Chapter 30

We were up early the next morning. After taking care of our morning business, Pat and I suggested to our women that we all go to the heated pool to bathe.

“They have a heated pool here!?” Shannon asked in shock and amazement.

“Yes, it’s on the other side of the village,” Pat explained.

“We must have missed it when we looked around the village,” Sheena told him.

“Is it far?” Gretchen asked. She had her hands in the small of her back at the time, as she leaned backwards. She was having problems with the weight of the twins. Petra had a similar problem.

“Why don’t you take the other girls to the pool, and I’ll transfer Gretchen and Petra there in a bit,” I suggested to Pat.

“Okay. They both do have problems with long walks,” he agreed, and led the other women out to the pool. After ten minutes or so, I transferred the two pregnant women and myself next to the pool. The others arrived a few minutes later. All of the women were amazed at the fine naturally heated pool. It didn’t take them, or us, long to get naked and into the water. We spent a very relaxing half hour or so in the heated water. During that time, we had been joined by other early risers. It was shortly after sunrise when we got out of the pool, dried off with the towels the women had brought with them, and redressed.

“Would you like to see the sun rising from the top of Kesh Corran?” Pat asked, as we prepared to leave the pool. “It really is quite a sight.”

“Whereabouts in Ireland are we?” Petra asked.

“We’re in western Ireland. The area is known as County Sligo, which we pronounced Shligih. From the top of Kesh Corran, you get a wonderful view of the Bricklieve Mountains to the west. There are many cairns and tombs there. There is Laugh Arrow to the northeast, and behind it three more mountain ranges are visible on a clear day!” Pat told them enthusiastically.

“Yes, let’s go!” Shannon and Sheena said together. We all joined hands and transferred to the main entrance of the Otherworld. The man on guard there was surprised when we appeared there.

“Good morn, Masters,” he said on recovering.

“We’re going out to show our girlfriends Kesh Corran and the sunrise,” I told him.

“The entrance is sealed, and I can’t open it, Masters,” he explained, prepared for our disappointment and questions. Pat just smiled at him.

“Our Parents were the ones that created the reinforced wards and spells around the Otherworld. We know exactly how to pass through them,” Pat assured him, much to the guard’s surprise.

“Would you be O’Connells then?” he asked.

“Yes, and these ladies will be our Wives by tonight,” I told him.

“If you know how to pass through the wards and spells, there is little that I could do to stop you,” he told us before resuming his seat. We joined hands again, and Pat and I recited the spell to pass through the wards and the other spells of the entrance, and into the world of Ireland in our Reality in 2051.

“SO, THESE are the famous caves of Kesh Corran!” Shannon said on looking around at the area. With all of the testing that went on here now, the area was far from the pristine one that our Parents and Grandparents had seen when they first came here. We quickly transferred to the top of Kesh Corran to enjoy the view.

The sun was only a little over half an hour above the horizon, but had already burned off the mist to the east, and more things were revealed as it continued to raise and burn off the mist. The view was breath-taking as more of it was revealed, and we sat and watched it unfold for quite some time. Hunger finally convinced us to return to our cottage for breakfast.

When we returned to the cave entrance, it was open and people were already in line to be tested. The Masters were just emerging from the Otherworld, and going to their regular stations to begin the day’s testing.

“Can I help you?” one of Masters asked, as we approached the entrance. “No one is allowed inside,” he added.

“We’re just returning to our cottage after watching the sunrise for a while,” Pat told him.

“That’s not possible. The entrance was sealed until just a few minutes ago,” the Master replied indignantly.

“What’s wrong here?” another Master asked, as he approached. We could see that he was a Senior Master from his ring of rank. Pat and I held up our hands revealing our own rings to him.

“Welcome Senior Masters. What can we do for you?” the Senior Master asked on seeing our rings.

“We’re just returning to our cottage,” I told him.

“Returning to...?” he asked.

“Yes. We were on top of the mountain watching the sunrise with our almost Wives,” Pat told him, starting to get upset about the delay.

“I already told them that was impossible,” the original Master interrupted.

“So are the chances of people this young being Senior Masters,” the Senior Master told him. “But it may be possible, if these are who I think they are,” he continued.

“I am Michael Sean O’Connell and my Cousin is Michael Patrick O’Connell,” I told the original Master, who was shocked on hearing this.

“You can actually pass through the wards and spells of the entrance!?” he asked when he recovered.

“Yes. Our Parents created them. It’s no trick at all for us to pass through them,” I assured him.

“For you, maybe. But for the rest of us, we have to have the wards and the spells at the entrance opened before we can pass through them, even Senior Masters,” the Senior Master told us, obviously surprised at what we had told him.

“The guard didn’t stop us, and we just passed through,” Pat told him. “We’re on our way to breakfast, so you must excuse us, as the ladies are hungry.” We all joined hands again, and vanished leaving the two of them in shock.

Our women were giggling when we appeared outside our cottage.

“Did you see the look on his face when Michael told him who he is?” Shannon asked the others.

“Yes!” Sheena answered, but then asked, “Are you really that much more powerful than those other men?”

“Oh yes,” Pat told her, but added, “So are you.”

“Which brings up the subject of getting all of you tested. None of you girls has been tested to establish your Magic Rank. With your Talents, it won’t be a problem to pass the tests, especially with all of the studying that you have been doing. We’ll have to make time for it, but later,” he finished with a smile. Gretchen and Petra weren’t smiling. In fact, they didn’t look happy at all.

“We don’t know much Magic. How can we pass these tests?” Petra asked in a sad voice.

“We’ll help you learn. There are many books on Magic at our houses and in the O’Connell Realm. The O’Connells’ print many of them, plus we can draw on the library here in the Otherworld for additional books,” Shannon told the troubled girls.

“You would do that?” Gretchen asked. “The Masters at the Grand Master’s Court in the Other Reality were very secretive in our classes, and would only tell us a tiny bit at a time. You say that there are whole books here that we can see?” Gretchen asked in amazement.

“Yes, you will have your own books to study and keep for reference,” I assured them.

“Will we be able to read them? What language will they be in?” Petra asked, worried. “We were only taught to read Trade Celtic.”

“They will be in English and in Gaelic. The “Book of Dreams’ will teach you whatever you need to be able to read the books in any language,” Pat assured the little blond with a hug and a kiss.

During all of these discussions outside of our cottage, I had been noting all of the flowers that were now in bloom around not just our cottage, but all around the other cottages here and apparently all around the village. While the grass had always been green here in the past, I didn’t remember seeing all of these flowers, or even any flowers, in the past. There had been trees, and there had been crops, but there hadn’t been many flowers. Yet now this morning, there were flowers all over the place, and not just one kind either, but many kinds. Plus I was sure that it wasn’t the correct season for many of them, as it was August and past the time that they would be blooming.

I wasn’t the only one that had noticed the flowers apparently, as Brian was quickly approaching us followed by a number of villagers.

“Good Morning!” he said in greeting, as he neared us. “Are you ladies the ones that we have to thank for all of these flowers?”

“Yes, we thought the area could use a little brightening up,” Cathleen told him with a smile.

“But how did you do it?” Brian asked in amazement. “Flowers have not grown well here for a long time.”

“There were many different seeds available in the fields and the hills outside of here. We simply called some of them to us and spread them throughout the area,” Clare told him calmly.

“But the wards and spells that surround our world? How could you get them through our wards? No one has been able to get through our wards since the O’Connells’ strengthened them!” Brian asked in shock and dismay.

“They were only seeds!” Cathleen said in amazement at his agitation. “We had no trouble passing them through the O’Connell wards, as we are very familiar with them.”

“And you grew them over night?” Etain asked as she had arrived in time to hear the O’Toole Sisters’ explanation.

“Yes, they only needed a little encouragement,” Clare assured her. Everyone was staring at her in stunned amazement at this statement. Clare looked around her in confusion.

“Don’t you like flowers?” she asked in a very quiet voice.

“Dear girl, please understand. Many here have tried to grow flowers for years, ... for decades even, with little if any success. You have been here less than a day, and there are more flowers than we have seen in the last five hundred years together. We are all shocked and amazed, but grateful,” an older, grandmotherly woman told her from the edge of the crowd.

“We’re glad that you like them. We can grow more later if you would like,” Cathleen told her and the others.

“That would be very kind of you,” several people told her, as the crowd began to disperse.

“We didn’t mean to interrupt your day,” Brian told us, “but we were all so amazed that we needed to know where the flowers had come from.”

“Would you join us for breakfast?” Pat offered.

“We have intruded on you more than enough already. Enjoy your day, and we will see you this evening,” Brian told us before he and Etain also left.

“What was that all about?” my Dad asked as our Parents arrived right after that.

“The flowers,” I answered, but before I could say more our Grandparents also appeared.

“Are you girls the ones responsible for all of the flowers?” Grandmother Margie asked a soon as they appeared.

“Yes, Grandmother,” Clare answered shyly.

“And you grew them all since yesterday?” Grandmother Katie asked.

“Yes, they grew quickly with just a little encouragement,” Cathleen told her.

“Have you eaten yet?” Aunt Sara asked.

“We were about to when everyone showed up,” Pat told his Mother. “We have been up on Kesh Corran watching the sun rise after bathing.”

“Don’t let us interrupt you then. We’re going to bathe now,” my Mom told us, and they all vanished. We finally made it into the cottage, and the women prepared breakfast.

“We need to visit Uncle Frank and take those pictures,” Pat reminded me over breakfast.

“Yes, we’ll need those pictures for next Friday. We also need to let Uncle Frank know that we will pick him up here on Friday to go to Frankfurt,” I told Pat before turning to the women.

“Will you be going with Pat and me to introduce printing to those in the Other Reality?” I asked them.

“Next Friday?” Sheena asked in surprise.

“How long would we be gone?” Shannon asked.

“Yes, next Friday. It is all set up with Grandfather Michael, and we will be gone for three days at the most,” Pat told them.

“I think we’ll pass on that,” Gretchen said looking at Petra for conformation. The little blond just nodded in agreement.

“We’ll stay with them,” Clare quickly added. “They aren’t entirely used to the houses yet, and it wouldn’t be good to leave them there alone.”

“We’ll go with you if you want,” Shannon volunteered with a nod from her sister.

“Okay. We can use the help on the transfer, as I’m not sure how much Uncle Frank will be taking with him,” I told her. Pat and I got out our PDUs (Personal Data Units) while the women cleaned up. This was another reason that we had used Grandfather’s portal, as we didn’t want Magic to wipe out our Data Units. We all transferred to Uncle Frank’s print shop then.