Chapter 27

"Complications, Carl?" Seamus asked with a frown.

"There were a number of cabins under attack also. Not everyone had gotten as far as the fort before the Shawanoes caught up with them, and they had holed up in some of the cabins near it. They needed immediate assistance, and we took care of that first after securing the fort. The Shawanoes broke off the attack, once we secured the fort and the cabins with Defensive Shells. We followed them, and eliminated the majority of them," I explained.

"What are the conditions here at the fort? How much help will they need?" Seamus wanted to know.

"I don't know yet. We just got back from chasing the Shawanoes," I told him.

"All right, Carl. Let's check with the leaders here at the fort, and see what assistance they require. If nothing else the Rangers and our allies can patrol around the fort for some distance and check for any additional threats," Seamus told me.

The arrival of two additional platoons of Rangers had been the cause of quite a bit of surprise to those at Fort Massie, especially the appearance of our allies with them. Seamus quickly sent the newly arrived Rangers and our allies out to scout the area around the fort, before turning to deal with the local inhabitants.

"This is my Commander, Captain Seamus O'Connell," I told those in charge of the fort.

"I'm sorry to have been delayed so long in arriving, but I understand that Lieutenant O'Connell and the Rangers have dealt with the attackers. What help do you require?" Seamus asked them.

Those who had remained in the cabins were being escorted to the fort by some of the Rangers from the original Platoon at this time, and this created a bit of a disturbance. I didn't see any of the people from the third cabin, or my Sisters with them, but I could detect their presence still in the furthest cabin.

"Please excuse me," I asked Seamus and the local leaders, as they prepared to adjourn to the militia Captain's office for their discussions. They too had been disturbed by the new arrivals. I transferred directly to the third cabin.

On arriving there, I found M & M and C & D talking to the two O'Keefe Brothers. They were nearly on top of those young men and were rubbing themselves against them subtly. From the smiles on their faces, the Brothers didn't seem to mind their advances.

"Your Sisters are very forward," the younger Sister, Eileen, said when I appeared. She seemed very calm, and not at all startled by my sudden appearance. This wasn't true of the others in the cabin. The somewhat older woman was very surprised, as was her injured but recovering husband, another man, and their children.

"Are the Indians gone?" Mrs. O'Cuinn finally managed to ask on recovering. "Is it safe to leave for the fort?"

"Yes, it's safe. There are Rangers patrolling the area," I assured her.

"How ... how do we get out of here? There is something that prevents us from leaving," she told me near tears. I instantly detected the wards that my Sisters had created around the cabin for safety and canceled them.

"It's been taken care of now. You may leave whenever you like," I told them to looks of relief on their faces.

"We're leaving for the fort, Eileen," Mrs. O'Cuinn told the O'Keefe woman, as she gathered her small children, her husband, her Brother-in-Law and their three muskets to depart for the fort. My Sisters and Cousin didn't seem to notice their departure. I reset the wards around the cabin once they were gone before returning to the young woman still here.

"You didn't seem surprised by my sudden appearance, as the others were," I told her.

"No, it's a little hard to explain, but it was as if I knew slightly ahead of time that you would appear and where," she told me in embarrassment.

"Yes, that's very possible. You and your Brothers all have strong Talents, and could possibly detect the use of a spell. Have you learned any Magic?" I asked.

"Magic? No, we don't know anything about Magic, but we do sometimes have strange feeling, or thoughts, and seem to know when something will happen before it does," she told me, embarrassed.

"Yes, that would be your Talents sending you warnings," I told her.

"What is this Talent, that you keep referring to?" she asked.

"It's the ability to both use and do Magic," I told her.

"And can your Sisters and Cousin also do Magic?" Eileen asked in a shy voice.

"Yes, but two of them are Mages and use Green Magic," I told her.

"There are different kinds of Magic?" she asked, startled.

"Yes, there are at least three kinds of Magic. There is regular or White Magic, which most of our family and clan use. Then there is Green Magic. It is the Magic of plants and growing things, and it is used by Mages to help plants grow, and to heal animals and people. Then there is Black Magic. It has been outlawed by the Eternal Flame. It uses blood and other things to harm people. No one in our family or clan uses it," I informed her.

"And just why are your Sisters and Cousin so interested in my Brothers?" she asked with a shy smile.

"They are looking for Husbands, and your Brothers posses fine Talents, just as you do," I told her.

"But there are four of them, and only two of my Brothers. Won't the ones who don't get a Husband be upset?" she asked.

"You misunderstand," I told her with my own smile. "Each set of twins is looking for only one Husband. They will share him. The only real discussion was over which one each set of twins would select."

"But two Wives?" she asked in surprise.

"Oh yes. It's quite normal in our clan and family for a pair of twins to select one Husband. We don't have any male twins -- only females. Well, except for one pair who are one male and one female."

"And are you looking for a pair of wives?" she asked a bit disturbed.

"Not especially. I will settle for one Wife, but she must have the Talent. Twins with the Talent can be hard to find, although my Father has three wives -- half of two pairs of twin Sisters, and another single lady, but theirs is a rather unusual relationship even for our clan," I told her, but could see that she was very surprised by this admission.

"Three wives?" she asked in shock.

"Yes, it came about as the result of a rather unique situation," I told her. (See Magic Ink III for how this developed.)

"And do they all get along together?" she asked in amazement.

"Oh yes. They all love my Father and are very close. Two share a mental link -- those are the half pair of twins, and they all love Petra, who is Dad's third Wife," I assured her.

"But what about the other half of the two pairs of twins? What happened to them?" she asked in a bewildered voice.

"Oh, they also share a mental link and are married to my Uncle, who also has a third Wife that they all love," I told her. She seemed really confused by now.

"Yours must be a strange family. How many Brothers and Sisters do you have?" she asked.

"I have two Brothers and three sets of twin Sisters."

"So there are nine of you!?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes, nine. My Uncle also has nine children with the same proportions and ages as those in my family," I told her, but decided that I needed to learn more about her and her family.

"Is this your cabin?" I asked to bring the conversation back to her and her Brothers. My Sisters and her Brothers were past the point of conversation by now, but hadn't gotten to sex -- not yet.

"No, this isn't our cabin. This is as far as we managed to get before the Indians caught up to our group," she told me with a catch in her throat.

"Do you and your Brothers live far from here? What about your Parents? Do they live near here?" I asked.

"Our Parents are dead!" she told me in a very sad voice. "They were killed a few years ago in another Indian raid. They told us to run to the fort, and they would cover us and distract the Indians while we got away," she started, and began to tear up. "They never joined us at the fort, and we later found them in the burned ashes of our old cabin. The Indians had killed them in a horrible way! And now our new cabin is probably burned down too," she finished in tears. "We'll have nothing!" she cried in a wail of despair.

I took her in my arms and held her while she cried in sorrow and despair. I couldn't imagine how I would have faced such trials.

"It will be all right," I tried to assure the crying girl. "We will take care of you. You won't have to worry about being attacked by Indians or the British again."

"How can you do that?" she asked with a sniffle.

"We will take you with us, and we will teach you how to use your Talents and how to do Magic," I assured her.

"But our land! Our Farm! How will we be able to survive without them?" she asked.

"The O'Connells have a lot of land. We have huge fields and our clan is nearly self-sufficient except for some specialty items that we purchase. We also have several businesses that we run: a printing plant, a book store, and an herbal store plus several other businesses. Neither you, nor your Brothers will have to worry about anything," I told her.

"You don't look wealthy, and what would the rich be doing out here fighting Indians?" she asked.

"We are here to help remove the British from North America. When that is accomplished, we'll return home to our own Reality," I told her. She appeared very confused by this last, but wasn't ready to leave my arms quite yet.

"It could take a long time to defeat the British. We can't even stop the constant raids, and it's been nearly twenty years already," she told me, bitterly.

"We are working on that. We hope to strike the British in a year or so. In the meantime, you and your Brothers can stay with us and learn Magic. You will be safe," I assured her.

"But what of the other people here, like the O'Cuinns? Can you keep them safe?" she asked.

"The leaders of the Americans are working on ways to keep the peace with all of the tribes. It will require some time yet to accomplish," I told her. "The defeat of the Shawanoes today may help in that," I added.

"We will need to do something," she answered with a sigh. "We probably don't have anywhere to live or any food for the winter, either," she finished in a despondent voice.

"Come stay with us, if only for the winter," I told her. "We'll teach all of you to use your Talents and to do Magic. In the spring, we'll see what you want to do."

"By the spring, my Brothers will have your Sisters pregnant from the way they are carrying on," Eileen told me with a little laugh in her voice.

"Not unless my Sisters are desperate to get pregnant, they won't," I told her.

"But if they have sex... !" she started and trailed off.

"Oh, I'm sure that they will have sex, knowing my Sisters -- probably a lot of sex and by tonight," I told her with a smile. "But they won't get pregnant unless they want to. There is a spell that all of the girls learn early in their study of Magic that keeps them from getting pregnant unless they wish to and cancel it.

"Really!?" she asked in stunned surprise.

"Definitely! They have been having sex since they were fourteen."

"But who with?" a stunned Eileen asked.

"With our Cousins and the children of those that work in our various businesses," I told her.

"That's amazing!" Eileen said with a thoughtful look in her eyes, as she pressed herself tighter against me. She was certainly a young woman with a fine body, and I reacted just as any young male would. I was certainly interested in having her as my Wife, especially with her level of Talent. I was still holding Eileen a short time later when Seamus appeared in the cabin.

"So here is where all of you have disappeared to," he said on appearing, but before looking around. His face brightened considerably then.

"What have we here?" he asked in a voice filled with expectation, once he had checked the various Talents in the cabin.

"These are the O'Keefes," I told him, as Eileen pushed away from me.

"This is our Commander, Captain Seamus O'Connell, my older Brother," I said to introduce Seamus to the O'Keefes before turning back to speak to him.

"They are the reason that we needed to protect those in the cabins," I told him.

"Yes, we took good care of all of those in the cabins," Meagan told her older brother, as she looked away from Morgan O'Keefe.

"All right, I guess that I can forgive you for being a bit distracted," Seamus said with a smile. "It isn't often that we find an entire family with strong Talents. What about their Parents?"

"Our Parents were killed in an Indian raid several years ago," Morgan O'Keefe told Seamus, with a catch in his voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I would have liked to have met them. Have any of you asked the O'Keefes to join us?" Seamus finished.

"I asked Eileen to come with us, at least for the winter," I told him.

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Cessair told him.

"Actually, we haven't gotten past them joining us for the night," Dealla added with a giggle.

"Of course we want them to join us, but permanently," Maureen said, smiling at Morgan O'Keefe, who actually blushed on hearing this.

"That is probably the best offer that we'll get," the older Brother said after that. "I don't imagine that our cabin or crops survived this latest raid," he told us in a tired voice that sounded much older than he was.

"We should check to be sure," Maureen volunteered.

"It's four miles from here, and even if anything is left, we probably have no way to get it back here. The raiders probably killed all of our stock also," the younger Brother, Donald, said speaking for the first time in a while.

"You two are much too gloomy," Dealla told them. "And you've forgotten that we use Magic, and can do a lot of things that regular people can't."

"Can you picture in your mind where your farm is?" Meagan asked Morgan.

"Yes. I have a good picture of it," Morgan told her as he closed his eyes. Morgan, Meagan, and Maureen vanished right after that.