Chapter 13

Characters returning from the previous stories in this series:

Mark Kent O'Connell

Mike and Pat's Paternal Grandfather, 5'-9" tall, 170 pounds, 59 years old, brown hair, hazel eyes

Katie and Margie O'Connell

Mike and Pat's Paternal Grandmothers, 5'-3" tall, 125 pounds, 36DD-26-37, legally 58 years old but still look 25 (Actually 216 years old), long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, a sprinkling of freckles, still very cute and sexy looking

Edana and Gale O'Connell

Mike and Pat's older Aunts, 5'-3" tall, 118 pounds, 36D-24-36, 36 years old, long flaming red hair, green eyes, some freckles, very cute

Tara and Muriel O'Connell

Mike and Pat's other older Aunts, 5'-3" tall, 118 pounds, 36D-24-36, 36 years old, long flaming red hair, gray eyes, some freckles, very cute

Ed and Bill Fitzgibbon

Mike and Pat's older Uncles, 5'-10" tall, 170 pounds, 37 years old, brown hair, blue eyes. Ed is Edana and Gale's husband; Bill is Tara and Muriel's husband

Aengus and Sean O'Connell

Mike and Pat's Fathers, 5'-10" tall 165 pounds, 34 years old, auburn hair. Aengus is Mike's father and has gray eyes, Sean is Pat's father and has blue eyes.

Annie and Sara O'Neill O'Connell

Mike and Pat's Mothers, 5'-2" tall, 115 pounds, 36D-24-36, 34 years old, long auburn hair, gray eyes, still very cute. Annie is Mike's Mom, and Sara is Pat's Mom.

We hadn't even gotten out of bed when Sheena and Cathleen appeared in our room, giggling and laughing.

"We can leave here and go to Frankfurt!!" they giggled happily, and pulled their sisters out of bed. All four were soon laughing and giggling, as they danced excitedly around and around in our room - Naked! Pat appeared a minute or so later, but he was already dressed.

The women had been dancing around for a minute or so before they realized that they were all naked, and Pat and I were watching them with grins on our faces. "Oops!!" several of them said in embarrassment on realizing where they were, as they tried to cover themselves with their hands - a futile and belated gesture at best.

Pat and I were definitely enjoying the sight of all of them naked. It was easy to see that both sets of twins had large breasts, narrow waists, and still spreading hips with small bums. It was also obvious that their hair color matched at both top and bottom.

"We need to dress," they all squealed. Since they had stopped dancing around the goose bumps had appeared on their skin from the chill in the room. Sheena and Cathleen promptly disappeared, while Clare and Shannon reached for their clothing. Pat also followed his women back to their room. My women quickly got dressed.

"It's chilly in here," they both said stating the obvious. I too got out of bed and started dressing. A short time later Pat and his women reappeared in our room, but dressed this time.

"What's the plan?" Pat asked after they appeared.

"Breakfast first. After that - load the cart, saddle the horses, and find a nice patch of woods to work the transfer spell in," I told him.

"Breakfast sounds good," Pat observed, as we all prepared to depart.

Since we had risen late that morning, we found the cafe next to the hotel already open. We were sitting there having a leisurely breakfast when the owner of a small boat came in with news for the proprietor.

"There will be customers a plenty shortly, Jacques," he told the proprietor in a loud voice. "There were soldiers of the Duke of Burgundy at Selles last night before I left. They are searching for some runaway slaves. Though I can't imagine why this far from home.

"They aren't a happy bunch at all. There is a tall thin Wizard who is pushing them along. No one likes the Wizard, especially the soldiers. They seem to make every excuse to slow down. They had trouble with their horses last night, or they would have been here already," the old river man told the proprietor before ordering breakfast.

"We need to finish eating and leave here as quickly as possible," I told the others in a whisper after hearing the river man's story.

We were back at the hotel quickly after that. Pat and I transferred the horse gear to the stables, and got the horses ready. The women packed our gear and transferred it and themselves down to the cart where they quickly loaded it. Pat went to cancel our wards around the rooms, as Shannon helped me hitch the team to the cart. Pat rejoined us after turning in the keys.

"Which direction?" he asked, as we mounted our horses. The women were already in the cart.

"Out of town to the east. Away from the river and the tow path," I told him. We quickly left Fontenoy-le-Chateau. A mile or so out of town we found a small forested area. We pulled in there and all dismounted. Pat and I tied our horses' reins to the cart. We unhitched the cart team and tied them to the sides of the cart also.

"Everyone circle the cart and the horses and join hands," I told them.

"Wait!" Clare told us. "Give us a minute to prepare the horses."

"All right," Pat and I agreed, as the sisters went to each horse and touched it for a short time. I could feel them using their Magic on the horses, but had no idea what they were doing. They were quickly done and rejoined us.

We still had to really stretch for the six of us to circle the cart and all four horses, but we managed it, and started the spell. Shannon and Sheena knew the spell also. Clare and Cathleen just added their power. At the last word of the spell, we vanished from the wooded area.

Immediately, we reappeared in the stable-yard at Grandfather's Palace in Frankfurt. We caused quite a shock to those working there. It had started snowing in Frankfurt, and was colder than it had been in Fontenoy-le-Chateau.

To our surprise, Grandfather Michael materialized less than a minute after we had arrived. There were several other senior Wizards with him.

"Welcome back, Grandsons," he said in greeting.

"How did you know that we were here so quickly?" Pat asked, somewhat startled.

"Believe me, when six with the level of Talent that you all possess materialize somewhere, there is enough of a Magic signature generated that those with even our level of the Talent will notice it," he told us with a smile before continuing.

"Who are these young ladies that you brought with you?" he asked next.

"These are the young women that we rescued at the Duke of Burgundy's Manor. They were being held prisoner there," I told him.

"Held prisoner!?" Grandfather asked in shock. "With their level of Talent?"

"They didn't have any Magic then," Pat told him. He and the other Wizards looked shocked at that.

"Let's move inside where we can be more comfortable," Grandfather suggested. "Then you can tell us all about it."

"The horses need to be cared for and fed," Clare said before anyone had moved.

"And we need our things from the cart," Shannon added.

Grandfather called the Stable Master over and gave the orders. Meanwhile, Pat was retrieving his saddle bags which still contained the map and correspondence that we had taken from the Duke's apartment. We were soon ready to move indoors, but we all walked this time.

"Have you eaten?" Grandfather asked, as we moved through the halls to his private parlor.

"Yes. We had breakfast, but hurried through it when we learned that the Duke had sent another group of soldiers after us, and that they were in the next town down river. We left hastily after that," Pat told him.

"Another group?" Grandfather asked, as we moved through the halls. "How many had he sent after you before that?" As we moved, our women were just staring around them in amazement at the building and its furnishings.

"Yes. They were at least the third group that he had sent after us," I told him.

"It sounds like you had quite an adventure then," Grandfather said. The other Wizards had said very little up until now. We finally reached Grandfather's private parlor.

"Will you introduce these young ladies to us?" Grandfather asked, after we had all warmed up a bit near the fire in the large fireplace.

"Grandfather, these are the O'Connell sisters, Shannon and Sheena," I said to introduce the O'Connell sisters.

"O'Connell?" Grandfather asked in surprise.

"Yes. Apparently they are distant relatives," I told him.

"And these are the O'Toole sisters, Clare and Cathleen, Grandfather," Pat said to introduce the O'Toole sisters.

"O'Toole, you say?" Grandfather asked. "A part of the same O'Toole Clan that conquered the Danes in Dublin?"

"Yes, Master. We are from that same Clan," Clare answered quietly.

"And each of you has taken a pair of twins for your own?" Grandfather asked with a smile.

"Not exactly, Grandfather," Pat answered, sheepishly.

"Not exactly what?" he asked obviously confused.

"The relationship is a little more complicated than that," I explained.

"Complicated - how?" he asked, even more confused.

"I will be taking Shannon and Clare for my wives, and Pat will have Sheena and Cathleen as his wives," I explained.

"That seems a bit odd. Don't the sisters get along well?" Grandfather asked.

"They get along splendidly, all four of them actually," Pat answered.

"But Shannon and Clare have a mental bond, as do Sheena and Cathleen," I explained.

"A mental bond!?" Grandfather asked even more confused and not understanding what we meant. Pat and I explained how we had found the girls, and the condition that they had been in. We also gave a brief explanation of the rest of what happened at the Duke's Manor after we found them. Grandfather and those with him were shocked at what they heard.

"Do you still have that map and those papers?" Grandfather demanded when we had finished. The other Wizards seemed amazed at the things we had done so easily.

"Yes. They are right here in my saddle bags under a ward so no one could take them," Pat assured him with his grin.

"We'll go over them and get a more detailed explanation of just where you went and what you did after this. What can you tell me about those Wizards that arrived at the Duke's Manor when you were leaving?" Grandfather asked.

Pat and I gave them a short description of the two Wizards, and what had happened with them. We recalled some of the words that had been spoken by the wrinkled, gnome-like Wizard, especially the last word of his spell: Zoroaster.

"Definitely Persian," one of the wizards with Grandfather said on hearing us out.

"We have had a lot of trouble with them over the last several decades. It looks like they are making another move against us. We will need to go over everything that you brought back very carefully. There are sure to be others involved in this scheme," Grandfather told us and he sounded very tired.

Shannon pushed me after he had finished and whispered, "Introduce your Grandfather to us."

"Oh!" I said, not realizing that it had slipped my mind with all that we had discussed.

"Ladies," I started, "this is our Grandfather, Michael O'Neill the Third, Grand Master of the Union." The shock on the four women's faces couldn't have been more pronounced if I had told them that I was the Grand Master. There was a look of fear and panic. I thought they might pass out for a few seconds. Instead, all four were instantly on their knees with their head touching the floor before Grandfather.

"Please forgive us, Master. We didn't know who you were," they begged in fear and tears from that position.