Chapter 9

The four of us instantly reappeared on the field in front of the fort where we had watched the column arrive earlier that day. The Rangers and our relatives were all gone by this time. There were a number of tents belonging to the various militias set up a short distance from the fort. There was also the spherical defensive shell by the creek where our horses were being kept until we learned where to stable them.

Both Generals stared around them at their new surroundings in shocked dismay for several minutes before they began to recover.

"WHAT? HOW... ? How did we get here?" General Clark demanded in a seriously upset voice, as he continued to look around at his surroundings.

"Now you know how we felt every time they would appear out of nowhere at Johns Creek," General Sullivan told his superior.

"But how did we get here?" General Clark repeated his demand in a voice just short of anger.

"I transferred us here using Magic. I could just as easily transfer us to the battle site at Johns Creek," I told him before turning to point out something that they hadn't noticed.

"Behind us is one of the structures that we can create. They will stop any weapon that the British have or can obtain. When reinforced with our wards, they are also proof against even the strongest Magic," I told him, pointing toward the shell by the creek.

"Where did that come from?" General Clark asked, in a much quieter voice.

"They are created using a spell, and can be made any size. They can be small enough to protect a single cabin, or large enough to protect an encampment, like the ones that we erected to cover General Sullivan's forces after the battle. We could easily erect one to enclose your fort, sir," I told him.

"And this is what you used to defeat the British?" he asked.

"Those were a little different in shape, and required a different spell," I told him, before Seamus and I sat down on the ground and created the Prolate Spheroid type of shell that had been used at the Battle of Johns Creek and then tinted it green, so it could be seen. The General studied it for some time.

"Can they be undermined?" he finally asked.

"No sir," I answered having risen from the ground. "What you see above ground is repeated underground. They are symmetrical figures and cannot be penetrated."

"So you are saying that if the British attacked the fort, and you created one of these ... things around it, that their 18 or 24 pounders couldn't penetrate it. Is that correct?" he inquired.

"That is correct, sir," I told him, and the General looked very thoughtful for a time after that.

"How do people get in and out of it. They wouldn't be very useful, if you couldn't get in or out when needed," he wanted to know.

"We can create entrances, which we ward to allow people and animals in and out, also vents for smoke from watch fires or gunfire. It is easier to cancel the small wards than to cancel and recreate the entire shell. We, of course, can transfer in and out, and we can pass through our own wards without removing them," I told him.

"Can you teach others to do this?" the General asked, after a little further thought.

"Yes, we can. We all learned how to do these things, BUT to learn to do them, one must possess the 'Talent'. We are able to recognize the Talent in others, even if they are unaware that they possess it and don't know any Magic. Unfortunately, those without the 'Talent' will not be able to do Magic. There are not that many here that possess the Talent, and those with really strong Talents are even more rare here," I told him.

"How do you find them then?" the General asked.

"We can sense their Talents. There are several people, with the various units here, that have minor Talents. We could, over time, teach them to do some of the things that we do," I told him.

"We have not sensed anyone with a major amount of Magic Talent since arriving here in your Reality," Seamus added, speaking for the first time since we had met General Clark.

"I see. However, you have been out in the forest, and sparsely settled areas most of this time, and only really had contact with those in General Sullivan's forces. There are many more people here at the fort, and in Lexington and the surrounding area," General Clark said in a much more upbeat voice.

"That's true, sir, and we will be checking the surrounding area once we are settled. Colonel Williams was seeing about rooms for us, and we will also require somewhere to stable our horses. We have grown quite attached to them on the trip," I told him.

"And just what is the purpose of the pink structure that has been created over by the creek?" General Clark asked, turning to look at it.

"It's to secure our horses, and some of our possessions," I told him, as we walked toward the pink spherical defensive shell that our female relatives had created near the creek. We could see the horses through the tint, and when we were closer, we could see the pile of horse tack, and our backpacks, in addition to the few remaining supplies that we had been issued.

"Yes, it's always wise to secure one's things when there are so many strangers about," General Clark observed, looking toward all of the groups of militia men in the general area. We were nearly to the shell, when Cessair and Dealla appeared in front of the shell with Jillian. Their sudden appearance startled General Clark.

"You see how we felt at Johns Creek, sir," General Sullivan reminded him with a smile. "They did that all of the time there."

"That is a bit unsettling," General Clark admitted. "What are these ladies here for?"

"These are our Sisters, Cessair and Dealla, and our Cousin, Jillian," I told him, indicating each of them.

"What's wrong?" Seamus was asking the girls at the same time.

"The mare is having some pain. We have been monitoring her, and have come to check that she is okay. She will be having her foal shortly, and really needs to be in a nice warm and secure barn," Cessair told him. The General heard this also

"How can you know this. Where were you previously?" he asked.

"We were at the tailor shop, but have been monitoring her since we left Johns Creek, and can tell when she is having problems," Dealla told him.

"They are some of our healers," Seamus added.

"Could you not have appeared inside this thing?" the General wanted to know, waving at the shell.

"Yes, but we didn't want to startle the horses," Cessair told him with a smile.

"But you don't seem to mind startling people, do you?" he demanded, testily.

"We didn't know that anyone would be near here," Jillian said, speaking for the first time.

"We still need to check on the mare," Dealla reminded us, as she, Cessair, and Jillian passed through the defensive shell. The General started forward after them, and both Seamus and I quickly grabbed him.

"You don't want to try that, sir," I told him.

"But they just entered that thing," he said, upset that we had stopped him.

"Yes sir. We can all do that, but if you were to try to do that, you would have gotten a very real surprise," I told him, before making a suggestion. "Why don't you try knocking on the shell instead, sir?" He, in turn, wrapped his knuckles on the shell not expecting to hit anything but air, and was startled when his knuckles made contact with the shell and bounced off of it.

"But ... but they just went through there?" he protested, in an upset voice.

"If I might use an analogy, sir. For them, it was akin to you passing through a stream of water, although, of course they didn't get wet. But for you it would be like trying to pass through a large, thick block of ice," I told him.

"Yes, I could feel how solid it is with my knuckles," the General answered. Seamus and I then transferred the two Generals and ourselves into the shell. This surprised them again, but it was simpler than creating an opening, which would only have to be closed when we left.

"This thing covers several acres," General Clark observed, after looking over the enclosed area for a short time after recovering.

"Yes, this is a medium size shell," I answered.

"One or several of these would be handy for all of the horses that we often have here at the fort," General Clark said, seeing the possibilities. "Of course, we would need to be able to move them to take advantage of all of the grassy areas."

"Yes, and you wouldn't require men to guard the horses either," Seamus pointed out. C & D, meanwhile, were over with the mare. I could feel their Green Magic at work, but couldn't tell what they were doing. After a few minutes, they came back over to us.

"The mare will be all right for a while yet, but she really needs to be in a stable soon. She is very near delivery," Cessair told us.

"I'll see that you are assigned some stalls in one of the stables near the Officers' quarters, as soon as we return to my Headquarters," General Sullivan assured her.

"Thank you, sir," Dealla told him, before changing the subject. "We need to get back to the tailor shop before our Sisters make any decisions that we don't agree with," she added, before all three young women disappeared, startling the two Generals again.

"I see what you mean, John. That could definitely be disconcerting," General Clark told General Sullivan.

"Shall we return to you office, sir?" I asked after that.

"Could we return to the front of the building instead of my office?" the General asked.

"Certainly, sir, if you wish to," I told him before Seamus transferred the four of us to the area just outside of General Clark's Headquarters, startling several nearby people when we appeared.

"This could be very convenient," General Clark said, as he led the way into the building. Someone called "Attention" as he entered, and the Chief-of-Staff hurried out to see who had arrived.

"We weren't aware that you had departed, sir," he said in an agitated voice.

"We didn't leave in the normal way. Captain O'Connell was demonstrating some of his specialty," the General told him before we returned to his office.

"John, I want you to transfer O'Connell and his people from your Command to mine here at the fort. I can see where they would be very useful in the accomplishment of a number of missions, and not just here, but for the entire Army," General Clark informed General Sullivan in his office, before returning his attention to me.

"Report to me in the morning, Captain O'Connell. I have a number of questions that I want to ask you, and I also want to find out more about what you and your people can do," General Clark told me before we were all dismissed to return to General Sullivan's Headquarters.

At General Sullivan's Headquarters, Colonel Williams informed us that we had been assigned quarters in the junior officers' barracks near their Headquarters, and he gave us the room numbers that were assigned to us. He also told us that we had ten stalls in the stables behind our barracks building. There were men there who would take care of our horses for us. I could see Seamus frown at this, but he didn't say anything at the time. I, myself, wasn't keen on the idea, and knew that our Mage Sisters would have a lot to say about who took care of the mare and her foal, as they considered her to be their property and responsibility.

The rest of our relatives appeared just as we were finishing up, and one of the Sergeants escorted all of us to the building where we would be billeted. He indicated which room I was in as the Commander, and told me that the assignment of the remainder of the rooms was up to me before saluting and departing.

"We need to look at the size of these rooms," I told the others, before trying to assign anyone to them. The room that I was assigned to was on the end of the building, and was sufficiently large for one person. It had a bed, wash stand, a chest of drawers, a chest for blankets and other items, and a small writing desk in addition to a good size fireplace with several comfortable chairs near it.