Chapter 3

The following new character appears in this chapter:

James Collins

Ranger Captain, 5'-11" tall, 165 pounds, 38 years old, brown hair and eyes

On arriving at the Manor House and seeing the condition that most of my relatives were in, I asked the obvious question.

"What's the plan for today, or have you decided yet?" I asked.

"We still need to see about additional outdoor clothes," Carl said first thing.

"We need to see about knives," Glanda said around a bite of sausage.

"But not those huge things that you guys bought," Gwyn, her twin, added. "We want something a little more lady-like."

"But not so lady-like that it can't do what is needed," Sererena told her.

"Where will we meet you and when?" Dymphna asked.

"How about back at the Palace. We need to get down to business today. The Eternal Flame will be expecting us soon," Amelia told us, reminding us of the time limit that we were under.

"Cousin Gus will take you to the knife-maker's shop. I don't suppose that any of you are interested in axes though," I told them.

"No, we really aren't interested in axes," Anann said with a frown. "Why would we want axes?"

"To cut firewood!" Wolf told his Sister with a smile.

"Oh!" several of the other women said in surprise.

"We hadn't thought of that, besides we have you big, strong guys to do that for us," they all said, and giggled.

Breakfast was soon finished, and we guys transferred to Grandfather Wolfgang's manor, only to find no one at home but a few servants.

"Where is everyone?" Wolf demanded when we were admitted to the residence by the servant left in charge.

"Chief Wolfgang, and most of the clan have gone to a celebration at a neighboring clan's town. They won't be back for at least another week," the servant, an older man, told us. "Is there anything that I can help you with?" he added.

"We need to see about some good outdoor clothes for travel in the forests and mountains," Wolf told him.

"There are still a number of shop owners and minor clan members in town. I can send someone with you to guide you to the correct shops," he told us.

The tailor shops were on the same street that the dress makers' shops were, so it was just as well that our Sisters weren't with us. There were many styles and colors of clothes available for wear in town, and to fancy gatherings, or important meetings, but for outdoors in the forest and mountains, there were fewer styles and colors as well as few choices of shops that carried them.

We all eventually settled for what are known as full-front trousers. They were made with baggy seats, front pockets, adjustable waists, and a narrow front opening plus they were only available in a cotton canvas type of cloth. A reddish brown, a dark blue, and a dark green seemed to be the predominant colors.

The shirts that were available to go with them were all long sleeved with buttons at the cuffs, a band collar, and a ten inch long, four button front opening at the top. They were made as pullovers and of thick cotton cloth. The main color was an off white, with occasionally a few available in a light tan color, we were told, but none of those were on hand presently. While these clothes would all stand up to rough usage, they weren't what any of us considered very fashionable.

The proprietors of the two stores that we visited were quite surprised when their clothes actually fit us, since they had been made for larger, older men, and not for younger men like us. Of course, we had all used a shrinkage spell on those that we tried on, and eventually bought. We were finished and able to transfer back to Frankfurt before noon since our relatives were absent.

Our Sisters and Cousins were already in Frankfurt, and after we arrived they showed us the knives that they had purchased. Though they were all similar having tapered double edges blades of from six and a-half to seven inches in length with wooden or horn handles, and brass guards and end caps, they had been purchased at several shops, as none of the shops had a sufficient quantity on hand for all of the women to purchase them at one.

After we arrived in Frankfurt, it was M & M II, Meagan and Maureen, who are usually the quiet ones, who reminded us that there would be no electricity in the Third Reality, and that they used candles, or perhaps oil lamps there for light.

"Shouldn't we get some Magic-powered lamps to take with us," they finished.

"The Eternal Flame said that there wasn't much Magic practiced there," James pointed out.

"True, but He didn't say that there was any less Magic available there. Just that it was less used," Gwyn pointed out.

"So what do you think?" Seamus asked me, after looking at the others.

"It certainly couldn't hurt to have some with us, and they provide a lot more light than candles do," I told him and the rest. We set out for the street in old town where the Magic equipment merchants had their shops. We needed to visit several of the shops to acquire enough Magic-powered lamps for each of us to have a large one and one or two smaller ones. It was a good thing that we had all brought plenty of Union coins with us on this trip, as Magic-powered lamps are not inexpensive, though they don't have any operating costs.

It was well past 2:30 by now, and we returned to the Grand Master's Palace to pick up our other purchases, but didn't remain in Frankfurt long after that. Our Sisters and Cousins had already retrieved the dresses and the other things that they had left there before we arrived. We quickly informed our local Cousins that we were leaving, and then formed our circle in the courtyard before casting the transfer spell and disappearing from the Other Reality to appear in the Glen in our Realm and Reality. It was only 8:30 or so in the morning of Thursday, the 19th, when we arrived.

Our Parents were glad to see us back. Our Mothers were interested in the dresses that their Daughters had acquired, and they all went off together for our Sisters and Cousins to model them for them. Our Fathers were more interested in the knives, and axes that we and our Sisters had acquired. After looking them over and testing the edges of some of them with their thumbs, my Dad had a question.

"Did you remember to get sharpening stones? These edges aren't going to stay sharp forever," he told us.

"NO!" we all answered, somewhat chagrined.

"I believe that a trip to the hardware store would be in order then," Uncle Pat told us

"After you put your things away and change clothes," my Dad added. "Those Wizards' robes would get you some strange looks in town." We all changed and showered before transferring to the rear of a hardware store in Statesboro. We had been here numerous times before.

They did not have enough sharpening stones on hand to fill our requirements however. They did have some round stones about three inches in diameter with different grits on each side. They didn't have much in the way of oil for sharpening either. They did recommend trying the large sporting goods store near the mall.

We had just been to the sporting goods store earlier that week and transferred there. They had several different styles and sizes of sharpening stones. Some were in sets while others were available singly. We purchased a number of flat rectangular stones about two inches wide and five inches long with a different grit on each side. They also had oil for sharpening, and we got a can for each stone. We wound up with sufficient oil stones for each guy to have one, and each pair of twins to also have one. We also purchased some small leather drawstring bags for each person to keep the stones and the oil in. On returning home, we presented each pair of our twin Sisters with a bag containing a sharpening stone and a can of oil.

"What are we going to do with these?" they asked.

"They are for sharpening your knives," we informed them to blank stares.

"Don't worry," Carl told our Sisters with a smile. "Where we are going, someone will know how to use them, and will be glad to teach you how to do it." Our Sisters didn't appreciate his remarks, and gave Carl, and the rest of us, dirty looks.

By now it was noon, and we had lunch before going to work on the fields, which our Mage Sisters helped us with. Our other Sisters helped our Moms prepare some food for us to take with us the next day.

At dinner that night, Seamus and I reminded our Brothers and Sisters to get everything packed before going to bed tonight. Later, I was up in my room packing my backpack, when Glanda came into the room.

"You are going to need to pack these also," she told me, and handed me a towel with three bars of soap, a wash cloth, and two rolls of toilet paper rolled up in it.

"Who got these?" I asked.

"Our Parents got them while we were gone. Our Dads remembered needing toilet paper from their trip to France, and they knew that we would need them," she told me.

"These aren't going to last that long," I reminded her.

"We'll have to improvise when we run out," she told me with a blush. "At least you guys don't have to worry about having a period every month," she added, still blushing.

"Ahh ... no, we don't. How are you ladies going to deal with that?" I asked.

"We'll have to see what the women there do," she told me before leaving. I finished packing after that, and rolled up my blankets in the sleeping bag before strapping them to the bottom of the backpack. I had also used the bands across the side of the pack to secure my big knife in its sheath. There wasn't a lot else to do, so I got ready for bed. Jillian didn't show up tonight. I figured that she was busy, and spent the night alone.

In the morning, it was later than I had planned when I awoke. I showered and shaved before dressing and going downstairs. I found several of our Mothers in the kitchen making breakfast. Wolf and our Sisters came in shortly after I had. Our Sisters helped with breakfast, and also made up sandwiches for us to carry with us for lunch, or dinner depending on when the Eternal Flame arrived. The prepared sandwiches went into the refrigerator until we left. During breakfast, I had a discussion with my siblings.

"Did all of you finish packing last night?" I asked.

"Yes," was the reply.

"Did you strap your knife, or ax to the outside of the pack, or are you going to wear one or both?" I asked.

"Why would we do that, Mark?" Maureen asked in a puzzled voice.

"To have it ready in case you need it," Wolf told her.

"We have our rings. They are much more powerful than any knife, or gun for that matter," Cessair answered.

"Suppose you need to cut something like a rope or some cloth?" I asked.

"Oh! We didn't think about that," they answered.

"Also make sure to pack at least one roll of toilet paper at the top of your backpack where it is easily reached," I reminded them. Several of them grinned on hearing this.

"Anything else, Brother?" Glanda asked.

"Have any of you picked up those packs yet to try them on?" I asked.

"No, why!" was the reply.

"Well, mine is pretty heavy is why," I told them. Naturally on mentioning this, a spell to reduce the weight of the pack surfaced in my mind. I saw the others all smile, and just knew that the 'Book of Dreams' had visited all of us last night. I wondered then what other knowledge it had imparted to us. I was sure that we would find out shortly.

Following breakfast there was little to do until the Eternal Flame appeared. I had the others all bring their backpacks and other items down to the large parlor to check that everything was packed correctly, and that the backpacks fit them. It was actually a little late to be fitting them now that they were loaded, but that was how things were.

Our Sisters had not fitted their backpacks, and Wolf and I spent some time adjusting them for each of them once they had them on. They, of course, thought that it just gave us an excuse to touch them. It did, but that wasn't the real reason that we were doing it, and they soon realized this after trying to walk with the packs on their backs.

As noon approached, we were all more nervous. Our Mothers made us more sandwiches and served them with potato salad, coleslaw, and potato chips with large glasses of milk. We were finishing lunch at around 12:30 when I knew that it was time to leave for the Glen. It appeared that the others knew it also, as we all rose from the table, placed our dishes in the sink, got the sandwiches from the refrigerator, and went to get our backpacks before preparing to transfer to the Glen.

"We need to leave, Mom," we told our Mothers, and we each got a hug from them, and a handshake from our Dad. Everyone, including all of our Parents, appeared in the Glen within a few minutes. The Eternal Flame appeared above the Glen shortly after we had all arrived.

"I see that everyone is here and ready," It told us. "Are you prepared to leave?" I looked around at the others and could tell that they had all cast their wards around themselves, just as I had, before I answered.

"Yes, we are ready," I said, just before we all vanished from the Glen in our Realm.

We instantly reappeared at the edge of a forest. A short distance in front of us, the ground dropped away sharply to the plain that rose from a stream in the floor of the valley in front of us. On the far side of the stream, the land was fairly flat and open for about a thousand feet before the trees of the forest that surrounded the plain began. There was a dirt road of sorts that emerged from the forest at the far end of the valley.

The land on this side of the stream rose on a gentle slope for about two thousand feet before reaching the steep embankment of the hill that we were on. The forest continued behind our position The entire area was about a-half mile wide and surrounded by the forest.

As we watched, the plain below us was in the process of being covered with ranks of armed men in uniforms of various colors.

Chapter 4 »