help with the babies."

"Mom, we have two Fairies who were sent to help us with the babies. They are there all of the time, and we are doing fine," I assured her. Uncle Dan arrived shortly after this. He was shocked that I was there.

"You want to tell me how you did this?" he asked.

"Yes, I established a portal between the house here and our house in Statesboro. It's only a few steps between the two," I explained. I returned home with Uncle Dan and Mom. Mom spent time with my wives oohing and aahing over the babies, and meeting Emer and Fand, who were still very shy around someone new to them. I took Uncle Dan out to check on the condition of the gates and the fence.

"This isn't too bad yet, but if you let it go much longer it will be a real mess to repair," he told me after a careful inspection and he recommended a firm to do the work.

"I know the fellow that owns the firm," he told me. "I'll call him and see when he can come out to look at it. They are located near Atlanta, so they will need to move a crew down here. That will increase the cost some, but they are the best at this kind of work," he assured me. He made the call from our house and I talked to Jeff, the owner, after Uncle Dan was through, and set up a date for him to look at the job. I also gave him directions to our house, and our phone number.

Uncle Dan also spent some time with my wives and daughters. The Fairies stayed well away from him. "He stays with cold iron too much," they told us later. I returned Mom and Uncle Dan to my parents' house later that afternoon.

"That portal is a real work of Magic!" Uncle Dan told me before he left for home. "I never even imagined something like that was really possible."

"It is rather handy," I admitted, "and will make it a lot easier to visit especially with our daughters."

Jeff, the owner of the blacksmithing company, arrived on the 19th of June and did a complete inspection of the gates and fences. He gave me a price for the entire job and said it would require three weeks to complete, but they wouldn't be able to start on it until after the 4th of July holiday, as they had other work already in progress. I consulted with my wives on the cost and timing, and then signed the contract for him to do the repairs and painting on the gates and fences.

In between all of these other happenings, there had still been the garden to take care of. Both Emer and Fand were impressed with the garden and my wives' collection of herbs and dried plants. I had also been working on my study of Magic during this leisure period. At least there had been leisure for me. My poor wives wouldn't agree with that statement, as busy as they were.

Towards the end of June, I brought up two more things that needed attention to my wives. The first was the more imperative of the two.

"Since we are going to be attending school in Athens this year and next, we need an apartment, or house there," I told them.

"But we don't want to move there," my wives protested.

"I didn't say anything about moving there," I told them. "I said that we need an apartment there. Some place where I can set up a portal so we can go back and forth. I'll also need to drive a car up there for transportation."

"Not the Rolls!" Katie objected, immediately. "I don't want to leave it there while we aren't there."

"All right, we can get something else for local transportation for two years. But we are still going to need to go up there and look for a place, and it would be best to do it before all of the other students start showing up looking for places to live, too," I told them.

"When should we go?" Margie asked.

"How long can you leave the girls for?" I asked.

"Oh, dear," both wives said. "Not for long yet."

"We don't want to take them with us and scare the landlords," I told my wives. "How about I go up there and scout out the area and see what's available in mid-July. The girls will be two months old by then."

"Yes, that sounds good. See what is available and then we can go with you and make a decision," Katie told me. With that issue settled for the time being, I brought up the second issue.

"Have you considered where our daughters are going to live when they grow up?" I asked.

"We just had them," Margie remarked, sarcastically.

"Yes, but they will be grown up in no time and will need places of their own to live," I pointed out.

"What point are you trying to make?" Katie asked.

"Only this," I answered. "In fifteen or sixteen years, land is going to be more expensive than it is now. So now is the time to think about acquiring someplace for our daughters to move to when they are ready to be independent."

"Yes, that makes sense," Margie admitted.

"When I first came here for the job interview, I was impressed with the properties and houses near the entrance to Plantation Lane, but the two properties adjacent to yours on either side of the road are rather rundown and no one lives there that I can determine," I told them.

"Yes, those two houses have been empty for some years," Katie admitted.

"And rotting away. Why don't we buy the properties before someone else does and puts a Mc Mansions on them, and we have noisy neighbors that we don't care for," I proposed.

"But we already own those two properties," Katie pointed out, much to my astonishment.

"Yes, we purchased them back when the former owners passed away some fifteen plus years ago. Both sets of heirs were anxious to sell, as they lived and worked near Atlanta and had no intention in returning to Statesboro," Margie told me.

"Purchased back!?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes, that land was originally part of our plantation," Margie told me.

"You never mentioned that," I told them.

"No, we didn't think it was important," Katie told me, "but now that you have mentioned it, they would make good houses for our daughters to move to when they are ready for their independence."

"Those houses will need a lot of work," I pointed out.

"Yes, but there is nothing wrong with them that money can't fix. They have real plaster walls and hardwood floors. The exteriors will need some work and new roofs. It won't be a problem," Katie told me, and I could see the wheels turning in her mind as she considered what was needed. Our daughters had awakened with the usual commotion, and needed attention, so our discussion broke up while my wives tended to them.

The fence people showed up on Monday the 7th of July to begin work. Jeff was with them and explained the process to us and told us that there would be some noise from their tools and also some arc welding involved. We supplied them with fresh water and my wives had some fruit for them, also. The noise wasn't that bad and little reached the house. Emer and Fand didn't like the workers because they dealt with 'cold iron'.

During this time, I had done some work on the computer to check out Athens and the rentals in the area. There were a lot of apartments, some of them exorbitantly priced, but I didn't care for any of them. On Wednesday, the 16th of July, I left for Athens early in the morning in the pickup to check on things first hand. I went the back way.

Leaving the house, I got on U.S. 80 and took it to Swainsboro where I picked up U.S. 1. I took it north all of the way to Wrens where I turned off onto State 17 and took it to Thomson. In Thomson I got on U.S. 78 and took it into Athens. It was all back roads, but I was used to back roads and it was a lot more scenic and interesting than the Interstate. It was also shorter by about sixty miles.

I stopped at the University of Georgia (UGA) campus to check on rental listings, and talked to their people. They gave me a list of private houses and apartment for rent in the area. I checked a number of the listings using a map I had purchased at a gas station when I filled the pickup.

Returning from one of the houses listed, I took a wrong turn and had to backtrack to try to find the next listing. That was when by chance I passed a small house on a street I normally wouldn't have taken. As I drove by it, my senses went to full alert when I detected the weak decaying signal that a portal leaves for a time after it's removed.

I parked the truck and walked past several hoses to pin down which one had recently had a portal in it. On deciding which house it was, I went up on the porch to check it out. There was a black and white cat sitting on the porch. The cat hissed at me with its back up, as I gained the porch.

"What do you want here?" It asked in my mind. This really startled me and I looked closely at the cat.

"I'm looking for a house to rent and detected the decaying signal of a removed portal," I told it.

"Who are you, and how could you detect that?" the cat demanded.

"I'm Mark of the Eternal Flame," came to my lips. "Who are you?"

"I am the familiar of Mistress Theresa, the owner of this house." the cat answered.

"And is this house for rent?" I asked.

"Are you going to the University?" the cat asked without answering my question.

"Yes, for my Masters Degree," I told it, and repeated my question, "Is this house for rent?"

"You must talk to my Mistress," the cat answered.

"Where is your Mistress?"

"She is in the second house down," the cat told me before it hopped up and started down the steps. I followed it to the second house, where it sat on the porch in front of the door. I walked up on the porch and rang the bell. Shortly an older woman answered the door.

"Stanley what have you brought home now?" she asked her familiar, and then turned to me.

"Good day, young man. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Your familiar said that I needed to speak with you about the second house down. Is it for rent?" I asked.

"Are you attending the University?" she asked.

"Yes, I will be this fall. I'll be working on my Master's Degree." I told her.

"That's good. I don't like the rowdy young ones. Yes, the house is for rent. How did you find it?" she asked.