Chapter 21

June slipped into July, and we still hadn't found time to return to the Other Reality to visit the girls still there, and to see how they and the Daughters they were carrying were doing. We had planned on returning several times, but every time that we had, something had come up to prevent us from leaving.

Aside from the normal work in the fields on the growing crops, and our work in the printing plant, several emergencies had developed to prevent us from leaving. The first was one involving the tractors. They ALL ceased to function. We had to check each tractor individually, and pull detailed maintenance on each one to get them running again. For some reason, Magic wouldn't fix them.

Then there had been a problem with the presses at the printing plant. The older ones continued to work just fine, but the newer ones that had been added in recent years, and did most of the work now, had problems. Again it was something that Magic was unable to fix for some reason, and required a complete tear-down of the presses. It was certainly a curious situation, and one that even our Grandfather and the old Master Printers couldn't explain.

There was also a crisis with the new line of cosmetics that the O'Toole Sisters were working on. They could easily make the products that they had used, but there was a permanence issue with them. Namely, they didn't seem to last very long once bottled. Clare and Cathleen were very upset about this, and worked for some time to try to determine what was wrong, and how to fix it.

Our Mothers and Aunts tried to help them, but they didn't make any headway until our Grandmothers suggested using a modification of the spell used to keep O'Connell Ale fresh. They soon worked out a new, easily cast spell to keep the cosmetics fresh in the containers for up to six months.

Thanks to the aforementioned problems, it was late July when Pat approached me with a question.

"Do you think there is a reason for all of these strange goings-on lately?" he asked me one morning.

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"It seems like every time we get ready to leave for the Other Reality something happens to prevent it," Pat said.

"Yes, but how could someone there influence what happens here?" I asked him.

"Perhaps someone, or something in both places could," he suggested, and was dead serious at this point.

"Some... !? The Eternal Flame?" I asked in shock.

"I don't know! It just seems strange," was as far as he would go with the suspicion.

It was on Wednesday, the 26th of July, that the Eternal Flame appeared to us again.

"There is trouble in the Other Reality. Things have not gone as your Grandfather planned. You will need to go there again to help him," the Eternal Flame told Pat and me.

"When should we leave?" I asked.

"As soon as you can gather your Wives and the rest of your family," It replied.

"Rest of... ??" Pat asked in shock.

"Things have gone VERY WRONG there, and it will take a MAJOR infusion of Talent to correct it," the Eternal Flame told us. Pat and I were shocked beyond belief at Its words.

"Should Pat and I go there immediately to help out?" I asked.

"No, that isn't necessary," the Eternal Flame told us.

"We'll gather the family, but it will take us some little while to be ready," I told him.

"Do not worry, Michael. Remember that I invented and control time. I will get you there before you are needed," the Eternal Flame assured us calmly before disappearing.

Pat and I immediately transported to our Grandparents' house to speak to Grandfather Mark. It was he who had the authority to mobilize the entire family. We materialized in their large parlor.

"Grandfather!" Pat called on our arrival. He emerged from the den seconds later.

"Good afternoon, guys. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"We just had a visit from the Eternal Flame. It told us that things had gone VERY WRONG in the Other Reality, and that Grandfather Michael was in big trouble," Pat told him.

"How bad is this trouble?" Grandfather Mark asked.

"It's bad enough that the Eternal Flame said that it would require our entire family to fix it," I told him. Grandfather stood there for several seconds as this news sank in.

"The ENTIRE family?" he asked in shock.

"That's what It said," Pat answered.

"I see! And when did It say that we need to leave? It will take time to gather everyone, and finish what business and other activities that we have going on. Our employees can maintain our businesses, and the crops and fields will be all right for a while, but there are other things that may take time for us to clean up," he told us, obviously thinking out loud. The Eternal Flame appeared again as he finished.

"Do not worry, Mark. As I told your Grandsons, I will insure that you arrive early enough to get acquainted with the situation and will return you here before no more than a day has elapsed here," It told us.

"Thank you, Flame," Grandfather said. "That will make things much easier to handle," Grandfather told It before It again winked out of existence here.

"All right. Here is what we are going to do,"Grandfather told us, having already make up his mind.

"First: I want each of you to determine which members of the family you are going to alert. I don't want to miss any of them if possible."

"Second: Inform each of them that there will be a mandatory family meeting in the auditorium tonight at 7:30. That should give everyone time to change clothes and eat before the meeting. Everyone is to be there - no excuses! Be sure to emphasize that when you speak to them. You may use my name when you inform them of this."

"Third: Everyone must be prepared to leave at 9:00 in the morning. The Eternal Flame said that It could arrange our arrival in plenty of time, so I see no need to rush off tonight," Grandfather finished.

"I'll take care of notifying your Grandmothers and our two youngest children," he told us, as Pat and I split the family down the middle, and prepared to leave.

I took our Aunts Edana and Gale, their husband Ed, and my Cousins - Amber, Brigid, Brian, and Connor plus my Parents and Sisters. My first stop was my house to notify Shannon and Clare. They were at Pat's house with Sheena and Cathleen. Pat was also there, so they already knew what I had to tell them. Pat and I quickly left there to notify the others.

I notified my Aunts and Uncle next before going to my Parents house to notify my Mom and Dad. Unfortunately, neither my sisters nor cousins had been at home, and I needed to track them down. There had been amazement and questions at all of the stops that I had made so far.

Am and Bee weren't happy that I interrupted them with the Son of one of our employees. I found my Sisters, Laura and Katie, working in the printing plant with our Cousins Donal and Brian. I advised all of them of the meeting after dinner. By the time I returned home after all of this, my women had our clothes packed and dinner ready.

"How bad are things?" Shannon asked nervously when I arrived in the kitchen after washing up.

"Bad enough that the Eternal Flame believes that it will take our entire family to fix things," I told her, as she and Clare both came into my arms for a reassuring hug and kiss. We ate dinner quickly and were at the auditorium by 7:00 after cleaning everything up in the kitchen. Grandfather arrived shortly after we had turned on the lights, as did Pat and his women. We set up enough chairs to seat the family for the meeting.

Our relatives began arriving shortly before 7:30. Several of our Senior Employees also arrived. They were the supervisors of our various businesses. Grandfather Mark started the meeting after everyone had arrived.

"Settle down!" he called to get their attention, and waited for quiet.

"I have called this meeting because the Eternal Flame has asked for our help. It seems that events in the Other Reality are not going well for Michael O'Neill and his people. To use the Eternal Flame's words, 'things have gone VERY WRONG, and it will require a MAJOR infusion of Talent to correct the situation'," Grandfather told them.

"I am therefore proposing that we all meet in the Grove at 9:00 in the morning to transfer to the Other Reality," he continued.

"Do we have any idea of what the problem is?" my Dad asked.

"I don't, but perhaps Mike and Pat may know something," Grandfather answered before turning to us. "Mike, Pat, can you provide any additional information?" he asked.

"If you remember, what we uncovered while there was a plot to takeover a large portion of eastern France, and most of Switzerland. The plot involved a number of powerful Factions in the Union, and also foreign intervention by the Persians," I explained.

"Because of the number of Factions involved and the need to coordinate the actions against them by several different governments at the same time, not to mention the amount of Magic that would be involved, it isn't hard to imagine that one or more of those involved screwed up somewhere," Pat added. "Exactly what the problem is will have to wait until we get there to learn."

"Do you think that there may be a war going on then?" Uncle Sean asked.

"Yes, but it will definitely be different than one here. They don't have gunpowder, but do have Magic - a lot of Magic," I told him.

"We are quite aware of how Magic can affect a conflict," my Mom said with a smile.

"They won't have defensive shells, and probably not any invisibility, as those take more Talent than most of their Wizards possess. We only taught our Uncles Seamus and Sean O'Neill how to create the defensive shell and our wards. No one else at their Court was powerful enough," Pat told them.

"What should we take with us?" Aunt Edana asked.

"It's summer there, as it is here. I would recommend shirts and jeans along with comfortable shoes, and a hat if you want one. Take several changes of clothes with you, as I don't know how long we will be there," Grandfather told them.

"We have things to do at the University to prepare for the start of school," my Dad brought up then.

"The Eternal Flame personally assured me that he would get us back here the next day," Grandfather told everyone.

"Yes, he did invent time after all," Uncle Sean reminded everyone with a grin.

"Anything else?" Grandfather asked.

"Weapons?" our Grandmothers asked.

"Bring what you are comfortable with. We all have our Magic and our Power Rings, and they are more powerful than the weapons that anyone else will have," Grandfather told them. "If you are more comfortable having something else in addition then bring it along."

"Is there anything else?" he asked again. No one brought anything up. "I need to talk with our Senior Employees after this. I will see the rest of you in the Grove at 9:00 in the morning," Grandfather finished. People began leaving right after that. Our women, Pat and I remained. Our families supervisory employees moved up to Grandfather once everyone else had departed.

"Are there any issues that you can foresee over the next few days?" Grandfather asked them.

"Not in the printing plant," Thomas Stuart replied. The bookstore and the Herbal Store supervisors didn't indicate that they had any problems either.

"We should only be gone a day or two, so the crops shouldn't be affected. Just keep an eye on things while we are gone. I'm sure that everyone in the family will ward their houses before they leave, so there won't be a problem there. We'll be back as soon as we can," he finished, trying to reassure everyone.

When we returned home after the meeting, there was no studying of Magic as usual. Pat and I gathered our women for some serious discussion instead.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked Shannon and Sheena after we were all seated comfortably in my living room.